Volume 24 | Number 7954 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 16 July 2019 | 13 Dhul-Qa'da 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 13 SPORT | 20

Captain Morgan hopes triumph will spark English cricket revival

Masraf Al Rayan achieves

net profit of QR1.07bn in H1

Deputy Amir meets Tunisian Ambassador

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Amiri Diwan yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia to the State of Qatar, Salah Al Salhi. H H the Deputy Amir granted the outgoing Ambassador the Decoration of Al Wajbah in recognition of his role in enhancing bilateral relations, and wished him success in his future assignments and further progress and prosperity for relations between the two countries. The Ambassador extended thanks and appreciation to H H the Deputy Amir and the State’s officials for the cooperation he received which contributed to the success of his work in the country.

Automatic Rapid TransitSystem test witnessed by PMTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday witnessed the test operation of the Automatic Rapid Transit (ART) System conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) on Al Khor Expressway.

The ART System uses an innovative, modern and envi-ronment-friendly transit mode. With intelligent controls, it is a rail-less system for urban public transport which is essentially a crossover between buses and trams. It also integrates electrical and mechanical systems and uses quick-charge batteries.

The ART features cus-tomised, modern interior and exterior designs that take account of the needs of people with disabilities. Built with a bi-directional driving mode with a speed of up to 70km/h and the capacity to carry 307 passengers, the ART System is powered by electricity and provides a range of 25km with only 10 minutes of quick charging and 70km with three hours of full charging.

With intelligent communi-cation systems, ART trains are given priority at intersections on the line and with the absence of rails, ART vehicles use sensors that help their drivers to follow their virtual rail on road. The three-module vehicle is 32 meters long and has the same width of a normal bus.

A number of ministers and senior officials were also present during the test operation of the ART System.

“The trial operation of ART System is the first in the world. The Ministry will assess the trial operation, which continues for a specific period of time, to make sure the ART System’s battery charging and mechanical and electrical systems fit Qatar’s weather conditions before going ahead with deploying it,” said

Minister of Transport and Com-munications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti.

“This transit mode, if the test operation is successful, will support the diversification of transportation sector in Qatar through using the world’s latest transportation system. This con-tributes to achieving economic and environmental balance in the transportation sector’s infra-structure projects. It will also offer a distinct and unique expe-rience during the various events Qatar hosts, particularly the FIFA World Cup 2022 as it will be an exceptional experience for fans and visitors with high-quality services that provide smooth mobility to stadiums, residences and tourist attractions,” added the Minister.

He said that the ART is a crossover between buses, trams and trains that uses quick-charge batteries, something that will contribute to saving costs.

This initiative comes within MOTC’s endeavours to providing a world-class, multi-model inte-grated transportation system that connects all regions in Qatar. �P2

Two more traffic services added to Metrash2THE PENINSULA DOHA

The General Directorate of Traffic, represented by the Licensing Department, in collab-oration with the General Direc-torate of Information Systems, launched two new services for the public through the “Metrash2” application.

The first service is meant to contest registered traffic violations and the second service to report traffic violations using “commu-nicate with us” option of Metrash2.

In a statement, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammad Rabia al Kuwari, office at the violations section of the General Directorate of Traffic, said that the service to contest a traffic violation through the Metrash2 allows the objector to

file an objection to the traffic vio-lation within a period not exceeding fourteen days from the date of reg-istration of the violation.

The objector will receive a reply by means of a text message within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of registration of the objection. If the violation is found correct, normal pro-cedure will apply. In case it has been found incorrect, the vio-lation will be removed.

All types of traffic violations, whether by recorded manually or by speed radars or surveil-lance cameras can be contested using this service. A violation cannot be contested more than once. As well, if the fine is already paid, it cannot be con-tested any more. �P3

Over 20% of public transport to be eco-friendly by 2022QNA DOHA

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said yesterday that before the start of the FIFA Football World Cup 2022, 20 to 25 percent of public transport in Qatar will be environment-friendly, will use clean energy and enjoy the best safety standards and a high degree of quality and efficiency.

This is in accordance with the guidance of the wise lead-ership that the State of Qatar attains high ranks in the public transport sector, in the use of environment-friendly cars and in the ambitious plans of the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications (MOTC), he said.

His Excellency was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the test operation of the

Automatic Rapid Transit (ART) System conducted by the MOTC, yesterday.

H E the Minister pointed out that it is scheduled that the ART System will be operational within 15 to 16 months, and will be handed over to Mowasalat Company (Karwa) to finalise some tests and get the best con-tracts from users in this field, indicating that this comes within the public transport master plan in the country, which costs QR3bn from now until 2022.

He pointed out that the MOTC is not in a hurry when it comes to the actual launch of this system, and it can operate it at the present time, but this will not lead to the purpose for which it brought this technology that requires a large population density. A certain date has been selected to launch it and it will be an ideal experience for the

World Cup and constitute a real legacy after this tournament for regions where no tram or metro service is available.

H E the Minister of Transport and Communications

stressed that the public transport system in Qatar has made great strides and has achieved qualitative leaps and will be one of the most efficient systems in the world. �P2

10 officials to closely monitor driving schoolsSANAULLAH ATAULLA THE PENINSULA

The newly opened high-tech centre of Traffic Department for monitoring driving schools will help address the complaints of learners before being reported, said a senior official.

“Ten traffic officials will keep an eye on nine driving schools operating in the country through advanced monitoring system from Monitoring Center at the headquarters of the Traffic Department in Madinat Khalifa,” said Captain Khalid Abdul Aziz Al Ghanim, Supervisor General of Driving Schools at the General Directorate of Traffic.

Speaking to The Peninsula at a recent event, Al Ghanim said that one official will cover one school at a time and he will

check the database to find whether the learners underwent the required training classes and tests.

“In case of receiving any complaint from learners against a school, we can access the system where all details of the learners will be available including training classes and tests,” said Al Ghanim.

“We had received com-plaints from parents and sponsors against schools about training and classes. Now the new system is very transparent and will ensure the rights of learners,” said Al Ghanim.

Speaking about the effi-ciency of the new system, Al Ghanam said that 10 officials are enough to cover all nine schools because the system is very effi-cient and easy to handle. �P2The Automatic Rapid Transit (ART) System vehicle.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani witnessing the test operation of Automatic Rapid Transit System, yesterday.

The ART System is a crossover between buses, trams and trains that uses quick-charge batteries, something that will contribute to saving costs.

QFZ and Media City are two different entities

QNA/DOHA

Qatar Free Zone Authority (QFZA) said yesterday that Qatar Free Zones (QFZ) currently consists of Ras Bufontas Free Zone and Umm Alhoul Free Zone. The Council of Ministers has agreed in principle to the establishment of another Free Zone in Msheireb Downtown Doha. Commenting on recent media reports which indicated that Msheireb Downtown Doha is the planned headquarters of the new Media City, the QFZA said that the decision on where to base the new Media City has not been issued yet, and underlined that Qatar Free Zones and Media City are separate entities established by different laws. �P3

02 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019HOME

Amir congratulates President of Turkey

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani and Prime Minister

and Interior Minister H E Sheikh

Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khal-

ifa Al Thani sent yesterday cables

of congratulations to President

of the Republic of Turkey Recep

Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion

of his country’s Democracy and

National Unity Day. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWS

Amir condoles with

Nepal President

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani and Dep-

uty Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin

Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday

cables of condolences to President

of the Federal Democratic Repub-

lic of Nepal ,Bidhya Devi Bhandari,

on the victims of the floods that

hits several provinces, wishing the

injured a speedy recovery.

Prime Minister and Interior Min-

ister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin

Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also

sent a cable of condolences to

Prime Minister of the Federal

Democratic Republic of Nepal,

wishing the injured a speedy

recovery. QNA

Amir condoles with

King of Sweden

Amir sends condolences

to Bangladesh on death

of former president

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani and Dep-

uty Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin

Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday

cables of condolences to H M King

of the Kingdom of Sweden, Carl XVI

Gustaf, on the victims of a plane

crash in northern Sweden.

Prime Minister and Interior Minis-

ter H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser

bin Khalifa Al Thani sent a cable of

condolences to Prime Minister of

Sweden Stefan Lofven on the vic-

tims of a plane crash. QNA

DOHA Amir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani and Dep-

uty Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin

Hamad Al Thani have sent cables

of condolences to President of

the People’s Republic of Bangla-

desh Mohammad Abdul Hamid,

and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Wazed, on the death of former

president Hussain Muhammad

Ershad.

Prime Minister and Interior

Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin

Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani has

also sent a cable of condolences

to Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina Wazed, on the

death of former president Hus-

sain Muhammad Ershad. QNA

Amir condoles with Kuwait Amir

Condolences sent to

President, PM of India

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani

and Prime Minister and Interior

Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah

bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al

Thani sent yesterday cables of

condolences to the Amir of

the State of Kuwait H H Sheikh

Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al

Sabah on the death of Sheikh

Hamoud Adel Al Hamoud Al

Jarrah Al Sabah. QNA

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

and Deputy Amir H H Sheikh

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani

sent yesterday cables of con-

dolences to President of India

Ram Nath Kovind and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on the

victims of the floods in sev-

eral states in north and east of

India, wishing the injured a

speedy recovery.

Prime Minister and Interior

Minister H E Sheikh Abdul-

lah bin Nasser bin Khalifa

Al Thani also sent a cable of

condolences to Prime Minis-

ter Narendra Modi. QNA

HIGH TIDE 03:00 – 16:55 LOW TIDE 00:09 –10:19

Hot daytime with slight dust to blowing

dust at places at times.

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum33oC 45oC

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 26 AM

04. 53 AM

11. 40 AM

03.05 PM

06. 28 PM

07. 58 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

Al Hammadi meets Pugwash Secretary-GeneralSecretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, met yesterday with Secretary-General of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, who is currently visiting the country. They reviewed bilateral relations between Qatar and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, as well as topics of mutual interest.

Qatar Museums opens 4th Artist in Residence exhibitionRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

A diverse collection of over 55 artworks created by 19 Doha-based artists during their nine-month residency at at Doha Fire Station are on show at an exhi-bition titled :”Infinite Dimen-sions” which opened yesterday at the Garage Gallery.

In its fourth edition, the annual Artist in Residence Pro-gramme by Qatar Museums is aimed at nurturing creative talent from across the country.

“Infinite Dimensions reflects the world-class artistic talent of Qatar’s creative community and is another example of how this program offers artists a chance to develop their practices. One of the reasons we accept submissions across a wide range of mediums is to encourage interdisciplinary and inclusive art making. This exhibition beautifully showcases these two components. I’m delighted to celebrate these artists as we end our season and look

ahead to their future endeavors,” said Khalifa Al Obaidli, Director of the Fire Station.

Running until September 1, the exhibition divided into three sections allows visitors to dis-cover and explore local contem-porary art through the sculptures, paintings, video and sound works which focus on conceptualism.

“Infinite Dimensions is a very unusual exhibition for the local art scene, because it’s exploring one of the most com-plicated and problematic contem-porary art subjects — the question of conceptualism. It is the result of a very constructive and critical discussion between the curators and the artists at the Fire Station,” explained Dr. Bahaa Abudaya, Curator of Contemporary Art.

“Infinite Dimensions is the result of a 9-month dynamic process of working with the artists and reflects their growth and development. The idea versus execution is a core theme that guided this process, and the exhibition shows multiple

outcomes experimenting with concepts such as ideas, mediums, sound and light,” added Saida Al Khulaifi, Associate Curator and Senior Exhibition & Residence Program Coordinator.

Titled “Tangible Spectrums,” the first section includes art-works, which aim to explore abstract concepts, such as the subconscious, dreams and night-mares, and translate them into concrete visualizations. Among the interesting pieces on display is Jordanian artist Alaa Bata’s “Better Luck Next Time”, a door

in the middle of the gallery space with an egg on its handle.

The second section “The Edge of Thoughts” explores the theme of belonging in a school, society or country. Using abstract forms, vibrant colors, objects, movement and light, these artists’ personal stories are reflected in their artwork. For multidisci-plinary Qatari artist Maryam Al Ameri dark humor and a distinct color pallet evoke memory and mood in her cinematic piece entitled School Dress.

In the final section called

“Visual Sphere” themes of popular culture, local land-scape, outer space and fantasy creatures are presented through sound, light, video and per-formance art encouraging the visitors to interact with each piece. For example, Egyptian artist Eman Makki’s noteworthy piece, Printer Up Above the World So High tran-scends the present moment and continues onward indefinitely with a printer that prints 100 billion dots on a roll of paper in reference to the 100 billion stars of the universe.

Installation and artwork on display at the fourth Artist in Residence exhibition titled “Infinite Dimensions” which opened at Doha Fire Station yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

PM witnesses Automatic Rapid Transit System testFROM PAGE 1

It will help the public to reach to their destinations easily with safe and rel iable services in line with the pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030, in addition to its sig-nificant contri-bution to devel-oping transpor-tation modes in Qatar according to latest eco-friendly universal systems and deploying alternative and clean energy to reduce harmful emissions.

Over 20% of public transport to be eco-friendly by 2022FROM PAGE 1

The Minister stressed the importance attached by the MOTC to security and safety operations, pointing out that any project, espe-cially in the public transport sector, must go through several strong stages before its launch, the most important of which is ensuring the

safety and security of passengers. In this framework, many tests are carried out over different periods of time to ensure safety and security to ensure Qatar’s lead-ership in security and safety standards.

He said that MOTC’s safety and security section will not

give permission for actual use until all safety stages are met to ensure that the system launched is sound and keeps pace with the environment standards, noting the importance of user awareness of security and safety mechanisms to realise the integrated transport system.

This initiative comes within MOTC’s endeavors to providing a world-class, multi-modal integrated transportation system that connects all regions in Qatar, helping the public to reach to their destinations easily with safe and reliable services in line with the pillars

of the Qatar National Vision 2030, in addition to its signif-icant contribution to developing transportation modes in Qatar according to latest eco-friendly universal systems and deploying alternative and clean energy to reduce harmful emissions.

10 officials to closely monitor driving schoolsFROM PAGE 1

Captain Khalid Abdul Aziz Al Ghanim (pictured), said that about 300 learners undergo tests in a day in all driving schools which provide training to 500 students in an hour. “The Moni-toring Center will help find out the defects in the oper-ation of driving schools to ensure the learners get proper training in a bid to produce skilled drivers to avoid road accidents as much as possible,” said Al Ghanim.

With the launch of unified Driving Training System (DTS) under which Monitoring Center and Smart Driving Cars were recently unveiled, Al Ghanim

said that Traffic Department comes to know every single details about the learning from registration to the

school till issuance of the driving licence.

“Now we know all training stages o f l e a r n e r s including theo-retical training which is about traffic signals then practical training,” said Al Ghanim. He said that in the

old system the theoretical training was based on lectures which were difficult for many learners due to language differ-ences. However, the new system provides theoretical training in 18 languages through a dedi-cated electronic program on smart devices.

03TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 HOME

Prime Minister meets Tunisian Ambassador

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia, Salah Al Salhi, on the occasion of ending his tenure in the country. The Prime Minister and Interior Minister wished the Tunisian envoy success in his future assignments and further progress and prosperity for relations between the two countries. For his part, the Ambassador extended thanks and appreciation to the Prime Minister and Interior Minister and the State’s officials for the cooperation he received during his tenure.

French embassy celebrates National DaySIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

The Embassy of France cele-brated on Sunday the National Day of France in the presence of a number of Qatari dignitaries, officials, diplomats and other guests.

Among the Ministers who attended the event were Adviser to the Amir for Defence Affairs H E Major General Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah; Min-ister of Transport and Commu-nications, H E Jassim bin Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti; Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali; and Chief of the Protocol, Ibrahim Fakhroo.

“A year ago, when I took office in Doha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said to me with in lighter vein while wel-coming me, ‘I pity you very much, Mr Ambassador because the bilateral relationship is already so excellent that you have little chance of taking them to higher level”, the Ambassador of the French Republic to Qatar, Franck Gellet remarked during

the National Day reception held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

“H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister’s jest was obviously a way to encourage both of us to keep

our two countries going further and further together. And that, I believe, is what they have done, faithful to each other in keeping the promises of

everything that bound them even before Qatar’s inde-pendence,” Gellet added.

“France, for its part, has remained all the more

committed as it perfectly measures the challenges that Qatar, its friend, its partner and its ally, has been facing for two years: in such complex circum-stances, it would not act any dif-ferently than Qatar, which rightly intends to maintain control of its policies by giving itself all the means of its independence, in an unsettling and uncertain regional moment. And France understands this all the more as it applies this same course of action to itself,” the Ambassador noted.

He also said that France will always be happy to support Qatar in its ongoing autonomi-sation, which includes diversi-fying its economy and opening up Qatari talents to all disciplines.

The Ambassador said that France has provided the Rafale aircraft — the best plane of its generation — which will support Qatar more to defend its sover-eignty, adding that there are 5,500 French citizens in Qatar who are giving their best in the service of friendship between both countires and their grat-itude for the warmth of your hospitality.

FROM LEFT: Adviser to the Amir for Defence Affairs, H E Major General Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah; Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet; Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali; Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti; and Chief of the Protocol, Ibrahim Fakhroo, during French National Day reception held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, on Sunday. PIC:

BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s peacekeeping aircraft win first position at Royal Air Show in UKQNA/LONDON

Qatar’s Peacekeeping aircraft currently participating in the Royal Air Show at the UK’s Yeovilton Air Force, have won the first position for the best fixed aircraft.

The Qatari Air Force is participating in the exhibition with strategic transport air-craft C17 / Globe Master and C-130/J-30 Super Hercules.

The participation was part of the Royal Air International / RNAS International Day.

Members of the Air Transport pavilion including pilots and organizers, provided information to attendees and visitors about aircraft charac-teristics, cargo and capabil-ities, as well as the pavilion’s capabilities and functions.

Qatar participates in the Resolute Support (non-combat

operations in Afghanistan) through strategic transport planes “C17” and “C130J” under the command of Nato and relief to the affected areas of brotherly and friendly countries around the world, medical evacuations and relief air support in areas of disasters, earthquakes, aerial projection of para-troopers and heavy equipment in the theater.

Qatar participates in ordinary session of Standing Committee for Arab MediaQNA/CAIRO

The State of Qatar participated in the meetings of the 93rd ordinary session of the Standing Committee for Arab Media, which started yesterday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States. Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ambassador Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al Sahlawi led the State of Qatar’s delegation to the meetings. The meetings’ agenda includes 18 items to be presented on Tuesday before the 11th session of the Arab Infor-mation Ministers Council Executive Office, and then to be submitted to the 50th session of the Arab Information Ministers Council tomorrow.

The session will focus on the Palestinian cause as it is the central issue of the Arab nation, especially in light of the intransigence of the Israeli side. It will also discuss several issues including the inter-national media plan to counter the unilateral American decision that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli occupation state.

Awards reaffirm Ooredoo’s progress towards becoming global digital enablerTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo Group’s transformation into a digital enabler across its global footprint was recently recognised at the 5G World Awards. Ooredoo Group was honoured with the ‘Best Telco Digital Transformation Project’ award at the 2019 edition of the awards in London which showcase innovation in the telco industry.

In recognition of Ooredoo’s 5G leadership and innovation, Ooredoo Qatar was also short-listed in the 5G World Awards for ‘Best 5G Commercial Launch’ and in the Leading Lights Awards for ‘Most Innovative 5G Strategy’.

By championing the digital agenda internally as well as externally, a key component of Ooredoo’s success was com-b i n i n g e f f o r t s t o

become a preferred digital partner, digitally upskill employees and develop new digital services alongside the seamless transition of customer interactions across its global footprint from physical to digital channels. These changes have broadened Ooredoo’s reach beyond traditional products and services and facilitated Oore-doo’s re-positioning into pre-ferred digital operator.

Across Ooredoo’s global footprint, digital transformation efforts are also receiving recog-nition. In Qatar, Ooredoo was awarded the ‘Digital Transfor-mation Award’ at the Microsft Digital Transformation Awards for its new revolutionary sports AI, which transforms how fans engage with their favourite sports. Indosat Ooredoo recently won a Gold Stevie Award Asia

Pacific for ‘Innovation in Tech-nology Development – Telecom-munications Industries’, which recognised its efforts to keep ahead of Indonesia’s insatiable appetite for data and investment into building a video-grade network for a digital Indonesia. Award-winning campaigns such as Ooredoo Oman’s ‘Best Digital Brand Campaign Oman 2019 – Be Digital’ and Ooredoo Maldives ‘Best Digital Campaign of the Year Maldives 2019’ are also testament to Ooredoo’s commitment to lead the market in innovation and become a digital partner of choice.

Ooredoo Oman’s efforts to propel digital growth has led them to win the Transform Bronze Middle East and North Africa (MENA) award for ‘Best Rebrand of a Digital Property’ for their New Shababiah plan, the Global Business Outlook award

for ‘Digital Transformation of the Year – Telecommunications Sector’ and the Insights Middle East Call Centre award for ‘Best Large Call Centre’. Ooredoo Tunisia also won the ‘Best Cus-tomer Service – Telecommuni-cations Sector’ award for lever-aging digital improvements to better serve customers while Ooredoo Maldives’ focus on

innovation in mobile financial services led to Most Innovative Mobile Payment Service recog-nition for m-Faisaa, its mobile wallet service.

Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “We are honoured to be recognised for our group-wide digital transformation pro-gramme “Get Digital”. Today,

Ooredoo strives to be a digital enabler for customers and com-munities in all of our 10 markets. We are united behind a clear strategy to move beyond tradi-tional telecom products and services to deliver state-of-the-art digital services to customers; a shift that would not be possible without our relentless drive for innovation from within.”

Ooredoo Qatar won the ‘Digital Transformation Award’ at the Microsoft Digital Transformation Awards for its new revolutionary sports AI.

Qatar condemns explosion in AfghanistanQNA/DOHA

The State of Qatar has voiced strong condemnation and denunci-ation of the explosion which targeted a truck carrying civilians in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, leaving deaths and injuries. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the firm position of Qatar on rejecting violence and terrorism, regardless of motives and reasons.

The Ministry expressed the condolences of the State of Qatar to the families of the victims, and the government and people of Afghanistan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

QFZ and Media City are different entitiesFROM PAGE 1

Established by Law No. (34) of 2005, and amended by Decree Law No. (21) of 2017, Qatar Free Zone Authority (QFZA) is responsible for the development and regulation of world-class free zones in the State of Qatar, helping to attract investments contrib-uting to the economy and bol-stering economic activities in the commercial, industrial and technological sectors . In accordance with the strategy and direction of the State, QFZA encourages foreign investment within Qatar and enables companies to establish partnerships within the private sector driving sustainable economic growth, while offering guar-antees on capital recuperation and flow in a manner con-sistent with international trade principles and best-practice.

Two more traffic services added to Metrash2

FROM PAGE 1

“The second service gives anyone the right to report traffic violations, whether in the road or anywhere else using Metrash2. The sender should capture the photo of violation and specify its location before sending it through Metrash2. Traffic Violations Section will verify them and act accord-ingly,” Al Kuwari said.

Regarding the automated response system launched recently by the Directorate on its public service number of 234 4444, First Lieutenant Eid Mohamed Al Hajri said the public can inquire about traffic violation, driving licence, vehicles and number plates, technical examination, service for people with disabilities, traffic awareness, traffic patrols and traffic investigations through this number. It works 24/7 and calls are received in Arabic and English.

04 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019HOME

HMC welcomes visiting international consultantsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will welcome a number of visiting consultants from various medical specialties in July and August. The visiting consultants will include Dr Zeynel Dogan, Senior Consultant, Plastic and Recon-structive Head and Neck Surgery, St. Anna Hospital, Wuppertal, Germany, who will visit from July 19 to 25.

Dr Philippe Morel, a digestive laparoscopic surgery specialist from Clinique de Genolier, Genolier, Switzerland, will visit from July 29 to August 4. Dr Sunil Bhoyrul, Chief of Surgery at Olde Del Mar Surgical and Medical Director for Bari-atric Surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, Cal-ifornia, USA, will visit from August 1 to 10. Dr Helmuth Billy, a Bariatric and Metabolic Spe-cialist from Ventura Advanced Surgical Associates in Thousand Oaks, California, USA will visit from August 18 to 24.

Other experts are scheduled to visit this year as part of HMC’s focus on hosting highly-respected physicians and sur-geons from around the world. Hosting visiting international

consultants who are experts in their field is in line with HMC’s commitment to providing spe-cialized medical services to the people of Qatar.

