THULHIJJA 8, 1441 AH WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020

16 Pages Max 43º Min 32º 150 Fils Established 1961

ISSUE NO: 18194 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net

Cabinet assures Amir’s ‘Safe haven’ gold has a Israel city’s bid to honor Games postponed as MLB 3 health condition is stable 9 rich 3,000-year history 13 Egyptian diva stirs anger 16 rocked by virus outbreak

Taxis back on streets, curfew eased, mall timings extended Civil aviation authority applies final touches to air travel resumption plan

KUWAIT: Kuwait entered phase three of a five- media platforms, has been designed to provide trav- phase return to normal life yesterday, with curfew elers with a solid understanding of the health proto- restrictions eased to be from 9 pm to 3 am. Taxis cols and safety measures that need to be followed were also back on the roads yesterday after more during their journeys, Saad Al-Otaibi, the chief of an than four months of suspension as part of measures ad hoc committee looking into the matter, told to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, they are KUNA ahead of the August 1 airport reopening. only allowed to carry one passenger. As more countries require incoming passengers The Municipality also extended opening hours of to provide negative COVID-19 test results, he said malls to be from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm with the start travelers should register their flight details online of the third phase. Under this phase, government at www.kuwaitmosafer.com in order to schedule and private offices can operate at up to 50 percent an appointment for their coronavirus diagnostic capacity. Resorts, hotels and furnished apartments tests. A smartphone app has also been launched in were also allowed to reopen. The Cabinet will a bid to simplify travel procedures for passengers, review the curfew hours in its first meeting after the the official added, reminding them to adhere to Eid Al-Adha holidays. strict health precautions including wearing face- Meanwhile, Kuwait’s aviation regulator said on masks and following social distancing rules. Monday that all preparations are firmly in place as Kuwait International Airport will resume commer- the country looks to open its airport for commercial cial flights from Saturday as part of a three-phase flights this week after a four-month hiatus. A bilin- plan, starting with no more than 30 percent KUWAIT: Taxis are seen after they were allowed to resume operations yesterday. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh gual guidebook, which can be viewed on social capacity. — Agencies

on the agenda of the next regular session, which will be companies won contracts with the government worth Muwaizri files determined by the Assembly office. dozens of millions of dinars, which constitute a flagrant Muwaizri claimed in the grilling that the minister violation of the constitution. committed a large number of grave constitutional and Muwaizri also accused the minister of failing to do to grill Saleh legal violations that necessitated filing this questioning. enough to stop illegal arrests, detentions and even tor- He claimed in the grilling that the interior minister con- ture at police stations and other interior ministry cen- By B Izzak tinued to practice businesses while in the Cabinet and ters in total violation of the country’s constitution and that his businesses benefited from his post as a mem- laws. He said merely based on suspicion or a com- KUWAIT: Leading opposition MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri ber of the Cabinet, alleging his companies were award- plaint, interior ministry interrogators immediately call yesterday filed to grill Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh ed contracts worth millions of dinars. suspects before carrying out any investigation to over alleged wide-ranging violations that include police The lawmaker said in the grilling that the Kuwaiti establish if the suspicion or complaint is serious. And abuses, irregularities in electoral rolls and carrying out constitution and laws ban any minister or senior official when the suspects arrive at police stations, they are commercial activities as a minister. Assembly Speaker from conducting any commercial or financial deals immediately detained before any interrogation, adding Marzouq Al-Ghanem said he received the grilling and with the government while in their posts. But he said that all these practices breach the law. informed the Cabinet. He said the grilling will be listed Saleh benefited from his Cabinet post and that his Continued on Page 2 Shuaib Al-Muwaizri Anas Al-Saleh

The pandemic has, however, badly Virus forces hit India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, which have shut or heavily restricted major markets, while fears about Najib handed 12 animal sellers catching the virus are keeping cus- tomers away ahead of the main festival online for Eid on Saturday. “We were traumatized by years in jail over the loss of two of my uncles to NEW DELHI: Prancing in front of a COVID-19 and didn’t want to sacrifice 1MDB scandal camera with its blond mane blowing in an animal,” Saddid Hossain told AFP in the wind, “007” is one of thousands of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. “But we KUALA LUMPUR: goats being sold online as Muslims have to stay within our religious tradi- Former Malaysian prime prepare for a key religious festival tion, so we’d rather buy from an online minister Najib Razak shaken this year by the coronavirus cow seller.” was sentenced to 12 pandemic. Millions of goats, sheep and Faced with deserted markets, live- years in jail yesterday cattle are slaughtered annually on Eid stock breeders and traders have after being found guilty Al-Adha - the festival of sacrifice - turned to websites, apps and social in his first trial over the one of two major holy days observed media to showcase their animals. ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Naeem uploads a picture of a goat on his website multi-billion-dollar by Muslims across the world, including Fahad Zariwala promotes goats such ahead of Eid al-Adha at a farm on July 22, 2020. — AFP 1MDB scandal. The some 600 million in South Asia. Continued on Page 2 Kuala Lumpur High Court also ordered him to pay a fine of 210 mil- national security advisor Robert lion ringgit ($49 million) Najib Razak Trump bets O’Brien had tested positive. The facility after he was convicted has been awarded a contract to mass of seven charges related to the looting of sover- on vaccine for produce an experimental vaccine eign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. developed by Novavax, as part of a Najib was found guilty earlier yesterday of multi-billion dollar government initia- corruption over the 1MDB scandal that cost him shot in arm tive dubbed Operation Warp Speed. his government. The ex-prime minister was con- The plan involves investing heavily victed on all charges in his first trial related to the WASHINGTON: US President in leading pharmaceuticals to aid their looting of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Donald Trump vowed to defeat the development and manufacturing efforts, Development Berhad. Billions of dollars were coronavirus by “unleashing American with the goal of delivering 300 million stolen from the investment vehicle and spent on scientific genius” as he toured a doses of vaccine by Jan 2021. It’s “never everything from high-end real estate to pricey COVID-19 vaccine facility in the swing been done before, but we suspect it’s art, while investment bank Goldman Sachs also state of North Carolina on Monday. going to work, and work very well,” became embroiled in the scandal. Trump appears to have pinned his added Trump, who later donned a black Anger at the looting played a large part in the hopes on the swift emergence of a suc- mask and toured the lab. shock loss of Najib’s long-ruling coalition in cessful vaccine to both contain the The United States is by far the elections in 2018, and he was arrested and hit country’s still raging epidemic and worst-hit country in the world, with with dozens of charges following his defeat. The revive his faltering re-election hopes. more than 4.2 million confirmed verdict was a test of Malaysia’s rule of law. It “We will achieve a victory over the COVID-19 cases and nearly 150,000 came about five months after Najib’s scandal- virus by unleashing American scientific deaths. Though the number of new cas- plagued party returned to power as part of genius,” he told reporters at Fujifilm es has leveled off over the past few Continued on Page 2 Diosynth Biotechnologies in days, the US has failed to push its curve MORRISVILLE, North Carolina: US President Donald Trump wears a mask as he Morrisville, hours after it was revealed Continued on Page 2 tours a lab making components for a potential vaccine on Monday. — AFP 2 Established 1961 Wednesday, July 29, 2020 Local Kuwait’s Deputy Amir receives Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Bangladesh, Yemen prime ministers inquire about Amir’s health KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Yemeni Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah official wished for the wellbeing of His Highness the received at Seif Palace yesterday His Highness Sheikh Amir. His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled thanked Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. the Yemeni official for his sincere sentiments, wish- Separately, His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown ing the best for the Yemeni people and government. Prince received on Monday a telephone call from In other news, His Highness the Deputy Amir and Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- inquired about health of His Highness the Amir Sabah addressed a cable of condolences to Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, wishing Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman him life-long good health and wellbeing. His Highness bin Abdulaziz, the Monarch of Saudi Arabia. In the the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince expressed deep cable, His Highness the Deputy Amir expressed, on gratitude to her, appreciating the sincere gesture and behalf of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- wishing her good health and welfare. Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, his heartfelt condolences In the meantime, His Highness the Prime Minister and solace over the demise of mother of Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah Faisal bin Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz. His received yesterday a phone call from Yemeni coun- Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al- terpart Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed who inquired Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah sent an KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets about the health of His Highness the Amir Sheikh identical cable to the Saudi Monarch. — KUNA with His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. — KUNA

Coronavirus in Kuwait: What we know so far

KUWAIT: Kuwait has recorded 65,149 cases infect- pupils, students of elementary and intermediate levels Adan Hospital: 50880908 ed with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as of yes- will be promoted to the higher classes. As to the high Jahra Hospital: 50881066 terday, in addition to 442 deaths. With the exception school level, students who desire to improve their Sabah Hospital: 97632660 of 124 cases in intensive care, all infected cases are in grades can re-enroll in the scholastic year. As to class Jaber Hospital: 96992079 stable condition and are recovering in quarantined 12, the remaining period of the second semester was Ibn Sina Hospital: 99613948 locations designated by the government for this pur- set at six weeks, while curricula were amended in Chest Hospital: 99258749 pose, while tens of thousands have been discharged tandem with the complementary study period, due Razi Hospital: 97633487 from quarantine after exhibiting no symptoms during between August 9 and September 17, and that will be Kuwait Cancer Control Center: 96735242 their 14-day quarantine period, the Ministry of Health via electronic means. Students’ assessment will be on Psychiatric Hospital: 97350113 confirmed. Meanwhile, 55,681 people have recovered weekly basis through interaction and virtual presence Physiotherapy Hospital: 99824037 completely after previously being infected with the at the set educational website. The ministry is still Maternity Hospital: 98559531 virus, while there are 9,026 people receiving treat- expected to release regulations regarding the start of As’ad Al-Hamad Dermatology Center: 98514508 ment. the 2020/2021 school year at foreign private schools. Zain Hospital: 97552031 Earlier, the Ministry of Education had suspended NBK Hospital: 96931761 classes at all public and private schools (for both stu- Al-Rashed Allergy Hospital: 94162470 Curfew dents and teaching staffs); first from March 1 to Infectious Diseases Hospital: 96989164 Kuwait moved intop the third phase of a five- March 12, and later extended it until March 29, before Palliative Care Hospital: 94024786 phase plan for a gradual return to normal life yester- eventually suspending schools until August for grade Sabah Al-Ahmad Urology Center: 90952469 day. The curfew is set from 9:00 pm to 3:00 am, gov- 12 and October for other stages. KFH Addiction Treatment Center: 94169363 ernment and private offices are able to operate with Meanwhile, all licensed pharmacies in Kuwait up to 50 percent capacity, mosques are allowed to Hotlines delivering medicine are allowed to continue their provide negative COVID-19 test results before host Friday prayers with strict social distancing and The Ministry of Health has set the following hot- services 24 hours a day. The Ministry of Health is also boarding their flights to destinations where such tests health precautions observed, malls can operate from lines to receive inquiries about the coronavirus 24/7: asking doctors and nurses affiliated with the private are required. Citizens are also required to obtain medical sector to volunteer in order to contribute to 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, taxis are allowed to resume 24970967 - 96049698 - 99048619. travel insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment. the fight against the virus. Volunteering is available operations but they are allowed to carry only one The Education Ministry set the following hotlines Manual checks of tickets have now been scaled back through the link: http://volunteering.q8-ehealth.com. passenger, while resorts, hotels and furnished apart- to receive inquiries on school closures related to the as a result of the pandemic in favor of the more pop- The ministry had closed all private clinics and medical ment businesses are allowed to reopen. anti-coronavirus measures: ular digital e-tickets, whose scanning requires no centers effective March 22, 2020 until further notice. Phase four would see an increase in workforce, physical contact. Passengers must be present at the restaurants would be receiving customers but with • 24970967 (24/7 hotline) airport no less than four hours before departure to Mental health assistance restrictions, and public transportation resumed but • 51575591 (Capital Educational Zone) ensure a smooth and convenient journey. The Kuwait Center for Mental Health provides help with distancing. All activities would resume in phase • 51576117 (Hawally Educational Zone) Meanwhile, arriving passengers must register to through its suicide hotline: 24621770 (8 am - 5 pm). five, the curfew would end, government and private • 51576576 (Farwaniya Educational Zone) the ‘Shlonik’ app before boarding, and obtain an Meanwhile, the Kuwait Psychological Association sector would return to normal, families could gather, • 51577055 (Jahra Educational Zone) accredited PCR certificate showing negative COVID- (KPA) is providing consultation through the phone for weddings and graduation ceremonies, health clubs • 51577655 (Ahmadi Educational Zone) 19 test results valid for 96 hours from the test’s date. people suffering from the psychological impacts of and gyms to reopen, as well as cinemas and theaters. • 51577951 (Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational Zone) Passengers will have their temperatures checked coronavirus. Different doctors are working on the The first phase included a total lockdown on • 51578171 (Religious Studies Department) before boarding the plane and upon arrival, while a hotline in different timings as follows: Farwaniya, Khaitan, and Hawally, joining Mahboula • 51588599 (Private Education Department) random PCR test will be conducted for 10 percent of Dr Rashed Al-Sahl: on Monday and Wednesday 10:00 and Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh which were put under lock- • 51592515 (Services Department) passengers on each flight. All arriving passengers am - 1:00 pm. Call 9797-6168. down earlier. The lockdown ended in Hawally and • 51594544 (Public Relations Department) must home quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Dr Fahad Al-Tasha: daily from 8:00 pm - 12:00 am. Khaitan on June 21, 2020, in Mahboula and Jleeb Al- Kuwait had earlier sent special flights to repatriate Call 9904-8258. Shuyoukh on July 9,2020, and in Farwaniya on July Medicine delivery Kuwaitis back home from countries affected with the Dr Othman Al-Asfour: daily 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Call 26, 2020. Kuwait’s Ministry of Health (MOH) launched a new virus’ spread. Meanwhile, the Cabinet announced on 9938-5350. medicine delivery service for people in Kuwait, which April 9 the operation of all airline flights for expats Dr Mohammed Al-Khaldi (head of this team): daily Commercial flights they can use to order medications to be delivered who are wishing to return back to their countries. 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. Call 9903-6470. Commercial flights are set to resume on August 1, during curfew hours. The medications will be deliv- Kuwait suspended issuing entry permits and visas Dr Ahmad Al-Khaldi: daily 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm. Call while the airport will operate at 30 percent capacity ered within 72 hours after the order is submitted. To unless those issued through diplomatic missions. 9910-7965. during the six-month first phase of a three-stage air- place an order, patients should send a WhatsApp to Dr Muneera Al-Qattan: Monday and Wednesday 9:00 port reopening plan. The Directorate General of Civil the numbers for the hospitals and medical centers as am - 1:00 pm. Call 9953-3108. School year ended Aviation presented a set of rules for the safe resump- listed below. The patient should include their name, Dr Zainab Al-Saffar: Sunday and Thursday 7:00 pm - The Ministry of Education announced on July 17 tion of air travel. The new rules mandate all travelers Civil ID number, hospital or clinic file number, mobile 9:00 pm. Call 9954-9908. ending the 2019-2020 school year, with the remain- to wear protective facemasks and keep a hand sani- phone number and the medicine needed to the fol- Dr Sameera Al-Kandari: Tuesday 9:00 pm - 12:00 am. ing part of the curriculum of the year’s second half tizer in their possession, besides strictly abiding by lowing numbers: Call 6770-9434. will be integrated into the first chapter of the next social distancing guidelines and keeping hand lug- Amiri Hospital: 50880699 Dr Kawthar Al-Yaqout: Monday and Wednesday 6:00 academic year 2020-2021 virtually effective as of gage to a minimum. Departing passengers are Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital: 50880755 pm - 9:00 pm. Call 5521-0088. October 4, after modifying the curriculum. Pre-school required to register to the ‘Kuwait Mosafer’ app, and Farwaniya Hospital: 50880852 For information and other concerns, call 9401-4283.

