emergency number NO. 17412 12 PAGES 150 FILS …...Jun 21, 2020 · “QR Code” or appointment...

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SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020 / SHAWWAL 29, 1441 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17412 12 PAGES 150 FILS

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‘PAM’ launches electronicappointment booking systemKUWAIT CITY, June 20: Director Gen-eral of Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Ahmed Al-Mousa announced that PAM is ready to launch the electronic ap-pointment booking service, in preparation for the start of the second phase of the plan for return to normal life, during the period when the visitors will be received, reports Ajarida daily.

In a press statement, Al-Mousa said, “The launch of this service is part of the authority’s efforts to develop electronic services and organize the process of re-ceiving visitors in a manner that ensures the quality of service delivery eligibility while preserving the customer’s time. It is in line with recommendations for apply-ing physical distancing and non-crowding policy in light of the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, the service will cover visits to all offices of PAM that receive the public, including the main office in Al-Riggae area”.

He affirmed that the reception and service provision will be limited to only those with previously-booked appoint-ments that are documented to receive the “QR Code” or appointment confirmation message, as they will not be received un-less they specify an appointment.

Al-Mousa explained that the reserva-tion steps are as follows -

1. Enter PAM website – www.man-power.gov.kw

2. Choose the department that the cus-tomer wants to visit and the branch

3. Determine the type of service4. Enter the required identification data

such as Civil ID number, applicant status, email ID, phone number, as well as the appropriate appointment (from the list of available days and time periods).

He said, “The reservation will be con-firmed and its details preserved for the visitor to show to the receptionist upon entry. A copy of the appointment reserva-tion confirmation will be sent to the appli-cant’s email, in addition to the authority’s recommendations regarding the organiza-tion of entry by appointments”.

Regarding remote working, Al-Mousa stated that PAM has finished prepar-ing the guidelines for the mechanism of returning to work or working remotely during the current crisis, indicating that it includes preparations of the commis-sion before resuming work, preparing the workplace, and applying necessary medi-cal procedures according to the health au-thorities’ instructions with general guide-

lines for employees and visitors.He stressed that, “All these procedures

support continuity, smoothness and effi-ciency of work in various sectors of the authority”.

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Informed sources called for activation of the proposal to examine agricultural products on farms before transporting them to the sales outlets to verify the lev-el of chemicals in them due to the use of pesticides, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily quoting sources confirmed that the mechanism of dealing with local produce is a joint responsibility between Public Authority for Food and Nutrition and the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources, while on the field (within the farm). However, it becomes the responsibility of the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition after leaving the farm (before sales and circu-lation). They stressed the preference of examining the produce inside the farm before it arrives at the market.

They stated a proposal in this regard was put on the table for research and dis-cussion, and to form work teams to carry out the inspection and examination inside the farm. The teams will have a number of government agencies headed by the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources, because it is the only government agency that has the right to enter the farms, in addition to judicial control.

They explained the inspection and ex-amination teams, in addition to the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources, include other agencies- each in its field of competence, such as Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, to enforce the requirements of product safety and specifications of the Environ-ment Public Authority for examination to ensure it is free of pesticides.

The Ministry of Interior is for secu-rity protection while the Kuwaiti Farmers Union is to guide farmers in the field of spraying insecticides and harvesting the produce at least 21 days after the spray-ing process. “However, this proposal is yet to be implemented on the ground”, they noted.

Revealing data obtained, it became clear that local produce that came from Abdali and Wafra farms were not exam-ined, saying vegetables and fruits were entered and sold directly from the farms.

citizens should pay for their treat-ment in case of contraction of the virus.

The government compels passen-gers wishing to come to Kuwait to provide an Arab copy certificate he conducted a PCR test four days be-fore the trip, providing he is clean of the virus, said Al-Mezrem.

Health Minister Sheikh Dr Bas-sel Al-Sabah said Thursday failure to adhere to precautionary measures and over-indulgence in family visits during lockdown has led to further spread of coronavirus, warning the situation might “get out of hand.”

Based on State figures, the Cabi-net decided to maintain the current first phase of the five-phase restart plan with a continuous reassessment of the health situation, until health standards required to move on safely to the second stage are reached, he said.

The Minister was speaking to reporters in an online press confer-ence, following a Cabinet meeting, chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, aimed at discuss-ing the health ministry report on the situation.

“Today we are able to control (the pandemic) and we do not want to reach a stage where the pandemic controls us,” he said.

Many fathers and mothers were tested positive and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in spite of stay-ing at home, he said.

They caught the virus after host-ing gatherings and not adhering to social distancing rules or washing their hands, he added.

He urged the public to cooperate with authorities in order to proceed to the next phase, quoting His High-ness the prime minister, who said that “we are at a crossroads.”

The criteria for moving from one stage to the other are the rate of in-fection transmission, the stability of patients’ numbers for a sufficient pe-riod, low levels of family occupancy at ICUs and hospitals and low infec-tion rates.

Meanwhile, the lifting of the iso-lation of some areas in the country came after a drop in infection rates there, he explained.

Despite having recorded “very good” improvements in four criteria, the rate of transmission remained 1.07 (the normal being one), the minister said, adding this necessi-tated the continuation of this phase, which will be reassessed over the coming days.

He went on to urge the importance of wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands, leaving home only for extreme necessity.

Asked about the application of dexamethasone in Kuwait, after its success in limiting coronavirus-re-lated deaths in the UK, he said the drug was available and abundant throughout Kuwaiti hospitals, how-ever, the amount and timing of ad-ministering the drug has not yet been determined.

He commended the study, saying it has “very good” results amongst coronavirus patients, suffering from acute respiratory problems.

Kuwait has taken all measures necessary to ensure survival and ac-cess to healthcare for all nationals and foreign residents amid coronavi-rus crisis, in line with international human rights standards, including women and families, an official had told regional talks.

These measures have been applied under the directives His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Family Affairs Committee Chief Hanaa Al-Hajeri said at Arab League women’s committee talks two days ago.

The meeting discussed efforts tak-en in the regions countries to combat the economic, social and psycho-logical impacts of COVID-19 on the society, particularly women and families.

Kuwait urged committee mem-bers to put in place comprehensive policies and strategies aimed at re-lieving these impacts on families, as a whole, through cooperation be-tween State and civil society bodies.

In its report, she said Friday, Ku-wait proposed several humanitarian initiatives targeting all nationals af-fected by the pandemic.

This includes ensuring support for their livelihoods and their right to the nation’s food stockpile and put-ting into place a restart plan based on social responsibility for a gradual post-coronavirus exit.

LOCKDOWN LIFTS ON HAWALLY, MAIDAN HAWALLY, NUQRA, SOME OF KHAITAN

Kuwait non-compliance behind COVID

Phase 1 extended, curfew 7 pm to 5 amKUWAIT CITY, June 20, (KUNA): Kuwait government decided Thursday to ease re-strictions imposed due to curb spread of coronavirus as of Sunday, June 21, but would not allow public sector’s workers to return to their offices next week.

The government decided to extend the fi rst phase of a plan to restore normal life because of the high number of infections among the Kuwaiti citizens, Government Spokesman Tareq Al-Mezrem told an online news confer-ence.

He said the Ministry of Health would be assessing the health situation of the virus and would refer the assessment to the Cabinet next week.

He added the Cabinet assigned the ministers to provide services for the public as of next Sunday.Al-Mezrem said the government also decided to change curfew hours to start at 7:00 pm until 5:00 am starting morning

of June 21.He said the government decided to lift a lockdown on areas of Hawally, Nuqra, Maidan Hawally and some blocks in

Khaitan as of tomorrow.The government, said Al-Mezrem, also allowed limited air travel for citizens with critical health conditions who should

travel at their own expense.Students who must travel to attend their tests will be allowed to do so, he said, as well as citizens who have foreign wife

of husband abroad and the trip should be for 30 days minimum.Any person who wants to travel should submit a request for the Ministry of Interior 10 days before the trip, he said, and

COVID cases up to 467

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health on Saturday reported 467 more infec-tions with the novel coronavirus (CO-VID-19), taking the country’s count of confirmed cases to 39,145.

Six more people also died from the infectious respiratory illness over the past 24 hours, raising Kuwait’s death toll due to the virus to 319 so far, the ministry’s Spokesman Dr Abdul-lah Al-Sanad said in a statement to KUNA.

The latest cases include 268 Ku-waiti citizens, while the remaining pa-tients belong to several other nation-

alities, Al-Sanad added.In addition, a total of 8,100 patients

are still receiving medication at hospi-tals, while 180 others are languishing in intensive care units, the spokes-man added.

He urged anew citizens and resi-dents to follow health and preven-tive guidelines and measures, chiefly physical distancing.

Earlier Saturday, the Ministry of Health confirmed the recovery of 536 additional COVID-19 patients, bring-ing the overall count of recoveries to 30,726 so far. (KUNA)

Newswatch

KUWAIT CITY: The Offi ce of Na-tional Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim issued a statement in re-sponse to opinions on Al-Ghanim’s invitation to Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi to Kuwait in view of the latter’s po-sition on the Iraqi invasion of the country in 1990.

Al-Ghanim pointed out in the statement that receiving invitations and inviting Speakers of Arab and friendly countries is part of the tra-ditions observed in Arab and inter-parliamentary meetings, indicating Tunisia is not exempted from such a tradition.

He disclosed the idea of inviting Ghannouchi and others was pre-sented during the Arab Parliament meeting held in Amman, Jordan on Feb 8 – before the coronavirus crisis – in order to discuss the ‘deal of the century’.

He said the written invitation was sent to the Kuwaiti ambassa-dor to Tunisia, but it was handed over to Ghannouchi late maybe be-cause of the consequences of coro-navirus including the suspension of lights.

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KUWAIT CITY: The former di-rector of the Public Institution for Social Securities (PIFSS), Fahd Al-Raja’an, faces a lawsuit accus-ing him of obtaining commissions of up to half a billion dollars when he was investing the country’s oil wealth, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting the British newspaper, ‘The Times’.

The newspaper said Al-Raja’an bought diamonds and homes in the US city of Los Angeles, and an apartment in the Swiss ski resort of St Moritz. The Times also says Al-Raja’an used to manage millions of dollars through bank accounts and companies in Switzerland, Leba-non, Singapore, the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. The pa-per quoted his lawyer, saying that he (meaning Al-Raja’an) could not pay the cash money in dispute because he had spent most of it.

The PIFFS has fi led a lawsuit against Al-Raja’an before the High Court in London, demanding a freeze and recovery of $847 million, which Al-Raja’an and other defend-ants have embezzled and invested the share of Al-Raja’an of up to 513 million.

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KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait expressed hope that warring nations bear the responsibility for ensuring the safety of civilians and preventing their disappearance during armed confl icts, urging the prevention of confl icts.

This came as Kuwait permanent UN representative Mansour Al-Otaibi attended, as keynote Speaker, a virtual event discussing Security Council Resolution 2474 on missing persons in armed confl icts.

Security Council Resolution 2474, submitted by Kuwait during its non-permanent 2018-2019 membership status, was adopted for the fi rst time during Kuwait’s presidency of the Council in June 2019.

Al-Otaibi said he wanted oppos-ing sides in any armed confl ict to also respect and guarantee human rights for all individuals within their territories in line with international law.

It is important to prevent the dis-appearance of people, he added, urg-ing the sides to enact legislation that ensures the registration of detainees and the appropriate training of sol-diers in handling detainees.

He called for adequate identifi ca-tion and search methods, including for soldiers, through registration offi ces that monitor fatalities and ensure accountability for any wrong-doing. (KUNA)

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GENEVA: Coronavirus rates are “ac-celerating” amid a “new and danger-ous phase,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warned on Friday.

“We call on all countries and all people to exercise extreme vigi-lance,” he told a press conference, adding that poorer countries are the most vulnerable.

As nations look to open up the virus continues to spread at a swift rate, he said.

Nobody is safe from the virus, he added, urging people to continue to practice social distancing, wear pro-tective masks and keep their hands washed. (KUNA)

Canada to introduce tracing app

Britain scraps app forGoogle-Apple systemLONDON, June 20, (AP): Britain scrapped plans to launch its own coronavirus contact tracing smartphone app because of technical problems and will now work on building one using technology supplied by Apple and Google, health authorities say.

The app had been undergoing trials on the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England, with plans to roll it out to the rest of the country later, but the program went quiet in recent weeks.

Officials overseeing the UK app’s development said they couldn’t overcome technical challenges found during field tests.

Even though it worked well on Google’s Android devices, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government was abandon-ing the prototype app and instead putting its efforts into develop-ing one using a special interface jointly developed by Apple and Google, which itself had problems.

“Apple software prevents iPhones from being used effectively for contact tracing unless you’re using Apple’s own technology,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at the government’s daily briefing.

“Our app won’t work because Apple won’t change their sys-tem,” Hancock said. He wasn’t able to say when a new app would be ready.

Britain has the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe, at over 42,000, and the Conservative government has been sharply criti-cized for what many see as its slow, muddled response to fighting the pandemic.

Authorities in Britain and elsewhere have been trying to harness new technology to help manage fresh virus flareups as lockdowns ease. However, efforts to develop mobile apps to help with manual contact tracing, a pillar of infection control, have been dogged by technical problems and privacy concerns.

Various contact tracing apps being rolled out across Europe use low-energy Bluetooth signals to anonymously log anyone who comes within close contact to a user – usually two meters for 15 minutes or more.

Britain initially opted to develop its own “centralized” trac-ing app that would send data about contacts to government serv-ers for analysis, alarming privacy experts. The app is part of a broader British “test, track and trace” program that includes 27,000 people hired to track down anyone who’s been in con-tact with an infected person, so they can be told to get tested or self-isolate.

The Android version of the British app was fairly accurate at identifying other devices, but the Apple iPhone version wasn’t, picking up only 4 percent of contacts. The problem is that Apple’s iOS normally won’t let apps use Bluetooth in the background, so it can’t constantly scan for other users.

AccurateUK authorities started developing a second app in parallel that

uses the Google-Apple interface, Hancock said. It was highly accu-rate at detecting other users, but poor at judging how far away they were, a feature Hancock said was “mission critical to any contact tracing app.”

“We’ve now got problems with both versions but there’s parts of each that can come together to build something that’s stronger than either version.”

Other European nations such as Switzerland, Germany and It-aly and some US states have adopted the Google-Apple system, which uses experts say is better for privacy because it keeps data on phones.

Data rights expert Ravi Naik said Britain’s app posed privacy risks and welcomed the government’s U-turn.

“It’s a shame they didn’t do so sooner as the spread of COV-ID-19 could have been mitigated if they hadn’t been so committed to going it alone,” he said.

However, the Google-Apple system has its weaknesses, said Emily Taylor, CEO of Oxford Information Labs, a cyber intelli-gence company.

“It won’t achieve the epidemiological goals of understanding hot spots of infection or identifying a second wave,” she said.

Canada is introducing a contact tracing smartphone app that will notify Canadians of exposure to the new coronavirus.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the app will be voluntary and that if someone tests positive, other users who have the app and have been in proximity will then be alerted they’ve been exposed to someone who has tested positive. Trudeau said privacy will be respected.

“At no time will personal information be collected or shared, and no location services will be used,” Trudeau said.

Governments around the world have been turning to smartphone technology to help battle fresh virus flare-ups as they ease lock-down restrictions. But technical problems and privacy concerns have dogged the development of virus tracing apps.

Health authorities in Britain announced Thursday they are scrapping plans to launch their own coronavirus contact trac-ing smartphone app because of technical problems and will now work on building one using technology supplied by Apple and Google.

Other European nations such as Switzerland, Germany and Italy, are using a “decentralized” approach based on the Apple-Google smartphone interface, which experts say is better for privacy be-cause it keeps data on phones.

“We drew lessons from what other people did around the world,” Trudeau said. “This type of simple and anonymous application, that is entirely voluntary, will be extremely powerful in terms of helping us to reopen the economy safely.”

Ontario will soon begin testing the free app which is being developed with the help of Canadian technology companies Shopify and BlackBerry. He said Apple and Google recently put out major upgrades to their operating systems and that the app will be available in July. The technology was developed by Shopify volunteers and it will under go a security review by BlackBerry. Trudeau’s office said it incorporates Bluetooth technology by Apple and Google that will record instances when users have come into contact with people confirmed to have the virus.

“It will be up to individual Canadians to decide whether to download the app or not but the app will be most effective when as many people as possible have it,” Trudeau said.

He said there are 30 million smartphones in Canada that can take the app, and he hopes over 50 percent download it.

2ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

editor’s choice

Many in US say protest impact will be positive

Juneteenth takes on new meaning amid push for racial justice

Teiah Faulk, who is a spoken word artist known as ‘Alone Featuring Company’, poses for a portrait during the ‘Unapologetically Black Cultural Festival’, hosted by Juneteenth GR at Martin Luther King Park on June 19, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (AP)

DETROIT, June 20, (AP): Protesters marched over the Brooklyn Bridge, chanted “We want justice now!” near St Louis’ Gateway Arch, stopped work at West Coast ports and paused for a moment of silence at the Martin Lu-ther King Jr Memorial in Washington, as Americans marked Juneteenth with new urgency Friday amid a nationwide push for racial justice.

The holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, is usually celebrated with parades and festivals but became a day of protest this year in the wake of demonstrations set off by George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police.

In addition to traditional cookouts and readings of the Emancipation Proc-lamation — the Civil War-era order that declared all enslaved people free in Confederate territory — Americans of all backgrounds were marching, holding sit-ins or taking part in car caravan protests.

Thousands gathered at a religious rally in Atlanta. Hundreds marched from St Louis’ Old Courthouse, where the Dred Scott case partially played out, a pivotal one that denied citizenship to African Americans but galvanized the anti-slavery movement. Protesters and revelers held signs in Dallas, danced to a marching band in Chicago and registered people to vote in Detroit.

“Now we have the attention of the world, and we are not going to let this slide,” Charity Dean, director of Detroit’s office of Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity, said at an event that drew hundreds and called for an end to police brutality and racial inequality.

Events marking Juneteenth were planned in every major American city Friday, although some were being held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. At some events, including in Chicago and New York, participants packed together, though many wore masks. At others, masks were scarce.

Cranes came to a standstill as longshoremen in more than two dozen West Coast ports stopped work to mark Juneteenth. In California’s Port of Oak-land, political activist and former Black Panther Party member Angela Davis thanked the workers for shutting down on “the day when we renew our com-mitment to the struggle for freedom.”

In Nashville, Tennessee, about two dozen Black men, most wearing suits, stood arm in arm in front of the city’s criminal courts. Behind them was a statue of Adolpho Birch, the first African American to serve as chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

“If you were uncomfortable standing out here in a suit, imagine how you would feel with a knee to your neck,” said Phillip McGee, one of the demon-strators, referring to Floyd, a Black man who died after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept 22, 1862, and it became effective the following Jan 1. But it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union sol-diers brought the news of freedom to Galveston, Texas.

Most states and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth — a blend of the words June and 19th — as a state holiday or day of recognition, like Flag Day. But with protests over Floyd’s killing and a pandemic that’s dispro-portionately harmed Black communities, more Americans — especially white people — are becoming familiar with the holiday and commemorating it.

