Bale says clash with Belgium is biggest game for Wales

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Qatar’s investment in UK reaches QR150bn:

Cameron

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited on Tuesday the “What About The Art? Contemporary Art from China,” at the Museum of Islamic Art. The Emir viewed the works on display in several sections of the exhibition. Chairperson of Qatar Museums, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, accompanied the Emir on the visit, along with officials of the museum.

Emir visits MIA exhibition

THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016 • 25 RAMADAN 1437 • Volume 21 • Number 6843 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar

QUARTER FINAL

MATCHES Poland vs Portugal 10pm

RAMADAN TIMING

Today’s Iftar 6 : 31 pmTomorrow’s Imsak 3 : 08 am

Emir condoles

with Turkish

President

DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offering his condolences for the victims of Tuesday night’s terrorist bombings at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, reports QNA.

The Emir strongly condemned the attack, stressing Qatar’s soli-darity with Turkey, and support for its efforts at security and stabil-ity in the face of terrorism. Turkey pointed the finger of blame at IS jihadists yesterday after suicide bombers attacked the airport, kill-ing 41 people, reports AFP.

→ See also page 6

Fine of up to QR1m for smuggling oil products

The Peninsula

DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday issued Law No. 6 of 2016 on com-bating the smuggling of petroleum products and their illicit transaction. Anyone caught smuggling oil products will face a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine of up to QR1m. Anyone caught selling, reselling, selling his oil quota or using it for another purpose will face jail term of not more than 3 years and fine not exceeding QR500,000 or either of the two.

Oil products means all products produced in a refinery by through treating hydrocarbons and related materials including diesel, gas, oil, LPG,

benzene, petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, engine oil, lubri-cants. The law does not allow sale or resale of these products without licence, using forged documents to deal with these products using ratio allocated for specific jobs for other purpose.

The law has authorised inspectors from Qatar Petroleum with judicial powers approved by the attorney general in agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Industry to seize violation and con-firm crimes to the provision of this law.

The Emir approved amendment of Article 2 and 4 of Cabinet decision No. 26 of 2003 for form-ing a Permanent Committee for Recruitment from representatives from Ministry of Administrative Development, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Energy and Industry, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Ashghal, Qatar Chamber.

The law says that concerned ministries should appoint the representatives in the Permanent Com-mittee whose Chairman and Deputy Chairman will be nominated by the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs.

→ Continued on page 3

Emir ratifies decision on 35 goodsThe Peninsula

DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday rati-fied Cabinet Decision No. 24 of 2016 which exempted 35 goods from the provision of Law No. 8 of 2002 which regulates the work of commercial agents. The decision will make the market more competitive as these items will be free to be imported by any dealer.

Prime Minister and Interior

Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani said that ratifying cabinet decision No. 24 of 2016 will contribute to establishing a competitive business environment in Qatar and will encourage the pri-vate sector to participate in the state’s development plan in accordance with Qatar National Vision 2030.

Minister of Economy and Com-merce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani said ratifying the decision was only done after con-ducting a comprehensive study of

the competitive state of the Qatari consumer market.

He said that the decision will support the Ministry’s effort in combating monopolies and regu-lating prices, particularly as Qatar has adopted a free-market approach. He said that liberating a number of products from commercial agents will make the food products sec-tor more competitive, and that will reflect on the prices.

→ Continued on page 3

Emir issues law on illegal transactions of petroleum products.

>PAGE 15

CELEBRATIONSTHURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Included with today’s edition is a 8-page special

supplement on Eid Celebrations

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani receives Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammad Al Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah. The Kuwaiti Minister conveyed greetings of the Emir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah to the Emir and his wishes for him and the Qatari people.

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has received a written message from President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi of the Republic of Yemen, on the bilateral ties and ways of developing and strengthening them. The message was delivered by the Vice-President of the Republic of Yemen Lt General Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar during his meeting with the Emir at Al Bahr Palace.

Greetings to Emir from Kuwait Emir receives message from Yemen

HOME02 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

QNA

DOHA: RasGas Company Limited (Ras-Gas) announced yesterday that Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Com-pany Limited (3) (RL 3) has entered into a new liquefied natural gas sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with French energy company, EDF SA (EDF).

The agreement was signed by RasGas Chief Executive Officer Hamad Mubarak Al Muhannadi and Marc Benayoun, EDF group senior executive, vice president of Gas and Italy and CEO of Edison.

Under the terms of the SPA, RL 3 will deliver, starting in 2017 and over the medium term, up to 2 mil-lion tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of Qatari LNG into EDF’s new termi-nal in Dunkerque, France. This new

agreement complements three exist-ing long term SPAs between RasGas ventures and EDF Group subsidiar-ies, for delivery of up to 4.6 Mtpa to Edison in Italy and up to 3.5 Mtpa to EDF Trading in Belgium.

“This latest agreement is an excellent example of RasGas’ con-tinued commitment to develop and execute opportunities that respond to our customer’s needs,” Al Muhan-nadi said. “We are proud that, together with EDF, we have played a significant role in continuing to provide a safe and reliable supply of energy to the homes, businesses and communities of Europe.”

For his part, Benayoun said the agreement reflects EDF’s growing interest in the LNG markets. “The Group is proud to add this significant contract to its global LNG portfolio and to reach a new important milestone in the excellent relationship with RasGas, who already delivers LNG cargoes to the Group under long term contracts in both Rovigo and Zeebrugge terminals.

“At a time when Dunkerque LNG is due to receive its first commis-sioning cargo early July, this new contract demonstrates Dunkerque LNG’s outstanding position in the North West European gas markets,” he added.

RasGas inks LNG sales & purchase deal with EDF

Emir appoints envoy to CyprusDOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued Emiri Decision No. 29 of 2016, appointing Sultan Ibrahim Youssef Ibrahim Al Mahmoud as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cyprus. The decision is effective starting from its date of issue and is to be published in the official gazette.

Emir sends greetings to IcelandDOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of congratulations to Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson of the Republic of Iceland on the occasion of his victory in the presidential election. The Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent a cable of congratulations to Johannesson.

Deputy Emir condoles with ErdoganDOHA: Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of condolences to President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the victims of the terrorist bombings at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

Petrol prices to go up in JulyDOHA: Petrol prices will see a 10 dirhams rise in July, according to the new price list issued by the Ministry of Energy and Industry. Both Super grade pet-rol and diesel will be at par from July as per the list published by the ministry.

The ministry has posted the July price list on its website in line with the decision to review the fuel prices every month, based on international prices. Price of Premium petrol has gone up by 10 dirhams to QR1.30 per litre in July from QR1.20 in June. Price of Super petrol has also gone up by 10 dirhams to QR1.40 per litre from QR1.30 in June. The price of diesel will remain unchanged at QR1.40.

Starting in 2017 RL3 will deliver up to 2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of Qatari LNG into EDF’s new terminal in Dunkerque, France.

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Ministry of Econ-omy and Commerce (MEC) has announced the admin-istrative closure of 6 beauty salons, located in Al Waab, Duhail,SalwaRoad, Al Kheesa and Al MirqabAl Jadeed, from a one to a two week period for using expired hair products.

The inspection campaign comes within the framework of the ministry’s Ramadan initiatives under the theme #Aqal_Min_Al_Wajeb,” the

Arabic for “#the_least_we_can_do.” The ministry has intensified its campaigns ahead and throughout the holy month

of Ramadan in a bid to monitor markets and commercial activ-ity in order to crack down on price manipulation and pro-tect consumer rights.

Inspectors from the minis-try fined the beauty salons and compelled their closure from one to two weeks in line with article (7) of law number (8) of 2008. The law compels sup-pliers to clearly display on the product’s package the nature of the item and other relevant data while prohibiting the dis-play of fraudulent descriptions, advertisements and misleading statements.

Six beauty salons shut down for using expired products

41 violations detectedDOHA: Ministry of Econ-omy and Commerce (MEC) also conducted inspection raids targeting 1,800 shops and food outlets in the fourth week of Ramadan and detected 41 violations.

HOME 03 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

HMC is encouraging the people to view the Eid break as an opportunity to develop healthy eating habits.

Preparations are under way for the opening of ‘Muhammad Ali: Tribute to a Legend’, — an exhibition dedicated posthumously to world boxing legend Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), which will open this Eid Al-Fitr at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). On show on MIA’s fourth floor eastern gallery, the temporary exhibition will present a unique collection of artefacts from the boxing legend’s career, including photography from Ali’s outdoor exhibition bout at the Doha Stadium in 1971 and memorabilia spanning his journey to the 1960 Rome Olympics; Ali’s world title winning bout against Sonny Liston in 1964 and his final world title winning fight against Leon Spinks in New Orleans in 1978. The exhibition has been organised under the patronage of Qatar Museums Chairperson H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Muhammad Ali exhibition set to begin

The Peninsula

DOHA: As the Holy Month of Ramadan draws to a close with Eid Al Fitr festiv-ities are drawing near, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is cautioning people about indulging in eating and consum-ing soft drinks to prevent stomach upsets and intestinal disorders.

HMC is encouraging people to view Eid break as an opportunity to develop

healthy eating habits to lead healthy life. “Unfortunately, many people tend to

overload their stomach with unhealthy food and soft drinks during Eid celebra-tions. As a result, we often notice rise in number of patients seeking emer-gency treatment for gastric issues such as nausea, vomiting, stomach upset and indigestion at Hamad General Hospital’s (HGH) Emergency Department,” said Sen-ior Consultant of Emergency Medicine, Dr Saad Al Nuaimi.

“The body becomes accustomed to a prolonged period of fasting during Ramadan and the transition from ‘fast’ to ‘feast’ can have adverse effects on one’s health. At instances where people are suf-fering from diabetes and heart disease, the health risks are multiplied with sud-den loss of control in blood sugar levels created by consumption of large amounts of sweets and sugars,” he added.

Dr Al Nuaimi noted that while it is important to take time to celebrate with

friends and family, it is also important to remember purpose of fasting in Ramadan.

To prevent from falling sick during the Eid celebrations, Dr Al Al Nuaimi advice to eat healthy food in moderation and avoid consumption of soft drinks, not to skip breakfast, as this will just lead to overeat-ing during the day,

Keep hydrated throughout the day, try to choose healthy options like small portions of low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats, avoid salty foods and sugary and caffeinated drinks, heavy fatty foods, which can cause gastroin-testinal disturbances. People should also avoid refined carbohydrates and sugar (like white bread, white rice, sweets and pastries) which raise blood sugar. Food items should be stored properly in refrig-erator or as directed on the food label.

A daily workout for 30 minutes, five-days a week is also advised to stay fit and healthy.

Continued from page 1

The Minister said that the deci-sion exempted a list of 35 goods and a number of crucial consumer prod-ucts that are considered a priority for all citizens and residents. He added that services will also improve as old agents look to fend off competition from new ones.

The freed items include powder milk, evaporated milk, milk deriv-atives, baby food and milk, poultry and poultry products, meat and meat products, egg, rice flour and related products, fish , marine foods and

products, all type of tea, coffee and related products, sugar, honey, juice, beverages, mineral water, table salt, all type of pastries, biscuits, choc-olates , sweets, ice cream, potato chips, frozen and packed foods, all type of nuts, tomato paste, corn chips and grains, beans, cooking oil, fats, baby diapers, detergent powder, all type of tissues, aluminium foil, per-sonal cleaning items.

According to article 2 of the deci-sion, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce will carryout the law and cross out a list of 35 goods from the records of commercial agents.

Grand Eid celebrations

begin at Safari Retail

The Peninsula

DOHA: Eid celebrations have began with pomp and show in the most sort after retail chain in Qatar, Safari Retail. Safari has ensured that best offers are delivered to its customers.

One of the major highlights this festive season is sale of the 32 inch LED TV with 1 year warranty for just QR 299, an offer never seen in Doha.

More than 1000 varieties of products have been brought for the special season which include household, grocery, home appliances, IT, frozen, stationary etc at amazingly low prices to satisfy all the needs of customers. Even the food has been taken care to suit festive mood by the Safari Bak-ery team with special Eid cakes, Iftar varieties and various foods to scintillate the taste buds.

Continued from page 1

The Committee will have duration of three years which will be renewed for same or more period. The Committee’s job is to decide on employ-ment of workers and employees from abroad and renew applications for government and semi-gov-ernment entities operating under the labour law.

The Committee will decide about type of

professions, need and demand of workers, size of the entity and financial situation, the project and whether suitable accommodation for worker is available or not. The committee will decide the number and nation-alities of the expat workers in collaboration with Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs.

The decision is effective starting from its date of issue and is to be published in the official gazette.

HMC urges people to avoid overeating during festivities

Committee to decide employment of workers

Freed items include many food products

HOME04 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Reuters

DOHA: Rheumatologists and experts in guideline development from the Middle East, North America and Europe convened at a WCM-Q event to agree on common guidelines for ensuring high quality treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) coordinated a three-day summit that brought together experts from ten different coun-tries to adapt the recently published American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2015 Rheumatoid Arthritis guidelines to the MENA region.

The delegates combined their in-depth knowledge of the differ-ent healthcare systems and cultures of the region with the most recent evaluation of the available research evidence to decide how best to adapt the ACR Guidelines to ensure patients in the region receive the very best possible care.

Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, Associate Professor of Medicine and Associ-ate Dean for Continuing Professional Development at WCM-Q, and a prac-ticing rheumatologist, said:

“The medications that are now available to treat rheumatoid arthri-tis can be extremely effective and often allow patients to live full lives with significantly reduced levels of pain and joint damage. We are very keen to adapt the latest recommen-dations for our region to ensure patients here receive the full benefit of these modern therapies while tak-ing into consideration their values

Rheumatologists agree to new guidelines WCM-Q coordinated a three-day summit that brought together experts from ten different countries to adapt the recently published ACR 2015 Rheumatoid Arthritis guidelines to the MENA region.

Delegates during the summit, named Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), organised by experts to discuss the various aspects of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Qatar.

and preferences.”The ‘Adaptation of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Guidelines for the Eastern Mediterranean Region’ event was organized by WCM-Q and the AUB GRADE Center and generously funded by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), a member of Qatar Foundation and WCM-Q.

In attendance were senior rheu-matologists and guideline adaptation experts working in Qatar, the United States, Canada, Lebanon, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Oman, Denmark and Saudi Arabia. Many of the delegates

who attended are members of the Middle East Rheumatoid Arthri-tis Consortium (MERAC), a research group based at WCM-Q whose mis-sion is to improve the care of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases in the MENA region.

In three days of presentations the delegates, guided by the ACR 2015 Rheumatoid Arthritis guidelines, reviewed scientific studies of patient outcomes and discussed the impact of contextual factors such as the var-ying cost of medication and the unique

characteristics of the different health-care systems throughout the region.

Dr. Samar Al Razaq Al-Emadi, Senior Consultant in Internal Medi-cine/Rheumatology at Hamad Medical Corporation and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at WCM-Q, a found-ing member of MERAC, said: “We have more and better treatments available for rheumatoid arthritis and to make the best of them for patients we need to tailor these important guidelines according to our local needs in the Arab World.”

The Peninsula

DOHA: Eggspectation Qatar, the iconic Cana-dian restaurant-café, recently participated in a community engagement initiative where a team of 10 staff from Eggspectation visited the Qatar Foundation for Elderly People (IHSAN) last Sunday, June 19 for Iftar.

The popular local restaurant is unwaver-ing in its commitment to give back to the local community and looks forward to continuing to support similar causes and partnering with local organisations on an on-going basis.

During the Iftar, which took place at IHSAN, the Eggspectation staff met with 25 elders as well as some care takers, to enjoy a delicious Iftar meal, and to celebrate the Holy Spirit of Ramadan with some of Qatar’s elderly people, providing comfort, joy, and establishing long lasting memories during this special occasion.

Eggspectation Qatar owner, Mr. Sami Azrak, said: “Even before the opening of Eggspectation earlier this year, we have always believed that it is important to always give back to the com-munity around us. During the Holy Month of Ramadan, I truly believe that this is now more relevant than ever. We were extremely fortunate to have enjoyed a lovely Iftar with the elderly community at IHSAN, and we are keen to par-ticipate in similar initiatives that have a positive and lasting impact for the people in our com-munity in the near future.”

During the Holy Month of Ramadan, Egg-spectation has confirmed that it will be open from Iftar time until 3:30am with last orders taken at 3:00am. The restaurant-café will also be open for takeaway from 2am daily through-out Ramadan.

Originally opened in Montreal, Canada back

in 1993, Eggspectation has already made a mark worldwide with multiple locations across North America, India, Dubai and now Qatar. There are plans for an additional two Eggspectation restaurants to be opened in Qatar over the next 24 months.

Eggspectation, a newly opened restaurant-café in Doha, is committed to surpassing your eggspectations with its extraordinary menu options for the ultimate all day, dining expe-rience. With the best possible food quality for breakfast, lunch and dinner, extraordinary

service while still maintain a relaxed and pleas-ant atmosphere, Eggspectation makes for an excellent dining choice.

Eggspectation has numerous restaurants worldwide including: Montreal-Quebec, Ottawa and Toronto in Ontario, Canada; Virginia and Maryland in the US; New Delhi in India; Jumei-rah Beach Residence, Dubai; along with the newly opened restaurant in Doha, Qatar.

Eggspectation Qatar is located at Building 10 Unit 58, Al Hambra Street, Medina Centrale, The Pearl-Qatar

The Peninsula

DOHA: McDonald’s Qatar, the lead-ing food service company in the local market, and as part of the con-tinuous commitment to the local community, has recently collab-orated with Qatar Red Crescent (QRC), one of Qatar’s leading organ-isation in international disaster relief and humanitarian development, to pledge a new initiative in the local market, “QR1 Donate Campaign”. The campaign aims to sup-port children, especially those suffering from severe diseases such as diabetes;heart conditions, etc, and will provide them with the related medical tools.

The “QR1 Donate Campaign”, which putsemphasis on social responsibility and the public inter-est, will run for three months, from

June-August 2016 and will reach out to the children and young peo-ple whose life cycle is disturbed by illness.

To further instigate the essence of generosity and to support the charity drive, McDonald’s 36 outlets in Qatar

are displaying a donation boxes and will encourage the community and its customers to voluntarily donate QR1. McDonald’s aims to engage the customers in the campaign, and thus, revealing thatwith their dona-tions even being as simple as QR1

,will make a big difference in sav-ing a child’s life. Mr. Kamal Saleh Al Mana, Managing Director of Al Mana Restaurants & Food Co, said: “We are proud to collaborate with Qatar Red Crescent in this humanitarian cause, and we have full trust that our cus-tomers will support us with our initiative. At McDonald’s Qatar and in our own humble ways, we antic-ipate to make difference and help support grander causes anywhere we can. We have supported various local philanthropic initiatives and commu-nity outreach programmes, but with QR1 campaign we hope to spread out the message to all people in Qatar that your minimumdonation will have a huge impact on someone else’s life.”

With the collected donations at the end of the campaign, McDon-ald’s Qatar will hand-overthe amount raised to the Qatar Red Crescent Soci-ety to help the children with special medical needs.

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Public Works Author-ity (Ashghal) announced that it will close a small section of Al Sakhama Road and put in place a diversion on Al Wukair Road. Ash-ghal has advised that the closure and diversion will be implemented in two phases, in coordination with the Traffic Police.

The closure of this small sec-tion of Al Sakhama Road will start on Saturday and will be closed for a period of 12 months. The clo-sure is required to implement a new parallel diversion road on Al Wukair Road, as shown on the attached map.

The diversion on Al Wukair Road will commence on July 28 and will also last for a period of twelve months. This diversion is required to enable the construction of two bridges and other vehicular and cycle underpasses on Ash-ghal’s Al Wakrah Bypass project.

On July 2 residents in Ezdan villages who usually use Al Sakhama Road to access Al Wukair Road will need to use the local road route, as shown on the map. Road users travellingin both directions on Al Wukair Road will be minimally affected by the change, diverting to a parallel road for a length of 1.3km.

Eggspectation Qatar organises Iftar at IHSAN

The staff of Eggspectation Qatar during an Iftar party at IHSAN in Qatar.

McDonald’s Qatar and QRC launch new initiative

Children put QR1 in one of the donation boxes placed by McDonald’s Qatar and QRC as part of an initiative launched to support children.

The Peninsula

DOHA: The government has geared up to allot plots of lands to private taxi companies to build accommo-dation for their employees and use it for other operational purpose in a bid to support their services.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with State Public Transport Company Mowasalat (Karwa) on “possession and utilisation agree-ment of vacant plots allocated for non-commercial use. According to the MoU, Mowasalat (Karwa) will plan appropriately to provide this land for private sector taxi operators. The Ministry of Transport and Com-munications is increasing its support

to taxi operators by allotting land for taxi operations to promote higher service levels and taxi availability, said a statement. The public trans-port sector, including taxi services plays a key role connecting Qatar and providing mobility for citizens, residents and visitors. The Gov-ernment is allocating lands to be developed by the taxi franchise com-panies for use in their operations and for staff accommodation purposes.

The Ministry, represented by the Minister’s Advisor, Hassan Al Hail and Mowasalat-Karwa’s Chairman, Nasser Al Malki signed the MoU in the presence of number of officials from both sides. More than 3,500 taxi are now operated in Qatar by private companies and Karwa and the Ministry plans to increase this number to 7000 over the next few years.

Govt to allot lands to private taxi companies

Partial closure of

Al Sakhama Road

and diversion on

Al Wukair Road

HOME 05THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: In three separate cases cus-toms officials seized 6.5kg marijuana, 583 Captagon tablets and 4kg canna-bis from various ports of entry into the country. The first seizure reported at the Hamad International Airport (HIA) when a customs employee felt sus-

picious about a carton belonging to an Asian passenger. After a detailed inspection by the officer, marijuana wrapped with paper and black sticker was found.