a few dozen last year to more than 2,500 in the past after the verdict was read. Outside court, hundreds Virus forces three months. “We’ve even received online orders for Najib handed 12 of angry supporters chanted “Long life”. thousands for next year,” chief executive Sanjeev The charges were one of abuse of power, three Kumar told AFP. The animals are delivered to buyers of criminal breach of trust and three of money-laun- animal sellers... in open-air vehicles, which can carry 10 to 15 of years in jail over... dering. The counts of abuse of power and criminal them. Continued from Page 1 breach of trust were punishable by up to 20 years in Continued from Page 1 In Muslim-majority Pakistan, home to 215 million jail each, while the money-laundering charges were people, dozens of apps and websites have sprung up. a coalition, which observers had feared could punishable by up to 15 years each. The 67-year-old as “007” from farms across India on his YouTube Buyers can select an animal and have it delivered to affect the outcome. will likely appeal and he may not be sent to jail channel, which has more than 800,000 followers. “I their doorstep, slaughtered or donated to a charity. Najib is facing several 1MDB-linked trials and immediately. Qurbani App chief executive Muhammad Ali shoot a slow-motion video with beautiful music, and the first, which began almost 16 months ago, centred Najib had insisted he was ignorant of the trans- I make them (goats) popular,” said Zariwala, who is Chaudhry said “orders have gone through the roof”. actions from the 1MDB unit, SRC International. The Islamabad goat farmer Muhammad Naeem, mean- on the transfer of 42 million ringgit ($9.9 million) based in Mumbai. “They have a personality and are... from a former unit of the fund into his bank defense team portrayed Najib as a victim and mostly named after Bollywood movies and trending while, said his digital transactions had jumped from instead sought to paint financier Low Taek Jho, a 20 percent of sales to almost half. accounts. The 67-year-old had vehemently denied characters in Bollywood,” he told AFP. key figure in the scandal who has been charged in But the rise in online sales has been accompanied wrongdoing. But Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Zariwala has seen a huge increase in viewers from the US and Malaysia, as the mastermind. Low, Australia, Britain, the United States and the Middle by plunging prices. Mumbai seller Walid Dawood Jat, Ghazali took apart all the arguments put forward by who sold six goats online during India’s lockdown, his defense, and found him guilty on the seven whose whereabouts are unknown, maintains his East, which all have large South Asian diasporas. One innocence. The judge however ruled that the idea farm he promotes runs video beauty contests to said they fetched just half their usual prices. “We charges he faced. tempt potential customers, who might buy the goats used to sell goats at 500-600 rupees ($6.70-$8.00) “In conclusion, after considering all the evidence Low had tricked Najib was “far-fetched”, and also for their families in India, where there are 200 million per kilo,” he said, adding the price had fallen by half. in this trial, I find the prosecution has successfully dismissed the argument the ex-leader believed the Muslims. PashuBajaar, which sells thousands of goats “Buyers haggle with us. They say they don’t have proven the case,” the judge told the Kuala Lumpur money in his account was a donation from Saudi for Indian farmers, said online sales had jumped from money, their income is down.” — AFP High Court. Najib looked calm and bowed his head royalty. — AFP

in the electoral rolls and the ministry of interior has The virus has also repeatedly penetrated Trump’s inner Muwaizri files failed to carry out its duties to prevent those viola- Trump bets circle, with O’Brien the latest and most senior White tions. He said that the latest electoral rolls published in House aide to test positive. He “has been self-isolating and March and April contained grave violations that could working from a secure location off site,” the White House to grill Saleh... impact the outcome of the parliamentary elections. on vaccine for... said in a statement Monday, adding that there was “no risk Citing examples, Muwaizri said that the interior of exposure to the president or the vice president”. Others Continued from Page 1 ministry failed to delete the names of dead people, Continued from Page 1 who have been previously infected include Vice President saying that some rolls included names of people who Mike Pence’s spokeswoman Katie Miller, and Kimberly Muwaizri said policemen sometimes arrest people died eight years ago. He claimed that the new rolls down as other nations have done through lockdowns Guilfoyle, a top fundraiser for the Trump campaign and his without following requirements under the law contained massive transfers of large numbers of voters and physical distancing. elder son’s girlfriend. because they feel they have immunity, without being to other constituencies to influence the outcome by Trump’s latest comments confirmed that the adminis- The US has spent more than $6.3 billion since March held to account by authorities. He said many people ensuring the success of certain candidates in the tration believes that, in America’s case, only a vaccine can to fund vaccine development efforts under Operation were victims of such illegal practices that the minis- upcoming elections in November. The debate of the help. “It’s not masks. It’s not shutting down the economy. Warp Speed. The program is unabashed in its aims to ter failed to stop. grilling is expected to take place in the same session Hopefully, it is American ingenuity that will allow for thera- procure vaccines for the American people first - unlike In another issue, the lawmaker claimed that wide- where another grilling of Finance Minister Barrak Al- pies and vaccines to ultimately conquer this,” White House European leaders who have called for COVID-19 drugs to ranging violations and irregularities have taken place Sheetan is scheduled to be debated. chief of staff Mark Meadows told ABC News on Sunday. be a “global public good”. — AFP Established 1961 3 Local Wednesday, July 29, 2020 Prime Minister assures Cabinet about Amir’s health during meeting Roadmap to improve Kuwait’s sovereign rating

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Al-Sabah chairs the Cabinet’s weekly virtual meeting. — KUNA photos Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah attends the meeting. Affairs Anas Al-Saleh attends the meeting.

KUWAIT: The Cabinet held its weekly session Al-Humoud Al-Sabah briefed the ministers about urged citizens and residents of the country to ed to task the supreme secretariat general for virtually on Monday under the chairmanship of the health status in the country, based on statisti- continue cooperating to pave way for applying planning and development to draft a roadmap His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al- cal figures of the casualties, recoveries and the third phase of restoring regular life, which and timetable for improving the sovereign rating Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, who assured the patients receiving treatment. The ministers started yesterday. They reminded them of the of the State of Kuwait in the reports of these ministers that His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah necessity to adhere to health precautions to con- agencies. Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s health was stable. trol the virus according to globally agreed-upon Furthermore, the council of ministers Following the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister, methods, and for the sake of ending this crisis approved bills regarding the adoption of final Interior Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Ministers briefed with the best possible results. They turned to the accounts of the Capital Market Authority (2019- Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said His Highness the Prime issue of the Eid ritual of livestock slaughtering, 2020), Kuwait Ports Authority (2019-2020) and Minister, at the start of the meeting, assured the on third phase examining several measures including usage of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its sub- ministers about the stability of His Highness the the digital platform (meta.e.gov.kw) to regulate sidiaries (2019-2020). The bills were submitted to Amir’s health. His Highness the Prime Minister measures dates for slaughtering the livestock and organize His Highness the Deputy Amir, pending referral to prayed to Allah Almighty to grace His Highness the physical presence of people at the slaughter- the National Assembly. As to the unified govern- the Amir, who has been undergoing medical treat- houses with least possible close mingling. ment application, “Sahel,” the cabinet tasked the ment in the United States of America, with full Central Agency for Information Technology to recovery and bestow upon him everlasting health Sovereign ranking oversee the execution of the project, advising and welfare so he may return home soon. expressed deep admiration for the great efforts Moreover, the ministers were briefed about a various departments to consider securing staff exerted by the ministry in coordination with the recommendation by the committee of economic for the task and the Central Agency for COVID-19 update other competent authorities for facing the pan- affairs regarding Kuwait’s sovereign ranking by Information Technology to take all necessary Meanwhile, Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel demic (COVID-19) and stem its spread. They also international rating agencies. The Cabinet decid- measures with respect of computing. — KUNA

Foreign Minister receives outgoing ambassadors

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah received yesterday ambassadors of Bulgaria Boris Borisov and Peru Francisco Rivarola Rubio, on the occa- sion of the end of their tenures. The Foreign Minister praised the efforts and contributions of the ambassadors in serving the bilateral ties between Kuwait and their respective nations. Foreign Minister Assistant for the Minister’s office Affairs Ambassador Saleh Salem Al-Loughani KUWAIT: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah meets attended the meetings. — KUNA meets with Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Kuwait Boris Borisov. — KUNA photos with Peru’s Ambassador to Kuwait Francisco Rivarola Rubio.

News in brief

Ministry needs social workers

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education (MOE) announces its need to hire male and female social and psychological work- ers for the school year 2020-2021. Candidates must be children of Kuwaiti women, GCC nationals and illegal residents (bedoons), the ministry said.

Drugs seized

KUWAIT: Air cargo customs seized nearly 100 grams of marijuana that were hidden in a shipment of potato chips that arrived from the United States yesterday.

4,030 passengers

KUWAIT: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced that 23 flights were set to depart Kuwait International Airport yesterday, carrying a total of 4,030 passengers. They included 16 flights to Egypt, three flights to the UAE, one flight to Qatar, one flight to Lebanon, one flight to Morocco, and one flight to Jordan.

Oil price down

KUWAIT: The price of Kuwaiti oil went down by 16 cents to $43.26 per barrel Monday after it was at $43.42 pb last Friday, said the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday. Globally, the price of the Brent crude went up by seven cents to $43.41 per barrel, the same case with the West Texas Intermediate, which rose by 31 cents to $41.60 pb. 4 Established 1961 Wednesday, July 29, 2020 Local

Established 1961 The First Daily in The Arabian Gulf Sixteenth meeting of UK-Kuwait Joint THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961 Steering Group takes place today Founder and Publisher YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Defense subgroup to discuss training, joint exercises Editor-in-Chief ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN KUWAIT: The first of the sub-groups of the response, training of Kuwaiti forces in the UK, the framework of the UK/Kuwait Bilateral Joint EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 sixteenth meeting of the biannual UK-Kuwait and progressing government-to-government Steering Group (JSG). I am delighted that this ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 Joint Steering Group, which is the Defense sub- procurement discussions among other subjects. 16th JSG will take forward our work across key FAX : 24835620/1 group will be held virtually today. The meetings areas of bilateral Kuwait-UK co-operation, CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 of the UK-Kuwait Joint Steering Group reflect starting with a meeting of the Defense Working ACCOUNTS : 24833199 Extn. 125 the two countries’ commitment to working Group on July 29, which I look forward to COMMERCIAL : 24835618 together to advance the close Kuwait-UK rela- Facing attending. P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait. tionship to the benefit of both countries. The This will be followed by working groups Email: [email protected] UK-Kuwait Joint Steering Group covers a wide challenges focusing on next steps in bilateral co-opera- Website: www.kuwaittimes.net range of issues, including trade, investment, tion on security, including aviation security, migration, security, defense, cyber security, presented by cyber security, health, trade and investment, healthcare, education, higher education, scien- COVID-19 international development, education, culture tific research, environment, culture and interna- and science. I am most grateful to Khaled Al- tional development. Jarallah, Deputy Foreign Minister, Waleed Al- George takes over The defense subgroup will focus on ways to Khubaizi and their cross-ministerial teams for strengthen cooperation between the two coun- their support and encouragement in our joint as India’s new tries especially on training and joint exercises. The British Ambassador to Kuwait Michael endeavor to deepen our co-operation and The discussions will cover Exercise Desert Davenport said: “Over the next few weeks the jointly face the challenges presented by ambassador on Aug 2 Warrior, emergency planning and crisis UK will be hosting virtual working groups in COVID-19.” Kuwaiti charity trains 100 Yemeni youth KUWAIT: Kuwait Relief Society (KRC) launched yes- terday technical and vocational youth empowerment project, which aims to develop the capabilities of 100 young people in Taiz Governorate in electrical supply and maintenance of solar energy, within the framework Sibi George of the ‘Kuwait by your side’ campaign. In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, the First Deputy Governor of Taiz Abdul-Qawi Al-Mikhlafi praised KUWAIT: Sibi George will assume office as Kuwait’s humanitarian, relief interventions and the gen- India’s new ambassador to Kuwait on August erous support towards relief organizations in Yemen, 2. He will succeed K Jeeva Sagar who has completed his tenure in Kuwait as India’s and its people, especially in the humanitarian, health, ambassador, informed sources said. environmental and development projects for more than George, a 1993 batch Indian Foreign Service five years. He added that these courses improved (IFS) officer, has been India’s Ambassador to young people’s life and turned them into productive Switzerland since 2017. He was first appointed self-reliant individuals to support their families and as political officer at Indian High Commission in improve their living conditions, pointing out that the Pakistan. He also has served various Indian mis- authorities provide all support and facilities to establish sions in Cairo, Doha, Tehran, Riyadh and such activities. Director of Response Corporation, who Washington DC in various capacities prior to implemented the project Mohammad Al-Katheeri stat- his appointment in Switzerland. ed that the 30-day training comes within the interest of The Kuwait government had earlier KRC and Response Foundation in rehabilitating youth approved George as India’s new ambassador abilities to improve their living standards. He showed to the country, who will be submitting his that the course also includes another 10 days of training credentials on his arrival in Kuwait, the to acquire the skills of entrepreneurship and managing sources added. small projects, so that they can raise their ambitions to start their own projects. —KUNA

sive only to Gulf Bank Gulf Bank carries employees, offers a more focused approach towards raising awareness on vari- out employee ous topics such as mental health, human relations, wellbeing campaign creative problem solving and motivation. Dr Amar KUWAIT: In response to the unprecedented cir- leads these workshops cumstances resulting from the current ongoing with particular attention coronavirus pandemic, Gulf Bank has launched the to frontline and customer- ‘Employee Wellbeing Program’ to assist its employ- facing employees who ees cope with the drastic changes and its effects on constitute the majority of Salma Al-Hajjaj their emotional and mental wellbeing. The program, attendees. which offers employees access to professional coun- On the importance of this program, Gulf Bank’s seling through a series of focused workshop ses- General Manager of Human Resources Salma Al- sions, is designed to target specific challenges facing Hajjaj has stated: “We are committed to looking the bank’s workforce, particularly the customer fac- after our employees’ well-being, even as we con- ing employees. In partnership with Dr Amar tinue to serve our customers, which is why we Behbehani, who holds a PhD in Creative Psychology believe this initiative will be of great benefit to and Design Education, the sessions offer up to 40 them. We designed this program to address spe- hours of group counseling where employees discuss cific challenges and provide employees with the the state of their psychological wellbeing and are tools they need to adapt. Being fully aware of the offered the tools and advice to cope with any emo- mental and emotional implications this pandemic tional or mental challenges they face. has had on the masses, we believe it is an essential The initiative was at first launched as public recovery program.” webinars targeting employees in the banking sector Gulf Bank is currently welcoming customers at a during Kuwait’s full lockdown to monitor the psy- select number of branches throughout the country, chological effects this period had on employees and and is keen on applying all the necessary precau- to provide the guidance and advice on coping tionary measures to ensure the regular sterilization mechanism. Using a multitude of interactive tools of its locations. These measures include taking cus- and polls, attendees discussed issues related to per- tomers’ temperatures at the entrance, maintaining sonal, social and career wellbeing in light of the physical distance, and ensuring both customers and psychological challenges employees have been staff are wearing gloves and masks at all times. Gulf adapting to during the past few months on both a Bank is committed to applying the best preventive personal and career level. health measure to ensure the safety of both its The current ongoing workshop sessions, exclu- clients and staff. KNPC opens new petrol station

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s state-owned gas firm on Monday residential areas were also among the new locations inaugurated a fuel station in the country’s Jaber Al- for these gas pumping stations, added the statement, Ahmad residential area, the fourth in a string of similar highlighting the ‘modern’ architecture used to con- facilities the company has recently opened nation- struct the environment-friendly facilities, all of which wide. The new gas station is one of 18 stations set to were equipped with ‘cutting-edge’ solar panels. The spring up across the country, most of which will be in station in Jaber Al-Ahmad also includes an adjacent residential areas to meet consumers’ demand for fuel, convenience store, ATM machine and an auto repair Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said in shop, amongst other miscellaneous services, KNPC a statement. Sabah Al-Ahmad and Saad Al-Abdullah statement added. —KUNA International WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020 First five French Rafale fighter jets head to India Global virus deaths pass 650,000 as new surges prompt curbs Page 6 Page 7

METULA: A picture taken from the northern Israeli town of Metula shows the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila behind the concrete barrier wall along the border between the two countries. — AFP photos Israel repels attempted Hezbollah attack