“I feel hopeful and really, really proud to see the community of whites and Blacks joining together and for white people to really understand what the significance of Juneteenth is,” said Elaine Loving, who marched with her two daughters, grandchildren and hundreds of others in Portland, Oregon’s historically Black neighborhood, where she’s lived since 1959.

Some places that didn’t already mark Juneteenth as a paid holiday moved in recent days to do so, including New York state.

The growing recognition of Juneteenth comes as protests have yielded re-sults, including policing reforms in several places. Also gaining momentum were longstanding demands to remove symbols and names associated with slavery and oppression.

Protesters in North Carolina’s capital pulled down two statues Friday night that are part of a larger Confederate monument. Also this week, a crane toppled a Confederate monument that had stood in an Atlanta suburb since 1908 and the US House removed portraits of four former speakers who served in the Confederacy.

In addition to big marches, smaller events were held. In Louisiana, commu-nity and environmental groups won a court fight to hold a Juneteenth ceremo-ny at a site archaeologists have described as a probable cemetery for enslaved African Americans. Philadelphia residents staged impromptu celebrations af-

‘Tentacles deep’

Bank of England says sorry for slave linksLONDON, June 20, (AP): The Bank of Eng-land has apologized for the links some of its past governors had with slavery, as a global anti-racism movement sparked by the death of George Floyd forces many British institu-tions to confront uncomfortable truths about their pasts.

The central bank called the trade in human beings “an unacceptable part of English his-tory,” and pledged not to display any images of former leaders who had any involvement.

“The bank has commenced a thorough re-view of its collection of images of former gov-ernors and directors, to ensure none with any such involvement in the slave trade remain on display anywhere in the bank,’’ the institu-tion said in statement.

The decision comes after two British com-panies on Thursday promised to fi nancially support projects assisting minorities after be-ing called out for past roles in the slave trade.

Insurance giant Lloyd’s of London and pub chain Greene King made the pledges after media highlighted their inclusion on a Univer-sity College London database of individuals and companies with ties to the slave trade.

Launched in 2013, the database shows how deeply the tentacles of slavery are wo-ven into modern British society.

It lists thousands of people who received compensation for loss of their “possessions” when slave ownership was outlawed by Brit-ain in 1833. It reveals that many businesses, buildings and art collections that still exist to-day were funded by the proceeds of the slave trade.

Those listed on the database include gov-ernors and directors of the Bank of England, executives in companies that are still active

and forbears of prominent Britons including writer George Orwell and ex-Prime Minister David Cameron.

About 46,000 people were paid a total of £20 million — the equivalent of 40 percent of all annual government spending at the time — after the freeing of slaves in British colo-nies in the Caribbean, Mauritius and south-ern Africa.

Some slave owners were paid vast sums. John Gladstone, father of 19th-century Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, received more than £100,000 in compensation for hundreds of slaves, at a time when skilled workers earned £50 to £75 a year.

But not all the slave owners were ultra-wealthy. Middle-class Britons up and down the country were paid compensation. The loan the government took out to cover the payments was so large that it was not repaid in full until 2015.

Information about the role played by Brit-ish fi rms and individuals in slavery has been available on UCL’s database for seven years. But corporate apologies are only coming now that the Black Lives Matter movement has thrust the issue of racial injustice into global prominence.

Keith McClelland, a researcher with UCL’s Legacy of British Slave-ownership project, said many parts of British society had been unwilling to face up to the past.

“The dominant narrative from the 1830s onwards was that the great thing about Brit-ain was that it had abolished the slave trade and then abolished slavery,” he said.

“And this wasn’t just a narrative being told about Britain at that time. (Former prime min-ister) Gordon Brown (and) David Cameron

made speeches saying in the 2000s saying, there is this golden thread of liberty that runs through British history, one component of which was the abolition of slavery. Fine. Ex-cept neither of them actually mentioned that behind that was 200 years of slavery.

“It seems to me just incomprehensible that you can laud the abolition of slavery without talking about slavery itself. But that’s what has happened.”

The racial-equality protests that followed Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis have sparked a reassessment of history, with demonstrators in several countries toppling memorials to people who profi ted from impe-rialism and the slave trade.

Earlier this month, protesters in the English city of Bristol hauled down a statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave trader, and dumped it in the city’s harbor. City offi cials fi shed it out and plan to put it in a museum, along with placards from the protest.

Oxford University’s Oriel College has rec-ommended the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, a Victorian imperialist in southern Africa who made a fortune from mines and endowed Oxford’s Rhodes scholarships for international students.

McClelland said Floyd’s death and its after-math could bring major change in how Britain faces its past — but it’s too soon to say.

“There are a lot of statements coming from companies about regret,” he said. “Will this make a concrete difference? Ask me in two, three, four, fi ve years’ time. Have they actu-ally done anything rather than say, ’Oh, well, we’re terribly sorry?’

“We’ll see. I am not entirely optimistic.”

ter a parade and festival were canceled because of the pandemic, and St Peters-burg, Florida, unveiled of a blocklong mural that says “Black Lives Matter.”

“We know our lives matter. You don’t have to tell us that. We’re trying to tell the world that,” said Plum Howlett, a tattoo artist who painted part of the mural.

President Donald Trump issued a message for Juneteenth, which he said was “both a remembrance of a blight on our history and a celebration of our Nation’s unsurpassed ability to triumph over darkness.”

Trump had originally planned a rally Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but changed the date to Saturday amid an uproar about his appearance on a date of such signif-icance. The city also is where white mobs attacked a prosperous black business district nearly a century ago, leaving as many as 300 people dead.

In New Orleans, where demonstrators were greeted with bowls of red beans and rice, speaker Malik Bartholomew offered a reminder.

“We celebrate Juneteenth in honor of the celebration of freedom, but guess what? We also have to celebrate the fight,” Bartholomew said.

Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday weekend’s demonstrations against sys-temic racism and police brutality, more than 4 in 10 Americans say they expect recent protests around the country will bring positive change. A ma-jority say they approve of the protests.

Despite headline-making standoffs between law enforcement and protest-

ers in cities nationwide, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a majority of Americans think law enforce-ment officers have generally responded to the protests appropriately. Some-what fewer say officers used excessive force.

The findings follow weeks of peaceful protests and unrest in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died pleading for air on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes. A dramatic change in public opinion on race and polic-ing has followed, with more Americans today than five years ago calling po-lice violence a very serious problem that unequally targets Black Americans.

Bill Ardren, a 75-year-old retired resident of Maple Grove, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, said he supports the protests. He blames protesters and law enforcement equally for why some demonstrations turned into ugly clashes scarred by looting and arson.

“People finally got fed up because of this last incident,” said Ardren, refer-ring to Floyd’s death, “and it spread all over the country.”

The new poll finds 54 percent of Americans say they approve of the protests, while 32 percent disapprove. Another 14 percent say they hold neither opinion.

More think the protests will mostly change the country for the better than bring about negative change, 44 percent to 21 percent. A third say they won’t make much difference.

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

3

Teachers raise concerns aboutnon-renewal of their ‘iqamas’

‘Some students not included in e-educational platform’

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: The problem of renewing the Article 17 residencies of teachers of Ministry of Education continue on the basis of “coordination with Ministry of Interior is awaiting approval”, particularly for those whose residencies had expired since March as well as those whose resi-dencies are about to ex-pire, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

In this context, the daily re-ceived a number of complaints from teachers in various edu-cational areas, especially those who have been besieged by ter-ritorial isolation, demanding completion of their residency renewal procedures.

They stressed that the date of the leave specified for them, as per the decision of the Minister of Education Dr Saud Al-Harbi, ends on August 4 at a time when they were unable to travel to their families. This means the remain-ing period of their leave does not exceed 45 days at the time that their colleagues traveled since May.

AffectedThe teachers explained that

there are many among them who are affected by this in each educational area and who can-not travel to their countries because their residencies have expired or are close to expiry. Some of them, whose residen-cies have become temporary after being automatically extended by the Ministry of Interior, fear that, if they leave the country with the temporary residencies, they will not be able to use them to return or may face difficulty returning to Kuwait from their countries.

The teachers went on to explain that they had communi-cated with principals of their schools. After Eid Al-Fitr, they sent them a link to list the names of the teachers whose residencies expired, and they communicated with the Ministry of Education via its electronic accounts until Wednesday.

However, they have been receiving the same answer which is “Coordination is taking place between the Ministry of Education and its Interior coun-terpart” as well as their need for certificates of interest to effect renewal of the contract. The min-istry referred them to the educa-tional departments at a time when work is yet to resume in the edu-cational areas in the governor-ates, and the situation is more complicated for those who are within the isolated areas.

On the other hand, the daily received calls from several par-ents whose children are study-ing in private Arab schools, saying their names were not included in the online educa-tional platform to be launched next Sunday.

They asked whether they will have a mechanism other than the one for public school students, stressing that they are very much concerned about the future of their children.

MPW agrees to CAPT request

Minister urged to look into the matter

MoE to ‘terminate’ services of 101 expats in administrative positions

Kuwaiti imams dissatisfi ed withexpat advisors in Awqaf Ministry

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: The Ministry of Education will terminate the services of 101 non-Kuwaitis occupying administrative po-sitions in a number of sectors in early July as per the rules and procedures on the Ku-waitization of government jobs, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting reliable sources.

Sources revealed the Administrative Sec-tor asked all the other sectors to quickly submit the list of expatriate employees cov-ered by the replacement policy according to the fi gures from the Civil Service Commis-sion (CSC).

Sources confi rmed the Administrative Sector is now fi nalizing the list of the 101 non-Kuwaiti employees in preparation for coordination with the Ministry of Finance to freeze the contracts of non-Kuwaiti employ-ees covered by the replacement policy from the ministry’s budget for fi scal 2020/2021 effective July 1.

Sources said the residents covered by the replacement policy in the Ministry of Edu-cation for this year are assigned in engineer-ing, fi nancial, educational, legal research, information systems, literature and informa-tion, and administrative support jobs.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Pub-lic Works has agreed to the request of

the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT), to allow local companies to enter as major contractors alongside interna-tional companies, to compete for a pro-ject to construct a wastewater purification plant in Al-Mutla’a City, provided these local companies have experience in such projects, reports Al-Rai daily.

Informed sources in the ministry told the daily the ministry agreed to this condition, and its approval was sent to the Central Tenders Company, to prepare for the launch of the vital project that will serve the Al-Mutla’a area, pointing out that the CAPT had previously rejected this project because the ministry submitted it with a one-stage system for design and implementation.

The agency stipulated that the tender be launched in two separate phases, one for design and the other for implementation, according to Article 39 of the CTC Law, which stipulates the separation of design work from implementation.

The sources say, the Ministry of Public Works has obtained the approval of the Ministry of Finance for the fi nancial part of the project, which is expected to be com-pleted in the 2022. The total value of the contract is 150 million dinars.

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: A number of Kuwaiti imams appointed in the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs expressed strong dissatisfaction with the various ar-bitrary matters they are subjected to that do not serve the mosque charter, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

In press statements to the daily, they stressed that their suffering lies in the fact that the fate of their career is in the hands of expatriate counselors in the absence of Kuwaiti offi cials.

The imams explained that the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is a Kuwaiti ministry in name but is actually managed by expatriates. Some of the offi cials are controlled by a large number of foreign advisors such that those offi cials cannot do anything without consulting these ad-visors.

They appealed to the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Dr Fahad Al-Afasi to look into their conditions and examine the reality of their suffering in their country, saying, “We are Kuwaitis, and we have the right for shelter, education, health and other care in our country.”

The imams indicated that they are re-ally suffering under the current situation as imams, highlighting that the cadre of

imams is now under the jurisdiction of the legislative committee but needs someone to push it.

They said the privilege of being ap-pointed as imam or muezzin is rather a fantasy in light of the presence of 39 per-cent of the appointed Kuwaiti imams who do not fi nd other means of income, adding that their numbers are 114 imams and 11 muezzins.

Another challenge facing them is when they take vacation (annual leave), as they are supposed to fi nd a substitute, even from another mosque, let alone the fact that they get reprimanded for the slightest mistake and even get dismissed.

A number of Kuwaiti imams said the “Imams and Preachers” syndicate does not represent them due to the fact that this syndicate does not carry their concerns or even fi ght for our demands.

They added, “In the recent period, the syndicate does not communicate with its members except within very narrow limits. It was different during the era of undersecretary Dawood Al-Asousi, as he welcomed our demands and sought to achieve them, but now unfortunately our issues are rarely addressed or rather responded to.”

Move aims at reducing commodity prices

Bullying eyes chase infected people everywhere

MoCI okays launch of sales festival in co-ops, markets

Visit threatened my life, my wife and children, says head of Kuwaiti family

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: Presi-dent of the Union of Consumer Co-operative Societies (UCCS) Fahd Al-Kashti announced the approval of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for cooperative societies and markets to organize marketing events and festivals to reduce com-modity prices for consumers, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press statement, Al-Kashti explained that the UCCS is making every effort towards providing and subsidizing commodities and food

products for citizens and residents at the lowest prices in order to support them and stand by them in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The union aims to combat high prices, and stands in the way of every attempt to exploit the crisis that has swept through Kuwait and all countries. It strives with deter-mination to maintain price stability in cooperative societies, ensuring provision of goods and products to consumers, and putting them within the reach of all.

Al-Kashti highlighted the union’s keenness to uphold rights and gains of shareholders by reiterating the call to relevant ministries to allow boards of directors to hold their general assem-blies in compliance with health and safety guidelines and instructions.

He thanked the offi cials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for meeting the society’s demand to enhance the role of State institutions in protecting and supporting con-sumers by providing their needs and requirements.

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: As a re-sult of the coronavirus pandemic, homes were transformed into iso-lation hospitals amid the feeling of fear and anxiety, while psycholog-ical disturbances took control over the elderly before the little ones. Bullying eyes chased infected peo-ple everywhere, and countless Ku-waiti homes remained the same as the virus struck their inhabitants, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The increasing number of casual-ties among citizens is one of the sto-ries that drew the attention of many people to know the cause and to prevent aggravation of the matter. An interview with a Kuwaiti family recovering from coronavirus con-veyed details of their treatment trip and shed light on the path through which the infection infi ltrated.

TransmittedFather (MN) who works as a

teacher at the Ministry of Educa-tion is married with six children (the youngest of whom is a baby girl), recounted the infection was transmitted to him through a visit. It happened when he visited a fam-ily member who works in the Min-istry of Health, and he got infected without knowing about it.

The father, who recovered from coronavirus, added he discovered the disease after his relative made a smear and it showed mild symp-toms, thus testing positive for the disease. He pointed out that the emergence of simple symptoms such as chronic temperature rise, loss of the sense of smell and taste

with dizziness prompted him to carry out a smear, which proved that he had coronavirus.

InfectionAfter entering the circle of in-

fection and informing the health authorities, he said: “I did not go to hospital. Rather, I isolated my-self in the room, fearing for my wife and my children, but the in-fection was transmitted to my wife 8 days after testing positive. She felt dizzy with a loss of smell, and then the infection was transmitted to three of my children who are 10, 13 and 14 years old.”

The family members found themselves facing a great chal-lenge after the father was infected. The family tried to cope with the turbulent atmosphere amid quar-rels and nervous pressure, which lasted for nearly a month, specifi -cally 21 days of anxiety and fear of what the future holds, while the bullying views of neighbors and other family members permeated them.

On how he received the news of his infection, the head of the fam-ily said he endured a very diffi cult period of psychological pressure, saying: “I was imagining death in my bed and thought I would lose one of my children at any moment, but my wife was strong and she was striving to resist the disease and absorb the children’s anxiety and spread reassurance at home

Regarding the infection of his children and how they coped with the disease, he said: “The symp-

toms of the infection among my three children remained mild, and they continued for days until they were cured. Thank God, we coex-isted with the disease by isolating ourselves.”

Fortunately, the father had pro-vided all the necessities after re-ceiving the salary a day before the infection, so they did not need to go to the cooperative society through-out the illness. The maid was in charge of cleaning the house and caring for the infant, while she co-operated with the wife in cooking while adhering to wearing a mask and gloves.

MonitoringThe father praised the efforts of

fi refi ghters that delivered medicine to them, as well as the “preven-tive health” offi cials who were keen on monitoring their condition throughout the period of illness by contacting them via phone every week.

The family was bullied, accord-ing to the head of the family, who said, “I do not hide it from anyone that we were bullied by neighbors who expressed their fear of our family due to the illness. They pre-vented their children from playing with my children or visiting, but I do not blame them; because it is an infectious disease.”

The father felt a return to life again after surviving the virus, ad-vising everyone to keep their dis-tance, wear a mask, and not to rush out of the house or cause harm to others by transmitting the infection.

Dr Saud Al-Harbi

Mahboula residents decry 3-month total lockdownKUWAIT CITY, June 20: To con-front and control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic precaution-ary measures were applied by the government in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Al-Mahboula by slapping to-tal lockdown on these two regions before Hawalli, Khaitan and Far-waniya joined them, reports Al-Rai daily.

The lockdown of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh was justified because this region is infested by bachelors who live in squalid conditions but Mahboula differs greatly to a large extent because people in these ar-eas live in buildings and complex-es rented by companies for their workers.

These complexes and buildings

are occupied by Europeans and Americans and people of various na-tionalities who are involved in what is called high-end occupations and some of them work for the American army and for oil companies.

The total lockdown of the region has harmed those residing in the area as a result of the lack of services, ac-cording to the people living in the

region.Some of the residents in Mah-

boula told Al-Rai daily after three months of total lockdown they feel they were unjustly treated for many reasons, especially since those residing in the region are a large group of foreigners holding prominent positions, in addition to the Kuwaitis who were treated like

marginal workers, as some of them described the situation.

They stressed Mahboula lacks basic services such as a cooperative society and said one of the schools was chosen and equipped as a branch of a cooperative society that does not meet all the needs of the people like the cooperative societies and the supermarkets in the neigh-

boring areas.They also claimed the region lacks

cooking gas cylinders center and other family supplies.

Many foreigners, especially Americans and Europeans, spoke of their desire to move to another area immediately after a decision is issued to lift the total lockdown of Mahboula.

Residents say treated unjustly ... plan to leave area

Photos by Bassam Abu Shanab

Charity societies distributing food parcels to the residents of lockdown areas.

Photo by Iehab Qurtal

One of the volunteers handing out bread (kabus) to Hawalli residents.


4

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘MPs must stay away from issue’

‘Should school year be ended?’“PERHAPS, one of the most important things that occu-pies the minds of parents, these days is the issue of end-ing the academic year 2019/2020,” columnist Abdulaziz Al-Fadhli wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“Many people fought over the issue, and a campaign was launched through the means of communication to demand the Minister of Education to end the academic year, and some members of the National Assembly en-tered the fray, threatening the minister with interroga-tion if this requirement was not fulfilled!

“We say the issue of ending the academic year has several educational dimensions, and the subject is not an emotional subject or an electoral gain.

“The Minister of Education, through his meeting with the Kuwait TV Channel 1, clarified several issues that may have been absent from the minds of many people.

“One of these aspects, however, shows there are many thousands of students who had failed in the first semes-ter with four subjects and more, and there are students who have not obtained the marks in the first semester for several reasons.