Members of the public wishing to book an appointment with one of the visiting con-sultants are advised to discuss this option with their physician. If the doctor agrees that an appointment with a visiting con-sultant is appropriate, they will provide a referral.

Dr Helmuth Billy

Dr Philippe Morel

Indian Embassy to open Islamic Calligraphy Exhibition at Katara

THE PENINSULA DOHA

As part of the Qatar-India Year of Culture-2019, the Embassy of India together with ‘Radiant Arts’, a platform for Dawoodi Bohra artists, will be inaugu-rating at 7pm on July 18, 2019 an Islamic Calligraphy Exhi-bition titled ‘Multaqa Al-Qulub Wal-Funun: A Gathering of Hearts & Crafts” at Building 18-Gallery 2 of Katara Cultural Village.

The venue will be open for the public from 10am to 10pm from July 18 to 30, 2019. It is intended to showcase the art of calligraphy as another aspect of cultural exchange between India and Qatar.

Radiant Arts has been invited from India to coordinate this display of calligraphic works of art by seven artists, namely,

Samina Sachak, Mohammed Moiny, Moiz Nagpurwala, Ali-asger Vaziri, Mazhar Nizar, Juzer B u rha n i , B u rhanuddin Nagarwala.

The Exhibition will display examples of how Arabic Callig-raphy is preserved and practised in India and how iconic symbols of Qatar like the dhow, falcon, oryx and horse are celebrated by artists.

It would also promote the beauty and diversity of Indian culture, especially those ele-ments which bear affinity with or are part of Arab culture. During the event, it is also planned to have live calligraphy sessions by the artists.

Anwaar Al-Funun-Radiant Arts is a platform for art enthu-siasts to publicly showcase their diverse talents. Through joint

collaborations, this platform strives to encourage a healthy dialogue of ideas and values through the universal language of art and to display the art work of Dawoodi Bohras across the globe.

Though recently established in 2016, the platform has already hosted exhibitions featuring international artists in cities of Nairobi, Mumbai and Indore.

Doha Bank launches summer campaign in partnership with Qatar AirwaysTHE PENINSULA DOHA

In partnership with Qatar Airways, Doha Bank has launched a new summer campaign to reward its customers who use their Doha Bank Mastercard Debit Card for international spends and online bookings, with a distinctive value-added benefit that will allow them to take home total prizes of 20 million Qmiles.

Doha Bank has unveiled the details of its new exciting cam-paign, and to reaffirm its commitment to bringing customers the best possible value from their banking experience, it will enable cardholders to receive a chance to enter the draw every time they use their Doha Bank Mastercard Debit Card for their international purchases and online bookings, including those made at Qatar Airways website. The new summer campaign which began on July 5 and will run until October 31, 2019, aims at promoting the usage of Mastercard Debit Card among Doha Bank’s cardholders by giving away 40,000 Qmiles to each winner of its 500 lucky winners.

Commenting on this three-month long promotion Braik Al Marri, Chief Retail Banking Officer at Doha Bank, said: “Enhancing our customers’ banking experience and making their spending even more rewarding, is the center of our working philosophy. We’re thrilled to introduce this new summer campaign. The promotion offers unmatched total prizes of 20 million Qmiles to our debit cardholders, which highlights our commitment to go above and beyond to provide our loyal customers with top-notch banking services and offers.”

Eight-year-old girl from Qatar to attend Toyota Dream Car Art Contest awards event in TokyoTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Thirty award winners were selected from 953,064 entries in 86 countries and regions around the world in the 13th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.

Serah Maria Rejeesh (pic-tured), from Qatar will attend awards ceremony in Tokyo in August. Toyota Motor Corpo-ration selected 30 award winners at the World Contest of “The 13th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest” in which children draw their “dream car” with their free inspirations.

The prizes, including gold, silver, bronze, and special awards, will be announced at an awards ceremony in August at the MEGA WEB in Tokyo. The artwork nominated among this year’s 953,064 entries from 86 countries is a piece by eight-

year-old Serah Maria Rejeesh.The award winners will visit

Japan from August 27, accom-panied by their parents or guardians. In addition to attending the award ceremony, they will participate in hands-on programs introducing Jap-anese culture and manufac-turing, during which they will interact with award winners from other countries and regions.

Conducted as part of Toy-ota’s social contribution activ-ities, the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is open to children 15 years of age and below worldwide.

The contest, first conducted in 2004, gives children throughout the world the oppor-tunity to develop an interest in cars and helps them feel the joy and importance of having a dream.

15-month free rental promotion for commercial units at Ezdan Oasis Al WukairTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hani Dabash (pictured), Ezdan Real Estate Property Management Director, yesterday announced the launch of a new great promotional campaign for the commercial units at Ezdan Oasis Al Wukair, that target small and medium-sized enterprisers including craftsmen, entrepre-neurs and companies. The promotion will run from July 21 till September 30, 2019. The new tenants will be able to choose from a space are between 60 till 104 meter that can be used as flexible space units, where the offer is valid till September-end. Up to 15- month free rental promotion; to lease more than 500 diverse commercial outlets.

Ezdan Oasis spreads over an area of one million square meters and is expected to house more than 35,000 residents in around 9,000 housing units; it encompasses two schools, the Lulu Hypermarket, and a variety of services and facilities that integrate to form an ideal living and working environment.

Hani Dabash, the Property Management Director, who joined recently the parent company Ezdan Holding Group,

pointed out that new promotion campaign on commercial units, comes in line with launching of a new phase in the mega project of “Ezdan Oasis” in Al Wukair. This campaign aims at offering cost effective rentals for new investors and encouraging them to fill vacant commercial units in the Oasis which is meant to accommodate more than 35,000 residents, where traders, entre-preneurs and investors under the special summer offer will receive 3 month gratuity period plus a full year free of charge.”

“Therefore, each new tenant who contracts between the period from July 21 and Sep-tember 30, 2019, will be entitled to 15- month free of charge,

which in turn would boost the long-term business and its sta-bility. This serves the residents of “Ezdan Oasis” and the sur-rounding areas, and finally would benefit Al Wukair region, by triggering a commercial and economic boom,” Hani added.

Hani Dabash emphasised the priority of communicating with tenants and improving opera-tional efficiency through the development of multiple service solutions that meet the needs and aspirations of the end benefici-aries of Ezdan, which enjoys a tremendous properties portfolio that include residential villages and buildings, along with hotels and others, distributed in Doha and its environs.

He added that the amazing summer campaign on the com-mercial units at Ezdan Oasis is in line with the strategy of the Ezdan Holding Group, which places pri-ority on the interests of the ultimate beneficiary of its various real estate products in all its projects. On the one hand, he believes that bringing population in “Ezdan Oasis” in vicinity with merchants and consumers, will render Ezdan Oasis as an inte-grated real estate oasis and an exceptional place in almost eve-rything in terms of its area, design, services available to residents of the adjacent areas, noting that the place has been constructed with commercial units that are dis-tributed in a properly manner

inside the Oasis to enable offering a variety of activities and to meet all the safety requirements of the shops within the residential complexes.

Hani Dabash predicted that Ezdan Oasis would witness signif-icant commercial momentum in the forthcoming period, driven by the stunning display of its diverse retail outlets and in parallel with the continued growth in the pop-ulation of its residential units, which opened doors for leasing last year. “Moreover, the considered meter price offer, compared with the supply of commercial and administrative units in the domestic market now, the “summer promotion” will provide traders, craftsmen, private profes-sionals and business investors with a real opportunity to expand or start a new business in an inte-grated residential environment driven by road and infrastructure development projects currently underway in Al Wakra. Al-Wukair, and that comes in line with Metro “Rail”, the road projects that were opened before the Traffic Department to serve the areas of Al Wakra, Al Wukair and Al Mashaf and linking them to the rest of the country, such as the highway road Hamad Port. Doha Express Way and Orbital Highway and others.”

Ezdan Holding Group has announced the appointment of Hani Dabash as Group’s Property Management Director, given its expanding business scope and to benefit from his long expertise in developing medium and long-term business strategies and plans. This new nomination comes in line with Ezdan’s intention to launch a number of campaigns and promotions for its end –users and customers. These offers will cover the vil-lages of Ezdan in Doha, Al Wakra and Al Wukair, Ezdan Mall Al Gharafa, Ezdan Mall Al Wakra and, Ezdan Mall Al Wukair.

Hani Dabash stated that “Ezdan Oasis” is the largest real estate project in the history of the Ezdan Holding Group on a land area of about one million square meters in Al Wakir area, so it has been known in the real estate market with a land of one million or one million project. Resi-dential and commercial units. The most distinctive aspect of the project is the provision of 582 commercial outlets, including club shops ranging from 60 to 104 sq metres, with more than one area for commercial use, ranging from restaurants to cafes, pharmacies, shops, bak-eries and laundries and others.

The venue will be open for the public from 10am to 10pm from July 18 to 30, 2019. It is intended to showcase the art of calligraphy as another aspect of cultural exchange between India and Qatar.

05TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 HOME

Peru finalising a comprehensive investment pact with Qatar: Envoy

Terming Qatar-Peru ties as ‘excellent’, Ambassador of Peru to Qatar, Jose Benzaquen, has said that both the countries are working on a mutual investment agreement that ‘will promote and protect our bilateral relations’.

“We are working on a com-prehensive investment pact that will be likely finalised within next three months and it will encourage investments between the two countries,” the Ambassador said in an interview with The Peninsula.

He said that Qatar-Peru relationships are based on political and diplomatic coop-eration, mutual respect and sharing of common values. “Peru considers Qatar an important country in the global diplomacy and we knew this fact from the day when we decided to open our Embassy in Qatar in 2011.”

The Ambassador noted that Qatar had great role in inter-national political scenario. “This region of the Gulf is important to us, therefore we selected Qatar to open our Embassy on a priority basis in 2011.”

He said that Peru was undergoing massive economic improvement in the last fifteen years, at the same time his country had contained the

inflation successfully and created more commercial con-tacts with regional and inter-national countries.

“We predict that the Peruvian economy will grow by an average of 4.4% during the 2019-2020 period, driven, among other factors, by increased private investment. We believe in our President Martin Vizcarra Cornejo, who expressed that ‘we are com-mitted to ensuring that Peru is an accessible and safe country for doing business, with clear and stable rules. We pledge to faster investment, innovation, and diversification, with the goal of promoting a modern economy marked by growing productivity and competi-tiveness, based on national entrepreneurship driven by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’.”

Benzaquen said that Peru and Qatar had already signed a significant number of Mem-orandums of Understanding and agreements in recent years to form a solid base for a future strengthening of bilateral cooperation.

These include an agreement on cooperation and joint news exchange; an MoU on the establishment of political consultations between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs; an MoU in the field of education, higher education and scientific research; an MoU

in the field of mining; an MoU between trade and industry chambers of the two countries; and an MoU on investment cooperation.

The Ambassador added that Peru was blessed with precious minerals like gold, copper, silver, zinc etc. “Now the Peru government has made a commercial strategy that focuses on export of goods made of these minerals and metals. For example, we want to export copper plates, wires, small pipes, etc. and not only the raw copper, and for it we need technology that we can find in Qatar.”

Likewise, he said that his country was promoting its ties with Qatar in education, culture and sports fields.

“I recently had a relevant meeting with Qatar’s Minister of Culture and Sports in which it was decided that both coun-tries would further promote their cultural ties.”

Talking about the bilateral trade, the Ambassador said that though the current volume

was not high but it had the potential to grow significantly in coming times. “From January to March 2019, Peru exported goods worth QR3.4m to Qatar, mostly agricultural products as well as pharma-ceuticals while it imported dif-ferent goods worth QR4.8m from Qatar which include pet-rochemicals and construction material among others.”

He said that Peru has also gas reservoirs and Qatar could invest in this sector with all of its expertise and technology according to the leadership of Qatar in this field of energy.

The Peruvian Ambassador commented that Peru and Qatar had similar priorities as both nations focused on edu-cation, health, environment, sports, peace, gender equality and human rights.

“Peru always supports Qatar’s initiatives, resolutions, and candidates in international organisations.”

The Ambassador termed the official visit of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al

Thani to Peru in October last year highly successful in which a number of mutual agree-ments were signed.

Expressing pleasure over Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Ambassador said that he plans to coordinate to bring the Peruvian football team to Qatar for familiari-sation before the 2022 World Cup.

To a question, the Ambas-sador answered that over 100 Peruvian nationals are residing in Qatar, who are working at good positions in Qatar Airways and other reputable companies.

In the sector of tourism, the Ambassador said, Peru and Qatar are promoting the

visitors from both sides through an agreement on short stay visa waivers for ordinary passports, to follow the signed agreement for the holders of diplomatic and special passports.

The Peruvian Ambassador said: “Peru and Qatar are going to formalise the Air Services Agreement which will be signed this August. This bilateral instrument, leads to substantial benefits, as allowing international com-mercial air transport services between territories and pro-moting international air link between the two countries, which supports and enables movement of people, cargo, trade and tourism.”

Ambassador of Peru to the State of Qatar, Jose Benzaquen, during an interview with The Peninsula. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

IRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Entertainment City receives 60,000 visitors in a monthTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Entertainment City, a hallmark of Summer in Qatar, welcomed nearly 60,000 visitors over the course of a month, during which it delighted children and adults alike.

Running from June 4 to July 13, the summer staple was shorter than in previous years, and the stations included activ-ities for a range of ages and interests.

A vast ocean ball, QSports Bounce Kingdom, and a Kids’ Driving School, combined with an Inflatable Zone and Mobile Trampoline Park, kept toddlers and children entertained.

A mini golf course featuring famous global landmarks, ice

skating, and a child friendly bull ride, as well as rides kept children of all sizes busy, while others tested their chops at various skills games, played in the retro arcade corner, or entered new worlds at the e-gaming and Virtual Reality (VR) City.

Sports aficionados were able to kick back and relax in front of giant screens which showed the ICC Cricket World Cup in England.

Entertainment City is part of the Summer in Qatar programme curated by the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) and its more than 30 partners from the public and private sectors for residents and visitors to enjoy the season’s festivities.

The programme contains a

wide range of activities for people of all ages and interests. These include family-friendly entertainment shows, concerts

and comedy performances by top international artistes, summer camps for children and youth, thrilling experiences and

sporting tournaments in addition to exciting travel, hospitality and retail promotions running until August 16.

Renowned Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet performs at the Entertainment City. The attractions and activities at the Entertainment City will continue until August 16.

The winners of the final Raffle Draw of Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ ‘Sparkling Summer — Win up to 100 grams of Gold & up to 100% Cash Back’ campaign in Qatar are Khurram Kaleem (Coupon No-93107); Jeelani Pasha (Coupon No-59592); Sihi Bose (Coupon No-91317); Mohayudeen (Coupon No-51933); and Rahul Gupta (Coupon No-17162). The raffle draw was announced in the presence of Saad Al Sulaiti, an official from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Sebastian Paul, Assistant Manager; and other management team members of Malabar Gold & Diamonds. Malabar Gold & Diamonds congratulated all the winners.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds names winners

QRCS rehabilitates health centre in West DarfurTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed the reha-bilitation and furnishing of a health centre in Bir Saliba, a town of Sirba Locality, West Darfur State, Sudan, in order to continue to serve the region’s 29,000 population.

At a total cost of $73,991 (around QR270,000), the health facility’s main premises, waiting area, and outdoor shed were maintained, and it was provided with a power generator, medi-cations, medical equipment, and office furniture.

The supplies were delivered in a ceremony attended by the General Director of the Ministry of Health’s State Office and members of the Health Com-mittee, which will hire the medical staff for future operation.

Established by QRCS in 2013, the health centre seeks to help the local community and the returnees after years of conflict.

QRCS’s representation mission is going on with its humanitarian activities in West Darfur, with health, social, and other services for the target communities.

The project was co-imple-mented by QRCS, the Ministry of Health, the local community, and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS). They showed gratitude to QRCS for its efforts to maintain stability, health services, and development.

Over the past four years, QRCS implemented QR36.5m worth of operations across the country, including health, water, sewage, relief, and education projects. These achievements were made by QRCS’s main office in Khartoum and sub-branches in East, Central, and West Darfur.

A lot of partner organisa-tions were engaged in the imple-mentation of these projects, including, but not limited to, Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), the United Nations agencies, and NGOs working in Sudan.

HBKU’s QEERI opens ‘Call for Papers’ ahead of international conferenceTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), has announced the ‘Call for Papers’ for its upcoming International Conference on Sustainable Energy-Water-Environment Nexus in Desert Climates 2019 (IC-SEWEN’19), to be held at Qatar National Convention Centre in December.

More than 400 researchers, scientists, engineers and stake-holders will come together to promote a better understanding of the links between energy, water and environment, par-ticularly in desert climates, and develop key priority areas for human development and envi-ronmental sustainability.

IC-SEWEN’19 — supported by Qatar National Research Fund – will also feature an industrial exhibition where national and international com-panies will showcase their products and technologies in the field. Dr Marc Vermeersch, Executive Director, QEERI, said, “The IC-SEWEN’19 will bring together the best minds across all relevant sectors to discuss topics of increasing importance in the wake of climate change and the threats it poses to the region. Through the gathering, we hope to collectively for-mulate sustainable solutions that are able to mitigate the effects of rapidly changing environmental occurrences.”

QEERI has partnered with Springer Nature for the con-ference with the selected pro-ceedings to be peer-reviewed and published in a special volume of the Springer Nature Applied Science (SNAS) journal dedicated to arid climates.

Dr Veronica Bermudez, con-ference chair and senior research director of the Energy Centre at QEERI, said the conference will serve as a platform for interdis-ciplinary dialogue among scien-tists, researchers, industry partners and policymakers.

“Peru considers Qatar an important country in the global diplomacy, and we knew this fact from the day we decided to open our Embassy in Qatar in 2011,” the Ambassador said, adding the official visit of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Peru in October last year was highly successful as the two countries signed a number of agreements during the visit.

06 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Turkey marks 3rd anniversary of failed coupANATOLIA ANKARA

Turkey’s President yesterday commemorated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup attempt, orches-trated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO).

Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid flowers on the July 15 Martyrs Monument in the Presidential Complex early in the morning.

Erdogan, along with relatives of martyrs and veterans, went to the Bestepe Millet mosque for prayer services for the martyrs.

Bakir Izzetbegovic, the former Bosniak member of Bos-nia’s three-member Presidential Council, also accompanied Erdogan in the commemoration ceremonies.

Erdogan also attended a special Parliament session for the commemoration of July 15 later in the day.

First Lady Emine Erdogan also remembered July 15 coup bid on Twitter.

“On the anniversary of July 15, we commemorate our heroic martyrs, who gave their lives for the sake of our country, and our veterans with gratitude and thanks. I am very proud to be a member of this cherished

nation,” she said.Turkey marks July 15 as

Democracy and National Unity Day. The day is commemorated with events honouring those who lost their lives beating back the putschists and in remembrance of the bravery of the nation.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orches-trated the defeated coup, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the legit-imate state apparatus, through infiltrations into Turkish institu-tions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary. Erdogan yesterday also attended the inauguration ceremony of the

police headquarters building in the capital Ankara, which was destroyed during the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

“As long as Turkey has its soldiers, police and intelligence, no one will attempt again to occupy the country,” Erdogan said, adding that police had fought shoulder to shoulder with civilians against the coup plotters.

He stressed that none would be able to bring Turkey to its knees as long as it had institutions to protect its democracy.

On July 15, 2016, fighter jets flying low over Ankara bombed

Turkey’s Grand National Assembly, presidential complex, police headquarters and satellite operator Turksat.

Tanks and armoured vehicles were also hijacked from military facilities and driven on the city streets in the capital.

The police headquarters were reopened by Erdogan on the third anniversary of the coup bid.

“We are taking every pre-caution to prevent betrayals like July 15 from happening again,” he added.

Erdogan underlined that Turkey successfully purchased Russian-made S-400 missile

defence systems despite disbelief in its ability to do so.

“The S-400 delivery is going to be completed in April 2020 and our new goal is to be joint production with Russia,” Erdogan said.

Following protracted efforts to purchase an air defence system from the US with no success, Ankara signed a contract in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400s.

US officials urged Turkey to buy US Patriot missiles, arguing the Russian system would be incompatible with NATO systems and expose the F-35s to possible Russian espionage.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a crowd during the opening ceremony of new building of police headquarters in Ankara, yesterday.

Supporters of Jacob Zuma gather outside the Hill on Empire building where Zuma appears before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture over allegations that he oversaw systematic looting of state funds while in power, in Johannesburg, yesterday.

S Africa’s Zuma alleges conspiracy against himAFP JOHANNESBURG

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma yesterday dismissed multiple graft allegations against him, telling a judicial inquiry he was the victim of conspiracies, years of “character assassi-nation” and plots to kill him.

In an often rambling mono-logue, Zuma accused unnamed foreign intelligence agencies and spies of working against him and added: “I have survived attempts to kill me.” Zuma testified at the inquiry in Johannesburg into the so-called “state capture” scandal after previous witnesses gave damning evidence against him.

He is accused of overseeing mass looting of state assets during his nine-year tenure

before being ousted by the ruling ANC party in 2018 and replaced by his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa.

“I have been vilified, alleged to be the king of corrupt people,” he said. “I have been given every other name.” Zuma, who might give evidence until Friday, said he had been the victim of “char-acter assassination over 20 years.” “This commission, according to those who are implementing things, must be the grave of Zuma, he must be buried here,” Zuma said.

“There has been a drive to remove me from the scene, (they) wish that I would dis-appear... there is this conspiracy against me.” Zuma, 77, was not legally required to attend the inquiry, but it invited him to

appear after other witnesses tes-tified against him.

Led by judge Raymond Zondo, the probe is investigating a web of deals involving gov-ernment officials, the wealthy Gupta family and state-owned companies. “I never did any... breaking the law with this family — never,” he said. Dismissing the term “state capture”, he said it was impossible for one family to corrupt the government, par-liament and the judiciary. “It’s an exaggeration, it is meant to enhance this narrative against Zuma,” he said.

“There have been people sent from outside the country to come and kill me, but I have been patient not saying a thing — but I have been provoked to the last degree.”

France says Franco-Iranian academic arrested in IranAFP PARIS

A Franco-Iranian academic based at a prestigious Paris university has been arrested in Iran and denied contact with consular staff, the French foreign ministry said yesterday.

The detention of Fariba Adelkhah, a well-known expert on Iran at Sciences Po, risks increasing tension between Paris and Tehran at a critical moment in the crisis over the Iranian nuclear programme.

“The French authorities were recently informed of the arrest of Fariba Adelkhah,” said the foreign ministry statement which confirmed she holds dual nationality.

“France calls on the Iranian authorities to shed full light on Mrs Adelkhah’s situation and repeats its demands, particu-larly with regard to an imme-diate authorisation for consular access,” it said.

“No satisfactory response has been received until now,” it added. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said he could not confirm the charges.

Adelkhah, 60, is the latest Iranian national with a Western passport to be arrested in Iran.

Adelkhah’s arrest comes just as French President Emmanuel Macron was seeking to lead European efforts to find a way of keeping alive the 2015 nuclear deal, which limits Iran’s atomic programme.

Shock and anger asvideos of Sudan raidbelatedly go viralAFP KHARTOUM

Days after a blackout on mobile Internet services ended, Sudanese are shocked by the content of online videos and photographs that appear to document last month’s deadly raid on demonstrators.

Crowds of protesters were violently dispersed — and dozens killed — by men in mil-itary fatigues during a pre-dawn raid on a weeks-long sit-in outside army headquarters in Khartoum on June 3.

“The brutal scenes of killings and beatings left me very angry,” said Hussein Hashim, a 19-year-old university student from the c a p i t a l ’ s E l - D e e m neighbourhood.

“The perpetrators have no mercy, religion or humanity.” Demonstrators who had camped at the site demanding civilian rule were shot and beaten as armed men rampaged through the area, triggering international outrage.

But the carnage went largely unseen inside Sudan as the country’s military rulers imposed a nationwide blackout on mobile Internet services.

The authorities restored mobile Internet only last week, paving the way for photographs and videos going viral on social media networks.

Services were ordered to be restored after Khartoum based

lawyer Abdelaziz Hassan won a case against 3G and 4G service providers.

“The aim of blocking the Internet was to hide information and evidence of what happened in the massacre,” Hassan said.