The second incident was reported from Abu Samra border. On inspec-tion, they found out one of the vehicle was carrying a plastic bag with 583 Captagonhidden tablets secretly hid-den inside it. The third seizure was at

the cargo, when a customs employee after suspicon opened a package and found four headphones filled with 4kg of cannabis. The General Author-ity of Customs honoured the three customs employees from different outlets for their work. Ahmed bin Ali Al Mohannadi, Chairman of the Gen-eral Authority of Customs, said that the authority has achieved big success by seizing the banned products.

Huge amount of drugs seizedThe Peninsula

DOHA: The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) yes-terday announced it has signed a partnership agreement with Micro-soft that will pave the way for an evolution in public sector e-serv-ices implementation.

Under the agreement, Microsoft will assist in building a technology

platform offering e-Services tools and capabilities, business intelligence (BI) and other benefits, which focuses on the streamlining of initiatives designed to enhance government e-services in the country.

The agreement was signed by Assistant Undersecretary of Gov-ernment Information Technology Sector Hassan Jassim al Sayed and Naim Yazbeck, General Manager of Microsoft Qatar. Through this part-nership, MOTC will bring the global experience in helping governments agencies to enact digital transforma-tions in line with the Qatar Digital Government (QDG 2020 Strategy), by building a transformation plat-form, named “Sadeem”.

The Qatari leadership expects all government services to be online by 2020, allowing public to better interact with the government, and executives to have access to infor-mation and tools that will promote informed decision-making. The gov-ernment also projects significant cost-savings and an acceleration of

the time to market for such services. As it moves towards its new digital

paradigm, MOTC is determined to set a benchmark for government agencies to achieve, through implementation of international best-practice standards. “The ministry’s main goal is to create a smarter, more connected government that empowers people to engage with the government at any time, from any-where,” said Hassan Al Sayed. “Our wise leaders have seen that a hyper-connected world offers an opportunity for us to be more efficient, flexible and productive. We look forward to expe-riencing the fruits of our partnership with Microsoft,” he added.

“This partnership is a commit-ment of support from Microsoft for the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications, and Qatar, as they work tirelessly to realise their goal of dig-ital transformation for citizens and residents,” said Naim Yazbeck. “The vision within the Ministry of Trans-port and Communications and the wider government reflects the bold ambition of the nation’s leaders to take advantage of emerging technol-ogies such as cloud and mobile and renovate the relationship between the public sector and the public. Sadeem Platform is great enabler for innovators, and Qatar has both the vision and the ambition to harness it and shape the future. Microsoft is proud to support them in their efforts,” Naim added.

Sadeem will empower the Govern-ment to realise its vision quickly, while tightly monitoring eService implemen-tation plans. The ministry will build a framework for other ministries to use, allowing those departments to accel-erate their transformation projects specific to their operational require-ments. This partnership aims to catalyse high impact, as MOTC lays the groundwork for sweeping change, not only in the mechanics of govern-ment administration, but in the way people in Qatar live their lives.

Ministry and Microsoft sign deal to broaden e-services

Assistant Undersecretary of Government Information Technology Sector, Hassan Jassim Al Sayed (right), and General Manager of Microsoft Qatar, Naim Yazbeck, exchanging the signed agreement.

The employees who were honoured, pose with the officials of the General Authority of Customs.

Microsoft will assist in building a technology platform offering tools and capabilities, business intelligence (BI) and other benefits, to enhance government e-services.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Residents in Qatar are likely to face windy days on Saturday and Sunday. Due to the extension of Indian monsoon seasonal low over the region, fresh to strong northwesterly winds is expected to affect most areas of the country during daytime on Saturday and Sunday, said Qatar Meteor-ology Department yesterday.

The wind speed will range between 15-25 KT gusting 35 knots some-times over some areas causing blowing dust and a visibility reduction to 3KM or less in some areas at times. Wave heights are expected to rise rang-ing between 6-9 feet.

The Department has urged all residents to be cautious and to avoid venturing into sea during periods of strong winds as well as to follow latest updates through our different official social media accounts.

Ministry earns QR13.5m from abandoned cars The Peninsula

DOHA: The Ministry of Municipality and Environment earned QR13.5m from aban-doned cars in terms of fines and through auctioning and selling for recycling to those left unclaimed after they found parking in unauthorised areas.

More than 34,000 vehicles were removed and around 22,000 were sent for recycling, said Brig Ali Salman Al Muhan-nadi, Head of the Committee for Removal of Abandoned Vehicles at the Ministry. Four employees were honoured. They are Mohammad Al Kubaisi, Marzuq Al Mesaifiri, Abdullah Al Khulaifi and Hasan Al Maliki.

Strong winds expected on Saturday and Sunday

Ban Ki-moon

hails Qatari

projects in Gaza

Gaza: UN Secretary-Gen-eral Ban Ki-moon praised the comprehensiveness of the Qatari projects implemented in the Gaza Strip. This came dur-ing Ban’s visit on Tuesday to H H the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Hospi-tal northwest of Gaza City. During his tour inside the hospital, Ban listened to an explanation from the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip on the overall projects implemented in the sector.

The UN Secretary-General pledged to make the necessary efforts with all other states in order to fulfill their commitments to advance projects in Gaza forward similar to what has been shown by Qatar of real commitment to the reconstruction, expressing his admiration for the implementation of the Qatari projects, despite the existing obstacles and challenges. Ban Ki-moon also listened to a detailed explanation of the Qatari projects car-ried out by Committee in Gaza over the past three years. The Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza said that the overall cost of the Qatari projects that actually carried out in the sector is estimated at $300m, while projects currently under imple-mentation exceeded $70m.

Bahrain revokes

citizenship of

eight Shias DUBAI: A Bahraini court jailed six Shias for life and two for 15 years yesterday after convicting them of “spying” for Iran, a judicial source said.

The criminal court also stripped all eight of their citizenship, the source added. The court also found them guilty of “joining a terrorist group, possessing arms, ammu-nition and explosives,” and training in their use, the source said.

MIDDLE EAST06 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Reuters

ISTANBUL: Turkish investigators pored over video footage and wit-ness statements yesterday after three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers opened fire and blew them-selves up in Istanbul’s main airport, killing 41 people and wounding 239.

The attack on Europe’s third-busiest airport was the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings this year in Turkey, part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State and struggling to contain spillover from neighbouring Syria’s war.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack should serve as a turning point in the global fight against terrorism, which he said had “no regard for faith or values”. US President Barack Obama and

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned it in separate phone calls with Erdogan, his office said.

Five Saudis and two Iraqis were among the dead, a Turkish official said. Citizens from China, Jordan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Ukraine were

Reuters

DUBAI:United Nations-mediated talks to end more than a year of war in Yemen have adjourned and will reconvene in Kuwait on July 15 after the Mus-lim Eid holiday, the UN envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said yesterday.

A shaky ceasefire coin-ciding with negotiations has paused fighting which raged across the coun-try, though Saudi-led air strikes have increased as Iran-allied Houthis have made ground advances while Islamic State has taken advantage of a secu-rity vacuum to launch a string of bombings.

The ta lks br ing together the Houthi movement and Yemen’s internationally-recog-nised government. “The two delegations will use the coming two weeks to meet their respective leaderships,” Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.

Reuters

BEIRUT: US-backed Syrian rebels were pushed back from the out-skirts of an Islamic State-held town on the border with Iraq and a nearby air base yesterday after the jihad-ists mounted a counter- attack, two rebel sources said.

The New Syria Army rebel group had launched an operation on Tues-day aimed at capturing the town of Al Bukamal from Islamic State and cutting supply and communications lines for the group between Syria and Iraq, the US coalition fight-ing IS said. One rebel source said Islamic State fighters had encircled the rebels in a surprise ambush. They had suffered heavy casualties

and weapons had been seized by the jihadists, the source said. “The news is not good. I can say our troops were trapped and suffered many casualties and several fighters were captured and even weapons were taken,” he said.

A spokesman of the New Syria Army, Muzahem al Saloum, con-firmed the group’s fighters had retreated. “We have withdrawn to the outlying desert and the first stage of the campaign has ended,” Saloum said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the New Syria Army had been driven entirely from the province of Deir Al Zor, where Al Bukamal is located. There was no immediate comment from the New Syria Army on that report.

IS key suspect in Istanbul blast; toll 41

Five Saudis and two Iraqis were among the dead, a Turkish official said. Citizens from China, Jordan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Ukraine were also among the 13 foreigners killed. Relatives of one of the victims of the blast at Istanbul Ataturk Airport mourn in front of a morgue in Istanbul,

Turkey, yesterday.

Syrian forces to retreat from border

Yemen peace

talks put off

till July 15

also among the 13 foreigners killed.One attacker opened fire in the

departures hall with an automatic rifle, sending passengers diving for cover and trying to flee, before all three blew themselves up in or around the arrivals hall a floor below, wit-nesses and officials said.Video footage

showed one of the attackers inside the terminal building being shot, appar-ently by a police officer, before falling to the ground as people scattered. The attacker then blew himself up around 20 seconds later.

The Dogan news agency said autopsies on the three bombers, whose

torsos were ripped apart, had been completed and that they may have been foreign nationals, without citing its sources. Two US counterterrorism officials familiar with the early stages of investigations said Islamic State was at the top of the list of suspects even though there was no evidence yet.

AFP

CAIRO: Data from one of the black boxes of a crashed EgyptAir plane showed smoke alarms had sounded on board, while soot was found on the wreckage, an Egyptian-led investiga-tive committee said yesterday.

The black box had been retrieved from the bottom of the Mediterranean

after the Airbus A320 with 66 people on board plunged into the sea on May 19 while heading to Cairo from Paris.

It had recorded the flight’s data from its departure until it “stopped at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,250 metres),” the committee said in a statement.

“Recorded data is showing a consistency with ACARS messages of lavatory smoke and avionics smoke,” it said, two days after the

damaged recorder was repaired in France. Investigators had previously announced that the plane’s auto-mated Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) sent signals indicating smoke alarms on board the plane before it went down.

“Parts of the front section of the aircraft showed signs of high tem-perature damage and soot,” the committee statement added.

EgyptAir black box confirms smokeReuters

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s military said it advanced through northern villages held by Islamic State yesterday, on its way to an airfield which could serve as the staging ground for a future offensive on Mosul, the biggest city held by the militants.

Army and counter-terrorism forces recaptured Telol Al Baj, about 260km (160 miles) north of Baghdad on the main north-south road on Tuesday, a sen-ior commander participating in the offensive told Reuters. US-led coalition air strikes have helped repel suicide car bomb attacks, the commander said.

Iraqi forces press towards key air base in Mosul

07THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

RamadanRamadanThoughts Thoughts

By HESHAM HASSABALLA

Almost invariably it happens a few days after the end of Ramadan; the letdown. Fast-ing is finished; the nightly

prayers are over; the group gather-ings to break the fast have vanished. We can eat, drink, and be merry again when the sun is shining. And that special feeling you have in your heart--the one that keeps you going despite your hunger and thirst - gradually fades away. The spiritual high evap-orates, and all you are left with are the bad habits you tried to shed during Ramadan, but mysteriously rear their ugly heads once it is over. Ramadan is supposed to increase your faith and God-consciousness: “Believers! Fast-ing has been prescribed for you--as it was prescribed for those before you--so that you may be conscious of God.” (Al Baqarah, 2:183). The point is not to be an angel for Ramadan and a demon at other times. The lessons learned and spiritual benefits gained during that month are intended to carry over for the rest of the year until next Ram-adan. Yet frequently they do not. Is there anything we can do about it? Absolutely and here are five ways we can try to keep the spirit of Ramadan alive and well throughout the rest of the year.

GOOD HABITS KEPT UPMore than just denying oneself

food and drink, the fast of Ramadan is a complete body-and-soul fast. Although this should be the behavior of the believer at all times, when one

is fasting, he or she should take spe-cial care not to harm anyone, curse anyone, or do anything wrong. In fact, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: “Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions while fasting, God is not in need of his leav-ing his food and drink.” Well, once Ramadan is over, these good behav-iours should continue. For instance, if you took the opportunity of the month of Ramadan to try to curb talking about other people, why not continue to refrain from doing so after Ram-adan is over? We should continue to go to the mosque for congregational prayers. It is so amazing to see the mosque--which was packed just a few days earlier--stand almost completely empty during Isha’, or night prayers, after Ramadan. If we can go to the mosque each day during Ramadan, we can get there every day during the rest of the year. Smoking is pro-hibited during daylight hours during Ramadan, which makes it the perfect opportunity to quit cigarettes. Yes, the nicotine in tobacco smoke is more addictive than heroin, and it is one of the most difficult addictions to beat. But if you can go without smoking for 14-17 hours a day during Ramadan, you can go without it for the remain-ing 7-10 hours. Ideally, there should be no Muslims who smoke, given the fact that they have to stop doing so for most of a month every year.

Sadly, the reality is quite differ-ent. Many, many Muslims smoke, and it saddens me - especially since I am a lung specialist who sees firsthand the devastation wrought by cigarette smoking--to see groups of men outside the mosque

immediately light up the moment sunset arrives.

FAST THROUGHOUT THE YEARI must admit that this is the most

difficult one for me to follow, but I must mention it anyway. The fast of Ramadan is obligatory for every adult Muslim, but there are numerous other fasts that Muslims are encouraged to undertake throughout the year, and we should try to participate. For instance, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, encouraged Muslims to fast six days of the month of Shawwal, the month after Ramadan. The reward is equivalent to fasting the entire year. In a few months, the season of Haj will

begin, and those Muslims who do not perform the Hajj are encouraged to fast the day of Arafat, when all the pil-grims will be standing on that plain and begging God for forgiveness. We should fast that day. For Ashura, the day that commemorates the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, Muslims are encouraged to fast that day as well as the day before. For the very ambitious, the Prophet (PBUH), used to fast every Monday and Thurs-day, and if one is able, he or she could follow this Sunnah, or tradition of the Prophet. The very, very ambitious could even fast in the tradition of the Prophet David, peace be upon him; fasting every other day. If this is too

much, perhaps we can fast one, two, or three days each month. Whatever the number, we should try to fast outside of Ramadan to help keep the spirit of the month alive in our daily lives.

QIYAM PRAYINGDuring the month of Ramadan,

Muslims gather together and per-form the Isha, or night prayer, and then special devotional prayers, called Tarawih, in congregation (together these are called, qiyam, extra devo-tional night prayers). It is such a wonderful time, and it is perhaps--after actually getting to eat and drink - the best part of Ramadan. We are all together in the mosque, and we get to hear the entire Qur’an recited if we go every night of Ramadan. Why not, at home, have your own “mini-Tarawih”? You can either read what you have already memorised, or you can read from the Qur’an itself. If you continue this throughout the year, it is quite possible to finish reading the entire Qur’an many times over. This is an excellent way to keep the feeling and spirit of Ramadan alive.

CHARITYRamadan is also the month of

charity. It was said that the Prophet (PBUH), already the most generous of men, was even more generous during the month of Ramadan. Along with teaching the believer discipline and spiritual focus, the fast of Ramadan is a potent reminder that there are mil-lions of people around the world who must forgo food and drink involuntar-ily, out of sheer poverty. As a result, Muslims are frequently motivated to give to the poor during Ramadan, and

the reward for an act of charity--al-ready substantial-is multiplied many times over in the month of Ramadan. Muslims often discharge their oblig-atory annual alms tax, the Zakah, during this month. Why not keep up the contacts made during Ram-adan throughout the rest of the year? Yet that does not mean we should be stingy and miserly throughout the rest of the year. We should continue to be generous even when it is not Ram-adan, perhaps devoting a little bit of what we earn to help the poor. You could even open a donor-directed fund or a charitable gift fund at a bro-kerage firm and invest your donations so you could give more. If you want to be even more ambitious, you can start your own charitable endowment, an essential aspect of the classical Islamic tradition that has unfortu-nately gone by the wayside in modern times. “Haven’t Seen You Since Last Ramadan...” Another beautiful aspect of Ramadan is the frequent invitation to people’s homes for iftar meals after sunset. Here, Muslims gather and break their fast together. Many times, it is an opportunity to see friends (and maybe even family) they do not nor-mally get a chance to see during the rest of the year. Well, the same theme applies: if you can do it during Ram-adan, you can do it at any other time as well. Why not keep up the contacts made during Ramadan throughout the rest of the year? Have monthly gatherings at each other’s homes or at a favorite restaurant. Let it not be another year when you say to a friend, “Wow! I haven’t seen you since last Ramadan!”

www.onislam.net

Keep Ramadan spirit alive for the rest of the year

VIEWS08 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

The terrorist attack on Istanbul’s main airport on Tuesday which killed 41 people shows that some nefarious forces are at work and even determined to destabilise Turkey. The attack is the deadliest and most high-profile in a series of killings and explosions that

have shaken the country this year. By choosing the busiest airport in the country, and one of the busiest air travel hubs in the world, the perpetrators of the crime sought to inflict maximum damage. An airport is a symbol in the same way as it is a gateway – a symbol of the country’s progress, heritage, values and a fortress of security and by targeting it, the attackers were sending a message that they could strike at any target. But this is a plot that the Turkish government and its citizens must defeat. And the world needs to stand by Ankara in this hour of crisis.

Turkey has been a pillar of peace and stability in a region riven by instability and chaos. It’s also a major power, a bridge between

our region and the West, which has been acting as a stabilizing, positive force on the global stage with its bold policies and diplomatic interventions. Ankara must continue to perform this role and any attempt to weaken the country should not be tolerated because that would plunge our region into the black depth of an abyss.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has blamed the Islamic State for the late-night attack and called on the international community to help the country in its fight against terrorism. The IS is under attack and on the retreat in its strongholds in Iraq, Syria and other Arab countries and the terrorist group is likely to unleash more attacks to avenge the setbacks it has suffered.

There is no doubt that the Istanbul attack will deal a huge blow to Turkey’s tourism, which is a major contributor to the country’s gross domestic product. Bomb blasts and violence have already crippled the industry, and Tuesday’s attack is likely to scare away more tourists.

Interestingly, the attack comes at a time when Ankara is scoring on the diplomatic front by extending a hand of friendship to other countries. This week, Ankara cemented a deal to restart diplomatic relations with Israel and offered an olive branch to Russia, relations with whom were strained after Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border.

Ankara must work hard to prevent another attack on its soil. It must adopt a zero tolerance policy and beef up security across the country. Turks must stand united in this time of crisis to defeat the enemy.

Standing by Turkey

Ankara must work hard to prevent another terrorist attack on its soil. And Turks must stand united in this time of crisis to defeat the enemy.

Quote of the dayBritain would have to abide by European Union rules once it divorced from the bloc if itwanted to maintain access to the single market.

Francois Hollande French President

E S TA B L I S H E D I N 1996

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Iran’s new approach to building energy allies is being revealed as the former powerhouse staggers back onto the glo-

bal stage. The lifting on January 17 of Western-imposed sanctions has given the country a new lease of life. Tehran’s ability to adapt will prove vital as today’s market is more competitive than the one it reluctantly stepped back from more than a decade ago.

Tehran remains confident that the country can boost its current 3.7 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil production further, enabling it to be able to export 2.2 million b/d by the end of the summer. The country’s strategy to regain superi-ority has started well, but some of this spike in volume may be a case of Iran emptying its full storage capacity. The country’s strategy to regain superiority has started well, but some of this spike in volume may be a case of Iran emptying its full storage capacity.

Iran is also planning to intro-duce new oil contracts, widely known as Iran’s Petroleum Con-tracts (IPCs), and abandon the generally unpopular buyback contracts that were first intro-duced in the 1990s. The buybacks were introduced as an attempt to bridge the gap between the coun-try’s need to attract foreign oil and gas companies and a ban on pri-vate foreign ownership of natural resources under the Islamic repub-lic’s constitution.

The market remains to be convinced. The new IPCs are essen-tially risk service contracts where the contractor is paid back by being allocated a portion of the hydro-carbons produced. However, more clarity is required after a key pres-entation was cancelled in February.

Blending opportunity Tehran has adopted a fresh

approach to blending in an effort to shrug off its lone-ranger profile and seek collaborative partner-ships with energy allies. Crude oil blending can raise the sale price of a lower grade of crude by blend-ing it with a more valuable grade.

This means producers can have a particular variety at the lowest possible cost which has proved to be a useful trade-off.

In April, Iran joined fellow OPEC members Nigeria, Angola and Algeria with plans to blend its light oil with Venezuela’s heavy crude to get a better crude price. Iran’s Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) signed an agreement with South Africa’s state-run Pet-roSA to jointly pursue research and development (R&D) in crude blend-ing technologies. Iran also signed a long-term cooperation agreement with South Korea at the start of May. This covers a number of areas including gas and telecommunica-tions and serves as a springboard for raising Iranian crude supplies to the North Asian country.

Investment cultureSanctions did not completely

derail Iran’s energy infrastruc-ture, with Tehran funnelling cash into the country’s major oil and gas sites – refineries, pipelines, drilling sites, roads and so on – to pre-pare for the lifting of sanctions. The first phase of the Persian Gulf Star refinery with capacity to produce 360,000 barrels a day (b/d) will be completed by next March, with the remaining two units sched-uled to go online in 2017. While the Persian Gulf Star when fin-ished will add 16 million liters/day of gasoline production, the ongo-ing upgrade at the Bandar Abbas refinery will also add 4 million liters/day. Officials say gasoline imports of around 50,000 b/d will not be necessary once the plant is completed. Furthermore, offi-cials have recently said that Iran could even be exporting as much as 10 million liters/day of gasoline after the full start-up of the Per-sian Gulf Star refinery.