“In the meantime, there were some other students had been prevented from performing the relevant exams during the first chapter due to their in-volvement in cheating, let alone that there are some other students who are studying from their homes and have no marks except that likely to be achieved by them during the final exam to be arranged at the end of the scholastic year, as such we wonder, how the Ministry of Education, will deal with these students?

“In other words, could these be deprived from the required marks and as such will stay in the same class in order to repeat the scholastic year? Or could the stu-dents who are have no previous marks during the first semester and the ministry will be obliged to give them an average of 100 percent?

“The minister has held several meetings with officials in the ministry to take their views, and met with former ministers of education, to benefit from their experiences.

“The Minister of Education has made it clear since the beginning of the crisis that there is a plan in which the ministry deals with the current crisis.

“I remember that he set mid-July (7) to review and assess the situation, and then take new decisions if necessary.

“Also, based on the new government plan, in which it was made clear that life will gradually return to nor-mal in five stages, the fifth stage begins on 8/23. Conse-quently, it is difficult for twelfth grade students to begin their studies at the beginning of August, which was pre-viously determined by the Ministry.

“I believe that parents must not put pressure on the minister on the issue of completing the school year, and leave the issue to the officials in the ministry, who are specialists to make the appropriate decisions for the good of our children.

“As for MPs who want to question the Minister of Education only because he did not end the school year, it is a matter of ridicule.

“In such a situation can a pro-government MP ques-tion the government? Did these deputies have honorable stances in matters relating to freedoms or fighting cor-ruption, thefts or deals? Or is the matter tickling the feel-ings of parents and an attempt to win the election.

“However, I am confident the Ministry will exert its efforts in the interest of our schoolchildren, and achieve justice and equity for all, but it is needless to say that this will not be realized by ending the scholastic year at the moment, particularly since other options are available.

“In other words, if all the doors are closed down, then the ministry is likely to resort to this option (ending the current scholastic year) as it will be the last treatment to iron out the issue.”

Also:“The issue of the Malaysian sovereign fund, which

includes suspicions of money laundering and corruption attributed to influential Kuwaiti personalities including some government officials, is somewhat similar in terms of popular shock concerning foreign investment thefts in London estimated to be billions of dinars, which was exposed by the Al-Qabas newspaper during the 1990s,” columnist Dahem Al-Qahtani wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Anyway, with regard to these two embezzlements, it seems impossible that is related to obtaining funds only, because an ordinary individual irrespective of his/her greed, will embezzle KD ten million, or let us say 50 million dinars because such a huge sum can guarantee him luxurious life for many generations.

“But to see a specific number of individuals obtain illegally a sum exceeding KD one billion, we suggest this cannot be classified as just an embezzlement of un-protected funds, rather it is a real war waged by these people against the State of Kuwait and its people.

“In the case of theft of foreign investments, we saw how Kuwaiti assets were being transferred to other com-panies at a cheap price, by deliberately entering into in-vestment operations losing them in advance, and with a large and consecutive number of deliberate failures.

“The 1992 National Assembly report on this theft makes you terrified of the scale of the infringement of public funds. But to repeat a similar act in terms of mag-nitude and audacity in this size, after 28 years, and after the establishment of a number of bodies of a supervisory nature, the terror increases.

“We now wonder why this scare has reached the level of such magnitude. As a matter of fact, this refers to the existence of a real war that has been waged by some cor-rupt people against the State of Kuwait and its people.

“On the other hand, the issue does not stop with a reluctant government, or a disorganized Parliament, or oversight bodies whose powers are fragile. The matter goes beyond all of this to reach the idea of a state that does not accept embezzlement of public funds, and does not give any immunity to any influential person.

“No matter how old you are, everyone, regardless of his standing, cannot rise to the top of the country and destroy it. No one is greater than the State, and whoever thinks he/she is, for he/she is in fact an enemy of the State of Kuwait and its people. This is another story that reminds us of the person who can see a fly but fails to see an elephant.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“Kuwaitis have breathed a sigh of hope, as the Coronic bewilderment in all sectors of the State is about to end. The bewilderment frustrated human souls and disrupted the ro-tation of Kuwait’s economic wheel. The suspension of the Kuwaiti wheel and international activities has forced us to reconsider ‘Kuwaitizing’ private and public sectors as a way of allowing the citizen to partner in the national reform policy,” Tareq Burseli wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The pleasure and joy of allowing the reopening of mosques throughout Kuwait was a step towards restor-ing spirituality through worship and performing of rites in the atmosphere of our mosques rich in the remem-brance of Allah the Almighty, as we are accustomed to, in accordance with the rule of ‘no harm to oneself or harm to others’. This is in light of instructions and direc-tives issued by the Ministry of Health, taking into ac-count social distancing. The steps include using prayer mats made of nylon, while a few numbers can attend the sessions until Allah the Almighty decides to remove this pandemic from the nation and people, while avoiding

the mistakes that made us move in full swing.“As for the demographics, many violators of resi-

dence have left the country in an attempt to screen marginal workers and towards investing in the real ex-pertise among expatriates who prove their efficiency, as we have seen the expertise of all foreign nationalities standing in the first rows. Kuwait needs to restructure the population to maintain national security, health care and food security. Kuwait has been known for generos-ity and hospitality going by the admission of expatriate brothers and sisters leaving the country.

“The meeting of the Minister of Education was a source of hope by reassuring students’ families that a promising decision will be taken in the middle of July or it’s ending on academic year 2019/2020 to preserve them health of our school children while developing ap-propriate plans for a detailed restructure of education, adding that distance education is not an achievement but a continuous global education phenomenon created by Corona virus with the technological boom in the new ‘5G Internet’ virtual world.

“The new measures adopted by the Ministry of Health to bring medical teams from Cuba and India remain a correct step on the path of refreshing medical care in Kuwait and moving in all tracks to prevent the disease through various technical and therapeutic means.

“The five stages set by Kuwaiti government to gradu-ally restore life came to fruition with high rates of re-covery and low rates of infection, so I call on citizens and residents to adhere to the stipulated governmental procedures. Otherwise, the Ministry of Interior should handle with iron hands those who do not respect laws and procedures. The lives of Kuwaitis and those who are on Kuwait soil is not a game. Let us breathe a sigh of relief for Kuwait to breathe again.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“In 2007 in Texas, US, a businessman decided to open a liquor store next to a church. The church mem-bers objected and every night they prayed and prayed. Suddenly, a storm occurred that led to the closure of the shop, so the church members celebrated the victory of heaven and the Lord’s response to them,” columnist Mo-hammad Al-Rowaihel wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Then, the owner of the liquor store filed a lawsuit against the church. He demanded two million dollars as compensation for their prayers, while the church denied and stressed that prayer and supplication have no effect on the course of life.

“The judge looked into the matter and while declaring the ruling, he said: ‘I do not know how to judge this case, but it appears from the papers that we have an owner of the liquor store who believes in the power of prayer and supplication, and we have a church that you do not believe in.’

“This story applies to our reality, as there are many clerics who say and act contrary to their faith. They see usury, corruption and tampering with the nation’s money, but they neither talk about such acts nor criticize them. On the contrary, we see these clerics harnessing verses and religious hadiths in fighting against reformers and those combating corruption.

“This story applies to the representatives of the nation who swore to protect public money, the Constitution, and freedom of opinion, but they do not believe in the Constitution and do not implement it. They rather ex-ploited the Constitution to serve their personal interests and to protect the influential and corrupt from decision-makers and authorities.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“Last week, the Criminal Security Sector in the Min-istry of Interior ended the activity of a gang consisting of expatriates and citizens involved in fraud and swindling of several pharmacies,” columnist Mohammad Al-Jala-hema wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The gang took advantage of the need of citizens and residents for face masks and gloves by reselling these items, especially since the issuance of a law requiring everyone to wear masks in public places, as well as the government and private facilities.

“Investigations revealed that the gang cheated phar-macies by purchasing large quantities of these tools and materials using forged checks.

“In this case, it is assumed that the Ministry of Interior accomplished the mission by arresting the suspects after the victims or some of them submitted official reports or complaints about the criminal activity, given that what they did included fraud, swindling and issuance of dud cheques.

“According to the information I got, a number of pharmacies filed reports and complaints while others had reservations or they hesitated.

“Personally, I see that the defendants and the vic-tims are partners in crime. Yes, partners and I do not exaggerate when I say that I am not sympathetic to the pharmacies which were exposed to fraud. The gang did well, because the owners of those pharmacies sold their conscience to gain more profit in the time of crisis.

“The world has been facing an unprecedented health crisis with the spread of the novel coronavirus among millions of people. Due to the absence of any treatment or vaccine so far, the only way to face this deadly virus is by means of self-protection.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“The thief in the language is a thief who steals peo-ple’s money in any way, except the one who steals to eat so there is no crime in it!” columnist Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“These days, a few who do not find anything to eat are forced to steal. But we find most of the thieves this time are rich, well-off, or senior State officials. For the poor, we find him grateful and convinced of what he has on the basis that the conviction is a perennial treasure!

“I did not find a suitable language to define the thief who stole from his house. Nevertheless, it does not dif-fer from the one who betrayed his homeland and sold his country. In this case, theft and treachery are one.

“Yesterday, the Ministry of Interior arrested an as-sistant undersecretary in the Public Authority for Manpower for being suspected of involvement in the Bangladeshi group. He was referred to the Public Pros-ecution for investigation. He is still considered innocent until proven guilty, but he is the first in distress and the rest will fall resoundingly.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“It is unfortunate that from time to time, the Kuwaiti street is shocked by a new corruption case -- embezzle-ment, commissions, money laundering, bribes or suspi-cious deals that the public money suffers from,” colum-nist Talal Al-Enezi wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“I want to look at another angle of the topic. Talking about transferring the accused to the prosecution, retri-bution and so on is something we have heard a lot. We hope that we are wrong in not believing it.

“However, I want to talk about the sum of embezzled funds in one form or another -- commissions, deals, bribes, embezzlement, artificial losses in investments and many, many more. I can almost assure that it ex-ceeds tens of billions.

“Is it not the first of the wasted money that should have gone to the country and its people? Is it not the first to be used to fund the development of the country and its services like damaged streets, dilapidated old buildings and poor infrastructure?”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Al-Fadhli

MoC ready to resume work in all sectors for citizens, expats

Post offices to open: Al-Shuraidah

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: Ministry of Communications Spokesperson Abeer Al-Shuraidah affirmed that the ministry has readied work plans in preparation to resume its work and provide its various

services to citizens and residents following the end of the official disruption period for State agencies and the lockdown period approved by the Cabinet next Sunday, re-ports Al-Seyassah daily.

Photo by Mohammad MorsiPetrol for the cars is supplied by the petroleum company in the lockdown area of Mahboula.

‘New plan to help prevent virus spread’

‘Expired fi re permits to be valid till Oct 1’

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: The Coun-cil of Ministers will most likely fol-low the recommendations given by the supreme ministerial committee which is tasked with following up the day to day reports and statistics on the status of infections on coronavirus and accordingly evaluate gradual re-turn to normalcy, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled is said to have stressed on fi ve conditions prior to mov-ing towards the second stage.

The same sources stated due to the high number of infections among Ku-waitis recently basically due to ‘dis-regard’ for health instructions and guidelines that have been issued by the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Health moving to the second stage in full may be delayed.

The sources revealed the health au-thorities have implemented a request to

amend the partial curfew period for the second stage which was originally set to be from 9 pm to 6 am.

Sources said, allowing the curfew hours until 9 pm will contribute to increasing family and social gather-ings, especially in the residential ar-eas, which leads to an increased risk of infections and the spread of the virus.

Therefore, reducing the duration of the ban during the morning period is considered better option according to health standards.

The sources indicated that the health authorities will offer a compre-hensive evaluation of the first stage, including the rate of infections in cer-tain areas, especially those which are under isolation.

A decision will soon be taken as to which places should be placed under total lockdown and in which places the lockdown should be lifted.

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: Deputy Director General of the General Fire Department at the Fire Prevention Sector Major General Khaled Abdul-lah announced that all fire permits which expired or will expire during the period starting from March 1 to Sept 30, 2020 will be automatically extended until Oct 1, 2020, provided the terms of the license are met and

there is a valid maintenance contract for the extinguishing equipment from certified companies.

In a press statement, Abdullah ex-plained this decision was taken because work in most companies and institu-tions was disrupted due to the corona pandemic. He said the decision aims to ease procedures for the citizens without the need to visit the department.

‘Curfew timings amended due tohigh rate of infection in Kuwaitis’

Photo by Bassam Abu ShanabOne motorist suffered minor injuries as a car ploughed into another which was violat-

ing the red signal.

Photo by Samer ShaqairAuto-electrician shops open in Hawally.

Minister gives approval

33 pc of MPW, PART expats face sackKUWAIT CITY, June 20: Minister of Pub-lic Works Rana Al-Faris approved the deci-sion to terminate the services of 33 percent of expatriate employees in her ministry and the Public Authority for Roads and Trans-portation (PART) effective on the fi rst of September, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting informed sources from the ministry.

Sources told the daily that Al-Faris’ move, which comes one day after a similar decision in the Public Authority for Hous-

ing Welfare (PAHW), aims to open the way for the employment of nationals. Sources disclosed there are 522 expatriates working in the ministry and PART.

Sources said the decision stipulates that the period from the fi rst of July until the date of termination will be considered the notice period according to the relevant regulations, pointing out the directive includes the ter-mination of all expatriate employees in both institutions on the fi rst of July 2021.

In a press statement, Al-Shuraidah explained that all five sectors of the ministry, in light of what was approved by the Council of Minis-ters, will work from the date of resumption and commencement of par-tial work in government departments after the end of the comprehensive lockdown.

The sectors will open gradually and in stages ranging from three to four stages. The gap between each stage will be about two weeks to a month. In the first stage, 25 percent of the employees will resume, fol-lowed by 50 percent in sec-ond stage, and 80 percent in the last stage.

The postal sector will operate in all governorates. The precautionary measures and instructions requiring sterilization and wearing of masks will be required for visitors to post offices. This is in addition to lack of human density within the same post office, and suffi-cient separation among em-ployees in compliance with the ministerial instructions issued in this regard.

Work in the subscriber services units of the custom-er service departments will resume with suspension of new services for installation and transmission of lines. The services will be limited in the first stage to paying dues, transferring lines at the desire of the subscriber, and requesting additional services. The examination and complaints departments as well as the telephone maintenance sections will work. The complaints will be received by phone, and then assembled weekly, and repaired on specific days. They will later contact the concerned person by phone informing him of the result of the examination in order to ensure social distanc-ing and prevent gatherings as much as possible to run the facility in line with the requirements of the Minis-try of Health. The ministry will direct all government agencies located in com-prehensive service centers (the government mall) in all governorates towards full commitment to the presence of a minimum number of staff and visitors.

Work mechanismin medical sectorKUWAIT CITY, June 20: Assistant Undersecretary for Private Medical Servic-es in the Ministry of Health Dr Fatima Al-Najjar has updated the work mecha-nism in the private medical sector, particularly the sur-gical procedures in various specializations, reports Al-Jarida daily.

Al-Najjar issued a cir-cular to the directors at the Health Licens-ing Department, stating that emergency surgeries should continue; while the other surgical procedures should be done only if lo-cal anesthesia is needed, meaning general anesthe-sia or blood transfusion is not required. The circular added that topical liposuc-tion surgery is not allowed at this stage.


5

Many senior offi cials referred for probein MEW public funds ‘misappropriation’

Three give statements in B’deshi MP’s case

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water Dr Khaled Al-Fadhil said the fact-fi nding committee tasked to investigate the alleged irregularities and mis-appropriation of public funds in the Ministry of Electricity and Water recommended referral of a former assistant undersecretary and fi ve supervisors -- for-mer and current -- to Kuwait Anti-Corrup-tion Authority (Naza-ha), reports Al-Qabas daily.

On his Twitter account, Al-Fadhil confi rmed the com-mittee submitted its report within the deadline. He said the report will be presented on Sunday morning, in addi-tion to the technical recom-mendations for the concerned authorities in the ministry for implementation.

Last Thursday, Al-Fadhil announced that he received a report from Assistant Undersecretary for Monitoring and Control Affairs at the Ministry of Electricity and Water Eng Maha Al-Asousi about the alleged irregularities and misappropriation of public funds. He then formed a fact-finding committee based on the report.

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Report price hikes: Head of the Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies Fahd Al-Kashti announced the allocation of hot-line number 96930957 for receiv-ing reports about cases of unjusti-fied price hikes, complaints and proposals, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press statement, Al-Kashti affirmed the cooper-ative societies are keen on pro-viding high-quality goods at reasonable prices. He said the union does not allow greedy merchants to exploit the pock-ets of citizens by increasing prices for any reason, stressing the prices are fixed as per the circulars of the union and the cooperatives are committed to these circulars.

He asserted the union will never be a transit gate for any method of exploiting citizens through cooperative societies. He added that since he assumed his current post, the coopera-tives have not witnessed increase in the price of any commodity. He said the union’s Price Committee is exerting tremendous efforts to prevent price manipulation.

He explained the coopera-tives are subject to the control of the union, in cooperation with the ministries of Social Affairs and Commerce. He confirmed that plans and strate-gies are in place to prevent price hikes, while ensuring the needs of consumers are cov-ered. He added the coopera-tives offer the best services and they strictly comply with the health, safety and quality regu-lations for all products or goods.

He disclosed the objectives of holding shopping festivals in cooperatives include pro-tecting consumers and inform-ing them about the services provided by consumer cooper-ative societies, while ensuring strict compliance with the standards of quality and safety for goods.

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B’deshi probe begins: The Public Prosecution has listened to the statements of 3 senior officials in the case of the Bangladeshi who is also a Member of Parliament in his country and who runs cleaning companies in partnership with a Kuwaiti, reports Al-Rai daily.

The suspect is in police cus-tody and is being interrogated in the case of bribing senior officials, flooding the country with menial labor, human traf-ficking and receiving money from his countrymen who are seeking job in Kuwait.

Those whose testimonies were heard are two directors working for the Public Manpower Authority and an officer in the rank of colonel working for the Ministry of the Interior.

Investigations so far have revealed that the annual net profit of the Bangladeshi is estimated at two million dinars, after deducting all the money spent on others in the form of bribes, gifts in exchange for facilitating his work by bringing in labor from Bangladesh.

MoI photo

The guns and sachets of narcotics found in possession of the suspect.

Man caught with guns and drugsPolice have arrested an unidenti-fi ed person for possessing air guns and some kinds of substances be-lieved to be narcotics, reports Al-Rai daily.

The Directorate General of Public Relations and Security Media Department of the Inte-

rior Ministry said, personnel from the Ahmadi Security Directorate, Public Security Sector said the arrest came when the suspect in a vain attempt to escape collided with a police patrol which was on a security tour of the area.

The source said the security men

found in possession of the suspect 3 air guns and ‘narcotic substanc-es’.

The suspect and the seizure have been referred to the Gen-eral Department for Drugs Control (GDDC).

KUWAIT CITY, June 20: The gen-eral public has been warned against holding parties such as weddings and others, whether in a public or private place including banquets and receptions even in diwaniyas in violation of the law issued by the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Health to contain and prevent the spread of the corona pandemic, reports Al-Anba daily. A reliable security source said clear instructions have been issued to all securitymen to implement the decision.

