Sack expats from closed projects: Ministers` panel

FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2015 | SAFAR 1, 1437 AH
VOL. 34 NO. 364 | PAGES 20 | BAISAS 200
1975
HIS MAJESTY SULTAN QABOOS AT THE
INAUGURATION OF THE SATELLITE
STATION IN AL HAJAR, 1975
Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising
PO Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
www.omanobserver.om
FOLLOW US ON:
editor@omanobserver.om
HM RECEIVES AMBASSADORS’ CREDENTIALS
Sack expats from closed
projects: Ministers’ panel
RELIEF: Tells firms to retrain Omanis instead of termination
MUSCAT: The ministerial committee
set up by the Council of Ministers
met on Thursday in Muscat to look
at the decision of some oil and gas
companies and contractors to reduce
the number of Omani employees due
to slump in oil prices. The committee
decided on the measures that should
be taken by the companies, contractors
and sub contractors to protect national
manpower.
His Majesty receives the credentials from Ambassador Sabri Majdi Sabri of Egypt in Manah on Thursday.
PHOTO BY MOHAMMED MUSTAFA
REPORT AND MORE PICTURES ON PAGE 2
OMAN
Friday declared as
first day of Safar
MUSCAT: The Ministry of Awqaf and
Religious Affairs on Thursday announced
that the moon of the month of Safar
1437 AH has been sighted. Therefore,
Friday will be the first day of Safar 1437
AH. — ONA
INSIDESTORIES
P3
JAPAN TARGETS BOOSTING
BIRTH RATE
KURDS ADVANCE IN BATTLE
TO RETAKE SINJAR FROM IS
P6
EU EMERGENCY FUND FOR
AFRICA TO COMBAT MIGRATION
P7
WEATHER TODAY
MUSCAT
MAX: 330C
MIN: 250C
SALALAH
MAX: 290C
MIN: 250C
SUNRISE 06.18 AM
PRAYER TIMINGS
FAJR: 04:59
DHUHR: 11:50
ASR: 14:59
MAGHRIB: 17:22
ISHA: 18:52
NIZWA
MAX: 300C
MIN: 200C
THEY ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. Before taking any decision to
reduce jobs of Omanis, companies,
contractors and sub contractors should
terminate the expatriate workers in
the expired contracts or related to
the contracts whose scope has been
reduced.
2. Appoint Omanis in the place
of the expats at any other contracts
won by companies, contractors
and sub contractors while taking
into consideration the matching of
experiences and efficiency in the
replacement programme.
3. Contractor or sub contractor
should submit to the main contractor a
list of terminated Omani employees who
could not be reemployed. The list should
show the employee’s details, practical
experience and academic qualifications.
It should also include data on the
expatriates whose services have been
terminated.
4. The main contractor should
revise and review the procedures the
sub contractor has taken to reduce the
number of national manpower to ensure
that they meet the said requirements
and to appoint the national manpower
in place of the expatriate workers at the
company businesses or at any other sub
contracts won by the company.
5. The company should revise the
procedures the main contractor has
taken to reduce the number of national
manpower to ensure that they meet
the said requirements and to appoint
Omanis in place of expats.
6. Submit a notice to the technical
teams at least two months before the
Musandam, Rustaq receive heavy rains
MUSCAT: Moderate to heavy rain fell
in Musandam and Rustaq on Thursday,
according to the Public Authority for
Civil Aviation (PACA). By evening,
Muscat skies were overcast but did not
rain.
Thunderstorms were predicted for
the evening and could stretch to the
coast of Oman sea, forecasters said.
Rain was reported in most parts of
the UAE since Thursday morning too.
More rain has been predicted for the
neighbouring country during weekend
by the UAE based National Centre For
Meteorology and Seismology.
Wadis in Musandam overflowed after rains on Thursday.
Satellite chunks, rockets’
fuel tanks rain on Spain
MADRID: It’s raining space junk on
Spain.
Rocket fuel tanks, chunks of satellites
or something else entirely...
In just over one week, three
mysterious objects have fallen from
the sky onto the country’s southeast,
prompting bomb disposal agents and
experts in hazmat suits to rush over as
puzzled locals looked on.
First up a strange black beehive-like
ball was found in Mula, a town in the
region of Murcia last week.
Then at the weekend, a similarlooking, smaller object was discovered
in Calasparra, just 30 kilometres (19
miles) away in the same region.
“In the early morning of the day
when the first object was found,
witnesses said they saw between six and
seven balls of fire falling from the sky,”
Maria Jose Gomariz, spokeswoman for
Calasparra town hall, said on Thursday.
“Maybe there were just two balls of
fire and it looked like there were more...
or some may have fallen in areas where
no one goes.”
The discoveries sparked a stir,
prompting special agents to rush over
and inspect the objects, but in both
cases, police determined there was no
radioactivity and no danger to human
health.
The mysterious space junk was
transported to the city of Cartagena
where there is a national vocational
training centre that specialises in
chemistry.
“They could be auxiliary fuel tanks
belonging to a rocket,” said a source at
Murcia’s Guardia Civil, the police force
that was called to the scene.
A third object was discovered on
Tuesday in Elda in the neighbouring
region of Valencia, where a farmer
found a long, metal-like object in his
field and called the police.
This time, special agents turned up
but after determining the item did not
present any danger, they took it to the
police station in nearby Alicante.
— AFP
PACA has issued guidelines on
Thursday on how to act during
thunderstorms. During a thunderstorm
people must rush to the nearest building
or vehicle and use it as a shelter.
The list reminded that lying on the
ground increases chances of getting
struck by lightning. “Avoid standing
under tall trees, lamp-posts and
telecommunications towers. Don’t risk
working or standing in high places
such as hills,” it said. “If you happen
to be swimming, get back to land
immediately. If you are away from safe
areas, sit in a bending position,” it said.
NEW ZEALAND STUN OMAN
New Zealand gave an in-form Oman a reality check as they registered a 1-0 victory
in the international friendly at the Seeb Sports Stadium on Thursday. Oman will
have to go back to the drawing board with hardly any time left before their crucial
2018 World Cup qualifier against Turkmenistan in Ashgabat on November 17.
PHOTO BY MOHAMMED MAHJOUB
REPORT ON PAGE 20
expiry of employment contract of
Omanis who could not be absorbed.
The ministerial committee agreed on
the measures that will be taken by the
technical team delegated with the task
of considering the national manpower
that were not absorbed.
1. Revise the reduction of national
manpower made by the production
companies and ensure that these
complied are companies with the above
procedures.
2. Implement an option to appoint
and train national manpower to absorb
them at the private sector organisations
either through direct appointment
of skilled workers or involve them in
training and rehabilitation programme
for the semi-skilled workers before
re-appointing them if necessary. The
company (the employer) will be advised
of the financial implications of the same.
3. The employer will bear the
financial consequences associated with
the implementation of the appointment
procedures as per the notice sent by the
technical team.
The committee will continue its
follow up of these aspects regularly to
ensure implementing the best solutions
that maintain the interests of the
national manpower.
Omantel net
profit falls to
RO 90.7m
this year
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
Nov. 12: Oman Telecommunications
Company (Omantel) has posted a 7.2
per cent increase in group revenue for
the third quarter ended on September
30, 2015.
Announcing its financial results,
the Sultanate’s largest telecom operator
said revenues rose to RO 383.3 million
this year, compared with RO 357.6
million for the corresponding period
of 2014.
Net profit however declined to RO
90.7 million this year, compared to RO
95.9 million in 2014.
Expenses for the period increased
10.1 per cent to RO 283.6 million from
RO 257.6 million in 2014.
Revenue growth was mainly driven
by domestic retail revenues which
have recorded a growth of 7.8 per
cent reaching RO 377.7 million this
year, compared to RO 350.4 million
for the corresponding period of year
2014 mainly contributed by strong
performance of both fixed and mobile
broadband as well as wholesale
services.
Fixed and mobile broadband
revenues witnessed a growth rate of
around 26 per cent.
All major segments — consumer,
corporate and wholesale revenues
have recorded a growth over last year.
Moreover, Omantel was able to
arrest the decline in international call
revenues and achieved a growth in
Q3’15 compared to previous periods,
the company said.
Group
operating
expenses
increased by 10.1 per cent to RO 283.6
million compared to RO 257.6 million
for the corresponding period of year
2014.
TURN TO P2
2
MSM LOSES 17 POINTS
F R I DAY l N O V E M B E R 1 3 l 2 0 1 5
OMAN OIL PRICE DECLINES
Muscat Securities Market (MSM)
general index (30) yesterday lost
17.9 points, comprising a decline
by 0.31 per cent to close at 5,848.41
points, compared to the last session,
which stood at 5,866.32 points. The
trading value stood at RO 1.94 million,
comprising a decline by 74.67 per cent
compared to the last session, which
stood at RO 7.64 million.
OMAN
The price of Oman oil (January delivery)
has reached $42.70. The Dubai Mercantile
Exchange (DME) statement said on
Thursday that the price of Oman oil
declined $1.19 from the price on
Wednesday, which was $43.89. The
average price of Oman oil (November
delivery) has stabilised at $45 and 76
cents, thus $2.12 per barrel lower than
October delivery 2015.
His Majesty receives ambassadors’ credentials
Ambassador Ali Fahd al Hajri of Qatar
Ambassador K Pathmanathan of Sri Lanka
Ambassador Stefano Lazzarotto of Switzerland
Ambassador Andreas Panayiotou of Cyprus
Ambassador Farhad Khalif of Tunisia
MANAH: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos received
credentials of a number of ambassadors
accredited to the Sultanate at Hisn Al Shumoukh
in Manah on Thursday. Ambassador Sabri Majdi
Sabri of Egypt, Ambassador Farhad Khalif of
Tunisia, Ambassador Andreas Panayiotou of
Cyprus, Ambassador Ali Fahd al Hajri of Qatar,
Ambassador K Pathmanathan of Sri Lanka and
Ambassador Stefano Lazzarotto of Switzerland
The ambassadors met His Majesty the Sultan
after the presentation ceremony and conveyed
greetings of the leaders of their countries along
with their best wishes of good health, happiness
and long life to His Majesty the Sultan and the
Omani people continuous progress and prosperity
under the wise leadership of His Majesty. They
also expressed their great honour and utmost
delight to present their credentials to His Majesty
the Sultan. They affirmed to exert their utmost
efforts to promote relations of their countries
with the Sultanate in various spheres in a manner
that serves the joint interests of the Omani people
and the peoples of their countries. His Majesty
the Sultan welcomed the ambassadors, thanking
their leaders for their greetings and best wishes.
His Majesty affirmed to them that they will receive
all support from His Majesty, the Government
and the Omani people to facilitate them carrying
out their duties. The credentials’ presentation
ceremony was attended by the Minister of the
Diwan of Royal Court, the Minister Responsible
for Foreign Affairs, the Head of the Royal
Protocols, the Commander of the Royal Guard of
Oman and the Military Aides to His Majesty the
Sultan. — ONA
National Commission for Family Affairs meets
MUSCAT: The National Commission
for Family Affairs (NCFA) on Thursday
held a meeting under the chair of Shaikh
Mohammed bin Said al Kalbani, Minister of
Social Development and Chairman of NCFA.
The meeting reviewed the most important
family and child protection programmes,
explanation of Omani Child Law, in addition
to the most important programmes of
the Department of Family Guidance and
Counseling in the ministry and mechanisms
of its work.
Professor Stephen Atwood, Doctor of
Medicine and a Fellow of American Academy
of Pediatrics, made a presentation on the
“Prevention of Children Abuse” in which
he highlighted the strategic dimensions to
reduce this phenomenon, and analysis of the
situation of children abuse in the Sultanate.
Ibtisam bint Mohammad al Lamki, social
specialist at Family Protection Department,
made a presentation on “Family Protection
Programmes” about the most important
protection programmes. — ONA
Omantel net profit falls to RO 90.7m
FROM PAGE 1
The increase in operating expenses are
attributed to an uptick in roaming, operating &
maintenance (O&M), depreciation, employee
costs, marketing cost and administrative
expenses.
The increase in O&M is mainly on account
of revenue related costs such as submarine cable
IRU sales costs, cost of devices and roaming
operator costs, Omantel said.
“The increase in depreciation is resulting
from increased investment in network expansion
for both mobile and fixed networks to meet the
growing demand of broadband services.
Administrative costs include payment to TRA
and consultancy costs related to new corporate
strategy and spend optimisation initiatives,
which are of non-recurrent nature,” the company
“The decline in net profit was mainly
due to losses incurred by Omantel’s subsidiary
Worldcall in addition to the non-recurrent costs.
The decline was also caused by significant
reduction in finance and other income categories
resulting from the steep decline in the value of
portfolio investments due to the meltdown in
the global / regional security markets during this
period,” it further stated.
In the broadband segment, Mobile and Fixed
Broadband services were the key driver for
growth.
Fixed and Mobile Broadband subscribers
grew by 31 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
Omantel’s domestic subscriber base witnessed
a growth of 3.8 per cent as of September
30, 2015 reaching 3.383 million (excluding
mobile resellers).
Commenting on the results, Omantel Chief
Executive Officer, Talal bin Said al Mamari said:
“The first nine months of this year has been
challenging for us due to emergence of different
non- recurrent costs.
Despite this challenging situation, Omantel
continued to see a steady growth in the revenue
driven by strong growth in mobile and fixed
broadband services which we expect will
continue to drive our growth in the coming few
years.”
MUSANDAM, RUSTAQ RECEIVE HEAVY RAINS
INDONESIA’S WIDODO TO SKIP APEC SUMMIT
Indonesian President Joko Widodo
will not attend an annual summit
of Apec forum members in the
Philippines because of domestic
issues, a Philippine foreign ministry
official said on Thursday. Indonesia is
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and
has in recent months been the source
of smoke from land-clearing fires that
has blanketed much of the region.
THAILAND RETURNS RESCUED ORANGUTANS
F R I DAY l N O V E M B E R 1 3 l 2 0 1 5
A group of smuggled orangutans
were returned from Thailand to
Indonesia on Thursday, following
years of diplomatic wrangling over
who will care for them after the
majority were discovered abandoned
on a roadside. Previous Thai
governments sought compensation
from Indonesia for the cost of
housing and treating the 14 apes.
MYANMAR MILITARY OFFERS OLIVE
BRANCH AS SUU KYI NEARS POLL WIN
ASIA
FREE & FAIR POLLS: Obama congratulates President Thein on peaceful elections
YANGON:
Myanmar’s
military
establishment pledged on Thursday to
ensure a smooth transition of power
as Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy
party stood on the verge of a crushing
election win.
The country has been dominated by
the military for half a century through
direct junta rule and — since 2011 — by
a quasi-civilian government run by its
allies.
But the balance of power is almost
certain to shift to Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy (NLD).
It has captured more than 80 per cent
of seats declared so far from Sunday’s
election — a huge stride in the party’s
long democracy struggle.
By afternoon the NLD was just 38
seats short of hitting the magical figure
of 329 to claim a majority across both
houses of parliament.
It appears set to smash through that
marker and rack up a big majority, an
outcome that appears to have prodded
the conciliatory messages from the
military and its political allies.
In statements posted on Facebook,
Thein Sein and the powerful army
chief Min Aung Hlaing congratulated
Suu Kyi’s party, promised to respect
the poll result and work with the new
government.
The army chief repeated his position to
military top brass, vowing “co-operation
with the new government during the
post-election period,” according to a
statement on his Facebook.
Many NLD supporters remain deeply
A poster bearing a portrait of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is seen at a tea and coffee shop in Yangon. — AFP
suspicious of the army and its proxies,
who are notorious for political sleight
of hand and crackdowns that have left
hundreds dead and thousands jailed.
The NLD won a 1990 election by a
landslide only for the junta to ignore the
result and tighten its grip on power.
A generation later Suu Kyi has called
for “national reconciliation”, stressing
the need for a peaceful power shift
in a nation whose journey towards
democracy has been marred by state
violence.
In an indication of the political maze
ahead, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said
the talks are “our first move.”
US President Barack Obama has
thrown his weight behind Myanmar’s
reform process and its pro-democracy
figurehead Suu Kyi, twice visiting the
country in that time.
Obama “called President Thein Sein
Indonesia asks China to clarify S China Sea claims
JAKARTA: Indonesia has asked China
to clarify its claims over the South China
Sea but has yet to receive a response, the
Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, a
day after Indonesia’s security chief said
Jakarta could take Beijing to court over
an island dispute.
Beijing’s claim to almost the
entire resource-rich sea is shown on
Chinese maps with a nine-dash line
that stretches deep into the maritime
heart of Southeast Asia. Vietnam, the
Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and
Brunei also claim parts of the waterway.
Last year, the Indonesian armed
forces chief accused China of including
parts of the Indonesian-ruled Natuna
islands within the nine-dash line.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s
administration departed from its
usual low-profile role in the dispute on
Wednesday when security chief Luhut
Panjaitan said Jakarta could take China
to an international court if dialogue
over the islands failed. But China said it
did not dispute Indonesia’s claim to the
Natunas.
“The position of Indonesia is clear at
this stage that we do not recognise the
nine-dash line because it is not in line
with... international law,” Indonesian
Foreign
Ministry
spokesman
Armanatha Nasir told reporters.
“We asked for clarification on what
they mean and what they mean by
the nine-dash line. That has not been
clarified.”
Nasir could not say when the request
through diplomatic channels was made
to China.
Chinese
Foreign
Ministry
spokesman Hong Lei said China did
not dispute Indonesia’s sovereignty over
the Natunas but that there were “some
maritime disputes”. It was not clear what
disputes he was referring to.
“We have consistently upheld that
China and Indonesia should find a
means of appropriate resolution through
direct negotiations and consultation,
with respect for international law and
on the basis of historical fact,” Hong
said.
The Philippines has taken China to
the Permanent Court of Arbitration
in the Hague, a case Beijing refuses to
recognise.
For years, China has insisted that
disputes with rival claimants be handled
bilaterally.
— Reuters
Reforms package due this month to tackle growth bottlenecks
Japan targets boosting birth rate
TOKYO: Japan plans to include steps
to raise the birth rate, such as easier
access to childcare and tax incentives,
in a package of reforms due this month
to tackle the biggest bottleneck to
economic growth.
Japan’s population began declining
four years ago after several years of
warnings that the birth rate was too low,
prompting some economists to applaud
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to
put the issue on the agenda.
“I want to confront the demographic
problem head on and place particular
emphasis on policies that will contribute
to raising the birth rate,” Abe said on
Thursday after a cabinet meeting.
However,
others
warn
the
government has fallen so far behind
on the population issue that it will
be difficult to raise economic growth
without opening up to large-scale
immigration.
Most countries would turn to
immigration, but this has met with
resistance from politicians and the
public, who prize the country’s mostly
Women pushing baby strollers in Tokyo.
homogenous society.
“There is a lack of childcare facilities
and improving this is important,” said
Hiroshi Shiraishi, senior economist at
BNP Paribas Securities.
“However, this will not boost growth
in the next five years. The more direct
way is through immigration.”
Abe wants to raise the birth rate to
1.8 per woman from 1.42 currently
by loosening regulations on childcare
providers and making it easier for
women to return to work after their
child is born.
Other proposals the government will
consider are easing the tax burden for
some part-time employees and making
interest-free loans available for higher
education.
The idea is to prevent the population
from falling below 100 million from
around 127 million currently. Advanced
economies usually require a birth rate
around 2.1 children per woman simply
to keep the population stable.
Japan’s population is projected to fall
around a third to 87 million in 2060,
the National Institute of Population and
Social Security Research says.
Japan’s working-age population
peaked in the mid-1990s and has been
falling ever since, data from the internal
affairs ministry shows. Projections show
the labour force could shrink to 44
million in 2060, which is half of its peak.
China’s scrapping of its one-child
policy and adoption of a two-child
policy is expected to boost the country’s
economic growth by about 0.5 of a
percentage point, a senior Chinese
official said on Tuesday.
— Reuters
this morning to congratulate him and
the government for successfully holding
a historic free and fair general election,”
Myanmar’s Information Minister Ye
Htut said on his official Facebook page.
The American leader has urged the
country to tackle religious intolerance
and promote full democracy. He has
also highlighted the plight of the ethnic
Rohingyas, tens of thousands of whom
were excluded from voting.
3
There
was
no
immediate
confirmation of the call by US officials
or information on if the president had
sent a message to Suu Kyi.
While its political proxy, the Union
Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP), faces annihilation at the polls,
the army has its stake in future already
guaranteed.
Under a constitution it wrote, 25
per cent of all parliamentary seats are
reserved for military appointees.
It also controls Myanmar’s security
apparatus and key government posts —
meaning it will retain immense practical
powers.
Suu Kyi’s own path to power is also
blocked by the 2008 constitution that
bars anyone with foreign children — or a
foreign husband — from the presidency.
Her sons are British as was her late
husband — who died in Britain while
she was under house arrest in Myanmar.
‘Mother Suu’, as she is affectionately
known, has said a democratic
government would not seek to punish
historic abuses by the military.
But ahead of elections she struck a
defiant note, saying she would take a
position “above the president” in the
event of an NLD win.
Now that her party is poised for
power it is likely she will put forward a
proxy for the role, an appointment aided
by a large majority.
Shwe Mann, a former general who
is also a parliamentary speaker, has
been previously tipped as a compromise
candidate for the top office.
— AFP
FREAK BIRTH
Baby with two
heads born in
Bangladesh
DHAKA: Doctors at a Bangladesh
hospital were treating a baby girl born
with two heads on Thursday, medical
officials and the newborn’s father said.
The baby was born late on
Wednesday and is now being treated
for breathing difficulties after being
shifted to the intensive care unit of the
country’s largest hospital in Dhaka.
“When I saw my baby, I was
awestruck. She has two fully developed
heads. She is eating with two mouths
and breathing with two noses,” her
father, Jamal Mia, said.
“Still, I thank Allah that she and the
mother are now okay,” Mia said.
Abu Kawsar, owner of the Standard
Hospital of Total Healthcare where the
baby was born by Cesarean section,
said initial tests showed she only has
one set of vital organs. “Except for
having two heads, the newborn has
the rest of her organs and limbs like a
normal newborn,” Kawsar said.
“The entire town poured into the
clinic. There were thousands of people
with some of them coming from the
nearby villages,” he said.
“It’s good that the baby has been
shifted to Dhaka. Otherwise, it would
have been difficult for us to control the
crowd.” Her father, Mia, a poor farm
labourer, said he was concerned about
how he would manage to care for the
baby if extra expenses were needed.
“I feel sad for her. She has been
born to a poor man. I don’t have
money to even properly treat her
mother,” he said. A baby was also born
in Bangladesh with two heads in 2008
but later died. — AFP
AROUND THE GLOBE
Pakistan plea on ban on hunting rare bird
Taiwan’s president
defensive after
China summit
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s President Ma
Ying-jeou has hit back at opponents
who have accused him of selling out
by holding a historic summit with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Ma said he had not shied away
from referring to Taiwan as the
Republic of China (ROC) — its
official name, which China does not
recognise. “I stated it so clearly,” he
told broadcaster TVBS in an interview
aired on Wednesday.
“No one in history has said it
before to the mainland’s leader, so
I feel I fulfilled my duty as Taiwan’s
president.”
The meeting in Singapore on
Saturday was the first between
leaders of the two sides since their
acrimonious split in 1949 at the end of
the Chinese civil war.
Although it is a self-ruling
democracy with a fierce sense of
its own identity, Taiwan has never
formally declared independence from
Beijing, which sees it as a renegade
province to be reunified with the
mainland, by force if necessary.
However, since his 2008 election,
Ma and his Kuomintang (KMT) party
have bound the island closer to the
mainland, with the start of direct
flights that have ramped up tourism,
and a many-fold increase in Chinese
investment.
But his policy of alignment has
become increasingly unpopular in
Taiwan and the KMT looks set to get
a thumping in presidential elections
due next year, which the nominally
pro-independence DPP appear set
to win.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to review its ban against
hunting a rare desert bird whose meat is prized among Arab shaikhs, saying controlled
hunting could be a tool for preservation.
Wealthy hunting parties from the Gulf travel to Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan
province every winter to kill the houbara bustard using hunting falcons, a practice that
has sparked controversy in recent years because of the bird’s dwindling numbers.
The issue has also cast a spotlight on traditionally close ties between Pakistan and
its allies in the Arab world, particularly Saudi Arabia.
In August the Supreme Court banned hunting of the houbara bustard in a decision
welcomed by wildlife campaigners.
But the federal and provincial governments asked the court to review the decision,
with the deputy attorney general Amir Rehman arguing that controlled hunting “is a
tool for preservation so it should be allowed”.