‘Hezbollah is playing with fire and our response will be very strong’ JERUSALEM: Israel said it had Jonathan Conricus said that despite the Alam, and said there were plumes of repelled an attempt by Hezbollah fight- area being forested, spotters had tracked smoke rising above the area. Israel’s army ers to penetrate its northern border on the group as they approached the Blue had initially ordered civilians on its side Monday, but the Lebanese group denied Line. “Once they crossed the border, we of the Blue Line to stay indoors, but later any involvement in the incident. The engaged,” he said. There was an lifted those restrictions. The United border clash, which Israel said included exchange of fire between the gunmen and Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL, an exchange of fire between its troops Israeli forces, which did not result in any which patrols the Blue Line, called for and gunmen, followed days of reported Israeli casualties, Conricus said. “We “maximum restraint”. The UN considers heightened tensions between Hezbollah confirmed visually that the terrorists fled the Mount Dov area as being in the and the Jewish state. back to Lebanon,” he added. Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied “Today, a Hezbollah cell penetrated Details on any casualties from the since the 1967 Six Day War. Israeli territory,” Israel’s Prime Minister Lebanese side were not immediately Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised available. Hezbollah, which has a large Missile strike address, adding that the army succeed- presence in the area where the incidents The border clash came a week after ed in thwarting the “attempted attack”. occurred, said in a statement that “it did an alleged Israeli missile attack hit posi- “Hezbollah is playing with fire and our not take part in any clash and did not tions of Syrian regime forces and their response will be very strong,” the veter- open fire in today’s events. “All that the allies south of Damascus on July 20, an premier added, insisting that the enemy’s media is claiming about thwart- killing five. Hezbollah said one of its own Shiite group and the Lebanese govern- ing an infiltration operation from died in the raid. Hezbollah number two KFAR SHOUBA: Smoke billows above the hills of Kfarchouba in the Shebaa Farms sector after ment, “carry responsibility” for Lebanon into occupied Palestine... is Naim Qasim said in a televised interview reports of clashes in the Lebanese-Israeli border area. Monday’s incident. completely false,” it added. Conricus said on Sunday that “if the Israelis decide to Israel’s army said a group of three to Israeli forces had fired artillery into launch a war, we will confront it and we try’s civil war. Israel has launched hun- The Jewish state hit Syrian army targets five men armed with assault rifles crossed Lebanon “for defensive purposes”. will respond”. dreds of strikes in Syria since the start of late Friday after munitions were fired the Blue Line that divides Israel and An AFP correspondent reported Lebanon-based and Iran-backed the conflict in 2011. It has targeted gov- across the Syrian border into Israel. Lebanon in the disputed Mount Dov area, Israeli artillery bombardment on the hills Hezbollah has a substantial presence in ernment troops, allied Iranian forces and There has been no confirmation that claimed by Lebanon, Syria and Israel as of Kfarchouba in the Shebaa Farms area Syria, where it is fighting in support of fighters from Hezbollah, saying its goal is Hezbollah was involved in Friday’s cross- their own. Israeli army spokesman near the Israeli position of Roueysaat Al- the Damascus government in the coun- to end Tehran’s military presence in Syria. border fire. —AFP

Monday. Tensions between the world’s two are banned for the same reasons as the India bans 47 more most-populous nations soared last month earlier 59, and many were lite versions or after a Himalayan border clash that left 20 variants of the earlier banned applica- China mobile apps Indian troops dead and an unknown num- tions.” There has been no official state- ber of Chinese casualties. ment or order released by the govern- “We have banned 47 mobile apps ment about the ban but it has been wide- NEW DELHI: India has banned 47 more from China in this ongoing exercise ly reported across major Indian media. Chinese apps just weeks after blocking the which highlights the government’s seri- Anti-China sentiment has soared since the highly popular video-sharing platform ousness about data privacy and securi- deadly fight in mid-June, which sparked TikTok and 58 others over national securi- ty,” the official, who asked to remain street protests and calls for Chinese prod- ty and privacy concerns, an information anonymous, told AFP. “The order was ucts to be banned in the nation of 1.3 bil- ministry official and media reports said issued on Friday. Most of these 47 apps lion people. — AFP

three-minute clip telling her 1.3 mil- Egypt’s female lion followers that girls could make money by working with her. In May, social media authorities arrested Adham who had posted satirical videos on TikTok influencers jailed and Instagram, where she has at least two million followers. Lawyer Ahmed Hamza al-Bahqiry CAIRO: An Egyptian court Monday said the young women are facing sentenced five female social media separate charges over the sources of influencers to two years in jail each their funds. The arrests highlight a on charges of violating public morals, social divide in the deeply conserva- a judicial source said. The verdict tive Muslim country over what con- against Haneen Hossam, Mowada Al- stitutes individual freedoms and Adham and three others came after “social norms”. Human rights lawyer they had posted footage on video- Tarek al-Awadi has previously told sharing app TikTok. “The Cairo eco- AFP that the influencers’ arrests nomic court sentenced Hossam, showed how society was wrestling Adham and three others to two years with the rapid rise of modern com- after they were convicted of violat- munications technology. Internet ing society’s values,” the judicial penetration has reached over 40 source said. percent of Egypt’s youthful popula- The ruling, which can be tion of more than 100 million. “The appealed, included a fine of 300,000 verdict is shocking, though it was Egyptian pounds ($18,750) for each expected. We will see what happens defendant, the source noted. Hossam on appeal,” said womens rights was arrested in April after posting a lawyer Intissar Al-Saeed. —AFP 6 Established 1961 Wednesday, July 29, 2020 International Half century on, US hawks revive criticism of China normalization Soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing WASHINGTON: For half a century, Richard Nixon’s tined to tyrannize inside and outside of China forev- opening to communist China has been viewed by er, unless we allow it.” Stapleton Roy, who took part many Americans as a diplomatic masterstroke, with in the secret negotiations in the 1970s before successive presidents of both parties following his becoming US ambassador to China two decades course. US hawks have now revived an alternative later, said that Pompeo’s “old paradigm” was never view-that normalization was a mistake that, in the view of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, set the stage for an aggressive China and soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing. It all began in 1971 with secret trips to Beijing by Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s national security advisor. Normalization Nixon stunned the world when he announced his own 1972 visit to China to see supremo Mao Zedong. was a mistake This time the trip was anything but quiet, with the pageantry broadcast back home to US television viewers in an election year. Nixon had built his career as a staunch hardliner on communism, leading to what became a US political axiom that only Nixon could establish relations with communist China. the basis for US policymakers. “It is historically inaccurate to say that the US Ending ‘old paradigm’ policy of engagement with China was based on a Pompeo last week delivered a rebuke-all the naive expectation that China was bound to liberalize more stinging as he spoke at the Nixon library and politically,” said Roy, who later headed the Wilson BEIJING: In this file photo, former Chinese communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong (left) welcomes for- museum in southern California where the Republican Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United mer US President Richard Nixon at his house in the Forbidden City in Beijing on February 22, 1972. — AFP president is buried. “President Nixon once said he States. According to Roy, Nixon and Kissinger were feared he had created a Frankenstein by opening the “totally pragmatic” in their objectives with China. Even with Nixon’s anti-communist bona fides, that the United States still provide for the defense world to the CCP, and here we are,” Pompeo said, “The original purpose of the Nixon/Kissinger many US conservatives as well as some liberals of Taiwan, which has since transformed into a referring to the Chinese Communist Party. breakthrough to China in 1971/72 was to strengthen were livid at the prospect of abandoning ally vibrant democracy. “The old paradigm of blind engagement with our position in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Taiwan, where the mainland’s nationalists had fled Mira Rapp-Hooper, a senior fellow at the Council China simply won’t get it done,” Pompeo said. and secondarily to get China’s assistance in winding upon defeat in 1949. It was not until 1979 that on Foreign Relations, called Pompeo’s account a Calling for a “new alliance of democracies,” Pompeo up the Vietnam War,” he said. “The main purpose Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition “very crude representation” of how normalization said that Chinese President Xi Jinping “is not des- was decisively achieved. The second was not.” from Taipei to Beijing, with Congress requiring took place. — AFP

News in brief Walter Gutierrez, the ombudsman, told RPS COVID-19: More than Radio: “We need to know what has happened to them.” Revollar said she would push for the creation Honduras seizes 900kg of cocaine 900 girls and women of a missing persons registry. Women’s rights groups and NGOs however say that very often TEGUCIGALPA: Honduras said on Monday it police refuse to investigate domestic violence, make had seized 900 kilos (1,984 pounds) of cocaine feared dead in Peru fun of victims, or claim that the missing have left in a joint operation with Colombia. Military and their homes willingly. But that doesn’t address the police authorities intercepted a fishing boat on fact that Peru has a problem with domestic violence Sunday in the eastern department of Gracias a LIMA: A staggering 900-plus girls and women are missing and feared dead in Peru since COVID-19 and other violence against women, as well as human Dios. The cocaine was stashed in hidden com- trafficking and forced prostitution. partments, the armed forces said. Three confinement began, authorities said yesterday. The Andean nation home to 33 million people long has In January, the case of a university student and Honduran crew were arrested. “In the space of a activist for women’s rights and safety, Solsiret week (authorities) have seized 1,707 kilograms of had a horrific domestic violence problem. But COVID-19, which has compounded home confine- Rodriguez, was in the headlines here-but only when drugs,” said the criminal investigation agency in a AREQUIPA: Relatives bury the remains of Adolfo her body was found three years after she went statement. On July 20 authorities found 800 kilo- ment combined with job losses and a health crisis, Mamani, 57, victim of COVID-19 at the La Apacheta has seen an already scary situation grow worse in missing. Last year there were 166 killings of women grams of cocaine in a plane that landed on a hid- Cemetery in the Andean city of Arequipa in southern in Peru; just a tenth of those were cases of a person den runway in the Gracias a Dios department. In just 3-1/2 months, according to Eliana Revollar, who Peru. — AFP leads the women’s rights office of the National first being reported missing. And there were just 2014, Honduras launched a concerted operation under 30,000 calls to report domestic violence, against drug smugglers in sparsely populated Ombudsman’s office. Seventy percent of that figure are minors, she single day; since the lockdown, the number has according to the Women’s Ministry. And coron- Gracias a Dios department, home to members of surged to eight per day. Revollar said Peru’s situa- avirus hasn’t spared Peru: it has had more than the Misquito indigenous minority. — AFP added. “During the quarantine, from March 16 to June 30, 915 women in Peru were reported missing,” tion was grim because the lack of a national missing 384,000 coronavirus cases and 18,229 deaths. It is and feared dead, said Revollar. Before COVID-19, persons registry made it hard for authorities to the third-hardest hit country in Latin America keep track of the crisis. behind Brazil and Mexico. — AFP Indonesia makes more arrests five women were reported missing in Peru every

BATAM: Indonesian police have charged four more people in connection with the alleged tor- Trump national turing to death of an Indonesian crew member found in a freezer aboard a Chinese fishing vessel, authorities said Monday. They were executives at security advisor Indonesian recruitment agencies which hire locals-such as 20-year-old Hasan Apriadi, who tests positive for died last month-to work on Chinese ships, police said. A Chinese supervisor on the Lu Huang Yuan coronavirus Yu 118 vessel has been charged in Apriadi’s death and for assaulting other Indonesian crew. In all, six recruiting agency bosses are now facing WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s national security human-trafficking charges, including allegations advisor tested positive for COVID-19 Monday, as they lied to dozens of Indonesians placed aboard the president prepared to visit a North Carolina Chinese fishing vessels by saying that they would facility where one of the leading vaccine candidates be working as waiters or staff in retail stores is being manufactured. Trump has placed his hopes overseas, police said. — AFP in the emergence of a successful vaccine by this fall to both contain the country’s still raging coronavirus outbreak and revive his faltering election hopes. Kenya restricts alcohol sales National security advisor Robert O’Brien is the lat- est and most senior White House aide to contract MANAUS, Brazil: Aerial view shows a coffin being taken to its grave at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery the virus. NAIROBI: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on in the neighborhood of Taruma, in Manaus, Brazil, during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic. — AFP Monday banned the sale of alcohol in eateries He “has been self-isolating and working from a and restaurants and extended a curfew in a bid secure location off site,” the White House said in a to halt a steep rise in coronavirus infections. closing of borders. This was “not necessarily a sus- statement, adding that there was “no risk of expo- Kenyatta delivered a stern dressing down to Global virus deaths tainable strategy for the world’s economy, for the sure to the president or the vice president.” Others Kenyans for “reckless” behavior that has seen world’s poor, or for anybody else,” said WHO emer- who have been previously infected include Vice cases triple in the past month to 17,975, while pass 650,000 as new gencies director Michael Ryan. A “global one-size- President Mike Pence’s spokeswoman Katie Miller, 285 have died. He said there was notably an fits-all policy” was impossible because outbreaks and Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top fundraiser for the “aggressive surge” among young people who were developing differently in different countries, Trump campaign and girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. were socializing “particularly in environments surges prompt curbs he added. The United States is by far the worst-hit country in serving alcohol” and were in turn infecting their the world, with more than 4.2 million confirmed cas- es and nearly 150,000 deaths. elders. He ordered that a nationwide curfew from PARIS: Officials around the world reintroduced a Hong Kong situation ‘severe’ Though the number of new cases has leveled off 9:00 pm to 4:00 am will remain in place for raft of restrictions Monday-from beach closures to The WHO said its emergency committee would for the past few days, the US has so far failed to push another 30 days and “there shall be no sale of quarantine measures-to try to tamp down coron- meet later this week to discuss the crisis, six months its curve down, as other nations have done through alcoholic beverages or drinks in eateries and avirus hotspots as the official global death toll after the organization declared the pandemic an lockdowns and physical distancing. Trump’s chief of restaurants” over the same period. Restaurants passed 650,000. European countries trying to international public health emergency. The global staff Mark Meadows articulated the White House’s will also close from 7:00 pm. — AFP repair the economic damage caused by the earlier death toll from the pandemic passed 650,000 strategy to ABC News on Sunday, telling the channel lockdowns struggled to balance keeping the lifeline Monday, nearly a third of that number in Europe, that masks weren’t the answer. “It’s not masks. It’s not of tourism open while guarding against new flare- according to an AFP tally compiled from official shutting down the economy. Hopefully, it is American Nuke deterrent ‘crucial’: Kim ups of infection. Spain’s tourism industry faced sources at 1600 GMT. Since emerging in China late ingenuity that will allow for therapies and vaccines to fresh misery after British travelers-and one major last year, the virus has killed a total of 650,011 peo- ultimately conquer this,” he said. SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said tour operator-cancelled flights there following ple-but more than 100,000 deaths have been Trump will visit Fujifilm Diosynth that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons guarantee its London’s decision to reintroduce quarantine for recorded since July 9, and the global toll has dou- Biotechnologies in Morrisville, North Carolina on safety, state media reported yesterday, signaling travelers returning from the country. bled in just over two months. China reported its Monday afternoon, which has just been awarded a once again that it will not give up its arsenal. Kim Hong Kong mandated wearing masks in public in highest number of coronavirus cases in three contract to manufacture Novavax’s experimental was addressing a conference of veterans on the response to a new wave of infections. Belgium months, part of a worrying swell of infections hitting vaccine. The US has spent more than $6.3 billion 67th anniversary of the 1953 armistice that end- tightened its social distancing measures to try to Asia and Europe. since July to fund vaccine development efforts ed Korean War hostilities, the official Korean halt what one expert called a “worrying” surge in Indonesia confirmed its 100,000th coronavirus under Operation Warp Speed. Leading contenders Central News Agency said. Up to three million cases. In Washington, meanwhile, the White House case Monday, as the Red Cross warned that the cri- include established pharmaceuticals like Johnson & Koreans died in the three-year conflict, in which announced that another senior administration fig- sis in the world’s fourth most-populous country Johnson, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, as well as upstarts the armistice has never been replaced with a ure, national security advisor Robert O’Brien, had risked “spiraling out of control.” New infections have like Novavax and Moderna. peace treaty, leaving North and South technically contracted the virus. As of Monday evening, the US, also surged in Hong Kong, which for weeks The government is buying up stocks of their vac- still at war. “Thanks to our reliable and effective the worst-hit nation in the world, had added another appeared to have infection rates under control. Now, cines even before they are proven to work or be self-defensive nuclear deterrent, there will no 57,000 cases of infection and its recorded death however, everyone in the densely populated territory effective, in order to remove financial risk for the longer be such word as war on this land,” Kim toll stood at 147,588, said Johns Hopkins University. must wear masks in public from this week. “The epi- firms involved and speed up their delivery. was quoted as saying by the KCNA. “Our Until Sunday, the number of US daily infections demic situation in Hong Kong is remarkably severe,” Operation Warp Speed aims to deliver 300 million national security and future will be firmly guar- had exceeded 60,000 for 12 straight days, with Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said as he doses of a vaccine by January 2021 - and Trump has anteed forever,” he added. Pyongyang insists that some days notching more than 70,000 new cases. announced the measure, as well as a ban on more made no secret of the fact that his goal is to immu- it needs its nuclear arsenal to deter against a But as the grim figures kept rolling in, the World than two people gathering in public and restaurants nize America first. — AFP possible US invasion. — AFP Health Organization argued against a wholesale restricted to serving takeaway meals. — AFP Established 1961 7 Wednesday, July 29, 2020 International First five French Rafale fighter jets head to India ‘Controversial deal’ overshadowed by corruption allegations PARIS: The first five of a batch of French Rafale contributing to the protection and security of fighter jets purchased by New Delhi in a controver- Indian people.” sial multibillion-dollar deal headed to India on Monday for rapid deployment amid rising tensions ‘Nimble and deadly’ with China. The deal, estimated to be worth $9.4 The planes are awaited with impatience by New billion, has been overshadowed by corruption alle- Delhi, which is eager to update its ageing fighter jet gations leveled by the opposition Congress party force as tensions flare with both China and Pakistan. although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has Brutal hand-to-hand fighting in the Galwan Valley in rejected the claims. The jets built by Dassault Aviation-and piloted by officers from the Indian Air Force (IAF) - took off from Merignac in southwest France, the company said in a statement. By Wednesday, they should be at Ambala air base in northern India, some 200 kilometers from the Deal estimated Pakistani and Chinese borders. They will refuel midair several times on the way at$9.4bn and also make a stopover in Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates, where France has an air base. They are accompanied by two A330 Phenix MRTT refu- elling planes from the French Air Force, one of which is carrying 70 ventilators, 100,000 test kits GIRONDE: A handout picture shows an Indian Air Force Rafale aircraft taking off from Merignac air base, and a team of 10 health experts to support India in Ladakh last month left 20 Indian soldiers dead. southern France. Five Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale aircraft, operated by Indian pilots, took off from the its fight against COVID-19, according to the French China has said it also suffered casualties but has not Dassault Aviation site in Merignac for their delivery to Ambala air base where they will enter service in defense ministry. Delivery of the Rafale jets - 36 of given figures. Tensions are also running high with the N˚17 ‘Golden Arrows’ squadron of the IAF. — AFP which were ordered by India in September 2016 - Islamabad after India scrapped the semi- officially began in October but het planes stayed in autonomous status for the Muslim-majority region France for training of the pilots and mechanics. airpower and defense preparedness but it is also a ernment deny any misconduct and India’s top court has of Kashmir and imposed a major security clamp- Delivery should be complete by 2022. “I am powerful symbol of our strategic partnership dismissed calls for an investigation into the deal, saying it down. The IAF has said that once the planes arrive strongly impressed by the amazing efficiency and between France and India,” he added. The controver- saw no evidence of “commercial favoritism”. Meanwhile in India, “efforts will focus on operationalisation of determination of the Indian Air Force and Indian sy over the deal in India stems from the naming of Dassault, which counts India as its first international cus- the aircraft at the earliest.” Ministry of Defense,” the chief executive of Reliance group-a conglomerate owned by billionaire tomer in 1953, hopes to sell additional Rafales to New “Our air force pilots tell us that these are extreme- Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, said in a state- Anil Ambani that has little experience in aviation-as Delhi. India in May 2017 put forward an official request ly swift, nimble, versatile and very deadly aircraft,” ment. He said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Dassault’s local partner. for information for the supply of 57 combat planes said India’s ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf. they had managed to “master rapidly all aspects of Ambani is reported to be close to India’s governing intended for the Indian navy and another in July 2018 for “This is going to add a great deal of strength to our the Rafale for comforting Indian sovereignty and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party. Modi and the gov- 110 jets intended for the Indian Air Force. — AFP

