MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 DHUL HIJJAH 13, 1441 AH ESTABLISHED IN 1981 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI VOL. 39 NO. 263 | PAGES 18 OMAN DAILY MUSCAT: Coral reef habitat in the Sea of Oman faces an imminent threat as the fishes are adapting to extreme environmental conditions. This is revealed in a study that examined ‘cryptobenthic’ fishes in the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, linking their reduced diversity and productivity to energetic deficits that preclude the existence of many species. In the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, a team of international researchers used a variety of techniques to compare organismal traits, diversity and productivity of cryptobenthic reef fish in the environmentally extreme Arabian Gulf with those in the Sea of Oman. “Our findings highlight an imminent threat to cryptobenthic reef fishes and their essential role for coral reef functioning. These smallest marine ectotherms may struggle to compensate for increasing costs of growth and maintenance as they adapt to more extreme temperatures”, said Jacob Johansen, Assistant Research Professor at Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and member of the team. SAMUEL KUTTY REDUCED CORAL REEF FISHES MIRROR CLIMATE CHANGES www.omanobserver.om [email protected]#Living_with_COVID19 Be Careful, Be Responsible! A boy holding the replica of a long sword which is part of traditional Omani sword dance. SEE ALSO P4 PHOTO BY AHMED AL HATTALI US WILL HOLD ELECTION ON NOV 3 WASHINGTON: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Sunday that the United States will hold an election on November 3 and that President Donald Trump was raising concerns about mail-in ballots when he floated the idea of delaying the US vote. “We’re going to hold an election on November 3 and the president is going to win”, Meadows said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”. Trump last Thursday raised the idea of delaying the November 3 US elections, a proposal that was immediately rejected by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress - the sole branch of government with the authority to make such a change. Critics and even Trump’s allies dismissed the notion as an unserious attempt to distract from devastating economic news, but some legal experts warned that his repeated attacks could undermine his supporters’ faith in the election process. The Republican president has been trying to undermine confidence in mail-in balloting, claiming repeatedly and without evidence that it would lead to widespread voter fraud. Meadows took up his boss’s cause on Sunday, warning that mail-in ballots must be handled properly without providing evidence that they have not been in the past. — Reuters TURN TO P3
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MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 DHUL HIJJAH 13, 1441 AH
ESTABLISHED IN 1981 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI VOL. 39 NO. 263 | PAGES 18
OMAN DAILY
MUSCAT: Coral reef habitat in the Sea of Oman faces an imminent threat as the fishes are adapting to extreme environmental conditions.
This is revealed in a study that examined ‘cryptobenthic’ fishes in the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, linking their reduced diversity and productivity to energetic deficits that preclude the existence of many species.
In the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, a team of international researchers used a variety of techniques to compare organismal traits, diversity and
productivity of cryptobenthic reef fish in the environmentally extreme Arabian Gulf with those in the Sea of Oman.
“Our findings highlight an imminent threat to cryptobenthic reef fishes and their essential role for coral reef functioning. These smallest marine
ectotherms may struggle to compensate for increasing costs of growth and maintenance as they adapt to more extreme temperatures”, said Jacob Johansen, Assistant Research Professor at Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and member of the team.
A boy holding the replica of a long sword which is part of traditional Omani sword dance. SEE ALSO P4 PHOTO BY AHMED AL HATTALI
US WILL HOLD ELECTION ON NOV 3WASHINGTON: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Sunday that the United States will hold an election on November 3 and that President Donald Trump was raising concerns about mail-in ballots when he floated the idea of delaying the US vote.
“We’re going to hold an election on November 3 and the president is going to win”, Meadows said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”.
Trump last Thursday raised the idea of delaying the November 3 US elections, a proposal that was immediately rejected by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress - the sole branch of government with the authority to make such a change.
Critics and even Trump’s allies dismissed the notion as an unserious attempt to distract from devastating economic news, but some legal experts warned that his repeated attacks could undermine his supporters’ faith in the election process.
The Republican president has been trying to undermine confidence in mail-in balloting, claiming repeatedly and without evidence that it would lead to widespread voter fraud.
Meadows took up his boss’s cause on Sunday, warning that mail-in ballots must be handled properly without providing evidence that they have not been in the past.
— ReutersTURN TO P3
2 MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 www.omanobserver.om
OMAN
The crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic could be the right time to rethink our consumption patterns overall and our behaviour needs to be conscious about the health impact on environment and communities while starting new ways and less exploitative tourism, with respect to our mobilities and CO2 emissions such as slower forms of travel
DR MANUELA GUTBERLET, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
MUSCAT: The cruise industry will be different, more conscious and responsible towards destinations than before the Corona pandemic, not only towards the health of the passengers but more towards the local people and the destinations, says a German tourism researcher based in Muscat.
“The crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic could be the right time to rethink our consumption patterns overall and our behaviour needs to be conscious about the health impact on environment and communities while starting new ways and less exploitative tourism, with respect to our mobilities and CO2 emissions such as slower forms of travel,” says Dr Manuela Gutberlet, Research Associate, University of Johannesburg, School of Tourism and Hospitality, College of Business and Economics.
As a consequence of this pandemic, some destinations have protested to receive cruise tourists, a kind of ‘tourism phobia’ against mass-tourists noticed in European destinations like Venice or Barcelona.
Tourism and especially cruise tourism has been highly impacted since the pandemic outbreak occurred on the first cruise liner in Japan, the British-registered Diamond Princess.
Dr Gutberlet who has been studying the impact of mass cruise tourism in Oman says the number of cruise tourists has stopped around the globe due
to travel restrictions.Dr Gutberlet
highlighting the importance of sustainability in tourism, told Observer: “It fits our modern live-styles with instant-gratifications and convenience while being part of a ‘society of consumers’ on board. I think as long as it is ‘in’ and enhances the self-esteem and the inner desire as a motivating force for the consumption, people will continue to travel with a cruise liner when the pandemic is over”.
According to her research, very little money is spent in each destination due to lack of time.
The value of cruise tourism can be compared to other leisure activities including shopping.
Dr Gutberlet, also an independent tourism researcher at GuTech, mentions that shopping will continue but most probably with a d i f ferent consciousness and awareness.
“Travel is more likely to return first in close proximity to our homes. This could be more regional or domestic travel within Oman and the region along with outdoor activities, namely camping where it is easier to practise social distancing as well as outdoor sports activities that are less harmful for the natural and physical environment and the communities as well as well for tourists themselves”.
Dr Gutberlet is currently working on a book on ‘Mega-Cruise Tourism and Overtourism on the Arabian Peninsula’ to be published by Routledge, UK later this year.
L I J U C H E R I A N
OVER 100 PEDESTRIANS DIE IN ROAD MISHAPSMUSCAT: Over a hundred pedestrians lost lives due to road accidents in 2019 in Oman, according to offi-cial statistics released recently.