“Conservation efforts cannot be successful without economic benefits for the
communities,” Rehman told a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar
Zaheer Jamali.
Protesters march during a demonstration over the killing of seven people in
Mazar-i-Sharif. Thousands of protesters marched through the Afghan capital
Kabul to demand justice for the beheadings. — AFP
Motorbike taxi app to ban smelly drivers
JAKARTA: Life is about to get a little easier for Indonesians who use motorbike taxis
to weave through Jakarta’s notorious traffic-choked streets — a new ride-hailing app
is promising to ban smelly drivers. UberJEK, the latest in a series of smartphone-based
motorbike taxi-booking services in the metropolis, has pledged to only hire drivers
who pass a “body odour test” as it goes on a recruiting drive before starting operations
next year. The website of the company features a picture of a foreigner sniffing the
armpit of an Indonesian man under the caption: “Sorry, if you have an armpit odour
problem, you cannot be an UberJEK rider”.
Motorbike taxis, known locally as “ojeks”, have been ubiquitous for years in the
overcrowded city of 10 million known for its monster traffic jams, but it is all too easy
for drivers to get sweaty and smelly working long hours in the tropical heat.
UberJEK founder Aris Wahyudi said he decided to include the test in the
recruitment process after hearing many complaints from motorbike taxi customers.
“This test will be conducted for customers’ satisfaction as there have been many
complaints about drivers’ foul-smelling body odour,” Wahyudi said. — AFP
4
INDIA
omandailyobserver
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
ACCESS TO EUROPEAN UNION: UK is our gateway to Europe, says PM; civil nuclear agreement signed
Cameron announces £9bn worth deals
LONDON: Prime Minister David
Cameron said British and Indian
companies will announce deals worth a
total of £9 billion ($13.7 billion) during
Narendra Modi’s visit to Britain.
Cameron made the announcement
at a joint press conference with Modi
at Downing Street, saying that new
rupee-denominated bonds would also
allow Indian companies to issue debt in
London.
“During this visit, British and
Indian companies are announcing new
collaborations together worth more
than £9 billion,” Cameron said.
“We want to forge a more ambitious,
modern partnership,” he added, noting
that India has more investments in
Britain than in the rest of the European
Union combined.
Cameron unveiled plans for £1 billion
of rupee-denominated bonds to be
traded in London, saying that he wanted
Britain to become India’s “number one
partner” for raising finance.
Asked
about
an
upcoming
referendum on Britain’s European
Union membership, Modi said: “As far
as India is concerned, if there is an entry
point to the European Union, that is the
UK”.
India considers Britain to be its
gateway into Europe, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said when
British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) greets Narendra Modi at Downing street .
asked by a reporter about Britain’s
planned referendum on its membership
of the European Union.
“We continue to see the UK as our
entry point into the EU,” Modi, speaking
via a translator, told reporters during a
visit to Britain.
British Prime Minister David
Cameron plans to hold an in-out vote
on Britain’s membership of the EU by
the end of 2017.
India and Britain on Thursday signed
a civil nuclear agreement after the two
sides held delegation level talks here on
the first day of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s three-day visit to Britain.
“We have today signed a civil nuclear
agreement. It is symbol of our mutual
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays
homage at the statue of Mahatma
Ghandi in Parliament Square, London.
— Reuters
trust,” Modi said while issuing a joint
statement with British Premier David
Cameron at the end of the talks.
Modi thanked Cameron for strong
British support for India’s permanent
membership of the UN Security
Council.
On his part, Cameron said that as the
oldest and largest democracies, India
Mani gone, Kerala Excise Minister
Babu next target: whistle-blower
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After
the resignation of Kerala’s Finance
Minister K M Mani in the bar bribery
scam, whistle-blower bar owner Biju
Ramesh on Thursday said Excise
Minister K Babu (pictured) was the
next on the list to be axed for taking a
bribe.
Ramesh had first made the revelation
in October 2014 that Mani was paid the
bribe of Rs 1 crore for his promise that
the bars closed in the state in the wake of
a new excise policy would be reopened.
The bar owner said Babu too was
bribed and he personally went to the
office of Babu in the state secretariat and
“It was me who
handed over Rs 50 lakh
handed over Rs 50 lakh
in cash.
to Babu’s office. The
Mani, who has been
vigilance did not probe
a legislator from Pala in
this charge of mine
Kottayam since 1967,
against Babu in the way
resigned on Tuesday
it should have been done.
after the Kerala High
But I am not going to
Court said there was a
sit idle, and I will take
need for further probe
forward this case to
into the allegations
its logical conclusion,”
investigated by the
Ramesh told reporters.
vigilance department.
The report of probe by
Ramesh said his “next
target” was Babu, and alleged that the the vigilance department into Ramesh’s
vigilance department “played foul” with allegation against Babu found its way to
his petition that Babu too also a “culprit”. the media in the state capital.
Babu and Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy on Wednesday said Ramesh has
been levelling allegations for the past
one year and it has now become stale
and there was nothing new in it.
Ramesh on Thursday said he will
now approach the state high court
against the “hugely partisan” probe by
the vigilance department, which gave a
clean chit to Babu.
Reacting to Ramesh’s statement, CPM
politburo member S Ramachandran
Pillai said the issue was very grave.
“This is a very serious issue and a
fresh probe should be initiated,” Pillai
told reporters on Thursday. — IANS
Particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2½ microns can cause harm to breathing
Air quality worsens post-Diwali,
Delhi govt says better this year
NEW DELHI: The central government’s
air monitoring body showed “very poor”
quality of air in the national capital
on Thursday, but the city government
claimed that pollution level on Diwali
this year was lower compared to last
year.
The System of Air Quality and
Weather Forecasting and Research
(Safar) of the union ministry of earth
sciences shows the PM 2.5 level —
Particulate Matter with a diameter
smaller than 2 1/2 microns which can
cause harm to breathing — at 229.5
units. It said the air quality was “very
poor”.
These PM 2.5 levels had touched
alarming heights over 400 units about
11 pm on Diwali night on Wednesday
— falling under “severe” air condition,
according to Safar. The Delhi Pollution
Control Committee (DPCC), however,
compared this year’s pollution level with
the past year and said that pollution
level this Diwali was lower.
The data from DPCC, a Delhi
government agency, revealed that the
maximum average values of SO2, NO2
and PM 2.5 were lower on this Diwali
compared to their corresponding values
on the same occasion in 2014.
The Ambient Air Quality monitoring
was conducted at six Locations — R K
Puram, Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh,
Civil Lines, Anand Vihar and the Indira
Gandhi International airport.
“This year on Diwali Day, the average
Boy dies of
cracker injuries;
over 500 burn
cases reported
Smog envelops New Delhi on the morning after the Diwali festival. — AFP
concentration of NO2 varied from
37.0 ug/m3 to 79.0 ug/m3 whereas last
year, the average concentration of NO2
varied from 39 ug/m3 to 194 ug/m3,” a
Delhi government statement said.
“Similarly this year on Diwali Day,
the average concentration of SO2 varied
from 26 ug/m3 to 64 ug/m3, whereas last
year the average concentration of SO2
varied from 8 ug/m3 to 87 ug/m3. The
minimum average value was observed at
IGI airport and maximum average value
was observed at Anand Vihar,” it added.
As per the DPCC, the average
concentration of PM 2.5 (for 24 hours)
ranged from 184 ug/m3 to 369 ug/m3
this Diwali. Last year on Diwali day, the
average concentration of PM 2.5 ranged
from 145 ug/m3 to 500 ug/m3.
According to Vikrant Tongad, an
environmental expert, it would take at
least a week or more for the pollution
caused by Diwali in the air to dilute to
normal levels as they were pre-Diwali.
“Due to awareness among people
this time, less fire crackers were used
in a compared to previous years. Even
if used, the crackers were environment
friendly. It would still take about a week
for the air to take its previous shape,”
Tongad said.
Tongad said the recent crop burning
in the northern belt of the country —
Punjab, Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh
— made a great contribution to this rise
in PM 2.5 levels. — IANS
A five-year-old boy has died of
injuries caused by fire crackers
burst on Diwali on Wednesday
night, doctors said on Thursday.
According to the authorities,
the boy died of injuries caused by
glass pieces that pierced his body
while he was watching some boys
of his colony burst a cracker in a
glass tumbler. The incident took
place in Swarupnagar area of
northeast Delhi.
“The injuries were grave as
the glass pieces pierced the boy’s
stomach and eyes,” said a doctor
of Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital,
where the boy was admitted.
There was another report that
said a 22-year-old youth died
in the same area while bursting
crackers. However, there was no
official confirmation. Delhi saw
over 500 cases of burn injuries
on Diwali caused by fire crackers.
The highest number of cases
were reported from south Delhi’s
Safdarjung Hospital.
and Britain were natural partners.
He said Britain and India would
build stronger economic, defence and
global partnerships.
During the course of Modi’s visit, the
two sides are expected to sign a number
of agreements on mutual investments
and defence cooperation.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister
cited his predecessors Jawaharlal Nehru
and Manmohan Singh in his historic
address to the joint session of the British
Parliament.
“Many freedom fighters of India
found their calling in the institutions
of Britain,” Modi, the first Indian
prime minister to address the British
Parliament, said.
“And many makers of modern India,
including several of my distinguished
predecessors from Jawaharlal Nehru
and Manmohan Singh, passed through
their doors,” he said.
Modi said that even in a globalised
world, London was still the standard for
our times.
Earlier, Modi was greeted with a
standing ovation when he entered the
House of Commons.
The British Prime said he viewed his
Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as a
leader who had “an enormous mandate
from the people of India”. — Agencies
2 held for
abuse in
Bengaluru
BENGALURU: Two security guards
were arrested on Thursday on charges
of gang-raping a 30-year-old woman at
the Cubbon Park here on Wednesday
night, police said.
The accused were taken into
custody on a complaint filed by the
woman at the local police station on
Thursday, Deputy Commissioner of
Police Sandeep Patil told reporters.
According to the police complaint,
the woman came from Tumakuru,
about 70 km from here, in a state-run
bus to the city and entered the park to
visit the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis
Association (KSLTA) on Wednesday
to enquire about a training course.
“As no official was present at the
association’s office due to Diwali, a
watchman told the woman to come
on Thursday for information on
training. She, however, chose to stay
back outside the tennis arena, located
within the park,” Patil said, citing the
police complaint.
When the accused guards, aged
28 and 30, who were patrolling in the
park on night duty, asked why she was
there at that odd hour (around 10 pm),
the woman told them that she had lost
her way and could not find the exit
gates of the 300-acre park. — IANS
Factory output decelerates,
inflation firms up
A labourer waits to carry onions at a wholesale market in Kolkata. India’s annual
consumer price inflation edged up to 5 per cent in October, up for the third
straight month. — Reuters
NEW DELHI: India’s factory output
growth decelerated sharply to 3.6 per
cent in September from 6.4 per cent in
the month before, even as the annual
retail inflation for October moved up
significantly to 5 per cent from 4.41 per
cent in the month before, official data
showed on Thursday. Food inflation
was even higher at 5.25 per cent.
While the industrial production
growth was lower on account of a dip
in manufacturing index, the inflation
rate moved up due to sharp increase
in the prices of food articles in general
and those for pulses in particular, as per
the separate sets of data released by the
ministry of statistics and programme
implementation. The annual inflation
rate has firmed up to this level from
3.74 per cent recorded for August.
As per the official numbers on
the Index for Industrial Production,
the index for mining rose 3 per
cent in September while that for
manufacturing and electricity were
higher by 2.6 per cent and 11.4 per
cent respectively. The corresponding
growth rates in the month before were
3.8 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 5.6 per
cent respectively.
Overall, however, the factory output
for the first half of this fiscal was placed
slightly higher at 4 per cent, against
2.9 per cent for the like period the
previous year. The cumulative growth
for the first five months was tad higher
at 4.1 per cent.
In the case of inflation derived from
the Consumer Price Index for October,
the rural areas saw a much higher price
rise of 5.54 per cent, as against 5 per
cent in the urban areas. In the month
before, the inflation rates stood at 5.05
per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.
Worryingly, the price rise in pulses
and related products was as much as
42.2 per cent, which pushed up the
overall index for food and beverages
to 5.34 per cent. But the government
CII expects a
significant recovery
in consumer
demand in the second half
on the back of lower interest
rates. Investment demand is
also picking up.
CHANDRAJIT BANERJEE
Director-General CII
said in a separate statement that the
prices should ease soon as some 4,660
tonnes of pulses had been seized from
hoarders and auctioned or disposed off
in the market.
Among the states, the maximum
inflation of 8.14 per cent was reported
from Andhra Pradesh, followed by
7.52 per cent for Chhattisharh, 6.57 per
cent for Karnataka and 6.14 per cent
for Rajasthan. Punjab reported the
least inflation of 3.18 per cent, followed
by 3.37 per cent in Kerala and 3.8 per
cent in Haryana.
Commenting on the industrial
production data, Chandrajit Banerjee,
Director-General of the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII), said the
factory output growth was expected
to pick up in the third quarter of this
fiscal, despite the moderation in the
first half.
“CII expects a significant recovery
in consumer demand in the second
half on the back of lower interest
rates. Investment demand is also
picking up as public sector projects
are being implemented by the
government,” Banerjee added. “There
has been satisfactory growth in the
manufacturing sector so far this year.”
Regarding inflation, the industry
chamber said it had been limited
to touching the 5 per cent mark in
September. — IANS
DIPLOMAT TO HEAD UN REFUGEE AGENCY
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
appointed Italian diplomat Filippo Grandi
as the next head of the refugee agency,
UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Grandi, who will take over the main
organisation on the front lines of the
biggest global refugee and migration
crisis since World War Two, has held a
number of senior UN posts, before being
appointed to lead the agency.
OBAMA LAUDS SUU KYI AFTER ELECTION
F R I DAY l N O V E M B E R 1 3 l 2 0 1 5
US President Barack Obama has lauded
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD
party on their successful campaign, the
White House said. Obama commended
her for her tireless efforts and sacrifice
to promote a more inclusive, peaceful,
and democratic Myanmar and noted
that the election and formation of a new
government could be an important step
forward in Myanmar’s democratic transition.
Australian premier visits
Indonesia to mend relations
MOVING FORWARD: The countries sought to get past recent diplomatic hurdles
JAKARTA: Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull met Indonesian
President Joko Widodo on Thursday
as Canberra sought to improve oftenprickly relations with Jakarta.
Turnbull
said
strengthening
economic cooperation was a priority.
“The overwhelming concern in
Indonesia and Jakarta, or in Canberra,
is about growth, economic growth,
investment and jobs,” Turnbull said on
ABC News24.
“So trade, investment, economic
growth, stronger economies in both
Indonesia and Australia for the
benefit of both sides is the focus of the
discussions.”
The countries sought to get past
recent diplomatic hurdles.
Indonesia executed two Australian
drug traffickers in April despite
Australia’s repeated appeals for
clemency, prompting Canberra to
withdraw its ambassador for several
weeks in protest.
Ties were also hurt by a 2013
revelation that Australian intelligence
agencies spied on the mobile phones
of Joko’s predecessor Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and his inner circle.
Joko said after the meeting that he
invited Australian business people to
invest in Indonesia, especially in the
digital economy and infrastructure
sectors. “Indonesia is opening itself to
investment from Australia,” he said.
The president also said the two
neighbours also agreed to share
Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (L) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) loosen their ties as they visit the
Tanah Abang retail market in Jakarta yesterday.
— AFP
intelligence and strengthen cooperation
in the fight against terrorism and
extremism.
Jakarta is the first stop on Turnbull’s
11-day tour to meet world leaders since
he ousted Tony Abbott two months ago
from the top post in a party-room vote.
Turnbull will later fly to Berlin,
accepting a personal invitation from
Chancellor Angela Merkel to meet
before the G20.
Turnbull’s wife Lucy, a commercial
lawyer, businesswoman and former
lord mayor of Sydney, has strong
connections with Germany as president
of the German-Australian Chamber of
Business and Commerce.
Business links and climate goals will
be key to talks with Merkel as Turnbull,
unlike his predecessor, is not a climate
change sceptic and promoter of coal.
At the G20 summit in Turkey,
Turnbull will be the sixth new face
representing Australia in six years. At
last year’s G20 in Brisbane, then leader
Abbott notoriously threatened to
confront — “shirt-front” in Australian
slang — Russian President Vladimir
Putin over the downing of flight MH17
over Ukraine.
— dpa
There’s a looting spree and there’s no fear of prosecution in the country AROUND THE GLOBE
Western nations pledge to
help Kenya fight graft
Pacific trade
deal could limit
affordable drugs
People discuss the country’s economic situation along a street in capital Nairobi. Tight liquidity in Kenya’s money market and
central bank intervention have stabilised the shilling and prices, helping ensure sustainable growth, however the country is
battling massive corruption.
— Reuters
NAIROBI: The United States, Britain
and nine other countries pledged on
Thursday to help Kenya to try to beat
corruption, promising to step up efforts
to prevent funds leaving the country
and pushing for those who commit graft
to be prosecuted.
Fresh cases of brazen sleaze,
including disclosures that one ministry
spent public funds on buying illicit toys
and $85 ball point pens, have led to
public and media calls for resignations
and put further pressure on President
Uhuru Kenyatta to tackle Kenya’s
rampant corruption.
Saying Kenya faced a “corruption
crisis,” ambassadors from 11 mainly
Western countries issued a statement
pledging to help return stolen assets to
Kenya and impose travel restrictions on
those responsible for graft.
“People should not be allowed
to enjoy the ill-gotten gains of
corruption in London, Geneva, New
York or anywhere else, and we have a
responsibility to ensure that those assets
are returned to their rightful owners
— the Kenyan people,” said Christian
Turner, the British High Commissioner
to Kenya.
The statement was also co-signed by
ambassadors from the United States,
Canada, Finland, France, Germany,
Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
and Switzerland.
During a visit to Kenya this July,
US President Barack Obama said
corruption “may be the biggest
impediment to Kenya growing faster.”
But some see the problem getting worse
in spite of the negative attention it has
attracted.
“There is now a general atmosphere
where grand theft is normal,” John
Githongo, Kenya’s former anti-graft
tsar and the most outspoken anticorruption crusader, said. “There’s a
looting spree and clearly there’s no fear
of prosecution.”
As negative headlines about graft
have filled Kenyan newspapers,
authorities have come under fire too
for trying to muzzle the press and stop
media investigations of graft. — Reuters
GENEVA: A massive trade pact
between 12 Pacific rim countries
could limit the availability of
affordable medicines, the head of the
World Health Organization said on
Thursday, joining a heated debate on
the impact of the deal.
Margaret Chan told a conference
there were “some very serious
concerns” about the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), a central plank of
US President Barack Obama’s trade
policy which still needs to be ratified
by member governments.
“If these agreements open trade
yet close the door to affordable
medicines we have to ask the
question: is this really progress at all,”
Chan asked a conference in Geneva.
The deal’s backers, including the
United States, Canada, Japan and
Australia, say it will cut trade barriers
and set common standards across 40
per cent of the world’s economy.
But other bodies, including leaders
of India’s $15 billion pharmaceuticals
industry, have said it could end up
protecting the patents of powerful
drugs companies inside the deal area,
at the expense of makers of cheaper
generic drugs outside.
“Can you bear the cost of $1,000
for a pill to treat Hepatitis C?,” Chan
asked the audience of health experts,
academics and diplomats. “Unless we
get these prices down many millions
of people will be left behind.” She said
no country in the WHO objected to
the private sector making a fair profit,
but she was worried about companies
influencing decision-making in health
policy.
— Reuters
5
WORLD
Maduro to address UN
forum amid protest
GENEVA: Venezuelan opposition
supporters and activists called on states
to boycott a speech by President Nicolas
Maduro to the UN Human Rights
Council in Geneva on Thursday due to
his country’s poor record and refusal to
allow UN investigators to visit.
Maduro, fresh from attending a
summit of Arab and South American
leaders in Riyadh where he pressed for a
meeting of oil producers to help bolster
prices, is due to address the forum at
1400 GMT.
Venezuela is among the Human
Rights Council’s 47 elected member
states.
Demonstrators are organising a
protest outside the UN gates.
Two nephews of Venezuela’s first
lady Cilia Flores have been arrested in
Haiti and taken to the United States to
face drug trafficking charges, people
familiar with the matter said on
Wednesday.
Maduro, in a tweet on Thursday,
condemned what he called imperialist
attacks and ambushes, in what appeared
to be his first public reference to his
relatives’ detention.
His wife is among 115 Venezuelan
officials accredited for the Geneva event,
during which no other delegations may
take the floor.
“I am here today to denounce
Maduro as part of opposition abroad,
as we say in Venezuela he comes
here to wash his face in front of the
Council,” Eusebio Jose Costa Lovera,
a Venezuelan student protest leader
living in exile in Europe, told a news
briefing.
The situation in Venezuela has
deteriorated dramatically in recent
years, according to activists.
“Opposition politicians have been
arbitrarily arrested, then prosecuted
and convicted on politically motivated
charges, and barred from running
for office in the legislative elections
scheduled for December,” Human
Rights Watch said in a statement.
“We regard this as an abuse of
the Human Rights Council forum...
(Maduro) has one hour, no governments
can speak, no NGOs. This is irregular
and highly problematic,” said Hillel
Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
“Fifty people and groups have signed
this petition, we asked member states
not to attend,” he added.
— Reuters
Two due in court over threat to shoot blacks
COLUMBIA: A 19-year-old white Missouri man is scheduled to appear in court on
Thursday on the charge of making threats on social media to shoot black people at the
University of Missouri’s main Columbia campus.
Hunter M Park, from the St Louis suburb of Lake St Louis, Missouri, was arrested on
Wednesday at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, where he is a
sophomore studying computer science.
Another 19-year-old white Missouri college student was also arrested on
Wednesday for making threats on social media against blacks. Connor Stottlemyre,
a student at Northwest Missouri State University, was arrested by campus police in
Maryville, Missouri, for threatening violence. It was not clear if the alleged threat was
also inspired by the turmoil at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Stottlemyre, of
Blue Springs, was being held at the Nodaway County Jail on Wednesday evening, said
London Newkirk, a jail official. Police at Northwest Missouri State were investigating.
The arrests came two days after the University of Missouri’s president and
chancellor stepped down amid protests over their handling of reports of racial abuse,
and further raised tension on the Columbia campus.
— Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kneels as he arrives at the Gurdwara
Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society in Ottawa, Canada, yesterday.
— Reuters
Central Africa leader hopes pope will come
PARIS: The acting president of the Central African Republic said on Thursday she
hopes Pope Francis will go ahead with his visit to the conflict-hit country this month
despite security concerns.
France, which plays a key peacekeeping role in the country, has warned that
international forces will struggle to cope with the added security needed for the visit,
which is scheduled for November 29 and 30.
But transitional president Catherine Samba Panza told France’s RTL radio that she
met with a member of the pope’s team and pushed for the visit to go ahead.
“I said the pope must come,” she told France’s RTL radio.
“The arrival of the pope would be a great benediction. I believe that by the grace of
God, the pope will come and nothing will happen,” she said.
Ahead of elections in December, tensions have once again mounted in the Central
African Republic, which has suffered more than two years of sectarian violence.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday that international
peacekeepers would struggle to cope with the thousands flocking to see Pope Francis
from around the country and its neighbours.
— AFP
6
REGION
omandailyobserver
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
Kurds advance in battle to retake Sinjar from IS
MAJOR AIM: To establish a significant buffer zone to protect the town and its inhabitants from incoming artillery of the enemies
MOUNT SINJAR: Iraqi Kurdish forces
backed by US-led strikes launched a
major operation on Thursday to retake
the town of Sinjar from the IS group and
cut a key supply line to Syria.
Severing the supply line would
hamper the militants’ ability to move
fighters and supplies between northern
Iraq and Syria, two countries where IS
has overrun significant territory.
And retaking Sinjar — where IS
carried out a brutal campaign of killings,
enslavement and attack against the
Yazidi religious minority — would also
be an important symbolic victory.
“The attack began at 7:00 am, and the
(Kurdish) peshmerga forces advanced
on several axes to liberate the centre
of the Sinjar district,” Major General
Ezzeddine Saadun said.
Columns of smoke rose over the
town from US-led coalition strikes and
Kurdish shelling against IS positions in
Sinjar, a journalist said.
Peshmerga Major General Hashem
Seetayi said that Kurdish forces had
regained multiple villages north of
Sinjar.
The autonomous Kurdish region’s
security council said up to 7,500
Kurdish fighters would take part in the
operation, which aims to retake Sinjar
“and establish a significant buffer zone
Severing the supply line
would hamper the militants’
ability to move fighters and
supplies between northern
Iraq and Syria, two countries
where IS has overrun
significant territory.