News in brief Chile hospitals ensure 1MDB: Malaysia’s Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict patients do not die extraordinary YEREVAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call alone despite virus financial scandal Monday called for peace talks to end clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin SANTIAGO: All over the world, people are dying KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s extraordinary 1MDB said. The phone call at Turkey’s initiative took alone as relatives are barred from visiting them in corruption scandal allegedly saw top officials loot place after Armenia’s military said one of its sol- hospital for fear of catching and spreading the billions from state coffers and go on a worldwide diers was killed by sniper fire from across the coronavirus. But not in Chile. Here, special units spending spree-buying a $250 million yacht and a border with Azerbaijan in the latest bout of dead- have been set up where family members and loved painting by Van Gogh, and financing a Hollywood ly violence. Border clashes erupted in mid-July ones are able to say their goodbyes even inside blockbuster. Najib Razak, the then-prime minister, between the ex-Soviet republics, which have for public hospitals where the virus is rife. “Everyone was a key figure in the plundering of sovereign decades been locked in a conflict over leaves behind a family and we tried to get to know wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorny SANTIAGO: Doctor Moyra Lopez holds an iPad for a every person in the time we had,” Natalia Ojeda, a terminal patient to listen to a farewell message from (1MDB), and was convicted Tuesday in his first cor- Karabakh. Nineteen people-including the doctor specializing in palliative care at the Barros ruption trial linked to the fraud. Armenian soldier-have been killed on both sides his relatives, at the so-called ‘humanized farewell’ Luco hospital in Santiago, told AFP. room at the Barros Luco Hospital in Santiago. — AFP in the recent border clashes so far. Putin and This hospital has been one of the most affected What was 1MDB? Erdogan discussed the conflict and the Russian in a country where more than 9,000 people have 1MDB was a state investment fund which Najib strongman “underlined the importance of not eral reasons: facing death, the fear of infection and died with COVID-19 and which has seen over an illness that had nothing to do with what we’re launched in 2009 shortly after becoming prime min- allowing any actions that promote an escalation in ister. Its portfolio included power plants and other 340,000 cases amongst the 18 million population. used to,” said Lopez, 44, as medical personnel tensions,” the Kremlin said in a statement. — AFP energy assets in Malaysia and the Middle East, as For two months now, the intense work routine has behind her took care of the body of a man who had well as real estate in Kuala Lumpur. The fund was pushed Ojeda and her colleague Moyra Lopez to just died. “But the most amazing thing, which got us closely overseen by Najib. Whistleblowers say Low their limits. “Before the pandemic we were used to through it, has been the gratitude,” added the moth- Canada’s Trudeau to testify Taek Jho, a jet-setting Malaysian financier close to patients dying but in their homes, surrounded by er of three. “Such positive feedback from families, their families-very different deaths to what we are Najib but with no official position, helped set up OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin those that could come and those that sensed the 1MDB and made key financial decisions. seeing with COVID,” said Lopez. patient went calmly.” Those who benefited from the Trudeau will give much-anticipated testimony Around 60 people have died in the unit set up in Concerns escalated in 2014 as 1MDB slid into an this week over his role in awarding a government unit had to abide by strict protocols and wear pro- $11-billion debt hole, and intensifying public scruti- the Barros Luco hospital where the two doctors tective clothing. Meanwhile, the unit’s team-mostly contract to a charity that paid members of his work. More than half were visited by family mem- ny revealed missing funds. The scandal first came to family large sums of money, the House of women-have built a bond, crying together and light through the Sarawak Report news portal, and bers and others died after a video call with those overcoming the fear of infection through the satis- Commons said Monday. Trudeau, who is at the close to them. Lopez carries around a tablet with gained further traction in 2015 when The Wall center of an ethics investigation into the controver- faction of passing on music, audio messages and the Street Journal published documents showing Najib which she can pass on audio or video messages like affection of loved ones. sy, will testify for an hour on Thursday at 3:00 pm “thank you daddy for everything, rest now,” or “dear received at least $681 million in payments to his (1900 GMT) before the House of Commons Lopez approaches “Don Manuel” with a message personal bank accounts. The US Justice Department grandad, listen to this song you love so much.” from his son. They were “words of gratitude but Finance Committee. This is an exceptional move The unit is in a ward with windows that allow in launched its own probe after claims that stolen for a head of government, and will likely be an also encouragement to rest in peace,” said Lopez, Malaysian public money was laundered through the natural light and the murmur of nature. It was set up who added that it’s important not to stress patients eventful session for Trudeau. Last week, the two amidst the panic of soaring coronavirus cases. Both US financial system, and has filed lawsuits seeking in their final days with messages of false hope. main opposition parties called for the resignation Ojeda and Lopez say that after hearing about the some $1.8 billion in assets allegedly purchased with of Trudeau, who leads a minority government. coronavirus patients dying alone in Europe and This man’s life seems about to ebb away but just the cash. The department said more than $4.5 billion Ethics commissioner Mario Dion, an independent China, the hospital management made a priority of as Lopez plays the message, he moves his head and was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by officer of parliament, opened an investigation into providing staff specialized in easing pain and termi- makes a noise, although without opening his eyes. high-level officials at the fund and their associates. Trudeau and finance minister Bill Morneau after nal patients. “The last week of June was the peak “Patients, even those in a deep coma, always react; Tens of millions of dollars were used in 2012 by the former’s Liberal government awarded a major week, our ward was constantly full,” said a tearful they breathe quicker, their pulse accelerates, they Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz, an aspiring film producer, contract to WE Charity to manage a student schol- Ojeda, 37. “Every death is unique and is a different move; hence it confirms that hearing is the last to fund the Hollywood film “The Wolf of Wall arship program worth CAN$900 million. — AFP experience.” sense that you lose before dying,” said Lopez. Part Street”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Hundreds of of the job sometimes involves searching for music millions were also used, mainly by Riza and Low, to ‘Gratitude’ on YouTube to play to a patient because a family purchase high-end real estate in Beverly Hills, New UK pet cat tests positive “We were afraid before we got into this for sev- member said they liked it. — AFP York and London. — AFP

LONDON: A pet cat has become the first UK animal to be infected with coronavirus, health New coronavirus officials said Monday, insisting there was “no evi- dence” it could pass on the disease. The case was confirmed by the UK’s chief veterinary offi- cluster spreads to cer after laboratory tests carried out earlier this month in Surrey, near London. Officials said that China regions “all available evidence” indicated the cat likely contracted the disease from its owners who had tested positive for COVID-19. A statement from BEIJING: A new coronavirus cluster in a port city in the environment ministry said the cat poses no northeast China has spread to other provinces and risk. “Although this is the first confirmed case of prompted fresh restrictions, authorities said yester- an animal infection with the coronavirus strain in day, as Beijing scrambles to prevent a second wave the UK, there is no evidence to suggest that the of infections. China had largely brought the virus animal was involved in transmission of the dis- under control since it first emerged in the country ease,” it said. — AFP late last year, through a series of strict lockdowns and travel restrictions. But in recent months a num- ber of small outbreaks have given cause for con- Surge in child wasting cases cern, with China reporting 68 new infections yester- DALIAN: A health worker carries out a COVID-19 coronavirus test on a child at a makeshift testing center in day-the highest daily number since April. Dalian, in China’s northeast Liaoning province. — AFP PARIS: The unprecedented social and economic Of those, 57 were in the northwest region of crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic will Xinjiang, where an outbreak has seen millions of resi- 1,500 kilometers away. The new measures mean strict conditions. Local health officials in Dalian said see nearly seven million more children experi- dents tested and strict lockdowns in the regional increased scrutiny of travelers who enter the city Sunday that they would mass-test all six million res- ence stunting as a result of malnutrition, the capital Urumqi. Six more cases were also reported in from nationwide virus hotspots. A fresh Beijing case idents within four days, and announced on Monday United Nations said yesterday. Even before the industrial port city of Dalian, Liaoning province, reported yesterday was also linked to an asympto- that samples had already been taken from 1.68 mil- COVID-19 there were an estimated 47 million where a new outbreak first emerged at a seafood matic patient who had travelled from Dalian-the lion people. Dalian authorities have also banned children under five who were moderately or processing plant last week. This brings the total num- first new local case since a cluster in the capital was group celebratory dining activities and ordered cus- severely wasted, most living in sub-Saharan ber of new infections in Dalian to 44. Health authori- brought under control in early July. Beijing began tomers to display a local “health code” on their Africa and southeast Asia. Now as lockdowns ties said the Dalian cluster had now spread to nine mass testing residents in a suburban housing estate phones when entering restaurants. Meanwhile, health and international trade routes disrupt vital aid cities in five regions across the country, including as where the patient lives. authorities in Shenzhen announced that more than supplies, the UN warned that the coronavirus far away as the southeast coastal province of Fujian. Twelve new asymptomatic cases were also 3,000 locals had been tested as of yesterday morn- pandemic could have an “intergenerational Fujian said the provincial capital Fuzhou would recorded in Dalian yesterday. China counts asymp- ing, after a Hong Kong truck driver who recently effect” on the health of millions. — AFP enter “wartime mode” after it discovered an asymp- tomatic cases separately. The Chinese Super tested positive passed through the city close to the tomatic patient who had travelled from Dalian, League is currently being played in the city, under semi-autonomous financial hub. — AFP Established 1961

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020 OPEC faces an age of dwindling demand Analysts say peak oil may already have been reached

LONDON: The coronavirus crisis may have triggered especially in car batteries.” the long-anticipated tipping point in oil demand and it In 2019, the world consumed 99.7 million barrels is focusing minds in OPEC. per day (bpd) - and OPEC was forecasting a rise to The pandemic drove down daily crude consumption 101 million bpd in 2020. by as much as a third earlier this year, at a time when the But global lockdowns this year that grounded rise of electric vehicles and a shift to renewable energy planes and took traffic off the streets, prompted sources were already prompting downward revisions in OPEC to slash the 2020 figure to 91 million bpd, with forecasts for long-term oil demand. 2021 demand still seen below 2019 levels. It has prompted some officials in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, oil’s most powerful Predicting the peak proponent since it was founded 60 years ago, to ask Producing nations, energy analysts and oil compa- whether this year’s dramatic demand destruction heralds nies have long tried to work out when the world would a permanent shift and how best to manage supplies if reach “peak oil”, the point after which consumption the age of oil is drawing to a close. starts permanently falling. But demand has climbed “People are waking up to a new reality and trying to steadily each year, with occasional exceptions amid work their heads around it all,” an industry source close economic downturns. Nevertheless, OPEC has been to OPEC told Reuters, adding the “possibility exists in scaling back expectations. In 2007, it forecast world the minds of all the key players” that consumption might demand would hit 118 million bpd in 2030. By last never fully recover. Reuters in- year, its 2030 forecast had terviewed seven current and dropped to 108.3 million bpd. former officials or other sources Its November report is ex- involved in OPEC, most of pected to show another down- whom asked not to be named. End game for ward revision, one OPEC They said this year’s crisis that oil? Pandemic source says. sent oil below $16 a barrel had OPEC officials declined to prompted OPEC and its 13 triggers change comment on its demand out- LONDON: The coronavirus crisis may have triggered the long-anticipated tipping point in oil demand and it is fo- members to question long-held look or policy for this article. cusing minds in OPEC. views on the demand growth But officials have said history outlook. shows OPEC’s ability to adapt Just 12 years ago, OPEC to changes in the market. Con- It leaves OPEC with a mounting challenge. Most tween OPEC members, as well as between OPEC and states were flush with cash when oil peaked above $145 sumption forecasts vary outside OPEC. Oil companies members of the group, which sits on 80% of the world’s Russia, as each strives to maintain its market share,” said a barrel as demand surged. have cut long-term crude price outlooks as demand proven oil reserves, rely heavily on crude. Oil prices, now Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s oil minister for a decade and Now it faces a dramatic adjustment if consumption prospects fade - slashing the value of their assets as hovering above $40, are still well below the level most twice OPEC’s president. starts a permanent decline. The group will need to man- a result. Global consultancy DNV GL believes de- governments need to balance their budgets, including Some short-term challenges may come from within age even more closely its cooperation with other pro- mand probably peaked in 2019. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader. OPEC, as Iran and Venezuela, both hit by U.S. sanctions, ducers, such as Russia, to maximise falling revenues Oil’s percentage share of the global energy mix has seek to boost production or as output recovers in con- and will have to work to ensure relations inside the steadily fallen in recent decades, from about 40% of New Stresses flict-stricken Libya. group are not frayed by any fratricidal dash to defend energy used in 1994 to 33% in 2019, even as volumes OPEC, whose output accounts for about a third of Others may come from outside, as the group tries to market share in a shrinking businesses. consumed rose with more cars on the roads, rising air world supplies, is no stranger to crises. It has managed prevent U.S. shale production taking market share while “OPEC’s job will be harder in the future because travel and a petrochemical industry that makes ever supply shocks during Gulf conflicts in the 1980s, 1990s OPEC seeks to curtail output in its efforts to support of lower demand and rising non-OPEC production,” more plastics and other products. and 2000s and found ways to cope when rival non- prices. “Many challenges are ahead, and we have to said Hasan Qabazard, OPEC’s head of research from That may now be changing, as more electric vehi- OPEC producers turn on the taps, like the U.S. shale oil adapt,” said one OPEC delegate, who said the group’s 2006 to 2013 whose work now includes advising cles roll out of factories and airlines struggle to re- industry in the past decade. handling of past crises proved it was able to respond. hedge funds and investment banks on OPEC policy. cover from the pandemic. The International Air Most recently, when the coronavirus crisis pummelled OPEC’s former research head, Qabazard, said the demand, OPEC with Russia and other allies, a grouping One official, who works in energy studies in the oil Transport Association (IATA) does not expect air group might have a little more time to adjust before de- ministry of a major OPEC member, said shocks to oil travel to reach 2019 levels until 2023 - at the earliest. known as OPEC+, agreed record output cuts of 9.7 mil- mand peaked. But he said the deadline for OPEC to demand had in the past led to permanent changes in “Once aviation recovers by end-2023, demand will lion bpd, the equivalent of 10% of global supplies. Those adapt was approaching. consumer behaviour. He said this time was unlikely to go back to normal-aside from the competition from deep cuts run to the end of July. be different. “The demand does not return to pre-cri- other sources of energy,” said a second OPEC official Yet, what comes next promises to be a new test of “I don’t think it will go higher than 110 million barrels sis levels or it takes time for this to happen,” he said. involved in forecasting, highlighting the difficulty of OPEC’s mettle. Instead of dealing with one-off shocks, per day by the 2040s,” he said, adding that fallout from “The main concern is that oil demand will peak in the making predictions amid a global trend towards using OPEC must learn to live with long-term decline. the COVID-19 pandemic had changed consumer habits next few years due to rapid technological advances, more renewables and other fuels. “This trend will put a stress on the cooperation be- for good. “This is permanent demand destruction.” Nissan forecasts $6.4bn annual net Gold down after loss as virus bites hitting new high,