“It is the right of every citizen to know the real infor-mation so that he can form his own views.” One photograph, which could not be verified, has stirred particular anger.

It shows men in military trousers and boots putting their feet on the face of a purported protester lying on the ground.

Dozens of videos are circu-lating, including one that shows a group of men — also in mil-itary uniform — surrounding a teenage girl as she yells at a man who holds her neck in a tight grip. Several videos show gunmen beating protesters with sticks as thick smoke billows from the protest site amid the sound of continuous gunfire.

AFP could not independently verify the origins of many of the photographs and videos, as most were posted on accounts that used pseudonyms.

Prior to the violent dispersal of the protest site, demon-strators had camped there since April 6, initially to seek the army’s help in ousting longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir.

The army deposed Bashir on April 11, but protesters continued with the sit-in after a military council seized power.

Turkey marks July 15 as Democracy and National Unity Day, with events honouring those who lost their lives to defeat the failed coup attempt and in remembrance of the bravery of the nation.

EU not triggering Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanismREUTERS BRUSSELS

The remaining parties to the Iran nuclear deal do not see Tehran’s breaches as significant and do not intend for now to trigger the pact’s dispute mechanism, preferring more diplomacy to ease the crisis, the EU foreign policy chief said yesterday.

She spoke at the end of a European Union foreign min-isters meeting after Britain said there was only a “small window” of time to salvage the deal, while Iran warned it would ramp up uranium enrichment if the EU

failed to do more to that end.US-Iranian tensions have

escalated since US President Donald Trump decided last year to abandon the nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curtail its atomic programme in return for relief from economic sanctions crippling its economy.

The EU ministers drew no conclusions on what action should next be taken to head off a feared US-Iranian conflict. But by suggesting that Iran’s non-compliance was not significant, it could anger the United States, which last week warned it would intensify sanctions on Iran over

its breaches, and it did prompt an immediate outcry from Israel, Iran’s regional arch-enemy.

“For the time being, none of the parties to the agreement has signalled their intention to invoke this article,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference in Brussels, referring to a mech-a n i s m t o p u n i s h non-compliance.

“(It) means that none of them for the moment, for the time being with the current data we have had in particular from the IAEA, (consider Iran’s) non-com-pliance...to be significant

non-compliance.” IAEA inspectors last week

confirmed Iran is now enriching uranium to 4.5% fissile purity, above the 3.67% limit set by its deal, the second breach in as many weeks after Tehran exceeded limits on its stock of low enriched uranium.

The level at which Iran is now refining uranium is still well below the 20% purity of enrichment Iran reached before the deal, and the 90% needed to yield bomb-grade nuclear fuel. Low-enriched uranium provides fuel for civilian power plants.

British Foreign Secretary

Jeremy Hunt said earlier in the day that Iran remained “a good year away from developing a nuclear bomb”. He told reporters in Brussels: “There is still some closing, but small window to keep the deal alive.” Under the terms of the deal, if any party believes another is not upholding their commitments they can refer the issue to a Joint Com-mission comprising Iran, Russia, China, the three European powers, and the European Union.

This activates a dispute mechanism that could eventually end with a restoration of global, UN sanctions against Iran.

Yemen’s warringsides agree on port ceasefiremoves, says UNAGENCIES GENEVA

Yemen’s warring parties have agreed new measures to enforce a ceasefire and facil-itate a troop pullback from the flashpoint port of Hodeidah, the United Nations said yesterday.

Representatives of the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed Yemeni gov-ernment met on a UN ship in the Red Sea for talks on Sunday and yesterday, a UN statement said.

The United Nations is trying to broker a withdrawal from Hodeidah — the main entry point for food and humani-tarian aid — so UN-supervised management can take over.

Yemen’s four-year war has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions on the brink of famine.

The UN statement said both sides were keen to reduce hos-tilities after a rise in ceasefire violations at Hodeidah.

“They agreed on a mech-anism and new measures to reinforce the ceasefire and de-escalation, to be put in place as soon as possible,” it said, without giving more details.

The two sides met as members of the “Redeployment Coordination Committee”, a body set up by the United Nations and chaired by Danish Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard to oversee the ceasefire and troop exit.

The committee finalised conceptual agreement on troop withdrawals, which now required political leaders’ buy-in, the statement said.

Political leaders would also have to agree on “local securi ty forces , local authority and revenues”, the statement said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council voted unan-imously yesterday to extend its ceasefire observation mission in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida by six months, until January 15 2020.

07TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 ASIA

Chandrayaan-2 calledoff due to technical snagIANS SRIHARIKOTA

About an hour before its scheduled launch yesterday, the Indian Space Research Organi-sation (Isro) called off the coun-try’s ambitious Rs978 crore moon landing mission Chan-drayaan-2 due to a technical snag in the ‘Bahubali’ rocket “It is not possible to make the launch within the launch window. The revised launch schedule will be announced later,” an official announced from the Mission Control Centre.

Minutes before making this announcement, the officials put on the countdown on hold.

At that point of time, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) rocket was fully fuelled up.

“The technical snag was noticed. We first have to approach the vehicle to assess the problem. First, we have to empty the fuel loaded in the rocket,” an Isro official said.

If needed the rocket will have to be taken back to the vehicle assembly building for further investigations, correc-tions and checks, he said. “This process will take 10 days after that only we can decide on the launch schedule,” he said.

“The technical snag could be in the pressurisation of the rocket’s systems. The rocket was fully fuelled up then,” two retired Isro officials said.

“Inter-planetary missions are complicated since the planets move. A moon mission rocket is launched after

calculating the position of the moon at a particular day so that the spacecraft can reach there,” one retired official said.

The launch was called off nearly one hour before the actual time of launch which was 2.51am.

“A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at 1 hour before the launch. As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chan-drayaan2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later,” Isro tweeted later.

Standing at about 44 metres tall, the 640-tonne rocket GSLV-Mk III is nicknamed ‘Bahubali’. And just like the hero in the hit film by the same name lifted a heavy ‘lingam’, the rocket would carry the 3.8 tonne Chan-drayaan-2 spacecraft.

The Rs978 crore Chan-drayaan-2 mission was prestigious one as it aimed to make India as the fourth nation in the world to land and ride on the moon.

The other three nations that had achieved this feat are Russia, the US and China.

The Chandrayaan-2 consists of three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379kg, eight pay-loads), the lander Vikram (1,471kg, four payloads) and rover Pragyan (27kg, two payloads).

The GSLV-Mk III with a capacity to carry four tonne sat-ellite, is a three-stage-engine rocket with two strap-on motors powered by solid fuel. The second stage is a core liquid fuel booster and the third is the cry-ogenic engine.

To date, Isro has sent up three GSLV-Mk III rockets. The first one was on December 18, 2014, carrying Crew Module Atmospheric Reentry Exper-iment (3.7 tonne). The mission was also to test the rocket’s inflight structural stability.

The second and third GSLV-Mk III’s went up on June 5, 2017, and November 14, 2018, car-rying communication satellites GSAT-19 (3.1 tonne) and GSAT-29 (3.4 tonne) respectively.

Interestingly, GSLV-Mk III will be used for India’s manned space mission slated in 2022.

To date India has flown 16 GSLV rockets (Mk I, II and III) and the total number of suc-cessful and failed missions are 12 and four respectively.

The 12 successful launches were: 2003 (GSAT-2), 2004 (GSAT-3) 2007 (INSAT-4R), 2014 (GSAT-14, CARE), 2015 (GSAT-6), 2016 (INSAT-3DR), 2017 (GSAT-9/SAARC, GSAT-19), 2018 ( G S A T - 6 A , G S A T - 7 A , GSAT-29).

Rescuers work on a site after a multi-storey building collapsed following heavy rains near Kumarhatti, in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, yesterday.

13 Assam Rifles troopers dead inHimachal building collapseIANS SHIMLA

Thirteen soldiers and a civilian were killed and 28 others rescued after a four-storey “unsafe” building in Himachal Pradesh’s Kumarhatti town where Assam Rifles troopers were holding a party collapsed due to rain, offi-cials said yesterday.

Deputy Commissioner K C Chaman said that 30 soldiers and 12 civilians were trapped in the debris and rescued after an over 22 hour operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Army and the state police.

The 28 people who were rescued comprised 17 soldiers and

11 civilians. The dead also included the building owner’s wife.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, along with Minister Rajiv Saizal, MP Suresh Kashyap and Assembly Speaker Rajiv Bindal, visited the spot and also met the rescued people.

Thakur, who ordered a mag-isterial probe into the incident, said as per his information, the structure was not built as per construction specifications.

He ordered the registration of an FIR against building owner Shail Kumar, who was away along with his two children, when the structure collapsed.

According to officials, the incident took place at around 4pm on Sunday when soldiers,

belonging to the 4th Battalion of Assam Rifles from nearby Dagshai Cantonment, were having a party at the roadside eatery-cum-residential complex which caved in due to weak foundation.

The building was located on the Kumarhatti-Nahan road, around 55km from Shimla.

The Deputy Commissioner said first, the fourth floor of the building collapsed and then the entire building caved in.

Three companies of the NDRF were involved in the rescue operation. The state deployed the Chief Minister’s helicopter to airlift an NDRF team with its equipment from Sunni in Shimla district.

Karnataka CM to seek trust vote on July 18IANS BENGALURU

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will seek a vote of confidence of the state Assembly on July 18, against the backdrop of 16 MLAs of the ruling Congress and JD(S) tendering their resignation.

“I have directed the Chief Minister to hold the floor test in the Assembly on Thursday (July 18),” Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar told reporters after a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the House here yesterday.

The meeting was attended by Kumarswamy, Congress Leg-islature Party leader Siddara-maiah and opposition BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa. The floor test will be held at 11am on Thursday.

The BJP has been demanding the floor test in the wake of res-ignation by 16 MLAs of the ruling alliance — 13 of the Congress and three of the JD(S) — and withdrawal of support to the Kumaraswamy government by two other legislators.

The resignations have not yet been accepted by the Speaker, who has said he would need time to study whether these were in proper format.

Unhappy with the delay by the Speaker in accepting their resignations, 15 of the rebel MLAs have moved the Supreme Court, apprehending that they could be disqualified.

The top court on July 12 ordered a status quo on the peti-tions till Tuesday when the matter would be heard again.

Repealing POTA was a mistake: Amit ShahIANS NEW DELHI

The Lok Sabha yesterday passed the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that will also allow the probe agency to probe terror cases targeting Indians and Indian assets abroad.

A total of 278 members favoured for passage of the bill while six opposed it.

The bill would now go to the Rajya Sabha before being sent to the President for his approval.

The Lok Sabha passed the amendment bill following a dis-cussion and Home Minister Amit Shah’s reply to various concerns raised by opposition leaders pertaining to the pro-posed changes in the existing act.

Responding to concerns over possible misuse of the

terror law, Shah assured the House that the bill was aimed only at eliminating terrorism.

The Minister added that the anti-terror law will not see the religion of people involved in terror activities and the changes in the law will effec-tively handle terror cases.

“Many members have said that POTA (Prevention of Ter-rorism Act) had to be repealed because it was misused. TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activ-ities (Prevention) Act) had to be repealed because they were misused. I want to make the record clear that POTA was not repealed because it was misused. POTA was repealed for the reason of vote bank politics,” Shah said in his reply.

Participating in the dis-cussion, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari had earlier in the day accused the government of

trying to turn India into a police state.

The National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019 provides for the national-level agency to investigate and pros-ecute offences listed in a schedule (scheduled offences). Further, it allows for creation of Special Courts for the trial of such scheduled offences.

The NIA was set up following Mumbai terror attack under the NIA Act, 2008.

The amendment in the NIA Act also allow the investigating agency to handle cases of cyber terrorism, human trafficking, offences related to counterfeit currency or bank notes and manufacture or sale of pro-hibited arms.

Once the amendments are incorporated in the law, NIA offi-cials would have the same inves-tigation powers in terror cases

as other police officers across India. Additionally, they will have the power to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India subject to interna-tional treaties and domestic laws of other countries.

The Bill also allows the Central government to designate sessions courts as special courts for the trial of scheduled offences.

During the debate, Shah snapped at AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi for obstructing BJP MP Satyapal Singh who had cited how the Hyderabad Police Commissioner was pulled up for taking action against members of a particular community.

Shah, who was listening to the exchange of words between Singh and Owaisi, intervened and asked the Hyderabad MP to have the patience to listen.

“A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at 1 hour before the launch. As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later,” Isro tweeted.

Too many have died already and even wars have laws, declared a UN-endorsed statement from the heads of leading humanitarian organisations at the end of last month. Idlib is on the brink of a humanitarian nightmare unlike anything we have seen this century, it warned.

BIIL BARROW AP

08 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019VIEWS

Syrians are as trapped as ever as the world looks away

A Kremlin-backed regime cam-paign in northwest Syria appeared to stall last week . Since late April, the forces of

Syrian President Bashar Assad have unleashed a ground and air offensive on Idlib province, the last significant haven in the country for various rebel and Islamist militant outfits. Some two months of sustained bombardment in Idlib and parts of adjacent Hama province are believed to have killed hundreds of people, while displacing tens of thousands more. Despite the bloodshed, the Syrian regime gained little strategically.

Over the weekend, rights groups said that at least 22 people were killed in Russian and regime air raids. As with earlier sieges of other rebel bas-tions in Syria, the opposition alleged that the Assad government forces tar-geted myriad hospitals and civilian homes. The sustained violence renewed fears of another catastrophic refugee exodus, with the province’s more than 3 million people desper-

ately fleeing the war-ravaged Syria.

“Too many have died already” and “even wars have laws,” declared a UN-endorsed statement from the heads of leading humani-tarian organisa-tions at the end of last month. “Idlib is on the brink of a humanitarian nightmare unlike anything we have seen this century,” it warned, using the social media hashtag

#TheWorldIsWatching. But if the world is watching, it’s not doing all that much. A long-running diplomatic process initiated by the United Nations in Geneva and backed by Washington to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict now appears moribund.

That last question can only be met with a shrug. Content with the sup-posed defeat of the Islamic State, Pres-ident Donald Trump has repeatedly signaled his lack of interest in the Syrian endgame.

“There is no better evidence that Syria’s regime lacks the manpower to regain control and hold the rest of country than recent events in Idlib,” wrote Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, arguing that declarations of Assad’s ultimate victory are premature.

“The Syrian military’s inability so far to make more headway in Idlib does not mean it cannot ultimately achieve victory nationwide,” Sam Heller of the International Crisis Group told the Associated Press. “It does show, however, that its military victory is contingent on politics that are bigger than just Syria.”

“The Assad regime has not ‘won’ anything,” added Lister. “It has merely survived at the cost of Syrians’ blood and fear; stability remains far out of reach.”

Yet Assad and his Russian allies are acting as if that stability has already come. The regime has urged Syrian refugees of more than 5 million

displaced Syrians — to come home. But the number of returnees so far is small. Many are afraid of being swept into the regime’s notorious prisons or extorted by pro-regime militias. Their plight is made all the more dire by the growing impatience of the three host countries, where government and society seem to be buckling under the pressure of accommodating the ref-ugees for close to a decade.

“Donor countries [in the West] have spent billions on aid, hoping to avert a repeat of the 2015-16 migration wave into Europe that has stoked destabilising rightwing populism,” noted the Financial Times.

“But the host countries complain that the inflow — they have taken 5.2m refugees between them — has badly stretched their infrastructure and that anti-Syrian sentiment is building.”

“We don’t know what to do, really,” a carpenter from Aleppo province now living as a refugee in Beirut told my colleagues last month. “While I’m here, all my son sees is a father who can’t provide for him, and I’m risking deportation to even go to work. But going home [to Syria]? I can’t do that. It’d be like walking into a black hole.”

The author writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor and correspondent at Time magazine, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.

ISHAAN THAROOR THE WASHINGTON POST

QUOTE OF THE DAY

As long as Turkey has its soldiers,

police and intelligence, no

one will attempt again to occupy the

country.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey’s President

Biden promises to end ‘forever wars’ as president

Democratic presi-dential candidate Joe Biden promised to end “forever

wars” and reassert American leadership to combat author-itarianism and global insta-bility he says are prolifer-ating under President Donald Trump.

Biden outlined his foreign policy vision in a speech in New York, indicting Trump’s “America first” approach as belligerent, short-sighted, incompetent and ultimately threatening to US interests and democracy across the world.

“The world’s democracies look to America to stand for the values that unite us. ... Donald Trump seems to be on the other team,” Biden said, hammering the pres-ident for “embracing dic-tators who appeal to his vanity” and emboldening a worldwide rise of nation-alism, xenophobia and isolationism.

The former vice president sought in his 43-minute speech to promise not just a return to the traditional US role in the post-World War II international order, but to use that power and influence to take on 21st century

problems. Biden emphasised the urgency for US-led global alliances to combat the climate crisis, forge new trade agreements to create a more even international economy and to recommit to nuclear proliferation.

If the US doesn’t lead those efforts, Biden said, “rest assured, some nation will step into the vacuum — or no one will, and chaos will prevail.”

The speech reflects Biden’s belief that his decades of foreign policy experience — 36 years in the Senate and two terms as second-in-command to President Barack Obama - are an asset both in the crowded Democratic primary and against Trump. But that long record also sub-jects the 76-year-old to sub-stantial criticisms from the left and the right, particularly from progressives who cast Biden as a willing cog in a more hawkish, bipartisan establishment that has guided world affairs for generations.

Nodding to those forces, Biden promised to “end the forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East” and end US involvement in the Yemen civil war. He did not mention his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq under Pres-ident George W Bush, a vote that hampered Biden’s brief 2007 presidential campaign and continues to draw crit-icism from rivals, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders

and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who both voted against the action as House members.

Biden further highlighted his political tightrope with assurances that military force will always be an option even as he said it must be a “last resort” with a “defined” and “achievable mission.” Addi-tionally, he pledged to “elevate diplomacy as the principle tool of our foreign policy.” He noted the exodus of career State Department diplomats during the Trump administration and said he’d invest in rebuilding that expertise.

His promise to stop “endless wars” also came with qualification; he called for removing most combat troops from Afghanistan in favor of “narrowly focusing our mission” in the region.

The former vice president said in the first year of his presidency, he would convene a global summit of democracy, bringing together political and civic leaders, along with those from the private sector. He singled out “tech companies and social media giants” as necessary partners.

“I believe they have a duty to make sure their algo-rithms and platforms are not used to sow division here at home,” he said, referring to US intelligence findings that Russian actors have used social media platforms like Facebook to influence American politics.

Biden’s speech comes at a

time of trade tensions with China; and after Trump again met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, with the Republican president saying he wants to restart negotiations for a nuclear agreement.

He also promised to immediately rejoin the Paris climate agreements and urge the world’s leading econ-omies - principally China - to commit to aggressively curtail carbon emissions.

He noted Beijing is investing heavily in cleaner energy technologies but still financing traditional fossil fuel projects with trillions of dollars in infrastructure development across Asia.

Biden’s commitment to “end the forever wars” stopped short of pledges by more liberal rivals like Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who link military conflict to a world economy dominated by multinational corpora-tions, including those that have benefited from the tril-lions of dollars the US has spent on foreign wars in recent decades.

Though he didn’t nod to that military-industrial complex, Biden argued that economic conditions play a fundamental role in global stability. He criticised Trump’s reliance on tariffs but tacitly agreed with the president’s notions that some economic rivals have taken advantage of the US, specifi-cally China.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

A qualitative leap

Public transport infrastructure is one of the most important factors for a country’s progress and Qatar is way ahead in the region in building an

integrated and effective environment-friendly transport system using advanced technologies.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday wit-nessed the test operation of the Automatic Rapid Transit (ART) System conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications on Al Khor Expressway.

The ART System uses an innovative, modern and environment-friendly transit mode. With intelligent con-trols, it is a rail-less system for urban public transport which is essentially a crossover between buses and trams. It also integrates electrical and mechanical systems and uses quick-charge batteries.

“The trial operation of ART System is the first in the world. The Ministry will assess the trial operation, which continues for a specific period of time, to make sure the ART System’s battery charging and mechanical and elec-trical systems fit Qatar’s weather conditions before going

ahead with deploying it,” said Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti.

The initiative comes within the Ministry’s endeavours to providing a world-class, multimodal integrated transportation system that connects all areas and regions in Qatar, helping the public to reach to all vital areas easily with safe and reliable services in line with the pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

H E Al Sulaiti stressed the importance attached by the Ministry to security and safety operations, and said

that any project, especially in the public transport sector, must go through several strong stages before its launch, the most important of which is ensuring the safety and security of passengers. In this framework, many tests are carried out over different periods of time to ensure safety and security to ensure Qatar’s leadership in security and safety standards.

The new system will support the diversification of transportation sector in Qatar through using the world’s latest transportation system with advanced technology. It would also offer an exceptional experience for fans and visitors during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar with high-quality services that provide smooth mobility to stadiums, residences and tourist spots.

As part of its initiative to provide a seamless trans-portation experience, Qatar is finishing all infrastructure projects ahead of schedule. The partial launch of Doha Metro, more than a year ahead of schedule, in May this year proves Qatar is moving ahead at a great pace. Also, trams being introduced in Msheireb Downtown Doha, Qatar Foundation and Lusail will usher in a new era.

The public transport system in Qatar has made great strides and has achieved qualitative leap and will be one of the most efficient systems in the world.

The ART System will support the diversification of transportation sector in Qatar through using the world’s latest transportation system with advanced technology.

09TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 ASIA

PML-N refutes embezzlement claims by UK paperINTERNEWS LAHORE

Opposition leader in Pakistan’s National Assembly and President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, Shehbaz Sharif, said he had “decided to file a lawsuit against Daily Mail” after the tabloid published an investigative report allegedly revealing that he and his family were involved in money-laun-dering in Britain.

“The fabricated and mis-leading story was published at the behest of Imran Khan and Shahzad Akbar. We will also launch legal proceedings against them,” he wrote.

The Daily Mail had reported that the UK’s Department for International Development

(DFID) had given Sharif and his government taxpayers’ cash and that he and his family were embezzling tens of millions of pounds of public money and laundering it to Britain.

The PML-N denied claims that Shehbaz Sharif embezzled millions given to Pakistan by the United Kingdom in aid. Party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb slammed Daily Mail report.

In a series of Tweets posted via the PML-N official Twitter account, she said the British gov-ernment conducted an inde-pendent audit of the funds and the Punjab government sup-ported it. The government of Punjab worked with honesty and diligence and used the funds for the people, she added.

Linking the report to the video of judge Arshad Malik, Aurangzeb called it propaganda aimed at hiding the truth and treatment of former PM Nawaz Sharif. She said it was an attempt at discrediting the video revealed by the PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz.

The tweets also accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of

being behind the report. At a press conference, she said the story was planted in a tabloid paper.

She said DFID rebutted the report and stated that it only released funds after the com-pletion of the task. Therefore, it only gave money when it saw work being done. She called the paper a liar.

She said the paper quoted the incumbent PTI government’s accountability adviser Shahzad Akbar as saying Shehbaz stole money in 2005. Aurangzeb said Shehbaz wasn’t even in Pakistan at the time. It was Musharraf’s era, she said. Shehbaz came to power in 2008 when he was elected chief minister of Punjab, she said.

“Bring us these records,” she

demanded. “Show the country proof of your claims,” she added. Marriyum said the PTI planted propaganda story and accused Shahbaz Sharif of embezzling earthquake relief funds from 2005 to 2012 whereas from 2005 to 2007 he (Shehbaz) was in exile, while from 2008 to 2012 he was Punjab CM and had no authority over any of these funds.

The Earthquake Recon-struction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) was a federal subject back then, she pointed out. She said the Asian Devel-opment Bank’s official report regarding massive corruption in PTI government’s Peshawar metro project was being ignored by all accountability institutions only because it implicated the ruling party and its leaders.

Pakistani miners gather outside the collapsed mine, some 35km east of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, yesterday. At least 10 miners were trapped underground.

10 Pakistani miners trapped underground in coal mineAFP QUETTA, PAKISTAN

At least 10 miners are trapped more than a kilometre under-ground after a fire started by an electrical short circuit in a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, officials said yesterday.

Rescue efforts were ham-pered by the fire spreading poi-sonous carbon monoxide gas inside the mine, some 35km east of Quetta, the capital of oil and mineral rich Balochistan province.

Abdullah Shahwani, a top official for the industry in the province, said 11 miners were working on Sunday around 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) under-ground when the accident happened.