Iran’s ability to reduce inflation from 45% in 2013 to below 10% in late-2015 and introduce subsidy cuts illustrates Tehran’s financial acu-men, which will bolster the country’s ability to cope with today’s lower oil prices. The International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) expects Iran to deliver 4% growth at a time when others in the Middle East grapple with credit rating cuts and urgently slash energy subsidies in a bid to cushion their strained coffers.

Challenges remainStill, Iran is not free of economic

and logistical hurdles. A limited number of ships are curbing Iran’s oil exports. In Mid-April the Inter-national Group of P&I has raised the reinsurance level to a maxi-mum of $830 million per tanker for shipping Iranian crude, from $580 million previously. Although this does not fully make up for the missing US reinsurance cover as a result of the US’ ongoing sanctions against Iran, it could be seen as suf-ficient for Asian buyers such as India and South Korea, or some Euro-pean importers, for their shipping of Iranian oil, according to indus-try sources. However, the increased reinsurance is still below a full P&I insurance cover of $7.8 billion.

The movement of Iranian Oil to potential consumers is not helped by the remaining US sanctions that prevent business with Tehran in dollars, or with US companies – oil and tanker trade is priced in dollars. The freight shortage will likely ease later this year as ships being used for storage are emp-tied and Iran repairs unused ships to enlarge its fleet, but the delay will inevitably hamper the speed of Iran’s re-launch into European and Asian markets.

Iran’s seemingly more flexi-ble approach is helping accelerate the country’s return to the global energy market and the interna-tional appetite to deal in Iranian business will deepen every time the country reaches its goals, such as the 4mn b/d oil production tar-get. While there is no way to set an exact date, one development is clear – the new Iran has a high chance of regaining its glory of yesteryear.

The writer is Strategic oil market development director, S&P Glo-bal Platts

Iran shifts tactics to lock in global energy allies

By Daniel Colover

Iran’s seemingly more flexible approach is helping accelerate the country’s return to the global energy market and the international appetite to deal in Iranian business will deepen every time the country reaches its goals, such as the 4m b/d oil production target. While there is no way to set an exact date, one development is clear – the new Iran has a high chance of regaining its glory of yesteryear.

A landmark in Iran

OPINION 09 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Hamas, PLO and reconciliation efforts

The Arab world is on the verge of tur-moil and no one knows that when one of these Arab country will be the next victim of this unrest. It is

not easy for the scribes of Arab newspapers having concerns for their nation to take up the issues of Arab world in a detailed and full analysis and propose a solution due to the large number of hot issues of the region. The visit of the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, to Washington is worth paying attention to, but issues related to the bat-tle in Fallujah and withdrawal of United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the alliance have become more important.

The issue of Iraq should be discussed in all forums, and the UAE withdrawal or plan for withdrawal from the Saudi led alli-ance in Yemen should be taken seriously, as the matter has short and long range impacts on GCC states and the future of the region. Yemen is dying, Syria is torn apart by Bashar and his alliances Russia, Iran and sectarian militia. Libya is also facing similar problems, Algeria is crying at the hands of a ghost, Tunisia is scared of failing its political experiment. The Arab World is really facing many problems and disasters which needs serious scribes to dig deep to find an appropriate solution to cope with these troubles.

I would like to focus our attention on an issue concerning for our nation which is the Palestinian Authority (AU). Under the AU rules, the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and West Bank have been increasing. During the rule of the Palestinian Authority many more Palestin-ians were detained in Israeli jails and the number of prisoners doubled. The West Bank became a site for Israeli soldiers chasing

its residents, under the nose of the Pales-tinian Security Forces and they did not do anything to defend the people, seemingly bewildered and unable to protect them.

More homes of Palestinian citizens were demolished by occupying forces during this tenure. Then what is the benefit of having an authority which cannot protect its peo-ple and their property?

The election of Palestinian Legisla-tive Council (PLC) was held in West Bank and Gaza in 2006. It was the first election in which Hamas took part,and it won the majority of seats in PLC (parliament).The leader of the Palestine Liberation Organ-isation (PLO), Mohamad Dahlan gave a statement on the radio saying “It is shame-ful for the PLO if it accepts and participates in a government led by Hamas”. Another senior leader of PLO,Ahmad Qurai, senior leader and Oslo agreement negotiator, said in a TV statement, that he was very angry on the results of the election, saying, “Let us see what they can do”. This meant,‘What can Hamas can do in the administration of West Bank and Gaza?’.

In fact, the security agency in Gaza, led by PLO leader- Mohamad Dahlan, and blessed under the table from the high com-mand of the PLO, refused to deal with the government that took an oath of constitu-tion in front of President Abbas. As a result, security disorders and cases of detentions

increased. So the Minister of the Interior was forced

to establish a supporting security force (executive force), but the elements of the PLO clashed this newly born force. Cases of detention rose with security disorder. Qatar’s former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani reached Gaza to try to find a for-mula to solve the conflicts between the PLO and Hamas, to maintain the law and order in the land of Palestinian Authority. However, Qatari mediation failed. Saudi Arabia interfered and called both parties to Mecca where they signed an agreement of reconciliation- the “Mecca Reconciliation Agreement” in February 2007. A Pales-tinian Unity Government was formed but it also failed because there was already insistence by the PLO that Israel should not accept Hamas.

Qatar made fresh efforts to patch up the relationship between two parties dur-ing Doha meetings held on June, 15th and 16th. The talks were held with the medi-ation of Qatar.

The issue of the employees of Gaza, appointed by the elected government of Haniyeh in 2006,and when the civil employees and security officials refused to work with the government of Ismail Haniyeh, was discussed. The talks failed to reach any agreement. The National Unity

Government, that was formed recently, would not approve the employees of the ministries in Gaza or deal with it until Hamas accepted all the decisions of Pres-ident Abbas. This means bringing back the situation where all employees getting sal-aries are sitting in their homes without serving the citizens in Gaza. They include teachers, judges, and doctors among others. Hamas should take financial responsibility regarding the employees appointed by it, and the authority has nothing to do with it and they are not in its budget. Is it reason-able that these citizens who served Gaza and maintained law and order, taught the students and cured the patients for a dec-ade-long then Abbas came and removed them from a pen?

A question must be put forward: When the PLO cadres in all government jobs refused to work under the Hamas regime, as per the instruction of Abbas, so was it not right for the Hamas authority to appoint employees to replace them to serve the cit-izens in Gaza? Everyone admits that crimes of all types disappeared from Gaza since the end of Abbas regime. The situation of law and order has improved. Services for health, education and security became better in Gaza, despite shortage of finan-cial resources since Hamas took the reign of power.

Why did Abbas and his people insist on

dropping more than 30,000 employees who did their jobs to serve the country in the best way,in the absence of the employee of the PLO who were receiving their salaries sitting at homes?- because Abbas asked them to stop working as long as Hamas was in power.

The power of Mahmoud Abbas is divided between Riyadh, Amman and Doha. Abbas behaves well in Jordon and utters nice words about sovereignty and about holy places,and tells Jordan that their sovereignty is for Jordon. What is inside his heart only Allah-knows. Jibril Al Rajub,is also in Riyadh for the same purpose and he is talking about the sovereignty over the holy places and maintenance of Dome of The Rock.

The questions are still going on in the mind. Senior negotiator of PLO Azam Ahmad failed in Doha. Al Samir also could not bring any fruitful result in the Doha meeting and Al Ahmad left Doha before Mahmoud Abbas landed at Doha airport (HIA), so Abbas could not feel discomfort in front of the Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the failure of the meet-ing between the PLO and Hamas in Doha.

Conclusion: Egypt rejects any recon-ciliation conducted in Doha. Israel does not accept the communication of Abbas and his team with Hamas. Abbas does not care about the reconciliation with Gaza because he benefits from this rift.

Everyone admits that crimes of all types disappeared from Gaza since the end of Abbas regime. The situation of law and order has improved. Services for health, education and security became better in Gaza, despite shortage of financial resources since Hamas took the reign of power.

A file picture shows Khaled Meshal, political leader of Hamas (left) meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo, Egypt.

Wars provide breeding ground for terrorist groups

By Daniel BymanThe Washington Post

AStudy after study has found no common profile of a terrorist. It is hard to explain why, say,

almost four times as many recruits leave Sweden to fight with the Islamic State as from neighboring Norway, though Sweden’s population is only twice Nor-way’s. Pundits and politicians alike speculate on why individuals might embrace terrorism, but such a ques-tion risks missing one obvious point:

Having a terrorist group around in the first place is one of the most important factors in influencing an individual’s choice to join.

Terrorist groups don’t emerge out of nowhere, and wars are perhaps the richest soil for seeding and growing violent groups of all stripes. Without the wars in the Middle East there would be no Islamic State, and it is not the only one: Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and other extremist groups all emerged out of regional civil wars. The formation of such groups is a political phenome-non, and so, too, is the radicalization of foreign fighters from the West.

Terrorist groups are rarely the cause of civil wars. Iraq’s civil war began in 2003 after the U.S. invasion and occu-pation; Syria’s civil war began with peaceful protests against a brutal dic-tator in 2011; and Libya’s strife came after a terrorist-supporting dictator was toppled in the same year.

Rather, such wars beget and fos-ter terrorism in several ways. Terror itself is often a tool in war, used to sow an atmosphere of fear and undermine

governments. Assassinations of rival political leaders, bombs for police and military recruits and random violence against civilians - these are all meth-ods learned from Insurgency 101 .

Groups such as al-Qaeda and now the Islamic State exploit new wars wherever they can. Terrorist groups linked to civil wars seek supporters in the United States, Europe and other areas outside the theater for reasons both obvious and obscure - and these factors generate more terrorists. This pull is especially strong when identi-ties cross borders - as does a religious identity like Islam - and when local ties are weak or the community as a whole is poorly integrated, as the Muslim community is in many Euro-pean countries.

Foreigners might join these groups for altruistic reasons, to help the genuinely oppressed (the Syrian people facing Bashar al-Assad, or the Afghans facing the Soviets). Yet often the oppression is a myth, or at least greatly exaggerated: One powerful narrative of the Islamic State is that

Sunni Muslims are facing a global Shiite conspiracy led by Iran and Hezbollah.

Still others join because they are true believers and want to live the dream. In different ways, the war takes them out of their humdrum or depressing present, giving them a new life: “I’m the most content I have ever been in my life,” tweeted one young American woman who had gone to live in the Islamic State, ending the tweet with a heart emoji. Many are merely thugs who spent time in jail or other-wise led delinquent lives: Joining the Islamic State or a similar group gives them a license to kill and torture.

Because there is no single profile, terrorist groups such as the Islamic State seek to appeal to many different ones. Propaganda stresses the good life in the caliphate, the glory of fighting for God, the oppression the community is facing, and glorified ultra-violence. Religion matters, but only as a badge of meaning and belonging rather than for its specific ideological content. By professing religious beliefs, a young Muslim male can go from marginalized

and alienated in his home country to part of God’s army, defending his peo-ple with his own sex slaves to boot. Yet one study of the European foreign fight-ers found that most were theologically illiterate . Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter, may not have understood the difference between the theolo-gies espoused by the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.

As long as these wars rage, the problems they generate will not stay confined to the Middle East. Only a fraction of a fraction end up fighting, and even fewer engage in terrorism, but only a small number need to respond for the problem to be serious.

Byman is a professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. His latest book is “Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Eve-ryone Needs to Know.” Find him on Twitter: @dbyman.

As long as these wars rage, the problems they generate will not stay confined to the Middle East. Only a fraction of a fraction end up fighting, and even fewer engage in terrorism, but only a small number need to respond for the problem to be serious.

All thoughts and views expressed in these columns are those of the writers, not of the newspaper.All correspondence regarding Views and Opinion pages should be mailed to the Editor-in-Chief.

By Dr Muhammad Al Misfer

ASIA10 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

ayayayayayayayWrapped in mud

US, S Korea & Japan hold missile defence drill

AFP

WASHINGTON: South Korea, Japan and the United States held an unprec-edented trilateral missile defence exercise on Tuesday, aimed at coun-tering the growing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea which denounced it as a “military provo-cation.”

The drill in waters off Hawaii came less than a week after North Korea flight-tested a powerful new medium-range ballistic missile that leader Kim Jong-Un hailed as a strike threat to US military bases across the Pacific.

The trilateral exercise included a ballistic target tracking operation to test the Aegis anti-missile systems used by the United States and its two key Asian allies.

“While there were no missiles fired, all participants strengthened interoperability, communication channels, data collection, and capa-bilities assessments,” the US Pacific Command said in a statement.

The drill was significant for the participation of both South Korea and Japan, who are still emerging from an extended diplomatic freeze that had undermined US efforts to present a united front against Pyongyang’s

nuclear weapons programme.As well as rehearsing responses

to a North Korean missile attack, the drill “enhanced the already strong relationship of all three nations par-ticipating”, said Vice Admiral Nora Tyson, commander of the US Third Fleet.

North Korea’s foreign minis-try condemned the drill as “another military provocation perpetrated by the US” and reiterated strategic will-ingness to carry out a “pre-emptive nuclear attack” if threatened.

The participation of all three countries revealed their “hegemonic scenario for disturbing regional peace and security”, a ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.

The North has this year claimed a series of major technical break-throughs in developing what it sees as the ultimate goal of its nuclear drive:

an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

The recent test of a Musudan medium-range missile was seen by some weapons experts as a signif-icant step towards an operational ICBM by 2020.

Tuesday’s drill also delivered a message of intent to China as Wash-ington and Beijing continue to jostle for influence in Asia.

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said last week the Musudan test under-lined the need to strengthen missile defences to protect US troops sta-tioned in South Korea and Japan.

Seoul and Washington are cur-rently in talks over the deployment of the US military’s sophisticated Ter-minal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) in South Korea -- a move staunchly opposed by China and Russia.

China urges caution over

US missile deploymentReuters

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday urged South Korea to pay attention to China’s concerns about the deployment of the US THAAD missile defence system to the country and “cau-tiously” address the plan.

The US and South Korea have begun talks on possible deploy-ment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system after North Korea tested its fourth

nuclear bomb on January 6 and conducted missile tests.

China and Russia have urged the US to back off, saying THAAD’s deployment could also affect their security.

South Korea should “attach importance to China’s legitimate concern on security and cau-tiously and appropriately address the United States’ plan” to deploy THAAD in South Korea, Xi told visiting South Korean Prime Min-ister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Reuters

MANILA: Two things catch the eye in the office of Joselito Esquivel, a police colonel enforcing a national crack-down on drugs in the Philippines’ most crime-ridden district: a pair of boxing gloves in a display cabinet and an M4 assault rifle lying beside him.

“It’s all-out war,” the Quezon City officer says of a spike in killings of suspected drug dealers by police across the country since last month’s election of Rodrigo Duterte, a tough-talking city mayor, as the country’s president.

“Duterte has already given the

impetus for this massive operation.”Duterte has vowed to wipe out

drug crime within six months but, according to Chito Gascon, head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the aggressive rhetoric behind his promises has already instilled a sense of impunity among the police.

“Basically, you have Mr. Duterte saying: ‘It’s okay, I’ve got your back’,” said Gascon.

On average, at least one person has been shot dead by police or anon-ymous vigilantes every day since the May 9 election that swept Duterte to power, an escalation from the first four months of the year when the rate was about two a week.

Handwritten warning signs have been left on some corpses.

Duterte, who will be inaugu-rated on Thursday for a six-year term, has cheered the police on: after a druglord was killed in a northern province recently, he travelled there to congratulate them and hand over a reward worth about $6,000.

Critics, including leaders of the influential Roman Catholic church and human rights advocates, fear a spiral of violence could lie ahead for the Philippines if vigilantism and summary executions become an accepted norm after Duterte takes office.

“My concern is that instead of law

and order, what we will see is law-lessness and fear,” said Gascon. “What will result is an increase in the body-bag count.”

On Monday, Duterte branded as “stupid” human rights groups and law-makers who have complained about his draconian plans to crush crime and re-introduce the death penalty.

“When you kill someone, rape, you should die,” he told his last pub-lic meeting as mayor of Davao City, where death squads have killed hundreds of drug-pushers, petty criminals and even street children since 1998, according to rights groups.

Duterte denies any involvement in the vigilante killings.

Police killings feared as Duterte takes power

Cops probe possible IS

link in Malaysian attackReuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police remained doubtful that militants were behind a grenade attack on a nightspot that wounded seven peo-ple, but were forced to reassess the possibility yesterday after an Islamic State claim of responsibility was posted on Facebook.

Investigators had previously ruled out terrorism as the motive for Tuesday’s attack on the bar in Puchong, a town outside the capi-tal Kuala Lumpur, which wounded eight people, including a woman from China.

The more likely motive appeared to be business rivalry, or a tar-geted attack on someone in the bar, according to police. The owner of the Movida bar also used Facebook to air suspicions that there was some personal grudge against two of his customers.

Counter-terrorism officials, however, were trying to establish the credibility of the claim of responsi-bility posted on the Facebook page of a known Malaysian IS fighter.

Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi claimed on his Facebook page that the attack had been carried out by two followers of IS, according to a screenshot posted online by a local newspaper, Sin Chew Daily.

Police counter-terrorism unit head Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay declined to comment on whether the Facebook profile was credible.

“We are looking at all possible motives, including business conflict, revenge, gangland involvement and finally terrorism,” he said.

Roger Hew, the bar owner, sus-pected that a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary had been the target.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Hew said the attack was due to “a personal matter” and that an eyewit-ness had seen two men throwing the grenade towards the couple.

In a similar attack in 2014, a club in central Kuala Lumpur was hit by a grenade during a botched assassina-tion attempt on a gangland kingpin, killing one and injuring 12 others.

Malaysia’s security agencies are on guard against IS spreading its ten-tacles in the Muslim majority, but multi-ethnic Southeast Asian nation. A few months ago, officials had esti-mated nearly 50 Malaysians, mostly ethnic Muslim Malays, had joined IS in Syria and Iraq.

While both Al Qaeda and Islamic State have recruited Malaysians, there has been no significant attack by either group inside the country since the spectre of Islamist mil-itancy loomed in the wake of al Qaeda’s 2001 attacks on the US.

Govt extends Afghan

refugees’ stay: OfficialReuters

PESHAWAR: Pakistan has extended by six months a deadline for Afghan refugees to register with the gov-ernment, a refugee official said yesterday, a day before the dead-line was set to expire.

Pakistan has the world’s sec-ond largest refugee population, with more than 1.5 million registered, and about a million unregistered, refu-gees from Afghanistan, most of whom fled the Soviet occupation of their country in the 1980s.

The number of Afghans volun-tarily returning home has plunged this year as violence worsens in Afghanistan, where the government and its US allies are fighting a stub-born Taliban insurgency.

“The prime minister has approved another six-month exten-sion in the deadline,” Imran Zeb Khan, the chief commissioner for Afghan Refugees said.

“But Pakistan can’t ensure that these refugees will return. That cannot happen without support from Afghanistan and the interna-tional community which need to create the right conditions for their repatriation.”

Khan said Pakistan would hold a tripartite meeting with Afghani-stan and the United Nations refugee agency on July 19 to plan the way forward.

The comments came soon after officials told Reuters at least 500 Afghan refugees were arrested in a northwestern border province and deported as a security risk.

Reuters

MOMBASA: Kenyan forces yester-day killed five suspected members of Somalia’s Al Shabaab, which has claimed responsbility for attacks that have killed hundreds in Kenya in the last three years, officials said.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman David Obonyo said in a statement troops had killed four mili-tants believed to belong to the Islamist group during a clash near a military camp in Lamu County in the coun-try’s east. A soldier was also wounded.

“The troops had been in hot pur-suit of the Al Shabaab terrorists after

they conducted a probing attack on a KDF camp in Mangai, Lamu County yesterday evening,” the statement said.

He said that with the bodies they recovered a rocket-propelled grenade, two hand grenades, four AK47 rifles and an improvised explosive device.

In a separate incident in the

coastal resort of Malindi, police killed a suspected Al Shabaab member and arrested two of his accomplices.

“The suspect who was shot dead fired at our officers first and injured one of them, who is undergoing treatment,” Malindi area police chief Matau Mushangi told reporters.

He said counter-terrorism officers

had raided a house where the sus-pects were hiding following a tip-off.

“The suspects had been recruiting for Al Shabaab and were preparing to return to Somalia,” Mushangi said.

Police recovered a shotgun, revolver, 18 national identity cards of people he said he believed the sus-pects had recruited,

Nigerian musician

missing after new

anti-graft song

AFP

KANO: A popular musician in northeast Nigeria has gone missing just days after releasing a scathing song accusing local lawmakers of corruption, police and family said yesterday.

Ado Dahiru Daukaka went missing in the Adamawa state cap-ital of Yola after he left his house early Friday to offer dawn prayers at a mosque.

His new song accuses politi-cians from President Muhammadu Buhari’s ruling party of corruption and predicts they will be voted in the 2019 election.

The song “Gyara Kayanka”, or ‘Put your house in order’ in the local Hausa language, accuses local lawmakers of being selfish and corrupt.

The family of the singer said he was a political target.

“It is obvious his disappear-ance is an abduction by some interests who are infuriated by his latest song which exposed corruption among legislators at the state house of assembly,” Daukaka’s relative Atiku Mus-tapha said.

“We believe they abducted him as a warning to other critics like him. They just want to muzzle crit-ics,” Mustapha said.