TOKYO: Crisis-hit Japanese automaker Nissan yester- equities mixed day warned of a massive $6.4 billion net loss for the cur- rent fiscal year as it reels from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Nissan, which had delayed an an- HONG KONG: Gold briefly chalked up another record nual forecast because of ongoing uncertainty, issued the yesterday before easing later in the day as the dollar warning as it reported a first-quarter net loss of 285.6 clawed back earlier losses, while equity markets strug- billion yen ($2.7 billion) on plunging sales. “These re- gled to hold on to gains with fears about the coron- sults... reflect a full quarter of COVID-19 disruption that avirus pandemic mounting. we knew would undermine our performance in key mar- With worrying new spikes in infections in Asia and kets,” chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta said an- Europe-on top of the already-high new US cases- nouncing the results. forcing governments to impose strict containment “As you can see the pandemic has a severe impact on measures, the global economic outlook remains our operations,” he added. clouded, putting the brakes on a months-long stocks Nissan said the value of global sales plunged 50.5 rally. The virus uncertainty descending on trading percent, with falls across markets including Japan, China floors, combined with China-US tensions, sent gold and the United States. And it warned the woes would soaring nearly 30 percent and yestrday it hit another continue, forecasting annual sales will plunge 21 percent record of $1,981.27, smashing the previous day’s all- to 7.8 trillion yen following a 15-percent drop the pre- time high, but it later pared the advance to sit lower for the day. vious year. YOKOHAMA: A staff member gives a presentation in the showroom at Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama But observers say $2,000 could be broken as early “As a result of the impact of the coronavirus pan- yesterday.—AFP demic worldwide, the overall demand dropped to about as this week, with focus on the Federal Reserve’s next half in this first quarter compared to last year,” chief op- policy meeting, which is tipped to see it unveil more erating officer Makoto Uchida told reporters. “Plants in avirus pandemic hit. warned. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic com- easing measures to support the world’s top economy. US second-quarter economic growth data is also due the world were forced to stop their production. At plants But the unprecedented global health crisis has hit the pounds a series of existing problems for Nissan, includ- this week, and a disappointing reading on what is ex- that continued running, the ratio of production largely auto industry as a whole hard, with lockdowns keeping ing weak demand, the Ghosn scandal and tensions in its pected to be a historic contraction could fuel further declined as sales dropped. This caused a very severe people indoors and economic woes dampening demand. alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors. dollar weakness. business environment and impacted financial results,” he “The auto industry’s business environment has totally Earlier this year, Nissan and its alliance partners “Although little is expected on policy, (bank boss added. changed due to the pandemic,” Satoru Takada, an auto agreed a joint transformation plan, with each member Jerome) Powell’s tone in the press conference will be The figures come after the firm reported a huge $6.2- analyst at Tokyo-based research and consulting firm agreeing to take the lead in a specific market. But the key especially in light of the recent uptick in virus billion annual net loss in May, announcing it would shut TIW, told AFP before the earnings were announced. partnership remains fragile, and Takada said Nissan still cases and the knock-on consequences,” said Axi- its Barcelona plant and slash production in an attempt “The new coronavirus has hit both supply and de- faced significant headwinds. Corp’s Stephen Innes. to get back on track. Nissan was already battling weak mand hard. Production is recovering but consumer ap- “Nissan’s performance remains in low gear, trailing The rush for bullion has also dragged silver to a petite remains stagnant. The outlook remains unclear its disastrous results for the previous fiscal year,” he said. demand as well as the fallout from the arrest of former seven-year high above $26 an ounce before that also amid concerns over a second wave or a third wave of the “We can’t see a clear sign of its full recovery... It remains boss Carlos Ghosn, currently an international fugitive edged back. “There seems to be enough momentum after jumping bail and fleeing Japan, before the coron- pandemic. The end of the tunnel is not yet in sight,” he at a crucial stage.” —AFP in the US money supply to actually push gold higher,” Fat Prophets analyst David Lennox said. “As COVID- 19 continues to ravage the economy, there’s probably percent of pre-coronavirus levels. you wish” deal, launched in June, only applies to weekend more stimulatory action to come. As the US dollar In China, airlines The global aviation industry is keenly eyeing China as travel. Hainan Airlines’ 2,699 yuan package is only valid weakens, obviously gold will improve, but it’s more a a pilot for air travel recovery trends, as the country re- on flights to or from Hainan province. matter of the acceleration of US money supply, and opened its economy months earlier than other places after China Eastern has sold over 100,000 passes, state that’s caused by governments obviously throwing plug ‘all you managing to bring the pandemic mostly under control - media reported. That helped boost passenger loads on its money into the economy.” at least for now. domestic routes to over 75 percent on recent weekends, But Luya You, transportation analyst at BOCOM In- according to aviation data provider Variflight. “I’m going ‘Pathetic’ proposal can fly’ deals ternational, said these promotional packages - ranging to Changsha this weekend and Guangzhou the next week- There are hopes US lawmakers can hammer out from unrestricted flights to an array of terms and condi- end,” said Elaine Shen, a Shanghai-based insurance pro- a new economy-boosting stimulus program as their tions - can only stimulate demand when coronavirus risks fessional just back from an eight-day trip in the country’s previous multi-trillion-dollar package begins to dry BEIJING: China Southern Airlines yesterday rolled out an are already sufficiently reduced. “While these packages northwest using the China Eastern pass. up. After an extended period of haggling with the ‘all you can fly’ pass, becoming the latest in a fleet of cash- may work in domestic markets, we do not expect similar “The experiences are great,” Shen said. “I would not White House, Republicans eventually unveiled a $1 strapped carriers to join a promotional craze that analysts rollouts for outbound routes anytime soon,” she said. be flying this much if it weren’t for this pass.” trillion scheme that slashes unemployment benefits say has helped revive a coronavirus-ravaged air travel The “Fly Happily” deal launched by China Southern, It’s not just Chinese airlines that have jumped on the by two-thirds. However, there are concerns biparti- market. At least eight of China’s dozens of airlines have the country’s biggest carrier by passengers, allows buyers deals bandwagon to revive the travel industry. The Mar- sanship could make the passage of any bill arduous, introduced similar deals since June, often priced around to use passes for as many flights as they wish for destina- riott Group said it was aiming for a fresh promotional with Democrats proposing $3.5 trillion of spending, $500 for in some cases unlimited flights. Industry watch- tions across the country from Aug. 26 to Jan. 6 for 3,699 campaign in August 2020 in the wake of a successful while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi branded the Re- ers say the packages have been a shot in the arm, with yuan ($529.03). As with other deals, passholders also pay April deal giving buyers the chance to eat a month’s publican offer “pathetic” and not enough to support costs offset by otherwise empty seats being filled in a a small tax to the airline - about 50 yuan - per flight. worth of buffet breakfasts in any of its 146 China hotels the country.—AFP country where daily flights last month recovered to 80 Meanwhile China Eastern Airlines’ 3,322 yuan “Fly as for 588 yuan. — Reuters Established 1961 9 Business Wednesday, July 29, 2020 NBK reports KD 111.1 m profit NBK enjoys strong liquidity and capitalization levels and solid profitability KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK, the These pressures will negatively affect economic Bank or the Group) has announced its financial activity as well as banking sector profitability. results for the 3-months period ending 31 March That said, NBK remains in a very strong posi- 2020 and the 6-months period ending 30 June tion to withstand the impact of the crisis. Our 2020. NBK reported a net profit of KD 77.7 million strong and quality core banking earnings, comfort- ($251.7 million) for the 3-months period ended 31 able liquidity and capital levels will enable us to March 2020 and a net profit of KD 111.1 million have enough capacity to absorb the impact of the ($360.9 million) for the 6-months period ended 30 pandemic on the economy and the banking sector. June 2020, recording a drop of 27.9% and 46.9% Al-Sager also highlighted that:” the strategic year-on-year, respectively. investments the Bank has made over recent years Commenting on the Bank’s 1H 2020 results, and most importantly the ones that led to the NBK’s Chairman of the Board, Nasser Al-Sayer acceleration of digital banking services, provided said; “The spread of COVID-19 and the constrains the bank with operational flexibility. Our digital imposed by governments around the world to limit channels provided effective and practical alterna- its spread, including social distancing measures and tives to our branches and thus the Bank was able to lockdowns, have weighed negatively on supply adapt to the unforeseen conditions in the operating chains and production levels leading to severe dis- Isam Al Sager Naser Al-sayer environment.” ruptions in the global economy.” Al-Sayer added, “We provided support and advice to our cus- “The Kuwaiti economy similarly faced unprece- tomers to help them overcome the financial chal- dented challenges in the first half of the year. In Performance, operating highlights lenges given the Bank’s history of professionalism addition to the negative impact of the pandemic and expertise. We will continue to meet our clients outbreak and spread, the large drop in oil prices • Net operating income of KD 414.6 million ($1,346.8 million), decreasing 8.3% on the first half of banking needs and support the society in over- added further pressures. 2019 coming those challenging times. The Bank will also This has generally led to a challenging operating continue to work closely with governments, regu- environment that will have a negative impact on the T•otal assets stood at KD 29.7 billion ($96.4 billion), increasing by 6.5% year-on-year latory bodies and other stakeholders in order to overall economy as well as the banking sector in Customer loans and advances increased by 8.4% year-on-year to KD 17.6 billion ($57.1 billion) continue contributing to economic recovery across Kuwait. In the meantime, the timely responses we all the geographies where the Bank operates” Al- have seen from the Government and Central Bank •Customer deposits at KD 17.6 billion ($57.1 billion), increasing by 13.6% year-on-year Sager clarified. Furthermore, Al-Sager indicated of Kuwait including various policy measures and Strong asset quality metrics, with NPL/gross loans ratio at 1.77% and an NPL coverage ratio of that the Bank has empowered its employees to macro prudential initiatives are all expected to lift 185.5% work remotely and took measures to ensure their some of these pressures ensuring the stability of safety. He also admired the dedicated efforts made the financial sector and healthy economic recov- • Robust Capital Adequacy Ratio of 16.8%, comfortably in excess of regulatory requirements by the employees towards the quality and smooth- ery.” “Our economic forecasts indicate a contrac- ness of the Bank’s operations during this challeng- tion of around 6% in Kuwait’s GDP in 2020 as a ing period. result of the economic headwinds resulting from donating KD 1 million to KRCS to provide ventila- activities has affected transaction volumes, which in the disruption in commercial activities and the tors and the deployment of fully equipped mobile turn reflected negatively on the different revenue NBK initiatives in facing COVID sharp decrease in government revenues as oil clinics to quarantined areas.” Al-Sayer added. lines of our operations. Took the initiative to support businesses prices plunged.” “The health and safety of our employees and Additionally, the interest rate cuts both domesti- through ceasing collection fees on POS machines Al-Sayer also highlighted the role of NBK in customers will remain our top priority along with cally and internationally added more pressure on and other electronic channels for 3 months; in addi- supporting all Government and Central Bank of our efforts to ensure the delivery of efficient and interest margins. On the other hand, higher provi- tion to increasing NFC limit; Deferral of loans and Kuwait efforts in lifting the pressures caused by the quality banking services. At last, I would like to sions and impairment charges has also impacted our credit card installments for 6 months including the pandemic and contributing to the wellbeing of its take this opportunity to thank all the first-liners profitability during the two opening quarters of waving of interest fees associated; Facilitating local communities. “At the early stages of the out- from across all organizations for their exceptional 2020.” Al Sager also added, “We are facing financing to individuals, and businesses; Provided break, the Bank clearly defined the level of its com- efforts in combating the pandemic” Al-Sayer con- unprecedented challenges that will have a protract- support and consultation to clients to overcome mitment to support the government efforts to com- cluded. From his side, NBK’s Group CEO, Isam Al- ed impact on the global economy and the banking their financial challenges; Building on our invest- bat the spread of COVID-19 as part of the respon- Sager affirmed that: “the consequences of the sectors across the world. Our 1H profitability trends ment in digital transformation, our digital channels sibility to our community. NBK contributed to the spread of COVID-19 have weighed heavily on the reflected some of these challenges in the form of played a vital role in servicing customers, with establishment of a KD 10 million CBK fund to sup- Bank’s profits mainly during the second quarter. lower revenues and higher provisions and we contin- electronic transactions reaching a record high of port State efforts in facing the virus as well as The full shutdown of commercial and financial ue to expect further pressures throughout the year. 98.4% of total transaction during the crisis.

US factory activity gaining momentum, but rising virus cases threaten recovery

WASHINGTON: New orders for key equipment, appliances and components US-made capital goods increased by the increased 1.2 percent, likely driven by most in nearly two years in June and workers setting up home offices. shipments accelerated, but the gains Economists polled by Reuters had were likely insufficient to avert the deep- forecast core capital goods orders est plunge in business investment and advancing 2.3 percent in June. Core capi- economic activity since the Great tal goods orders fell 2.3 percent on a Depression in the second quarter year-on-year basis in June. Shipments of because of the COVID-19 crisis. The core capital goods surged 3.4 percent improvement in manufacturing reported last month, the biggest gain since by the Commerce Department on November 2013. Core capital goods ship- Monday was driven by pent-up demand ments are used to calculate equipment following the reopening of businesses. spending in the government’s gross The budding recovery is threatened by a domestic product measurement. They resurgence in new cases of the coron- rose 1.6 percent in May and remain 3 avirus, which has forced some authorities percent below their the February level. in the hard-hit South and West regions to Economists expect business spending either close businesses again or halt on equipment contracted at as much as a reopenings. 36 percent annualized rate in the second WASHINGTON: In this file photo taken on June 29, 2020 a Boeing 737 MAX jet comes in for a landing following a Federal Aviation Administration “The sugar rush from re-openings has quarter. The anticipated record drop (FAA) test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington. US durable goods orders in June continued their recovery from the COVID-19 hit.— AFP now faded and a resurgence of domestic would lead to the fifth straight quarterly coronavirus cases, alongside very weak decline in overall business investment. demand, supply chain disruptions, histor- According to a Reuters survey of econo- a regular two-day policy meeting yester- 28.8 percent in May. That offset a 462.3 increase in both core capital and durable ically low oil prices, and high levels of mists, GDP collapsed at a 34.1 percent day. The dollar fell against a basket of percent plunge in civilian aircraft orders, goods orders last month mirrored recent uncertainty will weigh heavily on busi- rate last quarter, which would be the currencies. US Treasury prices rose. leading to a 20 percent rise in orders for improvements in regional factory activity. ness investment,” said Oren Klachkin, sharpest contraction in output since the transportation equipment. Motor vehicles But the road to recovery for manufactur- lead US economist at Oxford Economics government started keeping records in Slow recovery have a bigger weighting in the transporta- ing, which accounts for 11 percent of the in New York. 1947. The economy shrank at a 5.0 per- “While we doubt the economy is on tion category. Orders for transportation economy, will be long. Orders for non-defense capital goods cent pace in the January-March quarter, the verge of a renewed contraction, we do equipment surged 78.9 percent in May. Unfilled durable goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched the deepest since the 2007-09 recession. expect the pace of recovery in the second Boeing reported only one aircraft order dropped 1.4 percent in June after being proxy for business spending plans, The government will publish its snap- half of the year to be far slower and last month after receiving nine in May, unchanged in May. They edged up 0.1 jumped 3.3 percent last month, the shot of second-quarter GDP on bumpier,” said Michael Pearce, senior US according to information posted on its percent for core capital goods, matching Commerce Department said. That was the Thursday. The closure of nonessential economist at Capital Economics in New website. The planemaker said this month May’s gain. Durable goods inventories biggest increase in these so-called core businesses in mid-March to slow the York. Orders for durable goods, items customers canceled orders for 355 of its ticked up 0.1 percent, while capital capital goods orders since July 2018 and spread of the coronavirus almost ground ranging from toasters to aircraft that are 737 MAX jets in the first half of 2020, as goods stocks fell 0.2 percent. “The man- followed a 1.6 percent rise in May. Core the economy to a halt, with most of the meant to last three years or more, the damage done by the jet’s grounding ufacturing sector remains exposed to capital goods orders remained 3.2 per- effects felt in April. Stocks on Wall Street increased 7.3 percent in June after and the coronavirus crisis to the airline weak demand, which will impact invest- cent below their pre-pandemic level. gained amid hopes of more stimulus and rebounding 15.1 percent in May. industry mounted. ment and hiring decisions going for- Orders last month were boosted by a dovish signal from the Federal Reserve Durable goods orders were driven by Boeing’s best-selling plane has been ward,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief US demand for machinery, fabricated metals to revive a battered domestic economy. robust demand for motor vehicles, which grounded since March 2019 after two economist at High Frequency Economics and primary metals. Orders for electrical Fed officials were scheduled to gather for accelerated 85.7 percent after increasing crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The in White Plains, New York. — Reuters