Iraqi Kurdish forces take part in an operation backed by US-led strikes in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar yesterday, to retake
the town from the IS group and cut a key supply line to Syria.
— AFP
to protect the (town) and its inhabitants
from incoming artillery.”
“Coalition warplanes will provide
close air support to peshmerga forces
throughout the operation,” it said.
The US-led coalition carried out six
strikes in the Sinjar area on Tuesday, and
Lebanon parliament
convenes for first
time in a year
Prime Minister Tammam Salam (front C) speaks
during a legislative session as Lebanon’s
parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri (top) heads the
session at the parliament building in Beirut.
— Reuters
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament convened on
Thursday for its first legislative session in more
than a year to pass financial laws the paralysed state
urgently needs to stay afloat.
Lawmakers are due to discuss development
loans, debt issuance and banks at the two-day
session, which began shortly after 0900 GMT.
Thorny political issues have been left off the agenda,
however.
Lebanon’s main political blocks had previously
been unable to agree on an agenda for the session,
obstructing efforts to convene the chamber.
Some parties were still threatening a boycott
until late on Wednesday. The political deadlock
means Lebanon risks missing out on World Bank
loans that parliament needs to approve by year-end.
The session is the first since parliament extended
its own term in November last year.
The country’s politicians, bitterly divided
by their own rivalries and wider conflict in the
region, have failed to agree on even basic decisions,
including where to dump rubbish.
The unity government headed by Prime
Minister Tammam Salam is barely functioning.
It includes Hizbullah, which is backed by Iran,
and Saad al Hariri’s Future Movement, backed by
Tehran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia.
The deadlock has left Lebanon without a
president for 17 months with parliament unable to
agree on who should fill the post.
Parliament also needs to vote on banking
legislation for trans-border cash movements,
cooperation to fight tax evasion and amendments
to the money laundering law. A controversial
electoral law has been left off the agenda.
Lebanon risks cancellation of badly needed
World Bank loans and must vote on legislation
to help protect its relationship with banks
worldwide. — Reuters
five more across the border in Syria’s Al
Hol area.
Kurdish forces face an estimated
300 to 400 militants in the town,
Captain Chance McCraw, a US military
intelligence officer, told journalists in
Baghdad.
But it is not just the fighters they
will have to contend with: IS has had
more than a year to build up networks
of bombs, berms and other obstacles in
Sinjar.
“This is part of the isolation of Mosul,”
Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for
the international operation against IS,
said of the battle for Sinjar, referring to
the jihadists’ main hub in northern Iraq.
“Sinjar sits astride Highway 47, which
is a key and critical resupply route”
linking Mosul with Syria, Warren said in
Baghdad. “By seizing Sinjar, we’ll be able
to cut that line of communication, which
we believe will constrict (IS’s) ability to
resupply themselves, and is a critical first
step in the eventual liberation of Mosul.”
The fact that the Sinjar operation
comes at the same time as others against
IS in Iraq and Syria also increases
pressure on the group.
“It paralyses the enemy, right — he’s
gotta make very tough decisions now on
who does he reinforce,” Warren said.
In conjunction with the Sinjar
operation, fighters from the Syrian
Three decades on, peacekeepers
in Sinai are under pressure
JERUSALEM: They half-joke that they are
“smoke detectors,” installed in Sinai after
Egypt’s 1979 peace deal with Israel as insurance
against any future flare-ups.
More than three war-free decades on, the
US-led peacekeepers are feeling the heat.
An insurgency in the desert peninsula has
claimed casualties among the Multinational
Force and Observers (MFO), requiring new
and often cumbersome precautions.
And while participating countries do not
say so publicly, there has been some behindthe-scenes debate over the MFO mandate
at a period of unprecedentedly close IsraeliEgyptian security cooperation.
In northeastern areas of Sinai once strictly
demilitarised, Egypt, with Israel’s consent, now
routinely brings in troops, tanks, fighter jets
and helicopters to fight insurgents.
Locals believe Israel has even lent a hand
with occasional air strikes and patrols in Sinai’s
skies — something neither side confirms.
The crash of a Russian passenger jet in Sinai
on October 31, possibly the result of a bomb,
has only heightened unease.
The MFO insists it is all the more relevant
for ensuring Egyptian reinforcements are
logged and agreed with the Israelis, who want
A Colombian soldier is hugged by his daughter
during a farewell ceremony in Bogota, before
the deployment of troops from the Colombian
Multinational Forces and Observers battalion to
the Sinai peninsula in this file picture. — Reuters
no surprises on their borders.
“We will continue this important mission,”
the MFO director, veteran US diplomat David
Satterfield, told a gathering in Tel Aviv this
week. “We will do everything to sustain this
mission.”
Democratic Forces group are battling IS
across the border in the Al Hol area.
And Syrian regime forces broke a
year-long IS siege of a military air base
in the country’s north on Tuesday with
backing from Russian air strikes.
After seizing Mosul and driving
south towards Baghdad in a disastrously
effective offensive in June 2014, IS again
turned its attention to northern Iraq,
pushing Kurdish forces back towards
their regional capital Arbil. IS overran
the Sinjar area in August 2014, attacking
Yazidis in what the United Nations has
described as a possible genocide.
Thousands of Yazidis fled to Mount
Sinjar, which overlooks the town, and
were trapped there by IS.
Aiding them was one of Washington’s
main justifications for starting its air
campaign against IS last year.
International forces are also advising
and training Iraqi forces, and American
troops took part in a joint raid with the
peshmerga last month in which a US
soldier was killed.
With support from international
strikes, Kurdish forces have managed to
regain significant ground from IS, and
have been positioned on Mount Sinjar
at the edge of town for months, with as
little as 50 metres separating them from
the militants.
— AFP
SEVERED TIES
Police deny links
to an Emirati
held in Libya
The MFO is welcomed by Egypt and Israel
though their reasons can differ, diplomats said
on condition of anonymity.
Cairo sees the MFO as part of a peaceful
relationship with Israel that, while unpopular
with many Egyptians, brings them $1.3
billion in annual US defence aid, sweetening
the foreign-enforced demilitarisation of their
sovereign Sinai territory.
According to its website, the MFO has 1,682
military personnel from the United States
and 11 other contributor nations, and it also
employs around 400 Sinai Egyptians.
While concentrated near the Israeli border,
they theoretically cover an area of more than
10,000 square kilometres.
For the Israelis, the MFO offers strategic
reassurance: While happy with Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, they quietly
recall that only two years ago he toppled an
elected regime hostile to the Jewish-majority
state next door.
“Just because you installed a smoke detector
decades ago and never had a fire, that doesn’t
mean you should dismantle it,” one diplomat
briefed on the MFO said, using a common
metaphor among officials from the force, Egypt
and Israel.
— Reuters
DUBAI: An Emirati arrested in
Tripoli on suspicion of spying on
Libyan authorities was an ex-sergeant
dismissed by Dubai police five years
ago, the force said. The unnamed
suspect was arrested on November
5 and is being questioned, Siddick
al Sour, the head of the prosecutor
general’s office in Tripoli said.
He said the United Arab Emirates
national is connected to the police in
Dubai and was on his third visit to
Libya since 2012.
“He claims to be a businessman
and to have no ties to the Dubai police
but intelligence agents found pictures
on his phone of sensitive locations in
Tripoli,” said Sour.
Dubai police chief Khamis al
Muzainah said in a statement on his
force’s official Twitter account that the
charges against the man were “false
and far away from truth.”
“The arrested suspect’s relation with
the police had ended five years ago (in
2010) when he was dismissed from
military service for his involvement in
a moral case,” said Muzainah. — AFP
On the agenda will be potential business deals and talks on regional issues including the conflict in Syria
As ties thaw, Iran’s Rouhani to visit Europe
TEHRAN: Hassan Rouhani heads to Italy
and France from Saturday for the first visit of
an Iranian leader to Europe in 16 years, as ties
thaw after Tehran’s nuclear deal with world
powers.
In Rome on Saturday and Sunday, Rouhani
will meet Italian officials and Pope Francis,
while on Monday and Tuesday in Paris he will
see President Francois Hollande.
On the agenda will be potential business
deals — as Iran opens up to the global
economy after the historic July nuclear
agreement — and talks on regional issues
including the conflict in Syria.
The last visit to Europe by an Iranian leader
was in 1999, when Mohammad Khatami, like
Rouhani a reformist, travelled to Rome and
Paris in separate trips in March and October.
He had been the first president of Iran to
visit Europe since the country’s 1979 Islamic
revolution.
Khatami during that visit also held talks at
the Vatican, meeting then pontiff John Paul II.
The choices of France and Italy for both
visits are hardly surprising — before sanctions
were imposed on Iran in 2006 over its nuclear
programme, the two countries were the
oil-and-gas-rich nation’s main European
The choices of France and
Italy for both visits are hardly
surprising — before sanctions
were imposed on Iran in 2006
over its nuclear programme,
the two countries were the
oil-and-gas-rich nation’s main
European economic partners.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) meets European Parliament President Martin Schulz, as
the former visited Iran last Saturday. — Reuters
economic partners.
Both are keen to resume that cooperation
after the July 14 accord, which saw Iran agree
with six world powers (Britain, China, France,
Germany, Russia, and the United States) to
curb its nuclear programme in exchange for
the lifting of sanctions.
A steady stream of foreign business leaders
have been making their way to Tehran since
the deal, eager to seize their share of the
Iranian market and its 78 million people.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius
and Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni
were among the first Western officials to
visit Tehran over the summer, bringing the
invitations for Rouhani’s European trip.
In an interview with France 2 public
television on Wednesday, Rouhani said he
expected to sign a number of documents
that would “form the basis for industrial and
commercial agreements”. Among them, he
said, will “probably” be a move to buy Airbus
aircraft to renew Iran’s ageing fleet.
Fabius was followed in Iran in September
by a delegation of some 150 French business
leaders seeking opportunities.
— AFP
EUROPE
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
Poland wants
EU to ban
second Baltic
pipeline
WARSAW: Poland wants the European Union to ban the construction of
a second pipeline to pump Russian gas
to Germany under the Baltic Sea, alleging it undermines the bloc’s strategic interests and violates competition
rules.
Plans to build the Nord Stream-2
pipeline “go far beyond matters of energy, because in our region of Europe,
the gas trade has strategic consequences,” Poland’s incoming conservative
minister for Europe, Konrad Szymanski, was quoted as saying on Thursday
by the Polish PAP news agency.
Revenue from the new pipeline
could end up in Russian state coffers
and be spent on arms, Szymanski
warned.
He also pointed to the risk that a
Russian monopoly on gas supplies to
the EU could violate the bloc’s competition rules.
“We expect the European Commission to fulfil its responsibilities regarding this matter,” he said.
In June, Russian energy giant
Gazprom agreed with its western European partners — Anglo-Dutch Shell,
Germany’s E.ON, France’s ENGIE and
Austria’s OMV — to build the second
gas pipeline to Germany, bypassing
conflict-torn Ukraine, but also its EU
neighbour Poland.
Warsaw insists the move further
undermines its lucrative role as a transit state for existing Russian gas pipelines.
— AFP
13 arrested in
Europe-wide
raid on terror
network
STOCKHOLM: At least 13 people,
including a controversial Kurdish
cleric in Norway, have been arrested
in a Europe-wide raid on a suspected
terrorist network, European justice officials said on Thursday.
The European justice organisation
Eurojust said six people had been arrested in Italy, four in Britain and three
in Norway as part of the swoop.
At least 17 suspects were fingered
in the operation launched by the Italian ROS Carabinieri, Eurojust said.
Some of the suspects were believed
to be at large or had travelled to Syria
or Iraq to fight with the IS terrorist
group.
The probe centred on a group,
named Rawti Shax, that has also attempted to recruit foreign fighters to
be sent to Syria and Iraq,and to overthrow the Kurdish autonomous government in northern Iraq.
Rawti Shax evolved from the Ansar
al Islam group, which is listed by the
UN as a terrorist organisation affiliated with al Qaeda, The Hague-based
Eurojust said.
— dpa
omandailyobserver
EU launches emergency fund
for Africa to combat migration
PROBING
7
INCIDENT
BILLION DOLLAR FUND: Member states asked to tackle causes of migration;
however, Africans agree to help but sceptical of deportation plans
VALLETTA: Leaders of the European Union formally launched an
emergency trust fund for Africa on
Thursday with an initial $2 billion
to combat the poverty and conflicts driving migration to Europe.
The fund, unveiled at a summit with African leaders in Malta,
currently consists largely of 1.8 billion euros ($1.93 billion) put up by
the European Commission, the EU
executive, from the bloc’s central
budget.
The Commission wants member states to match that, but few
have pledged much so far. The new
money, which adds to some 20
billion euros annually donated to
Africa by the EU and its 28 states,
will finance projects ranging from
training and small-business grants
and combating food shortages to
schemes directly aimed at cutting
emigration and tackling radicalisation and other violence.
With Europeans’ attention now
gripped by over half a million Syrians and others whose arrival has
plunged the EU into crisis, memories have faded of the drowned
Africans whose deaths in April
prompted the Malta summit.
However, EU officials say that
African migration presents the
greater long-term concern.
Among the biggest concerns in
both Europe and Africa is the extent to which climate change, turning vast areas around the Sahara
into desert, may set large sections
Russian President Vladimir PUTIN (C) meets with
sportsmen as he visits a sports centre in Sochi. — AFP
Putin orders
action on Russia
doping scandal
A couple embrace as refugees and migrants reach the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the
Aegean Sea from Turkey on Thursday. — AFP
of Africa’s fast-growing billionplus population on the move, both
within the continent and north
across the Mediterranean.
The new EU fund will focus on
areas affected by migration and
drought in the Horn of Africa, the
Sahel and North Africa.
Initial direct pledges from the
member states, who also fund the
EU budget, amount to just 78 million euros, but EU officials expect
further money soon.
African leaders at the summit
in Valletta stressed that its effect
would be limited.
“The trust fund is not enough.
1.8 billion euros is far from
enough,” said Mahamadou Issoufou, the president of Niger in the
Sahel, which faces serious problems of migration and drought.
“What we want is not just official development assistance
(ODA) in this form but reform of
global governance. World trade
must be fair. There must be more
investment in Africa. ODA is good
but it’s not sufficient,” he said.
— Reuters
SWEDEN REINSTATES BORDER CHECKS
MALMÖ: Sweden reinstated
border controls on Thursday in a
bid to gain control over the massive influx of migrants arriving
in the country, without blocking
the steady flow of asylum seekers.
On Thursday at 12:00 pm,
police began carrying out identification checks on passengers
travelling on trains crossing the
bridge over the Oresund strait
from Denmark, a correspondent
reported.
Police were also checking papers at at terminals for ferries arriving in southern Sweden from
Denmark and Germany.
Those are the routes most
used by migrants.
“This is not a fence. We need
to make sure that we have control. We have to make sure we
know who is coming to Sweden,”
A police officer checks papers from a driver from Denmark at
Lernacken on the Swedish side of the Oresund strait on Thursday.
— AFP
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven
insisted. “Introducing border
controls is not to prevent people
from coming to Sweden to seek
asylum,” the head of the Swedish
Migration Agency Anders Dan-
ielsson meanwhile told Swedish
news agency TT.
“On the contrary. They will
have their case heard, but we
need to (regain) control,” he
added. Sweden, a country of 9.8
million people, has taken more
refugees as a proportion of its
population than any other country in Europe as the continent
struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War II.
The Scandinavian country
expects to receive up to 190,000
asylum seekers this year — the
equivalent of 1.5 million people
arriving in a country the size of
Germany.
The massive influx has
strained Sweden’s capacity to
take care of the new arrivals,
with authorities recently warning they were no longer able to
provide housing for them.
“People are forced to sleep
in tents, in offices and in evacuation centres” normally used
for natural disasters, Migration Agency spokesman Mikael
Hvinlund said. — AFP
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia must “do everything” to eradicate doping, ordering an inquiry into allegations of major drug
abuse in athletics days before the country risks being
barred from next year’s Olympics.
Moscow is scrambling to respond to a bombshell
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report released
this week that alleged systematic doping in Russian
athletics, including by suggesting a foreign specialist
could take over its discredited testing laboratory.
Athletics’ world governing body, the IAAF, has given Russia until Friday to come up with answers to the
allegations, and Putin met sports chiefs in Sochi, the
Black Sea home of the 2014 Winter Olympics, ahead
of the deadline.
The stakes could not be higher for Russia, which
risks being excluded from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio over damning allegations of corruption
and “state-sponsored”
doping.
We must do
“We must do eveeverything
rything in Russia to
rid ourselves of this
in Russia to
problem,” Putin said
rid ourselves
in footage shown on
Russian television of of this problem. We
the meeting — ironi- must carry out our
cally called to discuss
the country’s prepara- own internal inquiry
tions for Rio 2016.
“We must carry
VLADIMIR PUTIN
out our own internal
President of Russia
inquiry,” he said, telling sports officials to
show “the most open
and professional cooperation with international antidoping authorities”.
“This problem does not exist only in Russia, but if
our foreign colleagues have questions, we must answer
them,” he said.
It is the first time Putin, himself an avid sportsman, has commented publicly on the charges levelled
by an independent commission chaired by WADA’s
Dick Pound, which have rocked the flagship Olympics
sport.
Putin echoed a plea by Russia’s Olympic Committee not to sacrifice the dreams of clean competitors,
saying there should not be collective punishment.
“If someone breaks the rules on doping, the responsibility should be individual,” the Kremlin leader said.
“Athletes who have never touched doping should
not pay for those who have transgressed.”
As the doping storm has developed during the
week, officials have given conflicting responses.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko on Wednesday lashed out at the claims, saying they were an attempt to “defile the image” of the country and arguing
that excluding Russia from the Olympics would be to
get rid of a “major competitor”.
— AFP
It is the government’s biggest domestic challenge since Tsipras was re-elected on a promise to cushion the impact of economic hardship
Greeks take to streets as dissent rumbles over austerity
ATHENS: Striking Greeks took to the
streets on Thursday to protest austerity
measures, setting Alexis Tsipras’ government its biggest domestic challenge
since he was re-elected in September on
a promise to cushion the impact of economic hardship.
Many flights were grounded, hospitals ran on skeleton staff, ships were
docked at port and public offices stayed
shut across the country in the first nationwide walkout called by Greece’s largest private and public sector unions in a
year.
As Greece’s international lenders
met in central Athens to review compliance with its latest bailout, thousands
marched nearby to protest the relentless
round of tax hikes and pension cutbacks
that the rescue packages have entailed.
Five years of austerity since the first
bailout was signed in 2010 have sapped
economic activity and left about a quarter of the population out of work.
“My salary is not enough to cover
even my basic needs. My students are
starving,” said Dimitris Nomikos, 52, a
protesting teacher said.
“They are destroying the social security system. I don’t know if we will ever
see our pensions,” she added.
Tsipras came to power in January
promising to end the austerity.
He then accepted the unpopular
terms of Greece’s third bailout when
faced with the prospect of an exit from
the euro zone.
Illustrating the political juggling act
the prime minister is trying to pull off,
his own Syriza party came out in support of Thursday’s strike, saying industrial action strengthened the governProtesters from the communist-affiliated trade union PAME take part in an anti-ausment’s hand in talks with lenders.
— Reuters
The bailout review talks with the terity demonstration during a 24-hour general strike in central Athens.
EU and IMF inspectors resumed on
Wednesday.
Government spokeswoman Olga
Gerovasili denied suggestions that leftist Syriza, which fought against austerity
when it was in opposition, was trying to
play both sides in supporting the antiausterity strike.
The party has said it will implement
its side of the bargain with lenders, but
has long maintained that the bailout
terms are excessively harsh.
“We are implementing an agreement which includes (bailout) measures
which are unfair,” Gerovasili said.
But Syriza’s dilemma cut little ice with
some of the thousands of protesters who
converged on the city’s main Syntagma
Square.
“It’s a tactic of Syriza to disorientate
the people from targeting the party,” said
Ilias Leggeris, 63, a retired bank worker.
Some demonstrators held pink balloons with “The Promises of Alexis”
written on them, suggesting his words
were empty.
Municipal workers in the crowd wore
florescent vests with a “not for sale” sign
stamped on their backs.
A group of musicians added a surreal touch with a rendition of the 50s
classic “Rock Around the Clock” as they
marched through the square.
“I cannot take any more,” said Irini
Kasidokosta, 72, a retired teacher who
has seen her pension cut by 50 per cent
over six years.
She directed her anger against both
Tsipras and the lenders. “I wish Tsipras
had done what he promised (to overturn
austerity) but they didn’t let him,” she
said.
“Now we have turned into beggars for
a plate of food,” she added. — Reuters
8
ANALYSIS
omandailyobserver
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
EU tags Israeli settlement goods, but some accept it
T
he wine, jewellery and chocolate that arrives on
Andreas Boldt’s doorstep in rural Germany each
month come from places deemed illegal under
international law, but he doesn’t care.
“I buy these products to strengthen the communities there,” he said of the $100 (90 euros) box
sent directly from Jewish businesses in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The European Union on Wednesday announced that goods from settlements — Jewish
communities built in areas occupied by force in
1967 — must be specifically labelled, infuriating
Israel.
The settlements are illegal under international
law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts,
with those in the West Bank and east Jerusalem
built on land seen as part of a future Palestinian
state. But while efforts to single out products from
such areas have gained steam, others have seen an
opportunity.
Right-wing settlers see all of the West Bank,
even Palestinian cities, as part of Israel and refer
to it as Judea and Samaria, the ancient biblical
kingdoms.
Some have already begun defiantly slapping
labels of origin on their products — and some Europeans are purposely buying those goods in support. Many support them for religious reasons —
both Christian and Jewish — though that is not settlements in the occupied West Bank, east Jealways the case. Boldt, for example, is an atheist.
rusalem and Golan Heights, all taken by Israel in
The 36-year-old mechanical engineer visited the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel argues that PalestinIsrael with friends in 2009 and “soon realised that ians will suffer, as some 26,000 are employed in
Israel is the normal democracy,” he said by phone, Israeli companies in the West Bank.
adding that his scepticism towards Islam is a drivHowever, three Palestinians working in a facing factor in his views.
tory in a settlement laughed off the suggestion.
He dismissed alleged abuses under Israel’s oc“In my grandfather’s time there were no Jewish
cupation.
settlements, but they survived OK!” one joked.
“We already have 21 Arab states. Is there reBoldt is one of around 1,000 European “partally a need for another? They
ners” of the Lev Haolam founwon’t have equal rights for
dation, which sells the boxes
women there, for example.”
they buy to support compaHowever, for some already
Many support them for nies in West Bank settlements.
willingly labelling their prodAnother
supporter,
religious reasons — both 31-year-old
ucts, “religion does play a very
Dutch woman
Christian and Jewish
important part in this,” said
Arjanne Kloos, initially
Miri Maoz-Ovadia, spokesbought such products and
— though that is not
woman for the Binyamin Renow runs the Netherlands
always the case, says
gional Council, which covers
branch of the foundation,
JOE DYKE
over 40 Jewish settlements in
which has over 100 members.
the West Bank.
She says she is motivated
“Israel being the Holy
by religious conviction and,
Land, the feeling of drinking
referring to Jews, because
wine or eating from Judea and
“this is a people who have
Samaria is something that has a very special emo- been through so much, especially in Europe.”
tional meaning for these people.”
Lev Haolam founder Nati Rom recently showed
The EU ruling affects products imported from a group of 20 Dutch Christian “partners” the land
at his home in the outpost of Esh Kodesh, at the
end of a path protected by Israeli soldiers.
Later, as they weaved down the hills to a Jewish-run soap factory, they passed near the town
of Duma — where a Palestinian house was firebombed in July, killing an 18-month-old along
with his mother and father, an attack blamed on
Jewish extremists.
The European Union is Israel’s largest trading
partner, but exports from settlements represent a
tiny portion of the total numbers — estimated at
two to three per cent of Israeli exports to the EU.
Products include wine, dates and vegetables,
along with cosmetics from the Dead Sea area.
The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) movement has had success internationally in highlighting settlement growth
and welcomed the EU decision on labelling, but
called for further steps.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation reacted
similarly, calling for a ban on such commerce.
Pro-Israeli campaigners however want to turn
labelling into an opportunity.
Claudia Schille, a Lev Haolam foundation
“partner” in Norway who sees her support for Israel as a Christian duty, will use it as a chance to
seek out settlement products. “It is not a boycott,
it is a buy-cott,” she said.