Hadiza Adamu, one of the singer’s two wives, said he had no enemies.

The trilateral exercises aim at countering the growing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea.

LEFT: Members of the Philippine National Police Special Reaction Unit gather as part of a police visibility operation along a main road in Metro Manila, Philippines. RIGHT: Cups of cappucino coffee with images of incoming President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and Vice-President-elect Leni Robredo are pictured at a Costa Coffee shop, a day before Duterte and Robredo assume office, in Taguig city, Philippines today.

Five suspected militants die in clash with Kenyan forces

Students of Himalayan Agriculture College play in the mud while celebrating Asar Pandra festival in Lalitpur, Nepal, yesterday. Farmers in Nepal celebrate the festival to mark the commencement of rice crop planting in paddy fields.

Eminent artist

K G Subramanyan

passes awayKOLKATA: Eminent art-ist K G Subramanyan, one of the pioneers of modern Indian art, passed away in Vadodara yesterday, due to old age, art historian and curator R Siva Kumar said.Subramanyan was 92.

“His last rites will be held today afternoon at Vadodara,” Siva Kumar said.

Born on February 15, 1924, in Kerala, Subra-manyan studied under the tutelage of doyens Benode Behari Mukher-jee, Nandalal Bose and Ramkinkar Baij at Shantiniketan.

He graduated from Kala Bhavan at Visva Bharati University in 1948 after receiving his Bach-elor’s Degree in Economics from the Presidency Col-lege in Chennai.

In 1955, he received a British Council Research Fellowship to the Slade School of Art at the Uni-versity of London. Known for his versatility, Subra-manyan dabbled in glass painting and toy-making, even weaving. His paint-ings are famed for being punctuated with irony, wit and satire.He was awarded the Padma Vib-hushan in 2012.

HC notice to CBI

in Chhota Rajan

passport case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court yesterday issued notice to the CBI on a plea of retired passport official Lalitha Laksh-manan to quash criminal and corruption charges against her in underworld don Chhota Rajan’s fake passport case.

Justice IS Mehta hearing the plea of Lak-shamanan sought the Central Bureau of Investi-gation’s response by July 8. Lakshmanan, along with two other passport officers Jayashree Dattat-ray Rahate and Deepak Natvarlal Shah is fac-ing trial on allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheat-ing, impersonation and forgery of documents.

Bail for legislator

NEW DELHI: A court here yesterday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Dinesh Mohaniya, who was arrested on charges of harassment. He has denied the charge.

Additional Sessions Judge Neelam Singh granted bail to Mohaniya after asking him to fur-nish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of like amount. Mohaniya was arrested on Saturday while addressing a press conference at his resi-dence in Sangam Vihar.

INDIA 11THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

IANS

HYDERABAD: The National Investi-gation Agency (NIA) yesterday busted an alleged Islamic State (IS) terror module in Hyderabad and detained 11 persons from across the city.

One airgun, two .9mm pistols, nails, two airgun target boards and other material like chemicals used for making explosives and Impro-vised Explosive Devises (IEDs) were seized during the raid.

The suspects -- aged between 20 and 42 -- were allegedly plotting bomb attacks and indiscriminate fir-ing on shopping malls and crowded

places in the city, NIA sources said. The suspects, said to be IS sym-

pathisers, were caught by different NIA teams which conducted raids at 10 locations across the city early yesterday morning in coordination with Andhra Pradesh Police.

The sources said most of the places raided fall within the juris-diction of Moghulpura, Meer Chowk and Bhawani Nagar police stations.

Cash totalling Rs15 lakh, 23 mobile phones, three laptops and seven pen drives were also seized.

The NIA said the suspects included five persons against whom the anti-terror agency had registered a First Information Report on June 22 with regard to an emerging funda-mentalist group affiliated to the IS.

Those booked are Moham-med alias Yazdani, 24; his brother Mohammed Ibrahim, 29, of Aman Nagar; Habib Mohammed, 32, of Bar-kas; Mohammed Irfan alias Yaqais, 26, of Chatta Bazaar; and Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Amoodi alias Fahad, 30, of Charminar. All the areas fall in Hyderabad. The other detained suspects are Syed Naimath Ullah Hussaini, 42, of Moghalpura; Muz-affar Hussain Rizwan, 29, of Talab Katta; Mohammed Ataullah Reh-man, 30, of Bandlaguda; Abdul alias Al Jeelani Abdul Qadir Mohsin Mah-mood, 32, of Yusuf Gulshan colony; A.M. Azhar, 20 of Talab Katta; and Mohammed Arbaz Ahmed, 21, of Chandrayan Gutta.

NIA busts IS module and detains 11The module was getting instructions from some unidentified handlers from a foreign country. The suspects were allegedly plotting bomb attacks on shopping malls and crowded places in the city: NIA

Schoolchildren hold candles and placards as they pray during a vigil to show solidarity with the victims of the attack at Turkey’s largest airport, Ataturk International Airport, in Agartala, yesterday.

Stop terrorism

Reuters

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court said it will examine how far it could interfere in Muslim laws governing family-related issues as it heard a plea to end a practice allowing Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying “talaq” three times.

The Indian constitution allows Muslims, the biggest religious

minority group, to regulate matters such as marriage, divorce and inher-itance through their own civil code.

A Supreme Court bench said Muslim personal law affected a large number of people and asked the fed-eral government to weigh in on the debate as to whether intervening in the law would violate the Muslim community’s fundamental rights.

“It is a serious issue and it has to be examined within the framework of the Constitution,” Chief Justice of

India, Tirath Singh Thakur, said of the petition yesterday.

“We have to hear all of the views and take a call as to what extent courts can interfere in Muslim per-sonal laws,” he said. The next hearing is on September 6. Muslims make up 13 percent of the country’s 1.2 bil-lion population, yet government data show they are among some of the most excluded and marginalised communities. Women’s rights activ-ists have long called for reform of the

Muslim personal law which they say discriminates against women. What they want instead is a well-defined law that criminalises polygamy, uni-lateral divorce and child marriage.

Campaigners say the “triple talaq” practice - which allows Muslim men an instant divorce with Muslim women being divorced via Facebook, Skype and text message - is unconsti-tutional because it violates the right to equality. The petition being con-sidered by the Supreme Court also

seeks an end to polygamy and ‘halala’, which mandates that if a woman wants to go back to her husband after a divorce, she must first consummate her marriage with another man.

“Triple talaq is not valid as per the Koran, which stresses mediation and reconciliation before the decision to divorce,” said Zakia Soman, co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which campaigns for Muslim women’s rights and is a co-petitioner in the case. “The Supreme

Court needs to be guided by the Con-stitutional mandate,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

More than 90 percent of Muslim women surveyed by BMMA last year said they wanted an end to polygamy and triple talaq. There are drives to end other practices as well. Some women in the Dawoodi Bohra com-munity, the only South Asian Muslim community known to practise female genital mutilation, are calling for an end to the centuries-old custom.

IANS

THRISSUR: In what is believed to be a first in the country, twins born prematurely in the 24th week have defied risks and survived to complete 38 weeks of their existence.

Born to opthalmologist Sandhya and IT professional Rajeev, these two babies are all set to leave the hospi-tal and go home, doctors said. The normal gestation period for human babies is between 37 and 42 weeks.

The mother and the twins have

been under the care of Craft IVF Hos-pital and Research in Kodungallur, near here.

Sandhya, 34, had conceived through in-vitro fertilisation. Though the pregnancy was mostly unevent-ful, except for her diabetes which was controlled, she went into labour on 24 weeks of pregnancy and delivered two male babies weighing 670gm and 645gm.

The babies, who were shifted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, had breathing difficulty. Ventilators were used to facilitate expansion of their lungs. “One of the challenges

we faced was getting intravenous access which was very difficult and had to be managed with the help of central lines.

The babies were prone to intra-ventricular haemorrhage (bleeding into brain) and necrotizing entero-colitis (infection of the bowel),” said Abdul Majeed, a medical professional who played a key role.

“Under proper supportive care, both the babies consistently gained weight and now with three months of hospital stay, the babies are 1.8 kg and 1.55 kg. Both of them are gain-ing weight,” said Raj.

Born in 24th week Kerala twins survive against odds

Supreme Court hears debate on call for Muslim personal law reform

Rohingya Muslim woman Hameeda Begum stands near her sleeping son in their plastic tent at a refugee camp in the old city of Hyderabad yesterday.

Refugees’ plight

IANS

NEW DELHI: Fifty-five of the 57 newly-elected parliamentarians to the Rajya Sabha are crorepatis, according to a survey released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) yesterday.

The top three MPs with highest assets were Praful Patel (NCP) with a total asset of Rs2,52,08,96,242

(252 crore-plus) followed by Kapil Sibal (INC) with a total asset of Rs2,12,53,60,081 and Satish Chan-dra Misra (BSP) with total asset of Rs1,93,00,49,059.

The three MPs with lowest assets are Anil Madhav Dave (BJP) with total asset of Rs 60,97,179 followed by Ram Kumar (BJP) with total asset of Rs 86,22,305 and Pradeep Tamta (INC) with total asset of Rs 1,08,65,290.

Media baron Subhash Chandra, who is the chairman of Essel Group,

doesn’t figure in the list of top 10 MPs with highest assets. According to ADR report, his total declared asset stands at Rs49,73,55,871 (49 crore-plus) and liabilities of Rs 4,15,02,118.

The survey also states that out of the 57 MPs analysed, 13 have declared criminal cases against themselves and seven MPs have declared seri-ous criminal cases, including cases related to attempt to murder, cheat-ing and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, and theft.

55 new Rajya Sabha MPs are crorepatis

IANS

HYDERABAD: The judges of sub-ordinate courts and lawyers in Telangana continued their protest yesterday over the suspension of 11 judges by the Hyderabad High Court.

More than 150 judges extended their mass leave till July 15 to protest suspension of 11 of their colleagues by the High Court.

The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, which serves both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, sus-pended two judges on Monday and nine more on Tuesday for partici-pating in a rally to protest allotment of Andhra-origin judges to subordi-nate courts in Telangana.

The judges, who went on mass leave on Tuesday, decided to extend it indefinitely after the High Court suspended nine more of their col-leagues. The lawyers in Telangana also continued their protest across the state. The high court turned into a fortress as police beefed up secu-rity to foil the ‘Chalo High Court’ agitation called by the lawyers’ Joint Action Committee. Four law-yers were arrested when they tried to break through the security cordon to proceed towards the High Court building. The lawyers staged protests

at various courts in Hyderabad and nine other districts. A scuffle broke out between the protesting lawyers and police at Sangareddy court in Medak district. The protesters were trying to lock the court premises.

The High Court took action against the judges after they par-ticipated in a march to Raj Bhavan which was organised by the Telan-gana Judicial Officers’ Association to protest the appointment of And-hra-origin judges.

They also submitted their res-ignations to association President Ravinder Reddy, authorising him to forward the same to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, who is their appointing authority, after July 2 if the provisional list of allotment was not recalled by then.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called on the Governor. He is believed to have dis-cussed the issue of the bifurcation of the High Court and the ongoing pro-test by judges and lawyers.

Rao had sent a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, urging him to expedite the process of bifurcation. The Chief Minister had also urged him to issue a notification to take up division and allocation of judicial officers and staff after the High Courts of the two states start functioning separately.

Telangana lawyers’

protest continues

Soldiers of the 33rd Panzergrenadier bataillon run past a Puma armoured infantry fighting vehicle during a drill at the headquarters of the 33rd Panzergrenadier bataillon in Neustadt am Ruebenberge, yesterday.

Eyeing the target

EUROPE12 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

MOSCOW: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has sacked the commander of the Bal-tic Fleet and his chief of staff for “dereliction of duty” and “distortion of the real state of things”, Russian media reported yesterday.

Shoigu cited “serious drawbacks” in the mili-tary training and everyday activities of the fleet’s units and “a lack of proper care for the personnel”.

France probes

new threats to

Charlie HebdoPARIS: French police are probing new threats against satirical maga-zine Charlie Hebdo, the target of a jihadist attack in January 2015 that left 12 dead, a source said yesterday.

The publication has received a series of threat-ening messages on its Facebook page since June 8, and on June 22 a hand-written letter was posted to the newsroom contain-ing the same threats.

Ukraine opera

singer dead in

separatist east

KIEV: A Ukrainian opera singer who performed for two decades in France before joining Kiev’s vol-unteer forces fighting pro-Russian insurgents has been killed in the sep-aratist east, officials said.

Wassyl Slipak, a bar-itone born in 1974, left France and joined armed wing of Ukraine’s ultra-nationalist Pravy Sektor party shortly after a war.

Rescuers find

20 lost children

LONDON: Police said rescuers had found 20 schoolchildren who were lost yesterday in the Brecon Beacons, a moun-tainous area in Wales.

“We are pleased to confirm that following res-cue operation on Brecon Beacons all 26 members of the party involved have been accounted for,” a police spokesman said.

Russia sacks

Baltic Fleet

commander European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned Britain did not have “months to meditate” before triggering Article 50.

AFP

BRUSSELS: European leaders met yesterday without Britain for the first time in 40 years to prepare for life after the Brexit bombshell, as the race began to succeed Prime Minis-ter David Cameron.

Highlighting the seismic shock from last week’s referendum, one person who was in Brussels how-ever was Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, “utterly determined” to see Scotland remain in the EU.

Britain “made the decision that it did. And this morning it looks like they aren’t sitting at the table any more,” European Commission Pres-ident Jean-Claude Juncker said.

A summit described as “sad” on Tuesday, Cameron won some breath-ing space from the remaining 27 leaders. .

EU President Donald Tusk said he understood that time was needed “for the dust to settle” before the next steps can be taken.

However, Juncker warned Brit-ain did not have “months to meditate” before triggering Article 50—the EU treaty clause that begins the two-year withdrawal process—after Cameron’s successor takes office in September.

And German Chancellor Angela

Merkel warned that London could not “cherry-pick” the terms of the exit negotiations.

Some in Brussels are concerned that giving Britain favourable divorce terms will spark a domino effect of others leaving the union, set up six decades ago to foster peace on the continent after World War II.

“We need more than ever a united Europe, in contrast to a dis-united UK,” Luxembourg’s Prime

Minister Xavier Bettel said yesterday.Cameron flew back to London,

as Sturgeon headed in the opposite direction to test the waters in Brus-sels for her country joining the bloc as a separate entity.

Sturgeon met European Parlia-ment President Martin Schulz and was to hold talks with Juncker. Top of the agenda at yesterday’s EU meeting was how remaining 27 members can bolster unity after Brexit.

Merkel has called for a “new impulse” for the EU and stepped-up cooperation in areas including defence, jobs and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, both main political parties in Britain are in turmoil with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn refusing to resign despite a crushing no-confidence vote.

Within the governing Conserv-atives, nominations opened for a successor to Cameron.

Reuters

BRUSSELS: Belgium is receiving hundreds of requests from British nationals keen to get Belgian citizen-ship following the decision of British voters in last Thursday’s referendum to back leaving the European Union, officials said.

Nearly 24,000 British citizens live in Belgium, about a third of them in the capital Brussels, where many work for the EU institutions and for Nato which are based in the city.

Dominique Dufourny, the mayor of Ixelles borough of Brussels, said around 40 people had come to get the necessary documents in the last few days.

“It doesn’t stop. Some have been queuing up for information since 7.30 this morning,” she said.

Other Brussels boroughs speak of similar numbers of British citi-zens requesting information about becoming Belgians.

About 50 requests have arrived on local government desks in the affluent suburbs of Uccle and Woluwe Saint Lambert.

“Normally we rarely have any-body requesting information about citizenship,” a spokeswoman for Woluwe Saint Lambert said. “Since

Friday there has been an explosion.”People are eligible for Belgian

citizenship if they have lived and worked in the country for more than five years and can show a basic com-mand of one of the country’s three official languages: Dutch, French or German.

Those who have not worked need to have lived in Belgium for more than 10 years but also need to prove that they have integrated into Belgian society to some extent.

About 1.3 million Britons live in other EU member states, while some three million EU citizens currently live in Britain.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said there will be no change in their status for the time being. The Brexit negotiations are expected to last several years.

Dennis Landsbert-Noon, a Brit-ish national based in Tervuren, in the commuter belt outside Brussels, said he was gathering documents needed to apply for Belgian citizen-ship for himself, his wife and their four children.

“I believe that the consequences of Brexit on Britain will be cata-strophic in both the short and long term and I do not want to condemn my children to belong solely to a nation that is on the road to ruin,” he told reporters.

Reuters

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured) promised yesterday to clamp down on hate crime in wake of a spike in racially motivated incidents since Britain voted to leave the European Union which have spread fear among ethnic minority groups.

Muslim and Eastern European communities have reported a spate of incidents across the country after last week’s Brexit vote, which followed a campaign in which immigration had played a key role.

Dozens of people have reported being abused and told to “go home” in the street, offensive leaflets have been distributed and graffiti daubed on a Polish community centre in Lon-don. Police said online reports of hate crime incidents rose by 57 percent.

“We will not tolerate hate crime or any kind of attacks against peo-ple in our country because of their

ethnic origin,” Cameron told law-makers who repeatedly asked him to provide support to EU nationals living in Britain.

Cameron said he had reassured European leaders at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday night after they had expressed concern about what they had heard was happening in

Britain.Critics accuse some in the

“Leave” campaign of having stoked xenophobia and racism as part of a message that exiting the bloc would allow Britain to regain control of its borders and stop uncontrolled immi-gration, which many Britons blame for putting pressure on jobs and pub-lic services.

Home Office (interior minis-try) minister Karen Bradley said extra funding would be provided to tackle hate crime, to boost reporting of offences and to provide security at potentially vulnerable institutions.

“In recent days we have seen far-right groups engaged in organised marches and demonstrations sowing division and fears in our communi-ties,” Bradley said.

“We have also seen far-right groups broadcasting extreme rac-ist and anti-Semitic ideology online along with despicable hate speech posted online following the shock-ing death of our colleague Jo Cox.”

LuxLeaks

whistleblowers

get suspended

jail sentences

AFP

LUXEMBOURG: Two whistle-blowers in the “LuxLeaks” tax scandal were given suspended jail sentences yesterday for leak-ing thousands of documents that exposed Luxembourg’s huge tax breaks for major international companies.

The LuxLeaks scandal sparked a major global push against generous deals handed to multinationals that grew even further after the Panama Papers revelations earlier this year.

Former PricewaterhouseCoop-ers employees Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet received 12-month and nine-month sentences respec-tively while journalist Edouard Perrin was acquitted of all charges.

Judge Marc Thill recognised the defendants’ status as whistle-blowers and their “undeniable contribution... to greater trans-parency” on tax matters.

The documents revealed huge tax breaks that Luxem-bourg offered international firms including Apple, IKEA and Pepsi, at a time when Jean-Claude Juncker, now head of European Commis-sion, was prime minister.

AFP

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday lifted Mos-cow’s travel restrictions to Turkey and ordered trade ties normal-ised after his first phone call with counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan since Ankara downed a Russian jet last year.

In wake of November incident Moscow slapped range of sanctions on Ankara, including an embargo on some Turkish food products and ban on charter flights and sales of package tours to the country and the reintro-duction of visas for Turkish visitors.

“I want to start with the ques-tion of tourism... we are lifting the administrative restrictions in this area,” Putin told government min-isters in televised comments.

“I ask that the Russian gov-ernment begins the process of normalising general trade and eco-nomic ties with Turkey,” he said.

The breakthrough phone call by Putin to Erdogan came after the Turkish strongman on Monday sent a letter to the Kremlin leader that Moscow said contained an apology.

In a statement, the Kremlin said Putin expressed “profound condo-lences” over the Monday bombing

and shooting attack at Istanbul’s main airport that killed at least 41 people and was pinned by Ankara on Islamic State group.

The Turkish presidency said in a statement that Erdogan and Putin “highlighted importance of the normalisation of bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia.”

Erdogan is expected to meet with Putin in September on the sidelines of the forthcoming G20 summit in China for their first face-to-face talks since the start of the diplomatic row, a Turkish official said yesterday.

The downing of Russian warplane in Syria slammed the brakes on bur-geoning relations between Russia and Turkey and sparked a bitter war of words between the leaders.

Putin called it a “stab in the back” and demanded an apology from Erdogan.

Ankara has said Erdogan expressed his “regret” over the incident in Monday’s letter to Putin and asked the family of the pilot who died to “excuse us”, but has not explicitly confirmed he apologised for shooting down the plane.

Turkey has argued that the Rus-sian plane strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings, but Russia insisted it did not cross the border and accused Turkey of a “planned provocation.”

Britain appoints

Robbins to head

EU divorce unitReuters

LONDON: Britain has appointed Oliver Robbins, a senior official at the interior ministry, to head the unit that will help negoti-ate an exit from the European Union.

Robbins, Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, will move to his new role as head of the EU unit on July 4, the Cab-inet Office said.

“He will offer the very best advice and support to the government through these unprecedented times to ensure we secure the best possible deal for the UK,” Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood said.

EU leaves UK out in cold as PM race begins

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (left) and EU Council President Donald Tusk arrive for a joint press during a EU Summit meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels, yesterday.

British expats rush to become Belgian

Putin lifts travel curbs to Turkey

Cameron vows action on hate crime

Activists take part in a fast and vigil demanding abolishment of death penalty, in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Dead against death penalty

A US Army Specialist monitors security line at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens borough of New York, yesterday. The airport was briefly evacuated after a police dog flagged an unattended bag. Roads in and out of JFK’s Terminal 5 were closed for about an hour.