The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) in its latest report said that 114 pedestrians lost lives in 2019 road accidents and 99 of them were men.
The NCSI report added that 252 pedestrians, including 39 women suf-fered injuries from road accidents.
Most of the pedestrian deaths were reported from Muscat (22), North Batinah (33), South Batinah (23), Dhofar (9), South Sharqiyah (7) and North Sharqiyah (5).
It may be noted that 511 people lost lives and 2,442
people suffered injuries from 2,120 road accidents in 2019.
The majority of the acci-dents were due to vehicle collisions (903), followed by runover (416) and colli-sion with fixed objects (419).
Speeding was the main factor for deaths (269) due to road accidents in 2019.
Other factors include negligence (98), fatigue (12), overtaking (32), bad behaviour (50), defects in the vehicle (28) and not leaving a safe distance (12).
Subsequently of the total 2,120 accidents, 1,098 were due to speeding, 319 due to negligence, 151 for not leaving a safe distance and 331 due to bad behav-iour. Two deaths and 30 injuries from 17 accidents were due to flaws in the road.
CHILD DIES IN COLLISIONMUSCAT: A child died and four others injured when a car they were travelling caught fire after it collided with three vehicles in Mudhaibi in Al Sharqiyah Governorate, the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance reported on Sunday.
FROM PAGE 1
Cryptobenthic reef fishes are the smallest of all reef fishes, but they include a vast number of species that are often highly abundant on coral reefs and in some temperate regions.
“Extreme environmental conditions, as predicted for the end of the 21st century, could, therefore, disrupt the community structure and productivity of coral reefs in the Arabian Gulf and beyond”, he said.
As global warming contin-ues to escalate, there are lasting implications to con-sider, including the changes to biological communities in vital habitats such as coral reefs.
The Arabian Gulf is the world’s hottest sea each summer with temperatures well beyond those experi-enced by fishes elsewhere in the tropics, while the adja-cent Sea of Oman is consid-erably more benign.
“This makes this region a useful natural laboratory for understanding how cli-mate extremes affect fish function and diversity”, said
senior author Associate Professor of Biology at NYU Abu Dhabi John Burt.
Fish communities in the Arabian Gulf were found to be half as diverse and less than 25 per cent as abun-dant as those in the Sea of Oman, despite broad simi-larities in the amount of live coral.
Surprisingly, this does not seem to be related to abso-lute temperature tolerances of cryptobenthic fishes.
“We expected to see much lower temperature toler-ances in species that occur in the Sea of Oman, but not in the southern Arabian Gulf”, said Johansen.
While hotter waters require more energy, a dis-tinct, less diverse set of prey items in the Arabian Gulf may make it difficult for these small-bodied fishes to satisfy their energetic demands.
Yet, the critical thermal tol-erances of all species found in the Sea of Oman were, in theory, sufficient to survive even the maximum summer temperatures of 36°C in the southern Arabian Gulf, he added.
V I N O D N A I R
www.omanobserver.om MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 3
OMAN
Reduced coral reef fishes mirror climate changes
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OMAN
MUSCAT: An Omani boy has set an example for his peers by becoming the youngest in the Sultanate to bag six IT and digital marketing cer-tifications from companies including Google.
Shihab al Mebarez (pic-tured) utilised free time dur-ing the lockdown to learn
and achieve this rare feat. “The online training was fun as well as tough”, says Me-barez.
“I did my level best because that is one of the few things that a student of my age was able to do during the lockdown period. I’m happy for the results”.
His father, Amr al Meba-rez an IT expert, says,
“Since COVID-19 started I realised that kids have a lot of free time but unfortunately they can’t go for
outdoor activities, and the available
alternative options are video games and TV”.
He was able to divert the
attention of Shihab from vid-eo gaming towards useful online courses. So, for each completed course Shihab got bonus rewards to play their favourite game.
His brothers, 10-year-old Mahdi, and eight-year-old Shadi are about to complete windows 10 and Microsoft PowerPoint courses and get certifications.
OMANI BOY SETS AN EXAMPLE FOR HIS PEERSK A B E E R Y O U S U F
COLOURS OF EID AL ADHA
Eid al Adha celebrations were mostly confined to homes due to dusk-to-dawn lockdown in the Sultanate. Adults and children put on the finest outfits and greeted each other. Children were given Eidiya by elders. People exchanged gifts, sweets and food. For people who could not reach home as they were working in Muscat, it was the online tools that kept the families connected. It has been so for the expatriate families in Oman too.
www.omanobserver.om MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 5
WORLD
MILAN: Just two years after part of Genoa’s Morandi bridge collapsed killing 43 people, a new structure opens in the port city on Monday, in stark contrast to Italy’s stalled infrastructure projects elsewhere.
The new kilometre-long bridge, designed by star architect Renzo Piano, replaces the old motorway viaduct which broke apart on Aug. 14, 2018 in one of Italy’s worst civil disasters in decades.
The accident laid bare years of mismanagement and poor maintenance and set off an acrimonious battle between the govern-ment and Atlantia’s Autostrade per l’Italia, the private concession holder controlled by the powerful Benetton family which ran the bridge.
Several former and cur-rent executives of Autostrade and transport ministry officials have been placed under investi-gation by prosecutors and
after months of wrangling, Atlantia is set to lose con-trol of its lucrative subsidi-ary.
For the mayor of Genoa and state-appointed com-missioner for bridge reconstruction, Marco
Bucci, the case is both an example of decades-long failures in Italy’s transport infrastructure and a dem-onstration of what the country is capable of accomplishing.
“There’s a feeling of both
regret for what happened and pride in the work that’s been done,” he told Reuters. “We’ve worked and shown Italian excel-lence and demonstrated that it’s possible to do these things.” — Reuters
NEW BRIDGE PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON HOW ITALY CAN MANAGE RECOVERY
IN BRIEF
Kuwait bans flights to 31 countriesDUBAI: Kuwait has banned until further notice commercial flights to 31 countries it regards as high risk due to the spread of the coronavi-rus, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Saturday.
The countries include India, Paki-stan, Egypt, the Philippines, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, which all have large numbers of expatriates in Kuwait. The list also includes China, Iran, Brazil, Mexico, Italy and Iraq.
The ban was announced the same day that Kuwait began a partial re-sumption of commercial flights. The authorities have said Kuwait Inter-national Airport would run at about 30% capacity from Saturday, gradu-ally increasing in coming months.
Kuwait, which has recorded near-ly 67,000 coronavirus cases and more than 400 deaths, began a five-phase plan at the start of June to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions. A partial curfew remains in place.