“Fire erupted due to a cable short circuit, causing the spread

of poisonous monoxide gas,” Shahwani said.

One miner has been rescued but 10 remain trapped inside, he said.

“Hopes of their survival are very slim as rescue workers have reached only 1,200 feet (360 metres) inside the mine,” Shahwani said, roughly 20 hours after the accident occurred.

The spread of carbon mon-oxide was hampering the attempt to reach the miners, said rescuer Mohammad Shafqat, who spoke from the site.

The coal mine is run by the state-owned Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation.

Most coal mines in the province are notorious for poor safety standards and facilities, and similar deadly accidents have occurred in the past.

Zardari’s remand extended by two weeks INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

An accountability court in Islamabad yesterday extended former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Zardari’s remand by 14 days in the Park Lane corruption case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented the former president in the court of Judge Mohammad Bashir, after the earlier removal of Judge Arshad Malik from the accountability court. The Bureau pleaded to the court for an extension of 14 days in remand.

Accepting NAB’s request, the court granted a 14-day extension in Zardari’s remand and ordered the anti-graft body to present the PPP co-chairman in court again on July 29.

The court also allowed Zardari’s children — Bilawal, Aseefa, and Bakhtawar — to meet their father twice a week.

Zardari was arrested by NAB in the Park Lane case on July 1. He was already in NAB custody since June 10 after the Islamabad High Court dis-missed his pre-arrest bail petition in the fake bank accounts case.

According to NAB, Zardari is being investigated for his alleged involvement in extending loans and other misappropriation.

Sirisena: Drug gangs behind Easter bombingsAFP COLOMBO

International drug syndicates orchestrated Sri Lanka’s deadly Easter Sunday bombings, the country’s leader claimed yesterday, despite earlier blaming the attacks on Islamic militants.

The statement comes amid a nationwide narcotics crackdown, with President Maithripala Sirisena aiming to reintroduce capital punishment for drug offences.

Authorities have said local group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) were responsible for the suicide bombings in

churches and hotels that killed at least 258 people in April. The attacks were later claimed by the Islamic State group.

Sirisena’s office said the day after the bombings that local ter-rorists and international terror groups were responsible for the attacks.

But in a statement issued by his office yesterday, Sirisena said the attacks “were the work of international drug dealers”.

“Drug barons carried out this attack to discredit me and dis-courage my anti-narcotics drive. I will not be deterred,” he said.

Sirisena is waging a battle against efforts by his governing coalition in parliament to abolish

capital punishment, which has been subject to a moratorium since 1976.

A spokesman for Prime Min-ister Ranil Wickremesinghe dis-counted the president’s claims.

“Police completed the inves-tigations within about two weeks,” Sudarshana Guna-wardana said.

“There is no mention of drug dealers being involved. We have no reason to doubt our investigators.”

He said speedier justice would be a bigger deterrent to drug traffickers than the threat of capital punishment.

“We don’t believe hanging people will address the issue,

especially considering that it takes several decades to get a conviction.” Sri Lankan courts take on average 17 years to com-plete criminal trials for grave offences such as murder and rape.

Gunawardana said Wick-remesinghe was opposed to capital punishment as it was against the policy of his United National Party, and noted that there was cross-bench support in the legislature to completely abolish it.

Police officials said investi-gations into the April 21 suicide bombings were still ongoing, and all the more than 100 people in custody were Sri Lankans.

Rains, floods leave 76 dead in Nepal, BangladeshREUTERS KATHMANDU

The death toll in Nepal and low-lying Bangladesh yesterday rose to 76 after days of heavy monsoon rains.

In Nepal, 64 people were killed and 31 were missing, with around a third of all districts hit by heavy rains, authorities said. Many of the deaths were caused by landslides that swept away houses.

In southeast Nepal, water

levels on the Kosi river, a district official said. In 2008, the Kosi broke its banks and changed course, inundating huge tracts of land and killing 500 people.

“Our analysis is that the danger is over now that the water level has come down,” Chiranjibi Giri, assistant district administrator of Sunsari district, said. The annual monsoon season, which brings the most rain across south Asia, also hit Bangladesh hard, forcing an esti-mated 190,000 people out of

their homes, government offi-cials said.

In Cox’s Bazar district, shelter to some 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled vio-lence in neighbouring Myanmar, more than 100,000 people have been displaced.

Since early July, flooding and landslides have damaged thou-sands of shelters at the refugee camps, killing two people, including a child, Human Rights Watch said in a release last week.

Houses are seen flooded in Kurigram, Bangladesh, yesterday.

Eleven dead in Kandahar blast AFP KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN

At least 11 civilians were killed and dozens more wounded yesterday after their vehicle hit a bomb in southern Afghanistan that officials said had been planted by the Taliban.

The deaths come just one week after Taliban and Afghan officials unveiled a “roadmap for peace” in which they pledged to eliminate civilian casualties.

Monday’s incident occurred around 2:00pm (0930 GMT) when a vehicle carrying many passengers hit a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban, pro-vincial police chief Tadin Khan said.

It was not immediately clear if the victims had been travelling in a bus or in the back of a large truck.

“In the blast, 11 people were martyred and 34 others were wounded. Women and children are among the victims,” Khan said.

Afghan military spokesman Ahmad Sadiq Esa confirmed the toll, while Kandahar Governor Hayatullah Hayat said 13 were killed.

No group claimed imme-diate responsibility. The Taliban did not immediately comment.

Kandahar is considered the birthplace of the Taliban, who still control some parts of the province.

Insurgents often use roadside bombs and landmines to target Afghan security forces — but the lethal weapons also inflict heavy casualties on civilians.

Years of conflict have left Afghanistan strewn with land-mines, unexploded mortars, rockets and homemade bombs — and many are picked up by curious children.

According to the United Nations, almost 4,000 civilians – including more than 900 children — were killed in Afghanistan last year, with another 7,000 wounded.

TCC says open to negotiated settlement with Pakistan INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) said it was willing to discuss the potential for a negotiated settlement with Pakistan over an almost $6bn damages case decided in its favour.

On Friday, an arbitration tri-bunal of the World Bank’s Inter-national Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awarded about $5.9bn in damages to TCC in arbitration claims it filed against Pakistan following the denial of a mining lease for the Reko Diq project in Pakistan in 2011.

Tethyan Copper Company is a joint venture held equally by the Antofagasta plc and Barrick Gold Corporation, one of the world’s mining giants.

Damages include compen-sation of $4.087bn by reference to the fair market value of the Reko Diq project at the time of the mining lease denial, and interest award of $1.753bn. The tribunal also awarded TCC just under $62m in costs incurred in enforcing its rights.

“We are pleased to reach this milestone after more than seven

years of arbitration,” Ivan Arriagada, Antofagasta plc’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We remain willing to discuss the potential for a negotiated settlement with Pakistan and will continue to protect our commercial interests and legal rights until the con-clusion of this dispute,” said William Hayes, TCC’s chairman.

The award is binding on the parties. There are limited grounds for challenging the award under the ICSID Con-vention. It is not expected that proceeds of the award will be recognised in Antofagasta’s financial statements until received. Prior to the denial of the mining lease application, TCC had completed a feasibility study showing that Reko Diq was one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, and had a potential mine life of over 50 years and an estimated initial capital investment of over $3bn.

The ICSID, which provides facilities for conciliation and arbitration of international investment disputes, rendered its judgement on Friday in a 700-page ruling against Pakistan.

22 missing in flash floodsINTERNEWS NEELUM, PAKISTAN

At least 22 people were reported missing yesterday in Neelum Valley in Pakistan administered Kashmir due to flash flood, rains and lightning.

At the valley’s Lesswa area, cloud burst led to rain and thunder and flash floods caused wide-scale destruction.

The flash flood caused damage to 150 houses and one mosque also collapsed, with 22 people missing. The missing people included 11 from a pros-elytizing party and others were said to be locals. Shops were also damaged in the area and vehicles of several tourists also went missing due to flash flood.Rescue efforts are under way.

A Daily Mail story claimed Shehbaz Sharif embezzled funds from the aid money UK gave to Pakistan. Shehbaz has denied the claims and announced to sue the paper.

10 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019ASIA / EUROPE

HK lawmakers urge dialogue after clashesAP HONG KONG

Hong Kong lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum urged action yesterday in response to violent scuffles between police and protesters.

The demonstration on Sunday in Hong Kong’s Sha Tin district was peaceful for most of the day, but fights broke out when police started clearing streets after nightfall. Some pro-testers retreated into a shopping complex where they and police hit each other with clubs and umbrellas.

Both pro-democracy legis-lators and ones who support China’s Communist Party-led central government held news conferences to address the clashes.

“Both sides have to come out and establish communication channels,” said pro-Beijing law-

maker Starry Lee.“I think (Chief Executive

Carrie Lam) and also the bureau responsible should come out and respond to this issue,” Lee said. “Otherwise Hong Kong will be the loser and no Hong Kong person wants to see this happen again and again.”

Large-scale protests began in Hong Kong last month in opposition to proposed

extradition legislation that would allow people in Hong Kong to be sent for trials in mainland China,

where critics say their legal rights would not be guaranteed. In response to a series of massive

demonstrations calling for the bills’ withdrawal, Lam said the legislation was “dead.”

But thousands have con-tinued to take to the streets to call for greater government accountability and democratic reforms.

While largely peaceful, the protests have at times devolved into clashes between protesters and police, who have used pepper spray, bean bag rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas to quell demonstrators who have in turn called for police to be held responsible for their tactics.

Pro-democracy legislator Claudia Mo described the current tumult as “the biggest political and governance crisis Hong Kong has ever faced.”

“The whole of Hong Kong found it difficult to cope,” Mo said. “We urge once again Carrie Lam to come out and face the people.”

Thai Premier declares end of military ruleREUTERS BANGKOK

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha formally resigned as the head of the military government yesterday, saying the country would function as a normal democracy after five years of military rule.

Prayuth stays on as prime minister with the backing of pro-military parties in par-liament and a military-appointed upper house under a constitution that critics said stifles democracy and enshrines a political role for the military.

Prayuth, in a televised address to the nation, said military rule had brought success in many areas, from fixing the problem of illegal fishing and human traf-ficking, to the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cave last year.

The former army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup,

said the intervention then had been necessary to restore order after six months of street pro-tests and violent clashes, but things were getting back to normal after a March election.

“Thailand is now fully a democratic country with a con-stitutional monarchy, with a parliament whose members are elected,” Prayuth said.

“All problems will be addressed normally based on a democratic system with no use of special powers,” he said, referring to sweeping powers the military government wielded.

Last week, Prayuth used those powers for one last time to end various restrictions on media. He also transferred civilian legal cases from military to civilian court though he retained the power to let security forces carry out searches and make arrests unchallenged.

Four dead in France train-car collisionAFP AVENAY-VAL-D’OR

A woman and three children were killed yesterday when a train smashed into their car at a level crossing in eastern France.

Four people on the regional train travelling from the city of Reims to Epernay suffered minor injuries in the crash in Avenay-Val-d’Or, the local police

authority said in a statement.The eldest child killed, aged

around 10, was the driver’s daughter while the other two were “very young”, mayor Philippe Maussire said. “The driver of the train is in shock.”

A manager at French rail operator SNCF said the crossing was closed when the car smashed into it, and that the company was not aware of any

“malfunction”.The barrier “comes down

automatically when a train is approaching”, head of rail infra-structure management unit SNCF Reseau Patrick Jeantet said, adding that “the crossing was not in a high-risk zone.”

France’s Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne announced plans earlier this year to improve safety at level crossings.

French gendarmes stand at a level crossing after a car and a TER regional express train crashed at the exit of the train station in Avenay-Val-d’Or, near Reims, northeastern France, yesterday.

Bosnia prosecutor indicts man on terrorism chargesREUTERS SARAJEVO

Bosnia’s state prosecutor yesterday indicted for terrorism a Bosnia man who fought for IS group in Syria, after he was brought back to the country in April.

Ibro Cufurovic, who is from the northwestern town of Velika Kladusa, has been in custody since his extradition from Syria, following a detention by the Kurdish militia more than a year ago.

The 25-year-old has been indicted for organising a ter-rorist group, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

It said Cufurovic, using the name Abu Kasim Albosni, spent almost five years in Syria, where he participated alongside other Bosnians in terrorist activities and fought on the side of IS group.

Bosnia’s state court has tried and convicted 46 people who have returned from Syria or Iraq in the past few years.

According to Bosnian intel-ligence, 241 adults and 80 children left Bosnia or Bosnian diaspora from 2012-2016 for Syria and Iraq, where 150 more children were born.

About 100 adults, including 49 women, remained there while at least 88 have been killed or died.

Several women with children, including Cufurovic’s wife, have pleaded with Bosnian authorities to be allowed to return home but there is still no clear policy on how to deal with them because the children do not hold Bosnian citizenship.

Pro-democracy legislator Claudia Mo described the current tumult as “the biggest political and governance crisis Hong Kong has ever faced.”

Hong Kong leader condemns ‘rioters’ after violent mall clashAFP HONG KONG

Anti-government protesters who fought police inside a Hong Kong shopping mall were “rioters”, the finance hub’s pro-Beijing leader said yesterday, as she threw her support behind the city’s beleaguered police force following another weekend of clashes.

Officers and protesters were injured in the chaotic melee which left bloodstains on the floor and at least 28 people needing hospital treatment.

City leader Carrie Lam rounded on protesters after visiting injured officers yesterday.

“They were committed to the duties, and also very profes-sional and restrained. But they were wantonly attacked by rioters — I think we can really describe them as rioters,” Lam told reporters.

Lam said police and prose-cutors will press charges fol-lowing investigations. Yesterday, Lam’s office denied some weekend media reports that she had told Beijing she was prepared to resign, but had been rejected.

Thai police seizemassive haulof crystal meth

AP/BANGKOK

Police in Thailand said they have seized more than a tonne of crystal meth and over 10 million methamphetamine tablets in a series of drug raids this month, amid increased production and use of the drugs in Southeast Asia.

Thai authorities often make several large seizures a year of methamphetamine and other drugs, usually arresting low-level traffickers and drivers.

Police said in statements that they arrested eight people for trafficking over 5 million methamphetamine pills, 600kg of crystal meth, 15.4kg of heroin and 51kg of ketamine. The drugs were discovered Friday in a pickup truck hidden under fruit baskets and at a trafficker’s home.

Police said they seized 459kg of crystal methamphet-amine last week that they suspect originated from Myanmar.

‘Reduce the Litter’ exhibitionVisitors view a hanging art installation by a group of artists made from scraps of plastics, cans and containers at an exhibition “Reduce the Litter” at the French Cultural Centre in Hanoi, yesterday The exhibition takes on the perspective on production and consumption, portraying pollution from domestic waste causing harmful impact on the environment and people’s health.

Slovenia to lengthen fence along border with CroatiaAFP LJUBLJANA

Slovenia said yesterday it would build an additional 40km of fence on its border with Croatia to keep out migrants heading for Italy and Austria.

The small EU member will put up fencing “at the areas where it is urgently needed to prevent illegal border crossings

and to protect citizens and their properties,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

Slovenia’s government last week signed a contract for the construction of 40km of barbed wire fence and 3.8km of a more durable panel fence.

The country of some two million people has erected 116 kilometres of wire fence and 63 kilometres of panel fence along

the 670km long border with its larger neighbour since 2015, when more than half-a-million people crossed Slovenia on their way toward western Europe.

In the first half of this year, Slovenia intercepted 5,345 people, mostly from Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco and Afghan-istan, seeking to cross illegally from Croatia — a European Union member that has not yet

joined the Schengen visa-free area. This was 47 precent higher than the same period in 2018.

The increase spurred Slovenia, the richest member of the ex-Yugoslav federation, to reinforce border policing and to buy more drones, night cameras and other surveillance tools.

“There is no doubt we will continue to face this migration for years because the European

Union isn’t doing enough to solve the problem,” Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec told par-liament last week.

The Interior Ministry did not disclose where the additional fence will be built or when con-struction would start.

Slovenia and Italy launched joint police patrols on their common border this month to intercept uncontrolled crossings.

North Macedonia expects Nato membership this yearREUTERS LJUBLJANA

North Macedonia expects to become a member of Nato by the end of this year and hopes to get a date for the start of European Union (EU) accession talks in October, President Stevo Pendarovski said.

Nato members signed an accord in February allowing the North Macedonia to become the 30th member of the US-led mil-itary alliance, after a deal with Greece ended a long dispute over its name. The ratification process normally takes a year.

The European Commission formally recommended in May that North Macedonia should start negotiations to join the EU.

“We expect ... that the European Union will in October accept its decision about the date for (the start of EU accession) talks,” Pendarovski told a news conference on a visit to Slovenia, his first trip abroad after being elected in May.

Pendarovski said he expected all Nato members would in coming months ratify

the membership accord with North Macedonia.

The former Yugoslav republic changed its name to North Macedonia from Mace-donia this year, resolving a decades-old dispute with Greece and opening the way for EU and Nato membership.

Pendarovski said he hoped that the new European Com-mission will start work in Sep-tember at the latest following May European elections, and that the process of appointing a new European administration and deciding an accession talks date would not be prolonged.

He also expressed strong opposition to any border changes in the region when asked to comment on a potential land swap deal between Serbia and Kosovo which was on the table several months ago.

“The borders have to stay where they are. Any other option could create a domino effect ... which could hurt several coun-tries in the region including North Macedonia,” Pendarovski said. “Border changes could even lead to armed conflicts.

Two dead, manyhomes damagedin Indonesia quakeAP/JAKARTA

A disaster official said a strong earthquake in eastern Indo-nesia killed two people and damaged at least dozens of homes.

The magnitude 7.3 quake on Sunday was centered 166 km southeast of Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province, at a depth of 10km. Shallow quakes can cause more damage.

National disaster agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said that two women were killed by collapsing houses and more than 2,000 people have fled to temporary shelters.

The agency is still assessing the level of destruction but said two bridges and about 58 homes in one village alone were damaged.

11TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 EUROPE

Italian police seize missile in raids on far-right groupsAFP ROME

Italian police said yesterday that they had seized weapons including an air-to-air missile in raids on far-right extremist groups.

Neo-Nazi propaganda was also seized during the raids in several cities against Italians suspected of aiding pro-Russian rebels fighting Ukrainian troops in Donbass.

“During the operation, an air-to-air missile in perfect working order was seized,” police said in a statement.

As well as the Matra missile, the raid uncovered a stash of sophisticated weapons, including “latest generation” automatic assault rifles and rocket launchers.

Police arrested three people, including Fabio Del Bergiolo, 50, a former candidate for the neo-fascist Forza Nuova party.

The others were a 42-year-old Swiss and an Italian, 51, arrested near Forli airport on suspicion of trying to sell the missile.

The Digos law enforcement agency, which deals largely with terrorism and organised crime, led the operation from Turin with assistance from police in Forli, Milan, Novara and Varese.

“We have some idea about what the seized equipment could be used for, but will not speculate,” Turin police commissioner Giuseppe De Matteis said.

“For now, there is nothing to lead us to suspect” an active plot to use the weapons, said counter-terrorism official Eugenio Spina.

Police have carried out several raids in recent weeks on far-right targets around Turin.

The latest, on 9 July, led to the arrest of Fabio Carlo D’Allia, accused of advocating fascism and harbouring weapons.

The weapons, including an air-to-air missile, seized in raids on neo-Nazi sympathisers, in Turin, Italy, yesterday.

May condemns Trump’s tweets on congresswomenAFP LONDON

Outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned US President Donald Trump’s tweets telling progressive Democrat congresswomen to “go back” where they came from as “completely unacceptable”.

“Her view is that the lan-guage which was used to refer

to the women was completely unacceptable,” May’s spokesman said.

Trump and May have endured a rocky relationship, which took a turn for the worse last week following the leak of diplomatic British cables highly critical of his presidency.

Angered by May’s support for her ambassador, Trump assailed the prime minister over

her handling of fraught Brexit negotiations, and welcomed her impending departure from office.

“What a mess she and her representatives have created,” Trump fumed in a series of tweets. “I told her how it should be done, but she decided to go another way.”

“The good news for the won-derful United Kingdom is that they will soon have a new Prime

Minister,” he wrote.Boris Johnson is the heavy

favourite to replace May as prime minister, and has spoken out in support of the US president.

Johnson wants to visit Trump immediately he becomes prime minister to try to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal, according to the Times yesterday.

But May’s comments will

now raise the pressure on him to condemn the president’s comments.

Trump accused congress-women who “originally came from countries whose govern-ments are a complete and total catastrophe” of “viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our gov-ernment is to be run.”

20 million childrenmissing out on vaccines REUTERS LONDON

More than one in 10 children —or 20 million worldwide —missed out last year on vaccines against l ife-threatening diseases such as measles, diph-theria and tetanus, the World Health Organization and the Unicef children’s fund said yesterday.

In a report on global immu-nisation coverage, the UN agencies found that vaccination levels are stagnating, notably in poor countries or areas of conflict.

“Vaccines are one of our most important tools for pre-venting outbreaks and keeping the world safe,” the WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a statement.

“It’s often those who are most at risk — the poorest, the most marginalised, those touched by conflict or forced from their homes — who are persistently missed,” he said. “Far too many are left behind.”

The WHO/Unicef report found that since 2010, vacci-nation coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough)

vaccine and one dose of measles vaccine has stalled at around 86 percent.

The report said that this was too low, since 95 percent cov-erage is generally needed to provide “herd immunity” to those who are not vaccinated.

In 2018, for example, the number of measles cases around the world more than doubled, to almost 350,000.

“Measles is a real-time indi-cator of where we have more work to do to fight preventable diseases,” said Henrietta Fore, Unicef’s executive director.

“An outbreak points to com-munities that are missing out on vaccines ... (and) we have to exhaust every effort to immunize every child.”

Almost half the world’s unvaccinated children are in just 16 countries: Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

If these children fall ill, the report said, they are at risk of the most severe health conse-quences, and are least able to get the treatment and care they need.

Demonstrators from the “Extinction Rebellion” climate environmental activist group protest outside of The Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand in central London, yesterday.

Climate activists block roads in British citiesAP LONDON

Environmental protesters have blocked roads in London and four other British cities in a new wave of demonstrations demanding faster action against climate change.

Hundreds of supporters of the group Extinction Rebellion,

along with a blue boat bearing the words “Act Now,” blocked the street outside London’s Royal Courts of Justice yesterday. They called for charges to be dropped against more than 1,000 people arrested during climate protests earlier this year.

Protests are also taking place in Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol and Leeds.

In April, members of the group blocked several London roads and bridges during 10 days of action designed to alert the public and politicians to the “climate emergency.”

British government aims to achieve net zero carbon emis-sions by the year 2050, but Extinction Rebellion wants it done by 2025.

Prisoner swap between Russia, Ukraine in limboAP MOSCOW

A much-anticipated prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine was thrown into uncer-tainty yesterday after a Ukrainian court postponed a hearing that was expected to release an imprisoned Russian journalist.

Russia and Ukraine were on track to launch a major prisoner swap involving the Russian jour-nalist and 24 Ukrainians

captured in the Sea of Azov last December when the Russian envoy for human rights, Svetlana Moskalkova, arrived in Ukraine yesterday on a rare visit. She held talks with her Ukrainian counterpart about the captured prisoners and sounded positive about what officials both in Kiev and Moscow were describing as an impending prisoner swap.

Moskalkova was invited to attend a court hearing in Kiev yesterday afternoon that was expected to rule on the detention

of Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinskiy who has been in custody for a year facing treason charges. The court, however, abruptly adjourned the hearing until Thursday.

“I’m completely disap-pointed by the fact that the hearing has been scrapped,” Moskalkova said.

The flurry of activity around the imprisoned Russians and Ukrainians follows last week’s first telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin

and Ukrainian President Volo-dymyr Zelenskiy.

Moskalkova said that she had thought that the phone call had given impetus to launch a dia-logue and added that the Kiev court may have been under pressure not to issue a ruling on Monday.

Political novice and former comedian Zelenskiy, who was elected in May, has said the release of Ukrainians in Russian custody is one of the most urgent priorities of his presidency.

France arrests 282 people over football unrestAFP/PARIS

A total of 282 people were arrested in France after unrest following the Algerian football team’s qualification for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, the interior ministry said yesterday.

Riotous celebrations erupted around the country after Algeria beat Nigeria 2-1 in the semi-final. The arrests were made nationwide on Sunday evening, the ministry said.

Some of the arrests were also linked to unrest surrounding events marking France’s national day celebrations on Sunday.