Security alert at JFK Airport

AMERICAS 13THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Reuters

OTTAWA: Canada, the United States and Mexico yesterday vowed to deepen their economic ties, pushing back against anti-free-trade sentiment that has shifted political debate in the United States and Europe.

The three nations are member of the North American Free Trade Agree-ment (NAFTA), which US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to renegotiate or scrap if he wins power in November’s election.

US President Barack Obama, Cana-dian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, meeting at a “Three Amigos” summit in Ottawa, said an efficient North Amer-ican economy was vital for creating good-paying, middle-class jobs.

“We will build upon this strong trilateral economic relationship, and further facilitate trade among our three countries, and improve the networks that allow us to produce products and services together,” they said in a statement.

Trump says free trade has been disastrous, costing thousands of U.S. jobs and depressing wages.

Similar complaints were heard in Britain ahead of a surprise referendum vote last week to leave the European Union and its free trade area.

Trump also opposes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was signed in February but may well not be ratified by the United States amid increasing domestic resistance. Obama said yesterday he was committed to ensuring the pact contained high labor and trade standards.

The Ottawa summit, Trudeau’s first and President Barack Obama’s last, could be the final harmonious one

between the three countries if Trump wins the White House.

Pressed about Trump’s remarks on NAFTA, a Canadian official said the three nations had generated almost 27 percent of the world’s gross domes-tic product in 2015 while accounting for seven percent of the population.

One obstacle to free trade is the dumping of products at artificially low prices, and Trudeau, Obama and Pena Nieto said they agreed on the need for the governments of all major steel-mak-ing nations to address excess capacity.

Although they did not single out any particular country, the United States has acted several times to prevent dump-ing of some Chinese steel products.

The leaders usually meet about once a year. The trio will also discuss Brit-ain’s vote to leave the EU, which wiped more than $2 trillion off global equity markets and dealt a huge blow to the EU.

“The president will obviously want an opportunity to discuss ... how we may be able to coordinate our efforts to insulate ourselves ...,” US National Security Council official Mark Feierstein told reporters on Tuesday.

The three have pledged to produce 50 percent of their nations’ electric-ity from clean energy by 2025.

The North American countries plan initiatives including cutting power

waste by aligning 10 appliance effi-ciency standards or test procedures by

2019, the White House said in a state-ment yesterday.

Reuters

SAO PAULO: A verdict in the impeach-ment trial of Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff (pictured) will not be reached until after the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in late August, O Globo newspaper said yesterday.

Citing advisers to Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who will preside over the trial in the Senate, the newspaper said a final judgment was expected fol-lowing August 26, five days after the games end.

The first Olympic Games to be held in South America are due to open on August 5 amid political turmoil, con-cern about an outbreak of the Zika virus and Brazil’s deepest recession since the 1930s.

Brazilian media had speculated that Rousseff’s trial on charges of breaking budgetary rules could con-clude in the middle of the games in what would be an embarrassment for the host nation.

Brazil’s Senate voted on May 12 to put Rousseff on trial and a committee, which has been hearing testimony from witnesses, is expected to present its findings to the plenary on Aug. 9.

Lewandowski is expected to con-vene a final hearing in the full Senate after August 25 but it is not clear how long it could take to reach a judgment, O Globo reported.

Newspaper surveys of senators suggest Rousseff is likely to be found guilty and dismissed from office.

Interim President Michel Temer needs to confirm Rousseff’s ouster as

quickly as possible to gain the legiti-macy he needs to push through tough measures to salvage Brazil’s tank-ing economy.

A budgetary crisis in Rio de Janei-ro’s state government has fuelled concerns about its preparedness to host the global sporting event.

With its economy hard hit by a slump in oil prices, Rio de Janeiro state declared a financial emergency this month and has appealed to the federal government for 2.9bn reais ($891m) in budgetary support.

The acting state governor, Fran-cisco Dornelles, told O Globo that the payment, approved last week, had not yet been received and warned that Games could be a “big failure” if cer-tain steps were not taken.

Dornelles was optimistic the games would be a success but said police patrols could run out of money for fuel as soon as the end of this week if the money was not received.

Some 85,000 police and soldiers are due to be deployed in Rio dur-ing the Olympics to ensure security.

Firefighters

control most of

California blaze

Reuters

LOS ANGELES: Firefighters in central California had by yester-day contained most of a wildfire ranked as the biggest and deadliest of several blazes raging across the state in an early summer heat wave.

Crews had cut containment lines around 60 percent of the fire, named Erskine, up from 15 percent, in the foothills near Lake Isabella in Kern County, about 180 km north of Los Angeles. A major highway through the area had also been reopened and more evacuees had been allowed to return home, authorities said.

Some 1,800 firefighters were battling the blaze. Firefighters will work to strengthen contain-ment lines and extinguish spot fires brought by potentially strong winds as dry brush and grass continue to fuel the flames.

AP

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT: A plume of black smoke alerted the crew of a cargo vessel to possible distress. As they pulled closer in the Atlantic Ocean, they found a fishing boat engulfed in flames and the sailors in the water.

The ship, K Coral, hoisted 17 fisher-men aboard. Two others drifted away while clinging to wreckage. Lookouts searched for several hours, through

nightfall and heavy wind and rain, before the crew pulled them both to safety as well.

The ship arrived this week to unload steel in New Haven, Connecti-cut, where a delegation from the US Coast Guard honoured the captain and crew for carrying out the rescue last week 900 miles southeast of Bermuda.

Park Hyog Soo, the South Korean captain of the Panama-flagged K Coral, provided a minute-by-minute account of the rescue effort in dispatches to the Coast Guard and Bermuda authorities.

After spotting the smoke from about four miles away, the 620-feet vessel changed course and as it approached the burning vessel, the crew saw a flare shot into the sky. Within a few hours, the first 17 men were aboard the ship, including two people with severe burns.

The crew of the K Coral smeared honey on the wounds and applied dressings for the two burn victims, one of whom would die from his inju-ries. Meanwhile, the ship continued to look for the other survivors. Seven

hours into the search, which by then also involved a second ship, the K Cor-al’s crew spotted the two men in the darkness.

“One survivor safely on board and the other look outs lost sights due to heavy rain,” the captain wrote. It took about two more hours to find and res-cue the last man.

The K Coral’s shipping agent in New Jersey, Mehmet Uygun, said he became emotional as he received the updates from the crew and thought about the difficulties they were facing.

AP

DALLAS: Three missing crew mem-bers from the two freight trains that collided head-on in the Texas Panhandle are presumed dead, the Texas Depart-ment of Public Safety said yesterday.

Emergency personnel at the scene of Tuesday’s collision about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo have moved to a recovery operation, DPS Sgt. Dan Buesing said. Each train had a two-member crew. One man jumped in the moments before the crash and remained hospitalized Wednesday with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

The two BNSF Railway freight trains were on the same track when they collided, triggering a fireball and causing containers and cars to

tumble onto one another in a pileup. The wreckage continued to smolder early yesterday as crews worked to remove the charred, twisted box cars from the tracks. One train had ear-lier stopped in Amarillo to refuel for its trip to Chicago, and that diesel fuel contributed to a fire that burned into the night, Buesing said.

“You have two engines on each train with fuel and the eastbound train had stopped in the Amarillo yard and may have had extra fuel added for the trip out east,” he said. The westbound train was headed to Los Angeles.

Freight cars and containers were derailed and strewn about 400 yards from the collision site just outside the town of Panhandle, Buesing said. Floodlights were brought in overnight to aid emergency workers trying to quell the flames and start the search for the three crew members, he said.

Both trains carried stacked con-tainers of consumer goods.

It’s not clear how fast the trains were travelling when they collided, but the speed limit in that area is 70 mph and BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said they were “travelling at less than track speed.”

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the NTSB has opened an investigation, and the Federal Railroad Administra-tion said it has investigators on site.

BNSF has pledged to meet a 2018 federal deadline to adopt technology, called positive train control or PTC, that relies on GPS, wireless radio and computers to monitor train positions and automatically slow or stop trains that are in danger of colliding, derail-ing due to excessive speed or about to enter track where crews are working or that is otherwise off limits.

North American leaders vow to boost tradeUS President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, met at a “Three Amigos” summit in Ottawa.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (left), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (centre) and US President Barack Obama walk together at the National Gallery of Canada at the start of North American Leaders’ Summit in Ottawa, yesterday.

Verdict in Rousseff trial after Olympics

Vessel rescues 19 fishermen from burning boat off Bermuda

Three train workers in Texas wreck presumed dead

Yesterday’s answer

Yesterday’s answer

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The Peninsula contest winner publishes cookbookBy Pramod Prabhakaran The Peninsula

DOHA: Zaika — The essence of true simplicity and flavour of food — is a new cookbook published by a longtime Qatar resident.

True to its name, it has many mouth-watering and flavourful recipes made with easy-to-find local ingre-dients that have a strong Indian influence.

What makes this book of recipes by a longtime contributor to The Peninsula —Riniki Ghosh — spe-cial is the way she explains every recipe in depth with appropriate footnotes explaining various ingredients and techniques.

Ghosh has been interested in cooking from child-hood and spends time fine-tuning her recipes to perfection. This passion for cooking and food is vis-ible on the pages of this book.

She was a regular contributor to the weekly rec-ipe contest organised by The Peninsula and over the years has won many times.

“Contributing to ‘The Peninsula Recipe Contest’ gave me an opportunity to experiment with new rec-ipes and winning the contest gave me confidence to publish a book with my recipes,” Ghosh said.

She has also won many other contests in Qatar and India and has contributed recipes to various publications.

“I have been cooking for a long time. My son and husband are foodies and they intensely enjoy my cooking and encourage me to try out new dishes. They, along with my friends, prodded me to com-pile all my special recipes and put them together in a book,” she added.

On rare occasions when she has used not-so-com-mon ingredients, Ghosh has provided substitutes easily available at the local markets.

The book contains recipes popular among The Peninsula readers, like Sweet and Sour Cold Salad and Exotic Spring Mocktail, which won prizes in the

recipe contest. A few dishes in the book like Fish Pulao and Mustard Egg Delight have a distinct Bengali influ-ence of Ghosh’s home state in India.

In dishes like Quinoa Kebabs and Crunchy vege-table Cornflake Kebabs she has mixed and matched Indian flavours to Middle Eastern and Western ingre-dients with great success.

An enthusiastic food lover, Ghosh has attended many workshops in Qatar and abroad and has learned many of her techniques from chefs during her travel.

“I like to talk to chefs and take tips from them. During one of my trips to Sri Lanka, I got a chance to

learn pickling from local chefs there. These tips help while experimenting with my recipes,” Ghosh said.

Zaika contains 40 recipes divide into starters, main courses, rice, vegetable dishes, fish and prawns, poultry, mutton and desserts.

“Most of the recipes in my book are made regu-larly at our home. A few dishes, like the kebabs, were created in recent times. Ingredients like Quinoa are not used much in Indian cuisine, this got me think-ing how to use it in an Indian context and the result is Quinoa Kebab,” Ghosh said.

Riniki Ghosh can be contacted at riniki.ghosh@gmail.com

Author Riniki Ghosh with her cookbook Zaika. Pic Salim M/The Peninsula.

ECB happy to stay put after Brexit vote as markets regain poise

PAGE | 18 PAGE | 20Oman oil firm PDO

raises $4bn of project financing

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THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016 • 25 RAMADAN 1437 @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatarthepeninsulaqatar

By Mohammad ShoebThe Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar’s investment in the UK has reached £30bn (nearly QR150bn), which is expected to grow further in the near future as the country remains well positioned to weather the eco-nomic challenges it faces, David

Cameron (pictured), the British Prime Minister said.

Cameron told the global publish-ing, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) that he was confident economic cooperation between Qatar and the UK could con-tinue to grow.

“The fall in global energy prices will – as elsewhere – have an impact on Qatar’s economy; however, Qatar is well placed to respond,” he said. “If we can continue to be competitive, flexible and proactive, maintaining our position as Qatar’s leading Euro-pean trading partner, then we can achieve an increased volume of bilat-eral annual trade beyond £5bn (about QR25bn).”

The British Prime Minister’s thoughts on UK-Qatar relations will appear in full in ‘The Report: Qatar

2016’, OBG’s forthcoming publica-tion on the country’s economy. The report will contain a detailed, sec-tor-by-sector guide for investors, alongside contributions from lead-ing personalities, including Qatar’s

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.

In his commentary, Cameron highlighted the benefits that both countries had gained from a healthy trading relationship. British firms, he said, were playing a part in Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup and National Vision 2030 initiatives, rolling out projects in healthcare, education and financial services, among others.

Qatar’s £30bn (about150bn) investment in the UK, meanwhile, had produced a raft of projects which range from contributing to a liquefied natural gas terminal in Wales to real estate and retail initiatives, he added. “Two of the most iconic London build-ings, Harrods in Knightsbridge and the Shard in the City, are both owned by Qatar,” he noted.

Cameron also highlighted the “shared interest” that the UK and Qatar had in security. “Qatar’s secu-rity cannot be separated from the UK’s,” he said. “The security of both the UK and Qatar is linked to regional security and stability.”

The Report: Qatar 2016 will be a vital guide to the many facets of the country, including its macroeconom-ics, infrastructure, banking and other sectoral developments. The report will be available in print and online.

OBG is a global publishing, research and consultancy firm, which publishes economic intelli-gence on the markets of the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin Amer-ica and the Caribbean. Through its range of print and online products, OBG offers comprehensive and accu-rate analysis of macroeconomic and

sectoral developments, including banking, capital markets, insur-ance, energy, transport, industry and ICT. The Report: Qatar 2016 will be produced in partnership with the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. Contributions will also be made by the professional services firm PwC Qatar and the law firm Pinsent Masons.

The critically acclaimed economic and business reports have become the leading source of business intel-ligence on developing countries in the regions they cover. OBG’s online economic briefings provide up-to-date in-depth analysis on the issues that matter for tens of thousands of subscribers worldwide. OBG’s consul-tancy arm offers tailor-made market intelligence and advice to firms cur-rently operating in these markets and those looking to enter them.

Qatar’s investment in UK reaches QR150bn: British PMCameron said British firms were playing a part in Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup and National Vision 2030 initiatives.

AFP

DUBAI: Dubai’s transport authority announced yesterday it had awarded a French-led consortium a $2.88bn contract to extend its metro network to the site of the Expo 2020 world trade fair.

The consortium, led by France’s Alstom Conglomerate and also including Spain’s Acciona and Tur-key’s Gulermak, will construct a 15 kilometre (nine mile) extension to the site of the fair, a statement said.

Alstom will supply 50 trains, 15 of them for the new extension and 35 to upgrade existing services, the statement said.

Ten international consortiums bid for the project, it said. “Negotiations were made with two of them in the final stage,” it added.

Road and Transport Authority

chairman Mattar Al Tayer said that a Japanese-led consortium including “capable” Mitsubishi was the runner-up but Alstom’s offer was cheaper.

“Both of them are competent but financially we find it cheaper for us to go with Alstom,” he said.

The government has already pro-vided $409m for the first six months, Tayer said, adding that the RTA has different options for funding the remainder of the project. The con-sortium, dubbed Expolink, will begin work on the project in the final quar-ter of 2016, Tayer told a briefing.

Services should begin on May 20, 2020, five months ahead of the trade fair, he said.

Alstom led a consortium that built Dubai’s 10-kilometre tramway, which cost just over one billion dollars and opened in 2014.

The Dubai Metro, which trans-formed transportation in the Gulf city

state when it opened in September 2009, was built by a consortium led by Japan’s Mitsubishi.

Alstom chief Henri Poupart-Lafarge said his consortium was “proud to have been chosen,” describ-ing the contract as a “new major award for Alstom in the UAE”.

“We will bring the most innova-tive and cutting-edge technologies to Route 2020 project and continue to be reliable partners of RTA,” he told reporters.

“We are the world leaders in inte-grated urban systems. We equally have strong experience here in Dubai... Our international experi-ence and our local knowledge here and in the Gulf allowed us to make a good offer,” he later said.

The metro was projected to cost $4.4bn when work began in 2004, but that had surged to $7.6bn by the time it was completed.

Alstom-led consortium awarded$2.88bn Dubai metro contract

Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) chairman, Mattar Al Tayer (fourth left), and head of French industrial giant Alstom, Henri Poupart-Lafarge (third right), hold a press conference on the Route 2020 metro expansion project in Dubai yesterday.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Ooredoo and the Qatar Chamber (QC) yesterday signed a major cooperation agreement that will see the two organisations work together to better represent Qatar’s business community and support the Qatar National Vision 2030.

The agreement was signed by Yousuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi, CEO, Ooredoo Qatar, and Saleh Hamad Al Sharqi, Director-General of QC at a signing ceremony held at the Oore-doo headquarters.

Through the collaboration agreement, Ooredoo and the QC will coordinate a series of initiatives in Qatar and internationally designed to highlight the wide range of busi-ness opportunities across all sectors in Qatar.

As part of the agreement, Oore-doo and the QC will develop training programmes to enable employees to deploy the Chamber’s facilities, and exchange information that will help both organisations pursue their objectives.

The two organisations will also exchange information and develop services that offer expert guid-ance and advice across a range of

business sectors.In addition, Ooredoo will provide

communication services and inno-vative apps to support the Chamber’s outreach activities to the business community.

In return, the Chamber will work to connect its members with Ooredoo when they require busi-ness services and new technology, helping to drive innovation across industries and support the growth of the knowledge-based economy.

Al Kubaisi said: “Ooredoo is working to be the leading integrated ICT provider in Qatar to provide a range of innovative solutions to a full range of companies. Working with the Qatar Chamber, we will be able to connect with a broader spec-trum of organisations and help drive innovation across Qatar in support of the growth of the knowledge-based economy.”

Al Sharqi (of QC) said: “Collab-oration between the public and private sector is vital for Qatar to achieve its economic goals, and this agreement will help promote innovation throughout the busi-ness sector. We look forward to working with Ooredoo across a range of key initiatives moving forward.”

Ooredoo and Qatar Chamber sign cooperation agreement

Abu Dhabi to merge sovereign funds Mubadala and IPICReuters

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi will merge two of its most important investment funds, Mubadala Development Co and International Petroleum Invest-ment Co. (IPIC), responding to the impact of lower oil prices by pooling their investment power and consol-idating operations.

With oil prices still below half the levels they were at two years ago, all Gulf sovereign funds are having to adjust their strategies to cope with lower inflows. Mubadala did not receive any new cash from the government in 2015 for the first time in at least eight years.

The combined fund would have assets worth around $135bn, according to Reuters calculations based on both funds’ latest finan-cial statements.

Yesterday, Abu Dhabi said it had formed a committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahayan to oversee the combination of Mubadala and IPIC.

“The merger of the two com-panies augments the investment advantages and economic revenue for Abu Dhabi, and creates a body capable of achieving the highest level of integration and growth in multiple sectors, including energy, technology and space industry,” the agency said.

The tie-up, which was being approached as a merger of equals, should be completed by the end of 2017, a source close to the dis-cussions told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject.

While not adopting the radical approach of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which aims to completely revamp its economy through a national transformation plan, Abu Dhabi has been slowly reforming key parts of its economic infra-structure to cope with reduced oil revenues.

Yousuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi, COO of Ooredoo Qatar, and Saleh Hamad Al Sharqi, Director-General of Qatar Chamber, signing the agreement.

QE 9,877.75 +09.81 PTS

DOW 17,645.72 +236.00 PTS

FTSE100 6,336.19 +195.80 PTS

BRENT $49.13 +$1.28

BUSINESS18 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

AFP

LONDON: Britain’s banking sector is “well placed” to deal with the fall-out after the country’s shock vote to leave the European Union, the min-ister overseeing the financial sector said yesterday.

Harriett Baldwin, addressing a retail banking conference in central London, told delegates that the indus-try -- ravaged by the global financial

crisis -- had adequate capital and liquidity to weather Brexit.

World stock markets tumbled in the immediate aftermath of the June 23 referendum but have rebounded strongly over the past two sessions on bargain-hunting that some ana-lysts argue will not last.

“British banks are well placed to manage the uncertainty resulting from last week’s vote,” said Baldwin, whose title is Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

“Since the financial crisis in 2008... both the government and the industry have been working extremely hard to ensure that the UK has a safer and stronger banking sector.”

She added: “UK banks have col-lectively raised over £130bn ($173bn, €157bn) of capital and now have more than £600bn of high quality liquid assets.

“So our institutions have enough capital and liquidity to withstand a period of severe market volatility.”

In reaction to the Brexit vote, the Bank of England pledged Friday that it stood ready to pump more than £250 billion of funds to aid the smooth functioning of markets.

British commercial lenders on Tuesday had tapped the BoE for £3.1bn to help bolster their balance sheets in the wake of the shock vote.

So far this month, the central bank has injected a total of more than £9.0 billion into lenders in three funding auctions aimed at calming markets.

“Britain’s financial services sector has been through trying times before,” said Baldwin, referring to historic tur-moil that has included the 1987 stock market crash and the 1992 crisis when Britain pulled sterling out of the ERM, a precursor to the euro.

“Financial markets are capable of weathering challenges. They adapt quickly. They find new levels. They price in and offer ways of managing risks like these.”

Yesterday’s conference, hosted by industry body the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), also heard grow-ing concerns from delegates over the future of Britain’s membership of the single market and the so-called pass-porting scheme that currently allows London-based financial services firms to operate across the bloc.

Justin Bisseker, pan-European banks analyst at Schroders, said Brit-ons voted on June 23 against the wish of many big players in the City.

“The comfort point was obvi-ously the status quo, and that is why large businesses in the City voted for that,” he told delegates at the BBA conference.