According to the instructions securitymen will be touring all residential areas and to arrest the violators. The source stated that

Law No. 8/1969 related to preven-tive health precautions punishes those who violate the law with imprisonment for a period not ex-ceeding 3 months and a fine of no less than 50 dinars and not more than 200 dinars, or one of the two penalties. The instructions to de-ploy police patrols in residential areas came after statistics showed high rates of coronavirus among the Kuwaitis.

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Truckers allowed in: The Min-istry of Interior fi nally allowed the entry of 33 truck drivers, who were stuck at Safwan border because of the directive to close the borders be-

tween Kuwait and Iraq to curb the spread of coronavirus, reports Al-Rai daily.

The stranded drivers entered the country in accordance with health regulations, especially those with valid residency permits and were stranded at Abdali and Safwan bor-ders.

One of those stranded confi rmed to the daily that the ministry al-lowed them to enter, indicating the decision came four months after the closure of borders between the two countries due to the corona crisis. He pointed out this step is aimed at addressing the truck drivers’ prob-lem as they spent all these months at the borders.

Police to prevent ‘gatherings’ in residential areas

‘Need to overcome laws defi ciencies’

Study prepared to deal with moneylaundering, terror fi nancing crimesKUWAIT CITY, June 20 : A study prepared by the former minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Ahmad Al-Mulaifi concluded that the follow-up and control authorities should be unifi ed with the “Kuwaiti Financial Investigation Unit” (Kw-FIU) and ex-pand its pow-ers to reduce money laun-dering crimes, reports Al-Rai daily.

The for-mer minister revealed that one of the de-fi ciencies in the legislation lies in the mul-tiplicity of control bodies, some of which lack capabilities or even the in-terest to follow-up on the authorities that are under their control, stressing that this is a loophole through which criminals commit the crime.

In his study, Dr Al-Mulaifi con-sidered the incident of the Malaysian sovereign fund MDB1, one of the major money laundering schemes, which involves parties from different countries, including Kuwait, partici-pating in criminal activity.

Investigations conducted with for-mer Malaysian prime minister Najib Abdel-Razzaq and his wife as well as a group of offi cials revealed the names of some personalities affi li-ated to infl uential people and banking institutions in Gulf and foreign coun-tries including Kuwait. It was one of the means that contributed to this ma-jor scam involving the former Malay-sian prime Minister Abdel-Razzaq, his wife and a group of offi cials.

Dr Al-Mulaifi said, “We still hear about these crimes in which Kuwait has been mentioned despite the exist-ence of national Law No. 106/2013 for combating money laundering and terrorist fi nancing, which came in suc-cession to law No. 35/2002 for com-bating money laundering operations, to keep pace with developments in the world in crime methods at the level of institutions, people and organizations.

“From this standpoint, some ques-tions arise – Where is the problem? Is it in the legislation or in the imple-mentation of such legislations?”

Given the seriousness of the crime and its impact on Kuwait whenever these accusations and repercussions are proven, and to answer the above question, Dr Al-Mulaifi prepared the study to highlight the crime of money laundering in Kuwaiti law.

The study determines the nature of this law and the responsibility of the concerned authorities in confronting money-laundering crimes and their implications. He concluded by giving recommendations that are deemed

appropriate to fi ll in some gaps and shortcomings, and to strengthen some of the links.

Dr Al-Mulaifi ’s study includes several items, and concluded with a number of recommendations such as:

1 - Unifying the control, follow-up and monitoring authority regarding the commitment of fi nancial institu-tions and non-fi nancial businesses and professions specifi ed to be within the competence of the Kuwaiti Finan-cial Investigation Unit.

This is to ensure compliance with the conditions stipulated in the law and its executive regulations and the decisions and instructions issued in this regard, as well as to unify the standards of merits and quality, espe-cially since some of the entities have neither the ability nor the competence to execute their mandates.

2 - The “Kuwait Financial Investi-gation Unit” should be granted the au-thority to request information and sum-mon any party to appear before it based on revelations of its investigations.

3 - The law stipulates a penalty for any person who fails to appear before the mentioned unit, or refuses to submit or delay in submitting any documents required without justifi -able reason.

4 - The unit should be exclusively specialized in applying sanctions on the authorities that violate the condi-tions stipulated in the law, its executive regulations, decisions and instructions issued in implementation thereof.

5 - The unit has a compulsory presence before the Public Prosecu-tion and the judiciary to represent it and demand compensation. The unit is the most capable of explaining the issue before the Prosecution and the judiciary, especially from a technical point of view.

6 - To deduct from the compensa-tion amounts governed by a percentage of no less than 10 percent in favor of the unit, to be allocated to reward the workers on the case and to cover the expenses of training, courses and activ-ities of the unit, as well as to encourage workers in the unit to exert efforts and follow up the fi le until it is ruled. The ratio represents an important revenue which can help the unit develop the ef-fi ciency of its employees.

7 - The unit has the right, during its investigations into the notifi ca-tions submitted to it, to request the Public Prosecution to freeze or seize the funds and tools of the individu-als it is investigating, until the Public Prosecution is fi nally notifi ed, and the fi le is transferred to it.

8 - The unit should have the abil-ity to move on its own and initiate its investigations, even without receiving notifi cation of suspicious operations. This could happen at any point it be-comes aware of any suspicion of mon-ey laundering or terrorist fi nancing.

Money-laundering

Drugs seized by CID men.

Army ends exercise: Kuwait’s Army, on Thursday, concluded the fi nal joint training 2020 for the session of Com-mand and Joint Staff No. 24 remotely, under the patronage of the Army’s Chief of the General Staff lieutenant Gen Mo-hammad Al-Khudher.

In a press statement issued by the Di-rectorate of Moral Guidance and Public Relations of the Kuwaiti Army, Al-Khudher expressed his pride in the effi -ciency and high level he witnessed.

Al-Khudher and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Khaled Saleh Al-Sabah, and in the pres-ence of a number of members of the Mil-itary Defense Council and senior offi c-ers, were briefed to a detailed summary of the training stages. (KUNA)

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Guards hoodwinked: In a scenario reminiscent of a movie, an unidentifi ed Kuwaiti who had been arrested for pos-sessing drugs allegedly hoodwinked his guards and escaped when he was taken to the Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital, reports

Al-Anba daily.According to the security sources,

the 25-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of possessing narcotics and was taken to the General Department for Drugs Control (GDDC). The suspect feigned sickness and was taken to the hospital with legs in cuffs.

The security source added when the Kuwaiti was taken to the hospital a two-man task force was assigned for guarding him, but he somehow managed to hood-wink his guards, climbed into a vehicle and drove off with police in hot chase until he reached his house where he was re-arrested with the cuffs still in his legs.

The source added the suspect collided into the wall of the house his neighbor in Mubarak Al-Kabeer and caused damage but the neighbor refused to fi le a complaint.

The source added the youngster will be referred to the Prosecution and charged with attempting to escape the law, theft in addition to possessing drugs. Punitive measures are also expected to be taken against the two security escorts and charged with dereliction of duty.

News in Brief

Al-Mulaifi

Kuwaiti, expat held with drugs

Personnel from the Criminal Investi-gation Department (CID) have arrest-ed a foreign national and a Kuwaiti for possessing narcotics, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily added, the suspects were arrested in Sabah Al-Ahmed marine when the Operations Room of the Ministry of Interior received a report that an unidentifi ed person was con-suming drugs inside a vehicle the Sa-bah Al-Ahmed chalets area.

When a police patrol was sent to the spot, the motorist collided with a police patrol and escaped but as he

was being chased he lost control of the steering wheel and collided with a cement security barrier at a police checkpost. The suspect, believed to be a foreign national, then abandoned the vehicle and attempted to escape but he was chased and arrested, handcuffed and referred to the con-cerned authority.

Police have also arrested a 41-year-old Kuwaiti who was with him. Police have seized a large quantity drugs from them. The suspects have been handed over to the General Depart-ment of Drugs Control.

MIDEASTARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

6

Sailboats taking part in a race catch the wind with the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, seen in the distance in Dubai, UAE on June 19. Dubai has begun allowing organized sports competitions to take place after locking down over the coronavirus pandemic and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Competitions held Friday at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club were among the fi rst events to be held. (AP)

This satellite image taken May 28, 2020, shows the Grand Ethiopian Re-naissance Dam on the Blue Nile river in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. In an interview with The Associated Press on June 19, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew declared that his country will go ahead and start fi lling the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam next

month, even without an agreement with Egypt and Sudan. (AP)

News in Brief

RIYADH: Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, announced the launch of the fi rst coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) dashboard com-missioned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Created in coopera-tion with Esri Saudi Arabia and the country’s Ministry of Health (MoH), the dashboard is now the offi cial source of data for tracking COVID-19 cases throughout the Kingdom. It has given government and health offi cials the ability to monitor and combat COVID-19, through precise geography-based details and statistics.

“The data provided in the Saudi Arabia COVID-19 dashboard, including case locations and social vulner-ability, empowers our decision-makers in the Ministry of Health to make informed and timely decisions,” said Faisal Alshammari, head of the Statistics and Information Management Department at the Ministry of Health Saudi Arabia. “It also supports researchers and public users to download the data for further ana-lytics.”

Built on top of Esri’s COVID-19 Response solution, Saudi Arabia’s new dashboard is an online resource that helps decision-makers in health organizations across the country analyze the spread of the pandemic and understand its correlation with location. It is now the fi rsthand source of information for healthcare, research, and media related to the spread of the pandemic across the KSA. (BUSINESS WIRE)

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RIYADH: The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health on Friday confi rmed 45 additional deaths and 4,301 cases of the novel coronavirus.

The latest fi gures bring the Kingdom’s total number of fatalities and in-fections with the deadly virus to 1,184 and 150,292 respectively, the minis-try said in a press statement.

A total of 1,849 more patients were cured of the respiratory illness over the over 24 hours, raising the overall count of recoveries to 95,764 since the outbreak of the virus in the Kingdom, it added. (KUNA)

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DUBAI: UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention confi rmed Friday 393 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths.

UAE news agency quoted the ministry as saying 755 further recoveries from the virus, bringing the total patients’ to 30,996.

The new cases were detected after 38,000 more tests in the country.The UAE has recorded 44,145 cases since the pandemic began, with

death toll stands at 300 patients. (KUNA)❑ ❑ ❑

TEHRAN: Iranian health authorities said on Friday that 2,615 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the country over the past 24 hours.

This brings the country’s overall count of confi rmed virus cases to 200,262 the Iranian Health Ministry’s Spokeswoman Sima Sadat said in a press statement.

Some 120 more Iranians also died due to the respiratory disease over the past 24 hours, taking Iran’s death toll to 9,392, she added. (KUNA)

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MANAMA: The Bahraini Ministry of Health on Friday confi rmed a further fi ve fatalities due to the novel Coronavirus, bringing the Kingdom’s death toll to 57 so far.

Some 489 more people also tested positive for the infectious respiratory illness, the ministry said in a press statement.

The fresh virus infections in Bahrain include 295 expatriate workers, 171 close contacts and three coming from abroad, according to the state-ment. (KUNA)

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DOHA: The novel coronavirus took seven lives raising to 93 total number of deaths due to the highly contagious disease, the Qatari health ministry said on Friday.

The ministry declared 1,021 new infection cases in the same period, bringing total cases of contaminations to 85,462.

It also reported 1,767 new recovery cases and declared total number of patients who survived the infection reached 65,409. (KUNA)

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MUSCAT: The novel-coronavirus infected 852 people in the Sultanate of Oman over the past 24 hours adding to the total caseload of contaminations that reached 27,670.

Offi cial Oman News Agency (OMNA) said on Friday that the total in-fection cases included 368 Omani citizens and 484 expatriates, adding that among them, 13,974 patients recovered.

Meanwhile, total number of patients who succumbed to the highly conta-gious disease and died amounted to 125. (KUNA)

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ANKARA: Turkey and Italy will continue to work for a lasting peace and political solution in Libya, Turkey’s foreign minister said Friday, while slamming the European Union’s naval operation in the Mediterranean that tries to enforce a UN arms embargo on the confl ict-torn country.

Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments during a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio. Italy and Turkey support the UN-backed government that is based in Tripoli against the rival forces un-der the command of Khalifa Hifter, who is supported by France, Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other key Arab countries. (AP)

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IRBIL: The regional government in Iraq’s Kurdistan province called on the Turkish government Friday to respect sovereignty of the nation and re-frain from targeting civilians in its military operations against Kurdistan Workers Party.

The provincial government is following with grave concern the develop-ments at the border areas over the past days which caused human casualties and material damage, government spokesman said in a statement. (KUNA)

European powers urge Iran toprovide access to atomic sites

Russia, China vote against resolution

No date set for talks to resume

Ethiopia to fi ll disputeddam, ‘deal or no deal’ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, June 20, (AP): It’s a clash over water usage that Egypt calls an existential threat and Ethiopia calls a lifeline for millions out of poverty. Just weeks remain before the fi lling of Africa’s most powerful hydroelectric dam might begin, and tense talks between the countries on its operation have yet to reach a deal.

In an interview with The Associ-ated Press, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew on Friday declared that his country will go ahead and start fi lling the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam next month, even without an agreement. “For us it is not mandatory to reach an agreement be-fore starting fi lling the dam, hence we will commence the fi lling process in the coming rainy season,” he said.

“We are working hard to reach a deal, but still we will go ahead with our schedule whatever the outcome is. If we have to wait for others’ blessing, then the dam may remain idle for years, which we won’t allow to happen,” he said. He added that “we want to make it clear that Ethiopia will not beg Egypt and Sudan to use its own water resource for its development,” pointing out that Ethiopia is paying for the dam’s con-struction itself.

He spoke after the latest round of talks with Egypt and Sudan on the dam, the fi rst since discussions broke down in February, failed to reach agreement.

No date has been set for talks to resume, and the foreign minister said Ethiopia doesn’t believe it’s time to take them to a head of state level.

The years-long dispute pits Ethio-pia’s desire to become a major power exporter and development engine against Egypt’s concern that the dam will signifi cantly curtail its water sup-

ply if fi lled too quickly. Sudan has long been caught between the competing interests.

The arrival of the rainy season is bringing more water to the Blue Nile, the main branch of the Nile, and Ethio-pia sees an ideal time to begin fi lling the dam’s reservoir next month.

Both Egypt and Ethiopia have hinted at military steps to protect their inter-ests, and experts fear a breakdown in talks could lead to confl ict.

Ethiopia’s foreign minister would not say whether his country would use military action to defend the dam and its operations.

“This dam should have been a reason for cooperation and regional integra-tion, not a cause for controversies and warmongering,” he said. “Egyptians are exaggerating their propaganda on the dam issue and playing a political gamble. Some of them seem as if they are longing for a war to break out.”

Gedu added: “Our reading is that the Egyptian side wants to dictate and con-trol even future developments on our river. We won’t ask for permission to carry out development projects on our own water resources. This is both le-gally and morally unacceptable.”

He said Ethiopia has offered to fi ll the dam in four to seven years, taking possible low rainfall into account.

Sticking points in the talks have been how much water Ethiopia will release downstream from the dam during a multi-year drought and how Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan will resolve any fu-ture disputes.

The United States earlier this year tried to broker a deal, but Ethiopia did not attend the signing meeting and ac-cused the Trump administration of sid-ing with Egypt.

BERLIN, June 20, (AP): The board of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog agency on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Iran to provide inspectors access to sites where the country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material, the Rus-sian representative said.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s am-bassador to international organi-zations in Vienna, tweeted that his country and China had voted against the resolution that Germa-ny, France and Britain proposed at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency board.

“We believe that the resolution can be counterproductive,” Ulyanov said, while also “stressing the need for Tehran and IAEA to settle this prob-lem without delay.”

Earlier this week, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reiterated con-cerns that for more than four months Iran had denied his inspectors access to two locations “ to clarify our ques-tions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities.”

Activities at the sites are thought to have been from the early 2000s, before Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran main-tains the International Atomic Energy Agency has no legal basis to inspect them.

The agency has said that Iran continues to provide access to sites covered by the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

Iran’s representative to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, said his country rejected the resolution.

“We do not consider this resolu-tion acceptable at all,” he said. “This resolution cannot create any legal obligation for the Islamic Republic of Iran in cooperation with the Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency to grant the two accesses.”

Since the United States withdrew unilaterally from the deal in 2018, the other signatories – Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China – have been struggling to save it.

Meanwhile, Iran has been violating its restrictions, including the amount of uranium it can enrich and the pu-rity of enrichment, to try to pressure those countries to provide additional economic relief to offset American sanctions.

It is not clear what effect the new resolution will have on the JCPOA, but Iran threatened unspecifi ed con-sequences.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will take appropriate action and respond to this resolution,” Gharibabadi said.

Iran’s foreign ministry described the resolution as an “unconstruc-tive, irresponsible and unacceptable action,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Ministry spokes-man Abbas Mousavi accused Britain, France and Germany of creating ten-

sion between Iran and the IAEA and trying to avoid “their responsibilities based on the nuclear deal.”

In a tweet, Iranian Foreign Min-ister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the three nations to “muster the cour-age to state publicly what they admit privately: their failure to fulfi ll even own JCPOA duties due to total impo-tence in resisting US bullying.”

China’s ambassador to interna-tional organizations, Wang Qun, told board members he was “deeply con-cerned” about both Grossi’s decision to openly express concerns about be-ing denied access and the resolution that was passed.

He said, according to a copy of his statement provided to The Asso-ciated Press, that it could “set forth a process, under the current circum-stances, that may bring the Iranian nuclear issue back to a crossroad full of uncertainties again.”

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain discussed Iran at a meeting in Berlin later Friday and issued a statement noting that the resolution passed with a “very strong majority.”

The American representative, Jackie Wolcott, said the US had sup-ported the resolution and that the ball was now in Iran’s court.

“The fact of the matter is this is en-tirely Iran’s decision,” she said in a conference call with reporters. “They could fi x this overnight if they would just decide to comply with their obli-gations with the IAEA.”

Germany, France and Britain in January invoked a dispute resolution mechanism designed to resolve is-sues with the 2015 deal or refer them to the UN Security Council. On Fri-day, their foreign ministers said that “we will seek a ministerial meeting to urge Iran to cooperate and to take stock of where we stand” in that pro-cess.

If no resolution is found, the pro-cess could result in the resumption of UN and European Union sanctions on Iran. But the ministers warned against trying to force the reimposi-tion of sanctions.

Also:TEHRAN, Iran: Iran test fi red cruise missiles in a naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean, state media reported Thursday.

The report by the offi cial IRNA news agency said the missiles de-stroyed targets at a distance of 280 kms (170 miles). It said the tests took place during a naval drill by Iran’s navy in the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean.

IIRNA said the missiles’ range can be extended but gave no details.

The news agency said two kinds of missiles were fi red, without elaborat-ing, and broadcast images of projec-tiles being launched from both a truck and a ship, hitting a buoyant target in the sea.

Iran’s navy chief Adm Hossein Khanzadi told state TV that the “homing” c-class cruise missiles have new warheads that can hit tar-gets with high accuracy at a close distance. He said the missiles are ca-pable of resisting “any kind of elec-tronic war.”