India’s interior minister hospitalisedNEW DELHI: India’s Interior Minis-ter Amit Shah has been admitted to hospital after catching the coro-navirus, he said on Sunday, becom-ing the most senior politician in the country to test positive for the disease.
India’s coronavirus outbreak is the third worst in the world behind the United States and Brazil, with nearly 1.7 million confirmed cases and 36,500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
“I request all of you who came in contact with me in the last few days to isolate yourselves and get tested,” Shah said in a tweet.
Shah, 55, said he had got himself tested after exhibiting initial symp-toms of COVID-19. “My health is fine but I am being hospitalised on the advice of doctors,” he added.
Toxic liquor toll nears 100NEW DELHI: The death toll from poisonings linked to toxic liquor in India’s northern state of Pun-jab rose to 98 on Sunday as pro-tests against the illicit alcohol business were reported. The vic-tims, mostly poor farmers and workers, fell ill after drinking the alcohol across three districts on Wednesday.
The first deaths were reported later that day. The toll soared over the weekend in what has become the country’s worst bootleg alcohol incident this year.
In a crackdown, police con-ducted over 100 raids across villages and arrested 25 people connected with the illicit trade. Hundreds of litres of liquor have been seized from villages and road-side eateries, police said.
— Agencies
Italy to open sleek new bridge in Genoa on Monday. — AFP
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WORLD
Suspense surrounds Biden’s upcoming VP selectionWASHINGTON: Democratic presi-dential candidate Joe Biden has promised to soon reveal his run-ning mate.
And as the suspense builds over who Biden will choose to be on the ticket for November’s election, this much is known — it will be a woman.
About a dozen names have been bandied about by pundits and the press but the favorite for the vice president slot appears to be California Senator Kamala Harris.
The speculation that the 55-year-old Harris would be the choice was fuelled further last week when Biden appeared at an event clutching a notepad with her name on it.
Written on the pad under Harris’s name were several complimenta-ry remarks including “Talented,” “Great help to campaign” and “Great respect for her.”
The November 3 election is shap-ing up to be one of the most conse-quential in recent US history and comes amid a health emergency, an economic crisis and a national reckoning over racial injustice.
The choice of a running mate is
always one of the most important decisions a White House hopeful makes but it has added signifi-cance this year because of Biden’s age.
Biden turns 78 years old on November 20 and he would be the oldest man ever to assume the
office if he defeats President Donald Trump in November.
Ronald Reagan was nearly 74 years old when he was inaugu-rated in January 1985 for his second term in the White House.
“The vice-presiden-tial pick this year is so much more impor-tant than it normally is because people expect Biden to only serve one term,” said
David Barker, a professor of gov-ernment at American University.
“And so whomever he picks as vice president is likely to be the next Democratic candidate for president in four years,” Barker said.
Besides Harris, three other sena-tors are believed to be under con-sideration — Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. — AFP
Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice is believed to be on the short-list of vice presidential candidates. — AFP
Afghanistanreleases over 300 Taliban prisonersKABUL: The government of Afghanistan released 317 Taliban prisoners since the beginning of the Eid al Adha on Friday, the country’s office of National Security Council said on Twitter on Sunday. With the newly-released prisoners, the total number of Taliban prisoners released from Afghan custody reached 4,917 pris-oners, the Council said. The 317 were among an additional 500 Taliban prison-ers that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered freed on Friday as a goodwill gesture. The Taliban have yet to react to the newly released prisoners. However, on Friday Ghani said that he has “no authority” under the country’s constitu-tion to release the remaining 400 inmates on a Taliban list of prisoners to release because of their involvement in serious crimes.
Threat to Florida eases as Isaias to remain tropical stormMIAMI: Isaias neared the Florida coast on Sunday threatening to bring strong winds, flash flooding and storm surges but was no longer expected to regain hurricane strength. Isaias, downgraded from a category 1 hurricane, was pack-ing sustained winds of 105 km per hour on Sunday morning as it moved slowly towards Florida’s southeast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. “Little change in strength is expected during the next couple of days,” it said. The Miami-based NHC said the center of Isaias was expected to move “near or over the east coast of Florida today through late tonight,” before moving on Monday and Tuesday off the Georgia coast and into the southern mid-Atlan-tic. The storm earlier dumped torrential rain on the Bahamas and claimed at least one life in Puerto Rico.
Six dead, 13 wounded in Chicago shootingsCHICAGO: Five people were fatally wounded, including a 9-year-old boy, and at least 13 others were wounded overnight in shootings as the weekend started in city, Chicago police said. The first fatal attack happened in the Cabrini Green neighbourhood shortly before 7 pm on Friday, and claimed a 9-year-old boy who was playing behind the Cabrini Green townhomes with a group of friends, police said. He suffered a wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at short time later at Lurie Children’s Hospital, police said. — Agencies
IN BRIEF
The November 3 election is shaping up to be one of the most consequential in recent US history and comes amid a health emergency, an economic crisis
and a national reckoning over racial injustice.
www.omanobserver.om Monday, august 3, 2020 7
World
Israelis protest Netanyahu and his coronavirus policiesTEL AVIV: Thousands of Israelis have demonstrated in several locations across the country against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial and coronavirus pandemic crisis management. According to a police spokesman on Saturday evening, more than 7,000 people took part in a demonstration near the official residence of the 70-year-old premier in Jerusalem, demanding his resignation. Around 1,000 people also came to a rally at Netanyahu’s private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea, the police said. There was also a demonstration in Tel Aviv. There were no initial estimates of the number of participants from the organisers of the protests.
US counts 61,262 COVID-19 cases in 24 hoursWASHINGTON: The United States counted 61,262 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours leading up to 8:30 pm on Saturday (0030 GMT Sunday), according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. It was the fifth consecutive day with more than 60,000 infections recorded, according to the Baltimore-based university. There were also 1,051 deaths in the 24-hour period. The US has now tallied more than 4.6 million cases and 154,319 deaths, making it the hardest-hit country in the world. The new numbers came as Florida braced for the arrival of Tropical Storm Isaias, which is expected to strengthen back into a hurricane as it approached the southeastern part of the virus-ravaged state.
Virus curfew imposed on Australia’s second-biggest cityMELBOURNE: Australia imposed an overnight curfew on its second-biggest city on Sunday and banned people from moving more than five kilometres from home in a bid to control a growing coronavirus outbreak that is infecting hundreds daily. Declaring a “state of disaster”, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne would move to Stage 4 restrictions until September 13 given “unacceptably high” levels of community transmission. The harshest rules in Australia to date will see city residents face a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am for the next six weeks. Only those carrying out essential work, or seeking or providing care, will be allowed out.
— Agencies
GENEVA: The World Health Organization warned the coronavirus pandemic was likely to be “lengthy” after its emergency committee met to evaluate the crisis six months after sounding the international alarm.