Airport security in spotlight
A
irport security concerns came into focus at the Dubai Airshow, which
wrapped up on Thursday, after suspicions mounted that a bomb brought
down a Russian airliner in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Sales were quiet at the biennial fair, with the fast-rising Gulf carriers
that had turned the gathering into a regular venue for mega-deals, saying they had enough on order.
So there was plenty of time to reflect on what easyJet CEO Carolyn
McCall told the BBC this week “kept airline chief executives awake at
night” — the fear of a bomb being carried or stowed on board a flight.
What focused their attention was the crash two weeks ago of a Russian passenger jet over the Sinai after it took off from the Red Sea resort,
killing all 224 people on board.
British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond charged that some countries have a problem with training and motivating security staff.
Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, CEO of Dubai’s carrier Emirates, said that security at Dubai International, the world’s largest in
terms of international passengers handled, is of “utmost priority” for
authorities in the Gulf city state.
He said the airline’s “security is in constant contact with other airports, in case there is any information... they need to look at that could
be related to security”.
Emirates President Tim Clark described the suspected bombing of
the Russian plane as a “game changer”, pledging to reassess security procedures at several destinations.
“We’re reviewing our procedures in terms of security and ramp handling and access to our aircraft,” Clark was cited by Bloomberg as saying.
“We have 22 cities in Africa, multiple cities in west Asia — India,
Pakistan, et cetera — all of these will have to be reviewed to make sure
we’re as safe as we can be.
“There are many airports in the world where if people wanted to do
some pretty bad things they could do them,” he said.
Emirates, along with Abu Dhabi’s Etihad and Qatar Airways, have
established their hubs as major stops for transcontinental travel.
For now, both Emirates and Qatar Airways have changed their
routes to avoid flying over Sinai following the airliner crash.
Concerns over airport security, mainly in the Middle East, are “well
placed”, according to Addison Schonland, an industry expert with USbased consultancy AirInsight.
“The neighbourhood is in turmoil. The Russian tragedy is a symptom of what’s to come.
Commercial aviation is a soft target with fabulous upside in terms of
attracting attention and causing mayhem, “ he said.
(L-R) John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul stand on stage during the Republican Presidential
Debate hosted by Fox Business and The Wall Street Journal in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
— AFP
Immigration splits White House hopefuls
D
onald Trump wants to expel undocumented
US residents, Jeb Bush is for legalising them.
Immigration is dividing Republican White
House hopefuls and embarrassing a party
eager to appear strong — yet welcoming to
Hispanic voters.
Since 2012, the issue has dogged the Republican Party, which is staunchly opposed
to President Barack Obama’s executive orders shielding millions of immigrants from
deportation.
The party’s conservative wing torpedoed
an ambitious reform plan in Congress the
following year, and the divide between moderate and conservative currents of the Grand
Old Party has simmered on the back burner.
Until Tuesday, when the issue of immigration reared up in the fourth Republican
primary debate.
On one side, billionaire Trump hammered home his plan to build a wall along
the US border with Mexico — a pledge repeated like a slogan on the campaign trail.
“We need borders. We will have a wall,”
he said. Not everyone on stage was on board.
“Think about the families, think about
the children,” said Ohio Governor John Kasich, who with former Florida governor Jeb
Bush represent the opposing camp within
the party.
“We all know you can’t pick them up and
ship them across, back across the border. It’s
a silly argument.”
“It would send a signal that we’re not
the kind of country that I know America is,”
added Bush, who backs allowing undocumented residents “to earn legal status” over
time.
His positioning reflects his values and
personal history — he is married to a wom-
an from Mexico and speaks Spanish — but
it has as much to do with electoral politics.
“They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton
campaign right now when they hear this”
insistence on deporting millions, he warned.
“We have to win the presidency. And the
way you win the presidency is to have practical plans.”
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas painted a
different picture of the excitement within
Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“The Democrats are laughing, because if
Republicans join Democrats as the party of
amnesty, we will lose,” said Cruz, a hero of
the conservative Tea Party movement.
Cruz’s argument plays well in the primary race, in which core conservatives have an
outsized role in the voting process.
He believes Republicans lost the 2012
election because their candidate, Mitt Romney, was too moderate, and that only an uncompromising conservative opposed to legalising the undocumented can win in 2016.
Party leaders reached the opposite conclusion after the Republican defeat three
years ago, when Romney’s assurance that
the 11 million people living in the shadows
could “self-deport” was widely ridiculed.
“We need to campaign among Hispanic,
black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too,” the party
concluded in a self-critical post-mortem.
Obama won 80 per cent of black, Hispanic and Asian votes, groups that combined will represent over half the population
by 2050.
Hispanic-Americans often have relatives, friends or coworkers who are undocumented. Education and jobs may be top priorities for Latino voters, but they expect an
immigration reform plan, or at least a more
welcoming tone and less xenophobia than
what Trump has to offer.
“The emergence of Trump as a candidate
in this campaign has been a serious setback
to the degree to which the conversation was
evolving” in the party, Doris Meissner of the
Migration Policy Institute told AFP.
“It has really introduced heavy anti-immigrant” sentiment, which had been more
discreet in recent years, she said.
The Republican dilemma is exacerbated
by what they say are illegal efforts by Obama
to bypass the stalemate in Congress.
They successfully sued to block Obama’s
latest immigration executive order in federal
court, a decision which may yet be reviewed
by the Supreme Court.
Clinton seeks to take Obama’s lead, and
on Wednesday she declared Trump’s forced
deportation plan “absurd, inhumane and
un-American.”
Resolving the Republican tensions is a
challenge in terms of both policy and rhetoric.
One of those walking the fine line is senator and presidential hopeful Marco Rubio,
a son of Cuban immigrants.
He co-authored a comprehensive immigration reform bill but it died in Congress in
2013, and he later adopted a tougher tone,
demanding dramatic tightening of border
security.
But on Wednesday he acknowledged he
remained open to 15-year pathway towards
citizenship for some immigrants in the
country illegally.
“It’s not that we’re against immigrants,”
Rubio told NPR, “but there’s got to be a
process by which people come here.”
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FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2015
P10
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Inside
Don’t forget to say sorry even to kids Foods to stay warm during winter Will Smith talks about ‘Concussion’ role FOLLOW US ON:
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editor@omanobserver.om
Q NINA CHESTNEY
T
The pack of riders of the Giro D’Italia cycling race pass Lake Garda (June 4, 1999 file photo). — Reuters
LIMONE SUL GARDA
Where to find the secret to a long life?
he breathtaking beauty
and sheer size of Lake
Garda, the largest
lake in Italy, makes
it a popular holiday
destination for Italians
and foreigners alike. Picturesque towns
line the lake’s shores, making a tour of
the entire 145-km shoreline a delight.
But Limone sul Garda, on the
narrower, more mountainous stretch of
the lake to the north, is one of the most
captivating.
“Limone” means “lemon” in Italian
and the town was known for growing
lemons and other citrus fruits.
But the name is actually a
coincidence as the town itself is much
older than the lemon groves and the
name could come from the Latin word
for boundary.
Among the most striking features
of Limone are the pillars and walls
marking its shoreline that remain from
gardens where lemons were grown.
They were described by renowned
German writer Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe in the 18th century, bringing the
town to the attention of an international
literary audience. Limone has another
claim to fame.
In the late 1970s, a former inhabitant
was found to have a protein in his
blood that removes fats from arteries
and takes them to the liver where
they are eliminated, thus warding off
cardiovascular diseases.
After testing the inhabitants of
Limone, it was discovered that all
carriers of the gene were descended
from one married couple in Limone
in the 17th century. The gene is still
being passed on, with more young
carriers identified in Limone, and work
to produce a drug based on the gene
IN THE LATE 1970S, A
FORMER INHABITANT
WAS FOUND TO HAVE A
PROTEIN IN HIS BLOOD
THAT REMOVES FATS
FROM ARTERIES AND
TAKES THEM TO THE
LIVER WHERE THEY
ARE ELIMINATED,
THUS WARDING OFF
CARDIOVASCULAR
DISEASES.
continues.
Lemon groves
The typical Limone diet is rich in
local fish, olive oil and citrus fruits and
the climate is moderate, so it is not
surprising that a high percentage of
Limone’s residents are over 80 years old.
Limone was a small and isolated
village only accessible by boat or
mountain path until the 1930s, with
people making a living from olive
groves, citrus fruit and fishing.
Isolation ended, however, when
the so-called Gardesana road was dug
out of the mountainside, connecting
Limone with neighbouring towns and
opening it up to tourism.
The road has become famous in its
own right.
The car chase that opened the
2008 James Bond movie “Quantum of
Solace” was filmed on an arched stretch
to Limone from the nearby town of
Riva. Parts of the racy Aston Martin car
used in the film are on display at the La
Paz bar in Riva.
Limone’s first lemon groves date
back centuries and much effort was put
into building structures that worked
rather like greenhouses to protect the
trees from winter temperatures.
In fact, Limone was the northernmost
location in the world where citrus fruit
was grown commercially, and it was
exported to Germany, Austria, Poland,
Hungary, other parts of northern
Europe and Russia.
Competition from the south reduced
demand for Limone’s lemons and by the
1900s production started to die off.
Vestiges of the industry remain all
over Limone, however, from the lemon
grove pillars to the lemon emblem on
buildings and streets.
Lake life
Despite the beauty and elegance
of the town, Lake Garda’s immense,
shimmering blue is captivating.
Often dotting the lake are the
bright sails of boats, windsurfers and
kite surfers. Lake Garda attracts many
sailors and surfers since when the
wind picks it up it is usually regular
and strong. Swimming is highly
recommended on a hot day in the
refreshing water. — Reuters
HERITAGE
Bee-lieve it or not: people liked honey back in the Stone Age
Q WILL DUNHAM
M
urals from ancient Egypt’s vibrant
New Kingdom era depicting
bees and honey amid scenes of
everyday life some 4,400 years ago provide
early evidence of people using of beehive
products. But humans have been using the
stuff far longer than that.
Scientists said on Wednesday they have
found evidence of beeswax in pottery made
by Stone Age people from early farming
cultures in Europe, the Middle East and
North Africa, including in cooking pots
from a site in eastern Turkey dating to about
8,500 years ago.
“The distinctive chemical fingerprint of
beeswax was detected at multiple Neolithic
sites across Europe, indicating just how
widespread the association between humans
and honeybees was in prehistoric times,”
organic geochemist Mélanie Roffet-Salque of
the University of Bristol in Britain said.
The beeswax was present in the pottery
because these people may have been using
honey, which bears traces of beeswax, or
coating the inside of pots with beeswax for
waterproofing, Roffet-Salque said.
“It is clear that Stone Age people knew
their environment very well and were
exploiting various natural resources such as
beeswax, but also tree resins and tars,” RoffetSalque added. The most obvious reason
for making use of the honeybee would be
for honey, “a rare sweetener for prehistoric
people,” Roffet-Salque said.
“However, beeswax could have been used
in its own right for various technological,
ritual, cosmetic and medicinal purposes,
for example, to waterproof porous ceramic
vessels or soften brittle birch bark tar to
make glue,” Roffet-Salque said.
Honey could not be detected directly
because it is mainly composed of sugars
that would not survive thousands of years
at archaeological sites.” wDetecting beeswax
in pots allows us to say that early farmers
were exploiting hive products: beeswax and
honey,” Roffet-Salque said. The researchers
examined chemical compounds trapped in
the clay of more than 6,000 potsherds from
more than 150 Old World sites.
Pottery examined from more northerly
sites, specifically above the 57th parallel, for
example from Scotland and Scandinavia,
were found to lack beeswax.
This suggests honeybees did not live in
those locales at that time perhaps due to the
harsher, high-latitude conditions, University
of Bristol biogeochemist Richard Evershed
said. — Reuters
10
LIFESTYLE
omandailyobserver
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
‘Cultural exchange can strengthen bilateral relations’
C
ultural exchange between
the Sultanate of Oman and
Bangladesh can strengthen the
present incredible friendship.
Both the countries are very
important part of the global
cultural heritage. Visiting Minister for Cultural
Affairs of Bangladesh, Assaduzzaman Noor said.
‘Sultanate of Oman is very rich in cultural
heritage. Omani people are extremely caring of
their own culture and they are nursing that in
the best possible ways. Since we are friends from
various points of view, cultural exchange between
these two countries definitely can strengthen the
friendship.’ the Minister said .
During his official visit to the Sultanate,
while visiting Bangladesh School Muscat
(BSM) recently, the minister paid homage to
the charismatic designer of modern Sultanate,
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. He expressed his
heartfelt thanks to His Majesty for the continuous
support to Bangladesh and the expatriates living
in the Sultanate.
He also thanked BSM authority for making
the school as the centre of global cultural
heritage. He motivated the students to learn as
Sultanate. Students of this school are representing
the rich Bangladeshi Culture in front of the
world. At the same time students from different
countries are also representing their own culture
at BSM. The world cultural heritage is getting
enriched in this way.’
Sekander Ali, Ambassador of the People’s
Republic of Bangladesh to Sultanate of Oman
along with other high officials accompanied the
minister.
Iftakher ul Hasan Chowdhury, Chairman
of Board of Directors of Bangladesh Schools,
Sultanate of Oman, along with other members
of the board accorded the minister a very warm
welcome. Principal Lt Col Mahmud Ul Alam
(Retd) PhD and Director of Education Affairs
much as possible about the rich cultural heritage promote own culture everywhere.
Major Nasir Uddin Ahmed (Retd) were also
of the Sultanate. He also inspired the students to
He said, ‘BSM is a mini Bangladesh in the present to welcome the minister.
SOCIAL SKILL
LOCAL SCENE
Sohar Aluminium celebrates
Omani Women’s Day
I
Don’t forget to say sorry even to kids
A
pologies are important even to
children who are six or seven
years old — an age when they
build social skill foundations that last a
lifetime, suggests new research.
Saying sorry for any minor
transgression may not help the children
feel better but the quick apology can
help you mend relations with them, the
findings show.
“What was surprising was that
children who experienced a minor
transgression and heard an apology
felt just as bad as those who did not
hear an apology,” said the study’s lead
author Marissa Drell from University of
Virginia in the US.
“But those who heard the transgressor
say, ‘I’m sorry’ actually shared more with
that person later.
The apology repaired the relationship
even though it did not mitigate their
hurt feelings,” Drell pointed out.
The researchers set up a situation
where children were the victims of a
minor accident.
The children and an adult research
assistant were asked to build towers out
of plastic cups.
As the child neared completion of his
or her tower, the adult asked to borrow
a cup from the child, and in so doing
toppled the child’s tower.
She either apologised or said nothing,
and then left the room.
Later, when children were asked how
they felt, those who received an apology
reported feeling just as bad as those who
did not.
But when deciding how many
stickers to give to the research assistant,
those who heard an apology were more
generous.
“Even though an apology did not
make children feel better, it did help to
facilitate forgiveness,” Drell said.
“They seem to have recognised it as a
signal that the transgressor felt bad about
what she had done and may have been
implicitly promising not to do it again,”
Drell explained. The findings appeared
in the journal Social Development.
n emphasis of its commitment to empowering and promoting women in
the workplace and as a gesture of recognition of their role and hard work,
Sohar Aluminium (SA) recently held an event celebrating the Omani
Women’s Day in Majan Hall in Sohar. The event was attended by female
employees and contractors.
The event began with a welcome speech by Maisa Al Jahwari who explained
the significance of this occasion for Omani women and their role in the
social and economic development of the Sultanate. This was followed by an
activity conducted by Aziza Rashid Al Balushi, a Researcher at the Ministry
of Education, in which she engaged the attendees in an inspirational group
talks and team building activities. She also involved the audience in a cultural
competition about famous women who became leaders and role models to all
women around the world.
Rihab Harib Al Saadi, a poetess, recited two poems that she had specially
penned for the event and focused on the wise leadership of His Majesty, who
continuously stresses the importance of Omani women and their role in the
development of the Sultanate.
Also, a video made by SA’s female employees, was played showcasing the
role of women in the company. The video included part of His Majesty’s speech
encouraging women to take part in the development of Oman.
CPR by medics: Continuous
pumping not a good idea
EPIDEMIC OF OBESITY
Diabetes experts suggest sugar tax to save lives and money
Q BEN HIRSCHLER
D
iabetes experts called on world leaders
yesterday to use sugar taxes to fight obesity,
arguing such a move would save lives and
slash healthcare budgets. Ahead of a meeting of G20
leaders this weekend, the International Diabetes
Federation (IDF) wants the dual epidemics of obesity
and diabetes to be placed on the global agenda
alongside major geopolitical and financial issues.
With one death every six seconds, diabetes is now
a bigger killer than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria
combined.
The IDF estimates that most countries spend
between five and 20 per cent of their healthcare budget
on the disease.
Type 2 diabetes, which is closely linked to obesity
and sedentary lifestyles, accounts for approximately
90 per cent of cases and is rising fast, particularly in
developing economies where people are shifting to
Western diets.
The largest number of diabetics in the world now
live in China.
Diabetes puts not only patients but whole
economies at risk, according to Petra Wilson, chief
executive of the IDF, an umbrella organisation of more
than 230 national associations.
She urged leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) of the
world’s major advanced and emerging economies, who
are meeting in Turkey on Nov. 15-16, to cooperate in
fighting obesity in the same way as they acted together
in the 2008 financial crisis.
* Diabetes cases forecast to rise 55 pct to 642 m by 2040
* Diabetes-related health spending seen hitting $802 bn
Wilson said the call was part of an ongoing IDF
campaign and there was no sign as yet if the G20
would address the topic.
By 2040, one in every 10 adults on the planet are
expected to be diabetic, with cases projected to reach
642 million against 415 million in 2015 and healthcare
spending on diabetes rising to $802 billion from $673
billion.
Some countries, including Mexico, Chile and
France, have already experimented with different
variations of sugar taxation but there are considerable
political obstacles, as well as resistance from the food
industry.
Mexico, for example, has seen calls by
some lawmakers for a halving in the
country’s sugar tax.
British Prime Minister David
Cameron came out a against such
a tax last month, despite a highprofile campaign for a levy on
sugary drinks and food.
Wilson, whose immediate
focus is on getting governments
to back a tax on sodas and other
sugar-sweetened
beverages,
admits there are hurdles but
argues politicians need to protect
public health by learning the lessons from tobacco.
“It is very well established that heavy taxation on
tobacco and relentless reinforcement of the message
that tobacco is unhealthy has had a very good effect.
It is time now we adopted a similar approach with
sugar,” she said.
“It is, of course, more difficult with sugar because
whilst people can live entirely without tobacco, they
can’t live entirely without sugar — but humans can live
without added sugars.” — Reuters
C
ontinuous chest compressions during cardio-pulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) by emergency medical responders do not offer survival
advantages when compared to interrupting manual chest pumping to
perform rescue breathing, says a study. CPR is the effort to restore a pulse and
respiration in people whose heartbeat and breathing have suddenly ceased.
The study found that patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who
received continuous compressions were less likely to survive long enough to
be transported or admitted to a hospital.
They also had fewer days alive and out of hospital during the first month
after their cardiac arrest. “Both groups did well.
But it appears that patients treated by EMS providers who interrupted chest
compressions to deliver rescue breathing appear to survive a bit more often,”
said project leader Graham Nichol from University of Washington.
“The results of this study may well change emergency medical services CPR
practice,” he added.
From earlier studies, emergency medical services staff and researchers
were concerned that CPR methods that alternate chest pumps with a few lung
inflations might reduce blood flow and possible survival.
The CPR researchers wanted to determine if continuous chest compressions
at about 100 per minute, accompanied by manual ventilations at about 10 per
minute, provided better results than did an approach that repeats the pattern
— 30 chest pumps, halt to give two ventilations, resume pumping.
Nichol emphasised that this particular study evaluated CPR by emergency
medical services providers at the scene and during transport to the hospital, not
bystander CPR. Bystanders assisting at the scene of a cardiac arrest generally
perform continuous chest compressions without rescue breathing.
The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.
INFORMATION / LEISURE
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
FOODS
to stay warm
during winter
A
s soon as the winter season approaches,
we fill our wardrobe with knitted sweaters
and more. But it is also important to keep
our bodies warm from inside. So stock
up ginger, honey and nuts to beat the
chill. CyberChef food specialist Shilpa
Gupta shares a list of five foods that will keep you warm:
* Ginger: Ginger reduces high cholesterol level and
hence is the best choice to keep the body fit during winters.
With its antibacterial properties, it is also helpful in
treating cough and cold that is quite common during this
season.
It can be chewed raw daily or can be added to soup or
any other dishes to enhance the flavour.
* Honey: It is instrumental in combating cold, flu or
cough during winter.
Even if it is sweet, honey doesn’t add calories and is also
beneficial in keeping the body warm.
* Nuts: A variety of nuts like peanuts, walnuts and
almonds is the best source of good cholesterol, vitamins,
fibre and Omega-3 fatty acids.
They make for essential snacking during winters, as they
are naturally hot food items.
* Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a wonderful spice to shield
you from the dipping temperatures.
Add it to any cooked dish or to soup and salad to
add flavour or use it while making warm
beverages like tea.
* Garlic: Its antibacterial
properties keep one away
from the common
winter diseases like
cold, cough and
throat irritations.
It
keeps
the
cholesterol level in
check, thus aiding
good health during
winters.
One can have three
to four garlic cloves
daily or add it to cooked
dishes for a flavoursome
meal.
omandailyobserver
11
HYGIENE IN KITCHEN
Unwashed knife and grater can
spread bacteria between foods
D
o you use knife or grater in the
kitchen to cut different eatables
one after another, without
washing them in between? You could be
playing a role in spreading disease-causing
bacteria, warns a study.
Actually, bacteria latch on to the
utensils commonly found in consumers’
homes and spread to the next item.
Researchers have known that poor
hygiene in a consumer’s home can lead to
food-borne illnesses, but considering what
practices in the kitchen are more likely
to lead to contamination has not been
examined extensively.
Lead author Marilyn Erickson from the
University of Georgia contaminated many
types of fruit and vegetables in her lab —
adding certain pathogens that often can be
found on these foods, such as salmonella
and E coli.
Using a knife, Erickson would cut into
things like tomatoes or cantaloupe and
other types of produce to see how easily the
bacteria could spread when the knife was
continuously used without being cleaned.
Erickson and co-authors did not wash
between cutting these different items.
They also grated produce, such as
carrots, to see how easily the pathogens
spread to graters.
They found that both knives and graters
can cause additional cross-contamination
in the kitchen and that the pathogens were
spread from produce to produce if they
hadn’t washed the utensils.
The study also found that certain
fruit and vegetables spread pathogens to
knives to different degrees. “For items
like tomatoes, we tended to have a higher
contamination of the knives than when we
cut strawberries,” Erickson said.
Erickson found that scrubbing or
peeling items like melons, carrots and
celery did not eliminate contamination on
the produce item but led to contamination
of the brush or peeler. The study was
published in the journal Food Microbiology.
DIAMOND FOR KID
CARTOONS
ADAM @ HOME
by Brian Basset
What a gem: tycoon buys daughter $48 m diamond
A
CALVIN AND HOBBES
by Bill Watterson
GARFIELD
by Jim Davis
STONE SOUP
Hong Kong billionaire spent a record $48.4 million
buying a 12.03 carat diamond dubbed “Blue Moon”
for his daughter in an auction in Geneva, his
spokeswoman confirmed yesterday. Property tycoon Joseph
Lau, who last year was found guilty of bribery in neighbouring
Macau, bought the rock at a Sotheby’s auction on Wednesday
and immediately renamed it “The Blue Moon of Josephine”
after his seven-year-old daughter.
The sale comes the day after he spent $28.5 million buying
a rare 16.08 carat pink diamond — the largest of its kind
to ever go under the hammer — from rival auction house
Christie’s, which he rebaptised “Sweet Josephine”.
A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Lau confirmed the
two purchases.
“The first was the pink one ‘Sweet Josephine’ and the
second one was the ‘Blue Moon of Josephine’,” she said.
David Bennett, head of Sotheby’s international jewellery
division, said the “Blue Moon” sale broke several records,
making the gemstone “the most expensive diamond,
regardless of colour, and the most expensive jewel ever sold
at auction”.
The jewel, set in a ring, was sold for 48.6 million Swiss
francs ($48.4 million, 40 million euros), including fees, with a
starting bid of 43.2 million Swiss francs.
It also fetched the highest-ever price per carat, he said,
with the buyer shelling out 4.02 million Swiss francs per carat.
The previous world record for a jewel sold at auction was
held by the 24.78 carat “Graff Pink” diamond, which was sold
by Southeby’s for $46.2 million in November 2010.