Alshammari

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

7

In this Sept 14, 2017 photo, Pangong Tso Lake is seen near the India-China border in India’s Ladakh area. India and China sought on June 17, to de-escalate tensions following a fatal clash along a disputed border high in the Hima-layas that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. The skirmish Monday in the desolate alpine area of Ladakh, in Kashmir, followed changes by India to the political status of Kashmir amid a geopolitical tug-of-war with the United States in the region. Inset: This June 18, 2020 satellite photo released by Planet Labs, shows the reported site of a fatal clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan River Valley in the Ladakh region near the Line of Actual Control,

along their disputed border high in the Himalayas. (AP)

News in Brief

BRUSSELS: The European Union’s top-most offi cial for equality has lamented the growing intolerance against Muslim minorities in Europe and voiced her determina-tion to step up measures to tackle this acute problem.

“We are all here today to fi nd joint solutions and approaches to fi ghting discrimination on ethnic and religious grounds, in particular the discrimination that Muslim communities in Europe are facing,” Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality, told a video Conference on fi ghting discrimination against Muslim communities in Europe held on Thursday.

A copy of her speech was received by KUNA Friday.In her speech, she sent a strong signal to warn

against all forms of discrimination, exclusion and vio-lence against Muslims in Europe.

“False news scapegoating Muslims or migrants for starting or spreading the (corona) virus remind us of dark times in our history.

We must publicly condemn, act against and sanction such incidents of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance,” said Dalli, who hails from Malta.

She noted that a study in October 2018 showed that in more than a third of the EU Member States at least one in two people would not be willing to accept a Muslim as a member of their family or as neighbor.

The 2019 EU’s Eurobarometer on discrimination shows that about three in ten persons would not feel fully comfortable to work with a Muslim person as a colleague, said the EU Commissioner.

“We cannot fi ght marginalization and social exclu-sion if such barriers prevent them from accessing the job market,” she lamented. (KUNA)

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BERLIN: German prosecutors on Thursday fi led mur-der charges against a Russian man accused in the bra-zen daylight slaying in Berlin last year of a Georgian man, and said that the Russian state ordered the killing — adding to tensions between the two countries.

The case prompted Germany in December to ex-pel two Russian diplomats, citing a lack of cooperation with the investigation of the Aug 23 killing. Russia’s ambassador was called in to the foreign ministry in Berlin again on Thursday.

The victim, Tornike K., who also has widely been identifi ed in reports on the killing as Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, was a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity who fought against Russian troops in Chechnya. He had previously survived multiple as-sassination attempts and continued to receive threats after fl eeing to Germany in 2016.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors fi led charges of mur-der and a violation of weapons laws in a Berlin district court against a Russian citizen they identifi ed as Vadim K., alias Vadim S. His last name was withheld in line with German privacy laws but has been widely reported as Vadim Krasikov, using the alias Vadim Sokolov.

They said that, at some point before mid-July last year, “state agencies of the central government of the Russian Federation” tasked him with “liquidating” the victim. (AP)

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NICOSIA, Cyprus: Random coronavirus tests will be carried out on a proportion of travelers arriving at Cy-prus’ airports as an added layer of protection against the virus’ spread, government offi cials said Friday.

The measure was announced a day before the expira-tion of a requirement that foreign nationals permitted to travel to Cyprus from 22 countries obtain a health certifi cate declaring them coronavirus-free.

The 22 countries include Austria, Greece, Finland, Australia, Germany, Norway, Bulgaria and Hungary.

Cyprus’ deputy government spokesman Panayiotis Sentonas said the measure was taken on the recom-mendation of an advisory body of medical experts “so as not to risk the positive epidemiological picture” the country has built over the last few months.

Cyprus has managed a low coronavirus infection rate thanks to a nearly three-month lockdown imposed in mid-March that included a commercial fl ight ban and a stay-at-home order.

The country is keen to restart is vital tourism sector that directly accounts for 13 percent of its economy, but wants to avoid imported virus fl are-ups that could tarnish its image.

Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said health offi cials at the airports are aiming to randomly test 10-15 percent of 1,500 passengers who are estimated to arrive daily over the next few weeks. (AP)

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BUCHAREST, Romania: A former Iranian judge

sought by his country to face corruption charges died Friday after a fall in a hotel in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, the head of the Iranian police’s international department said.

The confi rmation of Gholamreza Mansouri’s death came from Romanian police, said Iran’s Interpol chief Gen Hadi Shirzad, who was quoted by Iran’s semi-offi cial INSA news agency.

Shirzad said Romanian authorities told Iran that the 66-year-old Mansouri “had thrown himself out of the win-dow of his hotel in Bucharest.” An investigation by Iran’s in-ternational police is underway, he said.

Earlier, Romanian police had confi rmed only that a man had fallen from a high fl oor at a Bucharest hotel and was found dead at 2:30 pm (1130 GMT). They didn’t identify him.

Mansouri, who fl ed Iran last year after authorities there al-leged he took about 500,000

euros ($560,000) in bribes, was facing an extradition request by Iran and had denied the allegations. He said last week in a video statement that he left Iran for un-specifi ed medical treatment and that coronavirus travel restrictions prevented him from returning to face the charges.

The spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Abbas Mousavi, said that his country asked Romanian au-thorities to send an offi cial report, state-run IRNA news agency reported. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that his country needs to bolster its security posture amid threats from North Korea and should consider acquiring preemptive strike capability after having to scrap the planned deployment of two new land-based missile defense systems.

Abe said he wants to redefi ne the meaning of deter-rence in the face of the threat from North Korea and its advancement in missile technology.

“We should renew our discussion of adequate deter-rence we need, considering North Korea’s missile tech-nology that has advanced since the time we introduced our missile defense systems,” he said.

Abe said that should include the capability to con-duct preemptive strikes within the limitations set by the country’s pacifi st constitution.

“The question is if we should stay within the bound-ary when enemy capability is dramatically advancing,” Abe said.

Abe has long pushed to amend Article 9 of Japan’s post-World War II US-drafted constitution, which re-nounced war and the use of force as a means of set-tling international disputes and has been interpreted as limiting the country’s armed forces to acting only in self-defense. Abe in 2015 reinterpreted Article 9 to al-low self-defense to also include right to fi ght back for its ally, the US in case of enemy attack.

Abe’s comments come just days after Japan’s De-fense Ministry announced that it would “stop the de-ployment process” of two land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense systems after it was found that the safety of one of the planned host communities could not be ensured without a hardware redesign that would be too time consuming and costly. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

SEOUL, South Korea: South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday accepted the resignation of his point man on North Korea, who had asked to quit af-ter the North destroyed a liaison offi ce while ramping up pressure against Seoul amid stalled nuclear negotia-tions with the Trump administration.

Kim Yeon-chul was appointed unifi cation minister in April last year as talks between the US and Pyong-yang began falling apart, and leaves the job without having a single meeting with the North Koreans. He said he wanted to resign to take responsibility for ten-sions between the rivals.

The North in recent months has virtually cut off all cooperation with the South while expressing frustra-tion over Seoul’s unwillingness to break away from ally Washington and restart inter-Korean economic projects held back by US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.

Kim offered to resign after North Korea in a made-for-TV demonstration Tuesday used explosives to de-stroy the building in its border town of Kaesong. (AP)

Mansouri

Modi denies any Indian territory was lost

China claims valleyNEW DELHI, June 20, (AP): China said the Galwan Val-ley high up in Himalayan border region where Chinese and Indian troops engaged in a deadly brawl this week falls entirely within China, boldly laying claim to the dis-puted area as the Asian giants continued using military and diplomatic channels to reduce tensions.

The confrontation in the Galwan Valley, part of the dis-puted Ladakh region along the Himalayan frontier, was the deadliest in 45 years. India blames China for instigat-ing the fi ght by developing infrastructure in the valley, which it said was a breach of the agreement of what area remained in dispute.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement Friday that “the Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary.”

He blamed incursions by Indian troops in the area from early May for a midnight clash on Monday that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China has not said whether its side suffered any casualties.

Soldiers brawled with clubs, rocks and their fi sts in the thin air at 4,270 meters (14,000 feet) above sea level, but no shots were fi red, Indian offi cials have said. The soldiers carry fi rearms but are not allowed to use them under a pre-vious agreement in the border dispute.

Indian security offi cials have said the fatalities were caused by severe injuries and exposure to subfreezing temperatures.

The valley falls within a remote stretch of the 3,380-km (2,100-mile) Line of Actual Control — the border estab-lished following a war between India and China in 1962 that resulted in an uneasy truce.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Anu-rag Srivastava declined to comment on China’s claim to the valley. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a meeting with political opposition leaders on Friday that “neither anyone has intruded into our territory, nor took over any post.”

Modi said India was “hurt and angry” about the deaths of its troops. He said India wanted peace and friendship, but had the “capability that no one can even dare look to-wards an inch of our land.”

Also on Friday, Zhao said that China was not holding any Indian soldiers, without addressing media reports that China released 10 of them late Thursday.

“My information is that at present there are no Indian personnel detained on the Chinese side,” Zhao said, ac-cording to an English version of his daily briefi ng posted on the ministry website.

Indian offi cials have denied that any soldiers were in Chinese custody.

India’s prime minister said Friday that the entire coun-try is “hurt and angry” at the killing of 20 soldiers by Chi-nese forces in a disputed Himalayan border region, while denying assertions that any Indian territory had been lost.

Addressing a meeting of top opposition leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “the country today has such capability that no one can even dare look towards an inch of our land.”

Modi underscored that India wants peace and friend-ship, but upholding sovereignty is foremost.

Sonia Gandhi, the main opposition Congress party chief, had earlier questioned whether intelligence failures had allowed China to build up forces in the area and she called for tough government action in getting China to leave Indian territory.

“We are still in the dark about many crucial aspects of the crisis,” she said.

India and China accuse each other of instigating Mon-day’s fi ght in the Galwan Valley, part of the disputed Ladakh region along the Himalayan frontier. China has not said whether it suffered any casualties in what was the deadliest confl ict between the sides in 45 years.

Both countries said they were communicating through military and diplomatic channels and stressed the impor-tance of their broader relationship. Experts say the two nations are unlikely to head to war, but easing tensions quickly will be diffi cult.

China on Friday maintained its position that India is to blame for the clash.

“The right and wrong is very clear and the responsibil-ity lies entirely with the Indian side,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.

Both India and China have denied media reports that Indian soldiers were in Chinese custody.

In this Nov 27, 2008 fi le photo, pigeons fl y as the Taj Hotel con-tinues to burn from an attack that killed multiple people in Mum-

bai, India. (AP)

Ex-businessman held forcharges in Mumbai attackLOS ANGELES, June 20, (AP): A former Chicago businessman imprisoned for aiding terrorist groups has been arrested in Los An-geles to face murder charges in India for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed more than 160 people, US prosecutors said Fri-day.

Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian, has been charged in India with conspiring to plot and carry out the deadly attacks that are sometimes referred to as India’s 9/11.

Rana, 59, was convicted of a terrorist charge connected to the group behind the Mumbai slayings, though US prosecutors failed to prove he directly supported the four-day rampage.

Rana was serving a 14-year sentence when he was granted early release from a Los Angeles federal prison last week because of poor health and a bout of coronavirus. But he never got out of prison before being arrested to face extradition to India, prosecutors said.

He has been charged with murder and murder conspiracy in In-dia, according to court documents. A request for comment from Rana’s public defender was not immediately returned.

Rana was convicted in Chicago in 2011 of providing mate-rial support to the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the India attack, and for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 2005. The cartoons angered many Muslims because pictures of the Prophet are prohibited in Islam.

Jurors cleared Rana of a more serious charge of providing sup-port for the attacks in Mumbai, India’s largest city, that killed 166, injured nearly 240 and caused $1.5 billion in damage.

Rana’s lawyer said at trial that he had been duped by his high school buddy, David Coleman Headley, an admitted terrorist who plotted the Mumbai attacks. The defense called Headley, the gov-ernment’s chief witness who testifi ed to avoid the death penalty, a habitual liar and manipulator.

Rana was accused of allowing Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law business in Mumbai as a cover story and travel as a representative of the company in Denmark.

Prosecutors said Rana knew Headley had trained as a terrorist. Headley shared information of the scouting missions he conducted in Mumbai and of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where gunmen later slaughtered dozens of people.

Headley, who was born in the US to a Pakistani father and Amer-ican mother, said his hatred of India dated to his childhood when his school in Pakistan was bombed by Indian military planes during a war between the countries in 1971.

Months after the Mumbai attacks, Headley, who did not take part in the attacks, told Rana he was “even with the Indians now,” ac-cording to a court document. Rana said they deserved it.

Headley, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder, was sen-tenced to 35 years in prison. As part of his plea deal, he can’t be extradited to India.

Only one of the 10 Mumbai terrorists survived the attack and went on trial. He was convicted, sentenced to death in India and hanged.

Market Movements 19-06-2020

Business Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA All Ordinaries +9.71 6,061.64JAPAN Nikkei +123.33 22,478.79GERMANY DAX +49.23 12,330.76FRANCE CAC 40 +20.70 4,979.45EUROPE Euro Stoxx 50 +19.20 3,269.10INDIA Sensex +523.68 34,731.73CHINA Shanghai SE +28.32 2,967.63

Change Closing ptsPAKISTAN KSE 100 -100.91 33,438.94PHILIPPINES PSEi -33.38 6,315.07

JD.com racks up $38bn in sales in annual online shopping fest

JD.com’s annual “618” on-line shopping extravaganza racked up a total of 269.2 billion yuan ($38 billion) worth of transactions, as consumers splurged during China’s first major e-com-merce sale since the pan-demic began.

This year’s tally was 33% higher than last year’s 201.5 billion yuan in sales.

It reflects an increasing

shift to online shopping as consumers shun brick-and-mortar stores.

The “618” shopping event, which typically spans from June 1 to June 18, was first conceived by JD.com to rival Alibaba’s November 11 Sin-gles’ Day festival.

It is being closely watched as a barometer of consumer appetites for spending giv-en pressures from the pan-

demic. China’s economy contracted for the first time in nearly three decades dur-ing the first quarter of this year.

Imported goods remained popular among JD.com cus-tomers, who snapped up lux-ury products, electric shavers and coffee machines.

Some of the most popu-lar brands among custom-ers were Apple, Panasonic,

Sony and Philips, the com-pany said.

Over 70% of new cus-tomers who bought items during the sale also came from smaller regional cities, it said.

Although the 618 shop-ping extravaganza is held by JD.com, rivals Alibaba and Pinduoduo and other Chi-nese retailers are also offer-ing discounts. (AP)

Attendees wear masks to curb the spread of the new coronavirus before the ceremony to mark the list-ing of JD.com on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the JD.com headquarters in Beijing. (AP)

Hiring rises in 46 states in MayYet jobless rates still high

WASHINGTON, June 20, (AP): Employers added jobs in 46 states last month, evidence that the U.S. econ-omy’s surprise hiring gain in May was spread broadly across the country - in both states that began reopening their economies early and those that did so only later.

Unemployment rates fell in 38 states, rose in three and were large-ly unchanged in nine, the Labor Department said Friday. The dis-parities ranged from Nevada, with the highest rate (25.3%), Hawaii (22.6%) and Michigan (21.2%) to Nebraska (5.2%, the lowest) and Utah (8.5%). The overall U.S. unemployment rate in May was a still-high 13.3%, a decline from 14.7% in April.

As a whole, the fi gures illustrate the unusually broad nature of the recession, with all states enduring unemployment rates that soared in April as the corona-virus forced business closures and then generally fell in May but remained pain-fully high. During the 2008-2009 Great Recession, by contrast, some Midwest-ern states like Iowa and North Dakota managed to avoid high unemployment. Yet this time in May, Iowa’s unemploy-ment rate was a high 10% and North Da-kota’s 9.1%.

At the same time, the viral outbreak has sharpened disparities among the states, with Nevada, with its hard-hit tourism industry, and Michigan, heav-ily affected by auto job cuts, report-ing jobless rates more than double the rates in states like Utah and Wyoming. The gap between the highest and low-est states is slightly worse than during the 2008-2009 downturn.

The virus and the accompany-ing shutdowns have devastated most states’ economies. Last month, four states recorded their highest unem-ployment rates on records dating to 1976: Massachusetts (16.3%), Dela-ware (15.8%), Florida (14.5%) and Minnesota (9.9%).

Adam Kamins, senior regional economist at Moody’s Analytics, sug-gested that the broad-based job gains in May indicate that the government’s small business lending efforts, through the Paycheck Protection Program, helped spur more hiring.

“Policies that benefi t states similarly lifted all boats,” Kamins said.

Even in Nevada there were some signs of life. The state gained nearly 33,000 jobs last month.

Justin Moscove, co-owner of seven Flowing Tide pubs, mostly in Reno and Las Vegas, said sales have been so strong that he’s rehired 95% of his 200 employees, even though he is limited to half his dine-in capacity. Still, he thinks much of the business refl ects an initial surge from people tired of shel-tering in place and may not last.

“I think a lot of people were sick of being cooped up inside for three months,” Moscove said.

Kamins also noted that the state-lev-

el data shows that both early-opening states and those that remained closed longer managed to post solid job gains and lower unemployment rates in May. Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, which reopened faster than other states, en-joyed solid hiring gains.

But so did New York, Michigan, and Massachusetts, which opened lat-er than most other states. Hiring rose 5.2% in Michigan, the second-best job growth in the country in May, behind Vermont’s 6.4% gain. Michigan’s gain in part refl ects the recall to work of many autoworkers last month. But the state also posted a sharp increase in construction jobs.

Montana and Pennsylvania each reported a job gain of 4%, the third-largest increase, though Montana al-lowed businesses to restart earlier than Pennsylvania did.

“The rush to reopen probably does not bear the sort of fruit that some of these states might have been hoping,” Kamins said.

Still, the outlook is cloudy for many small businesses. In Pennsylvania, Kelly Morgan reopened the four fi t-ness centers she owns with her hus-band, Dave, several weeks ago, in defi ance of a state closure order that wasn’t lifted until early this month. Her Morgainz Fitness gyms are still limited to a reduced capacity.

“It’s literally like someone dropped us in a hole for two months, and we’re going to spend the next year climbing out of it,” Morgan said.

Nationwide, employers added 2.5 million jobs in April, an unexpected gain that suggested that the job market bottomed out in April and is gradu-ally recovering. Still, the number of people applying for unemployment aid has remained stubbornly high in the past several weeks, a sign that many businesses are still shedding jobs and clouding the outlook for jobs.

Jared Saigh, who lives in Iron River, Michigan, in a northern corner of the state, saw his career path upended by the coronavirus. After months of un-employment beginning last year, the 27-year-old Saigh was offered a job as a foundation director at a hospital in mid-March.

At fi rst, the offer was just delayed. But as the crisis dragged on, it was eventually rescinded.

“It was a perfect job for me,” he said. “Now I just feel kind of stalled.”

And in Georgia, whose unem-ployment rate tumbled to 9.7% from 12.6%, some small business owners aren’t sure they’re in the clear yet.

One of them is Kimberly Schoon, who owns a children’s shoe store in the Atlanta suburb of Decatur. Her employees - one full time and fi ve part time - were laid off or quit when she was forced to shut down in April.