The committee “highlight-ed the anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic”, the WHO said in a statement, and warned of the risk of “response fatigue” given the socio-economic pressures on countries.
The panel gathered last Friday for the fourth time over the coronavirus crisis, half a year on from its January 30 declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) - — the WHO’s high-est level of alarm.
“WHO continues to assess the global risk level of COVID-19 to be very high,” it said following the meeting.
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 680,000 people and infected at least 17.6 million since the out-break emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources
compiled by AFP.Unsurprisingly, the panel,
comprising 17 members and 12 advisers, unani-mously agreed that the pan-demic still constituted
Several countries around the world have imposed strict lockdowns in a bid to control the spread of the respiratory disease, plung-
ing economies into sharp contraction.
The committee urged the WHO to provide nuanced, pragmatic guidance on COVID-19 management “to reduce the risk of response fatigue in the context of socio-economic pressures”.
The panel urged the WHO to support countries in pre-
paring for the rollout of proven therapeutics and vaccines.
The committee also urged the agency to accelerate research into the remain-ing “critical unknowns” of the virus, such as the ani-mal source of the disease and potential animal reser-voirs. — AFP
Expect ‘lengthy’ virus pandemic, warns WHo
An employee of an aid organisation shows a sample at a newly established Corona testing station in Dortmund, western Germany. — AFP
8 Monday, august 3, 2020 www.omanobserver.om
ANALYSISWhen celebration brings fear!
Festivities, of all kinds, are a distinct way of enjoying life and its blessings. Through such jovial occasions, people share great and unforgettable moments with family,
friends, colleagues or society. Being in a mood of celebration is very positive and encouraging to refresh minds and spirits, strengthen relations with others and break the daily routine of one’s life.
A number of celebrations have already been booked on our calendar, some of which are annu-al while others are just occasional and celebrated for short-lived reasons. Commemorating Eid al Adha is one of those yearly occasions we impa-tiently look forward to celebrate. Being called the Festival of Sacrifice or Feast of Sacrifice, this Eid falls on the 10th day of the twelfth month of the Islamic Calendar, Dhul Hijjah. It is associated with performing Haj, pilgrimage, the fifth pillar of Islam.
Eid al Adha is a happy celebration for all Mus-lims worldwide; children, adults and elderly, both men and women alike. Regardless of age and gen-der, you see people within the same neighbour-hood exchanging greetings and congratulations with each other since the dawn or even since the moment it’s known that the next day is Eid.
However, this year, the occasion was celebrated differently with the emergence of coronavirus (COVID-19). Due to social distancing norms, people are reluctantly staying at home on the day and sharing their greetings with others remotely; via SMS, WhatsApp or phone calls. Mostly they have virtual greetings and wishes with one another.
What made it even worse is the increasing number of coronavirus infections, leading to a partial lockdown of all governorates of the Sul-tanate. Hence, people have limited their celebra-tions at home with their families and not even with neighbours. Very close relatives could possibly have quick and distant one-on-one greetings on the day of Eid. Though, that was also limited and rare.
People have been cautiously marking Eid al Adha celebrations, striving not to put theirs and others’ health at risk. All are complying with the decisions of the Supreme Committee and pro-moting the concept of better sacrificing delight of social gathering instead of losing one’s health and life. Hence, all have tried their best to observe Eid celebration in joyous ambiance, but with caution to ensure all are safe and happy.
Stay safe and be happy.
Iraqi midwife Umm Mariam used to help bring three babies into the world per day. But with mothers-to-be avoiding pandemic-hit hospitals, she now deliv-
ers twice that number in her makeshift home clinic.
Across the country recovering from decades of war, health cen-tres face shortages of oxygen supplies and protective equip-ment even as coronavirus cas-es soar to almost 130,000, with nearly 5,000 deaths.
Among those infected in the economically battered country, according to official figures, are 3,000 medical staff.
“That’s why many women now prefer to deliver their children at my place,” says Umm Mariam, speaking from the clinic she has set up at her home in Kut, south-east of Baghdad.
The dire situation is a far cry
from the Iraq of the 1970s, which prided itself on one of the best healthcare systems in the Mid-dle East, by offering free state-of-the-art care to its citizens.
But back-to-back conflicts — from the war with Iran that started in 1980 to the US-led mil-itary campaigns and the battle against the Islamic State group — have sapped funds used to maintain the system.
For years international sanc-tions made it impossible to get new medical equipment or even spare parts into the country.
The government still allocates barely two per cent of its annual budget, which is funded almost entirely by oil sales, to the health ministry.
Even before COVID-19 hit this year, Iraq’s hospitals were run down, with outdated or broken equipment and staff often poorly trained and overworked. — AFP
For mothers-to-be hospitals are no-go zones in Iraq
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this page are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer.
PrinteD anD PublisheD by: Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising l P.O. Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman l Website: omanobserver.om l e-mail: [email protected] l [email protected]
An Iraqi volunteer works on building a 525-bed field hospital at a Baghdad exhibition centre in June to help fight the coronavirus outbreak. — AFP
MUSCAT: Refineries oper-ated by OQ, the Sultanate’s integrated refining and petrochemicals conglom-erate, reported a steep decline in the output of motor fuels, aviation fuel and other refined products during the first half of this year — the result of pan-demic lockdown measures coupled with a protracted economic slump that have dramatically impacted fuel consumption trends.
According to figures released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), produc-tion of M-91 — the more popular of Oman’s two main motor fuel grades — plummeted 32 per cent to 5.090 million barrels dur-ing the first six months of this year, down from 7.528 million barrels for the same period of 2019.
Production of premium M-95, however, was lower by only 12 per cent at 5.793
million barrels this year, down from 6.580 million barrels last year.
But reflecting a sharp rebound in economic activ-ities following the easing of lockdown measures towards the latter part of Q2, gasoline output jumped 47.6 per cent in June ver-sus figures for May, NCSI noted in its latest statistical report.
Similarly, aviation fuel production slumped a hefty 40 per cent to 4.455 million barrels during the January — June 2020 peri-od, down from 7.443 million barrels last year, as the country’s airports remained shuttered for all but a limited number of
passenger and cargo flights for much of the sec-ond quarter.
LPG (cooking gas) pro-duction also fell 25 per cent to 2.827 million bar-rels in the first half of this year, down from 3.790 mil-lion barrels during the cor-responding period of 2019.
But bucking the produc-tion downtrend was diesel. Output of diesel — the dom-inant fuel source for heavy vehicles, construction machinery and diesel-pow-ered gensets in remote parts of the country — soared 16 per cent to 16.711 million barrels this year, up from 13.524 million barrels last year.
Reflecting the slump in
fuel production and con-sumption, the country’s leading fuel marketing companies reported a siza-ble decline in their reve-nues for the six months ended June 30, 2020.