This is not the first time Lau has bought rare jewels for his
daughter. In 2009, he reportedly spent $9.5 million on another
The 12.03
carats cushionshaped fancy
vivid blue
diamond. —
Reuters
blue diamond, which he renamed the “Star of Josephine”.
Josephine is his daughter with girlfriend and former aid
Chan Hoi-wan, according to local media. The 64-year-old
also has two children with long-time partner Yvonne Lui.
In March last year, he was found guilty of bribing a former
minister in the gambling enclave of Macau in an attempt to
purchase a prime development site.
Lau, who was not in Macau for the sentencing, is unlikely
serve time as the two semi-autonomous Chinese cities do not
have an extradition agreement.
He was locked in a telephone bidding war for eight
minutes for “Blue Moon” before the hammer went down,
with the precious jewel staying within its pre-sale estimate of
$35-55 million.
The diamond was discovered in South Africa in January
last year and was the largest cushion-shaped blue stone in the
fancy vivid category to ever appear at auction. — AFP
Hospitals
by Jan Eliot
Hospital . . .Board . . . . . .Emergency
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IF IT’S YOUR
BIRTHDAY:
After helping
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making several
sacrifices you can
now look forward
to a happier and
carefree year with
more time for your
own interests.
Look ahead
with confidence
and should
you encounter
any problems
remember that the
past few months
are well and truly
behind you.
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SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
ARIES
October 23November 21
November 22December 21
December 22January 20
January 21February 19
February 20March 20
March 21April 20
If you want to train a youngster
to think for himself ask him
once in a while for his opinion
of certain matters under discussion.
You would not be taking an
undue risk if you invested a
modest sum in a flourishing
undertaking especially if you first
take expert advice.
Don’t feel badly about having to
punish a miscreant. It will be a
salutary lesson and the experience will make him mend his
ways.
A friend’s unavoidable change
of plans may mean a change in
your holiday arrangements. You
will be able to sort things out in
time.
A friend who is too proud to
admit his need for help could feel
humiliated by your offer to lend
him some money. You will have to
tread carefully.
23436055
26840099
25652319
25461373
25499033
25404018
25470535
25434055
25483535
25491990
26855148
26830187
26836443
26828397
At a social event you will create
a very good impression on an
important person who may be able
to do quite a bit to further your
ambition.
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
LIBRA
April 21May 20
May 21June 21
June 22July 21
July 22August 21
August 22September 22
September 23October 22
Today’s newspaper will contain
some valuable information on a
subject of particular interest to
you and also give you an idea for
a new hobby.
It would be a mistake to
exaggerate the importance of your
appearance. You will not be judged
by the way you dress as much as by
your attitude to the occasion.
You may be reluctant to accept a
chance of an evening’s relaxation
being tired and depressed, but you
will return home in a much better
frame of mind.
Avoid as much as you possibly can
the company of a nosy neighbour
who takes pleasure in interfering
with the running of other people’s
homes.
You may be able to turn an
indifferent proposition into a
successful transaction by using
your wits and let the other person
make the first move.
Make sure that there is a solid
basis for a harmonious union
before getting too deeply
involved in a romantic affair.
12
ENTERTAINMENT
omandailyobserver
Adele in talks for cameo
in Xavier Dolan’s next
S
inger Adele is reportedly eyed to appear in
“The Death and Life of John F Donovan”, a
drama film from Canadian director Xavier
Dolan who helmed a music video for her brand
new single “Hello”. The film stars Hollywood
A-listers like Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington,
Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates.
Adele is in negotiations to do a cameo in “The
Death and Life of John F Donovan”, which will
be Dolan’s first English language project, reports
deadline.com.
The singer who is gearing up to release a new
album “25” on November 20 had also recorded a
soundtrack for James Bond film “Skyfall” and won
an Oscar for that.
She is, however, not expected to record original
music for Dolan’s upcoming movie.
The film will follow an actor whose life is turned
upside down when a gossip columnist reveals his
correspondence with an 11 year-old fan.
Bollywood movies are
fabulous: Daniel Craig
A
ctor Daniel Craig, who reprised his role
as the iconic super spy James Bond in
“Spectre”, is in love with the merriment,
music and thrill of Bollywood.
He says the Hindi film industry has mastered
the art of capturing the “exuberance” and
“celebration” of life on camera “exceptionally well”.
The actor, who has travelled to Kerala and shot in
Goa in the past, also shared that he loves to watch
Bollywood films and thinks they are “fabulous”.
“Yes! I have watched them (Bollywood movies)
and they are fabulous.
The exuberance, the life, the celebration, which
Bollywood movies showcase, that’s what movies
are about really.
“In the end it boils down to making movies
for the audience that they enjoy watching and
experience thrill which is what we try to do with
Bond.
Bollywood does that exceptionally well,” Craig
said in an interview.
India missed its chance to get a sneak peak into
the world of Bond, which runs high on beautiful
women, gadgets, and cars along with a dose of
glamour and glitz, in 2012 as director Sam Mendes
had to abandon his plans to shoot the 23rd James
Bond movie “Skyfall” in Mumbai over some
shooting difficulties.
As far as his character is concerned, Craig
asserts that with every film Bond gets “a bit older
and a bit wiser”.
“I have a script to work on, and we work on that
very carefully for a long period of time before we
start shooting the film.
I believe in exploring the character and seeing
what he’s capable of doing and gauging his limits
and then pushing those limits,” said Craig, who is
dropping hints that “Spectre” can be his last Bond
film.
The actor is all praise for the film’s director as
well.
“I love working with Sam and we have developed
a relationship now which is very creative and we
push each other and he protects me a great deal,”
Craig said.
“Spectre”, also starring Christoph Waltz, Léa
Seydoux, Monica Bellucci and Ralph Fiennes, is
the 24th instalment of the film franchise.
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
FOOTBALL DAD WILL SMITH
SAYS CONFLICTED ABOUT
‘CONCUSSION’ ROLE
QPIYA SINHA-ROY
In September, Sony Pictures Entertainment
denied a New York Times report that the
studio had altered the movie’s script to avoid
antagonising the NFL.
Writer-director Peter Landesman
said the movie was not intended to be
“confrontational or judgmental.”
“Everyone has a point of view and
once you have the information for yourself,
you’re in the position to make a decision,”
Landesman said. — Reuters
A
ctor Will Smith, a self-described
“football dad,” said he felt
conflicted about starring in the
new film “Concussion” as the
doctor who discovered brain
trauma, a leading factor in the
deaths of some former National Football League
(NFL) players.
Smith, who plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the pathologist
who a decade ago first linked brain damage to the deaths
of men playing the most popular US sport, said he had not
known the full dangers of the head injuries football players can
suffer.
“When I sat down to meet with Bennet, I was
like, ‘please say something to make me not
take this movie, please,’ and then I was just
so compelled by the story and the fact that
I didn’t know,” Smith told the audience at
the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on
Tuesday.
“I had watched my son play
football for four years, and I didn’t
know. And just as a parent, I felt
like I had to be a part of this.”
“Concussion,”
which
opens in US theatres on
December 25, is based
on Omalu’s discovery
and raising awareness
of the degenerative
brain
disease
chronic
traumatic
encephalopathy
that
can go undetected.
The film links deaths of
several
football players to the condition, particularly
that of Pittsburgh Steelers centre Mike
Webster.
The NFL said on Wednesday that it
“welcomed any conversation” about the
safety of the game and had implemented
numerous rule changes and concussion
protocols in recent years.
“We are seeing measurable results,
including a 34 per cent decrease in
concussions in NFL games since the 2012
season,” a league spokesperson said in a
statement regarding the film.
“The game continues to change, and
player health and safety remains our
highest priority.”
“Concussion” is a hot-button issue
for the NFL, which draws millions of
viewers each week to its televised games.
In April, the NFL settled a lawsuit
brought by about 5,000 former players
who accused the league of covering up the
dangers of concussions.
Omalu said he believed “Hollywood would
be the most powerful and most important
medium to portray the truth.”
Will Smith
poses
during the
premiere of
the film
‘Concussion’
during AFI Fest
2015 in Hollywood.
— Reuters
TINSELTOWN
Samantha to play slum dweller
in ‘Vada Chennai’
Amy Schumer’s New York
penthouse on sale
A
ctress and stand-up comedian Amy
Schumer is selling her penthouse here for
$2 million just one year after buying it.
The 34 year-old “Trainwreck” star bought
the Manhattan penthouse for just under
$1.7million in October last year.
The one bedroom penthouse, located
one block away from Central Park,
features high ceilings, a wood
burning
fireplace,
skylight
kitchen, a washer and dryer
in the bathroom, private
staircase to the roof terrace
and a secret garden of
flowers, shrubs and trees.
According to realty
website Zillow the
apartment is a full
floor in a handsome
20ft wide turn-of the
century townhouse
that has been has been
‘meticulously designed,
reports dailymail.co.uk.
The elegant square living
room with high ceilings and a
wood burning fireplace and built-in
bookshelves.
A south facing double window seat is a
favorite perch to a beautiful tree-lined street
view.
The oversized bedroom also has wood
burning fireplace.
A
Selena Gomez is ‘definitely single’
S
inger Selena Gomez says she is “definitely single” despite rumours
about a romance with singer Samuel Krost.
“I’m dating a little bit, but no I’m definitely single,” Gomez told
eonline.com.
Her comments come only days after the 23 year-old star’s former
boyfriend Justin Bieber said there was a chance the pair could rekindle
their romance in the future.
“Maybe? We have a lot of history together and I am sure it could
possibly happen,” Bieber had said.
“I think we are both just on our own journeys and figuring ourselves
out and I think maybe once we figure ourselves out we can come back
and make an awesome duo or she finds someone awesome and I’ll find
someone awesome. I just want her to be happy.”
ctress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, known mostly for essaying
stylish roles on screen, will be seen in a non-glamorous avatar
for film-maker Vetrimaaran’s next Tamil directorial “Vada
Chennai”, a two-part film featuring Dhanush in the lead role.
To be set against the backdrop of North Madras, the film will
chronicle 30 years in
the life of a gangster.
“Samantha will
play a slum girl in
the film and she’s also
most likely to dub in
her own voice.
Playing
a
character with a tan
and no make-up,
she will also pick up
the local accent,” a
source from the film’s
unit said. The film
will roll from next
year and Dhanush
has already set aside
nearly 200 days for
its shoot.
This will be the
second time in a
row Samantha will
be teaming up with
Dhanush, who had
previously worked
with her in upcoming
Tamil film “Thanga
Magan”.
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2015 |
P14
P15
P16
Inside
Rolls-Royce cuts 2016 profit forecast again Airbnb promises to play fair with cities TV operators fight online rivals FOLLOW US ON:
BIZ BUZZ
BMW buys China
car leasing firm
BERLIN: German auto giant BMW said
it has acquired Chinese firm Herald
Leasing as part of its bid to broaden the
business in its biggest market to include
car leasing.
“With this move, the company
is responding to the increasing
importance of the emerging leasing
business in the world’s largest vehicle
market and laying the foundation
for further growth,” said BMW in a
statement. Financial details of the
transaction were not disclosed.
“We firmly believe in the mediumand long-term potential of the Chinese
auto market and are preparing for the
next phase of growth,” said Erich Ebner
von Eschenbach, head of BMW Group
Financial Services.
RWE profits from
coal, gas shrink
BERLIN: Germany’s second biggest
energy company, RWE, saw profits from
its core coal and gas business plummet
again in the first nine months of the
year, it said on Thursday. In Frankfurt,
shares in RWE tanked over 8 per cent
to 11.44 euros after it said 2015 profits
would “only just” meet the company’s
forecast range of 1.1-1.3 billion euros.
Like other German power giants,
RWE has been hit by rock-bottom
wholesale prices as it competes against
subsidised renewables like wind and
solar power.
RWE, Germany’s largest electricity
producer, however saw its net profit
boosted to 1.94 billion euros ($2.08
billion), against 994 million a year ago,
by the sale of oil and gas exploration
division RWE Dea.
Macy’s slashes
profit forecast,
shares plunge
NEW YORK: Macy’s, the largest US
department store chain, reported
dismal third-quarter earnings and
slashed its 2015 profit forecast, citing
slumping sales ahead of the holiday
shopping season.
Shares in Macy’s were pummelled
after the company reported
sales fell 5.2 per cent in the JulySeptember quarter from a year ago
to $5.87 billion, well below market
expectations of $6.09 billion.
Shares closed down 14 per cent
at $40.44, their lowest level since
February 2013.
The company blamed especially
weak spending by US customers in
key apparel and accessory categories
and a downturn in international
tourism amid a strong dollar.
“We are disappointed that the
pace of sales did not improve in the
third quarter, as we had expected,”
said Terry Lundgren, chairman
and chief executive of Macy’s, in a
statement. Predicting lower sales in
the fourth quarter, the company cut
its full-year earnings forecast by 10.6
per cent. — AFP
www.omanobserver.om
editor@omanobserver.om
ECB’s Draghi signals ready to
act, defends banker meetings
BRUSSELS/ FRANKFURT: The head
of the European Central Bank (ECB)
underlined on Thursday the bank’s
readiness to extend money printing,
warning that a key measure of economic
health — price inflation — was flagging.
In remarks to European Union
lawmakers, Mario Draghi also defended
private meetings between policy setters
and banks and hedge funds, such
as executive board member Benoit
Coeure’s meeting with a French bank
hours before the ECB cut rates.
“Signs of a sustained turnaround
in core inflation have somewhat
weakened,” Draghi told the European
Parliament’s economics committee,
addressing a barometer of economic
health that could influence the ECB’s
massive money printing scheme.
His comments, pointing to the
risks of a spillover to Europe from a
slowdown in China or other emerging
markets, amplify a chorus of similar
warnings indicating further possible
action as soon as December 3, when
ECB policymakers next gather.
“We have always said that our
purchases would run beyond endSeptember 2016 in case we do not see
a sustained adjustment in the path of
inflation,” Draghi added, calling its
quantitative easing scheme “powerful
The ECB’s transparency has
come under heightened
scrutiny since Coeure told a
closed-door meeting in May
that the bank would frontload its asset purchases
during the summer months.
Mario Draghi during a Monetary Dialogue with the European Parliament’s Economic
and Monetary Affairs Committee in Brussels yesterday. — Reuters
and flexible”. “Other instruments”, he
said, “could also be activated”. People
familiar with the matter said this week
that the ECB is examining whether to
buy municipal bonds of cities such as
Paris or regions like Bavaria.
The bank launched the programme,
under which it buys 60 billion euros a
month of mostly government bonds,
in March. By next September, when
purchases are due to end, the ECB will
have spent more than 1 trillion euros to
lift inflation and growth.
The scheme also allows the bank
to buy asset-backed securities and
After deep cuts, Siemens
forecasts return to growth
BERLIN: German engineering giant
Siemens on Thursday predicted growth
for the coming year despite a weak
economic environment, as it looked to
its recent massive restructuring to boost
profitability.
“Siemens
anticipates
further
softening in the macroeconomic
environment and continuing complexity
in the geopolitical environment in fiscal
2016,” the group said in an earnings
statement. “Nevertheless the company
expects moderate revenue growth, net of
effects from currency translation.”
Siemens this year embarked on a
major restructuring per cent, slashing
around 12,000 jobs in a bid to save up
to one billion euros ($1.1 billion). The
sprawling conglomerate also sought
to streamline its businesses by selling
several divisions including electronic
appliances and telecoms, as well as
floating others on the market like its
Osram lightbulb business.
The reorganisation sharpens the
group’s focus on certain sectors including
energy, medical equipment and digitised
systems for industry and transport.
These divestments have had a strong
impact on Siemens’ net profit for the year
ending September 2015, which reached
7.4 billion euros, the group announced
on Thursday, sharply up from last year’s
5.5 billion euros.
But in an illustration of the group’s
still fragile health, in the last quarter
of the financial year which does not
include income from divestments, net
profit actually fell by a third to 1.0 billion
euros.
Meanwhile for the full fiscal year,
sales rose six per cent to 75.6 billion
euros while orders also climbed six per
cent to 82.3 billion euros. — AFP
covered bonds, but as with European
muni bonds, those markets are relatively
small.
Facing an unusually high number
of critical questions from lawmakers
compared to similar earlier hearings,
including from one parliamentarian
who accused the ECB of being an
‘arsonist’ during Ireland’s financial crisis,
Draghi defended the transparency of the
central bank.
He indicated the ECB may change
its involvement with the International
Monetary Fund and European
Commission that oversaw the bailout
programmes of countries such as Greece
or Ireland.
Draghi also said the ECB would
publish the diaries of members of the
ECB’s executive board, which forms the
nucleus of policy, after a recent request
for that information revealed hedge
funds and banks had regular contact
with policy setters.
“We have had and still have a clear
rule — we do not discuss marketsensitive information in non-public
meetings,” he said. “For our monetary
policy to be effective, however, it is
important to meet market participants
and to also hear their views.”
The ECB’s transparency has come
under heightened scrutiny since Coeure
told a closed-door meeting in May
that the bank would front-load its
asset purchases during the summer
months. — Reuters
Premier Oil
cuts back on
spending
LONDON: Premier Oil has cut
full-year capital expenditure as the
oil producer deferred some project
development and exploration spending
into 2016, it said on Thursday. Like its
peers, Premier Oil is having to reduce
spending to cope with a halving in oil
prices since a peak in June last year
that has eaten into revenues.
The group now expects to spend
$1.05 billion this year on developing
projects and exploration work, nearly
$100 million lower than previously
expected. It will move into 2016 some
spending on projects such as its Sea
Lion field in the Falkland Islands.
Next year, its budget is estimated
at $650 million, 38 per cent lower
than this year mainly due to project
completions, Premier said.
The energy company, whose
operations stretch from Indonesia
to the Falklands, said oil production
so far this year had averaged 57,500
barrels per day (bpd), ahead of fullyear guidance of 55,000 bpd, which it
left unchanged.
Analysts have been keeping a close
eye on the start-up of Premier Oil’s
Solan project in the North Sea which
will add cash flow to the company’s
coffers. Chief Executive Tony Durrant
said first oil would flow from the field
just before Christmas.
— Reuters
NEW 100- YUAN BANK NOTE
A bank employee shows new 100-yuan banknotes in Handan, north China’s Hebei province yesterday. China yesterday put
into circulation a new version of its 100-yuan banknote — the highest denomination available in the world’s second-largest
economy — with added golden touches that the government said was harder to forge. — AFP
Markets have become more volatile this year, led by uncertainty around the timing of an interest rate move by the US
UK’s Tullett to buy ICAP’s voice broking business
LONDON: British interdealer brokers
Tullett Prebon Plc and ICAP Plc have
agreed to combine their voice broking
businesses in a £1.11 billion ($1.68
billion) deal to better compete in a sector
where trading volumes have shrunk.
In a reverse takeover, Tullett is
buying the global hybrid voice broking
and information business of its much
bigger peer to create the largest player in
that sector, while ICAP will focus purely
on electronic trading and post-trade
services. Interdealer brokers, which
match buyers and sellers of currencies,
bonds and other tradeable instruments,
have been hit in recent years by
regulation designed to rein in the riskier
trading activities of their traditional
investment bank clients.
Traditional telephone broking
services have also faced sweeping
reforms, as regulators push more
derivatives trading onto electronic
platforms to make the market more
transparent.
“We continue to see voice as a difficult
business, but expect the merged entity to
have scale benefits,” BofA Merrill Lynch
analysts wrote in a note.
ICAP’s shares rose almost 7 per cent
to rank among the top gainers on the
FTSE-250 Midcap index, while Tullett’s
stock fell more than 9 per cent. Markets
have become more volatile this year, led
by uncertainty around the timing of an
interest rate move by the US Federal
Reserve as well as concerns over slowing
Chinese growth, low commodity prices
and geopolitical instability.
Kicking off consolidation among
interdealer brokers this year, BGC
Partners acquired US rival GFI Group
after a protracted takeover battle.
ICAP, one of the world’s largest
interdealer brokers, was founded in the
1980s by its current chief executive,
British businessman Michael Spencer. It
has been in talks with Tullett for months.
After the deal, ICAP will hold 19.9
per cent and its shareholders 36.1
per cent of a Tullett enlarged by the
issue of new shares. Tullett’s existing
shareholders will own 44 per cent of the
new company.
Tullett will continue under the name
TPICAP, employing around 3,000
brokers and 2,000 support staff, Chief
Executive John Phizackerley said on a
call with reporters.
Tullett expects to save at least £60
million by eliminating duplicated
management and support costs, with
more savings expected over time. It will
take on the ICAP unit’s gross debt of £330
million. The slimmed-down ICAP will
retain the electronic platforms EBS and
BrokerTec, the transaction processing
business Traiana and post-trade risk
mitigation businesses TriOptima and
Reset. — Reuters
14
omandailyobserver
INTERNATIONAL
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
Rolls-Royce cuts 2016
Investors warn China e-trading
profit
forecast
again
proposal could sink Stock Connect
HONG KONG: Draft rules to curb
high-speed trading blamed for China’s
summer stock market crash could kill
off billions of dollars of investment into
China, global banks and investors have
told Chinese regulators in a letter.
Industry participants who signed
off on the letter said it warned Chinese
regulators that the proposals would
inadvertently sabotage major investment
channels worth around $160 billion,
including the Stock Connect scheme,
one year old next week, which links the
Hong Kong and Shanghai bourses.
The lobbying efforts reflect growing
fears that Beijing is responding to
the summer rout by halting or even
reversing reforms to allow greater access
to its capital markets.
Plans to expand the Stock Connect
scheme to the Shenzhen exchange and
to include new listed products stalled
after mainland bourses tumbled 45
per cent between June and August and
Beijing intervened through a range of
measures to stop the plunge.
In a letter sent on Sunday by the Asia
Securities Industry & Financial Markets
Association (ASIFMA) to the China
Securities Regulatory Commission
(CSRC), foreign investors and brokers
said the rules to stop “programme
trading” domestically would mean
foreign firms could not send electronic
trades from Hong Kong to brokers
onshore.
“The proposed restriction on
investors using algorithmic trading to
connect to Chinese brokers onshore
is huge - if you can’t use automated
systems, you can’t trade on Stock
Connect,” said one person involved in
drafting the letter.
A spokeswoman for ASIFMA, which
represents the world’s biggest financial
institutions including Goldman Sachs,
An advertising board (L) showing a Chinese stone lion is pictured near an entrance to the headquarters (R) of China Securities
Regulatory Commission (CSRC), in Beijing, China. — Reuters file photo
Compared with the
United States and Europe,
automated trading is in its
infancy in China, and the
CSRC, which has suffered
a flight of talent over
the past two years, has
relatively little experience
supervising such systems.
Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse,
declined to comment.
The CSRC last month launched a
consultation on programme trading
rules as part of a broader crackdown on
a range of automated trading practices
blamed for the summer rout. The
consultation closed on Sunday.
Programme
trading
involves
electronically buying or selling baskets
of stocks on exchanges. However, the
CSRC proposal is phrased so broadly it
appears to cover all types of electronic
trades including orders originating
offshore, said Yang Tiecheng, a partner
at law firm Clifford Chance in Beijing,
also a member of ASIFMA.
The rules propose banning onshore
brokers from receiving electronic trades
from offshore computers, the current
model for foreigners trading via the
cross-border investment schemes. It also
requires foreign firms to surrender the
computer code that runs their trading
programmes.
“As a member of the electronic
trading community for a long time, I
can assure you that most global brokers
will not be comfortable providing
their source code to anyone,” said
Joel Hurewitz, managing director at
international brokerage Instinet in
Hong Kong.
Compared with the United States
and Europe, automated trading is in
its infancy in China, and the CSRC,
which has suffered a flight of talent over
the past two years, has relatively little
experience supervising such systems.
Market participants and lawyers said
they thought the proposal was clumsily
drafted and not intended to damage
Stock Connect and other schemes
for foreign investors, and hoped the
regulator would be able to amend the
proposals.
The CSRC did not respond to request
for comment, but has said the rules aim
to reduce risks in the market.
A spokesman for Hong Kong
Exchanges & Clearing, which has spent
more than two years building Stock
Connect, said it was “relaying market
participant comments to the mainland
authorities for consideration”. — Reuters
LONDON: Britain’s Rolls-Royce issued
its fourth profit warning in just over a
year and said it may cut its dividend due
to sharply weaker demand for spares
and services for existing aero-engines,
showing the scale of the challenge
facing its new CEO.
Shares in the engine maker plunged
more than 20 per cent in early on
Thursday trading after it forecast profit
next year would now be more than 30
per cent below a current consensus
estimate, which analysts had already
slashed after a warning in July.