Schoon reopened for in-store sales last month and has since rehired the full-time employee and has advertised for a second employee, who could be a full- or part-time worker. In the fi rst 24 hours, she received 75 applications.

Still, she isn’t sure sales will be robust enough to support two full-time employees. Schoon has noticed a change in consumer behavior, with parents cutting down on frills.

In this file photo, unionized hospitality workers wait in line in a basement garage to apply for unemployment benefits at the Hospitality Training Academy in Los Angeles. California’s unemployment rate continued to climb in May, reaching 16.3% as businesses continued to lay people off because of a state-

at-home order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus that has wrecked the state’s economy. (AP)

Government balancing health risks

Japan’s economy reopening cautiouslyTOKYO, June 20, (AP): The roller coasters are back running in Tokyo but with requests to not scream. Restaurants are offering more take-out and outdoor seating. Major retailer Uniqlo’s new “cool and dry” mask, three for 990 yen ($9), sold out Friday shortly after it was put on the shelves.

Japan’s economy is opening cautiously, with social-distancing restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The delicate “new normal” balancing act playing out around the world is precarious but imperative for Japan, whose long stagnant economy sorely needs tourism, exports and thriving small businesses to avoid sliding deeper into recession.

Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market econo-mist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said although Japan’s coronavirus restrictions were never as strict as the lockdowns in the U.S., Europe and some other parts of Asia, the damage was still considerable.

Japan’s economy was already hurting from a tax increase last year. Then auto exports to the U.S. and Europe plunged when the coronavirus hit. Consumer spending is unlikely to recover quickly.

“Americans may feel happy and go splurging af-ter the lockdown is lifted. But the Japanese mind set tends to become even more cautious about spending because of uncertainties about the future,” Maruyama said.

A return to pre-pandemic levels of economic activ-ity is not expected for Japan until 2023, a year after a likely recovery in the U.S., he said.

Although shuttered businesses are opening again, fewer seats are allowed at theaters, events and hostess and host bars. Masked clerks peer from behind plastic curtains at stores where temperatures are checked and hands disinfected at the entrance. Professional base-ball is playing to empty stands.

Masks, worn by many Japanese already anyway due to a near national allergy to cedar pollen, are the dress code everywhere.

Japan’s exports and imports have plunged. The world’s third largest economy has contracted for two straight quarters and is already officially in recession.

The Tokyo Olympics, the big symbol of hope for the economy, has been postponed until next year, costing billions of dollars to the capital, although the exact amount has not been disclosed.

The government has announced 230 trillion yen ($2 trillion) in stimulus, including help for local busi-nesses and cash handouts of 100,000 yen ($930) per adult to coax consumers into spending.

With about 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths, Ja-pan has been spared the massive fatalities that have swept Italy, Spain, the U.S., Brazil and Russia. But critics fear the government’s push to relax precau-tions is about choosing the economy over health con-cerns.

That includes reviving moribund tourism. The government is considering reopening travel to and from countries where coronavirus cases are relatively limited and comparable to Japan’s, such as Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Thailand.

The 1,700 visitors to Japan in May was a de-crease of 99.9% from the year before, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization, and the lowest figure since the government began keeping track in 1964.

In recent years Japan has attracted about 30 mil-lion visitors from abroad, mostly from South Korea and China.

Travel within Japan was temporarily curtailed under a government “emergency” to curb the spread of the virus but is now encouraged. The government is giving out discount coupons to use at tourist spots.

Jazz clubs and other entertainment places were already struggling and the pandemic will likely lead many people to turn to recordings and other, safer ways to enjoy music instead, said American saxo-phonist Marshall McDonald.

“The music business, which was on life support, will never be back. Japan is risking lives opening music places now,” said McDonald, who played for years with the Count Basie Orchestra and lives half the year in Japan.

Still, after being stuck at home many Japanese have been hankering to get outside and have some fun.

That includes law student Yota Nakano, who shrugged off the don’t scream request at Yomiuri Land, a Tokyo amusement park that recently re-opened.

“Even though I couldn’t scream, I enjoyed it from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

WFP warns against shortageof ‘funding’ to keep moving

ECB hands out 1.3 trillion euros in loansROME, June 20, (KUNA): The UN World Food Program (WFP) warned on Friday that their flights and logistic operations might “grind to a halt before the end of July un-less substantial funding can be se-cured to keep WFP’s transport fleet moving.”

In a statement, “with much of the world’s commercial transport sys-tems, particularly airlines, grounded due to the pandemic of COVID-19, WFP, the world’s largest humanitar-ian organization fi ghting hunger and a global leader in logistics, has stepped in to move passengers and huge vol-umes of health and other supplies needed in the fi ght against the pan-demic.”

“Just as demand for this service is reaching its peak, it could grind to a halt before the end of July unless substantial funding can be secured to keep WFP’s transport fl eet moving,” the statement said.

“Of the USD 965 million needed to maintain the operation through to the end of the year, only USD 178 mil-lion has so far been confi rmed or ad-vanced,” the statement added.

“Here’s what Common Services have achieved so far, 375 passenger and cargo fl ights fl own to destinations across Africa, Asia, Latin America

and the Middle East.More than 2,500 responders from

more than 80 aid organizations fl own to destinations where their assistance is urgently needed.

Also, 45 humanitarian partner or-ganizations supported with air freight and 130 cargo and passenger destina-tions reached so far.

Enough cargo to fi ll 120 Jumbo Jets waiting to be transported in coming weeks,” the statement noted.

“Using a network of global and regional transportation hubs, WFP Aviation has over recent months transported huge volumes of urgently needed medical supplies, including PPE, masks and ventilators, as well as staff from scores of aid organiza-tions,” the statement said.

“Moreover, it’s not just aircraft, WFP also has large numbers of ships and trucks transporting goods on be-half of other UN agencies and non-government organizations.

Other Common Service facilities which WFP has helped set up for the humanitarian and health commu-nity include two fi eld hospitals, one in East and the other in West Africa, and to date 16 medical evacuations have been carried out, including with WFP-contracted air ambulances,” the state-ment added.

FRANKFURT, Germany, June 20, (AP): The European Central Bank has handed out 1.31 trillion euros ($1.46 trillion) in long-term, ultra-cheap credit to hundreds of banks as part of its emergency support aimed at cush-ioning the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses and workers.

The three-year loans are aimed at making sure banks can keep lending to companies so they don’t run out of money and go out of business during the crisis. That would cause a cascad-ing loss of jobs and income and hurt the long-term recovery from the severe interruptions to business due to the measures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus.

The ECB said Thursday that 742 banks across the 19 countries that use the euro currency took up the credit of-fer, which can carry a negative interest rate of as low as minus 1.0% so long as banks keep up their lending to busi-nesses. That means banks are getting paid by the ECB to borrow the money, an offer that many found hard to re-fuse. The ECB cut the rate on the offer from minus 0.5% at its April 30 meet-ing as the virus lockdowns slammed the European economy.

The credit offer takes its place along-side the bank’s pandemic bond purchase program, which is pumping 1.35 trillion euros in newly created money into the economy. Similar measures to loosen

credit have been deployed by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks around the globe. The Bank of England on Thursday boosted its bond-purchase stimulus by a further 100 billion pounds ($125 billion.)

The net amount loaned was 548 bil-lion euros since banks were allowed to

exchange earlier, less favorable loans in return for the new offering. None-theless it was the biggest loan opera-tion in the history of the ECB, which was founded in 1998 ahead of the euro’s launch in 1999.

The fear among economists is that the interruptions to business due to the

virus outbreak will eliminate other-wise viable businesses. The European Union’s executive commission esti-mates that the eurozone economy will shrink by 7.75% this year.

The ECB is the central bank for the countries that use the shared euro cur-rency.

In this file photo, the European Central Bank (ECB) sits next to the river Main in Frankfurt, Germany. (AP)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

9

Is a provocation against OECD partners

European countries slam US suspension of tech tax talks

Wirecard CEO quits after auditors can’t fi nd $2.1bn

The chief executive of German payment service provider Wirecard AG resigned on Friday after the company disclosed that au-ditors could not fi nd 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in cash, adding to the accounting woes of a fi rm once regarded as a star of the growing fi nancial technology sector.

Wirecard said in a brief statement that Markus Braun resigned “in mutual consent” with the company’s supervisory board, ef-fective immediately. James Freis, who was appointed to the management board on Thursday, was named as interim CEO.

Braun said in a video online that auditors appeared to have been given spurious docu-mentation about the accounts that were sup-posed to hold the missing money. He added that “it cannot be ruled out” that Wirecard was the victim of fraud “of considerable pro-portions.”

The company’s shares fell 26% on Friday to 29.30 euros. They have fallen 84% from their peak in August 2018 after the company became the subject of multiple Financial Times reports about accounting irregulari-ties. Wirecard disputed the reports, which

started in February 2019, and said it was the victim of speculators.

The company’s accounting troubles con-tinued as it postponed its earnings release, and top investors called for Braun’s dismiss-al and an outside manager to come in and clean house.

The company was once considered a star of Germany’s tech sector; its market value at one point exceeded that of Deutsche Bank. Wirecard pushed Germany’s No. 2 bank, Commerzbank, out of the country’s DAX 30 index of blue chips. (AP)

In this fi le photo, the logo of fi nancial

services company Wirecard is pictured at the headquarters

in Munich, Germany. (AP)

NEW YORK, June 20, (AP): Wall Street careened through all the forc-es that have pushed and pulled it through the week, at fi rst rising on Friday amid hope for the economy and then falling on worries about worsening coronavirus levels in some states, all before ending with modest losses.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, a relatively small move to cap its fourth weekly gain in the last fi ve. But the market swung between a gain of 1.3% and a decline of 1%, another example of how uncertainty is the dominant force over Wall Street as investors weigh budding improvements in the economy against worsening infection lev-els in the South and West.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 208.64 points, or 0.8%, to 25,871.46 after earlier swinging from a gain of 371 points to a loss of 320 points. The Nasdaq composite inched up by 3.07 points, or less than 0.1%, to 9,946.12. The S&P 500 fell 17.60 points to 3,097.74.

Also exacerbating volatility was Friday’s simul-taneous expiration of contracts for stock options and futures, an occasional occurrence that can drive bouts of buying and selling and is known as “quadruple witching day.”

Early in the day, U.S. stocks appeared set to fol-low European and Asian markets higher and follow through on Wall Street’s momentum from earlier in the week.

Stocks had rebounded from last week’s 4.8% drop, the worst in nearly three months, in large part because of a report showing U.S. shoppers spent much more last month at stores and online retailers than econo-mists expected. That followed up on encouraging data about the U.S. jobs market and bolstered hopes that the economy can pull out of its recession relatively quickly.

“You’re seeing big moves off of very weak num-bers,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “What’s happening is the data are getting less bad.”

Economists at Bank of America now expect the U.S. economy to shrink 5.7% this year, a severe con-traction but not as bad as their earlier forecast for an

8.1% plunge. “Economic data continue to point to a faster and

stronger initial recovery,” they wrote in a BofA Glob-al Research report. Some of that is due to economic activity being pulled forward from what they had ex-pected to occur next year, ahead of a long road to full recovery.

The Federal Reserve also reminded markets this week how much it’s doing to prop up the economy.

The central bank said early in the week that it will buy individual corporate bonds as part of its previ-ously announced plan to support lending markets for big employers.

Later in the week, the Fed’s chair said it plans to continue to keep interest rates pinned at nearly zero to help cushion against the recession.

It was huge efforts by the Fed, along with spending by Congress, that helped the stock market turn around in March from its nearly 34% plunge.

But markets took a sharp turn lower Friday after-noon after Apple said it will temporarily close 11 stores in Arizona, Florida and the Carolinas.

The worst-case scenario for investors is that more waves of coronavirus infections lead to additional business shutdowns, which devastated the economy earlier this year.

Even if widespread stay-at-home orders don’t hap-pen, the fear is that scared shoppers may still shy away from stores and businesses may pull back on their own spending.

In another demonstration of how long the road will be back to a normal economy, the Cruise Lines Inter-national Association said Friday that its members are volunteering not to sail any voyages from U.S. ports until Sept. 15.

Cruise operators had some of the market’s sharp-est losses, including a 6.9% drop for Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Other companies whose profi ts sorely need the economy to reopen were also weak. United Airlines fell 6.4%, Nordstrom lost 6.3% and mall owner Si-mon Property Group fell 5.4%.

Many analysts say volatility is likely the only cer-tainty for the market in upcoming months. It may take years for the economy to fully recover, but it took just a few months for the stock market to rally back to within 9% of its record.

“The good news is that the momentum is still there, the breadth is still there,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research for Nationwide. “Everything still says the path of least resistance is higher. But this

afternoon is a good reminder that it’s not going to be as easy as it felt.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 0.69% after climbing as high as 0.74% earlier in the day. It tends to move with investors’ expectations for the economy and infl ation.

A barrel of U.S. crude oil for delivery in July rose 2.3% to settle at $39.75. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 1.6% to settle at $42.19 per barrel.

Meanwhile, world stock markets turned higher on Friday despite concerns that a global economic recov-ery may be derailed by coronavirus infections.

Shares rose in most major markets and U.S. futures surged after Asia got off to a mixed start.

Global markets have recovered most of this year’s losses as investors look ahead to a possible rebound from the deepest economic slump since the 1930s. But analysts say gains might be too big and too fast to sustain. Enthusiasm has been dented by rising case numbers in Brazil, some US states and other areas.

In Europe, the German DAX returned 0.4%, and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4%. The FTSE 100 in Lon-don added 1.1%.

The advance came as EU government leaders and heads of state are discussing the bloc’s future long-term budget and a multibillion-euro post-coronavirus recovery plan during a video summit aimed at paving the way for a compromise later this summer.

The European Central Bank said Thursday it has handed an unprecedented amount of stimulus, 1.3 tril-lion euros in cheap loans to banks, as part of its effort to get the 19-nation bloc that uses the euro through the pandemic.

Strong reassurances by central banks this week that more stimulus will be available to counter the worst global downturn since the 1930s appear to have as-suaged some of the jitters over signs coronavirus out-breaks have gained momentum in many places.

“The market breadth of the S&P500 still appears to suggest that the bull momentum is intact,” Naeem Aslam of Avatrade said in a commentary.

In Asian trading, the Shanghai Composite Index leaped 1% to 2,967.63 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.6% to 22,478.79. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong picked up 0.7% to 24,643.89 and Seoul’s Kospi added 0.4% to 2,141.32.

The S&P-ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.1% higher to 5,942.60 and India’s Sensex advanced 1.3% to 34,824.94. New Zealand advanced while Singapore and Bangkok declined.

Wall St drops as virus fearsdrown out economy hopes

World stocks turn higher despite worries over virus rebound

Analysts monitoring consumer behavior as sign of progress

Wall Street eyes alternative data to track economy reopeningLOS ANGELES, June 20, (AP): The reopening of businesses shut due to the coronavirus pandemic is fueling optimism on Wall Street that the US economy is on the path to recovering from a steep recession.

How quickly that recovery happens hinges on the outbreak subsiding and on Americans feeling confi dent and safe enough to return to their pre-lock-down habits.

For an up-to-the-minute read on consumer behavior, Wall Street is monitoring the number of people mov-ing through airport security check-points, restaurant reservations and gasoline demand, among other data. This information is particularly valu-able now because conventional eco-nomic reports on hiring, consumer confi dence and spending can lag a month or more.

“We’re looking at them as an in-dicator of consumer behavior, and really consumer trust in the health infrastructure,” said Nela Richardson, investment strategist at Edward Jones. “What this high frequency data is tell-ing us is that behavior is starting to recover, and that’s a good sign for the reopening, if it continues.”

The Transportation Security Ad-ministration’s daily tally of people moving through its checkpoints at air-ports indicates that more Americans are taking to the skies, though the tally remains far below where it was a year ago.

For example, 417,924 people moved through TSA airport check-points Tuesday. That’s down 83% from the same day last year, when the TSA counted 2.47 million travelers. Still, the steep drop-off marks an im-provement from the same day in April, when passenger traffi c sank 96.4%.

Government data also suggests more Americans are driving than just a couple of months ago. The four-week average of daily US gasoline demand was 7.64 million barrels as of last week, according to the US Energy Information Adminis-tration. That’s down about 21% from a year earlier. But it’s up sharply since April 24, when the four-week average of daily demand slumped to 5.33 million barrels.

Analysts are keeping an eye on restaurant reservation app OpenTable too, to gauge consumers’ willingness

to leave home and share space with other restaurant patrons.

The latest data, based on a sample of roughly 20,000 restaurants, show the number of seated diners from online, phone and walk-ins remains sharply lower from a year ago. The snapshot on Wednesday, for example, showed a 65.2% drop. But it’s an improvement from the 100% decline through much of March and April.

“We’re trying to measure the big-gest thing coming into this pandemic: what’s the appetite for people go-ing outside their house?” said Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strat-egy at Verdence Capital Advisors. “And what we’re seeing right now is all those things look positive.”

Horneman also monitors data from Metropolitan Transit Authority sub-way turnstiles in New York for hints about Americans’ willingness to be in close quarters with others, which bodes well for air travel, restaurants and shops. The turnstile “clicks” have climbed to the highest level since late March, but remain substantially lower than normal, she said.

The S&P 500 index has rebounded about 40% since late March. Initially, the Federal Reserve’s vow to provide immense aid to keep markets running smoothly helped lift stocks. More re-cently, the gains have been driven by optimism among stock investors that the economy can climb out of its cur-rent hole faster than forecast as busi-nesses reopen.

Signs of progress in reopening of the economy have to be balanced against the rate of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, which have been ris-ing, particularly in states like Florida and Texas that were among the fi rst to reopen their economies.

“It’s discouraging to see that over half of states are experiencing ris-ing case counts, but in a lot of those instances they were off of low levels, so the next few weeks are going to be important,” said Brian Price, head of investments for Commonwealth Fi-nancial Network. “If we get to a point where ICU beds become stretched to capacity and hospitals start to become stressed, governors may not have a choice” in closing economies or im-posing stricter social distancing, Price said.

Google loses appeal against $56mn fi ne in FrancePARIS, June 20, (AP): France’s high-est administrative court has upheld a fi ne of 50 million euros ($56 million) Google was ordered to pay for not be-ing “suffi ciently clear and transparent” with Android users about their data protection options.

Google was fi rst slapped with the fi ne in January 2019, the fi rst penalty for a US tech giant under new Euro-pean data privacy rules that took effect in 2018.

Google appealed the penalty issued by the French data privacy watchdog to the Council of State, France’s fi nal arbiter in such cases.

The council ruled Friday that the National Data Protection Commission had the right to sanction Google and that the fi ne was not disproportionate, “given the particular seriousness” and duration of Google’s failings.

In response, Google said it would look at making changes.

In force since May 2018, the Eu-ropean Union’s General Data Protec-tion Regulation, or GDPR, is aimed at clarifying individual rights to personal data collected by companies. It requires companies to use plain language to ex-plain what they’re doing with data.

In sanctioning Google, France’s data

watchdog had said Google users were “not suffi ciently informed” about what they were agreeing to as the company collected data for targeted advertise-ments.