Shell Oman Marketing Company, the largest of the Sultanate’s trio of fuel mar-keting firms, posted a 25.1 per cent decline in revenue for the January – June 2020 period, citing a reduction in sales across all business segments dur-ing the pandemic.
Earnings slumped to RO 189.650 million this year, down from RO 253.323 mil-lion during the same peri-od of 2019.
Al Maha Petroleum Products Marketing reported a 27 per cent drop in total revenues in initial unaudited results for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Revenues decreased to RO 171.615 million this year, down from RO 233.895 million for the corresponding peri-od of 2019.
C O N R A D P R A B H U
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BUSINESS
LOWER OUTPUT: Aviation fuel production slumped a hefty 40 per cent to
4.455 million barrels during the January – June 2020 period, down from 7.443 million barrels last year, as
the country’s airports remained shuttered for all but a limited number of passenger and cargo
flights for much of the second quarter.
Sharp fall in motor, jet fuel production in H1 2020
10 MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 www.omanobserver.om
BUSINESSFood security projects are market
driven with no state subsidy
MUSCAT: The substantial portfolio of food security projects spearheaded by state-owned Oman Food Investment Holding Company (OFIC) — the gov-ernment’s food sector investment and develop-ment arm — have been conceived and developed as commercially viable ventures with zero govern-ment subsidy, according to a key company official.
Eng Saleh al Shanfari, CEO, said projects worth nearly $1 billion in capital investments are currently in various stages of devel-opment, execution and operation at various loca-tions around the Sultanate. Underlying all of these investments is one strate-gic objective: securing Oman’s food requirements.
Participating in a recent online panel discussion on the theme, ‘Oman AgroFood Webinar: Technology and Innovation in the World of Agriculture’, official noted all of these strategic invest-ments are market-driven.
“The reality is we are competing very fiercely in the market. While Oman has never gone through any protectionist means, we allow the market to function competitively based on quality, pricing and so on — it’s a free mar-ket. The government has neither interfered nor reg-ulated the market. Of course, there are organisa-tions monitoring overpric-ing or quality concerns, but Oman was able to provide quality-driven projects to support the local demand.”
Set up in 2013, Oman Food Investment Holding Company — now part of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) — has been mandated by the govern-ment to nurture an envi-ronment conducive to investments in food securi-ty initiatives.
“The vision of OIFC is to be the recognised leader for promoting strategic
investments in the food sector domestically and internationally to improve food security in Oman. The mission is to invest in food projects individually and in partnership with various strategic investors inside and outside Oman aiming to promote self-sufficiency, where possible, and food security for the Sultanate of Oman.”
Exemplifying this man-date is Mazoon Dairy, set up in the Buraimi desert with an investment of around $250 million, said Al Shanfari. OFIC owns 20 per cent of the company, the rest shared by private sector companies, pension funds and investment houses.
Underlining the business rationale behind the struc-turing of its projects, the CEO stated: “The way we promote (Mazoon Dairy) is driven by the market. There was no subsidy here. We are competing in the market bottle to bottle with the other dairy companies. The reality is whatever we do today in the food securi-ty of the country is not driven by any kind of subsi-dy. We are driven by mar-ket competition, it is quality, it is pricing and the way you present yourself in the market.”
In the seven months
since it commenced opera-tions, Mazoon Dairy has garnered a 30 – 40 per cent share of the local market for dairy products. Starting with a production of around 20,000 litres per day of milk around nine months ago, the farm has ramped out daily output to 200,000 litres, he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic situation, the CEO noted, proved to be something of a blessing in disguise for the company. He explained: “We utilised COVID-19 in our favour in terms of direct imports, focusing on local production, strength-ening the process that we do a better job in terms of
quality, security and safety of our workforce and mak-ing sure that we deliver the best, because we know that sometimes imports are quite risky.”
He further added: “Various production units and companies, along with Asyad and the Oman Aviation Group, we worked together to ease up the process of direct import to the country without depending on other neigh-bouring countries. Because of the need we are able to utilise and seize the moment to create a break-through in the way we pro-duce, import and distribute food. We worked with dif-ferent organisations to make sure that food reach-es the tables of every home here in Oman, swiftly, safely and abundantly at the right price.”
Also taking part in the panel discussion were: Ahmed Kelani, Host, IFP Group; Philip Higgins, Moderator, Director, Ventures Onsite; Redha Said Khalfan Bait Faraj, Assistant Director General of Fisheries Marketing and Investment, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; and Mohammed Amer al Mashani, CEO, Omani National Livestock Development Company (ONLDC).
J O M A R M E N D O Z A
Whatever we do today in the food security of the
country is not driven by any kind of subsidy. We are
driven by market competition, it is quality, it is pricing and the way you
present yourself in the market.
ENG SALEH AL SHANFARI,CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Oman Food Investment Holding Company
The effect of the coronavirus on the economy throughout the Euro zone shows a grim
picture half-way through 2020. Following a 3.6 per cent contraction in the first three months, the Euro zone economy contracted by a record 12.1 per cent in the second quarter as corona-virus lockdowns caused business activity to shudder to a halt and consumer spending to dry up.
This confirmed that the single-currency area is in the worst recession since the euro came into exist-ence at the start of 1999. A look at the figures of the economy of some of the Euro zone members shows the difficult times that lie ahead for them to make recovery.
The Italian, French and Spanish economies each suffered their worst quar-ters on record after impos-ing some of the strictest restrictions. Spain’s econo-my fared the worst of the bunch, contracting 18.5 per cent quarter on quarter. It
followed a 5.2 per cent drop in the previous quarter and was much worse than the 16.1 per cent contraction analysts had expected.
Italy suffered a fall in GDP of 17.3 per cent after a drop of 5.4 per cent in the first quarter. It was better than expected, however. The French economy — the big-gest of the three — contract-ed by a post-war record of 13.8 per cent. That drop was also better than expecta-tions.
Europe became one of the global centres of the coro-navirus pandemic in the spring. Cases and deaths varied sharply from coun-try to country, however, allowing different approach-es to lockdowns. Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic fared relatively well. Their economies shrank by between five and eight per cent in the second quarter.
The coronavirus restric-tions battered businesses
and confined people to their homes, causing spending to plunge at a record rate. Current individual country GDP figures are far worse than anything seen since at least the Second World War.
The German economy contracted at a record rate in the second quarter of the year as the pandemic sent the country into lockdown. Germany’s GDP fell by 10.1 per cent quarter on quarter after shrinking 2.2 per cent in the first three months. Now, questions loom over the continent’s economic recovery as cases are on the rise again. Spain has been hit hard, causing con-cern for its tourism sector.