“But there is a huge disconnect in this country that has been borne out of the financial crisis -- and a lot of this disconnect existed before -- between the haves and have nots.

“The City of London has recov-ered and has continued to thrive and do very well.

“I think the banks were recov-ering. Yes, shareholders have lost a lot of money -- but the gravy train of good solid dividends coming along was almost there for the taking.”

Meanwhile, Britain is still slashing state spending under a harsh auster-ity programme that was triggered by the global financial crisis.

The nation voted last week by 52 percent to 48 percent to quit the EU -- despite government warnings of a potential recession and hefty price hikes for consumers.

“For me... the experience of the man or woman in the street of the ‘Leave’ vote, is yet to be felt,” cau-tioned Bisseker.

“In an economic sense, it could be felt pretty quickly. Property prices, I am sure, will fall. A lot of people are saying (between) 15 and 20 percent.”

Meanwhile, Bank of England Gov-ernor Mark Carney is set to outline his thinking on how Britain’s econ-omy is coping with last week’s vote to

leave the European Union in a speech today, his second intervention since the shock referendum result.

The BoE said Carney would deliver a speech at 1500 GMT at the Bank and then take questions from journalists.

Last week’s decision by British voters to leave the EU shocked glo-bal financial markets, sending the pound to a 31-year low against the dollar earlier this week and wiping $3 trillion off stock markets around the world.

Markets have since stabilised but many economists expect Britain’s economy is now set for a reces-sion, something Carney said was a possibility ahead of the June 23 referendum.

Carney responded quickly to the result of the vote, saying early on Friday that the BoE would do what was needed as Britain’s econ-omy adjusts to the decision to leave the EU.

Reuters

MUSCAT: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the country’s top oil and gas exploration and production company, has obtained a $4bn loan from international banks, part of a rush of foreign borrowing by Oman as low oil prices strain state finances.

The five-year pre-export facility is the company’s first international loan and was priced at 160 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), state-owned PDO said yesterday.

“This competitive new source of funding will enable us to reduce reli-ance on government funding, so that it can redeploy resources to other areas of the economy,” said Raoul Restucci (pictured), PDO’s manag-ing director.

The loan will help to finance new oil and gas facilities in Oman, PDO said, adding that it planned to invest more than $20bn in the next five years.

Its projects include the Rabab Harweel facility, which is to develop 240 million barrels of oil and 100 million barrels of condensate while exporting 1 trillion cubic feet of non-associated gas when production starts in 2019.

In previous years state com-panies in Oman and other Gulf oil exporting countries largely financed such projects from state revenue. But state finances have been squeezed

by low oil and gas prices, forcing companies and the governments that own them to seek alternative financing while reduced petrodollar flows are tightening domestic bank-ing liquidity and forcing borrowers to look further afield.

The PDO deal is expected to clear the way for other state-linked Omani companies to take interna-tional loans, including a proposed $1.35bn facility by Oman Oil for its exploration and production sub-sidiary and a $250m loan for Oman Shipping, bankers said.

The pricing and size of the PDO’s loan indicate the country is still able to attract demand for its debt. PDO initially considered raising about $3 billion but increased that because of heavy demand, bankers said.

Nevertheless, the loan’s pre-export structure gives lenders more security than a plain sovereign loan.

UK banks ‘well-placed’ to manage Brexit: MinisterThe industry -- ravaged by the global financial crisis -- had adequate capital and liquidity to weather Brexit.

Oman oil firm PDO raises $4bn of project financing

Reuters

WASHINGTON/TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp has recalled 3.37 mil-lion cars worldwide over possible defects involving airbags and emis-sions control units. The automaker on Wednesday said it was recalling 2.87 million cars over a possible fault in emissions control units.

That followed an announcement

late on Tuesday that 1.43 million cars needed repairs over a separate issue involving air bag inflators.

Some of the automaker’s gaso-line-electric hybrid Prius models contain both of the potential defects, taking the total number of vehicles affected by the recalls to 3.37 million.

Toyota on Wednesday said evap-orative fuel emissions control units in models produced from 2006 to 2015 including the Prius, Auris compact hatchback and its popular Corolla

models were prone to cracks, which could expand over time and lead to fuel leaks.

Late on Tuesday it recalled Prius models and Lexus CT200h cars made from 2010 to 2012 over air bag infla-tors that could have a small crack in a weld, which could lead to the separa-tion of the inflator chambers.

The inflator could partially inflate and enter the vehicle inte-rior, increasing the risk of injury, Toyota said.

The Peninsula

DUBAI: Nissan recently unveiled the GT-R Drone – one ofthe fastest accelerating FPV (First Person View) racing drones in the world.

Built to be able to keep up with the new 2017 Nissan GT-R while film-ing on the track,the drone features the very latest in performance-enhancing technology, just like itsautomotive equivalent.

Custom designed by World Drone Prix Champions, Tornado XBlades Racing, the GT-RDrone uses a spe-cial race tuned configuration and low-drag canopy to reach 100kph-from a standstill in just 1.3 seconds.

To show off the talents of both machines, the GT-R Drone took on the road-going supercar around the challenging Silverstone circuit.

Both machines use incredi-ble technology and engineering to extract the maximumperformance, both in a straight line and through corners. The GT-R car transferspower from its twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter 24-valve V6 to all four wheels; the GT-RDrone delivers incredible accel-eration via four propellers mated with 2000kV XNovamotors and race specification Sky-Hero quad-copter frame.

The race saw Nissan NISMO

driver Ricardo Sanchez take the wheel of the new GT-R with James Bowles, the 2015 British National Drone Racing champion, piloting the GT-R Drone around a purpose-built 1.2-mile course at Silverstone.

The new 2017 GT-R represents the most significant changes to the car since the R35model was first intro-duced in 2007. Unlike the drone, the GT-R features new aerodynamic fea-tures, which are designed to keep it firmly on the ground.

While the drone can out

accelerate the car, wheels soon catch up with rotors: The GT-R Drone has a top speed of approximately 185kph, versus 315kph for theEuropean model car.

Even the incredible four-wheel-drive system of the GT-R can’t match the ultimate agilty of the drone, which is has a turning circle of just 0.3 meters. Its custom setupallows it to perform heart-stopping maneuvers with incredible precision and agility.

Both machines were on display at Goodwood Festival of Speed recently.

Nissan creates GT-R drone: 0-100 km/h in just 1.3 seconds

Porsche Panamera: A new experienceThe Peninsula

DOHA: The new Porsche Panamera reconciles two contrasting charac-teristics more than ever before: the performance of a genuine sports car and the comfort of a luxury saloon. In its second generation, Porsche’s Gran Turismo has been redefined and realigned, advancing to become a performance icon of the luxury class.

With the latest transformation, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer has systematically improved the Panamera concept and is therefore introducing a four-door car that has been redeveloped and rede-signed down to every last detail. This includes wholesale changes to the engines and transmission, a perfected chassis, and an interior concept reinterpreted for the future. The new Panamera also bridges the world of ambitious sports cars and that of comfortable cruising cars, thanks to a range of newly imple-mented features such as rear axle steering, active roll compensation and three-chamber air suspension.

At first glance, the unique concept of this four-door Porsche is reflected in a new expressive design. It is unmis-takably a Panamera, with recognisable sports car aesthetics, such as pro-nounced shoulders, athletic flanks and an extremely fast roof line that is 20 mm lower at the rear. This typical Porsche flyline creates a stylistic link

to Porsche’s design icon, the 911.The new model’s interior has

been reinterpreted for the future with black panel surfaces and interactive displays which combine to present an intuitive user interface similar to a smartphone, with all the practical requirements for controlling the car. For the benefit of the driver, front and rear passengers, classic hard keys and conventional instruments have been significantly reduced. Instead they have been replaced with touch-sensitive panels and individually configurable displays which take centre stage in the new Porsche Advanced Cockpit. Despite having an extended range of communication,

convenience and assistance systems, operation of the new functions is now easier than before.

All second generation Panamera engines have been redesigned to pro-duce more power, whilst significantly improving fuel economy and reduc-ing emissions. The Panamera Turbo and Panamera 4S now feature new biturbo direct injection engines. Both models can be equipped with a per-manent all-wheel drive system and a new eight-speed Porsche dual-clutch transmission (PDK). A V8 petrol engine that delivers 550 hp (404 kW) powers the Panamera Turbo, whilst a V6 pet-rol engine with 440 hp (324 kW) drives the Panamera 4S.

A car on display at a Toyota car dealership in the Hague, The Netherlands, yesterday.

Toyota recalls 3.37 million cars

Pertamina picks Shell to process Iraqi crude Reuters

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Pertamina has selected Shell to process a mil-lion barrels per month of Iraqi crude at a Singapore refinery, a senior official at the state-owned company said yesterday.

The quest for oil-process-ing capacity abroad is partly spurred by a lack of inves-tor interest in building domestic refineries because of unfavoura-ble investment conditions set by the government.

“We’ve selected Shell because they are the most competitive,” said Daniel Purba, senior vice president of Pertamina’s Integrated Supply Chain unit.

Purba added that the Shell deal is expected to be formalised in the coming weeks and will ini-tially run for the six months from July to December.

An estimated 900,000 barrels a month of gasoline for import will be produced from the Singapore refinery. “After that we’ll see how it goes; if it runs smoothly and what market conditions are like,” Purba said, adding that the arrangement is a far better solution than import-ing products directly.

Pertamina’s monthly Iraqi oil shipments to the Singapore refin-ery are likely to consist of 290,000 barrels from a stake in the West Qurna block and a further 700,000 barrels from other Iraqi fields.

BUSINESS 19THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

AFP

ZURICH: Analysts yesterday praised Nestle’s choice for its new chief executive, healthcare manager Ulf Mark Schneider, (pictured) as the food giant took a further step in its bid to become a leader in nutrition.

Schneider, 50, will take over on January 1, replacing outgoing chief Paul Bulcke who has been nominated to become the com-pany’s chairman.

In tapping Schneider for the post, Nestle bucked its near cen-tury-long track-record of picking in-house candidates for its top job.

The last time the company selected an outsider as chief

executive was in 1922, when banker Louis Dappels was brought in to reverse financial losses.

Nestle said Schneider’s selec-tion points towards a shift in the company’s strategy.

With concerns about ris-ing obesity on all continents, the company that has long been associated with fattening pack-aged foods wants to get in front of a global pivot towards nutrition and health. In announcing Schnei-der’s hiring, the company’s board “reconfirmed the long-term ori-entation for Nestle as a Nutrition, Health and Wellness company,” a statement said.

Markets welcomed the move, as Nestle’s stock closed Tuesday up 3.31 percent at 73.45 Swiss francs ($74.80, ¤67.74) on the

Swiss exchange.Choosing Schneider, a Ger-

man-US national who thrived as the head of the healthcare com-pany Fresenius, was consistent with that strategy, the board said.

“Schneider will trigger a new era at Nestle,” Bank Vontobel

analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy wrote. The new chief’s plans may include a “radical” streamlining of the company’s product portfolio, especially in traditional areas like chocolate and US frozen foods, while pursuing new opportuni-ties in the health sector, according to Bertschy.

“Nestle is in need of fresh legs,” Jefferies analyst Mar-tin Deboo said, according to the Bloomberg news agency. “Schnei-der’s track record is exceptional.”

Schneider, who will begin at Nestle for a transition period in September, said he was honoured to join “an iconic global company”.

“With consumers around the world taking a deeper interest in their personal health and well-being, Nestle’s industry-leading

global food and beverage business positions it well for advancing the vision of Nutri-tion, Health and Wellness,” he said in a statement.

In a study released this month, the UN-linked Global Nutrition Report said nearly two billion of the world’s estimated seven billion people are either obese or overweight. The World Health Organisation has said that affordable, healthy snack options generated by private sector com-panies are crucial to long-term health on the planet.

Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said the hiring was a “positive and a clear signal” that Nestle will “leverage nutrition and health into its food portfolio to drive growth.”

QE Index 9,877.75 0.10 %

QE Total Return Index 15,981.55 0.10 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,818.84 0.00 %

QE All Share Index 2,748.72 0.12 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services 2,661.71 0.05 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,018.64 0.15 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,470.31 0.38 %

QE All Share Real Estate 2,500.86 0.28 %

QE All Share Insurance 4,076.99 1.61 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,095.04 0.67 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services 6,369.9 0.45 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON

GOLD AND SILVER

WORLD STOCK INDICES

29-06-2016 Today 28-06-2016 Previous dayIndex 9,877.75 9,867.94

Change 9.81 51.19

% 0.10 0.52

YTD% 5.29 5.38

Volume 2,870,569 4,326,003

Value (QAR) 95,193,260.31 129,746,158.41

Trades 1,750 1,980

Up 18 | Down 12| Unchanged 07

GOLD QR154.7788 per grammeSILVER QR2.1419 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year LowAll Ordinaries 5221.009 41.359 0.8 5489.8 4762.1

Cac 40 Index/D 4192.48 103.63 2.53 4607.69 3892.46

Dj Indu Average 17409.72 269.48 1.57 18167.6 15370.3

Hang Seng Inde/D 20436.12 263.66 1.31 21794.84 18278.8

Iseq Overall/D 5531.74 85.29 1.57 6791.68 5286.65

Karachi 100 In/D 37786.57 709.94 1.91 39039.67 29785

Nikkei 225 Index 15566.83 243.69 1.59 18951.12 14864.01

S&P 500 Index/D 2036.09 35.55 1.78 2132.82 1810.1

EXCHANGE RATECurrency Buying Selling

US$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 4.8653 QR 4.9343

Euro QR 4.0139 QR 4.0697

CA$ QR 2.7803 QR 2.8358

Swiss Fr QR 3.6920 QR 3.7445

Yen QR 0.0352 QR 0.0358

Aus$ QR 2.6851 QR 2.7390

Ind Re QR 0.0533 QR 0.0544

Pak Re QR 0.0345 QR 0.0352

Peso QR 0.0768 QR 0.0784

SL Re QR 0.0246 QR 0.0251

Taka QR 0.0460 QR 0.0470

Nep Re QR 0.0333 QR 0.0340

SA Rand QR 0.2407 QR 0.2455

Reuters

DUBAI: Most stock markets in the Gulf nudged up yes-terday, supported by recoveries in oil and global equity prices after the shock of Britain’s vote to leave the Euro-pean Union last week, but turnover was small before summer and Eid al Fitr holidays.

Riyadh’s index added 0.3 percent, buoyed by the banking and telecommunications sectors, with phone operator Zain KSA climbing 1.3 percent to 7.95 riyals.

NCB Capital said in a note that strong revenue growth, improving market share and margin expansion were Zain KSA’s main strengths.

“The company is also expected to benefit from the reduction in interconnection charges, while capital expenditure is expected to continue with the support of the recent 2.25bn riyal ($600m) loan renewal,” the note added. NCB is neutral on Zain shares with a price target of 9.0 riyals.

Shares in retailer L’azurde Company for Jewellery closed 7.6 percent higher at 39.80 riyals as they listed, but came off their intra-day high of 40.70 riyals.

It is unusual for a Saudi stock not to end up its 10 percent daily limit on its first day of trade. The com-pany sold 12.9 million shares in its initial public offer at 37.0 riyals per share.

Main competitor Fitaihi Holding dropped 3.0 per-cent. L’azurde is the first retail company to list in Saudi Arabia this year, and its stock price performance in coming months may depend on the outlook for discre-tionary spending in the midst of an economic slowdown due to low oil prices.

Doha’s index nudged up 0.1 percent in the final hour of trade as investors bought shares with attractive divi-dend yields ahead of second-quarter corporate results. Doha Bank gained 1.6 percent; the lender has a 12-month forward dividend yield of 7.7 percent, according to Reu-ters data.

Dubai’s index fell 0.4 percent, sagging in the final hour of trade as investors booked profits in small and mid-cap stocks ahead of the holidays. Islamic insurer Dar Al Takaful slumped 10.0 percent. Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.2 percent. National Bank of Abu Dhabi, which is in talks to merge with fellow lender First Gulf Bank, added 1.2 percent. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank also gained 1.2 percent. Some analysts believe ADCB could merge with Union National Bank.

In Cairo, the main index added 0.2 percent. El Sewedy Electric, the top gainer, jumped 4.7 percent.

Gulf pushes higher but volumes subdued

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS - A LIST OF SHARES FROM THE WORLD

A C C-A/D 1598.25 -0.8 31116

Aarti Drugs-B/D 460.9 13.25 4539

Aban Offs-A/D 210.3 2.85 300543

Ador Welding-B/D 296 4.75 2309

Aegis Logis-B/D 127.3 -1.85 98092

Alembic-B/D 36.75 0.6 31553

Alkyl Amines-B/D 362.7 -7.15 1816

Alok Indus-A/D 4.34 -0.01 1335003

Apollo Tyre-A/D 151.55 3.35 282390

Asahi I Glass-/D 152.1 1.9 3450

Ashok Leyland-/D 98.95 -0.05 878686

Bajaj Hold-A/D 1647.45 59.8 2558

Ballarpur In-B/D 15.85 0.2 376971

Banaras Bead-B/D 39 0.4 1300

Bata India-A/D 551.3 12.15 27695

Beml Ltd-A/D 854.7 15.05 22613

Bh Electronic-/D 1270.05 16.6 21789

Bhansali Eng-T/D 19.6 0.1 19405

Bharat Bijle-B/D 938.45 20.25 4404

Bhartiya Int-B/D 514.9 9.5 9496

Bhel-A/D 121.95 2.75 722786

Bom.Burmah-B/D 400.2 -3.55 6572

Bombay Dyeing-/D 45.95 0.3 216084

Camph.& All-B/D 510 -7.15 1316

Canfin Homes-B/D 1222.05 48.9 6135

Caprihans-Xc/D 82 2.75 6748

Castrol India-/D 378.15 3.25 53830

Century Enka-B/D 226.5 2.6 14738

Century Text-A/D 647.35 7.45 137989

Chambal Fert-B/D 69.15 1.1 107125

Chola Invest-A/D 949.85 -6.9 1984

Chowgule St-T/D 14.6 -0.7 1500

Cimmco-B/D 71.25 -1.95 3814

Cipla-A/D 501.3 4.45 126232

City Union Bk-/D 110 1.1 56053

Colgate-A/D 910 12.65 40531

Container Cor-/D 1447.85 68.3 22457

Dai-Tichi Kar-/D 363 3.05 1355

Dcm Shram Ind-/D 171 4.85 23936

Dhampur Sugar-/D 120.45 3.65 487727

Dr. Reddy-A/D 3272.95 7.2 31230

E I H-B/D 111.95 -0.8 7219

E.I.D Parry-A/D 243.05 -0.05 48225

Eicher Motor-A/D 19110.45 -78.05 1487

Electrosteel-B/D 18.35 0.3 58048

Emco-B/D 26.5 0.95 19303

Escorts Fin-B/D 4.76 0.03 46071

Escorts-A/D 221.85 2.1 500859

Eveready Indu-/D 261 0.35 19753

F D C-B/D 182.95 1.3 8356

Federal Bank-A/D 56.25 0.3 177368

Ferro Alloys-B/D 4.83 0.16 76696

Finolex-A/D 424.95 9.15 11986

Gail-A/D 383.75 5.85 114656

Galada Power-B/D 16.5 0.9 4213

Gammon India-T/D 17.06 -0.66 481444

Garden P -B/D 35.65 -0.1 27304

Godfrey Phil-B/D 870.05 -31.9 33816

Goodricke-B/D 164.05 1.25 31298

Goodyear I -B/D 520 6.6 3837

Hcl Infosys-B/D 38.8 0.75 390759

Him.Fut.Comm-T/D 17.85 -0.1 884237

Himat Seide-B/D 229.2 3.5 36022

Hind Motors-T/D 4.9 0.07 231354

Hind Org Chem-/D 17.9 -0.1 51793

Hind Unilever-/D 888 0.25 96873

Hind.Petrol-A/D 988.5 -4.05 73530

Hindalco-A/D 119.95 1.9 553541

Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1247.25 18.25 92743

I F C I-A/D 26.2 0.35 1163905

Idbi-A/D 69.1 1.05 560371

Ifb Agro-B/D 413.7 5.7 2657

Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 329.55 -1.5 3663

India Cement-A/D 111.25 7.65 1693198

India Glycol-B/D 98.35 3.35 41826

Indian Card-B/D 259.6 2.45 3406

Indian Hotel-A/D 130.1 2.4 41335

Indo-Tcount-T/D 936.6 1.95 5726

Indusind-A/D 1108 23.45 281990

J.B.Chemical-B/D 251.2 4.65 21897

Jagatjit Ind-X/D 77 0.1 2227

Jagson Phar-B/D 41 -0.05 24829

Jamnaauto-B/D 172.2 3.45 95249

Jbf Indu-B/D 215.55 -0.35 10154

Jct Ltd-B/D 5.22 0.43 1615683

Jenson&Nich.-B/D 8.42 0.88 69425

Jik Indust-B/D 0.62 -0.03 22000

Jindal Drill-B/D 173 0.1 13794

Jktyre&Ind-A/D 89.6 2.4 401623

Jmc Projects-T/D 256 20.8 3521

Kabra Extr-B/D 105.8 1.7 7443

Kajaria Cer-A/D 1186.5 17.8 3438

Kakatiya Cem-B/D 453.75 21.6 46145

Kalpat Power-B/D 256.25 6.2 40736

Kalyani Stel-T/D 187.6 1.95 32894

Kanoria Chem-B/D 66.75 -0.9 22913

Kg Denim-B/D 79.05 -0.05 53013

Kilburnengg-Xd/D 54.5 0.2 9759

Kinetic Eng-B/D 81.9 0.6 1690

Kopran-B/D 52.25 0.25 47395

Lakshmi Elec-B/D 410 -0.25 1366

Lgb Broth-B/D 470 14.95 1958

Lloyd Metal-B/D 31.8 -0.1 80514

Lok.Hous&Con-T/D 5 0.23 24530

Lumax Ind-B/D 711 21.9 9163

Lupin-A/D 1532.95 -10.35 66497

Lyka Labs-T/D 69.55 1 14094

Mafatlal Ind-B/D 309.2 7.15 1794

Mah.Seamless-B/D 233.55 2.1 3167

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Whitbread/D 3463 72 556161

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME

NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME

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LONDON

New Nestle chief executive to lead health pivot

BUSINESS VIEWS20 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

European banks spend billions to get US units fit for the FedBy Yalman Onaran Bloomberg

DEUTSCHE Bank AG, Barclays Plc and 11 other foreign banks have spent several billion dollars in the past three years complying with a new

Federal Reserve rule that will trap capital in the US and boost costs.