Rolls-Royce, the 131 year-old
company based in Derby, England,
shocked investors in July when it said
profits from its aero-engine business, its
biggest unit which accounts for about
half of profits and which it is counting
on for future growth, would shrink
in 2016. The downgrade, plus news
the board would put the company’s
shareholder payments policy under
review, shows the extent of the
challenge facing new CEO Warren East
who started in July.
Releasing the findings of an
operating review two weeks early,
East said he had already highlighted
a number of areas where Rolls-Royce
could make “fundamental changes”, as
he launched a restructuring programme
to save between 150 million pounds
and 200 million pounds ($304 million)
a year, streamline senior management
and improve decision making.
But the company’s fourth profit
warning in just over a year and its
second for 2016 results could intensify
questions about the shape of the
group itself, which supplies engines to
aeroplanes, ships and for industrial use.
Before revealing the civil aero
engine unit was suffering, Rolls had
already been struggling with a drop in
demand from energy customers for its
marine equipment following a plunge
in oil prices.
It said on Thursday it now expected
profit headwinds of 650 million pounds
next year, up from the 300 million drag
identified in July. Before the downgrade
on Thursday, the consensus forecast for
2016 underlying pretax profit stood at
1.053 billion pounds.
Analysts at Jefferies said in the
longer-term the company’s growth
story remained in tact. “Some bad news
on profits has probably arrived today
rather than over a period of years,” they
said.
“The relatively robust 2016 cash
flow is some solace and likewise the
new management team stamping its
authority on things through a more
profound restructuring.”
Rolls said operators of wide-bodied
aircraft were taking delivery of new
more fuel efficient planes and using
older engines less, accounting for up to
150 million pounds worth of profit hit
next year as it sells fewer spare parts and
services for older engines.
The additional hit next year would
come from weakness in demand for
corporate and regional jet aftermarket
services and the continued drag
from lower demand from oil and gas
customers. — Reuters
BAE Systems sees flat earnings in
2015 on Typhoon production cut
LONDON: Europe’s biggest defence
company BAE Systems plc warned on
Thursday it would see no growth in
earnings in 2015 after it reduced the rate
of production of Typhoon aircraft and
said it would cuts jobs in Britain and
Australia.
The company said that including a
benefit of 2 pence from tax provisions, it
expected underlying earnings per share
for 2015 of around 38 pence.
The downgrade brings the company
in line with current market expectations,
as analysts recognised a big order from
Saudi Arabia for the jets was unlikely to
land this year.
BAE said in February that for 2015
it expected underlying earnings per
share to be marginally higher than the
38 pence per share it made in 2014,
a forecast that was partly dependent
on new orders of more Euro-fighter
Typhoons for Saudi Arabia and work
for its shipyards in Australia.
Shares in the BAE Systems were
trading up 4.2 per cent at 456.8 pence
at 0837 GMT, as the market reacted
well to the company’s comments that
the overall business environment was
improving. “It’s kind of a relief they’ve
bit the bullet on two things...and
they’re saying that there’s an improving
businesss environment, talking about
the US budget,” said analyst Edward
Stacey at Haitong Research.
BAE said on Thursday it was
reducing the rate of production of the
Typhoon fighter jet to ensure it was cost
competitive over the medium term,
and as a result it would cut up to 371
jobs in its military air and information
business.
“The lower production rate, together
with the existing profile of contracted
aircraft deliveries, is expected to result
in Typhoon production sales reducing
from approximately 1.3 billion pounds
in 2015 to approximately 1.1 billion in
2016,” it said.
The group said it was also cutting
more jobs at its Williamstown shipyard
in Australia to reduce operating costs
and remain competitive. It said there
was no near-term prospect of work
beyond current programmes.
BAE Systems said that overall it
expected good sales growth in 2015 and
a robust order backlog at the half year
of 37.3 billion pounds underpinned its
confidence in its prospects. — Reuters
Visitors look at a Yoda plush toy sitting in the business class section during a tour of the Star Wars themed All Nippon Airways
ANA R2D2 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in Singapore’s Changi Airport yesterday. The aircraft was open to the media on
Thursday as it makes its first Asian stop outside Japan. — Reuters
Apple was one of the first global tech firms to set up in Ireland and has been followed by many top names such as Twitter, Microsoft and Google
Apple confident ahead of European Union tax judgement
DUBLIN: Apple chief executive
Tim Cook said he was feeling “pretty
good” ahead of the European Union’s
judgement on its Irish tax arrangements,
as the company announced 1,000 new
jobs in Ireland.
Ireland’s tax arrangements with the
US tech giant are under investigation by
the EU to see if there was a deal to secure
jobs that amounts to illegal state aid, and
a judgement is expected soon.
“I can’t say I know for sure what
they’ll come back with,” Cook said
from Apple’s European headquarters
in Ireland’s second city, Cork, where he
announced the extra jobs would be in
place by mid-2017.
“I believe strongly that Ireland will be
found that there was nothing wrong done
and therefore Apple by connection,”
he told national broadcaster RTE in
an interview broadcast on Wednesday
night.
“If there’s an adverse ruling, Ireland
is going to appeal and we’re going
to support them because there was
no special deal, there was no special
arrangement.”
Apple has had a base at the
southern city of Cork since 1980 and
employs 5,000 people in Ireland. Cook
announced earlier on Wednesday that
the figure would increase to 6,000 over
the next 18 months.
“That’s almost a quarter of our
European workforce and we’re
continuing to expand our facility there
as well, which is our largest in Europe,”
Cook said in a lecture earlier on
Wednesday at Trinity College Dublin
university.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny,
said the jobs plan was a sign of Ireland’s
economic recovery broadening and
called it “a very welcome boost of
confidence”.
Apple was one of the first global tech
firms to set up in Ireland and has been
followed by many top names such as
Twitter, Microsoft and Google, earning
the country the moniker “Europe’s
Silicon Valley”.
Many US companies looking for a
European base are drawn by Ireland’s
English-speaking skilled workforce and
its highly competitive tax rates, which
have drawn controversy.
Cook said the European headquarters
was “our most diverse offices on the
planet, operationally and culturally”.
“In our offices in Cork you are
as likely to hear a French accent or a
German or an Italian accent as you are
to hear an accent from County Cork,” he
said.
Apple will be expanding its campus
to accommodate the new employees. It
has invested nearly 130 million euros
($140 million) in the site since 2012.
Beyond its employees, the IDA
Ireland foreign direct investment agency
estimates that Apple supports a further
13,000 jobs in the republic.
Apple also announced it was
partnering with the Sustainable Energy
Authority of Ireland to support research
in offshore energy technology.
The EU’s investigation into the
company’s tax deal with Ireland is one
of several probes launched last year
after the “Luxleaks” scandal broke over
Amazon’s sweetheart tax deals with
Luxembourg.
On Wednesday, online retailer
Amazon, search engine giant Google
and social network Facebook all
said they will testify at the European
Parliament next week on the issue of tax
breaks for big businesses.
Last month Brussels ordered
Starbucks and Fiat to each repay up to 30
million euros ($34 million) in back taxes
for deals they had with the Netherlands
and Luxembourg.
Tax deals between EU member states
and companies are not in themselves
illegal and the firms involved insist they
fully comply with the tax laws where
they operate.
But they have run afoul of the
European Commission’s tough rules on
state aid, which are designed to ensure
fair competition. It argues that the deals
unfairly benefit bigger companies at the
expense of smaller, often less influential
rivals. — AFP
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
INTERNATIONAL
omandailyobserver
15
Asia erases losses, Aussie spikes on jobs data
TOKYO: Asian shares reversed earlier
losses on Thursday as crude oil prices
pulled away from their deep earlier lows,
while the Australian dollar grabbed
the spotlight and surged after a much
stronger-than-expected
employment
report.
European shares were expected to
take their cue from Wall Street, which
ended a choppy session lower as a sharp
drop in oil prices knocked energy stocks.
Financial spreadbetters expected
Britain’s FTSE 100 to open down as
much as 0.19 per cent, Germany’s DAX
to fall as much as 0.08 per cent, and
France’s CAC 40 to drop around 0.06
per cent ,
“With little in the calendar in the way
of data, attention today is likely to be on
various speeches by central bankers,
starting with ECB President Mario
Draghi this morning when he talks
to the European Parliament,” Michael
Hewson at CMC Markets in London
said in a note to clients.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan was up about 0.7
per cent, erasing its early modest losses.
US crude futures steadied in Asia
after tumbling 3 per cent overnight on
worries about higher crude inventories.
They were last up about 0.6 per cent at
$43.18 a barrel. Brent crude added 0.5
per cent to $46.04 though was still not
far from its lowest levels since August.
Prices of other commodities also
weakened after the previous session’s
downbeat Chinese industrial output
data, which continued to pressure shares
in resource-rich Australia. The S&P/
ASX 200 index eked out a 0.1 per cent
gain, helped by the jobs report’s upside
Beazleys’ gross written
premiums jump 6 pc
LONDON: Lloyd’s of London
insurer Beazley Plc reported a 6
per cent jump in gross written
premiums, helped by strong growth
in its US speciality lines business.
Gross written premiums rose
to $1.64 billion in the nine months
ended September 30 from $1.55
billion a year earlier.
The underwriter provides
marine, casualty and property
insurance and reinsurance. Its
speciality lines business caters
to professional liability and
management liability needs of midsized and small organisations.
Stock market operator Euronext’s universal analysts work in the market services surveillance room centre at the new Euronext
headquarters at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France, yesterday. Europe’s biggest asset
manager, Amundi, said on Wednesday that it would have a market value of about 7.5 billion euros ($8 billion) following what
will be the biggest French IPO since the financial crisis of 2008. — Reuters
surprise.
Employment jumped 58,600 last
month, driving the jobless rate down
to a five-month low of 5.9 per cent and
beating the market consensus for a
15,000 rise and a steady unemployment
rate of 6.2 per cent.
The Australian dollar jumped threequarters of a US cent to $0.7155, and was
last up 1.1 per cent at $0.7136.
Japan’s Nikkei stock index ended
slightly higher, erasing earlier losses.
Data released before the market
opened showed Japan’s core machinery
The dollar edged up to 122.90 yen against its Japanese
counterpart, below this week’s 2-1/2-month high of 123.60,
while the euro added about 0.1 per cent to $1.0755 ,
recovering from this week’s nearly seven-month low of
$1.0674.
orders rose 7.5 per cent in September,
marking the first increase in four
months, though orders were down
sharply in the third quarter.
“Companies are taking a very cautious
stance toward capital expenditure,” said
Airbnb promises to play fair with cities
SAN FRANCISCO: Airbnb dialled
down its battle rhetoric, promising
to pay taxes and not cut into longterm housing amid criticism it
unfairly competes with hotels and has
exacerbated a San Francisco housing
crisis.
The surging home-sharing startup
released a so-called Community
Compact in which it vowed to pay its
“fair share” of hotel and tourist taxes.
It also pledged to be transparent
with information about home sharing
activity, and to work to prevent shortterm rentals from biting into the
availability of long-term housing.
The more cooperative tone was
struck just a week after San Francisco
voters rejected a measure that would
have limited short-term housing rentals
in what was seen as a referendum on
Airbnb, which allows property dwellers
and owners to rent out a room or an
Airbnb critics claim the San
Francisco-based “sharing
economy” service unfairly
competes with hotels, which
face stricter regulations and
taxes.
entire home for short periods.
“This Compact is just one step we
are taking to help the cities that our
hosts and guests call home,” Airbnb
co-founder and chief executive Brian
Chesky wrote in an online post.
People who offer rentals will be
required to agree to a policy that homes
being made available are permanent
residences, according to Airbnb.
Airbnb critics claim the San
Francisco-based “sharing economy”
service unfairly competes with hotels,
which face stricter regulations and taxes.
Some also claim the startup provides
an incentive for property owners to toss
out long-term residents and convert
lodgings to short-term rentals, creating
an upheaval in the traditional market
for rentals.
Last week, voters in San Francisco
rejected “Proposition F” by 55 per cent
to 45 per cent .The measure would have
placed a 75-day limit per year for rentals
under 30 days, regardless of whether
the property is “hosted” or not — a
significant change to the current law
that allows for 90 days if the resident is
absent, and places no limits on renting a
“hosted” spare room.
Airbnb would have been heavily
affected had the law passed. It was a
major contributor to the “no” campaign,
which raised $8 million compared with
just $800,000 by the measure’s backers,
according to figures released by the San
Francisco Ethics Commission.
UniCredit is just the latest major bank to radically revise its operations
UniCredit, feeling squeeze from
low rates, cuts 18,200 jobs
MILAN: Italy’s top bank UniCredit has
announced plans to shed over 18,000
jobs in an effort to stay profitable as low
interest rates and the weak economy
weigh on earnings.
The cuts are to save the bank 1.6
billion euros ($1.71 billion), the bank
said in a statement.
A third of the 18,200 jobs are to go
as UniCredit sells off a bank in Ukraine
and a joint venture between its Pioneer
unit and Santander.
The rest is to be achieved through
cuts in Italy, Germany and Austria,
leaving the bank with 111,000
employees in 2018. The bank hopes to
achieve a net profit of 5.3 billion euros
by then — a figure revised down from
its earlier estimate of 6.6 billion euros.
UniCredit’s chief executive Federico
Ghizzoni described the plan as “rigorous
and at the same time ambitious... in
a persistently tough macroeconomic
environment, marked by historically
low interest rates and decelerating
worldwide economic growth”.
He said the bank would focus on
“significant cost containment measures
and further discontinuity actions” as
well as “exiting or restructuring poorly
performing businesses”.
The cuts involve further reducing
the number of bank branches in Italy,
Germany and Austria, closing 800 by
2018.
The bank anticipates exiting or
restructuring its Austrian retail activities
and Italian leasing business by the end
of 2016.
There would, however, be
“considerable investments for the
future”, including 1.2 billion euros in
digital developments.
The bank expects over 90 per cent of
transactions to be carried out remotely
by 2018, affecting 1,500 branches.
The plan was well received by the
Milan stock market, where UniCredit
shares were up 1.52 per cent in a market
up 0.42 per cent in afternoon trading.
Italy’s biggest bank by assets returned
to profit last year after haemorrhaging
14 billion euros in 2013 as it wrote down
assets ahead of “stress tests” carried out
by the European Central Bank on the
heels of the euro zone financial crisis.
— Reuters
Norio Miyagawa, a senior economist at
Mizuho Securities.
“The health of overseas economies,
particularly China, is one factor. Also,
it’s difficult for companies to have the
conviction that the domestic economy
BIZ BRIEF
China’s Lenovo
reports Q2 loss
following cuts
HONG KONG: Chinese technology
giant Lenovo said on Thursday it saw
a profit loss for the second quarter
following a cost restructuring plan,
despite stronger sales in its mobile
business. However, the loss reported
by the world’s biggest personal
computer maker was narrower than
analysts’ forecasts.
“With strong execution, Lenovo
acted swiftly and decisively to address
challenges, while still delivering
better-than-previous-quarter results,”
Lenovo chairman Yang Yuanqing said
in a Thursday statement said.
Lenovo had said that it would
seek to slash costs by $1.35 billion
annually and cut 3,200 staff from its
non-manufacturing workforce —
around five per cent of its worldwide
headcount, when it announced its
first quarter results in August.
“Going forward these actions are
intended to drive meaningful run-rate
cost savings of about $650 million in
the second half of this year and about
$1.35 billion on an annual basis,” the
firm said in the Thursday statement.
Lenovo posted a net loss of $714
million for the second quarter ending
September 30, compared to a profit
of $262 million in the same period
last year. Analysts had expected the
firm to report a $803 million loss,
according to Bloomberg News.
Revenue increased 16 per cent to
$12.15 billion, while the company also
saw a pre-tax loss of $842 million.
Lenovo has suffered from a
decline in global demand for PCs,
which account for around a third of its
revenue despite its efforts to diversify
into other sectors, including the
smartphone market.
Sales in its PC business were
down 17 per cent year-on-year at $8.1
billion, shipping 15 million PCs during
the second quarter. Its quarterly
mobile business sales, which includes
Motorola, was up 104 per cent yearon-year at $2.7 billion.
“In mobile, our strategy to shift
our growth focus to outside of China
continued to pay off, and we gained
share and improved margin,” Yang
said.
will grow rapidly.”
South Korean shares were down 0.2
per cent. Earlier on Thursday, the Bank
of Korea kept rates steady for a fifth
straight month as expected.
The US bond market was closed for
Veterans Day on Wednesday, and while
other markets were trading, activity was
lighter than usual.
With no directional guidance
from US Treasuries, some investors
took profits after the dollar’s recent
rise in the wake of last Friday’s stellar
US employment report that led many
to increase their bets that the Federal
Reserve was on track to raise interest
The speciality division, its
largest, grew 19 per cent to write
premiums of $748 million, the
company said.
“This growth helped us offset
the highly competitive market
conditions for other lines,” Beazley
said in a statement on Thursday.
Gross premiums for marine
insurance fell 15 per cent during
the period, while life, accident and
health fell 6 per cent . Premium
rates on renewal for speciality lines
also increased 2 per cent during
the period, the insurer added.
— Reuters
rates at its meeting next month.
US data will be increasingly
important to markets ahead of the Fed’s
December policy review.
The dollar index, which tracks the
greenback against a basket of six major
peers, edged down 0.2 per cent to
98.863, below a seven-month peak of
99.504 scaled on Tuesday.
The dollar edged up to 122.90 yen
against its Japanese counterpart, below
this week’s 2½ month high of 123.60,
while the euro added about 0.1 per cent
to $1.0755 , recovering from this week’s
nearly seven-month low of $1.0674.
— Reuters
Singapore Telecom says Q2 net profit falls
SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian telecommunications giant Singapore Telecom (Singtel)
said on Thursday its second quarter net profit fell slightly from last year, dragged down
by currency weakness in some countries where its associates operate.
Mobile data grew strongly across the Singtel group’s regional operations but these
were offset by “significant currency headwinds”, the company said in a filing with the
Singapore Exchange.
Net profit in the three months to September came in at Sg$1.03 billion ($727
million), down 0.8 per cent from the same period last year.
Revenue fell 2.9 per cent to Sg$4.18 billion, said Singtel, Southeast Asia’s biggest
telecom operator. “This quarter, we have again strengthened our position across
Singapore, Australia and the associates’ markets,” Singtel Group chief executive
Chua Sock Koong. “Mobile data growth continues to be a key focus... While currency
weakness has affected our reported numbers, our underlying performance is resilient,”
she said in a statement.
A large portion of Singtel’s earnings come from overseas after the company
expanded beyond its small domestic market, making it vulnerable to currency
movements. The firm’s earnings are reported in Singapore dollars.
In Australia where Singtel has a wholly owned subsidiary called Optus, the
Australian dollar fell a steep 13 per cent against the Singapore dollar during the
quarter.
Shinjuku district is pictured in Tokyo in Japan. Most Japanese companies do
not expect the nation’s flagging economy to recover until well into next year
at the earliest, as a China-led slowdown keeps overseas demand weak and
consumer spending at home remains sluggish, a Reuters survey showed. — Reuters
Burberry sees sales pick-up in third quarter
LONDON: British luxury brand Burberry said on Thursday comparable store sales since
the start of its third quarter had improved relative to the second, when they were
dented by a slowdown in China and Hong Kong.
The firm, famous for its trench coats and cashmere scarves, also reported a betterthan-expected 3 per cent rise in first half underlying profit, helped by costs savings.
Last month Burberry missed first half sales growth forecasts and warned of an
increasingly challenging environment for luxury goods, particularly in China and Hong
Kong, hammering its shares to a near three-year low.
It made an adjusted pretax profit of 153 million pounds ($233 million) in the six
months to September 30, on flat revenue of 1.11 billion pounds.
The profit outcome was ahead of analysts’ consensus forecast of 147 million
pounds.
“This robust performance reflects decisive action as the external environment
became more challenging in key markets over the period,” said Christopher Bailey,
Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer.
He said the firm was “confident in our strongest-ever festive plans and emphasis on
productivity and efficiency.”
Burberry ended the half with net cash of 459 million pounds and is paying an
interim dividend of 10.2 pence, up 5 per cent.
The firm now expects no material benefit to retail/wholesale profit for the full
2015-16 year from currency moves, having previously guided to a 10 million pounds
benefit.
16
omandailyobserver
ECONOMIC
PERSPECTIVE
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
TIES
Sanctions fears choke US trade with Myanmar
W
estern banks
are cutting
trade finance
in Myanmar
after learning
that part of
the country’s main port is controlled
by a man blacklisted by Washington,
threatening to stop nascent US economic
ties with the Southeast Asian nation in
their tracks.
US shipments to Myanmar have
slowed to a crawl in recent months,
after several banks including Citigroup
Inc, Bank of America, HSBC and PNC
Financial curtailed their financial
backing of trade with the country,
according to sanctions lawyers and other
people familiar with the matter.
Studying trade documents, Citigroup
noticed in June that the Port of Yangon’s
main terminal is controlled by Steven
Law, who is subject to US sanctions
because of his alleged ties to Myanmar’s
military, they said.
Citi then alerted other banks,
and their compliance officers warned
that further financing could violate
remaining US sanctions, according to
several sources, who asked not to be
named because they were not authorised
to speak publicly.
At stake are embryonic, but fast
developing economic ties between the
United States and Myanmar, which US
diplomats see as crucial to maintaining
Washington’s influence during a critical
period in the country’s transition to
democracy. Myanmar held a landmark
election on Sunday, key for the future
of political reforms that started with a
formation of a civilian government in
2011 after decades of military rule.
Washington and the European Union
started lifting economic sanctions the
following year to encourage Myanmar
authorities to stay the reform course.
Since then, the total volume of
trade between the United States and
Myanmar has risen from less than $10
million in 2010 to over $185 million last
year, according to the US Commerce
Department.
That is still a tiny fraction of the
Southeast Asian country’s over $27
billion trade dominated by its Asian
partners — Thailand, China, Singapore,
Hong Kong, India and South Korea.
But the political importance of
trade with the United States goes far
beyond what the modest amounts
would suggest, said Jose W Fernandez,
a former assistant secretary of state who
was an architect of sanctions policy in
Myanmar.
“It is a way for the leaders to prove to
the world that they are no longer global
pariahs,” Fernandez said.
Developing economic ties with
Washington also helps Myanmar
counterbalance the influence of Beijing,
said Peter Harrell, a former deputy
assistant secretary of state who played
a key role in easing the sanctions.
“Myanmar doesn’t want to be overly
dependent on the Chinese.”
From that perspective, the slump in
US exports to Myanmar to $5.5 million
in September from over $50 million in
June, is a source of concern.
MINEFIELD:
Fernandez said
Myanmar offers a preview of challenges
Washington will face in implementing
an international deal that removes some
Containers at Asia World port in Yangon, Myanmar. — Reuters file photo
sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on
its nuclear programme, and in its reengagement with Cuba.
“I think some of these sanctions
programs were created at a time when
we didn’t think about the need to remove
them,” Fernandez said.
Myanmar’s trade finance snag
highlights how unwinding sanctions
while some key economic players
remain blacklisted creates a minefield
for companies that could undermine
Washington’s
broader
political
objectives.
Law’s business conglomerate Asia
World is a case in point. Cutting off
financing of shipments handled by Law’s
firm “could amount to a de facto trade
Developing economic ties
with Washington also helps
Myanmar counterbalance
the influence of Beijing.
embargo” because half of all Myanmar’s
trade flows through the Asia World
terminal, two banking associations
said in a letter to the US Treasury
Department in July.
Foreign institutions could also be
affected. About a dozen international
banks that have US presence, mostly
European, have been stung by more than
$14 billion in US penalties since 2009 for
ENTERTAINMENT
TV operators fight online rivals
T
he empire has not
yet figured out how
to strike back. The
major legacy television
companies
are
struggling to find the
formula to stem the loss of customers to
Internet rivals like Netflix, Amazon and
others.
Time Warner — one of the mainstays
of the industry with its channels
including TNT, Cartoon Network, WB
and HBO — has seen its stock come
under heavy pressure since lowering its
outlook in its last quarterly update.
While Time Warner is still a major
industry force, the loss of viewers
translates to lower advertising revenues,
raising the prospect of a downward
spiral.
“Similar to the rest of the
industry, ratings at our key domestic
entertainment networks have declined
to a greater degree than we anticipated
a year ago and that will negatively affect
ad revenue next year,” said chief financial
officer Howard Averill.
“We are assuming declines continue
at a similar rate in 2016.”
Elsewhere in the industry, 21st
Century Fox reported lackluster
results dragged down by its box office
performance while CBS reported a rise
in advertising revenues.