“Not only has the Spanish economy been one of the worst hit in the Euro zone,” said Jessica Hinds, European economist at Capital Economics. “But it also looks set to make a much weaker recovery than its neigh-bours.” Adding: “The tourism sector, which was barely get-ting back on its feet after the closure of borders during the lockdown, has been dealt a fresh blow by the resur-gence in virus cases.”
BUSINESSwww.omanobserver.om MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 11
Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed companyNEW YORK: Apple Inc’s surged over 10 per cent to a record high after reporting blockbuster quarterly results, helping the iPhone maker eclipse Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable pub-licly listed company.
Apple’s stock ended the session at $425.04, putting its market capitalization at $1.82 trillion, according to the share count provided by Apple in a regulatory fil-ing on Friday.
It was Apple’s largest one-day percentage gain since March 13, and it added $172 billion in market capitaliza-tion during the session,
greater than the entire stock market value of Oracle Corp.
Saudi Aramco, which had been the most valuable pub-licly listed company since
going public last year, had a market capitalization of $1.760 trillion as of its last close, according to Refinitiv data.
After Apple bought back $16 billion worth of shares in the June quarter, it had 4,275,634,000 outstanding shares, as of July 17, accord-ing to the filing.
With Friday’s stock gain, Apple’s has surged about 45 per cent year to date, with investors betting that it and other major US tech-nology companies will emerge from the coronavi-rus pandemic stronger than smaller rivals.
— Reuters
Workers prepare for the opening of an Apple store in China, in this file photo. — Reuters
Euro zone economy shrinks by record 12pc as pandemic bites
NEW YORK: For a faint moment, energy traders had an inkling that demand for jet fuel, the worst-hit product in fuel markets due to the coronavirus pandemic, might stage a bit of a rebound.
The number of flights increased in the United States in early July, mak-ing some traders optimistic. That spurred a bevy of shipments of jet fuel to the US West Coast from locales in Asia.
But with a resurgence in coronavi-rus cases, passenger air traffic has pulled back. Commercial aviation was easily the hardest-hit of the major transport sectors when coro-navirus hit, given the close proximity of passengers in an air-conditioned space where viruses can spread. International flights remain down more than 80 per cent from year-ago levels, Rystad Energy said.
In Europe, traders were hopeful that the summer vacation season would increase demand for jet fuel. But stocks recently hit a record high despite subdued imports to the region and high exports as more countries impose border restric-
tions to control the new wave of the pandemic.
Stocks had set new records in July at 984,000 tonnes in a fifth weekly consecutive rise, according to data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global. They slightly fell last week to 937,000 tonnes.
Exports westward have come large-ly from countries such as South Korea, Japan and India. That has decreased jet fuel and kerosene floating storage in Asia to 1.1 million barrels from four million barrels in early May, according to Vortexa.
The rising stocks in Europe and the
low demand in summer encouraged many traders to look into export options. The United States was one of the main destinations in June and July, according to Kpler.
But air travel in the United States also has not recovered. Activity rebounded around the July 4 US holiday, but has since stalled, Standard Chartered said Wednesday. The week-over-week rolling seven-day average for passenger number growth in the United States fell below zero in mid-July for the first time since April 20, the company said.
Jet fuel imports to the United States in July increased to 190,000 barrels per day, still 45,000 bpd under year-ago levels, but up 33,000 barrels per day versus June, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
Much of that went to the US West Coast, which at times relies on imports, given its lack of connected-ness to other markets in the coun-try, Kpler’s Reid l’Anson said. “Airlines might have been marginally more active in the region than initial expec-tations, prompting the need for some international jet volumes.” — Reuters
A business jet is refuelled at the Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. — Reuters
BUSINESS
Commercial aviation was easily the hardest-hit of the
major transport sectors when coronavirus hit, given the
close proximity of passengers in an air-conditioned space where viruses can spread.
Jet fuel demand outlook sours after fleeting market optimism
SPORTS
Todd hangs onto lead headed into final round
NEW YORK: Brendon Todd held on to the lead at the WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational on Saturday, despite an uneven third round that saw him hit four bogeys and five birdies to finish the day at a one-under par 69.
Todd, who sunk a 22-foot putt for a birdie on eight, said he was battling with his swing throughout the day.
“I was just fading a little bit more off the tee than I would like to. And I general-ly do fade the ball a little bit off the tee, but I missed a handful of fairways,” said Todd, who won two PGA Tour titles on consecutive
starts last November.“You know, a yard right
and that was just far enough from the fairway to end up with a pretty bad lie and not have a chance to get to the green.”
The 35-year-old American shot back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13, only to land in the water on 14, a costly mistake that rattled his typically calm demeanor.
“That’s the easiest to put on the green, to not hit in the water,” said Todd. “It was a swing that was out of rhythm that was a little bit too often today and to know I hit the water there, it made me pretty mad.”
An Byeong-hun sits one stroke behind Todd headed into Sunday’s final round. He landed in the water for a double-bogey on 11 before sinking four back-to-back birdies on 13 through 16, finishing with a four-under-par 66 at the fanless event.
“It feels like a practice round out there. There’s not many people watching and definitely was kind of a relaxing day, I think,” said An. “I didn’t get really tensed up.”
Rickie Fowler (69) ended the day two back from the lead after a pair of bogeys on the back nine dented an otherwise clean round.
— Reuters
www.omanobserver.om MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 13
I was just fading a little bit more off the tee than I would like to. And I generally do fade the ball a little bit off the tee, but I missed a handful of fairways.
BRENDAN TODD,US
SPORTS14 MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 www.omanobserver.om
WARREN ERUPTS AS PACERS EDGE 76ERS
INDIANA, US: TJ Warren scored a career-high 53 points to lead the Indiana Pacers past the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 127-121 on Saturday near Orlando.
Warren was 20 of 29 from the field, including 9 of 12 from beyond the 3-point arc. Warren’s previous career high was 40.
Aaron Holiday had 15 points and 10 assists, and Victor Oladipo added 15 points for the Pacers, who improved to 40-26 despite playing without key injured players such as Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon.
Joel Embiid was spectacular for the Sixers (39-27) with 41 points, 21 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. It was his fourth game this season with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds. Tobias Harris scored 30 points, and Ben Simmons added 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Toronto Raptors 107 — Los Angeles Lakers 92
Kyle Lowry had 33 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, leading Toronto past Los Angeles for the 11th consecu-tive time.
Lowry hit 5 of 9 3-pointers and 8 of 16 shots from the floor. OG Anunoby had 23 points, making 8 of 9 shots, and Pascal Siakam contributed 15 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors. The Raptors haven’t lost to the Lakers since November 30, 2014.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 20 points and 10 boards. Kyle Kuzma chipped in 16 points, and Anthony Davis managed 14 points on 2-of-7 shooting.