Unruly scenes erupted in Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Fifty people were arrested in the capital and there were incidents between football fans and police on the Champs-Elysees avenue.

Second Croatian minister resigns over property dealREUTERS/ZAGREB

Croatia’s State Property Management Minister Goran Maric resigned following media reports about his questionable private real estate transactions.

He is the second Croatian minister to quit after Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuscevic resigned last week for similar reasons.

“I was working under immense pressure, I became a target. I’m not capable to accept such a pressure on me and my family,” Maric said.

Local media reported that Maric, a former soccer referee, allegedly acquired property in murky deals before he became minister in 2016.

Von der Leyen offers reforms ahead of EU vote

REUTERS BRUSSELS

The European Union’s conserv-ative nominee to head the exec-utive Commission proposed a raft of social, environmental and economic reforms yesterday, seeking support from European Union lawmakers who are due to vote on her nomination today.

In a bid to win over socialists, whose support she can’t be sure of to secure a majority in the European Par-liament, Ursula von der Leyen said she would back a guar-anteed minimum wage for all EU workers and an unem-ployment benefit scheme.

In letters dated July 15 to the socialist and liberal leaders of the assembly, she also said that EU fiscal rules should be inter-preted more flexibly and should aim for a more growth-friendly stance in the euro area - a stand that appears to defy Germany’s traditional policy of fiscal restraint.

Von der Leyen will address the 751-member European Par-liament in Strasbourg today, and then lawmakers will hold a debate and proceed to vote for or against her in a secret paper ballot.

She needs the backing of an absolute majority, which would

normally be 376. The assembly is currently four members short, which means she may need 374 votes from 747. Diplomats say it is far from certain that she will cross that line.

Although the Greens have already ruled out their support for her, von der Leyen said she would seek a cut in EU carbon emissions of up to 55% by 2030, raising her previous offer from 40%.

She also pledged to extend the bloc’s emissions trading scheme, an offer that is likely to please liberal lawmakers.

Echoing a proposal from Spain’s socialist government, von der Leyen said she would back a “carbon border tax” to favour Europe’s industry.

She also promised reforms in the way the EU monitors the respect of the rule of law in member states. They will, however, be welcomed by pro-EU socialist and liberal dep-uties who have cast doubts on her candidacy because it came after eastern European leaders blocked the nomination of Frans Timmermans.

To counter accusations that the method used by EU leaders for her appointment undermined EU democracy, von der Leyen offered to improve the so-called “spitzenkandidaten” process — the German word for lead can-didates chosen by EU political parties — rather than EU leaders in closed-door meetings.

She also said she would support a right of legislative ini-tiative for the EU Parliament, a move that would reduce the Com-mission’s exclusive power to propose EU laws. Von der Leyen also pledged the overhaul of migration and foreign policies.

Von der Leyen will address the EU Parliament in Strasbourg today, and then lawmakers will hold a debate and proceed to vote for or against her in a secret paper ballot.

12 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019AMERICAS

Trump hails weekend deportation raids REUTERS WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said yesterday that raids over the weekend aimed at immigrants who had been ordered deported were “very successful” even though much of the activity was not visible to the public.

Trump had vowed to launch mass deportation roundups over the weekend, causing immi-grants and their advocates to brace for large numbers of arrests, but by Sunday evening there were only reports of low-profile operations in a few cities.

“The ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids were very successful,” Trump told reporters at a White House event. “People came into our country illegally ... Many were felons. Many were convicted of crimes.”

“Many, many were taken out on Sunday— you just didn’t know about it. ... It was a very suc-cessful day but you didn’t see a lot of it. ... Every person taken out had papers and we had court orders,” Trump added, without offering any evidence to support his statement.

Reporting over the weekend suggested the ICE raids were narrower in scope than had been anticipated.

New York Mayor Bill de

Blasio said there were three ICE operations in his city on Sat-urday. There were unconfirmed reports of ICE actions in Denver and Miami.

“We are doing targeted enforcement actions against spe-cific individuals who have had their day in immigration court

and have been ordered removed by an immigration judge,” Acting ICE Director Matt Albence told Fox News on Sunday when asked for an update.

Mary Bauer at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said there were no confirmed oper-ations in large Southern cities such as Atlanta.

There also were no reports of arrests from the American Immigration Council, which has lawyers on standby to give legal advice at the country’s largest family migrant detention center in Dilley, Texas.

The removal operations are meant to deter a surge in Central American families seeking asylum in the United States after fleeing poverty and gang vio-lence in their home countries.

US moves to end asylum protections for Central AmericansAP WASHINGTON

The Trump administration yesterday moved to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants in a major escalation of the president’s battle to tamp down the number of people crossing the US-Mexico border.

According to a new rule published in the Federal

Register, asylum seekers who pass through another country first will be ineligible for asylum at the US southern border.

The rule, expected to go into effect today, also applies to children who have crossed the border alone.

There are some exceptions: If someone has been trafficked, if the country the migrant passed through did not sign one of the major international

treaties that govern how ref-ugees are managed (though most Western countries have signed them) or if an asylum-seeker sought protection in a country but was denied, then a migrant could still apply for US asylum.

But the move by President Donald Trump’s administration was meant to essentially end asylum protections as they now are on the southern border,

reversing decades of US policy on how refugees are treated and coming as the government con-tinues to clamp down on migrants and as the treatment of those who made it to the country is heavily criticised as inhumane.

Attorney-General William Barr said that the United States is “a generous country but is being completely over-whelmed” by the burdens

associated with apprehending and processing hundreds of thousands of migrants at the southern border.

“This rule will decrease forum shopping by economic migrants and those who seek to exploit our asylum system to obtain entry to the United States,” Barr said in a statement.

The policy is almost certain to face a legal challenge.

“Many, many were taken out on Sunday— you just didn’t know about it. ... It was a very successful day but you didn’t see a lot of it. ... Every person taken out had papers and we had court orders,” Trump said.

Pelosi plans vote condemning Trump’s attack on lawmakersBLOOMBERG WASHINGTON

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber will vote on a reso-lution condemning President Donald Trump for his attacks on four female Democratic lawmakers, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Trump’s call for the four law-makers to “go back” to where they came from was met with outcries of racism by Democrats — and pushback from several

Republicans.The president, asked by

reporters at the White House whether he was concerned that white nationalists are backing his remarks, said, “It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me.”

Pelosi said the House reso-lution will be offered by a group of Democrats who were born abroad, and she called for Dem-ocrats and Republicans alike to support it.

“I reject the president’s

xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation,” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues.

Three of the four women Trump was apparently refer-encing were born in the US; none is white.

Trump continued his attack yesterday, saying in a speech that “all I’m saying is if they’re not happy here, they can leave.”

“I’m sure that there will be many people that don’t miss them,” the president said.

Republ icans largely

remained silent on the issue, although a handful criticised their party’s leader. Texas GOP Representative Pete Olson called on the president to “immediately disavow his comments, and Rep-resentative Chip Roy, also a Texas Republican, said on Twitter that Trump “was wrong” to make the remark.

One of Trump’s key allies in Congress, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, offered his own advice to the president. “Mr President you’re

right about their policies, you’re right about where they’ll take the country. Just aim higher.”

Trump said later, “I disagree with Lindsey.”

Senator Pat Toomey, a Penn-sylvania Republican, said Trump’s statement was “wrong.” “We should defeat their ideas on the merits, not on the basis of their ancestry,” Toomey said in a statement. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine also called on Trump to withdraw his remarks.

Family members preparing a banner for a relative who was picked up in an earlier Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid outside the main ICE detention centre in downtown Los Angeles, California, yesterday.

New York Mayor on defence after blackoutAP NEW YORK

New York’s mayor fended off criticism yesterday for being in Iowa campaigning for president while Manhattan was in the grips of a major power outage.

Bill de Blasio said that he was in frequent contact with agencies handling the emer-gency and that he thinks first responders did an “incredible job.”

The Saturday night blackout darkened more than 40 square blocks of Manhattan, including Times Square.

De Blasio sidestepped crit-icism from numerous quarters, including from Governor Andrew Cuomo, a fellow Dem-ocrat. A front-page New York Post editorial called for de Bla-sio’s ouster.

During an appearance yes-terday on “Morning Joe,” de Blasio insisted that the blackout

response was well-managed with his remote supervision, noting that power was back on within several hours.

“It doesn’t matter where you are, you’re in charge of your team and making sure people are executing a plan,” said the mayor, who is seeking the Dem-ocratic nomination for pres-ident. “The important thing is to get the right people into the right place.”

De Blasio said he took a four-hour car ride from Iowa to Chicago and got on the first available plane home.

Cuomo said he would leave it to the voters of New York City to pass judgment on de Blasio’s response, but added that “there’s no substitute for firsthand infor-mation and firsthand knowledge” during an emergency.

“People want to see their leader on site, in charge, in control, and it makes people feel more confident,” Cuomo said.

Man gets second life sentence inCharlottesville car attackAP CHARLOTTESVILLE

An avowed white supremacist was sentenced to life plus 419 years on state charges yesterday for deliberately driving his car into anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

James Alex Fields Jr, 22, received the sentence for killing one person and injuring dozens during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017.

Last month, Fields received a life sentence on 29 federal hate crime charges.

Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore followed a state jury’s recommendation in handing down the sentence. Under state law, he was allowed to go lower than the recom-mendation, but not higher.

“Mr Fields, you had choices. We all have choices,” Moore said. “You made the wrong ones and you caused great harm. ... You caused harm around the globe when people saw what you did.”

The state sentence is mainly symbolic given his previous sentence on the federal charges.

“For his purposes, he has one life to give, so this is a largely academic exercise,” noted Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Wash-ington University.

During Fields’ state trial, his attorneys focused on his history of mental illness and traumatic childhood.

A view of sneakers on display for “The Ultimate Sneaker Collection” online auction at Sotheby’s, in New York City, yesterday.

Up for auction

Venezuelan government, opposition resume talks in BarbadosAP CARACAS

The Venezuelan government and the opposition resumed talks aimed at ending the political crisis in their country, the coun-try’s information minister said yesterday.

Jorge Rodríguez said on Twitter that he and the rest of the government’s delegation have arrived for negotiations in the Caribbean nation of Bar-bados, where several days of talks were also held last week.

Rodríguez was flanked by representatives including Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and Miranda state Gov Héctor Rodríguez in the video message.

Chief opposition negotiator Stalin González earlier con-firmed that his delegation was returning to Barbados for talks mediated by Norway .

Negotiations between the adversaries have collapsed in previous years and major issues remain contentious. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó contends President Nicolás Maduro’s

re-election last year was invalid and wants early presidential elections.

The government accuses the opposition of fomenting violence.

As the political dispute drags on, Venezuela is sinking deeper into an economic and humani-tarian crisis that has led millions of people to leave the country in recent years.

Also yesterday, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside a United Nations office in Caracas to protest alleged

torture of anti-government activists by Venezuela’s military intelligence unit.

Delsa Solórzano, an oppo-sition lawmaker, said some detainees had been denied food and medicine, and that their con-versations had been recorded during prison visits by family members.

The Venezuelan gov-ernment did not immediately comment on the allegations, though it has said a UN report chronicling torture, abuse and extrajudicial killings by

government security forces is inaccurate.

Last week, the Trump administration imposed sanc-tions on Venezuela’s military intelligence agency, which is accused of torturing to death navy Capt Rafael Acosta in custody last month.

The sanctions appear to be largely symbolic because they prohibit Americans’ dealings with the agency, which likely has few already.

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said yesterday

that the talks between the Ven-ezuelan government and oppo-sition party were a priority, but that they should not be a “shield against sanctions” for Acosta’s killers and others involved in violence and repression.

The United States had already imposed wider sanc-tions on Venezuela to try to dislodge Maduro, com-pounding hardship in a country whose economy, including its key oil industry, has been in sharp decline for many years.

Merkel visits Siemens plant

BUSINESSPAGE | 14 PAGE | 15

QFC’s Employment Standards Office

releases its annual report

Investments worth $209bn needed in Mena power sector

13TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019

Masraf Al Rayan achieves net profit of QR1.07bn in H1THE PENINSULA DOHA

Masraf Al Rayan has reported a net profit of QR1.07bn for the first half of 2019, up 1.15 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. The Bank’s assets portfolio continued to exhibit a strong performance at both local and regional levels, while maintaining a low rate of non-performing financing (NPF), which is considered to be one of the best ratios internationally.

Masraf Al Rayan continued to have the best operating effi-ciency ratio among local banks, at 23.47 percent.

In terms of profitability indi-cators, Masraf Al Rayan con-tinued to maintain its leading position with a 2.16 percent return on average assets and a 16.50 percent return on average equity, despite the increase in the return on customer deposits by 16.7 percent as a result of increased cost of deposit at both local and global levels.

“The results of the first half of 2019 may not be a huge leap compared to what the Bank had achieved during the first half of last year,” commented Hussein Al Abdullah, Chairman and Man-aging Director. He added: “The increase in profits was modest due to the increase in borrowing and deposit costs.”

However, Al Abdullah expressed optimism that the Bank will continue to achieve good results and positive growth, driven by Qatar’s strong economy. “The country is working diligently to create new productive projects that would expand the investment base and foster growth in the revenues of

the State, thus, ensuring the con-tinuity of the growth cycle.” he added.

Adel Mustafawi, Group Chief Executive Officer, expressed his satisfaction with the results achieved. He said that it reflects the success of the very strong and prudent credit risk man-agement policies and procedures that focus on high-quality asset development while continuing to develop the services provided to customers and improve per-formance. He stressed that the Bank continues to focus on the domestic and regional leadership of Masraf Al Rayan as well as on strengthening its brand position.

Mustafawi presented the financial statements for the first

half of 2019, which demonstrate the Bank’s outstanding per-formance. Masraf Al Rayan’s total assets reached QR102.5bn compared to QR100.4bn as of June 30, 2018 reflecting a growth of 2.1 percent. Financing activ-ities increased to QR74.8bn com-pared to QR73.08bn, a growth of 2.3 percent. Investments reached QR20bn from QR19.bn, up 3.0 percent. The Bank’s cus-tomer deposits was increased by 2.7 percent from a year ago to QR64bn. Shareholders’ equity rose by 4.8 percent to QR12.8bn.

The Bank’s financial high-lights showed return on average assets continues to be one of the highest in the market at 2.16 percent and return on average shareholders’ equity reached 16.50 percent. Earnings per share amounted to QR 0.144 compared to QR 0.142 for the period ended 30 June 2018. Book value per share reached QR1.71 compared to QR 1.64.

Capital adequacy ratio reached 19.45 percent, in line

with Basel III standards and Qatar Central Bank require-ments, compared to 18.75 percent as of 30 June 2018. Operational efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) is 23.47 percent. Non-performing financing (NPF) ratio is kept at a low level of 0.74 percent, reflecting the strong performance of our credit risk management as well as prudent policies and procedures.

The Bank said it continues to focus on providing Shariah-compliant financing solutions to individual and corporate clients to meet their growing needs.

Masraf Al Rayan also focuses on the development of tech-nology-based banking services made available in various forms and applications, ensuring the best customer service at all times. Masraf Al Rayan is also keen in diversifying products and developing services through the use of the best modern tech-nology, and providing them in the most convenient and optimal manner.

Adel Mustafawi, Group Chief Executive Officer, Masraf Al Rayan

Hussein Al Abdullah, Chairman and Managing Director, Masraf Al Rayan

Masraf Al Rayan’s total assets reached QR102.5bn compared to QR100.4bn as of June 30, 2018 reflecting a growth of 2.1%.

HSBC grabs bigger piece of investment banking fees in MenaSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

Middle Eastern & North African investment banking fees totalled an estimated $504.8m so far during 2019, 12.7 percent less than the value of fees recorded during the first half of 2018. Debt capital markets underwriting fees totalled $147.6m, up 1.7 percent year-on-year the second highest fee volume for the region since our records began in 2000.

Refinitiv’s 2019 Q2 investment banking analysis for the Middle East released yes-terday noted banking major HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the Mena so far during 2019, a total of $65.8m for a 13 percent share of the total fee pool. Refinitiv is one of the world’s largest pro-viders of financial markets data.

The region’s equity capital markets fees decreased a sig-nificant 64.8 percent to $24m, a 10-year low. Fees generated from completed M&A transac-tions totalled $207.4m, a 232 percent increase from last year to the second highest level on

record. Syndicated loan fees reached $125.8m, down 58.4 percent from YTD 2018. Debt capital markets fees accounted for 29.2 percent of the overall Middle Eastern & North African investment banking fee pool, the second highest market share since YTD 2001.

Syndicated lending fees accounted for 24.9 percent while the share of completed M&A advisory fees raised to the highest YTD level on record, accounting for 41.1 percent of the market. Equity capital markets underwriting fees accounted for 4.8 percent, a 10-year low.

As to Mergers and Acquisi-tions (M&A), the value of announced M&A transactions with any Middle Eastern & North African involvement at an all-time high reaching $112bn in the first half of 2019, 231 percent more than the value recorded during YTD 2018.

While Mena inbound M&A also stands at a YTD all-time high of $15.1bn, outbound M&A decreased from $6.5bn in YTD 2018 to $4.6bn so far during 2019, the lowest volume since

YTD 2004. Energy & Power deals currently account for 80 percent of Middle Eastern and North African involvement M&A by value, followed by the financial sector with a 13.7 percent market share but counting with 44 transactions, 18 more than the 26 recorded in the Energy & Power industry.

As to Equity Capital Markets, Middle Eastern and North African equity and equity-related issuance totalled $1.1bn so far during 2019, a 73 percent decrease year-on-year to the lowest level since YTD 2004. With $923.2m, IPOs represent 88 percent of the region’s ECM issuance, up from 16 percent during YTD last year.

Despite showing a 12 percent decreased compared to YTD 2018, debt issuance in the Middle Eastern and North African region currently stands at the third highest level since our records began, reaching $53.1bn so far this year. Qatar was the second most active nation in the region accounting for 29.6 percent of activity by value of issuance so far, this year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right), Siemens board member Joe Kaeser (left) and other officials walk through the production hall of Siemens turbine plant in Goerlitz, eastern Germany.

NDS-2 hastens Qatar’s growthSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

With the government advancing its second National Devel-opment Strategy (NDS-2) that sees the private sector assume greater importance in driving diversification, Qatar’s economic growth has accel-erated. NDS-2 also prioritises raising the average productivity of its local and foreign workers.

The country’s public finances and investor confidence have recovered since the 2017 blockade, after the government exercised spending restraint, injected liquidity into the banking system, rerouted impacted trade flows and benefitted from higher energy prices, NBK said in its ‘Qatar Macroeconomic Outlook 2019-21.’

Qatar’s growth is expected to accelerate to 2.6 percent in 2019 from 1.6 percent in 2018, driven by a recovery in hydrocarbon sector output (0.4 percent) and ongoing gains in non-hydro-carbon activity (4.4 percent) as the government’s expansive public investments bear fruit.

Over the medium term, as infrastructure projects related to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and work on the broader Qatar National Vision 2030 advances, non-oil growth is expected to moderate to around 4 percent by 2021. By this time, the private sector should have assumed a greater role in driving diversifi-cation through greater-value add—in sectors such as manu-facturing, services, transportation and real estate—as per 2018’s Qatar National Development Strategy 2018-2022 (NDS-2).

The hydrocarbon sector, meanwhile, should get a

welcome boost from the com-missioning of the delayed $10bn Barzan gas production facility. This should raise gas output by 12 percent (2 bncf/d) and drive higher condensates and NGLs volumes. The most significant contribution, however, will come over the medium-to-long term when LNG capacity expands by over 40 percent to 110 mtpa, with the addition of 4 new LNG trains by 2024.

Qatar’s fiscal position has strengthened since the authorities began the process of fiscal reform and consolidation, like merging ministries, liberalising fuel prices etc., after the oil price downturn and as energy prices began to recover from their 2016 nadir. Qatar recorded a surplus in 2018 (2.2 percent of GDP); that should improve further to 3.2 percent by 2021 amid continued spending restraint and stable energy prices. The improvement in government finances will also have a positive bearing on public debt. While the authorities accessed the debt markets in 2018 and early in 2019—securing favorable rates amid considerable investor demand—to the tune of $24bn, debt levels are expected to fall from 53 percent of GDP in 2018 to 41 percent of GDP by 2021.

The external current account balance, which moved back into surplus in 2017 and reached an estimated 8.3 percent of GDP in 2018 should remain in surplus over the forecast period. Not-withstanding a slight deterio-ration in 2019 to 6.4 percent of GDP on softer oil and gas prices, the current account will benefit in the medium-to-long term from higher gas exports and returns from QIA’s overseas assets. �P14

Huawei to invest $3bn in ItalyREUTERS MILAN

China’s Huawei Technologies said it would invest $3bn in Italy over the next three years, as the Chinese telecoms giant called on Rome to ensure the “transparent, efficient and fair” use of its ‘golden power’ on 5G network development.

Speaking at an event in Milan yesterday, the chief executive of the telecoms giant’s Italian unit, Thomas Miao, said Italy’s golden power - which allows the state to intervene in the private sector in the defence of national security - should be extended to all vendors in the European Union.

Italy recently beefed up the measure due partly to concerns over the potential involvement of Huawei and fellow Chinese company ZTE Corp in the development of 5G networks, a government source said on Friday.

Miao said Huawei would add 1,000 jobs in the country over the next three years.

14 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019BUSINESS

QFC’s ESO releases its annual reportTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Employment Standards Office (ESO) of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), one of the world’s leading and fastest growing onshore business and financial centres, has released its annual report which provides an overview of the ESO’s strategy, initiatives carried out and key milestones from 2016 to 2018.

Through its mission “Improving workplace relation-ships” and strategy inspired by the Qatar National Vision 2030, the ESO aims to stimulate a pro-ductive labour market, foster economic growth and support the national economic diversi-fication strategy.

Since its inception in 2015, the ESO has offered a variety of professional services free of charge to the QFC community. In particular, the ESO has pro-vided QFC clients with over 1,000 advisory services, a variety of workshops, awareness and training sessions, and performed a significant number of labour investigations and workplace inspections aimed at monitoring the level of compliance with employment standards.

The ESO’s Dispute Reso-lution Centre – the first and unique administrative dispute resolution centre for employment in the region, which operates under the guidelines of the International Labour Organ-ization (ILO), has amicably

resolved over 80 percent of employment complaints received.

In 2017 the ESO established the “Think-Lab”, the first social dialogue platform where employees, employers and insti-tutions meet to discuss employment matters, labour market trends and new policies for the evolving labour market.

The ESO cooperates with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs and the ILO on critical initiatives to support the Qatari labour market and the imple-mentation of ILO standards.

Luigia Ingianni, Commis-sioner, Employment Standards Office at the Qatar Financial Centre said: “As an integral part of Qatar’s strategic economic diversification efforts, the Qatar Financial Centre is committed to maintaining a sustainable

business ecosystem. By living the QFC values – integrity, synergy, passion and excellence, dynamism and client focus - we are con-tinuing to build trust among employers, employees and QFC institutions, while also improving the climate for investment and economic growth”.

Ingianni added: “Working in synergy with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social affairs, inter-national stakeholders as well as employers and employees from the private sector enables us to foster human, social and eco-nomic developments, three of the four pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030 which lead to sustainable economic growth. Through our strategy, we are also committed to supporting the achievement of the UN Sus-tainable Development Goals by continuing to exploit our resources to foster equality, inclusion, human development, partnerships, as well as safe and healthy work conditions within our community.”

The ESO is the QFC’s inde-pendent institution adminis-tering the QFC Employment and Data Protection Regulations. The ESO comprises the Employment Directorate, which includes the Dispute Prevention, Dispute Res-olution, Labour Market Infor-mation System and Occupational Safety and Health, and the Data Protection Directorate, the QFC data protection supervisory authority, which works in line with EU GDPR principles.

Luigia Ingianni (centre), Commissioner, Employment Standards Office at QFC, with the ESO Team.

Through its mission “Improving workplace relationships” and strategy inspired by the Qatar National Vision 2030, the ESO aims to stimulate a productive labour market, foster economic growth and support the national economic diversification strategy.

China struggles add to EM risks as rate cuts beckonBLOOMBERG DUBAI/SINGAPORE/NEW YORK

Slowing growth in China is inten-sifying the focus on the need for interest-rate cuts across emerging markets in the wake of last week’s dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

China’s gross domestic product rose 6.2 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, the weakest pace since quarterly data began in 1992, underscoring the fallout from the trade war. Investors will now focus on central bank meetings in Indonesia, South Africa and Ukraine, all of which are forecast to cut rates this week. There’s an almost even chance that South Korea may ease too.