Walt Disney Co — which owns
key television assets including ABC
and ESPN — reported strong earnings
including a record annual profit, but
some observers remain sceptical
whether the industry “dinosaurs” can
stem the online juggernaut led by
Netflix.
NETFLIX, FRIEND OR FOE?:
The traditional television firms, while
working with Netflix, are debating
whether to treat the streaming giant as
a friend or foe.
While these firms may sell content
to Netflix, they also are trying the
Netflix formula of standalone online
subscriptions for services such as HBO
Now and CBS All Access.
“We’re seeing more companies
starting to tell Netflix ‘We’re not going
to sell you our content or as much of it
anymore, or at least not at the same price
that we were,’” said James McQuivey,
analyst at Forrester Research.
“They want to undermine Netflix
various sanctions violations.
In the letter, the Clearing
House Association and the Bankers
Association of Finance and Trade asked
the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control, which enforces US sanctions,
for a legal work around that would allow
shipments to pass through Asia World.
The US State Department and
OFAC is considering possible solutions,
according to sources familiar with their
deliberations. But in the meantime,
OFAC warned banks to refrain from
financing any shipments that Asia World
might handle, according to the letter.
Asked about a possible solution,
a Treasury spokeswoman said in an
e-mailed statement that the agency was
SMARTPHONE APP
Snapchat: Here to stay
or gone tomorrow?
I
at this stage because they decided that
Netflix is too powerful. And partly
it’s a negotiating tactic, because there
are things they want from Netflix that
Netflix isn’t giving them. They want it
to pay more money for their shows,
they also want Netflix to share data with
them.”
CBS is taking a new approach by
launching its updated “Star Trek” series
on its online service.
McQuivey calls this “a really smart
idea,” adding that “CBS knows there are
millions of Star Trek fans” who will pay
for it.
“This is the right kind of audience to
try it, and it is the right time,” he said.
McQuivey
said
the
major
TV companies “have been in
experimentation mode” with digital but
now need to step up those efforts.
“The experimentation has taught
them that they can make some money
in digital, but now it’s time to optimise
the money they make,” he said.
Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu,
Amazon and others meanwhile are
creating original programming, adding
to the tensions between old and new
media groups.
Some executives like Discovery’s
CEO David Zaslav argue that streaming
services are eating the lunch of
traditional TV firms and question
the model of handing over too much
content at too low a price.
Time Warner — one of the
mainstays of the industry
with its channels including
TNT, Cartoon Network, WB
and HBO — has seen its stock
come under heavy pressure
since lowering its outlook in
its last quarterly update
Comcast’s NBCUniversal, one of the
other major TV operators, is fighting
back with its own streaming service
called Seeso, offering original comedy
programmes. NBCU’s Evan Shapiro said
big services like Netflix can confound
viewers with too many choices.
“By focusing on a specific, yet
large niche, and providing a curated
experience, we can help viewers find
good stuff they might not or cannot
find,” he said.
HOLDING BACK CONTENT:
Time Warner chairman and chief
executive Jeff Bewkes said this week the
company is considering holding back
some of its programs from streaming
operators for a longer period.
“We are evaluating whether to retain
our rights for a longer time and forego
or delay certain content licensing,” he
said. Its HBO unit already has a threeyear wait before it allows programs to be
shown on Amazon Prime in the United
States.
Disney chairman and CEO Bob
Iger also spoke of re-evaluating the
relationship with streaming firms.
“When we made these decisions
to sell these shows to Netflix, those
decisions made the most sense for us in
terms of the economics,” he said.
“Longer-term, it’s possible that
we’ll make different decisions based
on other factors.” Executives are also
being forced to acknowledge that
consumers are gravitating to online
services because they offer convenient
on-demand viewing, often with little or
no advertising.
Iger noted that “consumers are
demanding a better user experience,
and they are migrating to platforms and
services that deliver it.”
The Disney chief said that
“consumers now dictate where they
want to access media, and it is essential
for legacy distributors to crack the
mobile code.”
Bewkes said that “in our efforts to
improve the consumer experience on
our networks, we are also looking for
opportunities to reduce our ad loads.”
— AFP
working with the US State Department
to support Myanmar’s democratic
transition, “while also ensuring that
illicit actors do not benefit.”
More than a hundred individuals
and businesses — many, like Law,
key players in Myanmar — are still
subject to US sanctions. US diplomats
have encouraged them to apply for
the sanctions to be removed, but the
process can take years. So far only nine
Myanmar-related entities have been
taken off the list — two of those were
people who had already died.
While they wait for a legal fix, US
banks are also freezing or delaying
payments for shipments that have
already arrived in Yangon, according to
those familiar with the matter.
Even when the goods get shipped,
exporters faced long delays in payments
from the banks, Moe Myint Kyaw,
secretary general of Union of Myanmar
Federation of Chambers of Commerce
and Industry, said in an interview.
Peter Kucik, a former senior
sanctions adviser at the US Treasury said
allowing trade finance to get squelched
was “totally inconsistent with US policy”
of bringing western financial institutions
into Myanmar.
Banks, mindful of record fines for
sanctions violations, will play it safe
given the relatively little money they
make in Myanmar, said Kucik, who
is now a principal of Inle Advisory
Group that advises US businesses on
investments in Myanmar.
“If you increase compliance costs it’s
going to be easier for them to just say
‘screw it’.”
— Reuters
s Snapchat a lasting sensation or a shooting star? Just as the vanishingmessage smartphone app confirmed that six billion videos are viewed
daily — a three-fold surge from early this year — word spread on
Wednesday that one of its investors slashed the value of its holding in
the startup by 25 per cent . It wasn’t clear from regulatory filings whether
backer Fidelity Fund thought Snapchat was worth less, or whether it had
sold off some of its stake. The Los Angeles-based company was valued at
more than $15 billion in its latest funding round.
“Right now, investors are confused,” Global Equities Research analyst
Trip Chowdhry said while discussing dizzying valuations being heaped on
trendy Internet startups. “These social media companies rise fast and fall
fast. The life is very short.”
Investors can fall prey to leaping in too quickly onto hip Internet startups
picking up traction, then they “look to a bigger fool than themselves” to
bail them out at higher valuations in later funding rounds or even initial
public offerings of stock, according to Chowdhry.
Snapchat — especially popular with teenagers who like the fact that the
chat messages disappear — has declined to comment on what it thought
was powering its rapid growth in video. “It is a huge number for them,”
analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said of the staggering six billion
video views.
“But you have to be concerned about the nature of the videos and if
they are illicit in nature,
a huge number could go
away.”
also
Enderle
cautioned that it is
challenging to make
money from videos
that vanish after being
sent from one person
to another, instead of
lingering for a large
number of people to watch — the way they do at YouTube or Facebook.
Facebook revealed during a quarterly earnings call last week that more
than eight billion videos are viewed daily at the leading social network,
jumping to a level twice as high as it was early this year.
“Now Snapchat is a vanishing-video service, though it makes you
wonder what kind of videos they are,” Enderle said. “Given the nature of
the medium, I’d say they were less valuable and more risky. I’m not really
sure how you would monetise it.”
He noted that it is tough for Internet communications products to
make money, citing the challenge Twitter has faced on that front.
Snapchat’s appeal has been the premise that messages disappear shortly
after being viewed, providing users a sense of being able to keep pictures
or videos private and ephemeral. Snapchat rocketed to popularity in the
United States, especially among teenagers, after the initial app was released
in September 2011.
Last month, Snapchat introduced a “replay” feature for those
disappearing messages, giving users an option to get another look at three
“snaps” for a fee of 99 cents. The app also makes money from ads and lets
users in the United States send money to friends with “Snapcash” messages.
“The key is the fact that this disappearing messaging app has gained a
lot of traction with the millennial audience and shows no sign of slowing
down,” said Forrester analyst Erna Alfred Liousas.
— AFP
SPORT
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
omandailyobserver
Curry shines as Golden State march on
BEST START: The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies to equal a 55-year-old franchise record for best start to a season
LOS ANGELES: Stephen Curry scored
28 points as the unbeaten Golden
State Warriors defeated the Memphis
Grizzlies 100-84, equalling a 55-year-old
franchise record for the best start to a
season in history.
The Warriors victory took the
reigning NBA Champions to 9-0,
emulating the feat of the 1960-1961
side featuring the legendary Wilt
Chamberlain when the franchise was
based in Philadelphia. It was another
chastening night for the Grizzlies, who
were run ragged by the Warriors last
week during a 119-69 defeat.
Curry, who had been averaging
more than 32 points per game prior
to Wednesday’s clash, added to his
season haul with another sparkling
contribution, taking the game away
from Memphis with a 17-point blitz in
the third quarter.
The 27-year-old talisman said
afterwards that the Warriors increasing
maturity had allowed them to negate
spoiling tactics used by Memphis
throughout.
“I think we’ve grown up a lot in that
area — it doesn’t matter if it’s an ugly
game, an up-tempo game, high-scoring
game or low-scoring,” Curry said.
“We always find a way to compose
ourselves. We knew they were going to
try and dirty up the game and make it a
pain game and be physical. But we were
able to overcome that.”
The Warriors now stand alone as the
only unbeaten team in the NBA this
year. However they remain several wins
away from the all-time record for the
best start of 15-0, shared by the 1948-49
Washington Capitols and the 1993-94
Houston Rockets.
Interim head coach Luke Walton
meanwhile played down talk of the
Warriors possibly matching the all-time
record for season victories of 72, set by
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in
the 1995-1996 campaign.
“The season’s too long to be talking
about 72 wins,” Walton said.
Andre Iguodala, the hero of last
season’s NBA Finals victory, finished
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second quarter at FedExForum. — USA Today Sports
with 20 points off the bench for Golden
State, while forward Harrison Barnes
contributed 19 points.
Curry meanwhile had five rebounds,
five assists and five steals in addition to
his 28-point haul.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, New
York Knicks’s in-form forward Kristaps
Porzingis was denied what would have
been a dramatic winning three-pointer
on the buzzer in a pulsating contest with
the Charlotte Hornets.
Porzingis’s shot was initially ruled
good before match officials reversed the
call after determining that the clock had
expired a fraction before the Latvian
rookie released.
The decision meant the Hornets
were able to hang on for a 95-93 victory,
improving their record to 4-4 after a
dismal 0-3 start to the season.
“That’s the way it goes in this league,”
Knicks coach Derek Fisher said.
“One night the ball bounces your way
and you get a favorable call, and the next
night it goes the other way.”
The Dallas Mavericks meanwhile
won their grudge match against the Los
Angeles Clippers in DeAndre Jordan’s
first match in Dallas since reneging on
a summer free agent deal which would
have seen him leave the Clippers for
Texas. Jordan, who was loudly booed our game,” Nowitzki added, referring to
and jeered all night, was restricted to just the Jordan saga.
nine points in a 118-108 victory for the
“When we keep moving the ball,
Mavericks.
we’re tough to guard.”
— AFP
German legend Dirk Nowitzki stole
NBA RESULTS
the show for the home side, pouring on
Charlotte bt NY Knicks ....................95-93
31 points.
Orlando bt LA Lakers .....................101-99
The power forward made 11-of-14
Toronto bt Philadelphia ............. 119-103
shots from the field, including a banked
Indiana bt Boston .........................102-91
three-pointer with 1:05 left to play which
Atlanta bt New Orleans .................106-98
Dallas bt LA Clippers .................. 118-108
gave the Mavericks a 113-108 lead. “We
Brooklyn bt Houston .....................106-98
showed some character coming out here
Golden State bt Memhis ...............100-84
tonight and just fighting, fighting for this
Denver bt Milwaukee ................ 103-102
Sacramento bt Detroit ...................101-92
crowd,” Nowitzki said.
San Antonio bt Portland ............. 113-101
“Obviously, there was a lot of hype in
the air, but we tried to stay cool and play
JOINT
17
TOP
Quartet lead
World Classic
in Singapore
SINGAPORE:
Australia’s
Sam
Brazel and three other players
shot a two under-par 69 to share
the lead in the inaugural World
Classic Championship in Singapore
on Thursday before fading light
suspended the first round of play.
Play at the par-71 Laguna National
Golf and Country Club will resume
on Friday morning for 21 players who
have not completed the first 18 holes.
Brazel went ahead after the first
nine holes, but three bogeys in the
second nine, including a double on the
tricky 17th, whittled down his lead.
His dip allowed South Korea’s Wang
Jeung-Hun and Thailand’s Natipong
Srithong to level scores after the
morning session. Another Australian,
Scott Barr, joined the trio at the top
just before play was suspended late
afternoon.
“The greens are pretty tricky and
you got to be smart,” said Brazel.
“I got away with a few and played
nicely on other holes. It is not so much
of a test off the tee but your second
shot is definitely crucial.”
“Putting is quite difficult as there’s
always a danger of hitting it to the
wrong post,” Brazel said.
Wang set out to make par at the
Laguna National, the 17th stop of the
Asian Tour, and said his four birdies
on the first, eighth, 12th and 18th
holes were a bonus.
“This is definitely one of the
toughest courses in Asia and you really
have to be very focused,” said Wang.
“When you make a mistake, you
got to recover fast as the greens are
hard to read.”
— AFP
World Classic Championship scores (first
round, par 71)
69 — Wang Jeung-Hun (KOR), Sam Brazel (AUS),
Natipong Srithong (THA), Scott Barr (AUS)
70 — Berry Henson (USA), Miguel Tabuena (PHI)
71 — Paul Peterson (USA), Chinnarat Phadungsil
(THA), Charlie Wi (KOR) 71, Unho Park (AUS), Shaun
Norris (RSA), Lindsay Renolds (CAN), Namchok
Tantipokhakul (THA), Jazz Janewattananond (THA),
Siddikur Rahman (BAN)
Rose leads pack chasing McIlroy
Garcia ahead at BMW Masters in Shanghai after an eight-under first round of 64
SHANGHAI: Justin Rose is the leader
of the pack trying to chase down
Rory McIlroy at the top of the Race to
Dubai standings after an opening fiveunder par 67 in the BMW Masters on
Thursday.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia leads the
$7 million event in Shanghai after
an eight-under first round of 64 but
Danny Willett, just 74,213 points
behind McIlroy at the penultimate
event of the European Tour season,
had a disappointing even-par 72.
“I played OK today,” said Rose, who
is seeking a double on Chinese soil
having won in his last outing at the
Hong Kong Open last month.
“I was only one-under through 11,
though. I could see a lot of the other
guys were going low today and I tried
to urge myself to sort of get it to threeor four-under for the round, and
actually beat my own expectations and
finished five-under.”
“Very happy with how I played the
last seven or eight holes, and it was a
good day’s work in the end.”
McIlroy is sitting out the BMW
Masters, leaving him in a precarious
position atop the Race to Dubai
standings as challengers close in
behind him.
The world number three will return
for next week’s season finale, the DP
World Tour Championship in Dubai,
as he bids to be crowned Europe’s
number one for the second year
running.
Willett carded a best-of-the-week
62 on Sunday to finish third in the
WGC-HSBC Champions across
Shanghai at Sheshan International
Golf Club, but he couldn’t reproduce
that form Thursday.
LOW SCORES
“It was a strange one last week, the
game’s not felt great,” said the English
of a drizzle but other than that it was
good. I drove the ball very well and
that gave me a lot of opportunities to
hit some good iron shots.”
Apart from Rose and Willett, none
of the other three players who can
knock McIlroy off his perch with a win
this week made a significant move on
a windless day with greens softened
by rain that made for good scoring
conditions, with 38 of the 78-man field
breaking par.
Shane Lowry of Ireland, third in
the Race to Dubai, had a two-under
70 for a share of 24th place as did
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen who
is fourth in the standings.
Each of them need to finish second
at least to overtake McIlroy.
Oosthuizen’s fellow South African
Branden Grace, who is sixth and needs
a win this week to move ahead of
McIlroy, was one shot worse on 71.
Tied for fourth on six-under
were Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard,
runner-up to Rose in Hong Kong, and
England’s Ross Fisher who lost here in
a playoff last year to Germany’s Marcel
Siem.
— AFP
Sergio Garcia of Spain plays a shot during the BMW Shanghai Masters
tournament at the Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai. — AFP
world number 22 who needs to finish
28th or better this week to overtake
McIlroy but lies tied 48th after the first
round.
“Just couldn’t quite get things going
today. Drove it well. Didn’t hit it close
enough to make anything. Just a very
stale day.”
World number 11 Garcia carded
nine birdies and a single bogey on
his debut at Lake Malaren to lead
by one stroke from South Korea’s
An Byeong-Hun and France’s Victor
Dubuisson, who is in fine form after
winning the Turkish Airlines Open a
fortnight ago.
“Conditions were quite good, not
much wind,” said Garcia. “A little bit
BMW Masters first round scores (par 72):
64 - Sergio Garcia (ESP)
65 - Victor Dubuisson (FRA), An Byeong-Hun (KOR)
66 - Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN), Ross Fisher (ENG)
67 - Paul Casey (ENG), Thongchai Jaidee (THA),
Justin Rose (ENG)
68 - Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Francesco Molinari
(ITA), Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Dou Zecheng (CHN),
Henrik Stenson (SWE), Richie Ramsay (SCO), Ian
Poulter (ENG), Matthew Fitpatrick (ENG), Zhang
Xinjun (CHN)
69 - Gary Stal (FRA), Scott Hend (AUS), Kristoffer
Broberg (SWE), Martin Kaymer (GER), David Howell
(ENG), Benjamin Hebert (FRA)
70 - Rikard Karlberg (SWE), Marcus Fraser (AUS),
James Morrison (ENG), David Horsey (ENG),
Gregory Bourdet (FRA), Liang Wenchong (CHN),
Julien Quesne (FRA), Chris Wood (ENG), Fabrizio
Zanotti (PAR), Joost Luiten (NED), Danny Lee
(NZL), Alex Noren (SWE), Shane Lowry (IRE), Louis
Oosthuizen (RSA)
Selected:
71 - Branden Grace (RSA), Li Haotong (CHN)
72 - Danny Willett (ENG)
Maria Sharapova’s presence on the court could make all the difference as Russia
take on holders the Czech Republic in the final at the weekend. — Xinhua/IANS
Russia look to Sharapova
in Fed Cup final
PRAGUE: Maria Sharapova has
played only four Fed Cup ties, but her
presence on the court could make all
the difference as Russia take on holders
the Czech Republic in the 2015 final at
the weekend.
The 28-year-old world number
four will likely face sixth-ranked
Petra Kvitova and ninth-ranked Lucie
Safarova, the left-handed duo who have
led the Czechs to three Fed Cup titles
from the last four editions.
“It’s a great way to finish off the year
playing with two of the best players,”
said Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam
winner, who was sidelined with leg and
arm problems from July to October.
“It’s definitely a very new experience,
I’ve been part of the team on different
occasions but never in the final.”
Sharapova returned to action at the
WTA Tour Finals last month, where
she lost to Kvitova in the semifinals —
after losing to Safarova at the French
Open in June. “I know how difficult an
opponent they are and it will be a great
challenge for me,” said Sharapova, called
up alongside 23rd-ranked Ekaterina
Makarova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
(28) and Elena Vesnina (111). “We
are coming into these finals as the
underdogs,” she added.
Russian captain Anastasia Myskina
said she was pleased to have Sharapova
on the team, waving aside a decadeold rift between them over Sharapova’s
father. “Definitely it’s very important
to have Maria on the team and I want
to say thank you,” said Myskina as her
team giggled their way through a press
conference.
Equally high-spirited, the Czech
team denied being the odds-on
favourite. “They have the highestranking player and a permanent
doubles pair” of Vesnina and Makarova,
said Czech captain Petr Pala.
“The chances are perfectly even,”
added Pala, who has also nominated
11th-ranked Karolina Pliskova and
world number 41 Barbora Strycova.
Dubbing Sharapova “Marushka”, the
Czech for “little Maria”, Kvitova and
Safarova said they would bet on lefthanded rotation against her.
“With Marushka, it’s always a matter
of the few chances she gives you,” said
Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon
champion, who is 4-6 head-to-head
with Sharapova.
— AFP
18
SPORT
omandailyobserver
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
S Africa seek revival in AB’s 100th Test
FIRST
ODI
BOOST: India will be boosted by the return of top pacer Ishant, who served out a one-Test ban
BANGALORE, India: AB de Villiers
makes his 100th Test appearance
on Thursday hoping to inspire his
South African team-mates to a
series-levelling victory over India in
the second Test in Bangalore.
The top-ranked tourists crashed
to a 108-run defeat inside three days
in the low-scoring first Test in Mohali
as they found the Indian spinners
unplayable on a dry, dusty pitch. It
was the fourth successive time a Test
had ended in three days on Indian
soil, but there could be some respite
for the Proteas when they take the
field at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
With wet weather around in
the southern city — rain has been
predicted on at least three of the five
days of the match — the moistureladen pitch may not be a rank turner.
De Villiers, the world’s number
one Test batsman, plays his milestone
match at a venue he knows well as
a member of the Royal Challengers
Bangalore in the Indian Premier
League.
A crowd favourite in Bangalore,
De Villers and skipper Hashim
Amla hold the key to a batting
revival against the spinners led by
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra
Jadeja. De Villiers top-scored with 63
in the first innings at Mohali and 16
in the second, but was outfoxed by
leg-spinner Amit Mishra both times
and found his stumps shattered.
Amla made 43 and 16, a far cry
from his amazing record in India
where in six previous Tests he scored
823 runs at an average of 102.87 with
four centuries.
Pakistan
suspend Ajmal
contract
LAHORE: Pakistan on Thursday
suspended former spinner Saeed
Ajmal’s contract over TV comments
he made about the way bowlers with
illegal action are dealt with.
The 38-year-old had been
Pakistan’s match-winner in the last five
years until he was sidelined over his
bowling action before being cleared
in February. However, a remodelled
action rendered him ineffective and he
was not selected for the current series
against England.
Ajmal blasted the International
Cricket Council (ICC) process on the
illegal action issue, claiming it singled
out spinners like him.
“Why just target the off-spinners?”
Ajmal questioned on two channels last
week. “Why not the left-arm spinners,
leg-spinners or fast bowlers?
“I can tell you that I have been
through this bowling assessment
process so many times and have
watched and studied this issue so
closely that I can vouch that if tests were
carried out, there would be many other
bowlers whose bowling actions would
exceed the 15 degrees extension limit,”
said Ajmal, singling out Indian spinner
Harbhajan as a suspect.
— AFP
India’s Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma during a practice session ahead of the second Test against South Africa at
Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru. — IANS
De Villiers and Amla have hit
44 Test centuries between them —
more than what the entire young
Indian team under Virat Kohli have
managed in their short careers so far.
FIREPOWER
De Villiers, who will become the
seventh South African to play 100
Tests, said the tourists were confident
of bouncing back in the four-match
series. “Nobody can say the first Test
was boring or uneventful, but we
were obviously very disappointed to
lose inside three days,” the 31-yearold said.
“But we remain optimistic
because, in adverse circumstances,
we competed well in Mohali and
showed we have the firepower to
compete.”
As many as 15 of the 20 Indian
wickets were shared by the three
slow bowlers — off-spinner Simon
Harmer, leggie Imran Tahir and
part-time left-armer Dean Elgar —
used by Amla.
India’s spinners, in contrast,
picked up 19 wickets with Ashwin
and
man-of-the-match
Jadeja
claiming a match haul of eight
wickets each.
India will be boosted by the
return of premier fast bowler Ishant
Sharma, who missed the Mohali
match to serve out a one-Test ban
for misconduct during the recent
Sri Lanka tour. But the tourists are
sweating over the fitness of pace
spearhead Dale Steyn who suffered
a groin strain in Mohali and sat out
the entire Indian second innings.
‘LUCKY TO HAVE AB’
Steyn said he was desperate to
play the Test to celebrate his close
friend De Villiers’ big day.
“We are all lucky to have someone
like AB,” the 81-Test veteran said.
“I have been very lucky to make
my debut at the same time as him
and we have been on this journey
together for all these years.
“Hopefully, there are still a few
more memories that we can share
together.”
All-rounder JP Duminy and fast
bowler Morne Morkel are back in
contention after missing the opener
due to injury.
Indian batting great Sunil
Gavaskar, the world’s first batsman
to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket,
had a word of advice for both teams
on how to play on a bowler-friendly
wicket. “Loads of patience and
footwork, the footwork just to be
able to get to the pitch of the ball,”
he said. “To be able to score on all
kinds of surfaces is what you want as
a batsman.” — AFP
Bravo shines as West Indies finally win
COLOMBO: Dwayne Bravo grabbed four
wickets as the West Indies defeated Sri Lanka
by 23 runs to draw their two-match Twenty20
international series in Colombo on Wednesday.