Miami Heat 125 — Denver Nuggets 105
Bam Adebayo had 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Jimmy Butler also scored 22 points and added seven assists, and Miami used a big second half to beat Denver.
Kelly Olynyk scored all 20 of his points in the fourth quarter, Duncan Robinson scored 17, Goran Dragic had 13 points and Kendrick Nunn added 11 for the Heat (42-24). Miami outscored Denver 69-48 in the second half.
Nikola Jokic had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Jerami Grant also had 19 points for the short-handed Nuggets (43-23). Denver played without starters Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Will Barton. — Reuters
AARON HOLIDAY HAD 15 POINTS AND 10 ASSISTS, AND VICTOR OLADIPO ADDED 15 POINTS FOR
THE PACERS, WHO IMPROVED TO 40-26
DESPITE PLAYING WITHOUT KEY INJURED PLAYERS SUCH AS DOMANTAS
SABONIS AND MALCOLM BROGDON.
www.omanobserver.om MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 15
SPORTSBESIDES THE
DOMESTIC ONLINE
SESSIONS, MANY OF THE
TOP DOMESTIC REFEREES TOOK
PART IN THE UMPIRING
WEBINARS ORGANISED BY
THE ASIAN FOOTBALL
CONFEDERATION (AFC). IT WAS
A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
FOR THE NATIONAL
REFEREES TO RECEIVE THE
RIGHT EXPOSURE FROM THE
TOP UMPIRES OF ASIA.
THE UMPIRING COMMITTEES
AIMED FROM ALL THE SET PLANS
THAT THE NATIONAL
UMPIRES AND REFEREES
SHOULD BE IN GOOD SHAPE TO
RESUME THE SEASON.
NATIONAL REFEREES IN RIGHT SHAPE FOR RESUMPTION OF
FOOTBALL SEASONMUSCAT: More than 200 referees took part at the educational umpiring webinars which concluded at the end of the previous month. The online sessions which were organised by the Oman Football Association (OFA) during July registered a participation of different referees including the junior referees and the senior umpires.
As a step prior to commencement of the footballing season and due to the current situation of spreading the COVID-19 pandemic, the umpiring committee at OFA preferred to use the “Zoom” platform to deliver the right technical messages to the participating referees.
The online sessions featured discussion on different umpiring topics including the recent updates in the rules and regulations approved by Fifa. The technical umpiring expert at OFA, Omar Bashtawi, delivered some sessions and he focused on different areas that support the junior referee and can develop their refereeing skills. He
explained a series of cases through video and from different international football events. The umpiring committee at OFA advised all the referees to proceed further with their physical and fitness programme through daily training from home due to the current ongoing tough situations.
All the participating referees were grouped into three batches and each group featured 70 referees based on their levels. The educational online sessions included different theoretical parts from the law and how the new referees can gain the required knowledge and experience. Moreover, the umpires had learned
during the webinar taking the decisions on critical cases and further discussion on the common mistakes that could occur during the competitions and the best practice to eliminate that mistake.
Besides the domestic online sessions, many of the top domestic referees took part in the umpiring webinars organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was a golden opportunity for the national referees to receive the right exposure from the top umpires of Asia. The umpiring committees aimed from all the set plans that the national umpires and referees should be in good shape to resume the season.
A D I L A L B A L U S H I
LONDON: Arsenal lifted the FA Cup for a record 14th time at a near-deserted Wembley stadium after an action-packed final. In their 2-1 victory over Chelsea, the Gunners’ outstanding strik-er Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang repeated his feat of the semi-final with two goals, the second of which was exquisitely exe-cuted.
With much talk about the interest shown by Barcelona and Real Madrid in wanting to sign the brilliant player, Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, said; “I’m very posi-tive, I had a conversation with him and I think he wants to stay. He knows what I think about him. I want to build the squad around him. We will try to get it done so we can have Auba for a few more years.”
Arteta, delighted with the victory, added: “Aubameyang had an incredible season. We expect the big players to turn up in big games and he has done it twice. I think these moments will help him to realise and believe that we are on the right path and he is a big part of it. He is loved by everybody at the club so hopefully he can continue with us.”
Chelsea had started bright-ly and took an early lead in the 5th minute through the brilliant Christian Pulisic. The American, took the ball in midfield on the half-turn, sprinted forwards and laid the ball out to Mason Mount. Mount then played it inside to Olivier Giroud who sent a clever back flick to Pulisic for a wonderful finish as he skipped past Kieran Tierney
to clip over Emiliano Martinez.
Gunners hit back equalis-ing in the 28th minute when a long ball from Ainsley Maitland-Niles found Aubameyang on goal-side of Cesar Azpilicueta who hauled him down for a clear penalty. Aubameyang’s superbly placed shot sent Martinez the wrong way.
Chelsea lost Azpilicueta with a hamstring injury in the first half and at the start of the second another pulled hamstring saw Pulisic leave the field. While the injuries unsettled the Blues, Arsenal struck the killer blow grab-bing the winning goal in the 67th minute.
Hector Bellerin began the move from his own half but in his run was tackled by substitute Andreas Christiansen. The ball went to Nicolas Pepe who spotted Aubameyang. The Gabonese then beat Kurt Zouma, jink-ing past him to lift the ball marvellously inside the far post.
There were further prob-lems for the west London team when Mateo Kovacic was harshly shown a second yellow card in the 74th minute in going for a 50-50 ball with midfielder Granit Xhaka. Chelsea applied pres-sure in the closing stages but the Gunners’ defence stood firm.
Blues’ manager, Frank Lampard said: “We weren’t ourselves and inconsistency has been a problem. Many things went against us – it’s not a sending off, everybody knows that, so that was a shame. I can hang a little bit on those but to be complete-ly honest we weren’t at our best to win the game.”
SPORTS16 MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 www.omanobserver.om
I’m very positive, I had a conversation with him and I think he wants to stay. He knows what I think
about him. I want to build the squad
around him. We will try to get it done so we can have Auba
for a few more years.
MIKEL ARTETA, ARSENAL
MANAGER
AUBAMEYANG DOUBLE
STRIKE WINS CUP FOR ARSENAL
A N D Y J A L I L
Children make the most of Eid al Adha
The celebra-tion of Eid al Adha this year has been chal-lenging with
the government prohib-iting family visits and gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID19. While this change required a lot of adaptation from the adults, the children were still able to make their eid celebration a colourful and memora-ble one.
The adults were forced to rethink the celebra-tion keeping a balance between ensuring their children’s safety but at the same time not spoil-ing the memories of their
children by still allowing them to meet with close friends and keeping the celebration to close fam-ily members.
A cross section of peo-ple whom we spoke admitted that they had limited their celebrations to their families while children had a gala time with sweets and Eidiya and colorful dresses.