Expected swings in devel-oping-nation currencies declined last week to the lowest level in almost two years and the average yield on local-currency emerging-market debt fell to new lows.

“The path of travel toward looser EM monetary policy is pretty clear and we are expecting the global wave of easing to con-tinue,” said Paul Greer, a London-based money manager at Fidelity International, whose emerging-market debt fund has

outperformed 97 percent of peers this year. But “this is not a classic environment for emerging-market currency appreciation as long as growth and trade remain sluggish.” Idiosyncratic risks are also likely to remain front and center this week, after Moody’s Investors Service lowered the outlook on Argentina’s credit score and Fitch Ratings cut Tur-key’s debt deeper into junk ter-ritory, just as the US considers imposing sanctions on the country over its purchase of a Russian missile system.

China’s factory output rose 6.3 percent in June, retail sales rose 9.8 percent, while investment gained 5.8 percent in the first half of the year -- all three beating estimates in further evidence that stimulus measures to curb the slowdown may be feeding through” The on-con-sensus print does lessen the

market fears that China’s economy is headed for a hard landing,” Stephen Innes (pic-tured), the managing partner of Vanguard Markets, wrote in a note. Risk assets will respond favorably “but it’s hard to escape the economic realities that the US-China trade war is having on global economies,” he wrote.

Bank Indonesia’s dovish incli-nations have been well-tele-graphed in advance; Governor Perry Warjiyo said in June that a rate cut is a matter of timing and magnitude. Expectations for more easing by the Bank Indonesia have seen the nation’s benchmark government bonds rally since the end of MayIndonesia’s June trade balance came in at $196m, the second consecutive monthly surplus, though falling short of expectations calling for a $658m surplus. While the consensus of 19 economists is for the South African Reserve Bank to cut the country’s repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.50 percent, two econ-omists forecast a reduction of 50 basis points and three expect the bank to keep rates on hold. The majority of economists expect policy makers in Ukraine to lower borrowing costs by 50 basis points. Economists are divided on the action to be taken by the Bank of Korea. Ten out of 24 who were

surveyed by Bloomberg expect the central bank to cut the policy rate from 1.7 percent Thursday. Chile’s central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday after surprising investors with a 50 basis-point cut in June. Chile’s peso has gained almost 2 percent since that reduction, supported by increased copper prices. Peru’s May monthly economic activity index on Monday is likely to show growth remains weak.

Money managers will watch for further progress on Brazil’s pension overhaul before Congress breaks for a midyear recess until August. Wells Fargo said the bill’s faster-than-expected progress will allow for further savings, prompting the bank to boost its forecast for the real. May economic activity data in Brazil, to be released on Monday, will probably show an increase from a year earlier.

Even if it does, the three-month moving average is set to stay negative, feeding concern of a second quarter of deteriorating growth. Beyond the pension bill, investors want interest-rate cuts that could help fuel a rebound in economic growth. Other Key Data India will be releasing its June export figures, while the Philip-pines will announce its May remit-tance numbers.

Top auditors from Qatar join The IIA international meetTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The IIA Qatar Board member Sundaresan Rajeswar attended The Institute of Internal Auditors’ (The IIA) 2019 International Conference held recently at Anaheim, in the USA. Ten top internal auditors from Qatar joined over 2,700 participants from over 100 countries.

“The Conference is the premier event to hear powerful keynote speakers and presenters representing the global internal audit profession. Attendees had the opportunity to learn on today’s current trends, Fraud, Ethics, Risk, Technology, and other knowledge-sharing ses-sions. The overall experience enhanced professional devel-opment, and much more” stated Rajeswar.

The keynote speakers were Richard Dreyfuss – an Academy Award Winning actor on A Vio-lation of Trust: How Bernie Madoff Changed a Nation, Jade Simmons – Transformational Leader and Renowned Classical Pianist, Mike Walsh – Futurist on Reinventing Leadership for the Age of Machine Intelligence, and Dennis Snow of Walt Disney

World on Performance Excel-lence: The Employee Factor.

The annual business meeting elected a newly structured Global Board of Directors for 2019–20 with J. Michael Joyce Jr., as Global Chairman. Joyce has more than 36 years of experience and is Vice President, Chief Auditor & Com-pliance Officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Buoyed by the critical role internal auditing increasingly plays in organisations around the world, The IIA announced that it had exceeded 200,000 members. “The significance of reaching this number is not simply the global reach of The IIA, but rather how our organization supports members’ continuous growth and professional development to do their jobs better and protect and enhance organizational value,” said IIA President Richard F. Chambers. There has been a global surge in corporate recog-nition and adoption of internal auditing as a key component of risk management and effective internal control.

The IIA attributes much of the recognition to the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) program; the only globally recognised internal audit certification.

The IIA Qatar Board member Sundaresan Rajeswar (left) with Michael Joyce Jr.

Multi-award winning safety record for ENGIETHE PENINSULA/DOHA

ENGIE, the global reference in low-carbon energy generation and services, has attained recognition with its local partners, Qatar Power Company (QPOWER) and Ras Girtas Power Company (RGPC), for their outstanding record in health and safety policies.

Designed to prevent any Lost Time Accident (LTA), ENGIE has recorded 13 consec-utive years in Qatar without any major injuries or incidents.

ENGIE’s CEO Sébastien Arbola said: Our Qatari oper-ations are driven by the ‘No Life at Risk’ strategy ensuring the rigorous implementation of the highest levels of health and safety practices that incorporates active moni-toring and correction of unsafe situations throughout all their operations.” In 2018 ENGIE identified over 31,000 poten-tially unsafe situations across the broader Middle East and South Asian region, with a 96 per cent successful close out rate.

NDS-2 hastens Qatar’s growth

FROM PAGE 13Currently, QIA’s assets are

estimated to be around $320bn (167 percent of GDP), which is a sizeable buffer with which to absorb economic shocks such as the 2017 conflict. Moreover, as the current account has improved, official QCB foreign reserves have recovered, touching pre-conflict levels in March of $33.5bn (6.1 months of imports).

The banking sector has overcome the shock of non-res-ident capital flight and tighter liquidity associated with the 2017 blockade. Foreign deposits have returned (+29 percent y/y), private sector credit growth is at a near-three year high (+12.6 percent y/y) and overall liquidity has improved.

On the risk side, the NBK analysts noted Qatar faces a few challenges including continued sensitivity to volatile global energy prices and capital flows as well as increasing LNG com-petition, especially from Aus-tralia and the US, which could put downward pressure on prices.

Tech tax set to dominate G7 finance ministers meetingAFP PARIS

A row over taxing tech giants is set to dominate a meeting of G7 finance ministers near Paris this week, with the world’s leading industrialised nations already riven by disruptive US trade policies.

During the meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Chantilly, ministers are set to discuss making taxation fairer as part of wider plans by G7 leaders to address rising ine-quality when they gather next month in the southern French city of Biarritz.

An international effort to update rules so as to rein in multinationals gaming the system by paying in low-tax rate countries has been plodding along.

But France and Britain gave the process a jolt last week when they moved forward with plans to apply sales taxes to digital giants, mostly American companies. France became the first major economy to impose such a tax when legislators gave their final approval while Britain unveiled legislation.

The French measure does

not specifically target US internet giants, but it is com-monly called the GAFA tax, an acronym for Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire will meet seper-ately with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin, with the tax measure expected to feature prominently in their discus-sions. Even before the final vote by French lawmakers, the US announced it was opening a so-called Section 301 investigation into the measure.

A Section 301 investigation was used by the Trump admin-istration to justify tariffs on China. Washington and Beijing have lashed out at each other with punitive tariffs on about $360bn in goods in a trade dispute that has roiled global financial markets and under-mined business confidence.

“We will urge Mnuchin to accelerate efforts to define tax rules for the 21st century rather than threaten us with Section 301, sanctions, retaliatory measures, which aren’t really the best actions for allies to use on one another,” a French government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

10,595.55 -4.65 PTS0.04%

QSE FTSE100 DOW CRUDE

7,531.72 +25.75 PTS0.34%

27,316.10 -15.93 PTS0.058% Dow & Brent before going to press

$60.10 -0.11

MARKETWATCH

15TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 BUSINESS

CROSSWORD

Youth from different social classes in Beijing come together to form China’s best dance crew and learn what it really means to be family.

STEP-UP: YEAR OF THE DANCE

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 4:15, 8:45 & 11:30pm; Gorilla (2D/Tamil) 2:00pm; Rustum (2D) 2:30pm; Coconut: The Little Dragon (2D/Animation) 2:15pm; Aladdin (2D) 5:30pm; Toy Story 4 (2D/Animation) 3:45pm; Hamlet Faroun (2D/Arabic) 7:45pm;Spider-Man: Far From Home 7:00 & 9:15pm; Shubha Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 4:45 & 11:30pm; Escape Plan: The Extractors 7:00 & 9:45pm; Crawl (2D/Horror) 9:45pm; Venilla Kabaddi Kuzhu 2(Tamil) 11:30pm

Gorilla (2D/Tamil) 2:00pm; Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 11:00pm; Shubha Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 6:15, 8:30 & 11:30pm;Coconut: The Little Dragon (2D/Animation) 2:15pm; Spider-Man: Far From Home 2:00, 3:45 & 7:15pm; Toy Story 4 (2D/Animation) 6:00pm; Crawl (2D/Horror) 9:30pm; Escape Plan: The Extractors 7:45pm; El Mamar (2D/Arabic) 8:30pm; Hamlet Faroun (2D/Arabic) 9:30pm; Gurkha (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm

Spider-Man: Far From Home 12:45, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45pm; Shubha Rathri 10:30am, 4:00 & 9:30pm;And The Oscar Goes To 8:45 & 11:30pm; Toy Story 4 (2D/Animation) 10:45am; Gorilla 1:00 & 6:15pm; Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 1:00, 6:30pm & 12:00midnight; Venilla Kabaddi Kuzhu 2(Tamil) 3:30 & 11:00pm; Gurkha (2D/Tamil) 8:45pm

MALL

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Shubha Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 5:30, 8:00, 10:30pm; Gorilla (2D/Tamil) 8:15pm; Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 5:45, 8:45, 11:45pm; Gurkha (2D/Tamil) 5:45pm; Kakshi: Amminipilla (2D/Malayalam) 5:30 & 10:30pmThamasha (2D/Malayalam) 8:00pm;Venilla Kabaddi Kuzhu 2(Tamil) 10:45pm

ASIAN TOWN

FLIK Mirqab Mall

ROXY

Aladdin (2D/Comedy) 10:00am, 12:35, 3:10pm;Anna (2D/Action) 11:00am, 1:20, 3:05, 5:20, 8:20 & 10;35pm; Annabelle Comes Home (2D/Comedy) 7:10, 9:20 & 11:30pm; Crawl (2D/Horror) 10:50, 11:15am, 12:45, 1:05, 2:55, 4:35, 6:30, 8:25, 10:20pm & 12:20am; Hamlet Faroun 5:50 & 7:50pm;Men In Black International 11:05am, 1:20 & 3:35pm; Toy Story 4 (2D/Animation) 10:20am, 11:00, 12:25, 1:00, 2:30, 3:00 & 5:00pm; Shubha Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 4:45, 7:25pm & 12:10am; Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 5:40, 8:00, 9:00, 10:05 & 11:20pm; Spider-Man: Far From Home 10:15, 11:15am, 12:50, 2:40, 3:25, 5:15, 6:00, 7:00, 8:35, 10:10, 11:10pm & 12:15am 3D 1:50, 4:25 & 9:35pm

Spider-Man: Far From Home 11:00, 1:00, 5:10, 7:50, 8:00, 7:20, 10:00 & 10:30pm; Crawl (2D/Horror) 11:00am, 12:30, 1:00, 2:30, 3:40, 4:00, 6:20 8:20 & 10:30pm; Gurkha (2D/Tamil) 3:10, 8:40, 9:10pm & 12:10am; Hamlet Faroun (2D/Arabic) 1:40, 6:00, 5:40, 7:10, 9:30, 10:40 & 11:30pm; The Extractors 8:20 & 11:50pm; Shubha Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 1:10, 3:10, 6:00, 6:30, 11:40pm & 12:30am;Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 10:30am, 12:30, 1:50, 3:00, 3:50, 4:30, 10:00 & 10:30pm; Toy Story 4 (2D/Animation) 10:30am, 12:30, 12:40, 2:20, 2:50, 3:20, 4:50, 5:00 & 7:00pm

Shubha Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 2:15 & 9:00pm;Super 30 (2D/Hindi) 2:15, 6:15 & 11:15pm; Venilla Kabaddi Kuzhu 2(Tamil) 2:30pm; Toy Story 4 (2D/Animation) 4:30pm; Spider-Man: Far From Home 5:00 & 9:15pm; Step-Up: Year of The Dance (2D/Drama) 6:15pm Hamlet Faroun (2D/Arabic) 7:15pm; Crawl (2D/Horror) 9:30pm;Escape Plan: The Extractors 11:30pm; Gorilla (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

ROYAL PLAZA

Investments worth $209bn needed in Mena power sectorTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Over the next five years, the Mena region will need to invest $209bn in the power sector according to the latest MENA Power Investment Outlook 2019-2023 report issued by The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral development financial institution.

Between 2019 and 2023, Apicorp estimates that investment in the Mena energy sector could reach $1 trillion, with the power sector accounting for the largest share at 36 percent, spurred by growing electricity demand and greater momentum for renewable energy, noted the report.

Dr Leila Benali (pictured), Chief Economist at Apicorp, said: “We have observed that a large share of the funding requirements in Mena’ss energy sector will go to the power sector, of which renewables account for a substantial share of around 34 percent.”

“We also estimate that Mena power capacity will need to expand by an average of 4 percent each year between 2019 and 2023, which cor-responds to 88GW by 2023, to meet rising consumption and pent-up demand. Highly leveraged power projects in the region continue to be largely financed based on non-recourse or limited recourse structure, with debt-equity ratios in the 60:40 to 80:20 range, even 85:15 for lower risk profile projects backed by strong government payment guarantee,” further com-mented Benali.

According to Apicorp, the power sector continues to evolve throughout the Mena region, driven by the need for countries to meet demand growth, diversify their economies and create efficiencies. The Mena region will require the addition of 88GW by the end of 2023 to meet demand growth. Gov-ernments have been accelerating

their investment plans and Apicorp estimates that 87GW of capacity additions are already at execution stage. This is expected to translate into $142bn for power generation, and approximately $68bn for trans-mission and distribution.

While the government remains involved at different phases of power projects, even in PPPs, the private sector is critical for risk management due to its track record in performance, technology and cost efficiency that it provides for financing.

Speaking about the private sec-tor’s involvement, Mustafa Ansari, Senior Economist at Apicorp, said: “Greater participation and financing from the private sector is imperative to the energy sectors growth; as

more evenly shared responsibility in financing will ensure a reliable supply of competitively priced power. The energy sector represents significant opportunities for private sector financing in the long term.”

Apicorp anticipates govern-ments and central authorities to continue to remain involved par-ticularly in central generation and transmission, and it has noticed some forays of private sector into distributed power through aggre-gating sites or clusters and leasing.

Electricity demand growth is expected to slow over the medium term leading to some overbuilding. Efforts to promote energy efficiency and support the public with smarter and more responsible consumption, whilst tackling infrastructural and regulatory hurdles are equally important. Consequently, Apicorp forecasts that over the next five years, electricity demand growth will slow to around 3.8 percent CAGR.

Apicorp predicts that close to $350bn could be invested in Mena’s power sector in the next five years, with renewable energy accounting for 34 percent of power investment, or 12 percent of total energy investment. Renewable energy developments in the Arab world have gained tremendous momentum in recent years, driven primarily by governments that rec-ognise the urgency of tackling rising demand for energy coupled with the declining costs of solar PV.

“From a business model per-spective, Jordan and Morocco have so far led the region with their renewable initiatives. Morocco’s target for renewable energy as a share of total generation is ambi-tious, standing at 42 percent by 2020. However, across the region, the policy signals, change in business models and investment/credit support required in grids and storage to accompany the introduction of renewables are yet to be seen,” added Benali.

Between 2019 and 2023, Apicorp estimates that investment in the Mena energy sector could reach $1 trillion, with the power sector accounting for the largest share at 36 percent, spurred by growing electricity demand and greater momentum for renewable energy, noted the report.

Oil below $60as Storm Barrymoves inlandBLOOMBERG LONDON

Oil skidded below $60 a barrel as a tropical storm that shut almost three-fourths of US Gulf of Mexico production moved inland while concerns lingered about demand growth.

Futures dropped as much as 1.1 percent around 11:45 a.m. in New York, in a sign of the market’s fragile sentiment. With Hurricane Barry now ashore and weakening, drillers have begun restaffing off-shore installations in the Gulf, after shuttering about 73 percent of crude output as of Sunday.

Chinese government data, meanwhile, indicated the world’s second-largest economy slowed to a three-decade low in the second quarter amid a prolonged trade dispute with the US While prices maintained elevation for much of the day, a dip below the $60 mark triggered automatic selling and encouraged other investors to exit oil en masse, accelerating the slide, said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA.

Crude has gained this month thanks to shrinking US stockpiles and rising tensions in the Middle East. The UK and its allies are con-sidering beefing up their military presence in the Persian Gulf to deal with the threat to shipping posed by Iran. Still, there are concerns over the longer term outlook. OPEC last week warned of a glut in 2020 while the IEA pointed to a surprise increase in global inven-tories in this year’s first half.

“Near term, the trend is still higher,” Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research in Florida, wrote in a note to clients. “But for-midable technical resistance in the mid-$60s and persistent demand concerns due to the trade war will likely prevent prices from making new highs for the year.”

16 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019CLASSIFIEDS

AL ASMAKH LISTINGSCALL CENTER: 4448 5111 / 4041 0757

We also offer our RICS regulated International valuation serviceVALUATIONS & RESEARCH advisory@alasmakhrealestate.com

Email : info@alasmakhrealestate/com Website: www.alasmakhrealestate.com

TOWERSBEVERLY HILLS TOWER (WEST BAY): Fully furnished 1 ����������� ������������� �������������������������� ��������� ������� ����� �� ��������� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (��������*������+������������*����,���� ������������������������������� ��������-�� *�+� ���� ��������-�� ��������� *����� �����������������������..������*������+������.������������������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02����������*��������������+�������������� ���������� ��������� 3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�:::2�;887 ��::<:�;2=>� �:::2�=?;<� �??;;�0>72� �::<7�;0;8����"%�'4)������+�������@�������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE (WEST BAY): �3���+�.���������0����������)�0�%����-������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ������������� �����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����������-��*�+�������������-����������� *����� ���� ������ ����� ������ A������ �� �����+����!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ (������+�� ���������� �������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�:::2�;887� �:::0�?=2;� �::<7�;2?0� �::<7�;0;8����"%�'4)������+�������@�������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE (WEST BAY): Fully furnished 1 bedroom ������������������ �������� ������������������������������ ������������ � ��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� �+�����������-�� *�+� ���� ��������-�� ��������� *����� ���� �����������������A�������������+����!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�(������+������������ �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("���44)�567829�:::2�;887� ::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07� �::<:�;2=>����"%�'4)������+�������@�������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE (WEST BAY): �3���+�.���������0����������)�0�%����-������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ������������� �����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� �+��� ��������-�� *�+� ������������-�����������*��������������������������A�������������+�� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ (������+�� ������������ ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829�:::2�;887� �:::0�?=2;� ::<7�;2?0����"%�'4)������+�������@�������������������

BEVERLY HILLS TOWER (WEST BAY): � 3���+� .��������� >��������� �� � � ����������� � ��� >� ���������� ������ �����������-�� ����� � � ������� ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� ���������� ����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+������������*� ���,����������������������������������������������-��*�+�������������-�����������*����������������������������..��� ���*�� ����+� ������ .��� ���� �� ������� ��!�"�#$�("�/'�"()� 02� (������+�� ����������� 4��������� �������� ������������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829�:::2;887 � ::<7� ;2?0� � ??;;� 2?>?� :::=� 08>2� ��� "%�'4)������+�������@�������������������

REGENCY PEARL 3 (THE PEARL):�(����.������������������������*��B� ����� ������� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� /���� C���+�(��������*������+���������������������D��*�+����3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� 8;02� ??20 � ::<8�<=7>�� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07� �>>07�2>0=����"%�'4)������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 3 (THE PEARL): (����.������������������������*��B� ����� ������� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� /���� C���+�(��������*������+���������������������D��*�+����3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� 8;02� ??20 � ::<8�<=7>�� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07� �>>07�2>0=����"%�'4)������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 3 (THE PEARL): (����.���������������������*������� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� /���� C���+� (��������*����� �+��� ����� ��� ����� �� ���D�� *�+� ��� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� 8;02� ??20 � ::<8� <=7>�� � ::<7� <070� � ??;;� =>07� � >>07� 2>0=� ��� "%�'4)� �����@������������������ ����+�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 3 (THE PEARL):�(����.���������������������*������� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� /���� C���+� (��������*����� �+��� ����� ��� ����� �� ���D�� *�+� ��� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� 8;02� ??20 � ::<8� <=7>�� � ::<7� <070� � ??;;� =>07� � >>07� 2>0=� ��� "%�'4)� �����@������������������ ����+�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 5 (THE PEARL):� (���� .���������=���������*������� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� /��� C���+� (��������*����� �+��� ����� ��� ����� �� ���D�� *�+� ��� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�::8;�=802� �::<8�<=7>�� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07� �>>07�2>0=����"%�'4)������+���+@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 5 (THE PEARL): (���� .��������� �������*������� ��� ����� ���� ������ ��� /��� C���+� (��������*����� �+��� ����� ��� ����� �� ���D�� *�+� ��� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�::8;�=802� �::<8�<=7>�� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07� �>>07�2>0=����"%�'4)������+���+@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 1 (THE PEARL): 3���+�.���������(�������+*������������ ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..����������������D��*�+�������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������E��*��������������+��� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)�5678298;02�??20 �::<8�<=7>�� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07����"%�'4)����*���=�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 2 (THE PEARL): 3���+�.���������(�������+*������������ ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..����������������D��*�+�������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������E��*��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�8;02� ??20� � ::<7<070� � ??;;� =>07� � ::<:� ;2=>� ��� "%�'4)����*����������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 1 (THE PEARL):�3���+�.���������(�������+*������������ ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..����������������D��*�+�������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������E��*��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�::<8�<=7>�� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07����"%�'4)����*����������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 2 (THE PEARL): 3���+�.���������(�������+*������������ ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..����������������D��*�+�������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������E��*��������������+��� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)�567829�8;02�??20 �::<7<070� �??;;�=>07� �::<:�;2=>����"%�'4)����*����������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 2 (THE PEARL): 3���+� .���������=�C����������������� ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..����������������D��*�+�������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������E��*��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�8;02� ??20� � ::<7� <070� � ??;;� =>07� � ::<:� ;2=>� ��� "%�'4)����*���=�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 1 (THE PEARL): Fully furnished 1 bedroom ��� ��������� ������ �������� ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � ��������������-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..��� �������� ���D�� *�+� ���� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������E��*��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("� ��44)� 567829� 8;02� ??20 � ::<8� <=7>� � ::<7� <070� � :::2� =?;<� � ::<:� ;2=>� ��� "%�'4)� � ���*���=�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 1 (THE PEARL): Fully furnished 1 bedroom ��� ��������� ������ �������� ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � ��������������-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..��� �������� ���D�� *�+� ���� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������E��*��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("� ��44)� 567829� 8;02� ??20 � ::<8� <=7>� � ::<7� <070� � :::2� =?;<� � :::0� ?=2;� ��� "%�'4)� � ���*���=�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 2 (THE PEARL):� 3���+� .���������=�C����������������� ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..����������������D��*�+�������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������E��*��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�8;02� ??20� � ::<7� <070� � ??;;� =>07� � ::<:� ;2=>� ��� "%�'4)����*���=�������@�����������������

REGENCY PEARL 1 (THE PEARL): Fully furnished 1 bedroom + �.H��������������������������������������������������������� ��������������-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..��� �������� ���D�� *�+� ���� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� �������������+��������������������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�::<8�<=7>� �::<7�<070� �??;;�0>72� �??;;�0>:?����"%�'4)����*���=�������@�������������������

REGENCY PEARL 2 (THE PEARL): 3���+�.���������0������������ ��������� ������ �������� � ������� �� ������� ���� �������� � ��������������-�����!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+�����..��� �������� ���D�� *�+� ���� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� �������������+��������������������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�8;02�??20� �::<7�<070� �??;;�0>72� �??;;�0>:?����"%�'4)����*����������@�������������������

UMM BAB TOWER (WESTBAY): 3���+�.���������0����������0�%����-����������������������������������������������������������������������������!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()� '������ ���������*����� .���+� �I��**��� �+��� �����+�� ��������D�� *�+������� ���������� *������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)�567829�>>072>0=� �:::0�?=2;� �::<7�;2?0����"%�'4)������+�������@�������������������

UMM BAB TOWER (WESTBAY):� 3���+� .��������� >� ��������6� ���-� ����� � � J�����)� >� %����-�� �������� ����� �������������������������������������������������������������!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()� '������ ��������� *����� .���+� �I��**��� �+��������+�� ��������D�� *�+������� �� �������� *������� 3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>072>0= � ??;;�2?>?� � :::=� 08>2� ::<7� <070� ��� "%�'4)� �����+�������@�������������������

COMPOUNDBEVERLY HILLS GARDEN 10 (Al WAAB): (���� .��������� 2��������� ����)� >� ��������� ������ �������� �����+� ������ ��������� ������� ���� �������� � � �*���� ��-��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()�(�������� *����� C�������� ��������-�� *�+� ���� K+����������!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�>>:0�=8=>� �??;;�0>:?� � ::<:� ;2=>� � :::2� =?;<� � ::<7� ;0;8��� "%�'4)� ����������@�������������������

AIN KHALID GATE: 3���+� .��������� 2� �������� ����� ����� 0�%����-������������������������������� ��������������������� �����������-�� ������ �����+� ������0� ������� ����������������� �������� � � ����������� ��-��� ���+��� ��� �� *��������������� *����� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� ��������������� A������� ������� K+��� ������� A������� ���� ����������� ������ �������� ������� ������� ������� �I���� ���������I������*��������������+����*��������+����������������������������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02��������������+��������������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� ::?=� 870?� �::<:� :08=� � � ??;;� 0>:?� � � ::<7� ;2?0� � ��� "%�'4)� ��������������@�������������������

AIN KHALID GATE: 3���+� .��������� 0� �������� ����� ����� 0���������� �������� 5�*��� ��� ������9� � � ����������� ��-�����!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� ������� �������� A��������������K+����������A����������������������������������������������������������I�������������I������*��������������+����*��������+����������������������������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�::?=�870?� �::<:�:08=�� �::<7�;2?0� ����"%�'4)���������������@�������������������

BEVERLY HILLS GARDEN 2 (AL WAAB):� (���� .��������� 2��������� �����)� 0� %����-�� C������� ����� ������� ����������� .���+� ��������������������������� �������� �*���������������� ����� �����+�� ���-�� ����� ����� ��������� ������� ����������������������������������*���������+������!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� �+��� �������� ������ ������� ��������������� ������� ��� ��������-�� *�+� ���� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()�02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>>:0�=8=>� �??;;�0>:?� �::<:�;2=>� �:::2�=?;<� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)�����������@�������������������

BEVERLY HILLS GARDEN 1 (AL WAAB): (���� .��������� 2��������� �����)� 0� %����-�� C������� ����� ������� ����������� .���+� ��������������������������� �������� �*���������������� ����� �����+�� ���-�� ����� ����� ��������� ������� ����������������������������������*���������+������!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� �+��� �������� ������ ������� ��������������� ������� ��� ��������-�� *�+� ���� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()�02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>>:0�=8=>� �??;;�0>:?� �::<:�;2=>� �:::2�=?;<� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)�����������@�������������������

BEVERLY HILLS GARDEN 13 (AL WAAB): (���� .��������� 2��������� �����)� 0� %����-�� C������� ����� ������� �����������.���+���������������������������������������-��������������������� ������� ��� ������� ������ .���+� �I��**��� ��������� ����!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� .���+� �I��**��� �+����������.���������������������.���������������������!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�>>:?�8=:?� �>>2>�>=?<� �::<:�;2=>� �:::2�=?;<� �??;;2?>?� �::<7�;0;8����"%�'4)�����������@�������������������

Q BEL AIR COMPOUND (LAQTAH): (����.���������:�C�����������)� 0� %����-�� �������� ����� ������� ��������� ������������������������������������������������!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(��������*������+��������������������������������*��*����������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>07� 2>0=� �??;;�0>:?� �:::0�?=2;� �::<7�;0;8����"%�'4)�����������@�����������������,�C"4��'���!%�!L&M�54�,#�E9)�(���� .���������:�C�����������)� 0� %����-�� �������� ����� ������� ��������� ������������������������������������������������!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�(�������� *����� �+��� ������� ������� �������� �� �����*��*��������� � 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>07�2>0=� � ??;;� 0>:?� � :::0� ?=2;� � ��� "%�'4)� ����������@�����������������

COMPOUND APARTMENTAIN KHALID COMPOUND (AIN KHALID): Fully furnished 0� �������� �)� 0� �������� ������� �� ������� ��� �� �����������!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� �+��� ������������*�������� �� ���-�� *�+� ���� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>;7� ?2<< � :::0� ?=2;� ��� "%�'4)� ���������@�����������������

AIN KHALID COMPOUND (AIN KHALID): Fully furnished 0� �������� �)� 0� �������� ������� �� ������� ��� �� �����������!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *����� �+��� ������������*�������� �� ���-�� *�+� ���� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>;7� ?2<<� � :::0� ?=2;� ��� "%�'4)� ���������@�����������������

BUILDING APARTMENTREGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 1 (AL SADD): Fully furnished =� �������� �)� %����-�� �������� ����� ������� ����������������������������������������������������� ������������� �����!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� ������ K+��� (��� ������A��������(������������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02��������������+��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>>=;� 0?2?� � � ??;;� =>07� � >>77� 20??� � ??;;2?>?� ��� "%�'4)������������@������������������

MESAIMEER/BARWA CITY: L�.��������� >� ��������� �)�%����-������������������������������������� �������� ��������� ������� ���� ��������� ����������� ��� � ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()�02� E����� �������+�� � ���������� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>>07�20??� ::<:�;2=>����"%�'4)�������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 3 (AL SADD): Fully furnished >N�������� �)� %����-�� ��������� � ��������� ������ ��������������� �� ������� ��� �� �������� � � ����������� � ��� ��!�"�#$��%"&'#'"()�3���+�"I��**���K+������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02��������������+� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("���44)�567829�>>=;�0?2?� �::<:�;2=>� �:::2�=?;<� �??;;�0>72� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE ALSADD 3 (AL SADD): Fully furnished >� �������� �)� %����-�� �������� ����� ������� ��������������� ��������� ������ �������� ������� �� ������� ��� �� ��������� � ����������� � ��� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� E����� �������+������������� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("���44)�567829�>>=;�0?2?� ??;;�0>:?� �:::0�?=2;� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 10 (AL SADD): Fully furnished >� �������� �)� %����-�� �������� ����� ������� ��������������� ��������� ������ �������� ������� ��� ������� ��� ������������� ������������ ��� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("���44)� 567829� >>=;� 0?2?� ??;;� 0>:?� � :::0� ?=2;� � ��� "%�'4)������������@������������������ � �����������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 2 (AL SADD): Fully furnished 0� �������� �)� 0� ��������� �� ������ ��������� ������ ����������������������������������������������������� ���3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>=;� 0?2?� ??;;� 0>:?� �:::0� ?=2;� � ��� "%�'4)� �����������@������������������������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 6 (AL SADD): Fully furnished 0� �������� �)� 0� ��������� �� ������ ��������� ������ ����������������������������������������������������� ���3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>=;� 0?2?� ??;;� 0>:?� �:::0� ?=2;� � ��� "%�'4)� �����������@������������������������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 12 (AL SADD): Fully .��������� =� �������� �)�� ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� ���������� � � (*���� � ��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� 3���+� �I��**����+��� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� �����������3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�>>=;�0?2?� � �??;;�=>07� �::<:�;2=>� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 12 (AL SADD): Fully .��������� =� �������� �)� � ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� ���������� � (*���� � ��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� 3���+� �I��**���

�+��� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� �����������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>=;� 0?2?� �??;;�=>07� �::<:�;2=>� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AL SADD 13 (AL SADD): Fully furnished =����������)� ���������� ������������������������������ ������������ � ��� ��!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �������������3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�>>=;�0?2?� �??;;�0>72� �::<7;0;8� �:::0�?=2;� �??;;2?>?����"%�'4)������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE MUSHEIREB 1 (MUSHEIREB): Fully .��������� =� �������� ��� ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� ���������� � � ����������� � ��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� '������(��������������K+���(�����������������A�������C����������!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� �����������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� ::8;� =802� � ::7>� ?8:<� � >>77� 20??� ��� "%�'4)� ����������������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AIRPORT 1 (DOHA AREA):Fully .��������� =� �������� ��� ��������� ������� �� ������� ����������� � � �*���� ��-��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *������K+�����!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������������+��������������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>:?� 8=:?� �>;>7�:0<8� �??;;�2?>?� �:::=�08>2����"%�'4)�����������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AIRPORT 1 (DOHA AREA): (����.��������� 0� �������� ��� ��������� ������� �� ������� ����������� � � �*���� ��-��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *������K+�����!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02�������������+��������������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>:?� 8=:?� �>;>7�:0<8� �::<7�<070� �??;;�=>07����"%�'4)�����������@������������������

REGENCY RESIDENCE AIRPORT 2 (DOHA AREA): (����.��������� 0� �������� ��� ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� ���������� � � �*���� � ��� ��!�"�#$� �%"&'#'"()� (�������� *�������!�"�#$� ("�/'�"()� 02� ����� �������+� �� ����������� 3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>:?� 8=:?� �>;>7�:0<8� �::<:�;2=>� �>>2>�>=?<����"%�'4)�����������@������������������

BIN DIRHAM 1 (MANSOURA): L�.��������� 0� �������� �)������� ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� �� ��������� ��!�"�#$�("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� � >;>7� :0<8� � >>:?�8=:?� � ??;;� 0>72� � ??;;� 0>:?� ��� "%�'4)� ������������@������������������

BIN DIRHAM 5 (MANSOURA): L�.��������� 0� �������� �)������� ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� �� ��������� ��!�"�#$�("�/'�"()� 02� ������ �������+� �� ����������� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�>;>7�:0<8� �>>:?�8=:?� �:::0�?=2;�����"%�'4)�������������@������������������

STUDIO FLATS (UMM SALAL):� L�.��������� (������ �� ���������������*������������������*������������ �(*����� ���3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�:;;<�;;:0� �::<=�<80<����"%�'4)�*�@�����������������

STUDIO FLATS (UMM SALAL): L�.��������� (������ �� ���������������*������������������*������������ �(*����� ���3!��%!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�:;;<�;;:0� �::<=�<80<����"%�'4)�*�@�����������������

DOHA GARDENS (AL WAAB):�3���+�.���������>����������)�%����� C�������� ������ ��������� ������� �� ������� ��� �������������!�"�#$�("�/'�"()�02��������������+��������������3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829� >>=;� 0?2?� �??;;�0>:?� �::<:�;2=>� �:::2�=?;<����"%�'4)������������@������������������

ONE COMPANY DEALLABOR ACCOMODATION (UMM SALAL): L�.���������4���� ������ 52;;� L����9� ����� (*���� � �� ��� ���������������� �������� ���� .��� ��������� ����N���� 3!�� %!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�:;;<�;;:0� �::<=�<80<����"%�'4)�*�@�����������������

STUDIO & ONE BEDROOM FLATS (UMM SALAL): L�.��������� (������ 5=72� L����9� ��� !��� C������� 5?<� L����9�����!����������������*���������������*������������������(*�����������������.��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("� ��44)� 567829� :;;<� ;;:0� � ::<=� <80<� ��� "%�'4)� *�@�����������������

OFFICE & SHOWROOMAL ASMAKH TOWER (WESTBAY): C����&���!.H���#������ ������������� �)������� .����� �������*���������*���+�� 3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>>;>88><����"%�'4)����+����@������������������

REGENCY BUSINESS CENTER 3 (GRAND HAMAD STREET): ���������� !.H��� (*��� � � ����������� � ��� ������� �� *���+��������� ��� ��������� �������+� ����� ��#/� �� (*�������� H����.��+��+������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>;>7�:0<8� �>>:?�8=:?� �:::2�=?;<����"%�'4)�����������@������������������

OFFICE COMMERCIAL BUILDING: ���������� !.H��� (*���� �C��������K������6�0�3�������==2��������(������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)� 567829�::<7�;0;8� �222<�:===� �2;2=�;80:����"%�'4)���������@�����������������O

SHOPSUmm Salal Brand New Commercial Building: ?�%������K�����������.���&�������������>>;��I��(��*������K������4�����6�%��������� 3!�� %!�"� '&3!�%�#'!&� �4"�("� ��44)� 567829�:;;<�;;:0� �::<=�<80<����"%�'4)�*�@�����������������

Brand-New Shops in Barwa City: ��������������H�����������.��������������3!��%!�"�'&3!�%�#'!&��4"�("���44)�567829�>>2>� >=?<� � >>77� 20??� ��� "%�'4)� ��+@������������������

SPORTChampions League,

Qualifying 1st Round:

Shkendija vs Kalju

Champions League,

Qualifying 1st Round: HB

Tórshavn vs HJK Helsinki

FOOTBALL FOOTBALL

17TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019

They chant Roger, I hear Novak. I like to transmute it in a way.

When the crowd is chanting ‘Roger’ I hear ‘Novak’. It sounds

silly, but it is like that.

Novak Djokovic says after a nail-biting Wimbledon final against Swiss superstar Roger Federer. T

OD

AY

’SA

CT

ION

THE PENINSULA ALASHAN, CHINA

Qatar’s Dakar Rally star Nasser Al Attiyah (Qatar) and navigator Mathieu Baumel (France) are on the brink of an historic victory, after winning the penultimate stage of the 2019 Silk Way Rally, between Alashan and Jiayuguan in China, yesterday.

The pair posted a time of 3hrs 52min 17sec over the 290km-long special stage, increasing their lead to 1hrs 10min 46sec over China’s Wei Han, in a Geely SMG Buggy.

“It was a good stage for us today, despite opening the road,” said Al Attiyah after parking his South African-built Toyota Hilux safely in the bivouac after the stage.

“Most of the stage consisted of sand, which suits my driving style – and it clearly suits the Hilux too.”

With that said, the Toyota Hilux crew spent nearly 140km of Stage 9 in second and third gear, dealing with short, sharp dunes that really punished the crew and the car. As ever, the Toyota Hilux again proved its legendary toughness by coming through unscathed; and the crew reckons a good night’s rest should put them right for the final stage.

Should Al Attiyah and Baumel win the 2019 Silk Way Rally, it will be the first time that a crew wins both the

Dakar Rally and the Silk Way Rally in the same year.

But the ever-pragmatic Glyn Hall, Team Principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA, is quick to caution: “We don’t like taking anything for granted in this sport. And Nasser is a true professional. He’ll tackle tomorrow’s final stage like any other, and only relax once he’s safely through.”

Cross-Country racing can indeed be cruel, as we saw with Bernhard ten Brink at the Dakar Rally this year. A great per-formance, brought to a halt when the end was almost in sight. Then again, Al Attiyah’s performance in the 2019 Silk Way Rally has been nothing short of perfect.

“Nasser has really shown his class so far, and we certainly don’t doubt that he can win the rally,” conceded Hall.

“But let’s just wait for the final stage before getting excited.” The rally is scheduled

to end with a bang – the final stage has a race distance of 255km, plus liaisons of 301km. Most of the stage will be run over gravel tracks, with some dunes

and rocky river crossings also in the mix. “We’ll be opening the road again tomorrow,” said Al Attiyah of the final stage.

The final stage will bring the

rally to the Chinese city of Jiay-uguan, before the crews transit to the city of Dunhuang for the podium finish – completing a mammoth event of 5,000km.

Djokovic consolidates top rankingLONDON AFP

Novak Djokovic’s successful defence of his Wimbledon crown ensured that the Serb remained at world number one in the latest ATP rankings released yesterday.

The 32-year-old collected his fifth Wimbledon title and 16th major Sunday with a thrilling five-set win over Roger Federer, a match that last three minutes short of five hours.

He is now 4,500 points clear of second-ranked Rafa Nadal who is just 485 points ahead of 37-year-old Federer.

The biggest climber is Roberto Bautista Agut whose ride to the semi-finals, where he lost in four sets to Djokovic, sees him rise nine places to 13, equalling his best ranking.

David Goffin, who lost to Djokovic in the quarters, returns to the Top 20, rising five places to 18th.

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 12,415 pts

2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7,945

3. Roger Federer (SUI) 7,460

4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 4,595

5. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4,325

6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4,045

7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,040

8. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 2,890 (+1)

9. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,785 (+1)

10. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 2,625 (+3)

11. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 2,500 (-3)

12. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 2,380 (-1)

13. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 2,320 (+9)

14. Borna Coric (CRO) 2,195

15. John Isner (USA) 2,040 (-3)

ATP RANKINGS

1. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 6,605 pts

2. Naomi Osaka (JAP) 6,257

3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 6,055

4. Simona Halep (ROU) 5,933 (+3)

5. Kiki Bertens (NED) 5,130 (-1)

6. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 4,785

7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,638 (+1)

8. Sloane Stephens (USA) 3,802 (+1)

9. Serena Williams (USA) 3,411 (+1)

10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,365 (+1)

11. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 3,356 (+1)

12. Belinda Bencic (SUI) 2,963 (+1)

13. Angelique Kerber (GER) 2,875 (-8)

14. Qiang Wang (CHN) 2,872 (+1)

15. Johanna Konta (GBR) 2,790 (+3)

WTA RANKINGS

A handout picture released by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, yesterday shows 2019 Wimbledon men’s singles champion Serbia’s Novak Djokovic posing for a photograph with his trophy at the Champions Dinner on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic is now 4,500 points clear of second-ranked Nadal who is just 485 points ahead of 37-year-old Federer.

Halep enjoys Romania’s adulationREUTERS BUCHAREST

Romania’s presidency and the Orthodox Church awarded Wimbledon tennis champion Simona Halep (pictured) their highest distinctions yesterday while hundreds of fans cheered her home after she blitzed US opponent Serena Williams at the weekend.

Halep, 27, became the first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title after stunning seven-times champion Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the 56-minute match final on Saturday.

“I played my chance. I did the best I could and that’s why I managed to win,” a beaming Halep told reporters at Bucharest

international airport, clutching her trophy and flowers as fans shouted “Bravo, Simona!”.

“I’ve been staying focused on my tactics... Serena is the best player of all times.”

It was Halep’s second Grand Slam title following her triumph at Roland Garros in Paris last year.

The presidency awarded her the Star of Romania while the church gave her the Patriarchal Cross.

“I always make the sign of the cross and believe in God because nothing can be done without the help of God,” Halep said last year after winning in Paris.

rt, clutching wers as fans mona!”.ng focused on a is the best ” econd Grand her triumph

in Paris last

awarded heria while the e Patriarchal

the sign elieve hing out lep er

Barty stays at number one in spite of upsetAFP PARIS

Ashleigh Barty hung on to top place in the WTA rankings yesterday despite crashing out of Wimbledon in the last 16.

The French Open champion, who was hoping to become the first Australian to win at the All England Club since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980, lost in three sets to the American Alison Riske.

The top three of Barty, Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova remains unchanged although none of them reached the quarter-finals.

Crosswind sends Alaphilippe, Ineos clear at TourAFP ALBI

Dutch rookie Wout van Aert won stage 10 of the Tour de France yesterday as Julian Alaphilippe extended his overall lead after a blistering late charge split the peloton.

Yellow jersey wearer Alap-hilippe started the attack from 20km out and defending champion Geraint Thomas and his Ineos team joined in to leave at least five of their rivals trailing 1min 36 adrift at the finish in the red roofed south-eastern town of Albi on the banks of the Tarn river.

Richie Porte, Thibaut Pinot, Jakob Fuglsang, Rigoberto Uran and Mikel Landa all lost time after overall leader Alaphilippe launched a devastating surge as a sudden headwind split the peloton.

Alaphilippe, in top spot, leads second placed Thomas by 1min 12sec, a second Ineos rider, Egan Bernal, is at 1min 16, and van Aert’s team-mate Steven Kruijswijk is another 11sec off in fourth.

The 22-year-old Bernal takes the best young rider’s white jersey.

Bernal, who proved again here he can keep up with the burly riders who do well in crosswinds.

Nairo Quintana of Movistar was all smiles too, after fin-ishing in the mini-peloton after an exhausting long-range dash.

Jumbo Visma’s Dutch stage winner van Aert claimed his first Tour de France victory beating top sprinters drained by the high-speed run in.

On his debut Tour van Aert, who did well in the spring classics and won two stages on the Criterium du Dauphine after converting from cyclo-cross, is the latest break out star on an unpredictable 2019 Tour.

The Tour reached it’s halfway point ahead of the first rest day.

After today’s break, the second half of the race is packed with high- altitude racing.

AFP BELGRADE

The Serbian press yesterday proclaimed Novak Djokovic “King of Tennis” with the “heart of a hero” after he claimed his fifth Wimbledon title beating eight-time champion Roger Federer. The 32-year-old Serbian saved two match points as he took his Grand Slam tally to 16, four off Federer’s overall

record in the longest final in the tournament’s history on Sunday.

“Novak, King of Tennis,” read the Blic daily paper frontpage headline.

“The fifth Crown for the King,” echoed the Vecernje Novosti paper.

“He certainly did not play his best tennis but he knew how to handle the key moments due to his main weapon, his mental strength,”

Blic commented. Djokovic, con-trary to his habits, “did not show any emotion during the whole match” which lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes, it said.

The Danas daily paper said the match offered the public “all that can be seen in a perfect tennis match... suspense, drama and a happy ending... for Djokovic”.

Newspapers stressed that the world number who is now

level on five Wimbledon titles with Bjorn Borg is the first man in 70 years to win the title after recovering from two match points down.

“One has to be honest and note that Federer played impec-cably. Most of the time he was the better player on the court. Two missed match points are unbelievable. But, here, he missed them,” the paper said.

For the Informer tabloid

Djokovic won “against Federer and the public” cheering for the Swiss. The Politika daily paper said that “all was against Djokovic” during Sunday’s match.

An opponent with the “record number of Wimbledon trophies, two match points, the entire public backing his rival, the statistics practically all favourable to the Swiss and (Djokovic) lacking his best shots most of the time,” it said.

Qatar’ Nasser Al Attiyah and France’s Mathieu Baumel compete with their Toyota Hilux during the 9th stage of the Silk Way Rally 2019 from Alashan to Jiayuguan, yesterday.

Al Attiyah on track for historic victorySilk Way Rally: Star Qatari driver wins penultimate stage

Should Al Attiyah and

Baumel win the 2019

Silk Way Rally, it will be

the first time that a crew

wins both the Dakar

Rally and the Silk Way

Rally in the same year.

Serbian press crown Djokovic ‘King of Tennis’

18 TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019SPORT

England’s Jos Buttler runs out New Zealand’s Martin Guptill during the Super Over to win the World Cup at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday. Hosts England won the cricket World Cup for the first time since the championship began in 1975.

England hero Buttler says: Nothing can faze me now!

AFP LONDON

Jos Buttler said nothing would faze him again after his key role in England’s unforgettable World Cup triumph at Lord’s.

Buttler was in the thick of things on Sunday as England’s 44-year wait for the sport’s biggest trophy ended in the most dramatic way imaginable against New Zealand.

He made a crucial 59 as the game was tied in a frantic finale and then renewed his part-nership with man-of-the-match Ben Stokes during the Super Over shootout.

Wicketkeeper Buttler hit the last of Trent Boult’s six balls for four as the hosts posted 15, then took up his place behind the stumps.

Buttler combined with Jason Roy to run out Martin Guptill off the final ball of New Zealand’s Super Over, meaning that although the scores were level, England won because they had hit more boundaries in the match.

“I can’t believe what has

happened but it’s nice to wake up and know it did,” he said.

“I don’t think anything will faze me again. I don’t think I’ll ever care about anything ever again. I don’t really care what happens now in my career.”

England have risen to the top of the one-day international

rankings since a dismal early exit at the 2015 World Cup and their triumph is the culmination of a four-year project.