trillion-euro emergency bond-buying scheme to stimu- scrap their 2019 dividends, among them German airline ECB tells banks not late growth and keep borrowing costs low. It has also giant Lufthansa and European plane maker Airbus. offered ultra-cheap loans to banks and eased rules on The ECB said it would review its recommendations in capital buffers to keep credit flowing in the eurozone. the fourth quarter of 2020. to pay dividends But the Frankfurt institution has repeatedly made clear it expects lenders to make their own extraordinary efforts ‘Resilient’ until Jan 2021 as well. In a letter to euro area banks, the ECB’s chief In a separate statement, the ECB said a study to supervisor Andrea Enria said the central bank was paying gauge banks’ resilience in the face of economic adversity FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank yesterday “close attention” to lenders’ remuneration policies during showed “that the euro area banking sector can withstand urged banks to refrain from paying dividends or offering the crisis. As well as the dividend freeze, the ECB urged the pandemic-induced stress”. In a scenario whereby the bonuses until January 1, 2021, in order to ensure lenders lenders not to buy back shares for the time being, anoth- eurozone economy shrinks by 8.7 percent this year, cur- have sufficient buffers to survive the economic storm er tool to reward shareholders. The ECB also expects rently deemed the most likely scenario, the 86 banks unleashed by the coronavirus crisis. lenders to show “extreme moderation” in deciding the studied by the ECB would see their average Common The recommendation, which extends a previous call to variable component of bankers’ salaries, Enria said. Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a key indicator of financial halt such payments until at least October 2020, “remains “The reputational impact of the payment of variable health, deteriorate “only by 1.9 percentage points to 12.6 temporary and exceptional”, the ECB said in a statement. remuneration in a global crisis situation should not be percent”. “As a result, banks could continue fulfilling their The aim is to preserve “banks’ capacity to absorb losses underestimated,” he wrote. The ECB’s suggestions are role of lending to the economy,” the ECB said. Under a FRANKFURT: This file photo shows Christine Lagarde, and support lending to the real economy” at a time of likely to be welcomed by eurozone citizens, many of more severe scenario in which the euro region’s economy President of the European Central Bank (ECB), addressing “exceptional uncertainty”. whom vividly remember the taxpayer bailouts of global would contract by 12.6 percent in 2020, banks’ CET1 a news conference following the meeting of the govern- The ECB has taken unprecedented action to cushion banks during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Several ratio would be depleted by 5.7 percentage points to 8.8 ing council of the ECB in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. — AFP the economic impact from the pandemic, launching a 1.3 major firms already said earlier this year that they would percent. —AFP 10 Business Wednesday, July 29, 2020

NBK ECONOMIC REPORT GCC equity markets stage strong recovery in 2nd quarter of 2020 Global markets broadly positive on recovery optimism

KUWAIT: Global equity markets rallied in the second quarter of the year, partly offsetting the steep prior losses brought on by the coronavirus and its detrimental effect on the global economy. The rally was despite growing concern about a second wave of coronavirus infections, and was fueled by government/central bank stimulus, progress on COVID-19 vaccines/treatments, easing coronavirus restrictions to movement and business activity, and signs of improvement in macroeconomic data, giving rise to a more optimistic outlook and improved investor sentiment. With major central banks’ ongoing commitment to significantly support economies, and hopes for a coronavirus vaccine on the rise, global markets could continue to be on an uptrend in the sec- ond half of the year. However, this is 500 which surged 20 percent. European have a main impact on markets, with no supported in part by the confirmation by Global markets have partly recovered subject to considerable downside risk, stocks and emerging markets followed support from further interest rate cuts, MSCI of the markets upgrade to EM sta- and appear to have stabilized after the given ongoing high infection rates in closely, with the Euro Stoxx 50 and although other monetary and fiscal pol- tus in November, thereby curbing some severe slump following the onset of the some countries (such as the US), possi- MSCI EM both up a solid 16 percent q/q. icy tools remain at the disposal of central uncertainty about upgrade-related port- coronavirus in February/March and the bility of a second-wave that could trig- Despite the rebound, most global mar- banks and governments. folio (passive) inflows which could be national lockdowns and restrictions that ger renewed business closures and kets were unable to fully recoup the Tracking global markets, GCC equity worth $2-3 billion. This has re-ignited followed, which brought economies al- lockdowns, and as the long-term eco- steep losses from the latter part of 1Q markets staged a strong recovery in the active foreign inflows, which were rela- most to a complete halt. However, the re- nomic implications of the coronavirus and early 2Q, with latter part of tively dormant for most part of the year, covery in equities is subject to a high become apparent. indices still in the 2Q20, reversing a reverting to positive net flows of KD 3.6 degree of uncertainty, given its depend- red on a year-to- large part of the million in June and reflecting renewed ence on a broader economic recovery, Global markets positive date basis by the Kuwait lags prior losses in- foreign investor interest in Kuwaiti which in turn is dependent on how Global equity markets were broadly end of June 2020. duced by the stocks. Oman (2 percent) and Bahrain (- quickly the coronavirus will be contained positive in 2Q20 on optimism about a rel- Looking for- behind its coronavirus and 5 percent), underperformed, likely af- or how soon a vaccine will be available. atively swift economic recovery following ward, continued its associated fected by high uncertainty about the Global growth projections continue to be the easing of lockdowns and business re- positive momen- GCC peers lockdowns and re- economic outlook amid the coronavirus revised downward on a greater-than-ex- strictions. The recovery was helped by tum in global equi- strictions. The re- shock given their smaller reserves and pected impact of the virus. The IMF proj- continued central bank stimulus, and ties may be curbed covery was fiscal buffers. ects that global growth will contract by more recently signs of improvement in by a weak global underpinned by Despite various signs of improvement, 4.9 percent in 2020 with a sluggish re- various macroeconomic indicators, in- economic outlook as a result of the rising oil prices and a gradual reopening downside risk remains elevated given the covery expected in 2021, suggesting that cluding better US jobs and business ac- longer-term implications of the coron- of regional economies which helped uncertainty surrounding both the coron- a recovery might take longer than previ- tivity data, lower unemployment avirus, such as a prolonged weakness in boost optimism for a swift economic re- avirus and oil prices, and their impact on ously thought. Improved economic data, (although still high), and a rebound in re- global demand, weak jobs markets, and covery. The MSCI GCC index gained 11 economic growth, investor sentiment, which lent support to markets in June, tail sales reflecting a recovering con- the risk of higher-than-expected credit percent q/q, lifted by strong gains in and governments’ finances. Regional eq- may revert to weakness, thereby denting sumer sector. defaults from distressed corporates. Fur- Dubai (17 percent), Abu Dhabi (15 per- uities will continue to be influenced by market confidence. US elections, ongoing Quarterly gains were strong across thermore, coronavirus-related uncer- cent), and Saudi Arabia (11 percent). global factors, such as a resurgence of US-China tensions, and oil price uncer- the board, with the MSCI World index up tainty, especially in terms of the new Meanwhile, Kuwait lagged behind, trade tensions and a slower-than-ex- tainty are further risk factors for markets a substantial 18 percent, led by the S&P infections, is expected to continue to though still up a solid 6.4 percent q/q, pected global economic recovery. in 2H20.

Over the longer term, business plans now call for which has been key to survival for many: Businesses plan more agile staffing and office arrangements together • Over the last six months, almost all (93 percent) stc participates with a greater focus on technology and sustainability. firms have supported the businesses they work with, Key findings include: with larger businesses in particular supporting operational changes: • Diminishing real estate occupation: 38 percent smaller partners. in 2020 SAMENA are rethinking their physical footprint of office and • Almost six in ten (58 percent) have shared in- HSBC Navigator production locations, with 29 percent expecting to formation (25 percent), expertise (24 percent) or Leader Summit reduce their office space. premises (13 percent) and around a quarter (26 per- • A more flexible working arrangement: Over two cent) have offered advice. KUWAIT: Companies around the world are making thirds (69 percent) believe flexible working will be- • 40 percent have collaborated with other busi- KUWAIT: Kuwait Telecommunications Company significant operational changes to become more re- come standard practice, as a third (34 percent) ex- nesses to get their products and services to cus- - stc, a world-class digital leader providing inno- silient after many found their contingency plans pect to cut their air travel. tomers. vative services and platforms to customers, en- weren’t robust enough to cope with the COVID-19 • Technology will be critical: Six in 10 (61 percent) However, while collaboration has helped sustain abling the digital transformation in Kuwait, pandemic. think virtual collaboration will become standard operations during the crisis, businesses see a number participated in the SAMENA (South Asia, Middle HSBC Commercial Banking’s new Navigator re- practice over the next two years, with 57 percent of challenges ahead as they seek to build resilience East and North Africa) Leader’s Summit 2020. port, Building Back Better, draws from a survey of saying that virtual meetings -internal and external - over the next six months. Weaknesses in financial and stc participated in the summit under a dedi- over 2,600 companies in 14 countries and territories. are here to stay even after lockdown measures are workforce structures were the top barriers to change cated segment called “5G Ecosystem Forum” It shows that many firms neglected contingency cancelled. identified by two thirds of businesses (both by 62 hosted by Huawei. The session, titled “5G Net- planning in key operational areas such as technology, • Sustainability to power the recovery: More than percent), with just under a third (31 percent) strug- work and Business Development” was led by finance and sustainability prior to the crisis, with nine in 10 (91 percent) aim to ‘build back better’ by gling to maintain sufficient cash flow. Additionally, a Ahmed Al Sharif, General Manager of Network at nearly half (47 percent) saying they could have done re-engineering their businesses to be more sustain- third of businesses (33 percent) see employee morale stc, who represented the Company during the more to prepare for the challenges of recent months. able, while nearly a third (27 percent) intend to make as a barrier to building resilience over the near term. forum. During the session, stc elaborated on the For some, the shift to remote working exposed their supply chains more environmentally sustainable The report also identifies a series of changes busi- developments the Company achieved within the weaknesses in their continuity preparations, with over the next two years. nesses expect to make to their supply chains in the 5G realm, as well as its thought leadership and pi- fewer than three in five (57 percent) saying they pri- Barry O’Byrne, CEO of HSBC Global Commercial coming two years in a bid to increase transparency oneering role in introducing new innovative tech- oritized investment in technology to improve opera- Banking, said: “Businesses aren’t waiting to be told and security. nologies. The Company has built a leading ICT tional efficiency over the last two years. The how to ‘build back better,’ they’re starting now. The • Three in ten (29 percent) want to diversify their infrastructure and enhanced its digital platforms availability of cash flow was also a challenge, with human tragedy and huge economic damage caused supply chain and to work with more partners, with a to enable digital transformation in Kuwait. only 43 percent having prioritized steps to by COVID-19 have accelerated transformation plans quarter wanting to work with businesses in markets The session also focused on stc’s dedication strengthen their financial position. and have brought relationship inter-dependencies to that are more stable (26 percent); towards enriching the customer experience by The crisis has forced many businesses to adapt, the forefront of leaders’ thinking. Since history shows • Conversely, a third plan to restrict or shorten launching one of the 1st E2E 5G standalone net- with almost two thirds (63 percent) having made that businesses are more likely to fail coming out of their supply chains to reduce risk. works in the region, with commercial offerings. changes to their operations already. Almost half (44 a downturn than when they’re in one, it’s vital that • Over two-thirds (67 percent) plan to increase The initiative, executed in collaboration with percent) will change their products and services fur- leaders push ahead with efforts to make their enter- their supply chain security by identifying and secur- Huawei, comes as one of many growth opportu- ther, either by diversifying (33 percent) or by reduc- prises more agile and more resilient.” ing critical suppliers (31 percent), and three in ten nities the Company capitalized on to evolve its ing their offering to become more specialized (17 The HSBC report points to the importance of col- plan to review their suppliers’ ability to withstand fu- network and unique offerings to satisfy its diverse percent). laboration between businesses during the crisis, ture shocks. enterprise customer base. Over the years, stc has formed a strong relationship with Huawei, work- ing on multiple projects to deliver a variety of in- novative solutions to serve B2C, B2H and B2B customers. French automaker PSA CBK bonds and stc issued a statement mentioning the benefits of participating in the SAMENA Leader Summit, profitable despite COVID a prominent and internationally recognized virtual related Tawarruq conference that provides operators with a plat- PARIS: French automaker PSA, which is rather than chasing sales volumes, and it KUWAIT: The Central Bank of Kuwait ruq at a total value of KD 200 million form to share experiences, developments and in- in the process of merging with Fiat moved to quickly cut costs during the (CBK) announced the most recent is- for three months with a rate of return dustry knowledge. The summit served as a Chrysler, said yesterday it had remained coronavirus crisis. Operating profits sues of CBK bonds and related Tawar- at 1.250 percent. representation of the world’s most advanced and profitable during the first half of the year came in at 517 million euros, a drop of developing economies in their pursuit to unleash despite sales plunging due to coronavirus 84.5 percent, or 2.1 percent of sales. For the true power behind 5G technology. stc also lockdowns. The firm-whose brands in- strictly automotive sales, the profit mar- thanked the organizers and participants for the clude Peugeot, Citroen and Opel-man- gin was 3.7 percent. successful turnout and level of knowledge that aged a net profit of 595 million euros For the 2019-2021 period the carmaker was shared by industry leaders during this in- ($698 million), a drop of two-thirds from intends to keep profitability above 4.5 Burgan Bank will be closed formative event. the same period last year. percent on average thanks to a rebound in It is worth noting that the SAMENA Council is Sales fell 34.5 percent to 25.1 billion sales expected in the second half of this during Eid Al-Adha holiday a tri-regional not-for-profit industry association euros during the period as stay at home year. “We still consider this figure as the orders by authorities kept clients out of minimum, with a strong possibility of established in 2006, which has made major strides car showrooms. By volume car sales fell doing better given the results of the first in representing the interests of telecom operators. KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced ing of Eid Al-Adha. To ensure cus- 45.7 percent. “These past years we have half,” said financial director Philippe de The Council is considered to be the leading plat- yesterday that it will be officially tomers continue to enjoy their banking stressed that for us that lowering the Rovira. Tavares expressed confidence in closed for five days during Eid Al- services during the holidays, Burgan form to provide a unified voice and collaborative breakeven point is a clear strategy for us completing the merger with Fiat Chrysler approach for leading operators and service Adha holiday, starting from Thursday, Bank’s online services will remain op- and the first half of 2020 showed that it is (FCA) and a rebound in the car market. 30th of July 2020 until Monday, 3rd of erational through its website providers in the SAMENA region. The association the right strategy in a chaotic world,” “We are determined to achieve solid re- August 2020 and will resume business www.burgan.com and Mobile applica- includes members from regulatory authorities, chief executive Carlos Tavares said in a bound in the second half of the year, while operators, and ecosystem partners spanning over conference call. finalizing the birth of Stellantis before the on Tuesday, 4th of August 2020. On tion. The dedicated contact center and 25 countries. The company has been focused on end of” the first quarter of 2021, he said in this occasion, Burgan Bank extends its WhatsApp service will also be avail- boosting profit margins in recent years the earnings statement. —AFP best wishes and greetings on the com- able around-the-clock. 11

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Dr. Hamoud Abdullah Alarouj ENT Consultant, Laryngologist Kuwait Board of Otolaryngology. Experienced In: Laryngology Fellowship, McGill Management of benign and malignant vocal cord lesions. University- Canada. Vocal cord augmentation. Fellow of the European Board of Diagnosis and treatment of spasmodic dysphonia. Otolaryngology – Head & Neck surgery. Adenotonsillectomy using latest techniques. Member of the American Academy of Myringotomy and ventilation tube insertion. Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery. Surgery for the deviated nasal septum. Member of the British Laryngological Endoscopic sinus surgery. Association. Diagnosis and treatment of allergic rhinitis. Member of the European Laryngological Tympanoplasty. Society. Diagnosis and treatment of vertigo. Member of the Canadian Society of Thyroid surgery Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery. Diagnosis and treatment of snoring.