The visitors’ victory at the R Premadasa
Stadium ensured the West Indies finished their
tour of Sri Lanka on a positive note after losing
both the one-day international and Test series.
West Indies won the toss and opted to bat,
scoring 162-6. Johnson Charles and Denesh
Ramdin top-scored with 34 runs each while
Bravo notched 31 as the tourists amassed a
decent total.
Left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana and
captain Lasith Malinga were the star bowlers for
Sri Lanka, taking two wickets each for only 17
and 16 runs respectively.
But the West Indies’ bowling display was
even more impressive with right-arm medium
pacer Bravo putting in a man of the match
performance that saw him take 4-28.
Ravi Rampaul, who was one of two changes
to the West Indies side following their defeat
to Sri Lanka in the first T20 on Monday, also
impressed with three wickets.
Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan notched his
second half century of the week, recording 52,
but a collapse of the host’s middle and lower
batting order meant the West Indies avoided a
tour whitewash. “We were desperate to get this
win,” said West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy.
Sri Lanka swept the three-match oneday international series 3-0 and also won the
preceding Test series without loss, taking it 2-0.
They then won the first T20 in Pallekele by 30
West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo
celebrates after he
dismissed Sri Lanka’s
Nuwan Kulasekara during
the second and final T20 in
Colombo. – AFP
runs before Wednesday’s defeat resulted in 1-1 SRI LANKA
K Perera c Bravo b Taylor ..................................................... 12
draw. – AFP
T Dilshan c sub b Rampaul .................................................. 52
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES
A Fletcher lbw Siriwardana ................................................. 23
J Charles lbw Siriwardana .................................................. 34
M Samuels run out ............................................................... 1
D Bravo c Mathews b Malinga ............................................ 31
A Russell c Chandimal b Chameera ...................................... 9
D Ramdin not out ............................................................... 34
K Pollard b Malinga .............................................................. 5
D Sammy not out ................................................................ 12
Extras: (lb6, w7) ................................................................ 13
Total: (6 wickets; 20 overs) ...................................162
Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-65, 3-75, 4-97, 5-138, 6-147
Bowling: Malinga 4-0-16-2, Kulasekara 4-0-22-0,
Senanayake 3-0-38-0, Chameera 3-0-36-1, Siriwardana 3-017-2, Jayasuriya 3-0-27-0
S Jayasuriya c Russell b Bravo ............................................ 30
D Chandimal c sub b Rampaul ............................................. 1
A Mathews c sub b Bravo ...................................................... 5
M Siriwardana st Ramdin b Narine ..................................... 15
C Kapugedera c Charles b Pollard ......................................... 2
S Senanayake c Pollard b Bravo ............................................ 3
N Kulasekara c Narine b Bravo .............................................. 4
S Malinga b Rampaul ........................................................... 2
D Chameera not out ............................................................. 3
Extras: (b1, lb4, w3, nb2) .................................................. 10
Total: (10 wickets; 20 overs) .................................139
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-93, 3-94, 4-102, 5-117, 6-126, 7-129,
8-133, 9-135
Bowling: Narine 4-0-24-1, Rampaul 4-0-20-3, Taylor 2-0-221, Pollard 4-0-23-1, Sammy 2-0-17-0, Bravo 4-0-28-4
Pakistan players celebrate after dismissing England’s
Eoin Morgan during the first ODI at Zayed Cricket
Stadium in Abu Dhabi. — AFP
England batting
worries skipper
as Pakistan win
ABU DHABI: Captain Eoin Morgan praised rookie
paceman Reece Topley but said England needed to take
a serious look at their batting after they were thumped
by Pakistan to go 1-0 down in the four-match one-day
international series.
After England struggled to 216 all out, Pakistan
romped to a convincing, six-wicket win in Abu Dhabi
in what proved a rousing farewell to Younis Khan, who
was playing his last ODI.
Lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan rocked England
with a wicket off the second ball of the game before
finishing with 3-35 in his 10 overs.
Morgan admitted the batting had let England down
after the captain (76) and James Taylor (60) lifted the
tourists from 14-3 to 147 before they lost four wickets
in the space of 32 balls.
“We were looking at a minimum of 250 but getting
there obviously wasn’t easy on this type of wicket. We
have to reassess that quickly,” Morgan said.
“Probably after 20 overs, the ball started to hold up
and grip more than it did in the previous few overs.”
Pakistan also wobbled at 41-3 before opener
Mohammad Hafeez hit a brilliant, match-winning
102 not out to help
his team overhaul the
target in 43.4 overs.
‘I am happy that
“I think probably
the big positive was I am contributing
having Pakistan at in Pakistan’s wins
the same position at and everything is
the halfway mark,
and credit to the going well for me’
bowlers to get us in
that position,” said
Morgan, praising Topley who grabbed 3-26 in his
second ODI.
“He is a big asset for long-term. He is certainly
somebody that we are looking at to nurture,
particularly with his white-ball skills and he is very
good for a 21-year-old,” said Morgan.
Hafeez said Pakistan wanted to win the match
for veteran batsman Younis, who retired from oneday cricket after the game. “We were pumped up for
Younis and although it was a shock for us to know that
he was retiring but we want to give him the gift of a win
and everyone chipped in,” said Hafeez.
Younis finished his ODI career with 7,249 runs in
265 matches.
Hafeez, who also hit 151 in the third Test in Sharjah
as Pakistan clinched a 2-0 Test series win, said he
was happy to stay in the runs. “I am happy that I am
contributing in Pakistan’s wins and everything is going
well for me,” said Hafeez.
The remaining matches will be played in Sharjah
(November 17) and Dubai (November 20), ahead of a
three-match Twenty20 series.
— AFP
The skipper named an unchanged team following Australia’s thumping 208-run win over the Black Caps in Brisbane
Smith licking lips over pacy Waca wicket, eyes series win
Australian batsman David Warner flicks a rising ball during the first
Test against New Zealand in Brisbane. — Reuters
PERTH, Australia: Skipper Steve Smith
said on Thursday the pace and bounce
of the Waca wicket will suit Australia just
fine as they bid to wrap up their Test series
against New Zealand in Perth.
Smith will be seeking to capture his first
Test series win as Australia’s new full-time
captain in Friday’s second Test in Perth
following Michael Clarke’s retirement.
He named an unchanged team following
Australia’s thumping 208-run win over the
Black Caps in Brisbane earlier this week.
Smith is cautiously confident, especially
given most of the current New Zealand
team have never played at the Waca.
“That probably helps us a little bit,” he
told reporters. “It’s a place that takes a little
bit of getting used to. I think as a batsman it
takes a little bit longer to get in.”
“It’s nice to know some of their players
haven’t played here and we’ve got a lot of
experience here.”
“The groundsman thinks there’s going to
be quite a bit of pace and bounce, which is
going to be nice.”
New Zealand, who haven’t won in Perth
since they clinched their last series win in
Australia at the Waca 30 years ago, must
beat the home side to take the three-Test
series to a decider.
Despite the Waca’s reputation as a fast
pitch, paceman Peter Siddle again remains
12th man with the Australians again
preferring Josh Hazlewood.
“He (Siddle) was talked about. He’s
bowling really well at the moment but we’ve
won the last Test with this line-up,” Smith
said. Hazlewood was close to making way
for Siddle but not because of form.
“Josh’s loads are quite high at the
moment — he’s bowled quite a lot over the
past month or two,” Smith said.
“So it was definitely spoken about. But
we think he’s going to do a great job... he
bowled really well last time he was here,
against the South Africans in the onedayers.”
LYON’S SHARE
Smith was unsure whether Hazlewood
would need to be rested for the final Test of
the three-match series, the inaugural daynight Test in Adelaide.
“We’ll wait and see how he pulls up after
this Test,” he said.
The only uncertainty regarding Smith’s
line-up is who takes the new ball.
Smith started with left-armers Mitchell
Johnson and Mitchell Starc in both innings
at the Gabba but hinted he may change
things at the Waca.
“The breeze is going to play a part (in)
whether Mitch Johnson opens the bowling,”
Smith said. “It really depends which way it’s
going. We’ll wait and see.”
Smith said he had spoken with Starc after
the paceman hurled a ball at Kiwi batsman
Mark Craig on the final day of the Brisbane
Test. “As I said last week, I was pretty
disappointed with Starc’s actions out on the
field. I had a chat to him and he responded
really well, so hopefully he doesn’t do that
again,” Smith said.
Smith noted Nathan Lyon would have a
big role to play and expects short spells for
Johnson, Starc and Hazlewood due to the
forecast heat.
— AFP
F R I DAY
NOVEMBER 13 l 2015
SPORT
omandailyobserver
WC
19
QUALIFIER
Ouch! China
smash 12
past hapless
Bhutan
China’s Yang Xu (right) and
Wang Yongpo celebrate a goal
against Bhutan. — AFP
Japan’s Mu Kanazaki (right) scores the first goal against Singapore during their 2018 Fifa Group E World Cup qualifier match in Singapore. — AFP
Honda, Yoshida power Japan to revenge win
ON TARGET: Cahill scores as Australia canter past Kyrgyzstan as they close in on leaders Jordan in Group B
SINGAPORE: Europe-based stars
Keisuke Honda and Maya Yoshida were
both among the goals as Japan wreaked
revenge on Singapore and went top of
their World Cup qualifying group with
an emphatic 3-0 away win on Thursday.
The Blue Samurai dominated the
match at Singapore’s National Stadium
with strikes by Mu Kanazaki and AC
Milan’s Honda in a six-minute spell
putting them two goals up at the interval.
Singapore struggled with the visitors’
pace and movement but they prevented
further damage until two minutes from
time when Southampton’s Yoshida
added the third.
It follows Singapore’s surprise 0-0
draw at Saitama in June, which was a
setback to Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic
in his first competitive game in charge
and left him keen to make amends. “In
the first half, we played with ambition
and aggressiveness but unfortunately
we couldn’t score more goals. In the
second half, the rhythm decreased but
still we continued to create chances,”
Halilhodzic said.
“I want to say bravo to the players
although I think we could still have
played better and scored more goals.”
The
Bosnian
added:
“Their
goalkeeper had a big game again today
and I congratulated him personally after
the game because I don’t know how
many chances he saved in these two
games.”
South Korea’s Koo Ja-Cheol controls the ball during their 2018 World Cup qualifying
match against Myanmar in Suwon, South Korea. — Reuters
After setting the record straight,
Japan move top of Asian Group E on
13 points with three matches remaining
and in pole position to go on to the next
stage. Syria are second on 12 points and
Singapore are third with 10.
Eight group winners and the four
best-placed runners-up will go through
to the third round of qualifying.
Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud
made 18 saves in the goalless draw at
Saitama and he continued to frustrate
Japan in the opening minutes on his
home ground as the visitors poured on
intense pressure.
But he couldn’t prevent the opener
on 20 minutes when Honda’s cross was
knocked down by Yoshinori Muto for
Kashima Antlers midfielder Kanazaki,
who chested it down before lashing a
left-footed volley past Izwan.
The Singapore goalkeeper was
also helpless in the 26th minute when
Japan broke into the Singapore box
and Honda’s effort took a deflection off
defender Nazrul Nazawi and looped
over Izwan.
Japan continued to hold the upper
hand after the interval with Izwan
making crucial stops to keep out
Kanazaki and Muto, while Safuwan
Baharudin and Hafiz Sujad went close at
the other end with headers.
Kanazaki had an effort disallowed for
offside with 10 minutes remaining and
Izwan made another fine save to deny
Honda before Yoshida finally turned the
ball into the net in the 88th minute to
seal a convincing win.
CAHILL POWERS AUSTRALIA
Tim Cahill scored his 42nd
international goal as Australia turned
on the sparkle to fuel their World Cup
qualifying hopes with a 3-0 win over
Kyrgyzstan in Canberra.
The Shanghai Shenhua-based Cahill
scored the second goal for Australia just
after half-time following a 40th-minute
penalty by skipper Mile Jedinak and
finished off by a 69th-minute own goal
from defender Ildar Amirov.
The Australians moved to within
one point of inactive leaders Jordan in
Group B and face Bangladesh in Dhaka
on Tuesday.
The Socceroos turned on the razzledazzle with their midfield of Aaron
Mooy, Massimo Luongo and substitute
Tom Rogic dictating the play and setting
up many scoring chances.
“We had a game plan and the boys
stuck to it and maybe it could have been
a little bit more at the end, but we take
the victory and the three points most
importantly,” Jedinak said.
“Our plan was to keep them under
pressure, stay on them, don’t sit back,
stay on the front foot and we did that
really, almost suffocated them.”
Talisman Cahill went close early and
struck the woodwork with a volley in the
15th minute.
Kyrgyzstan’s Viktor Maier appealed
to the referee for a penalty when Preston
North End defender Bailey Wright put
his arm across his chest in a tussle for the
ball, but it was turned down in their only
major scoring chance of the first half.
Crystal Palace’s Jedinak fired home
the penalty to put Australia a goal
up after 40 minutes and they had
the Kyrgyzs under pressure for the
remaining minutes to halftime. — AFP
RESULTS
Results from 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian
Cup qualifying on Thursday:
Group B: Australia 3 (Jedinak 40-pen, Cahill
50, Ildar og-69) Kyrgyzstan 0
Tajikistan 5 (Dzhalilov 16, 26, 59, 74, Nazarov
51-pen) Bangladesh 0
Group C: Maldives 0 Hong Kong 1 (Paulinho
13-pen)
China 12 (Mei Fang 10, Yang Xu 13, 21-pen,
37, 52, Yu Dabao 16, 39, Yu Hanchao 34, 72,
Wang Yongpo 66, 81, Zhang Xizhe 88) Bhutan
0
Group D: Iran 3 (Pouraliganji 6, Ezatolahi 64,
Dejagah 83-pen) Turkmenistan 1 (Saparow 62)
Group E: Singapore 0 Japan 3 (Kanazaki 20,
Honda 26, Yoshida 88)
Afghanistan 3 (Zazai 42, Amiri 78, Amani
90+4) Cambodia 0
Group F: Thailand 4 (Teerasil 41, Pokklaw 52,
Adisak 72, Thana 74) Taiwan 2 (Yen Yaki 3,
Huang Kai-Chun 65)
Group G: South Korea 4 (Lee Jae-Sung 14, Koo
Ja-Cheol 30, Jang Hyun-Soo 82, Nam Tae-Hee
86) Myanmar 0
Group H
Philippines 0 Yemen 1 (Al Sarori 83)
HONG
KONG:
China
hammered 12 unanswered goals
past hapless Bhutan on Thursday
as they ramped up their World
Cup qualifying hopes with their
biggest win in 15 years.
Australia, Japan and South
Korea also enjoyed comfortable
wins on a night of few surprises
in Asia’s round two — apart
from the giant scoreline in
Changsha.
After Mei Fang’s 10thminute opener, Yang Xu hit
four including a penalty and Yu
Dabao, Yu Hanchao and Wang
Yongpo all bagged braces as
China ran riot. The pain didn’t
finish until two minutes from
time for Bhutan when Zhang
Xizhe grabbed the 12th and last
goal for Alain Perrin’s rampant
home side.
The 12-0 win heaped further
embarrassment on Bhutan, the
remote Himalayan kingdom
known for its Gross National
Happiness index, after they
also lost 15-0 to Qatar earlier in
qualifying. After five games in
their first appearance in round
two, the “Land of the Thunder
Dragon” lie bottom of Group
C on zero points and a goal
difference of minus 42.
China’s biggest win since they
beat Guam 19-0 in 2000 throws
down the gauntlet ahead of next
week’s crunch clash with rivals
Hong Kong, who stayed second
behind Qatar with a 1-0 victory
over Maldives.
Asian champions Australia,
shocked 2-0 by Jordan last time
around, got back on track with a
3-0 win over Kyrgyzstan which
featured a 42nd international
goal for record scorer Tim
Cahill.
AC
Milan’s
Keisuke
Honda and Maya Yoshida of
Southampton both scored as
Japan beat Singapore 3-0 away
to go top of Group E. And South
Korea enjoyed a 4-0 home win
against Myanmar as they took a
firm grip on Group G.
Eight group winners and the
four best-placed runners-up
will proceed to the next stage of
qualifying for the 2018 World
Cup in Russia.
— AFP
Five enter Fifa presidency race; Bility, Platini sidelined
ZURICH: Fifa has approved five
candidates for its February presidential
election amid the worst crisis in its
history, after barring Liberia’s Musa
Bility on integrity grounds and leaving
out Uefa chief Michel Platini while he
remains under suspension.
Platini, the original favourite
to succeed Sepp Blatter as head of
global soccer’s governing body, was
not admitted because he has been
suspended for 90 days pending a full
Ethics Committee investigation.
Fifa had already announced that
it would not process former French
international football star while he was
suspended, but could review its position
if he wins an appeal against the ban.
Buffeted by a series of scandals over
the last few years, Fifa was thrown into
turmoil in May by the US indictments of
14 football officials, including two Fifa
vice-presidents, and sports marketing
executives for alleged corruption.
Blatter, also suspended for 90 days,
is facing criminal investigation in
Switzerland over a 2-million Swiss
franc ($2.1 million) payment from
Fifa to Platini. Both men have denied
wrongdoing.
Fifa’s electoral committee said on
Thursday the five approved presidential
candidates were Prince Ali Bin Al
Hussein of Jordan, Asian Football
Confederation President Sheikh Salman
Bin Ebrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain,
former Fifa official Jerome Champagne
of France, Uefa General Secretary Gianni
Infantino of Switzerland and South
Africa businessman Tokyo Sexwale.
“The integrity check included a
review of corporate records, litigation
cases,
bankruptcy
proceedings,
potential regulatory actions taken
against the candidate and a review of
media reports concerning potential
red flags (fraudulent behaviour,
match manipulation, human rights
violations, etc.),” the committee said in
a statement.
Bility was not admitted “in view of
the content of the integrity check report
relating to him”, it said.
“For reasons of protection of
personality rights, the Ad-hoc Electoral
Committee — while it has explained its
considerations in detail to Musa Hassan
Bility — will not comment publicly on
the specifics of its decision.”
Salman has dismissed as “false, nasty
lies” allegations that he was involved
in human rights abuses against prodemocracy activists during a 2011
uprising in Bahrain when he was head
of the Gulf Arab country’s football
association.
The electoral committee said it had
“assessed any allegations against the
candidates carefully, including those
against Sheikh Salman concerning his
alleged involvement into the events in
Bahrain in 2011”.
It said no evidence of “any personal
and direct involvement” by Salman in
rights abuses had been found, so the
committee had upheld his candidacy.
There are no clear favourites to win
the election, in which each of the 209
national associations (FAs) who are
affiliated with Fifa hold one vote.
Critics say they are heavily influenced
by the continental confederations, such
as Europe’s Uefa or Africa’s CAF, which
sometimes ask their members to vote as
a bloc for one candidate.
But as voting is secret, FAs can easily
disobey their confederations without
being detected, which makes voting
unpredictable.
Infantino announced his intention to
stand only one day before the registration
deadline in October, and is expected to
withdraw if Platini is allowed back into
the race.
— AFP
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2015 | SAFAR 1, 1437 AH
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STAYING
AFLOAT
Players in action
during the
World cup
qualifier
between India
and Guam in
Bengaluru.
— IANS
Robin’s strike
help India beat
Guam 1-0
NZ GIVE OMAN REALITY CHECK
EARLY STUNNER: All Whites started the game with a bang when captain Chris Wood
capitalised on a defensive lapse to score past Al Habsi
HARIDEV PUSHPARAJ
MUSCAT
Nov. 12: New Zealand gave an in-form
Oman a reality check as they registered a
1-0 victory in the international friendly
held here at the Seeb Sports Stadium.
The gulf between the two teams in
Fifa rankings, with the ‘Red Warriors’ at
92 and the ‘All Whites’ at 159 was nonexistent on the ground as New Zealand
showed better application to outwit the
home team.
Oman will have to go back to the
drawing board with hardly any time
left before their crucial 2018 World
Cup qualifier against Turkmenistan in
Ashgabat on November 17.
Working on their finishing skills and
midfield play will top the agenda as they
look to tie up the loose ends before the
Turkmenistan game.
New Zealand started the game
with a bang when captain Chris Wood
capitalised on a defensive lapse to score
past Oman’s veteran goalkeeper Ali al
Habsi in the fifth minute.
The goal stunned the sparse crowd
that had gathered to witness the match.
The visitors were definitely the more
fluent side in the early stages of the clash.
In the 13th minute, Oman
squandered an opportunity to equalise
when Raed Ibrahim Saleh shot over the
crosspiece in front of an opening goal.
New Zealand kept pressing forward
and earned a freekick in the 18th minute
which Sam Brotherton lobbed wide off
the far post.
Oman and New Zealand
players fight for the ball at
the Seeb Stadium.
Pictures: Mohammed
Mahjoub
Oman tried hard to build up a move
through a one-two between Ahmed
Mubarak and Qasim Said but the New
Zealand defence was ever-watchful
denying any inroads.
A period of drab play ensued with
either team unable to break through
each other’s defences.
Oman were strong on the wings with
Abdulaziz al Muqbali in full flow and
trying to create some magic. However,
the finishing was the undoing for the
hosts as they struggled to produce that
one important final pass.
Meanwhile, New Zealand were
forced to make a substitution as the first
half came to a close when Alex Rufer was
brought in place of an injured Henry
Cameron.
Two minutes of added time failed
to produce any major breakthrough for
Oman as New Zealand went into halftime with confidence at 1-0.
Oman began the second half with
three substitutions as coach Paul Le
Guen replaced Mohammad al Musalami,
Qasim Said and Mohammad al Balushi
with Mohammed al Siyabi, Mohsen
Johar and Mohammed al Ghassani.
Oman showed assertiveness in the
first ten minutes of the second half with
raids down the wings through Siyabi and
Raed Ibrahim.
The game was really being fought in
the midfield as possession kept shifting
from team to team.
Omani players started to get
frustrated as the much sought after
equaliser continued to elude them.
Frayed tempers were on show as Al
Siyabi received a yellow card for a
rough tackle on one of the New Zealand
players which was followed by a minor
altercation.
In the 68th minute, Oman missed a
golden opportunity to score when Eid
al Farsi could not execute a regulation
strike after breaking past the New
Zealand defence.
New Zealand brought in Logan
Rogerson in for Clayton Lewis in the
69th minute while Oman had Saud
Khamis coming in to replace Raed
Ibrahim.
Both teams were going for the big
push in the last 20 minutes.
Oman were the more proactive side
as Ali al Busaidi was in his element in
the 80th minute when he fired a shot
from 20 yards out that was only saved by
the brilliance of Kiwi custodian Themi
Tzimopoulos.
In the 85th minute, Azzan Abbas
came in for Al Busaidi as Le Guen
desperately looked for a goal which
proved elusive eventually.
BENGALURU, India: A 10th minute strike from
forward Robin Singh and some heroics under the
bar from goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu ensured
India’s 1-0 win against Guam in a World Cup qualifier
group D encounter here on Thursday.
Despite playing the major part of the game with 10
men, after Sehnaj Singh was marched out, the Indians
at last had something to cheer for as they collected
their first points after losing five consecutive games.
India are already out of the competition, and bring up
the bottom of the table with three points.
The hosts were quick to draw first blood as Robin
Singh got on the score sheet just minutes into the
contest. Sandhu had sent a long-ball forward which
was chased down by Sunil Chhetri. The striker then
played it back for his partner Robin who waltz past a
defender and curled the ball into the net, a sublime
finish which brought the crowd at the Kanteerava to
their feet.
Thereafter, Guam
tried to stage a
The hosts were quick
comeback and were
successful in creating to draw first blood as
a few chances but the Robin Singh got on
Indian defenders were
the score sheet just
resilient and did not
minutes into
bulge an inch.
A few minutes the contest
later, it was Pritam
Kotal who planted a
cross in the box which
was intercepted but it fell kindly for Chhetri who set
it up for Eugeneson Lyngdoh. The midfielder’s shot
sailed over the crossbar but at least he should have hit
the target.
Guam’s Ryan Guy had his moment in the 41st
minute but his header fizzed past the post. Around the
same time, Indian defender Sehnaj was sent off for his
high tackle on Justin Lee.
At half-time, India led 1-0.
After the breather, Guam started taking advantage
of their numerical superiority and build some quality
attacks. But some of them lacked clinical finishes as the
strikers kept finding Sandhu’s gloves who stood like a
wall before the Indian goal.
Robin was again in the thick of things as he latched
onto a ball at the edge of the box and then turned
around to shoot but his weak attempt was easily
parried away by rival goalkeeper Doug Herrick.
Thereafter, the tourists pressed on the gas and
created various opportunities but somehow they just
could not find the target. — IANS