“We were laughing about the fact that four years of work came down to one ball,” said Buttler.

“Four years and then it’s one

ball... can we get a run-out? It justifies everything we have done for four years to get to this point. It’s an incredible journey.

“At the end I remember that 10 seconds of just running around, the atmosphere is something that will live with me forever. It’s all right when you’re

in the middle because it’s what you know -- catch a ball, smash the stumps -- but the conse-quences are obviously quite a lot larger.”

Meanwhile champions England were the most repre-sented with four players in the World Cup team of the

tournament announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday, with New Zea-land’s Kane Williamson cap-taining the side.

England opener Jason Roy, middle-order batsman Joe Root, all-rounder Stokes and pacer Jofra Archer made the team fol-lowing Sunday’s victory over the Black Caps in a thrilling final where the hosts prevailed on boundary count after a tied Super Over.

New Zealand’s Lockie Fer-guson was the only other Kiwi in the side, while Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc was picked after taking the most wickets in the tournament with 27.

The side was picked by ex-internationals Ian Bishop, Ian Smith and Isa Guha, along with cricket writer Lawrence Booth, while ICC general manager cricket, Geoff Allardice, was the fifth member and convener of the committee.

Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who top scored with 648 runs at an average of 81 was also included.

1. Jason Roy (England) 443 runs at 63.28 2. Rohit Sharma (India) 648 runs at 81.00 3. Kane Williamson (c) (NZ) 578 runs at 82.57 4. Joe Root (England) 556 runs at 61.77 5. Shakib Al Hasan (BD) 606 runs at 86.57, 11 wickets at 36.27 6. B Stokes (England) 465 runs at 66.42, 7 wickets at 35.14 7. A Carey (wk) (Australia) 375 runs at 62.50, 20 catches 8. Mitchell Starc (Australia) 27 wickets at 18.59 9. Jofra Archer (England) 20 wickets at 23.05 10. Lockie Ferguson (NZ) 21 wickets at 19.47 11. Jasprit Bumrah (India) 18 wickets at 20.61

Awarding six overthrows in final over an ‘error’ by umpires, claims TaufelREUTERS LONDON

England should have been awarded five runs instead of six in the final over of Sunday’s World Cup title clash against New Zealand after a throw from the deep struck Ben Stokes’ bat and ran away for a boundary, former umpire Simon Taufel has said.

England ended their 44-year wait for a maiden 50-overs World Cup by beating New Zealand on boundaries after a tied Super Over. But Aus-tralian Taufel suggested that the umpires had made an “error of judgement.”

With England needing nine runs from the last three balls of the final over, Stokes desper-ately dived to complete a second run when Martin Gup-till’s throw from the deep hit his bat and went to the boundary, prompting the umpire to signal six runs.

“It’s a clear mistake. It’s an error of judgment. (England) should have been awarded five runs, not six,” Taufel, who is part of cricket’s law-making body, told foxsports.com.au.

MCC’s law 19.8, which deals with overthrows, says: “If the boundary results from an over-throw... runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded... and allowance for the boundary, and runs completed by batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act.”

The governing International Cricket Council could not be immediately reached for comment about the decision of the umpires.

Cricket website ESPN-cricinfo reported after reviewing footage that Guptill had released the ball when Stokes and Adil Rashid had not yet crossed for the second run.

Taufel said leg-spinner Rashid would have been on strike to face the last two deliv-eries had the second run been found to be incomplete.

However, he had sympathy for Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena and his South African colleague Marais Erasmus, the men in the middle.

“In the heat of what was going on, they thought there was a good chance the batsmen crossed at the instant of the throw,” the 48-year-old added.

“Obviously TV replays showed otherwise. The diffi-culty you (umpires) have is you’ve got to watch batsmen completing runs, then change focus and watch for the ball being picked up, and watch for the release (of the throw).

“You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment... it’s unfair on England, New Zealand and the umpires involved to say it decided the outcome.”

Stokes sorry for outrageous fluke on day of redemptionAP LONDON

Ben Stokes has been saying sorry a lot lately. His latest apology was to the people of New Zealand for one of the most outrageous sporting flukes that contributed to England winning the Cricket World Cup at the expense of the country of his birth.

Stokes had already broken New Zealand hearts by steering England out of early strife in the final at Lord’s, giving his adopted nation a fighting chance of victory heading into the last over.

His mighty six over midwicket left England needing nine runs to win with three balls left.

Then it happened.Smashing the next ball deep into the

leg side, he set off to run two and ensure he kept the strike. As he sprinted back to the striker’s end, he dived and stretched his bat out in a desperate bid to reach the crease.

The ball, thrown in by Martin Guptill, struck Stokes’ outstretched bat and deflected 90 degrees, rolling all the way to the boundary in front of the famous pavilion at Lord’s.

It was another six for Stokes - two ran, as well as four for the boundary. He held up both hands in an apologetic gesture to New Zealand’s players.

“I said to Kane Williamson, ‘I’ll be apologizing for that for the rest of my life,’” said Stokes, who was born in Christchurch and moved to England when he was 12.

Yet Stokes, who finished regulation

play unbeaten on 84, wasn’t finished there. He came back out with England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler for the World Cup’s first ever Super Over, required because the match was tied after the regulation 50 overs per side, and struck eight runs in the first four balls. One of them was a boundary.

With the Super Over also tied, England ultimately won using the tie-breaker of boundaries scored. Stokes hit eight of England’s total of 26 and was named man of the match.

“He’s almost superhuman,” England captain Eoin Morgan said.

It felt like a day of redemption at Lord’s for Stokes, often described as the bad boy of English cricket because of a rap sheet that recently included a court case for his involvement in a street brawl

in Bristol after a one-day international against the West Indies in September 2017.

Stokes knocked unconscious a man who, according to the England all-rounder, was verbally abusing two gay men outside a club.

He was found not guilty by a court of affray in August last year. He was, however, handed an eight-match sus-pension by the England and Wales Cricket Board and fined £30,000 ($38,000).

“I have already apologised to my teammates, coaches and support staff for the consequences of my actions in Bristol,” Stokes said in a statement issued in December.

“I regret the incident ever happened and I apologise to England supporters

and to the public for bringing the game in to disrepute.”

Stokes spent a night in a prison cell in 2011 after being arrested for obstructing a police officer. He apolo-gized - but was still sent home - for going out drinking with a teammate until the early hours during an England Lions tour of Australia in 2013.

Indeed, Stokes hasn’t had much luck at the T20 worlds. In 2016, he was hit for four straight sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the last over of the final against West Indies as England slumped to an improbable loss at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Stokes was close to tears.

“I thought, ‘I’ve just lost the World Cup,’” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

All is forgiven after what he pro-duced at Lord’s on Sunday.

Lucky charm Plunkett says England’s World Cup win ‘meant to be’AFP LONDON

Liam Plunkett believes the drama of England’s World Cup win against New Zealand has “changed the history of English cricket”.

The host nation tied with New Zealand after 100 hard-fought overs at Lord’s on Sunday, both sides locked on 241, and even a Super Over shootout could not prise them apart.

Both sides hit 15 from their single over of sudden-death action but England emerged as the winners thanks to a little-known tie-breaker that tallied up the team’s boundary count across the match.

“What a day -- it has changed the history of English cricket,” said Plunkett, the veteran of the side at 34 years old. “Everyone got to watch that. I hope everyone gets involved and loves it like when we won the Ashes in 2005. It was a special day.

“We have been amazing and we have changed the culture of cricket in England. I don’t believe in the stars and all that stuff, but it was the first time that I felt ‘this is meant to be’.”

Plunkett finished the tour-nament with a proud 100 percent record -- winning all seven of the games he played and being overlooked for each of the host nation’s three defeats.

He also put together an impressive selection of key scalps, including South Africa’s Hashim Amla, West Indies opener Chris Gayle and India superstar Virat Kohli.

In the final he dismissed New Zealand captain Kane Wil-liamson and recorded figures of 3-42.

“The old lucky charm thing, I was riding with it,” he said. “I was just hoping the coach would think that so I’d get a game. The last four years playing for England was the best time of my life.”

Team of the World Cup

The England team during the victory event at The Oval in London after they won the 2019 Cricket World Cup final against New Zealand on Sunday.

19TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019 SPORT

England cricket players celebrate after winning the World Cup final on Sunday. Kiwis praise

team but query ‘cruel’ rulesAFP WELLINGTON

Heartbroken New Zealanders expressed pride yesterday in the Black Caps’ fighting spirit after defeat to England in the Cricket World Cup final, but also bemusement at the obscure rules that cost them the match.

The Black Caps lost even though scores were tied at the end of both regular play and a Super Over shootout, with England’s superior boundary count giving them victory.

As Kiwi fans absorbed a second straight loss in the tournament decider, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was concentrating on the positives.

“That was undeniably an incredible game. I think as a nation we all aged a year in that Super Over,” she posted on social media. “Con-gratulations to England. And to the Black Caps, I feel nothing but pride. What a team.”

But her sports minister Grant Robertson questioned the tie-break method.

“What an extraordinary game. Not sure Super Over is the right end,” he tweeted. “Whatever, NZ you can be so, so proud of this team.”

Former Black Cap Scott Styris labelled gov-erning body the ICC “a joke” over the rules but congratulated both teams on a stunning efforts.

Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming’s one-word reaction to the result was “cruel”, while even the father of England’s Kiwi-born match-winner Ben Stokes felt the Kiwis were hard done by.

Gerard Stokes, a former New Zealand rugby league international who took his son to England as a boy while he pursued his career, said honours were even.

“It’s a shame there has to be a loser,” he told the New Zealand Herald. “They could have shared the trophy but that doesn’t seem to be how things are done these days.”

News website stuff.co.nz said New Zealand had been denied by the fine print.

“England did not win the Cricket World Cup final and the Black Caps did not lose it,” an edi-torial said.

“But the tournament had to have a winner, somehow. And in the end, what was perhaps the most dramatic ODI ever played, was decided by a curious, contentious fine-print rule.”

It was a theme echoed by Sam Flynn Scott from pop culture website The Spinofff’s cricket podcast.

“Did we lose the game? It seems like it was tied and then it was tied again, then there was just some stupid rule about who wins the World Cup,” he said.

“It should have been who took the most wickets (which would have given New Zealand victory).”

Former New Zealand bowler Daniel Vettori said it “feels unfortunate” the final was decided on boundaries scored but the Black Caps had to accept the rules.

He said the match also turned on several key moments, including a freak fielding deflection off Stokes’ bat that raced to the boundary and a missed opportunity for Trent Boult to catch the England batsman on the boundary.

Bowlers and heart-stopping finale salvage rain-hit CupREUTERS LONDON

A tournament that appeared predictable and at the mercy of the rains in its first half got a fresh lease of life in the second and Sunday’s heart-stopping finale was the proverbial icing on the cake at this year’s World Cup.

A wet World Cup seemed on the cards after a record four matches were either abandoned or called off with the governing Inter-national Cricket Council (ICC) drawing flak for no reserve day provision for the group games.

“We put men on the moon, so why can’t we have a reserve day, when actually this tournament is a long tournament?” asked an amused Steve Rhodes, who has since been sacked as Bangladesh coach.

The World Cup knockout stage was also played under rain threat.

New Zealand’s semi-final match against India spilled over to reserve day and morning drizzle delayed the start of Sunday’s final by 15 minutes.

Sri Lanka did a massive favour to the organisers by shocking eventual champions England in the group stage to throw open the race to the semi-finals just when it was getting predictable.

Eoin Morgan’s men thumped India and New Zealand to revive their cam-paign which culminated with their maiden 50-overs World Cup title.

South Africa crashed out early but stunned Australia on their way out to upset semi-final matchups.

The turgid nature of the pitches used in the tournament drew criticism

even though many felt it provided the much needed balance between ball and bat.

New Zealand especially showed how to defend small totals with their disciplined bowling complemented by sharp fielding.

“Sorry, but pitches have been garbage this tournament,” former England player Mark Butcher said.

Butcher was only articulating the

feeling of many who expected high-scoring games, including batsmen who playfully talked about breaching the 500-mark.

In the end, England’s 397-6 against Afghanistan in Manchester proved the tournament’s highest total.

Eoin Morgan batted like a man pos-sessed in that match, belting 17 of his side’s 25 sixes in a breathtaking display of batting pyrotechnics.

Among fellow batsmen, Rohit Sharma smashed a record five centuries in a World Cup before the law of average caught up with the India opener in the semi-finals.

West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite’s

stunning century nearly snatched a victory against New Zealand while Shakib Al Hasan lit up the tournament with his all-round brilliance.

Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga conjured a bowling masterclass to stun England in his final World Cup, while West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik failed to make any impact.

India’s Mohammed Shami and New Zealand’s Trent Boult registered hat-

tricks though they would find little solace in it after their teams’ failure to lift the cup.

All’s well that ends well and the organisers could not have imagined a better cul-mination of six weeks of largely mediocre cricket.

The match began with Chris Woakes starting with a wide and ended with Martin Guptill being run out at the end of a nerve-wracking Super Over as England clinched the World Cup on boundary countback.

In between, umpteen dramas unfolded with Ben Stokes, whose batting

heroics earned him player-of-the-match award, featuring in quite a few of them.

The final was broadcast free-to-air, while the group stage and the semi-finals shattered audience records.

“We are absolutely delighted that the World Cup 2019 has become one of the most watched sporting events in the world across TV and digital plat-forms,” ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said in a statement ahead of the final. “These quite extraordinary numbers demonstrate how viewership habits are changing and the smart way cricket has adapted to deliver what fans today expect.”

England’s Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali during team celebrations at The Oval.

AP LONDON

Martin Guptill slumped to his knees, tears in his eyes.

He’d just been sprinting, bat out-stretched, and New Zealand’s first Cricket World Cup triumph was in his grasp. But he was run out. Three measly metres short.

Teammates commiserated with Guptill as England players spilled con-trasting tears of joy on Sunday at Lord’s, celebrating victory in an incredible final on a countback after the scores were tied in the regulation 50 overs and the deciding Super Over.

“We have showed heart and fight to get to this stage, and a tie in the final... it wasn’t meant to be,” captain Kane Williamson (pictured right) said.

“The guys are shattered. It’s devas-tating. Tough to swallow.”

Guptill’s World Cup mirrored New Zealand’s. He struggled to score runs - New Zealand and Afghanistan were the only teams not to post a total or 300 or more - and atoned with fearsome bowling and brilliant fielding. Guptill was a star in the field, pulling off perhaps the tournament’s best catch (of Steve Smith vs. Australia) and best run out (of MS Dhoni vs. India in the semifinals).

That still didn’t stop him from being

the most heavily criticized player in the New Zealand squad.

The highest run-scorer in the 2015 World Cup was expected to explode with more runs but sputtered on the soft English pitches. And, yet, in his and New Zealand’s second consecutive World Cup final, he found himself at the center of some of the game’s biggest moments.

Guptill was sent in to open the innings after Williamson won the toss and made the 50-50 call to bat first.

Batting first has been a mantra at this World Cup, and the bat-first team had won all of the previous matches at Lord’s, but overcast conditions made England’s bowlers rub their hands in anticipation, too.

Guptill, to no surprise, lasted seven overs, out lbw on 19 to Chris Woakes. But he wasted New Zealand’s umpire referral on a plumb call.

Fellow opener Henry Nicholls hit 55, the first half-century by a New Zealand opener in nine matches, and had England sweating while batting with Williamson. But after the skipper edged behind on 30 and Nicholls was bowled moments later, Tom Latham’s 47 was the only other major contribution. New Zealand’s 241-8 didn’t look scary for a chasing team.

The Kiwi bowlers were outstanding, and unlucky with edges missing the

stumps or falling short. Jason Roy was saved from a golden duck by the umpire’s call. Even so, England’s vaunted top order was all gone by the 24th over.

New Zealand-born Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler brought England back with a century stand. Stokes appeared to be caught on the boundary in the 49th over but Trent Boult stepped on the boundary cushion as he tried to pass off to Guptill, who had no hesitation indicating a six.

In the last over, when England needed 9 off the last three balls, Guptill prevented a boundary but his throw for an attempted run out hit Stokes’ bat and deflected to the boundary, adding six runs in all to England’s total.

“A bit of a shame isn’t it?” Wil-liamson said. “That’s the game we play. You can’t nitpick.”

The scores ended up tied, which prompted a Super Over. There was no hesitation sending out the big-hitting Guptill. And he was three meters short of being the hero.

A countback on boundaries hit - 26-17 - decided who took the trophy even though New Zealand lost two fewer wickets. Williamson wasn’t fazed. The rules were the rules.

“While the emotions are raw it’s pretty hard to swallow when two teams work so hard to get to this moment,” he

said. “We had two attempts to separate us and still couldn’t - it is what it is, the rules are there at the start and they probably never thought they would have to use them.”

Williamson was named player of the tournament, his 578 runs the fourth highest in this World Cup, and the most by a captain in tour-nament history. But he said he would appreciate the accolade later.

Eoin Morgan praised their fighting ability and attitude to almost derail four years of planning by England.

“We got the rub of the green today,” Morgan said. “New Zealand throughout the group stages were absolutely out-standing, very consistent. I think the most admirable thing is the way they played their cricket, to consistently perform and compete against the very best on different stages.

“They are the best, and they do it in a fashion that you’d have no qualms in turning around to your kid and saying, ‘Please idolize these guys, they are very admirable.’ They are.”

England’s Ben Stokes attends a World Cup victory event at The Oval in London yesterday.

emmpts to separateitt is what

ree at y

s ttournament, his

ghhest in this World aa captain in tour-he said he would

adde later.issed their fightingaalmost derail fourEEngland.

f tthe green today,” eaaland throughout ree absolutely out-sttent. I think the e eg is the way theyeyeyyyyyyyyyyeyyeyyyyyyyyyeyyyeyyyyyyeyeyyyyyyyeyyeyyyyyyyyy, tto consistentltltltlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyy yyyyyyyyy yyyyyyyy yyyyyyyy yytee against the e

nt stages.t, and they

haat you’d inn

NZ fall short of World Cup glory at Lord’s

World Cup prize pot

P The total prize pot, which was $10m, saw winners England bag $4m.

P Runners-up New Zealand got $2m.

P Losing semi-finalists Australia and India got $800,000 each.

P The 10 teams in the tournament played against each other in a single-league format, with the top four sides - India, Australia, England and New Zealand - after 45 matches qualifying for the two semi-finals.

P For winning each league match, the participating teams got $40,000 each.

P That means India and Australia took home a total of $1.8m each from their campaigns.

PAGE | 18 PAGE | 19Stokes sorry

for outrageous fluke on day of

redemption

New Zealand fall meters short of Cricket World Cup glory

20TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019

Construction work at Qatar 2022 stadiums progressing smoothly

A picture posted at @roadto2022 yesterday shows Education City Stadium is nearing completion. The unique stadium design is covered with glass triangles that change their colour as the sun moves around in the sky. The landscape around the Education City Stadium is dotted with leading universities, where cutting-edge research is conducted and academics inspire their students to be at their best. This whole area, the home of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, buzzes with invention and a determination to make the 2022 FIFA World Cup a true catalyst for social and human development. RIGHT: A recent photo of another 2022 FIFA World Cup venue - the state-of-the-art Al Bayt Stadium, which has a capacity of 60, 000 seats. Fans arriving at this arena will have never seen anything like it. A giant tent structure will cover this whole stadium in the northern city of Al Khor. The stadium will host matches right through to the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

Queen salutes champions EnglandAFP LONDON

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sent her congratulations to England’s World Cup winners after their incredible triumph against New Zealand yesterday.

England won the tournament for the first time by scoring more boundaries than New Zealand after both the regulation match and a rare Super Over finished tied at Lord’s.

Celebrating the victory, the Queen wrote: “Prince Philip and I send our warmest congratula-tions to the England Men’s Cricket team after such a thrilling victory in today’s World Cup final.

“I also extend my commis-erations to the runners-up New Zealand, who competed so admi-rably in today’s contest and throughout the tournament.”

Britain’s Royal Mail postal service announced it would mark both the World Cup win and Eng-land’s victory at the 2017 Women’s World Cup with a series of special stamps.

The Royal Mail will also dec-orate 15 post boxes in white with a stylised gold cricket bat, ball and bat to make the achievement of both England teams at the host grounds and in locations of importance to men’s captain Eoin Morgan and 2017 women’s skipper Heather Knight.

The paintwork will be in place for three months and will be complemented by permanent gold plaques. In 2012, Royal Mail painted some of its red post boxes gold to celebrate every British gold medal during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games.

England’s captain Eoin Morgan holds the trophy as he poses with team-mates during a World Cup victory event at the Oval in London, yesterday.

Prince Philip and I

send our warmest

congratulations to

the England Men’s

Cricket team after

such a thrilling victory

in World Cup final:

Queen Elizabeth

Captain Morgan hopes triumph will spark English cricket revivalAFP LONDON

England’s captain Eoin Morgan hopes his side’s “incredible journey” to World Cup glory will inspire a new generation of fans in the sport’s birthplace.

There have long been con-cerns about declining player numbers in English cricket, with the sport hidden behind a television paywall in Britain since England’s iconic 2005 Ashes series triumph.

But Sunday’s match at Lord’s -- the first of the 12 World Cup finals to end in a tie and to be settled by a Super Over contest -- was on free-to-air television.

“I certainly hope partici-pation levels go up or continue to rise,” said Morgan, who has overseen England’s climb from the depths of a miserable first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup.

Morgan, asked if the final would have resonated far beyond cricket’s core audience, replied: “I hope so. Obviously today is a big day of sport with Wimbledon and the Silverstone GP going on.

“But with Sunday evening, people normally settle in for a bit of (naturalist) David Atten-borough or some random film that’s on, so I hope they were tuned into the cricket.”

England, set 242 to win, were dismissed for 241, with Ben Stokes stranded on 84 not out after Mark Wood was run out off the last ball of regu-lation play.

They then made 15 in their additional Super Over, bowled by Trent Boult, before New Zealand matched that in their own Super Over, bowled by Jofra Archer. But with Martin

Guptill run out off the last ball of the match going for the winning run, England tri-umphed on boundary count. during the match -- 26 to 17.

England had a moment of astonishing good fortune with a bonus four runs during their main innings when a Guptill throw deflected off the bat of Stokes, who was diving to make his ground.

‘Allah with us’ But the Dublin-born

Morgan, asked if England had enjoyed the famed luck of the Irish, said: “I spoke to Adil (England leg-spinner Adil Rashid), he said Allah was def-initely with us.

“It actually epitomises our team, quite diverse back-grounds and cultures.”

The 32-year-old added: “It was the most incredible game of cricket, with nothing between the sides.

England have consciously tried to emulate New Zea-land’s aggressive one-day style since the Black Caps thrashed them in a 2015 group match, with Australian coach Trevor Bayliss appointed after that World Cup.

“The biggest risk for us throughout the tournament was not playing a positive brand of cricket,” said Morgan after England’s World Cup win, which following defeats in the 1979, 1987 and 1992 finals.

I certainly hope

participation levels

go up or continue

to rise: England’s

captain Morgan

Victorious England celebrate World Cup title with young fansAFP LONDON

England revelled in their first World Cup triumph yesterday, soaking up the adulation of a disbelieving nation after one of the most extraordinary finishes to a cricket match in history.

The host country, after 44 years of trying, finally became world champions with a stunning victory over New Zealand at Lord’s, triumphing on superior boundary count after both the match and the additional Super Over shootout ended with the scores level.

Hundreds of children flooded across the outfield at the Oval -- across town from Lord’s -- to help Eoin Morgan’s men cele-brate their historic triumph.

Later, the players were due to go to a reception hosted by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street.

Many of the young children at the Oval were wearing the kit of the All Stars junior programme run by the England and Wales Cricket Board and others were dressed in their school uniforms.

As ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams blared out, the youngsters were delighted to catch sight of England stars such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer and flocked towards their new heroes.

It was a more modest cele-bration than the open-topped bus parade through the streets of London for England’s 2005

Ashes victors but was in keeping with the push to sell the game to a new generation.

“I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet but coming down here and seeing what a small portion of the support we’ve had feels about it, the kids, the adults, the energy they all had for what they saw yesterday is amazing,” said man-of-the-match Stokes.

England’s Jos Buttler signs his autograph for a fan during the celebrations, yesterday.

Al Bayt StadiumCapacity: 60,000 seats AAACCC

Education City Stadium Capacity: 40,000 seats