To advertise on this Page Call: 24833199 ext:101,102 or Direct line: 24835616 / 24835617 or email: [email protected] 12 Established 1961 Lifestyle Features Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Mosul was an essential stop in the Iraqi Republic Railway system, which for decades linked Baghdad to 72 locations every day via 2,000 kilometres of tracks.—AFP photos

early a century ago, Iraqis and south to Basra, bridging cities and peo- ‘Beautiful days’ NWesterners stood here with tickets ples that now feel brutally blocked off Mosul was Baghdad’s gateway to to Berlin, Istanbul or Venice. from one another. “For just 1,000 or Turkey, and on to Europe. Without this Today, the rusting tracks and over- 2,000 dinars (around $1), we could go way station, the capital is now cut off turned carriages of Mosul’s train station to Baghdad or elsewhere in Iraq,” said from the north: trains from Baghdad only betray the city’s isolation. Battered by Ali Ogla, a father of seven who used to head to Fallujah further west, or Karbala sanctions against the old regime of take the train regularly. “It was a com- and Basra. Today, rust eats into the fad- Saddam Hussein, back-to-back con- fortable way of travelling for sick or ing red, yellow and green paint of an flicts and little investment, the once handicapped people. When it comes to overturned carriage, its cogs and axels grandiose train station in the Iraqi city’s the cargo, we’d be sure it would arrive spilling out onto the track as if it had western half is a shadow of its former on time and in good shape,” Ogla said. been disemboweled. Misshapen car- self. The first train rumbled into Mosul riage doors hang off their hinges and station in 1940 from the capital No money, no maintenance the old columns on the platforms have Baghdad, then roared out to Istanbul to The station was more than just a been ripped apart by gunfire or tagged join the celebrated Orient Express—tak- transport hub: it was Mosul’s economic with black graffiti. ing passengers as far as Paris, 4,400 engine and a source of national pride. The intricate floral mosaics of the gal- kilometres (2,730 miles) away. “The station hosted one of Mosul’s old- leria have been blown to smithereens In the 1950s, novelist Agatha Christie est hotels, coffee shops, gardens, a but part of the rose-coloured stone arrived at Mosul station, which later fea- garage for horse-drawn carriages and entrance is still standing, a tribute to a tured in her detective stories. Mosul was later, for cars,” said railway engineer glorious past. Nur Mohammad, a 37- an essential stop in the Iraqi Republic Mohammed Abdelaziz. Railway and sta- and in 2003, the US-led invasion called “caliphate”. The station, until then year-old housewife, recalled walking Railway system, which for decades tion employees, businessmen, restau- opened the door to a wave of bombing left rusting in the sun, became a battle- through the doors with her grandmother linked Baghdad to 72 locations every rant and cafe owners and taxi drivers all then sectarian violence across the field. “Eighty percent of it was almost a generation ago. “I was 10 day via 2,000 kilometres of tracks. made a living from the train traffic country. Still, trains roared out of the destroyed,” said Qahtan Loqman, years old. We all left together: family, “Every day, there were either passenger through Mosul, Abdelaziz said. King Mosul station every week, either 400 deputy head of Iraq’s northern railway. friends, neighbours. We watched the trains or cargo trains,” recalled Amer Faisal II, toppled in the bloody coup of kilometres south to Baghdad, west to Iraqi security forces won Mosul back in countryside pass by through the train Abdallah, 47, who worked as a train con- 1958, had his own reception room within Syria or north to the Turkish border city 2017 but reconstruction of the city has windows,” she said. “Those were beau- ductor in Mosul up until a decade ago, the station. of Gaziantep. been slow, with thousands still waiting tiful days. And I hope we’ll find them when the last train pulled out of town. Egyptian musical diva Umm Kulthum On May 31, 2009, a truck bomb for compensation for homes destroyed again.”—AFP At the bombed-out station, the father passed through it and in 1970, the sta- destroyed much of the station and in in the fighting. The state has been of five caressed a rusting locomotive, tion agreed to silence its bells and whis- July 2010, the last train left Mosul on a unable to rake in enough oil revenues to his face contorting into a grimace. “My tles during a concert by Lebanese one-way trip to Gaziantep. But things break even and has halted infrastruc- darling,” he said, his nickname for this singer Sabah. But in the 1990s, crip- got even worse: in June 2014, the ture investment. “There is no money train engine. Abdallah and others have pling international sanctions made it Islamic State group overran the city and and no schedule to repair the complex,” fond memories of trips west to Syria or hard to get parts to maintain the trains declared it the Iraqi capital of its so- said Loqman.

espite protests, the removal of two fish. On Monday, the works, weighing 250 mass shooting on the island of Utoya. Dmurals designed by Pablo Picasso and 60 tonnes respectively, were Kjersti Hembre, an architect who was began on Monday from an Oslo enclosed in massive metal supports to be one of founders of the Save The Y-Block government building damaged in right- transported away and stored nearby, protests, told AFP that one of the main wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik’s according to Statsbygg, the public points of contention was that the decision 2011 attack, a project manager said. The agency in charge of overseeing the dem- was made without there ever being a seri- “Y Block”, a government building com- olition. “The operation is very slow” and ous investigation into whether it could be plex named for its shape, is scheduled to should be completed by Thursday or integrated in the new governmental quar- Proceeds from Banksy’s ‘Mediterranean Sea View 2017’ will benefit the Bethlehem Arab be demolished to make way for a new Friday, site manager Pal Weiby told AFP. ter. According to Hembre, the fact that the Society for Rehabilitation hospital.—Getty Images government complex buliding. The build- The plan is to integrate the works into a murals would be incorporated into the ing suffered external damage from explo- new government building scheduled for new structure demonstrated a “lack of sives that Breivik set before going on a completion in 2025. understanding” of the works which not shooting rampage, killing a combined 77 Opponents of the project, both in only adorne the building but are part of its people. On its grey cement walls are two Norway and abroad, have been mobilis- load-bearing structure. “It’s a violation of drawings by Picasso that were sandblast- ing in recent years to save the building, the works that are integrated into the ed by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who calling for it to be renovated and pre- building architecture in an inseparable collaborated with the Spanish master served as has been planned for its neigh- way” Hembre told AFP.—AFP ritish street artist Banksy is to hospital in Bethlehem to build an acute painter. On the facade facing the street, bour, “Block H”. “Block H” was home to Bdonate the proceeds from the auc- stroke unit and buy children’s rehabilita- “The Fishermen” depicts three men haul- the prime minister’s offices until Breivik tion of one of his works, valued at tion equipment, Sotheby’s said. ing their oversized catch onto their boat. blew up a van loaded with 950 kilo- over $1 million, to a Palestinian hospital, In May, a new work by Banksy paying In the lobby, “The Seagull” shows the grammes (2,100 pounds) of explosives at one of his collaborators told AFP on tribute to Britain’s health service and bird, its wings spread wide, devouring a its base, before he went on to carry out a Monday. Titled “Mediterranean Sea View medics battling the novel coronavirus 2017,” the work was auctioned yester- pandemic was installed in a hospital in day at Sotheby’s in London, said southern England. It will later be auc- Wissam Salsaa, director of the Walled tioned to raise money for charities con- Off Hotel which Banksy helped set up in nected to the country’s National Health 2017 in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem Service (NHS). The artist, whose true in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. identity remains a secret, has unveiled The work comprises three oil paint- multiple works in Bethlehem, home of his ings depicting views of raging seas and Walled Off Hotel where all rooms over- shoreline littered with orange life jackets look a concrete section of the barrier and buoys, alluding “to the lives lost at built by Israel to cut off the West Bank sea during the European migrant ‘crisis’ from its territory. Israel says the five- of the 2010s”, according to the descrip- metre (16-foot) concrete barrier is need- tion on the Sotheby’s site. The work, ed to protect it from attack by assailants which used to hang in the entry of the coming from the West Bank.—AFP In this file photo People pass Picasso’s mural art work “The The mural “The Fishermen” by Pablo Picasso and the Norwegian hotel, is valued at $1.5 million, according Fisherman” (left) on the government quarter’s ‘Y building’ in Oslo, artist Carl Nesja is scaffolded at the Y-block in the government quar- to Salsaa. All the proceeds will go to a Norway.—AFP photos ter in Oslo.

onking horns and flashing head- concertos to the region, hit on the drive- Alps providing a dramatic backdrop. Boder said through his car window. ing music, but also to continue being Hlights made for an original form of in format as a way to allow concertgoers With their windows rolled down, some Considered at risk of complications if he careful,” Chappuis told AFP, adding that applause Sunday at a Swiss classi- to attend safely during the coronavirus occupants closed their eyes while others contracted COVID-19, he had remained the organisers had striven for a balance cal music festival staged before a drive- pandemic. On Sunday, the second day were brought to tears by renowned tenor stuck inside for months, Boder told AFP. between the two. “The emotions derived in audience in the heart of the Alps. The of the week-long festival, dozens of cars Ilker Arcayurek’s moving rendition of “Here, I had the opportunity to come and from music and art in general are some- Festival du Lied, which for nearly two filled a large lot in the idyllic village of Schubert’s Fruhlingsglaube. “This is an see a concert without risking going into a thing we have all been missing greatly decades has brought symphonies and Charmey in western Switzerland with the extraordinary concept,” retiree Willy concert hall,” he said. “It is really very during this period.” well done.” The programme this year includes classics performed by international ‘Such a treat’ artists such as opera stars Rachel Marie-Claude Cudry, a middle-aged Harnisch and Marina Viotti, and Baroque journalist and film director, agreed. “A lot recorder virtuoso Maurice Steger. of people, myself included, have really Audiences will also be treated to tradi- missed live music,” she said. “It is such a tional chants in a local dialect, as well as treat being here.” Cars could have no jazz classics by the likes of Ella more than four occupants, who must stay Fitzgerald and Nina Simone. The cars in the vehicles, while up to another 100 are parked in a lot used in winter for people could opt for seats, spaced far skiers waiting to be taken up the moun- apart, to enjoy the concerts in the open tain towering above. A large outdoor air. The festival, created in 2001 by mez- stage is supplemented by a giant screen zo-soprano Marie-Claude Chappuis, was to ensure that performances are visible Austrian Turkish-born opera singer Ilker Arcayurek performs on stage Spectators attend a concert during the classical music “Drive-in reimagined to fit the new COVID-19 reali- to all.—AFP during the classical music “Drive-in Festival du Lied”. —AFP photos Festival du Lied”. ty. “It is very important to continue mak- Established 1961 13 Lifestyle Features Wednesday, July 29, 2020

ollywood star and former Miss “My father and I remain in hospital than two weeks ago but Amitabh, an ly .. treated as one that has carried the World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan under the care of the medical staff,” he avid social media user, has been dis- disease .. a pariah syndrome .. driving Band her daughter have been dis- added. pensing regular messages to his mil- them into deeper depression”, he wrote. charged from a Mumbai hospital where The actress and her eight-year-old lions of fans on Twitter, Instagram and Amitabh Bachchan, idolised in India they were being treated for coronavirus, daughter Aaradhya were initially quar- Tumblr. “I couldn’t hold back my tears”, and affectionately known as “Big B”, her actor husband Abhishek Bachchan antining at home before being moved to he tweeted late Monday, recounting his has worked for more than half a century said Monday. The pair was admitted to the same hospital where her 77-year-old reaction to the news that his grand- in the film industry. hospital a week ago, several days after father-in-law and his son are being daughter and daughter-in-law could He was voted “actor of the millenni- Abhishek and his superstar father treated for the illness. Aishwarya Rai now go home. um” in a BBC online poll in 1999 and Amitabh Bachchan, making then the Bachchan won the Miss World crown in A blog entry posted earlier on became the first Indian actor to be highest-profile family to contract the 1994, and since then became one of Saturday touched on the mental trauma showcased at Madame Tussaud’s virus in India, which has recorded more Bollywood’s most famous faces. She is and stigma suffered by novel coron- celebrity wax museum in London. than 1.4 million cases. “Aishwarya and a regular on the red carpet at the avirus patients, referring to “the stark Mumbai, India’s financial and film capi- Aaradhya have thankfully tested nega- Cannes Film Festival. The elder reality that the CoViD patient, put in hos- tal, has now recorded over 100,000 cas- tive and have been discharged from the Bachchan and his 44-year-old son pitalised isolation, never gets to see es, with more than 6,000 deaths attrib- hospital. They will now be at home,” her Abhishek are both in the hospital’s isola- another human”. Recovered patients uted to the virus.—AFP husband tweeted, thanking fans for tion ward. No health update has been “are afraid to be in public for fear or Aishwarya Rai “continued prayers and good wishes”. issued since they were admitted more apprehension of being treated different-