Mohammed al Rashdi, a marketing personnel, Ali al Ghassani, a police officer, Ahmed al Hattali, a media person, Fatma al Sheraiqi and Reem al Hasani, airline and travel and tourism officials shared they had a color-ful Eid with their families in their wilayats while children seemed enjoy-ing with their cousins.
“The Eid days in Bahla
were very fruitful having great time in the family farm. We celebrated Eid with special prayers with parents, brothers and sisters including their kids. Being socially dis-tanced however, we have contacted our far rela-tives via video calls and greeted them for Eid,” said Fatma al Sheraiqi.
It seems none of their Eid routines were affect-ed this time. They woke up early in the excite-ment, wore the new tra-ditional dresses, offered prayers with the elders inside their homes, had sweets, went to nearby homes offering Eid wish-es, collected Eidya and the like.
“The kids had their own fun swimming in the Falaj while we watered the
palm dates as well as col-lecting dates with the family. They saved this year’s Eidiya from the family members and although it was little due to lockdown and no rela-tives visited each other, they saved them for com-ing days. Sweets were mostly made at home and kids, of course, had some time with digital gadgets gaming with sib-lings,” Reem al Hasni added.
“In this Eid festival, the humane and human face of religious teachings encourage believers to distribute the eatables (the meat of a goat, sheep or camel or buffalo) among poor and the needy,” said CM Najeeb, an expatriate shipping official.
K A B E E R Y O U S U F
features17 Monday, august 3, 2020 www.omanobserver.om
www.omanobserver.om Monday, august 3, 2020 18 www.omanobserver.om THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020 18
FEATURES
LOS ANGELES: HBO’s (T.N) dys-topian superhero drama “Watchmen” and the 1960s com-edy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Tuesday led an Emmy nomi-nations list dominated by Netflix and what Variety said was a record number of Black actors.
“Watchmen” scored 26 nods, including best limited series, while Amazon Studio’s (AMZN.O) “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” got 20.
Netflix (NFLX.O) led all plat-forms with a record 160 nomina-tions for shows ranging from “Stranger Things” to “Tiger King.” It was followed by HBO with 107, including a surprise nod for Zendaya, the 23-year-old mixed race star of teen drama “Euphoria.”
“Schitt’s Creek,” the sleeper hit comedy about a wealthy family forced to live in a rundown motel, scored 15 nods, including for
best comedy series and its four main cast members.
Actor Eugene Levy said it had taken people time to fall in love with the show, which aired its final season in April.
“The love and inclusivity that the show had touched people in a meaningful way, particularly now, but (also) in the past year certainly with the mood and tone of what was going on in the world,” Levy told Reuters on Tuesday.
Most of the Emmy-nominated shows completed filming before the coronavirus pandemic shut-tered Hollywood production, but the effects of the disease that has confined millions to their homes was apparent in reac-tions on Tuesday.
“This is the best news I’ve had since getting locked up in the
house five months ago,” quipped Alan Arkin, who was nominated for comedy “The Kominsky Method.”
“We are feeling blessed and hoping our show continues to bring a little, lightness, levity and joy,” said “Mrs. Maisel” nominee Tony Shalhoub.
“Succession,” about a sparring media family, scored 18 nomina-tions including nine for its actors. “Ozark,” the saga of a middle-class family that launders money, also received 18 nods.
COLORFUL WOMENHalf of the nominees for best
comedy series were Emmy new-comers, such as female-driven “Dead To Me” and Issa Rae’s “Insecure” take on 20-something Black women in Los Angeles.
“Women of all ages and color have never had it better,” said
Helena Bonham Carter, who was nominated for playing Britain’s Princess Margaret in “The Crown.”
At a time when Hollywood’s record on diversity is under scrutiny, multiple nominations went to people of color, includ-ing Muslim American Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”), Kerry Washington (“Little Fires Everywhere” and “American Son”), Regina King (“Watchmen”) and returning Emmy champion Billy Porter (“Pose”).
The Television Academy did not give a breakdown but Variety calculated that 35, or 34.3%, of the 102 acting nomi-nations went to Black actors, smashing the previous highest tally of 27.7% in 2018.
“I’m proud to see so many Black artists nominated this year. It gives me hope that sys-temic change in our entertain-ment industry is not only possi-ble, it’s imminent,” said Jeremy Pope, reacting to his nod for playing a Black screenwriter in “Hollywood.”
Jennifer Aniston landed her first Emmy nomination in a dra-matic role for her performance as a TV anchor in the Apple TV+ drama “The Morning Show.”
Among the surprises was a best drama series nod and 14 others for “The Mandalorian,” the popular “Star Wars” spinoff on the Disney+ (DIS.N) streaming platform.
The Emmy Awards will be announced at a ceremony on Sept. 20, although it is not clear what form it will take because of the coronavirus pandemic. — Reuters
INSTAGRAM TOP PICKS
Emmy nominations, from ‘Succession’ to ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ put premium on diversity
A tour of crumbling Malta villa where the
Queen lived in her 20s
VALLETTA: It is the only property outside of Britain that Queen Elizabeth called home.
A crumbling villa near Malta’s capital, Valletta, where the heir to the English throne lived between 1949 and 1951, is about to get a new lease of life as a museum of the Mediterranean island’s links with the United Kingdom and the royal family.
The arcaded, two-storey property is a shadow of its former self. The rooms are bare, paint is peeling off the walls to reveal old murals beneath, the enclosed garden is overgrown and part of a colonnaded belvedere in it has collapsed.
Now that the government of Malta has finally acquired the Villa Guardamangia after years of trying, it hopes to restore it to its former state when it was a charming, if relatively modest home for the future British queen.
The renovation could cost as much as 10 million euros, said Heritage Malta curator Kenneth Gambin during a recent walk-through to show off the dilapidated property.
“We are planning to invite anyone who remembers the royal couple when they lived in Malta to meet us, share their memories and possibly their
photos,” he said.
SWEEPING VIEWSPrincess Elizabeth was in the first years of her marriage at the time, and moved to Malta when her husband, Philip, was based there in command of a Royal Navy frigate.
The villa stands proudly in a narrow street at the top of Guardamangia Hill, and at the time commanded sweeping views of the harbour of Marsamxett and Valletta, where the Navy’s frigates were moored. Much of the structure was built in limestone in the mid-eighteenth century as a summer house.
Additions early in the nineteenth century included a belvedere
overlooking a large, enclosed garden that served as a backdrop to one of the most frequently used pictures of the young royal couple on the island.
Malta was then a bustling British colony and a key naval base in the middle of the Mediterranean and on the route to India.
Guardamangia Hill itself was named after a “guardia” or guard, which Maltese and British troops jointly mounted as they trapped French Napoleonic forces for almost two years in Valletta, a siege that led the British to take over Malta at the islanders’ invitation in 1800.