Legal, technology and other compliance expenses totaled from $100m to as much as $500m at some of the biggest firms affected, according to five people with direct knowl-edge of the matter. They provided the data on the condition their companies’ individ-ual costs wouldn’t be disclosed.

The rule, which takes effect on July 1, requires foreign banks whose US assets exceed $50bn to create umbrella legal struc-tures for their local operations and take part in the Fed’s annual stress tests. The 10 larg-est banks affected had average operating expenses of $32bn last year, and a $500m tab would increase that by less than 2 percent. Still, three of the firms reported losses last year, and the added costs will make it more

difficult to cope with challenges including the UK vote to leave the European Union as well as Europe’s lagging economy, negative interest rates and legacy bad loans.

“That’s a lot of money for each bank, partic-ularly in the current environment when they’re having difficulty making money,” said Karen Shaw Petrou, a managing partner at Wash-ington-based research firm Federal Financial Analytics. “Banks have been spending lots more on compliance in recent years as regula-tions pile up on them. This takes money away from other tasks like entering new businesses.”

The Fed introduced the standard in 2012, saying it would help make US units of foreign banks safer even if their parents ran into trou-ble back home. It was designed to prevent a repeat of what happened during the financial crisis in 2008, when the Fed provided $538bn of emergency loans to European banks with operations in the US. Other European giants required to set up holding companies are Credit Suisse Group AG, BNP Paribas SA, UBS Group AG, Societe Generale SA and HSBC Holdings Plc. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Royal Bank of Canada are among the four non-European firms in the group. Spokesmen for the 10 banks with the largest operations

in the U.S. declined to comment on the costs of complying with the new rule.

Each consolidated US entity — called an Intermediate Holding Company, or IHC, because it’s positioned between a parent and its subsidiaries — has to abide by the same cap-ital and liquidity rules domestic institutions face. That’s forced some of them to increase capital levels at their US businesses, which is typically accomplished by converting some existing intra-group loans into equity. No cash gets moved — all that changes is the US unit’s balance of debt and equity. The end effect is a restriction on the international transfer of capital and liquidity for companies whose very business is to move money from mar-kets where funding is plentiful to regions with the biggest need for cash.

“Capital and liquidity being trapped here is a huge issue for our members as they comply with this new rule,” said Sally Miller, head of the Institute of International Bankers, a group that represents almost 100 banks with head-quarters outside the US. “That’s why you’ve seen many banks shrinking their US opera-tions in recent years.”

Foreign banks whose assets were just above the $50bn asset threshold have been taking steps

to get smaller so they won’t have to comply with the rule’s harshest elements. The Netherlands’ Rabobank Groep fell below the trigger at the end of 2013, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc obtained permission from the Fed to avoid setting up an IHC as it shrinks assets.

Some of their bigger competitors are get-ting smaller as well, though those moves have mostly been the result of global restructur-ing strategies aimed at refocusing on the most lucrative businesses, not the Fed rule.

“Our investment-banking business is smaller, like others, because of decisions we all took at the global level, exiting some busi-ness lines,” said Joe McGrath, co-head of banking at Barclays and the newly appointed chief executive officer of the firm’s IHC. Gearing up for stress tests, which U.S. banks have been facing since 2009, accounts for much of the new IHC costs. Banks are asked to calculate potential losses on hypothetical doomsday sce-narios and show they can weather them without going bust. JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest US bank by assets, has said it has 500 employees dedicated to the test. Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc have said they spent more than $100m each to improve their reporting capa-bilities after failing the tests in previous years.

By Helene Fouquet and John Detrixhe Bloomberg

THE City of London is fac-ing the first direct threat to its role as Europe’s domi-nant financial center as

French President Francois Hol-lande takes aim at a key pillar of the UK industry. “The City, which could handle clearing operations in euros thanks to the UK’s pres-ence in the EU, won’t be able to do them any more,” Hollande said after the first day of a European Union summit in Brussels.

Hollande is the second French leader to target London’s leading role in clearing euro-denominated transactions since Britons decided last week to leave the EU. Francois Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France and a member of the ECB’s Governing Council, said on Saturday that clearing cannot be located in London without fol-lowing EU rules.

Hollande wanted to illustrate the consequences of last week’s Brexit decision, and he will make clear-ing a key point in exit talks with the UK, according to French officials who asked not to be identified. The EU will seek concessions from Brit-ain in return for continued access to the single market, the officials said.

EU officials have said repeat-edly that freedom of movement for workers and adhering to mar-ket regulations are conditions for access to the single market. The negotiations may determine where clearing will fit in the UK’s future financial relationship with the EU, one of the officials said.

London’s role in clearing trades in the $493 trillion derivatives market came into focus when the European Central Bank lost a court case with the UK last year. The ECB had sought to bring clear-ing under its regulatory control by shifting it to a euro-area country.

The court ruling was seen at the time as reinforcing London’s status as Europe’s financial hub, but UK offi-cials have since said that Chancellor of the Exchequer’s George Osborne’s victory wouldn’t have been possi-ble were the country outside the EU.

Clearinghouses were embraced by regulators after the 2008 financial crisis, when the collapse of Lehman

Brothers Holdings Inc. threatened to bring down other institutions. Clearing firms stand between buyers and sellers, holding collateral from both, in case a member defaults. Big trading companies are increasingly required to use them.

The $384 trillion of interest-rate swaps in circulation make up the largest slice of the off-exchange derivatives market. In euros, about 70 percent of trading in that kind of swap takes place in the UK, com-pared with 11 percent in France and about 7 percent in Germany, according to Bank for International Settlements data from 2013, the most recent data available. The US traded 2 percent.

Disentangling euro-clearing from London could be a difficult task and raises other questions. The US, for example, clears some transactions, and likewise some trades denominated in British ster-ling are cleared by Frankfurt-based Eurex, a unit of Deutsche Boerse AG.

Barring euro clearing from the UK would be a “draconian” measure, especially considering the years of work that have gone into ensuring clearing firms are recognized in different jurisdic-tions, said Hirander Misra, chief executive officer of futures plat-form Global Markets Exchange Group International LLP.

“Clearing is very much cross border and also depends on confi-dence in the clearinghouse. That said, there’s nothing stopping EU author-ities from putting in pseudo barriers to entry,” Misra said. LCH, which is majority owned by London Stock Exchange Group Plc, and Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s ICE Clear Europe are two of the biggest clearing firms in London.

Hollande is not the only EU leader to make it clear that life for Britain will be different outside the club of nations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “there must be and there will be a palpable differ-ence between a country that wants to be part of the European Union and one that doesn’t”.

Hollande took a hard line on the single market, which the UK still wants to access, by arguing the Brit-ish government must agree to all its rules. The UK has turned its back on the principle of free movement of people, one of the EU’s key tenets, meaning “you lose the advantages that come with it,” Hollande said.

Hollande takes aim at City of London in euro clearing threat

ECB happy to stay put after Brexit vote as markets regain poise

By Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi Reuters

THE European Central Bank is in no rush to ease its monetary policy in response Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, taking comfort in a calmer-than-feared market reaction, several sources have told

Reuters. The Brexit vote has hit the shares of euro zone banks and is likely to act as a drag on the euro zone economy, as ECB President Mario Draghi told EU leaders on Tuesday. It is also raising fundamental questions about the future of the EU.

But conversations with around a dozen officials familiar with the ECB’s thinking showed that the bank found some reassurance in the mar-ket rebound this week and was happy to take a wait-and-see stance, given the lack of hard evi-dence about the actual impact of Brexit.

Emergency swap lines designed to pro-vide euros to UK banks in case of stress had not been activated and, contrary to what had happened during the 2008 crash, financial markets had functioned smoothly despite heavy losses in the pound and

some shares, the sources, who asked not to be named, said. They stressed the ECB’s willingness to provide more stimulus if the inflation outlook worsens but cautioned the UK vote was raising political questions that were for EU governments and institutions, rather than the central bank, to answer.

“This is a political problem not a monetary phenomenon,” one of the sources said. “We could act, we have the tools, but that would not solve the broader problem and for now, every estimate about the actual impact of Brexit is nothing but guesswork.”

The officials added it was too early to assess the impact of the referendum on inves-tor and consumer confidence — the most immediate transmission channel — and the bank would be in a better position to make a call on that when it gets updated staff fore-casts in September. If markets continued in the same, calm vein in the run up to the ECB’s July 21 policy meeting, the most to expect could be verbal reassurance that the bank stands ready to do more if needed, conver-sations with the sources showed.

For now, the officials expressed relief at the sanguine reaction of investors in sover-eign debt. Southern Europe’s borrowing costs fell sharply for a third straight day and French bond yields hit record lows yesterday. The calm on the sovereign bond market marked a sharp contrast to the 2010-12 debt crisis, when a ‘doom loop’ between indebted gov-ernments and their main creditors, banks, threatened the euro’s very existence, the sources noted.

“Markets priced in a lower growth path, both for the euro zone and the UK,” one source said.

“It seems quite realistic now and I don’t see sig-nificant overreaction.” Still, this line of thinking

may put the ECB on a collision course with mar-kets, which have rebounded at least partly in the hope that the ECB and the Bank of England would step in with more stimulus.

Investors now fully price in a rate cut in Britain and the euro zone by the end of this year. The ECB cut rates twice since Decem-ber and is already buying €80bn ($88.71bn) worth of assets, mainly euro zone government bonds, every month in a bid to boost inflation.

These purchases helped soothe market nerves when a Greek referendum on the terms of its bailout agreement with creditors almost pushed the country out of the euro zone last summer and the reaction to the UK vote was seemingly following the same path.

The sources said that any further move by the ECB to support markets, while possi-ble in theory, would merely act as stop-gap and do nothing to address fundamental cit-izen and investor concern about Europe’s political cohesion and economic strategy.

In fact, a new interest rate cut could even exacerbate problems at eurozone banks, which have complained that low lending rates and a charge on the money they park at the ECB were squeezing their margins, some of the sources said.

The ECB’s top supervisor, Daniele Nouy, spelled out some of the steps the ECB would like European and national law-makers to take in a letter to a group of members of the European parliament published on Tuesday.

“Among other reforms, they should con-sider streamlining legal processes related to debt recovery, removing impediments to the enforcement of loan collateral, introducing out-of-court debt work-out solutions, and fostering the development of distressed debt markets,” Nouy wrote.

Officials say ECB was happy to take a wait-and-see stance, given the lack of hard evidence about the actual impact of Brexit.

The rule, which takes effect on July 1, requires foreign banks whose US assets exceed $50bn to create umbrella legal structures for their local operations and take part in the Fed’s annual stress tests.

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi (centre) arrives at the ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal.

Reuters

MARSEILLE, France: Poland have an impressive defensive record at Euro 2016 but standing in their way to a semi-final spot is arguably one of sport’s greatest-ever athletes, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The monstrous Polish centre back pairing of Michal Pazdan and Kamil Glik face their toughest chal-lenge yet when they come up against Portugal in the last-eight clash in Marseille today, though their previ-ous matches have not provided much by way of preparation for facing the Real Madrid star.

Describing 29-year-old Ronaldo as the “perfect athlete”, US lifestyle magazine Men’s Health says he hits speeds of more than 32 kph, jumps nearly a metre in the air off one leg, runs an average of 16 km per match and hits more winners in the last 20 minutes than anyone else.

He is the only player to have scored a goal in four Euros going back to 2004 and, while he struggled to find his feet early in this year’s tournament, there are signs that he is back to his sublime best.

He scored twice in Portugal’s last group match against Hungary -- an audacious back heel and a towering header -- and has had a hand in two of his country’s other three goals, most importantly the shot that set up Ricardo Quaresma to score the easiest of extra-time winners in their last-16 win over Croatia.

For their part, Poland are good shotstoppers.

They have conceded just three goals all year and only one in the Euros, an outrageous bicycle kick by Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri in their round-of-16 tie which they eventually won on penalties. Only Germany still have a clean sheet

in Euro 2016. Poland’s matches in France so far will have done little to prepare them for the pace, power and superhuman heading ability that Ronaldo possesses, however.

Their top-ranked opponents to date, Germany, fielded the diminutive Mario Goetze in their group-stage stalemate and the ‘false nine’ presented little trou-ble in the box, constantly dropping back into midfield to pick up the ball.

Other group matches against Northern Ireland, who did not get a decent effort on target, and Ukraine, who departed after failing to score in any of their games, were fairly straightforward.

The late Shaqiri wonder goal in their last outing did unsettle the

Poles, with Switzerland gaining the upper hand in extra time. But the rearguard held firm, forcing the tie to penalties.

That defence will have to be immaculate again if Poland are to have a chance of progressing because they have offered little up front.

They have scored two goals fewer than any other team in the last eight with hitman Robert Lewand-owski, the leading scorer in Euro 2016 qualifying with 13 goals, mus-tering just two attempts on target so far, both in the last match.

The captain’s opening penalty in the shootout, which left the goal-keeper stranded as it flew into the top right corner, could be the con-fidence boost he needs.

It is the scintillating left winger Kamil Grosicki who presents the biggest danger for Portugal’s age-ing but experienced defence led by 33-year-old Pepe.

For Polish coach Adam Nawalka, the Ronaldo factor presents a tac-tical conundrum. Is he prepared to press high in search of a goal, know-ing that a wrong step could unleash the Portuguese counter-attack, or does he sit back and risk becoming just a spectator to another Ronaldo masterclass?

Whoever wins today will play either Wales or Belgium next, seen as the easier route to the final with hosts France, world champions Germany, Italy and surprise quar-ter-finalists Iceland on the other side of the draw.

Rosberg aiming for Austrian Grand Prix hat-trick

PAGE | 22 PAGE | 23

Djokovic hits 30 Slam wins as

Federer advances

THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016 • 25 RAMADAN 1437

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

@peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatarthepeninsulaqatar

Polish rearguard faces Ronaldo test in today’s quarter-finalsPolish centre back pairing of Pazdan and Glik faces their toughest challenge in the last-eight clash

This combination of pictures shows Poland’s forward Arkadiusz Milik (left) during the Euro 2016 Group C match agonist Germany at the Stade de France Stadium in Saint-Denis near Paris on June 16, 2016 and Portugal’s forward Cristiano Ronaldo during the Euro 2016 round of sixteen match against Croatia on June 25, 2016 at the Bollaert-Delelis Stadium in Lens. Poland will face Portugal in their Euro 2016 Quarter-Finals football match at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille today.

Portugal’s forward Nani attends a press conference at the team’s base camp in Marcoussis on the eve of the their quarter-final match of the Euro 2016 against Poland.

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Recent meetings

Player to watchJ. Blaszczykowski

Player to watchCristiano Ronaldo

CoachAdamNawalka

CaptainRobertLewandowski

Best finishGroup stage2008, 2012

CoachFernando

Santos

CaptainCristianoRonaldo

Best finishFinal2004

Pens 5-4 AET

2012

2007

Poland

Portugal

0-0

2-2

Portugal

Poland

3

55

12

1211

17

44%

Goals scored

Total shots

Shots on target

Passes completed

Corners

Possession

Quarter-final, June 30Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

All-timemeetings

Draws 3

5

74

24

1835

32

56%

HEAD-TO-HEAD

COMPETITION STATISTICS

Poland 3 Portugal 4

N. Ireland

Germany

Ukraine

Switzerland

Match 1Match 2Match 3Last 16

1-0

0-0

1-0

1-1

W

D

W

W

Iceland

Austria

Hungary

Croatia

1-1

0-0

3-3

1-0

D

D

D

W

ROAD TO QUARTER-FINALS

Group C runner-up

Group Fthird-place

Source: UEFAPictures: Getty Images

StadeVelodomeCapacity:67,000

Recentlyrenovatedat cost of€267m toincreasecapacity

and installcanopy roofPoland’s players take part in a training session at the Robert-Louis-Dreyfus Stadium in Marseille, southeastern France, on the eve of their

Euro 2016 quarter-final football match against Portugal.

Euro Quarter-Final Fixtures

Quarter-finals ( All times in GMT)

Poland vs Portugal (1900)

July 1 Wales vs Belgium (1900)

July 2 Germany vs Italy (1900)

July 3 France vs Iceland (1900)

SPORT22 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Qatar 2022 delegation completes observation trip to Euro 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: A 26-member Qatar dele-gation has completed a week-long observation trip to the ongoing Euro 2016 football championship in France where they interacted with the local organising committee officials of the month-long event.

The delegation that comprised of representatives from the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), Qatar Football Association (QFA), Qatar Stars League (QSL), Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Aspire Academy - also met with FIFA officials during the trip.

The trip, an initiative of SC was planned in such a manner that Qatari delegation gets first-hand experience of managing a high profile event like Euro 2016, Nasser Al Khater, Assistant Secretary General SC, said.

Khalid Abdulrehman Al Naama, Media Relations Senior Officer at SC, said the group was split into differ-ent categories for the trip to France.

“I was shadowing hospitality team in Marseille. Being in Marseille was awe-inspiring. It is one of the big-gest cities in France and one of the main game venues of the Euro 2016. It was amazing to see the stadium,” Al Naama said.

When asked to rate the organiza-tion in Marseille, Al Naama said: “I am not in a position to state how good the event is but I would give them eight (out of 10). The stadium in Marseille (Olympique de Marseille) is not built based on operations point of view. So

there were some difficulty to handle VIP (movement) and a few catering concerns.”

Al-Naama said Qatar will be sending more delegations to future high profile football events.

Khalid Alhamra, Head of Interna-tional Sports Affairs at QSL, said he was stationed in Toulouse.

“I was part of the scheduled trip to Toulouse. I was shadowing the team handling the rights protection pro-gram. There we changed some plans as I added rights marketing in my schedule,” Khalid said.

“The objective of the trip was to develop myself and find ways to do improve our work at QSL in marketing and in managing competitions. The things we learnt over there is what we do every day at QSL,” he said.

Thani Khalifa Alzarraa, who works at the new Al Wakra Stadium project, said he was camped in the

French capital during his trip. “I was at two of the stadiums in Paris. This was a very good chance to com-pare our plans and operations with an event like Euro 2016. This event is similar to the FIFA World Cup,” Alzarra said.

“It was a good opportunity to learn some new lessons. Issues like security, ticketing, broadcasting, catering and other sectors came up for detailed discussions. The trip was well planned so that we get to learn from real-life situations.

“The organisation in France was top-notch. That’s what we got to see.

They had been preparing two-three years in advance. The tour-nament is still on. As we can see it is going pretty successfully,” he said.

Sara Al Saffar, an Events Planning Officer at SC, said her trip to France was an ‘eye-opener’.

“I can tell you the schedule was

very busy. We attended presentations.We got to see the control rooms,

the warehouses, the fans zones. We got to see how they created the atmosphere for the Euro and now we know how we can do things like that over here,” Sara said with a smile.

“We had intense conversations with top LOC officials. We asked them questions and we got answers we were looking for.

“We got what we were looking for. The trip exceeded my expectations. There were so much to learn. It seems I just started my career at SC. It was an eye-opening experience. It was better to see the tournament unfold in front of you.

“I feel like I know so much now that I have completed the trip. We got so many areas related to event man-agement covered. I feel every country has its own way of working. It is good to learn that some of the things picked

up in France could be implemented over here in Qatar,” she said.

Saoud Aldilaimi, who was also part of the observation trip, said: “It was an exciting trip. It was a high pro-file event. The experience we got was amazing. The way they were dealing with crowd control, the hospital-ity matters, the VIP movement was impressive. There were interactive sessions with UEFA officials.”

He said: “I think we will have to have better security in place when it is our turn to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup. There were certain gaps in secu-rity matters over there. I also went to Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I think we need to give more entertain-ment for people at VIP zones.

“We should think about it. We will be hosting the 2022 World Cup in winter. That would be perfect weather for more creative ways of entertainment.”

The Qatar 2022 delegation poses for a group photo during their observation trip to Euro 2016 in France recently.

The 26-member team included SC, QFA, QSL and MoI officials who term the week-long trip beneficial

James declines option but expected to stay with Cavaliers Agencies

LOS ANGELES: LeBron James, fresh off guiding the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA title, is headed for free agency after offi-cially declining the $24m player option on his contract.

While the move frees James to talk to other teams, he isn’t expected to leave Cleveland but to negotiate a new contract with them.

“I love it here. I love being here,” Ohio native James told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the afterglow of the Cavs’ NBA Finals triumph.

“Obviously my agent will take care of all the logistical things, but I’m happy. I’ve got no plans to go nowhere at this point.”

James, 31, was a unanimous choice as NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after leading the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors.

He averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists during the seven-game series.

The team’s unrestricted free agents are reserves Timofey Mozgov and Richard Jefferson, while backup guard Matthew Del-lavedova will be a restricted free agent.