It faulted Google for making users take too many steps, “sometimes up to 5 or 6 actions,” to fi nd out how and why their data is being used and for be-ing “too generic and vague” in descrip-tions of why data is processed.

The Council of State concurred and faulted Google for “particularly intru-sive” data collection methods.

It said the fi rm “has not provided suffi -ciently clear and transparent information

to users of the Android operating system and has not enabled them to give free and informed consent to the processing of their personal data for the purpose of personalizing advertisements.”

Google said Friday that it has “in-vested in industry-leading tools” to help its users “understand and control how their data is used.”

“This case was not about whether consent is needed for personalized advertising, but about how exactly it should be obtained,” the company said. “In light of this decision, we will now review what changes we need to make.”

A sign for a Wall Street building is shown. Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street closed little-changed as optimism about a possible global economic recovery was tempered by concern over rising coronavirus infections. (AP)

PARIS, June 20, (AP): European coun-tries are slamming the Trump adminis-tration’s withdrawal from negotiations over a major tax on big tech companies.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, speaking on France Inter, called it a “provocation” and said France will still implement the tax regardless of the US change of heart.

Le Maire was referring to a letter in which US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the finance ministers of France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom that he was suspending talks on the tax.

“This letter is a provocation. It is a provocation against all the partners at the OECD (the Organization for Eco-nomic Co-operation and Development) when we were centimeters away from a deal on the taxation of digital giants,” Le Maire said.

In a statement, Treasury Department spokeswoman Monica Crowley said the US “has suggested a pause� in the talks as countries focus on fighting CO-VID-19 and reopening their economies.

The countries have been discussing an international agreement on the way global taxes work. The tech tax is meant to prevent tax avoidance measures by multinationals, but the US has said it un-fairly singles out companies like Ama-zon and Google.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has dismissed the OECD efforts so far, saying the countries in-volved were trying to harm American companies and telling a congressional committee Wednesday “that’s not some-thing we’re ever going to be a part of.”

Some countries such as Spain and Britain have been working on their own digital taxes while they wait for a global one. The head of the OECD, a group of wealthy nations, urged countries to con-tinue working on the global levy, warn-ing of the risks if more countries decided to bring in their own digital taxes.

“This, in turn, would trigger tax dis-putes and, inevitably, heightened trade tensions,” said Secretary-General Angel Gurria. “A trade war, especially at this point in time, where the world economy is going through a historical downturn, would hurt the economy, jobs and confi-dence even further.”

In Europe, big tech firms such as Google and Facebook pay most of their taxes in the European Union countries where their registered headquarters are based and often pay very little in coun-tries where they run large and profitable operations.

“The digital tax is a necessity of the 21st century. It’s not a whim or an ec-centricity,” Spanish Finance Minister

María Jesús Montero told Spain’s Ca-dena SER radio. “This is because we have an analogue taxation system while we have a digital society and a digital economy”.

Le Maire said there was a joint re-sponse to the letter from the four coun-tries on Thursday.

The French parliament approved the initial stages of a digital tax law last year but agreed to postpone implementation until December of this year in exchange for the US holding off on retaliatory tar-iffs.

The US has launched an investigation into the French digital tax that may lead to tariffs on French products.

Joe Kennedy, senior fellow at the In-formation Technology and Innovation Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, said the US has a legitimate complaint about the French digital services tax vio-lating international trade rules. But Ken-nedy has misgivings about the decision to suspend talks as the world economy contends with fallout from the coronavi-rus pandemic.

“I think the administration should stay in there,’’ he said. “It’s best to negotiate ... This is the worst time to have a ramp-ing up of trade disputes.’’

A so-called “Google tax” is also mak-ing its way through the Spanish parlia-ment, with an eye toward levying it later this year.

The Spanish Cabinet agreed in Febru-ary to go ahead with its adoption despite threats of retaliatory tariffs by the Trump administration.

Spain wants to place a 3% tax on online ads, on deals brokered on digital platforms and on sales of user data by tech companies that have a turnover of more than 750 million euros ($842 mill-lion) a year internationally and more than 3 million euros in Spain. It hopes to raise close to 1 billion euros a year in extra tax revenue.

Britain, which recently introduced its own digital services tax, said it would keep pushing for a global levy.

“We have always been clear that our preference is for a global solution to the tax challenges posed by digitalization, and we’ll continue to work with our international partners to achieve that ob-jective,” the Treasury department said in a statement.

The UK’s 2% digital tax took effect in April and applies to search engines, social media services and online mar-ketplaces earning more than 500 million pounds ($624 million) in annual global revenue, including 25 million pounds from British users. The Treasury esti-mates it will eventually bring in an extra 515 million pounds a year.

10ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

editor’s choice

‘A golden opportunity’

Hollywood says diversity needed

This image released by Netfl ix shows a scene from the fi lm ‘Mudbound’. Hollywood’s record in diversity and inclusion has improved in recent years, but it still lags behind the population — particularly in its executive ranks. (AP)

NEW YORK, June 20, (AP): As protests erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd, every major entertainment company in Hollywood issued statements of support for the black community.

But as unanimous as that show of solidarity was, it was also clear that this wasn’t a fight Hol-lywood could watch from the sidelines. As the uproar over “Gone With the Wind” showed, the movie industry has a past — and present — to reckon with. At a recent protest in Los Angeles organized by major talent agencies, actor Michael B. Jordan turned his focus to the studio headquar-ters around him.

“Where is the challenge to commit to black hir-ing? Black content led by black executives, black consultants,” said Jordan. “Are you policing our storytelling as well?”

Hollywood’s record in diversity and inclusion has improved in recent years, but it still lags be-hind the population — particularly in its executive ranks. (It’s easier, Spike Lee has joked, to get a black president than a black studio head.) State-ments and donations are well and good, many say, but Hollywood studios and production companies can speak far louder by green-lighting diverse movies — and reexamining those who do the green-lighting.

“This is a golden opportunity for Hollywood to look at itself in the mirror and decide what side of history it wants to be on,” says Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences at UCLA.

UCLA’s annual Hollywood diversity report has found a notable increase in lead acting roles in the most popular films in recent years. Researchers argue diversity is good business. People of color, data shows, often buy more than half of tickets to the most successful films.

But Hunt has also found a lack of systemic change. Some 93 percent of senior executive po-sitions at major and mid-major studios are held by white people and 80 percent by men. He has outlined a five-point strategy for more meaningful progress, from the bottom up.

“Every institution in our society to the extent that it’s not helping to eradicate the problem is complicit to a some degree. I would argue that Hollywood stands right at the center of that,” says Hunt. “When you have an industry that’s struc-tured around white men in control, it echoes the white supremacy that’s at the core of the critique of policing right now.”

Five years ago, after the Academy Awards fielded all-white acting nominees, the hashtag #Os-carsSoWhite became a rallying cry. The industry and the film academy have changed since then but it hasn’t happened overnight. At this year’s Oscars, the South Korean film “Parasite” made history for non-English language films but the awards still fea-tured only one acting nominee of color.

Now, at a defining moment for race in America, some in the industry leaders believe stronger steps are necessary. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last week said it will make new inclusion standards for Oscar eligibility. Hunt, who has consulted on that initiative, said it could

apply to either the diversity of individual films or a distributor’s overall record of inclusion.

The Writers Guild of America West, in an open letter from its Committee of Black Writers to in-dustry leaders, demanded action, not words.

“Either you commit to a new, institutionalized system of accountability with and to black writers, or you prove that you’re putting on just another strategic, virtue-signaling performance deemed necessary to survive the times,” read the letter.

The debate recently stirred by “Gone With the Wind,” only highlighted what’s at stake.

After pressure from filmmakers including “12 Years a Slave” producer John Ridley, HBO Max temporarily removed the 1939 film. The highest grossing movie of all time despite its glamor-ized portrait of slavery in the Antebellum South, “Gone With the Wind” is part of an ignoble Hol-lywood legacy stretching back to “The Birth of a Nation.” When the film returns to the stream-ing service, Turner Classic Movie host Jacqueline Stewart will contextualize it.

“We can see with ‘Gone With the Wind’ how profoundly people’s understanding of American history has been shaped by these popular enter-tainments,” says Stewart. “It’s forcing us to con-front the roots of racism in our country and to think about the role the media has played in shap-ing our understanding of race.”

Recent films like Ava DuVernay’s “Selma,” Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” and Spike Lee’s just-released “Da 5 Bloods” have lent a corrective to history as seen in the movies. More are on the way. Since the protests began, several documentary projects have been announced on the Tulsa race massacre, in-cluding one produced by LeBron James.

Lee’s frequent co-writer Kevin Willmott re-cently completed a drama, “The 24th,” about the Houston Riots, in which some 150 black soldiers marched on Houston in 1917 after a police force evolved from plantation patrols and slave catchers brutalized them. Janet Pierson selected the film for SXSW before the festival was canceled, because, she said, it powerfully captured an important but little-known chapter in history. Willmott, who’s currently in talks with a pair of distributors, consid-ers the Houston Riots a precursor to today’s unrest.

“One of my fears is that it’s a pretty strong film. In the climate we have now, I worry that it will scare some people,” says Willmott. “I hope that America has the courage to show this film because this is what America is dealing with right now. I know that dramatic movies about black resistance to injustice and oppression are hard sells in Hol-lywood.”

It’s a good time to consider what films are get-ting greenlit, picking up distribution and getting hefty marketing support. When the director George Tillman (“Soul Food,” “Men of Honor”) first came to Hollywood, he found that the kinds of movies he wanted to make were set to modest budget param-eters and marketed only to African American com-munities. Tillman remembers thinking: “You ain’t gonna put a billboard on Sunset or anything? It’s just going to be just on the South Side of Chicago? How am I ever going to expand?”

In Brief

LOS ANGELES: Beyoncé did not let Juneteenth pass without dropping one of her signature surprises — a new single called “Black Parade.”

“I’m going back to the South, I’m going back where my roots ain’t wa-tered down,” Beyoncé sings, opening the track. At several points on Fri-day’s release, the singer tells listen-ers to “Follow my parade.”

Proceeds from the song will ben-efi t Black-owned small businesses, a message entitled “Black Parade Route” on the singer’s website said. The post included links to dozens of Black-owned businesses.

“Happy Juneteenth. Being Black is your activism. Black excellence is a form of protest. Black joy is your right,” the message said. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

COLUMBIA, South Carolina: The Godfather of Soul’s dying wish to help educate needy children is a big step closer to being fulfi lled, now that South Carolina’s Supreme Court — weighing into a 14-year-old legal saga yet again — has ruled that James Brown’s last partner was not legally married to him.

In an unanimous ruling on Wednesday, the state’s justices wrote that Tomi Rae Hynie, a for-mer partner of Brown’s who claimed to be his wife, failed to annul a pre-vious marriage, and therefore did not have a right to his multimillion-dollar estate.

Brown’s union with Hynie has long been the center of the evolving legal troubles following his death at the age of 73 on Christmas Day 2006. The performer’s death touched off years of bizarre headlines, begin-ning with Hynie being locked out of his 60-acre estate, while photogra-phers captured her sobbing and shak-ing its iron gates, begging to be let in. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK: A never-before-heard solo version of the late Aretha Franklin’s riveting and powerful collaboration with Mary J. Blige about faith and race, 2006’s “Never Gonna Break My Faith,” has arrived on Juneteenth.

Sony’s RCA Records, RCA In-spiration and Legacy Recordings released the song Friday, aligning with the holiday celebrating the day in 1865 that all enslaved black peo-ple learned they had been freed from bondage.

“Never Gonna Break My Faith” resonates today, featuring lyrics like: “You can lie to a child with a smiling face/Tell me that color ain’t about a race.” (AP)

Music

In this June 16, 2020 photo, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz poses for a portrait at his home in Oceanside, California, to promote his new reggae album ‘Look for the Good’. (AP)

‘Look for the Good’

Mraz album earning to justiceNEW YORK, June 20, (AP): Jason Mraz has a new album coming out and he wants everyone to buy it and love it. But he’s not going to make a penny on it.

The two-time Grammy-winner has promised to donate all earnings from sales and streams of his reggae album “Look for the Good” — including his $250,000 advance — to groups working for racial equality and justice.

“This is bigger than me,” Mraz tells The Associated Press from his ranch in Southern California. ”Now the CD itself has a purpose. The record itself actually can go out and serve.”

Sales will fund Black Lives Matter, San Diego Young Artists Music Academy, RISE San Diego, Grassroots Law Project, Center on Policy Initiatives and Equal Justice Initiative.

“For me, this is my cardboard sign up at the march. This is me putting my body and my mu-sic and my name on the line to say ‘I stand with this movement and I want to help move this down the fi eld towards a more equal and just world,’” Mraz said.

“Look for the Good” will be released Friday, which also is Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. Mraz vows to make donations to progressive groups annu-ally on Juneteenth.

“I’ve made plenty of quiet donations and that’s great. But I also want to inspire other leaders in business and other leaders in music to do the same,” he said.

The 12-track album was recorded last sum-mer but fi nds itself quite prescient, with uplift-ing messages of togetherness and unity. “Some-thing about reggae says, ‘You’re welcome here’ or ‘This is for everybody,’” Mraz said.

The album includes the song “You Do You,” a collaboration with actress Tiffany Haddish, who raps the line “We gonna march until our voices get heard.” On another song, Mraz sings: “We were born to love not hate/We can decide our fate.”

The roots of the album go back to the year Donald Trump won the White House and took on more importance with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.

SPORTSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020

11

Players form coalition to fi ght racism‘Give black players a voice in the league’

BARCELONA, Spain, June 20, (AP): Barcelona were held at Sevilla to 0-0 for their fi rst stumble since the resumption of play in the Spanish league following a three-month stop-page for the COVID-19 pan-demic.

The slip gives Real Madrid the chance to pull level atop the Span-ish league with Barcelona. Madrid trail Barcelona by three points be-fore they visit Real Sociedad on Sunday to complete round 30 of 38. Madrid hold the head-to-head goal difference with Barcelona in the case of a tie.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said the two points the defending champions left in Seville could be decisive.

“It is going to be diffi cult to win this league because we depend on the results of others now, and I don’t think Madrid are going to drop many points,” Pique said. “We lost a chance today. And seeing how we have played (...), it is going to be diffi cult.”

Coach Quique Setién, however, said the fi ght was far from over.

“We knew beforehand that it would be diffi cult to win all the games left, practically impossible, and that this was one of the toughest matches we faced,” Setién said. “It is frustration of the moment. (…) I am sure (Pique) will feel different tomorrow, and I am sure that Madrid will drop points, too. We have to be optimistic.”

Lionel Messi went closest to break-ing the stalemate when his fi rst-half free kick was cleared on the line by defender Jules Kounde, leaving the Argentina star on 699 career goals for club and country.

Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer was stifl ed by Sevilla’s defense an-chored by former Manchester City midfi elder Fernando. Messi had scored in the previous two matches – both Barcelona wins – since the league resumed.

Sevilla, which played without its normally very loud fans at its Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium as mandated by health offi cials in all league games, remained in third place at 10 points behind Madrid.

Luis Suárez, who benefi ted from the long league stoppage to recover from right knee surgery, was back in Bar-celona’s starting lineup after Setién used him as a substitute in the last two matches. He had little impact on the match until he missed a clear chance with three minutes left, sending Jordi Alba’s cross over the bar when he was unmarked in the box.

Barcelona had a promising start. Messi’s side attacked Sevilla’s area in waves and with the hosts clearly rush-ing their passes and easily turning the ball over again and again.

Messi was denied a goal from a dipping free kick in the 21st. Kounde raced back from the defensive barrier to protect his post, where he headed Messi’s goal-bound shot that looked beyond the reach of goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik over the bar.

Julen Lopetegui, however, settled his team down during the mandatory cooling break on the half-hour mark and Sevilla tilted the action the other way.

The end of the fi rst half got testy after Sevilla’s Diego Carlos fouled Suárez. Messi pushed Carlos when they bumped chests, and Carlos took a tumble. But the bookings went to Fernando and Sergio Busquets for a separate tussle.

It was Barcelona’s turn to look shaken after halftime when it had to rely on Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to keep the game scoreless. The German goalkeeper blocked a powerful strike by Lucas Ocampos and denied Munir El Haddadi from culminating a coun-terattack in the 55th and 57th.

Villarreal moved into contention for a top-four fi nish and a Champions League berth after they won at Gra-nada 1-0 thanks to Gerard Moreno’s early strike. A third straight victory left Villarreal in seventh place but just

two points out of fourth. Leganés snatched a 1-1 draw at

Mallorca in a match between two teams in the relegation zone. Both goals came from free kicks, with Sal-va Sevilla putting Mallorca early and Óscar Rodríguez equalizing with three minutes left.

Also:BARCELONA, Spain: A Spanish court has ruled in favor of Barcelona in a dispute with former player Ney-mar over a signing bonus paid in part to the Brazil striker before he left for Paris Saint-Germain.

The court on Friday rejected Ney-mar’s suit that Barcelona owed him 43 million euros ($48 million) from part of a signing bonus that it never paid the player. The court ruled instead that Neymar must pay Barcelona 6.7 million euros ($7.5 million), corre-sponding to part of the signing bonus it had already paid to the player.

Barcelona and then player Neymar agreed to a new contact in 2016, which included a signing bonus of 64 million euros. The club paid the player 22.5 million euros in July 2016 and was supposed to pay him the remaining 43 million euros by July 2017.

Barcelona’s Luis Suarez (front), heads for the ball with Sevilla’s Fernando during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Sevilla and FC Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Se-ville, Spain, Friday, June 19, 2020.

(AP)

Barca held at Sevilla

Villarreal eye top-four fi nish

SOCCER

Football ‘Freestyle’ worlds goes onlineKUWAIT CITY, June 20: Not only work and study went online because of COV-ID-19, but it expanded to the sports world-championships such as the world famous redbull streetstyle champion-ship, which has never hap-pened since the establishment of the annual championship in 2008.

Dr. Ali Al Saqoby, presi-dent of Freestyle Football in Kuwait made clear through his social media accounts the method of participation through the WFFA mobile application along with the terms and condition of par-ticipation.

He also, emphasized the advantages of the champion-ship going online.

For example, through his close observation of previous championships such as Red-bullStreetyle Kuwait Nation-al Championships in 2019, that he organized, he noticed, that majority of participants did not exhibit their full ca-pabilities, due to anxiety. But with the online edition, the participant is required to re-cord a 30 seconds videos of himself/herself performing football tricks, in his/her own comfort with the option of repeating the video as much as he/she like till he/she sat-isfi ed is with his/her football tricks performance.

Moreover, the champion-ship being online means that for the fi rst time every coun-try can participate, as there is no limitation coming from a budget.

Furthermore, there is no need to travel abroad, as every year there is a differ-ent country hosting the world championship.

Dr. Ali Al Saqoby wishes everyone luck and will be closely observing the Arab participants in hope of them winning the world champi-onships.

Basketball restarts in Chinaafter coronavirus shutdownBEIJING, June 20, (AP): The Chinese basketball league has restarted after an almost fi ve-month shutdown for the coronavirus pandemic, with fewer for-eign players and no fans in the stands.

The CBA was suspended on Jan. 24 after the coronavirus outbreak in Wu-han, a week before it was scheduled to return following a spring break at the end of the regular season. The semi-fi nals stage started Saturday, with 20 teams divided into two divisions and limited venues to reduce travel. All stadiums are closed to fans.