Meanwhile, Veteran Richard Jefferson announced he would retire following the Cleveland Cav-aliers’ victory in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but now wants to play mul-tiple more seasons, according to Yahoo Sports.

LeBron James

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating France’s Adrian Mannarino in their men’s singles second round match on the third day of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, yesterday.

Djokovic hits 30 Slam wins as

Federer ends Willis’ fairytale AFP

LONDON: World number one Novak Djokovic racked up his 30th succes-sive Grand Slam victory yesterday as Marcus Willis’ Wimbledon fairytale came to an end against Roger Federer, but the British qualifier’s 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 defeat couldn’t ruin a day to remem-ber for the new star of the All England Club.

Willis has captivated the tennis world with his rags to riches rise and although the world number 772 was unable to spring what would have been Wimbledon’s greatest upset, he enjoyed every minute of his unlikely second round meeting with world number three Federer.

The 25-year-old hit 24 winners, served nine aces and twice came within a whisker of breaking Federer, all while displaying the effervescent personality that has made him such a fan favourite.

Federer will play Dan Evans or Alexandr Dolgopolov in the third round.

Defending champion Djokovic brushed aside Adrian Mannarino, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to reach the third round.

The top seed, bidding for a third consecutive title at the All England Club and fourth in all, will face either American 28th seed Sam Querrey or Thomaz Bellucci for a place in the last 16.

Djokovic’s match was played under the roof of Centre Court as heavy rain brought chaos to the schedule.

Only 15 minutes of play was possi-ble on the outside courts up to the late afternoon causing 22 singles matches

to be cancelled and men’s doubles ties to be reduced to best-of-three setters.

“Fortunately I was scheduled on Centre Court, that helps on days like this and when the roof is closed the atmosphere gets even more special,” said 12-time major winner Djokovic.

“I do have a lot of expectations for myself but I am grateful that I am able to play at a high level so consistently. To have 30 Grand Slam wins in a row is a stat I am proud of.”

Djokovic was followed onto Cen-tre Court by a beaming Marcus Willis, the world number 772 who was fac-ing 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as two tennis worlds collided.

Under the Centre Court roof, Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska (pictured) reached the last 64 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ukraine’s Kat-eryna Kozlova to preserve her record

of having never lost in the first round at Wimbledon. Radwanska, the 2012 run-ner-up, will face either Karin Knapp of Italy or Ana Konjuh of Croatia for a place in the last 32.

Such was the ease of her victory that part of her news conference dealt with questions over the Brexit vote and reports of hostility towards the Polish community in Britain.

“Well, I know there’s a lot of Polish people working, living here. I’m not aware of every comment, so I don’t think I should comment on it,” she said.

Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych, the runner-up in 2010, just had enough time to complete his first round tie held over from Tuesday.

He defeated Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) and next faces Germany’s Benjamin Becker.

“It’s good to be done, especially when my opponents finished yester-day,” said Berdych.

The rain caused a number of high-profile matches to be cancelled until Thursday. They included Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori against France’s Jul-ien Benneteau and former US Open champion Marin Cilic’s clash with Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Also shelved were second seed and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza’s second round tie against Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova.

Venus Williams’s match with Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber’s tie with Varvara Lepchenko of the United States were also called off.

Meanwhile, Austrian tyro Dominic Thiem took sweet revenge on unseeded Florian Mayer dodging the showers to dispatch the veteran German 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 in just over 1-1/2 hours of cut-and-thrust tennis.

TENNIS: WIMBLEDON 2016

Rudisha faces tough test at Kenyan Olympic trials Reuters

ELDORET, Kenya: Olympic 800 metres champion David Rudisha is facing a tough test at this week’s Kenyan Olympic trials, his former coach said yesterday.

The 27-year-old world record holder faded to finish fifth in the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai in May and Rudisha came fourth in Stockholm two weeks ago.

“It won’t be easy for him (at the trials). He could be facing a great challenge. As much as people respect him for who he is and his command of running, it won’t be easy,” Colm O’Connell told Reuters.

Irishman O’Connell, a retired high school teacher who has men-tored many world-class athletes, was speaking in Eldoret in the Rift Valley, 350 kilometres north west of the east African nation’s capi-tal Nairobi.

“I have not followed him closely for a long time and I don’t know whether he has been follow-ing our (coaching) programme. He has done very very little train-ing with me this year,” O’Connell commented.

Rudisha has struggled for form and fitness since breaking the world record to claim the Olympic gold medal in London four years ago but he did win the world title in Beijing last year.

“Although I know he is a very experienced athlete, I am not sure if he is mentally fit. It would be misleading to say I knew his mental or physical strength. He has not been in touch for a long time,” O’Connell said.

SPORT 23THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Barcelona seal third position after big win over Al Rayyan

The Peninsula

DOHA: Spanish giants FC Barcelona yesterday crushed Qatar’s Al Rayyan 6-1 to seal the third spot at the Futsal Intercontinental Cup at Ali Bin Hamad Al Atiya Arena.

In a game devoid of much interest after both sides lost their respective semi-finals on Tuesday, Lassa still managed to dominate play in both halves to push Al Rayyan to fourth spot in the eight-team tournament.

After a few cagey moves, the Spanish giants got off the mark to sound a warning to the home side. Lassa opened the scoring through Aicardo in the 5th minute of the third-place play-off.

Angel Velasco Marugán, known as Lin, doubled the lead for the visi-tors as Lassa jumped to a 2-0 card in the 14th minute.

Enjoying a surge in momentum, Lassa moved ahead in style when Esteban Cejudo Guerrero found the net by beating Al Rayyan goalie with a slick flick after a solo run in the 19th minute.

Lin added to Al Rayyan woes by scoring Lassa’s fourth goal off a

penalty kick in the 27th minute. In the 31st minute, Al Rayyan pulled one back through Christian but Lassa did not relent from their attacking game and powered home a fifth goal through Wilde (35).

Two minutes from time, Lassa fired their sixth goal through Aicardo.

It was Lassa’s third win in four games. Only Magnus Futsal beat them in the tournament in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

Qatar’s Al Rayyan posted two wins from four games.

Commenting on the victory, Wilde

Gomes Da Silva of FC Barcelona Lassa said his team’s 6-1 win over Al Rayyan ‘was not an easy game’.

Lassa finished third in the eight-team tournament whereas Al Rayyan grabbed the fourth place.

“It wasn’t an easy game,” Wilde said. “We had lost the semifinals on Tuesday and today we had to face

a strong side,” he added. “We came here to win the tournament but we could not. We are disappointed with that but happy to win the last game. Unfortunately, we could not win the tournament.

“This is an awesome venue,” Wilde said of Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena where his team played the last game. “I haven’t seen such a venue. A lot of my friends said the same thing,” he said. “I think we should have more events at this venue. Hope-fully we could come back and play here again,” said the Barcelona player.

Kohli lauds

benefits of

conditioning to

reach next level

Reuters

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli was not satisfied with being an average cricketer and the India Test cap-tain says that a desire to reach the next level was his motivation for improved conditioning.

The 27-year-old is widely con-sidered to be the fittest cricketer in the Indian side, complement-ing his batting with razor-sharp skills in the field.

A lean patch with the bat during the 2012 Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament acted as the catalyst for Kohli to make a “lifestyle choice”.

“Until IPL 2012, I did not focus much on the physical aspect,” said Kohli, who tops the world Twenty20 batting rankings and is second on the one-day interna-tional list.

“I never got into the minute details of fitness, things like what I need to eat from morning to night, how much I need to work out and how much I need to train.

“After that IPL, I started listen-ing to my body. I made a lifestyle choice.”

Kohli, who has scored 11 Test hundreds and 25 one-day interna-tional centuries for India, admitted he initially did not have the fitness to be the world’s best batsman.

“I wanted to explore a new side of my body to take me to the next level because I never wanted to be average,” he told reporters at a pro-motional event in Delhi.

“I wanted to (be) best in the world. So I always had that mind-set but never had the physical ability.”

Kohli has often been lauded for the effort he puts into his fit-ness regime and he feels it has also improved his fielding as well as given him confidence.

“When you become fit, you feel you can do anything,” he said.

“I have never been as fit as I am today. It has worked beauti-fully for me. Even in my off-time, I watch what I eat.”

Superlights Challenge: Al Hamad debuts at Zolder Circuit in BelgiumThe Peninsula

DOHA: Securing a last minute deal, Qatar national Amro Al Hamad will make his debut in the Dutch Superlights Challenge as part of the Superprix race weekend at Zolder Circuit in Belgium.

Racing with the Dutch team Bas Koeten Racing, Amro will pilot the prototype WOLF GB08, the same car that he took a class win in the Abu Dhabi Gulf 12hrs in December 2015.

The Wolf GB08 is a prototype carbon fibre monocoque chassis car, weighing in at just less than 540kg, and is powered by a Honda K20Z4 Engine.

Racing a high down force car is considered completely different from driving a touring or GT car, they have superior aerodynamics enabling faster speeds in the corners, this con-sequently puts more physical stress on the driver and a precision style of racing with little room for error.

The Superlights Challenge race prepares on Friday 1st July, with testing, seat fitting and setup. Free practice and qualification is on Sat-urday and there are two separate 50minute races on Sunday 3rd.

The format of the races is simi-lar to the Radical cup series where 2 drivers are permitted to race per car during the 50 minutes races with a 1min pit stop in the middle. Amro, on this occasion will be racing the car

solo and will complete both races on his own.

Ahead of his departure to Bel-gium Amro commented: “I won’t have another driver joining me in the race so will be doing the whole 2 races on my own. It shouldn’t be so much of a problem for me as I am used to endurance races such as Gulf 12hr in Abu Dhabi with this same car. I was doing stints of close to 1 hour and 20 min during the 12 hours of Abu-Dhabi, I also raced many rounds in the Radical Middle East series as a solo driver when I won the 2013/2014 Championship.”

Amro continues his search for sponsor partners to support his endurance races for the season 2016/2017.

Qatar national Amro Al Hamad will make his debut in the Dutch Superlights Challenge at Zolder Circuit in Belgium.

McIlroy has no regrets about pulling out of Rio Games AP

LONDON: Rory McIlroy has no regrets about deciding not to go to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of concerns over the Zika virus, saying he and other golfers do not consider Olympic golf to be the “pinnacle” of their sport compared to playing in

majors. “We dream of winning Claret Jugs and we dream of winning green jackets,” the four-time major winner said yesterday. “Whether that makes golf look insular in any way ... it’s just the way it is.”

Last week, McIlroy became one of the most high-profile sports stars to opt out of the Rio Games.

The 27-year-old Northern

Irishman said this month that he and fiancee Erica Stoll may consider start-ing a family within a couple of years. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to severe birth defects and possible neurological problems in adults. “I’ve said to people I have four Olympic Games (major champi-onships) a year,” McIlroy said ahead of the French Open golf tournament

near Paris. “That’s my pinnacle. That’s what I play for. That’s what I’ll be remembered for.”

Other golfers to pull out of Rio are top-ranked Jason Day and US. Open runner-up Shane Lowry; former US Open champion Graeme McDowell; Australian pair Marc Leishman and Adam Scott; South Africans Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl

Schwartzel; and Fiji’s Vijay Singh. “Some people argue that it would have been better to send amateurs there, but the whole reason that golf is in the Olympics is because they wanted the best players,”

McIlroy added that “if the Olym-pic Games were in most other cities ... you wouldn’t find as many people not wanting to go.”

Rosberg aiming for

Austrian GP hat-trick Reuters

SPIELBERG, Austria: Nico Ros-berg (pictured) is the only current Formula One driver to have won in Austria and Mercedes’ championship leader intends to keep it that way on Sunday by completing his hat-trick in Red Bull’s backyard.

The German arrives at the sce-nic Red Bull Ring buoyed by a victory in Baku which restored his lead over team mate and triple champion Lewis Hamilton to 24 points with 13 rounds remaining.

“Baku was a good weekend for me. I really felt at one with the car,” said Rosberg, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Monday.

“I can’t wait to see what it can do in Spielberg. To have two wins from two races at any track is pretty special, so if I could make it three in three that would be awesome.

“It’s a short run to the first cor-ner there and generally my starts and first corners have been strong this season, so if I can qualify well there’s a good chance of a top result. I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

Rosberg dominated in Azerba-ijan, leading all the way from pole position and also setting the fast-est lap.

Yet he has never started from the front in Austria, winning last year from second on the grid and third in 2014 when Williams swept the front row.

Hamilton, who finished fifth in Baku after starting 10th, will be looking to do much better at what he calls an ‘old school track’.

“It’s fast, with a good flow to it. It’s tough to overtake but there are places you can try something dif-ferent so that’s a good challenge,” he said.

“It’s definitely a big advantage starting up front there, though, so I need to get back on it in qualify-ing and do a better job than last time out.”

Red Bull, who own the south-ern circuit, will be thinking along the same lines while also braced for another tough afternoon.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was eighth and 10th in the last two editions of the race as the former champions’ highest finisher.

Team principal Christian Horner expected another challenging day at a power-sensitive circuit more likely to favour Mercedes-engined rivals with Force India and Williams in the mix along with Rosberg’s Sil-ver Arrows.

Only Mercedes-powered cars have finished in the top three since the race returned to the calendar in 2014 after an 11-year break, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel fourth last season.

“Maybe there’ll be a chicane on the straight this year,” joked Horner.

“But thereafter we’ve got cir-cuits that we know will come back towards us so it’s sort of get through Austria, damage limitation, before getting into the likes of Hungary, Sil-verstone, Hockenheim etc.”

Sally Pearson of Australia celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, in this August 1, 2014 file photo.

Hurdles champion Pearson

withdraws from Olympics

Reuters

SYDNEY: Australia’s Olympic sprint hurdles champion Sally Pearson said she was ‘gutted’ after a hamstring tendon tear she picked up in train-ing forced her to pull out of the Rio de Janeiro Games yesterday.

The 29-year-old, who won gold in the 100 metres hurdles at the London Olympics, had battled back after being sidelined for a year by a shattered wrist only to suffer the hamstring injury training at her base on the Gold Coast.

“It’s a hard time for me at the moment. I’m disappointed and I’m gutted,” Pearson told Australia’s Nine Network yesterday.

“Unfortunately, it is the biggest sporting event in the world that I am going to be missing out on and I can’t be a part of. It’s devastating that I can’t be at Rio as the Olym-pic champ.”

Pearson’s hopes of defending her title at the August 5-21 Games had looked slim after a fall at the Golden Gala meeting in Rome last year shat-tered her wrist so badly, she feared her left forearm might need to be amputated.

The 2011 world champion, who also won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, missed the back end of the 2015 season as a result of the fall and only returned to racing in Europe early this month. Her results in three races in Birmingham, France and Oslo were disappointing.

Spanish club claim 6-1 victory to end campaign on winning note as Qatari side earn fourth spot in eight-team event

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AFP

DINARD, FRANCE: Gareth Bale has branded Wales’ Euro 2016 quarter-final clash with Belgium tomorrow as the nation’s biggest game in decades.

Having ended a 58-year wait to reach a major tournament, Chris Coleman’s men have already matched the achievement of the 1958 team who reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Sweden before they were knocked out by a Pele goal for Brazil.

“Yes, I think it is fair to say it could be the biggest ever game for Wales, especially during my time and recent times,” said the Real Madrid star.

“We know about the quarter-final in 1958 but since then it’s definitely the biggest game in Welsh football.

“It is one we’re looking forward to, eager to get started and excited about. We just want to enjoy the occasion,

take it all in, and hopefully we can get into the semis,” Bale added. “We don’t need extra motivation, they are a very good team, we understand that, their goal is to win the Euros.

“They see every team they play as a stepping stone to the final. That’s

not disrespectful, that’s their opinion. We’re happy about that.

“But it’s about us, concentrating on ourselves and trying to execute our game plan. We’ve beaten them before so it can be done again.”

Wales are the last of the British

nations remaining in the competition after knocking out Northern Ireland in the last 16, while England capitulated to lose to minnows Iceland.

It means Wales will be the focus of UK attention when they take to the field in Lille. Bale and his colleagues

are delighted to have the chance to fly the flag for British football as well as themselves.

“We very happy, it’s our time to shine. We’re the only home nation left in the competition which is an amaz-ing achievement in itself,” he said.

“The Northern Ireland game was a very ugly one that was not suited to us but to win a game like that shows the team spirit and character we’ve got.

“We’re very happy and proud to fly the flag of Wales on this stage.”

Wales have plenty of experience of facing Belgium, with the two sides having met four times in the last four years. The Dragons are unbeaten in the last three of those games, picking up a famous win over the Red Devils in Cardiff last June.

Bale scored the winner that night, and believes it was an epochal moment for the entire Welsh set-up.

“It was my most important Welsh goal, for sure, especially at that time in the campaign,” he said.

“We were in and around top spot and very close. In a way, it gave us that space between us and everyone else, an extra two points we didn’t expect.

“So it was an important goal for me personally on my 50th cap and, for the team, obviously it also gave us that belief that we can take on the big teams, that we can beat the big teams.

“We have evolved since there and we have improved.”

24 THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016

Bale says clash with Belgium is biggest game for Wales

Wales’ midfielder Gareth Bale attends a press conference in Dinard, France yesterday during the Euro 2016 football tournament.

Misfiring Poland

striker Milik turns

to Bergkamp for

assistance

AFP

MARSEILLE: Misfiring Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik has turned to Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp for assistance ahead of today’s Euro 2016 quarter-final against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

Milik scored Poland’s opening goal when the White Eagles beat Northern Ireland in their Group C curtain-raiser on their way to an unlikely place in the quarter-finals against Portugal today.

The Ajax Amsterdam striker has admitted since that his finish-ing has gone awry and indicated that he has asked Bergkamp, the Dutch club’s assistant manager, for help. “Since he joined the club (Ajax) we have formed a very good relationship and we’re in regular contact. We’re texting each other here,” said Milik.

“What can I say? Dennis Berg-kamp is very special to me. He had a wonderful career and you can always learn something from him and I’m still learning from him.”

Milik joined Ajax on loan ahead of the 2014-2015 season and did enough to be handed the number nine shirt the following season when he replaced Icelan-dic striker Kolbeinn Sigborsson.

But while he has been benefit-ing from the experience of one of the greatest forward players of his generation, the 22-year-old Polish striker admits facing Portugal in Marseille will be another career landmark.

We just want to enjoy the occasion, take it all in, and hopefully we can get into the semis, says the Real Madrid star

Belgium’s coach Marc Wilmots holds a press conference in Le Haillan, southwestern France, ahead of their Euro 2016 quarter-final football match against Wales.

Belgium’s Hazard misses training again before crucial matchAFP

BORDEAUX, FRANCE: Belgium’s injured forward Eden Hazard, out-standing in the win over Hungary, missed training again on Wednes-day and has not yet been cleared for the Euro 2016 quarter-final against Wales, coach Marc Wilmots said.

Then forward picked up a thigh injury in Sunday’s 4-0 victory over Hungary, a performance he described as his best ever in a Belgium shirt. He

was substituted in that game and also missed training on Tuesday.

“I hope so, I really hope that he will be able to train tomorrow (Thurs-day) but he still has some pain in his thigh today so he’ll receive care for that this evening,” Wilmots told a news conference at the team base in Le Hallain, near Bordeaux.

“We are working on getting him 100 percent fit but I cannot give you a specific time when that will happen nor can I tell you that he will be okay. I would like to but I can’t. The medi-cal staff are working on it.”

It would be a big blow if Hazard fails to recover in time for Friday’s showdown with Wales in Lille. The Chelsea player was in dazzling form against Hungary, scoring a superb individual goal and contributing an assist for another. Belgium will head north to Lille, which is just across the border from home, on Thursday.

Although favourites to beat Wales, Belgium’s players said it would a tough game for the world’s second-ranked side. Wales have had the edge on them in recent encounters in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Italy’s De Rossi set to miss Germany clashAgencies

MARSEILLE: Injury-hit midfielder Daniele De Rossi has been virtually ruled out of Italy’s Euro 2016 quar-ter-final clash with world champions Germany on Saturday, according to the Azzurri’s medical staff.

De Rossi has been rock solid for Antonio Conte’s side as they upset pre-tournament predictions to top Group E then sweep defending cham-pions Spain aside on Monday to set up a last eight clash in Bordeaux.

But as he continues to suffer from a “serious right thigh injury” picked up in the 2-0 win over ‘La Roja’ at the Stade de France, Azzurri team doc-tor Enrico Castellacci admitted the Roma midfielder is unlikely to return in time.

“It’s a very serious situation,” said Castellacci. “We’re trying everything to get him back in time. But we can’t give any prognosis.”

The loss of De Rossi is a signif-icant blow for Italy as they look to secure their first Euros semi-final spot since 2000 when they lost out in the final to David Trezeguet’s golden goal for France.

Their situation is not helped by the ongoing absence of Lazio winger Antonio Candreva.

Candreva, one of Italy’s top play-ers in their impressive opening win over Belgium, suffered a hamstring injury in their second group game, a 1-0 win over Sweden.

Castellacci admitted the player has been “working really hard” in a bid to win his fitness battle but admitted: “He’s made clear progress,

but not enough to warrant his imme-diate return to the team.

“He’s getting better, but he’s not cured yet.”

The absence of suspended

midfielder Thiago Motta is a further headache for Conte as Italy look to extend their eight-match unbeaten record against Germany in major tournaments.

Italy’s midfielder Daniele De Rossi reacts during Euro 2016 round of 16 football match against Spain at the Stade de France Stadium in Saint-Denis, near Paris, on Monday.