Zhejiang Lions beat the Nanjing Monkey Kings 112-95 in the fi rst game back, Hu Jin-qiu leading the Li-ons with 26 points and 17 rebounds. The Suzhou Drag-ons had a 105-98 win over Shenzhen Aviators in the second game. Jeremy Lin and the Beijing Ducks were play-ing a late game against Liaoning Flying Leopards. League chairman and former NBA star Yao Ming praised the work of the clubs and health authorities for help-ing get the CBA season restarted.

“Everything you have experienced this season will surely write a strong stroke in the history of the CBA league, and the history will also bear in mind the hardship, dedication and contribu-tion of each of us,” Yao wrote in an open letter to players and fans posted on the CBA’s website.

“As the fi rst national large-scale sports event to be restarted in China, the CBA rematch has a strategic sig-nifi cance for comprehensively promot-ing the resumption of production and restoring life, and its social impact has exceeded the basketball itself.”

China contained the spread of COV-ID-19 after being the initial epicenter of the outbreak, but Beijing reported a rise in cases last week and 205 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the capital since then.

Beijing recorded a drop amid tight-ened containment measures on Saturday, though, reporting 22 new cases along with fi ve others elsewhere in China. There are no new deaths and 308 people remain hospitalized for treatment.

The slight rise in China last week came as the World Health Organization warned that the pandemic is “accelerat-ing” in parts of the world.

Yao warned players and clubs to be careful.

“The epidemic is not over yet, we have to arrange for everyone to live, train and compete under relatively closed conditions,” he said. “Neither the empty court nor the tournament system is a rhythm we are familiar with, but the long-lost game is in front of us.”

Also:LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Lak-ers are looking for new ways to under-stand racism as an organization, and Karida Brown has joined them to help.

The 16-time NBA champions hired Brown this week as the Lakers’ fi rst director of racial equity and action.

Brown, an assistant professor of soci-ology and African American studies at UCLA, will work with the franchise in identifying ways to create change while educating staff on urgent social issues.

The Lakers joined most sports organi-zations last month in issuing strong state-ments condemning racism and bigotry after the death of George Floyd while in police custody. The Lakers, one of the world’s most visible sports franchises, have decided they can do more to further causes they care about deeply.

Brown said she was approached by Lakers chief operating offi cer Tim Har-ris, who had reached out to UCLA for guidance. Brown asked Harris if the Lakers were a “non-racist” or an “anti-racist” organization.

“I was super happy when Tim re-sponded, ’You know what, we hadn’t necessarily thought about it in those terms, but I can say that we are aspira-tionally anti-racist,’” Brown said. “I got really excited by that, because in that statement, there was so much that rec-ognizes that there is this aspiration, but it’s a process to get there.”

The Lakers’ moves to take an ac-tive role in pursuing social justice are ardently supported by owner Jeanie Buss, who used her Instagram account Friday to share a photograph of a racist, hateful letter she received recently, hop-ing to impress the urgency of anti-racist action on her followers.

“Why don’t you look in the mirror and see your ugliness, because I refuse to,” Buss responded to the letter-writer. “I have received letters like this over the years. The advice I always got? ‘Ignore it.’ I did. But not anymore.”

Brown expects to work primarily with the Lakers’ employees more fre-quently than their players or coaches, and she participated in a group call with employees Thursday.

BASKETBALL

Ming

Dr. Ali Al Saqoby

FC Sochi players, in white shirt, try to score against Rostov during a Russia Soccer Premier League soccer match against FC Rostov as the league was resumed after a three-month hiatus because of the coronavi-

rus pandemic in Sochi, Russia, Friday, June 19, 2020. (AP)

FC Barcelona’s Jordi Alva (left), duels for the ball with Sevilla’s Lucas Ocampos during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Sevilla and FC Barce-lona at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain, Friday, June 19, 2020. (AP)

WASHINGTON, June 20, (AP): A group of black Major League Soccer players has formed a coalition that seeks to address racial inequities in the league and across soccer, and to posi-tively impact local communities.

The coalition is the result of an In-stagram group that began after the death of George Floyd, which sparked a wave of nationwide protests against racism and policy brutality.

Started by Toronto FC defender Jus-tin Morrow, the group grew to some 70 MLS players, who formed the Black Players Coalition of MLS.

Morrow said players were already under stress because of the new coro-navirus when they were threatened with a lockout during contract talks. The league suspended play March 12 because of the pandemic.

“And then on top of that charge, George Floyd is killed. And so it kind of felt like my world was crumbling. And when I reached out to my black soccer player peers, they all felt the same way,” Morrow said. “When we came together on that call, it was the most hopeful thing in one of the dark-est weeks of my entire life.”

Morrow said there are three goals: to give black players a voice in the league; to encourage black represen-tation in the players’ association and higher levels of MLS; and to help local communities.

“We’ve already come to the table with Major League Soccer and had conversations with them about things that we’d like to see changed,” Mor-row said during a video conference call. “We want to see action. These

slogans, these statements are no longer enough. We want real change. So what is that going to look like in Ma-jor League Soccer? What is that going to look like in our communities? And how are we going about that?”

Portland’s Jeremy Ebobisse, Chi-cago’s CJ Sapong, Nashville’s Jalil Anibaba, NYCFC’s Sean Johnson and Colorado’s Kei Kamara are among some of the other players involved.

“All of us came together with a genuine interest because we never have seen ourselves as just athletes.

SOCCER

Zanardi remains in serious conditionSIENA, Italy, June 20, (AP): Ital-ian race car champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi remained in serious condition a day after crashing his handbike into a truck and smash-ing his face.

Zanardi was hooked up to an artifi cial ventilator and had “sta-ble” blood fl ow while his neuro-logical status “remains serious,” the Santa Maria alle Scotte hos-pital in Siena said Saturday in a medical bulletin.

“The condition of Alex Zanardi is serious but stable,” surgeon Giuseppe Olivieri said in a brief-ing outside the hospital. “He ar-rived here with major facial cra-nial trauma -- a smashed face.”

“The numbers are good, al-though it remains a very serious situation,” Olivieri added.

Zanardi was transported by helicopter to the hospital after crashing near the Tuscan town of Pienza during a relay race Friday.

Local TV at the scene of the crash showed what was appar-ently Zanardi’s handbike lying on its side at the edge of the road and a large truck pulling a semi-trailer parked ahead.

Late Friday, the hospital said Zanardi underwent “a delicate neurosurgery operation” due to

“severe cranial trauma.” The surgery lasted about three

hours, after which Zanardi was moved to the intensive care unit.

“We won’t see what his neuro-logical state is until he wakes up. Improvement takes time in these cases. Turns for the worse can be sudden,” Olivieri said. “The operation went according to the plan. It’s the initial situation that was very serious.”

Zanardi’s wife, Daniela, and his son, Niccolò, are at his bed-side.

The 53-year-old Zanardi won two championships in CART in the United States before a brief move to Formula One. He re-turned to America and was rac-ing in Germany in a CART event in 2001 when both of his legs were severed in a horrifi c acci-dent the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

During his recovery, Zanardi designed his own prosthetics and learned to walk again. He then turned his attention to hand cycling and developed into one of the most accomplished ath-letes in the world. He won four gold medals and two silvers at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, competed in the New York City Marathon and set an Ironman re-cord in his class.

We’ve always seen ourselves as black men wanting be more than that. Pub-lic constraints have always told us that we’re athletes, and we have never felt that way,” said Minnesota United’s Ike Opara. “And so to be able to come together in this way has been truly spe-cial for us. And moving forward, we’re not about just wanting to say these things, we want to mean what we’re saying. We believe in what we’re saying. And we truly want to be the change because for so long, a lot of us have felt like we’ve been on the outer edge or on the sidelines.”

The coalition has proposed train-ing to promote cultural education and combat implicit bias. It also wants to hire a chief diversity offi cer. The group

has discussed developing the game in black communities and partnering with charities. The group has already secured $75,000 in charitable contri-butions from the MLS Players Asso-ciation.

“Major League Soccer proudly rec-ognizes and supports the Black Players Coalition of MLS – a group of players who today, on Juneteenth, have estab-lished themselves as infl uential change leaders,” MLS said in a statement. “The league looks forward to contin-ued and longstanding collaborations.”

The MLS Players Association also vowed to work with the coalition.

“We must seek to understand and change our misconceptions and short-comings. We must actively work to be a part of this change. The MLSPA proudly and humbly accepts the chal-lenge that the BPC has presented, and we look forward to working hand in hand to make our sport and our com-munities a better refl ection of all of us,” the union said in a statement.

Ebobisse, who recently blogged about his anger and frustration over Floyd’s death and the reaction to it, said he hopes the coalition can be a sustainable path forward in the fi ght against systemic racism.

“A lot of black leaders have al-ways told us that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own. It’s going to be a long, uphill battle that’s going to have ebbs and fl ows and it’s going to go in different ways,” Ebobisse said. “But our organization is here for the long run and we hope that our partners and individuals on the ground support us and also fi nd ways for themselves to get involved on a daily basis.”

PARIS, June 20, (AP): The French league voted on Friday to keep a 20-team fi rst division next season, despite a court’s decision to suspend the relegations of Amiens and Tou-louse to the second division.

The league said in a statement that there were 23 votes for a 20-team league and two abstentions. The proposal needs to be upheld at the league’s general assembly on Tues-day.

On June 9, France’s highest ad-ministrative court maintained the league’s decision to cancel the rest of the domestic soccer season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But it suspended relegating Ami-

ens and Toulouse, asking the league to examine whether the fi rst division could be played with 22 teams next season to include promoted Lorient and Lens.

Having also consulted the French Soccer Federation the LFP said that

22 teams is not feasible because it impacts on player health with too many games, as well as on televi-sion rights and the contractual obli-gations of broadcasters.

The league has signed a lucrative new TV rights contract with broad-

caster Mediapro worth a national record 1,153 billion euros per year ($1.29 billion).

The season is set to start on Aug. 23.❑ ❑ ❑

Manchester City forward Leroy Sané could leave the club after re-jecting offers of a contract exten-sion.

The 24-year-old Sané, a German international and target for Bayern Munich, has one year left on his con-tract at City, meaning the club will have to negotiate the player’s sale if it is to receive a transfer fee.

“Leroy has rejected to extend his contract. Everyone knows. If at the

end of the season two clubs agree, he can leave. If not he will leave at the end of his contract,” City coach Pep Guardiola said Friday. “The club of-fered two or three times and he re-jected it.”

Sané returned against Arsenal on Wednesday after almost a year out with a knee ligament injury sustained in the Community Shield against Liverpool in August, an in-jury that foiled his move to Bayern at the time.

Guardiola said Sané will stay with the Premier League club until the end of the extended season, having initially been due to leave at the end of June.

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Editor-in-ChiefAHMED AL JARALLAH

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ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020 12

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 20, (AP): A former Sri Lan-ka sports minister claims the national team deliberately lost the 2011 Cricket World Cup fi nal to India for money.

Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who was the sports min-ister during that World Cup which was staged in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, said in an interview with Sirasa TV on Thursday that Sri Lanka “sold” the fi nal played in Mumbai, India.

He offered no proof.“I tell you today that we (Sri Lanka team) sold the 2011

Word Cup. I tell this with responsibility,” Aluthgamage said.“I don’t want to divulge too much for the sake of the

country ... I say the match against India, the one we could have won, we betrayed.”

He added the players were not responsible for the al-leged fi x, and blamed “certain other sections.” He did not elaborate.

Kumar Sangakkara, the then-captain of Sri Lanka, said the “serious” allegations warrant an investigation by the International Cricket Council.

“It’s a very serious allegation,” Sangakkara told the As-sociated Press. “Since he says he has evidence and proof, the prudent thing to do is to go to the Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC and put forth his claims so they can inves-tigate them thoroughly and come to a conclusion whether what the former minister says is true or not.”

India won the fi nal by six wickets with 10 balls to spare.Sri Lanka, led by Mahela Jayawardene’s unbeaten 103,

made 274-6 in 50 overs then dismissed the two India openers early. However, the underdogs lost their grip on the game as Gautam Gambir (97) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (91 not out) batted on.

After the fi nal, Sri Lankan fans and the media criticized the players, and Sangakkara resigned as the limited-overs captain because he believed he might be too old to be at the 2015 tournament.

Also: ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan cricket squad will leave for England on June 28 to play three tests and three Twen-ty20 internationals.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said on Saturday that the team will be quarantined in Derbyshire for 14 days, un-der restrictions in place for the coronavirus pandemic, but will be allowed to practice during that period.

Selectors have chosen an extended squad of 29 for the tour so that replacements are available in case a player falls ill.

The Pakistanis have not played competitive cricket since March 17 when the domestic Twenty20 tournament -- the PSL -- was suspended because of the pandemic.

The PCB said that apart from training and practice ses-sions in England, “there will be intra-squad matches to compensate for the lack of practice matches due to non-availability of local teams as the ECB is yet to commence its domestic season.”

England takes on the West Indies in a three-test series next month before meeting Pakistan.

All-rounder Shoaib Malik, who will be playing in the Twenty20s, has been given special dispensation by the

PCB to join the team in England on July 24 after spending time with his family.

Malik has not seen his wife, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, and one-year-old son Izhaan for fi ve months since the imposition of international travel bans. Mirza and Izhaan are in India, while Malik has been in his home-town of Sialkot.

“As travel restrictions are now slowly easing out and there is an opportunity for a family reunion, it is appropri-ate that at a human level we show compassion as part of our duty of care and respect Shoaib’s request,” PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said in a statement.

“We have spoken with the England and Wales Crick-et Board ... and they have agreed to make an excep-tion by helping Shoaib enter the country on 24 July. Of course, Shoaib will follow the UK government’s poli-cies on visitors entering the country before integrating with the side.”

LONDON, June 20, (AP): Paul Pogba made an im-mediate impact on his re-turn from surgery, earn-ing a penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes that recovered for Manchester United a 1-1 draw at Tot-tenham in the English Pre-mier League.

While the teams have endured three months without games in the pandemic, Pogba hasn’t played since December. And he entered only in the 63rd minute at an empty Tottenham Stadium with the hosts leading from Steven Bergwijn’s fi rst-half strike through goalkeeper David de Gea.

But Pogba, whose United future has

been mired in uncertainty, helped to inject some attacking dynamism Unit-ed had been missing.

Pogba was bundled off the ball by Eric Dier and Fernandes netted his third penalty since joining United in January.

United were denied a second penal-ty when VAR overturned the decision to penalize Dier for another foul – this time on Fernandes.

United are three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea having played an extra game. But fi fth place will clinch a Champions League spot if second-placed Manchester City’s two-year ban from Europe is upheld next month for breaking fi nancial rules. Tottenham re-mained four points behind United.

The start of the game saw players immediately take a knee as part of the Black Lives Matter protests.

Jose Mourinho was proved right. Just not how he wanted to be.

Having feared the temporary rule allowing two additional substitutions would benefi t stronger teams, Mour-inho saw Manchester United do just that at his Tottenham .

The need to pack in fi xtures to com-plete the league by July 26 means teams are allowed fi ve – rather than three – changes inside 90 minutes. It was a de-cision by the league, Mourinho claimed, advanced by the “powerful clubs.”

Just before Fernandes’ 81st-minute leveler, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær also sent on Nemanja Matic and Odion Ighalo – a striker originally signed due to the Chinese league being halted in January in the country where COVID-19 originated.

For good measure, Solskjær intro-duced Eric Bailly in the 89th to com-plete the fi ve changes.

“With the fi ve subs I thought we are able to fi nish the game strongly,” Sol-skjær said. “We had quality players to come on and make a difference.”

Mourinho’s only changes in the 70th minute saw Gedson Fernandes and Giovani Lo Celso sent on.

“I had some tired people on the pitch,” Mourinho said, “without op-tions to change them.”

United’s comeback extended Tot-tenham’s frustrating run from before the shutdown – a time when only one point from three games had been col-lected and Mourinho publicly wished for it to be the summer already.

“In that period we had zero attack-ing options,” Mourinho said, “and now we had four.”

But still not enough. Mourinho could never have imag-

ined – given the pace of the spread of the coronavirus – that he would next be managing the team again on the weekend of the summer solstice. It meant Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and midfi elder Moussa Sissoko were back from injuries. The break even al-lowed Son to complete military service in South Korea.

Tottenham did look stronger in the fi rst half - particularly goalkeeper Hugo Lloris reacting quickly twice to make saves before De Gea allowed Bergwijn’s shot to go through him too easily in the 27th minute. Former

Latest sports scores at — http://sports.arabtimesonline.com

Sports

Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko, left, and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, Friday, June 19, 2020. (AP)

SOCCER

SOCCER

CRICKET

United, Tottenham draw on EPL returnNorwich lose to Southampton in blow to survival bid

Warriors coach Stephen Kearney speaks during a press conference follow-ing the Round 6 NRL match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the New Zealand Warriors at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, Friday, June 19, 2020. The New Zealand Warriors have fi red coach Kearney while the play-ers and staff are in long-term camp in Australia competing in the National

Rugby League during the coronavirus pandemic.(AP)

Pakistan cricket squad to leave for England on June 28

2011 Cricket WC fi nal fi xed: Sri Lanka minister

United captain Roy Keane bemoaned De Gea being “overrated” during the halftime of Sky TV’s coverage.

But by recovering a point United helped its pursuit of a return to the Champions League.

United is three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea having played an ex-tra game. But fi fth place will clinch a Champions League spot if second-placed Manchester City’s two-year ban from Europe is upheld next month for breaking fi nancial rules. Tottenham re-mained four points behind United.

Norwich’s hopes of staying in the English Premier League were dealt a blow by losing to Southampton 3-0 as the teams returned to action after the enforced three-month pandemic sus-pension.

Norwich are six points from safety while Southampton moved 10 points clear of the drop zone after second-half goals from Danny Ings, Stuart Arm-strong and Nathan Redmond.

As at Wednesday’s restart matches,

both sides took a knee as part of the Black Lives Matter movement after observing a minute’s silence for the more than 42,000 known COVID-19 victims in Britain.

Southampton turned their domi-nance into goals four minutes after halftime. Norwich failed to deal with a throw-in on the left and Armstrong set up Ings, who curled a shot from just in-side the box past goalkeeper Tim Krul into the top right-hand corner.

The roles reversed in the 54th minute as Saints extended their advan-tage. Ings played the ball to Armstrong, who showed good control and a cool head before shooting low into the net.

A great goal-line clearance by Max Aarons prevented James Ward-Prowse netting a third, and Krul tipped Arm-strong’s shot wide,

The third arrived in the 79th minute. Michael Obafemi cut the ball across to Redmond, who all too easily took the ball past Ben Godfrey and struck low past Krul.

Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara delivers a speech prior to an opening baseball game against the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo Friday, June 19, 2020. After a three-month delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s second-most famous baseball league opened a shortened season Friday without the presence of fans. (AP)

French league votes to keep 20-team 1st division next season

Watford’s Kiko Femenia (left), is challenged by Leicester’s Harvey Barnes during the English Premier League soccer match between Watford and Leicester City at the Vicarage Road Stadium in Watford, England, Satur-

day, June 20, 2020. (AP)

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