ohnny Depp’s blockbuster libel law- produced a statement from Depp’s doctor suit wrapped up yesterday after three concluding that the actor “romanticises Jweeks of graphic testimony in which the drug culture” and was only going the star admitted to years of drug abuse through rehab for show. “We are a crime but denied beating ex-wife Amber Heard. scene waiting to happen,” Depp told The “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise Heard after one fight. But he also por- hero is suing the publisher and executive trayed his wife as a manic aggressor who editor of Britain’s The Sun tabloid in was making up the allegations for money London’s High Court over a 2018 story and personal fame. Depp said Heard’s calling him a “wife beater”. The 57-year- claims turned him “from Cinderella to old rejects accusations of repeatedly hurt- Quasimodo in 0.6 seconds”. This rare file photo taken in the 1930s shows ing the 34-year-old actress over a three- Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum.—AFP year span that ended with Heard’s 2016 Fatal attraction decision to get a restraining order and file Heard countered that Depp’s drug for divorce. Depp’s former American habit made him an unrecognisable “mon- fiance Winona Ryder and long-term File photo shows US actor Johnny Depp ges- File photo shows US actress Amber Heard ster” who would go on days-long binges in French partner Vanessa Paradis both tes- tures holding a bunch of flowers as he leaves arrives at the High Court for the libel trial by which he lost control. She accused him of tified on his behalf. after a hearing in his libel trial against News her former husband US actor Johnny Depp throwing bottles at her “like grenades” and But The Sun’s lawyer called Depp a Group Newspapers (NGN), at the High Court against News Group Newspapers (NGN) in striking her in the face with a phone. “Jekyll and Hyde” character who was in London.—AFP London. “Some incidents were so severe that I was “controlling and physically abusive afraid he was going to kill me, either inten- towards Ms Heard”—especially when he think the damage is done,” said London movements and by Hollywood.” Judge tionally or just by losing control and going was on drugs. “The defendants have PR agent and crisis consultant Mark Nicol is at liberty to award his own dam- too far,” she said in a witness statement. established that many more than one inci- Borkowski. “Even if he wins, it’s going to ages figure in what UK media have “He explicitly threatened to kill me be a Pyrrhic victory.” The odds dubbed “the biggest English libel trial of dent of wife-beating took place over the many times, especially later in our relation- he was one of the Arab world’s favour Depp because England’s strict libel the 21st century”. course of the relationship,” defence lawyer ship.” Yet both Heard and Depp acknowl- most revered singers, praised by laws put the burden of proof on the media. Sasha Wass said in her closing submis- edged loving each other deeply on their Bob Dylan and sampled by That puts one of Britain’s most popular ‘Cinderella to Quasimodo’ S sion Monday. good days. “We had had a wonderful year Beyonce: the late Egyptian legend Umm newspapers in danger of having to cover The trial kicked off with three days of Depp’s legal team will make its closing together where he was sober,” she said. “I Kulthum seems worthy of having a street huge court expenses and pay damages in gruelling cross-examination in statement on Tuesday. Judge Andrew loved him and I didn’t want to lose that.” named in her honour. But when that the middle of a media industry crisis made which Depp admitted only hazily recalling Nicol is then expected to take some days Depp conceded that Heard did her best street is in Israel, a country she con- even worse by the coronavirus pandemic. some episodes because he was high and poring over 12 bulging volumes of evi- trying to get him off drugs in 2014. “She demned while championing the The Sun’s defeat could also imperil drunk. Depp revealed at one stage that he dence submitted in a case that was born does have a heart and she understands Palestinian cause, a decision to honour Heard’s Hollywood career. “If The Sun started snorting cocaine to kick his addic- at the hight of the #MeToo movement. the pain I was experiencing,” he told the the vocalist branded “the Star of the wins, Heard will likely be viewed as a tion to prescription painkillers. He argued court.—AFP East,” has triggered controversy. Haifa— brave crusader in the domestic violence that he was suffering “uncontrollable ‘The damage is done’ Israel’s third largest city, where roughly and #MeToo arena.” said defamation case spasms” during withdrawal and was in “no Some legal experts say Depp’s reputa- 10 percent of its 300,000 residents are lawyer Emily Cox. “If The Sun loses, Heard physical condition” to hurt Heard in one tion will have trouble recovering even if Arab—decided earlier this month to hon- could well find herself ostracised by those alleged incident. The Sun’s lawyers also The Sun is forced to retract its claim. “I our the woman whose deep, resonant voice was also adored by many Jews. The decision highlights the diversity of the city, “which represents a model of co- existence between Arabs and Jews,” Haifa town council head Einat Kalisch- Rotem said. Umm Kulthum, who died aged 76 in 1975, performed in Haifa in ohnny Depp made his name and for- the 1930s when the city was in British- tune playing off-beat characters from mandated Palestine before Israel’s cre- JWilly Wonka to Captain Jack ation in 1948. Haifa councillor Raja Sparrow, all the while beating an increas- Zaatreh said honouring Umm Kulthum is ingly destructive off-screen path like his ollywood star Johnny Depp’s libel the couple’s bed after the couple had an appropriate way of recognising the hero Marlon Brando. Pouring out his own case against British tabloid The another huge fight on the night of “presence and roots” of Israel’s Arab pain and eccentricities into his roles, Sun saw three weeks of claim and Heard’s 30th birthday party in April community, which regularly faces dis- H Depp earned a reputation as a versatile counter-claim, as it pored over his two- 2016. Depp said it was left there as a crimination. star and teen heartthrob through sensitive year marriage to actress Amber Heard. sick joke by either Heard or one of her performances in early films such as Here are five stand-out revelations from friends. It was discovered by the cou- ‘Shameful’? “Edward Scissorhands” and “What’s After the Umm Kulthum honour was London’s High Court. ple’s maid. Depp admitted laughing Eating Gilbert Grape”. He cemented his about it when a friend texted him photos announced, Haifa newspaper Kol Po status as Hollywood’s talismanic maverick published a front page black-and-white The severed finger of the faeces with the inscription “Amber with blockbuster hits including the “Pirates Depp released a graphic photo Turd”. Depp said he knew then that his File photo shows US actor Johnny Depp picture of the singer with some of her of the Caribbean” saga. arrives to attend his libel trial.—AFP lyrics scrawled across the image. “Now I showing a severed fingertip that he marriage was effectively finished. But his bitter London court libel battle claimed Heard caused by throwing a Heard blamed the incident on the have a gun, take me in, Palestine, with over newspaper claims that he beat his times for an Oscar, including his leading you,” were the printed lines from one of vodka bottle at him during a violent row. couple’s dog, which Depp said was ex-wife Amber Heard laid bare the 57- role in 2007’s “Sweeney Todd: The His former estate manager said he “physically impossible” because the her songs dedicated to the Palestinians. year-old’s turbulent private life involving Demon Barber of Fleet Street”, but has yet During the 1967 Six Day War, the artist found the 57-year-old actor’s fingertip turd was too large. Heard filed for rows, drink and drugs. Born June 9, 1963 to win one. Depp has also frequently shortly after the fight, which took place divorce in May 2016, obtaining a tempo- sometimes dubbed Egypt’s “Fourth in Owensboro, Kentucky, Depp set out returned to his first love of music, collabo- Pyramid”, also performed a song that while the couple were staying in rary restraining order against Depp. The trying to be a musician as a teenager and rating with Oasis, Alice Cooper and Australia. divorce was settled in January 2017. willed her nation to victory against Israel. sold ballpoint pens before dabbling in Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. Writing in Kol Po, a lawmaker from the Heard claimed Depp injured his fin- acting. He made his big-screen debut in He is estimated to be worth around gertip, which was later reattached, Violence right-wing Likud party, Ariel Kallner, said the cult Wes Craven thriller “A Nightmare $200 million, earning $20 million per film, he was “saddened” by Haifa’s decision to when he smashed a telephone into the Heard alleged Depp headbutted her on Elm Street” in 1984. according to CelebrityNetWorth.Com, and honour a woman “who called for the wall during the row. Depp admitted writ- the night before she appeared on From there, he launched into a suc- lives between homes in France, Los destruction of the Jewish state”. ing a message to Heard on the wall and James Corden’s “The Late Late Show” cessful television career as a baby-faced Angeles and an island he owns in the He vowed to find ways to block the floor with flowing blood, and then dip- in 2015, and he subjected her to undercover police officer in the popular Bahamas. But he told London’s High street-naming. And Prime Minister ping his finger into a can of paint to con- “punching, slapping, kicking, head- series “21 Jump Street.” In 1990, he Court he had made $650 million thanks to Benjamin’s Netanyahu son Yair, a vocal tinue writing when the bleeding butting and choking”. The “Pirates of the played “Edward Scissorhands,” a shear- the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and often bombastic social media com- stopped. He admitted being drunk and Caribbean” star also “explicitly threat- fingered creature with a heart of gold who and then lost it, claiming his former busi- mentator, tweeted that the honour was on drugs at the time. ened to kill me many times,” Heard brings a bit of magic and joy to a small ness managers stole it. He once claimed “shameful and crazy”. Despite alleged in written testimony. Depp town with fanciful topiaries and cutting- he was spending more than $30,000 a Netanyahu’s outrage, his father’s govern- Drugs and alcohol strongly denied hitting her or any edge hairdos. He brought a similar sense month on wine alone, and spent lavishly ment supported a festival in 2013 that Court testimony reinforced Depp’s woman, and submitted counter-evi- of whimsy to his Oscar-nominated role as on art and property. reputation as one of Hollywood’s wild dence claiming she physically abused “Peter Pan” creator J.M. Barrie in 2004’s included a night devoted to Umm Kulthum’s work. And Haifa is not the first men, with several witnesses testifying to him during the marriage, including hit- “Finding Neverland,” in which he tries to Over-indulgence Israeli city to honour “the Lady of Cairo”. binges on drink and drugs. Heard ting him with a “haymaker” punch. His create fantasy worlds for four boys and Depp has dated a string of high-profile In 2011, the mainly Arab Beit Hanina showed the court a photograph of a pint former partners, the French actress and their widowed mother to find refuge in. celebrities including Hollywood actress of whisky, four lines of cocaine and her singer Vanessa Paradis, and Hollywood Winona Ryder and the British supermodel neighbourhood in east Jerusalem named a ex-husband’s skull and crossbones “pill star Winona Ryder, both submitted Oscars nearly-man Kate Moss. He was with the mother of his street after her and a similar move is box”. Depp claimed Heard was an statements defending him, saying he Depp also portrayed his hero, the two children, the French singer and planned in the central city of Ramla. But enabler, despite his well-documented was kind and non-violent. renegade journalist and drug aficionado actress Vanessa Paradis, for 14 years. as the trend has spread, Jewish outrage battles with addiction. Hunter S. Thompson, in “Fear and Before settling down with Paradis and appears to have grown. Writing in the She “poured me the whisky and Infidelity claims Loathing in Las Vegas.” It was on set of into fatherhood, Depp displayed an infa- Israel Hayom newspaper, commentator cocaine was visible in front of her, and I Heard denied Depp’s claims that she one of Thompson’s lesser-known works, mous wild streak that once again emerged Eldad Beck sounded an alarm about the have experienced many times with Ms had affairs with the Hollywood actor “The Rum Diary” that he met and starred after their break up in 2012. The actor’s string of Umm Kulthum honours. “It started Heard that she would in fact chop the James Franco, and the billionaire Tesla opposite Heard in 2011. But he has also over-indulgence, echoing the middle-aged with Jerusalem, then Ramla and has end- cocaine up for me so that I could do the and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. She taken on heavier roles in dramas like decline of screen icon Brando whom Depp ed up in Haifa,” Beck wrote, blasting the line and then she would press her finger dismissed suggestions that Musk visited 2001’s “Blow,” in which he portrayed a “worshipped”, was revealed in painful push “to commemorate one of the biggest into it and ingest it orally,” he alleged. her regularly at night from March 2015, big-time drug dealer and 1997’s “Donnie detail in the London court. He married and most influential enemies of Israel, who Heard denied the claims. The court was not long after the couple wed. “I wasn’t Brasco”, where he plays an undercover Heard in 2015, but their relationship quickly wanted to annihilate the state”. also shown a photo of Depp apparently even in communication with Elon until detective who infiltrates the mob. fell apart amid accusations of drunken- Reducing the controversy surrounding passed out on the floor. The actor said 2016,” she told London’s High Court. In recent years, Depp has emerged as ness, substance abuse and physical Umm Kulthum to tensions between Arabs he began using cocaine to help break Depp admitted to piques of jealousy, the star of Disney’s billion-dollar block- assault. They split in 2016 and divorced in and Jews underestimates her wide array of his addiction to powerful prescription which Heard said fuelled many of their buster “Pirates of the Caribbean”, as the 2017. Depp admitted taking drugs but devotees, said Jonathan Mandel, an painkillers. fights.—AFP rum-swilling sea dog Captain Jack denied he was ever violent towards his Arabic language and culture researcher at Sparrow in all five films. The role earned wife or any other woman. —AFP Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He Whodunnit? comparisons to another of his heroes, stressed that Mizrahi Jews, meaning those One of the most surprising aspects of Rolling Stones hard-living guitarist Keith from North Africa and the Middle East, are the case was a photograph of faeces in Richards. He has been nominated three equally attached to her music. —AFP 14 Established 1961 Sports Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Photo of the day Warner hails England nemesis Stuart Broad SYDNEY: Australian batsman David Warner yesterday heaped praise on his Ashes nemesis Stuart Broad, who is on the brink of 500 Test wickets, joking selectors should drop the paceman more often. Broad, who has 499 wickets going into Tuesday’s fifth day of the third Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford, dismissed Warner cheaply seven times in 10 innings during last year’s drawn Ashes series in England. Broad’s future was questioned when England left him out of the first Test against the West Indies, only for the bowler to roar back to form in the second Test, then propel his team toward victory in the third with six wickets and a swashbuckling half-century in the first innings. “I think they should drop him again,” said left-handed batsman Warner, who had a torrid time against Broad and scored just 95 runs at an average of 9.5 during the 2019 series. “I don’t know why they dropped him for that first game but it’d be nice if I was to play there again and he wasn’t playing,” he told reporters. Warner said Broad, 34, had been “outstanding” in the past year and a half and he could not understand his omission from the first Test. “I think he’s a world-class bowler. In the past 18 months he’s really worked hard on pitching the ball up,” he said. “He’s obviously got a hell of a record against left-handers and his capability to bring the ball back off the wicket into the right-hander is another string to his bow.” Warner said Broad and long-time new-ball partner Jimmy Anderson, who have bagged more than 1,000 Test wickets combined, created a high-pressure environment at the crease. “You just can’t go after them, they don’t take their foot off the pedal,” he said. “These guys have the ability to restrict runs,” he said. “In England, they bowl a length where if you drive, you’re probably going to nick, (but) they Kaito Toba, motorcycle racer, competes at the Qatar Stop of the MotoGP World Championship. — Photo taken from www.redbullcontentpool.com can also hit the stumps, so you can’t just leave it. “In English conditions, they know how to get wickets.” —AFP Scots to meet World Cup conquerors Japan in eight nation tournament Tournament will be divided into two pools of four teams

LONDON: Scotland will get the chance to avenge Italy in Rome. their defeat by 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts The matches will be played over four consecu- Japan when the Six Nations countries along with tive weekends with finals day on December 5, the Japanese and crowd-pleasing Fiji compete in when the winner of Pool A would face the winner an eight nation tournament from November 14 to of Pool B, second in Pool A would meet second in December 5 British media reported yesterday. Pool B, and third playing third and fourth against The final matches of the Six Nations — Italy v fourth. Official confirmation of the schedule and Ireland and the full round of final games which the venues is expected in August. were postponed due to the lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic in March — will be played ‘FURTHER IMPACT’ on October 24 and 31 according to a proposed England’s Premiership Rugby have already plan by World Rugby. voiced their discontent with the dates and the The usual tours by southern hemisphere heavy- French League (LNR) are sure to follow suit. weights to the northern Both have been critical hemisphere will not take of the way in which the place as the Rugby talks about the resched- Championship is likely to uled calendar have been take place after the Six conducted and the Nations finishes. Temporary Premiership say seven The Six Nations and amendment weekends of international Championship dates are matches is too many. TOKYO: File photo shows Japan players celebrate after beating Ireland 19-12 in a huge upset at the Rugby due to be voted on by “Premiership Rugby World Cup tournament in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture. World Rugby Council and its clubs have already tomorrow. The eight offered compromises and nation tournament in agreed to stretch the allow the campaign to be completed before next from cricket at The Oval — 1000 members only Europe will be divided into two pools of four international window from four weekends to six, summer’s Lions tour (of South Africa). were permitted — to the final day of Glorious teams. offering a solution that would allow the completion “So a further temporary amendment to regula- Goodwood racing Festival this Saturday where According to the reports, England will face of the Six Nations tournament, accommodate an tion nine, which governs player release for Test 4000 will be allowed in but a maximum of 500 in Wales, Ireland and Fiji in one group, with the latter extra game with England v Barbarians, and allow matches, for weekends in December, would have a eight enclosures. two fixtures at Twickenham and the venue of the for the four international matches in the November further impact on the Premiership and needs to be The Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill first game still to be decided. window,” it said in a statement. avoided.” Sweeney has said he hoped 40,000 fans could be Wales are believed to want to play their autumn “The Premiership has also agreed to start the Whether spectators will be allowed to attend allowed in to Twickenham, which has a capacity of Tests in London. In the other pool, Scotland will 2020-21 Premiership Rugby season during the the internationals has yet to be decided. There are 82,000, but The Times suggests the limit will be host Japan and France at Murrayfield and face 2020 international window, on November 20, to several pilot schemes being hosted at the moment 28,000. —AFP

injuries. England’s group contains eight players who matter of whether or not we could David Willey were members of the World Cup squad, with captain Golf’s 2020 co-ordinate any international stars Eoin Morgan joined by experienced white-ball cam- to visit,” Brookhouse said. “The paigners Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Adil uncertainty of the quarantine relishing England Rashid. Australian Open requirements for any players coming Kent batsman Joe Denly, who was dropped from the from outside Australia needed to be ‘second chance’ Test side after the series opener against the West Indies, postponed considered,” he said, noting that the has now joined the England one-day “bubble”. The restrictions would also impact MANCHESTER: David Willey said he was determined to Ireland series, which starts on Thursday, will be played SYDNEY: This year’s Australian Australian players currently over- make the most of a “second chance” with England after under similar bio-secure regulations to the Tests, with Open Golf Championship was post- seas. being recalled Monday into the squad for an upcoming all the matches taking place behind closed doors. poned yesterday because of the “These are very challenging times one-day international series at home to Ireland. Left- England’s red and white-ball fixtures are overlapping coronavirus pandemic but officials for all Australians and the uncertain- arm paceman Willey, 30, missed out on England’s tri- in a season cut short by the coronavirus outbreak and said they were hoping to restage the ty the global pandemic has caused umphant World Cup campaign last year after a change they are maintaining two separate squads, with a Test event early in 2021. makes it very difficult to be defini- in qualification rules saw him make way for Barbados- series against Pakistan to follow the ongoing West Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf tive in relation to future dates at this born fast bowler Jofra Archer. Indies series. That means Test skipper Joe Root and fel- Club had been due to host the 105th time,” Brookhouse said. Having long been a part of the England white-ball low World Cup-winners Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris edition of the historic championship, Australia closed its borders to set-up, Willey could only watch as Archer bowled the Woakes and Archer will not feature against Ireland. “We the world’s fifth oldest professional most international travellers in Super Over that sealed a thrilling victory against New are developing excellent strength in depth in white-ball golf tournament, in November. March to curb the spread of COVID- Zealand in a dramatic final at Lord’s. cricket,” said England selector James Taylor. “Even But with the country battling a 19, although exceptions have been “I’d love to have played in the World Cup for England though a number of Test players are unavailable, there is surge in COVID-19 cases and the made for some professional athletes and I don’t think anything is going to make up for being great competition for places.” Thursday’s opening ODI game’s stars facing major tourna- who agree to quarantine for 14 days. dropped at the 11th hour, but that’s the nature of the will be the first match of the ICC’s new World Cup ments moved to later in 2020, Golf While most of the country has beast,” Willey told Britain’s Press Association. Super League, which will determine qualification for the Australia operations manager Simon successfully contained the epidemic, “Somebody had to miss out and it was me.” 2023 50-over World Cup in India. Brookhouse said they would instead Melbourne is struggling to control a look at a “January to March 2021 second wave of the virus, closing ‘FREE HIT’ England squad window”. nearly all travel into the city and sur- Willey, the son of former England batsman and Test Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali The US Masters, originally sched- rounding Victoria state. umpire Peter Willey, added: “Now I have a second (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Tom uled for April, will now be played in Last year’s Australian Open in chance and it almost feels like a free hit for me. “If it Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent, wkt), Tom Curran Augusta from November 12-15. Sydney was plagued by smoke from goes well, that’s great, but if it doesn’t then I’ll enjoy it (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Coupled with COVID-19 travel unprecedented bushfires. It was won while it lasts.” England’s 14-man squad for a three-match Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), restrictions and quarantine meas- by Australia’s Matt Jones. The post- series at the Ageas Bowl, Hampshire’s headquarters, also Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince ures, that means it would be almost ponement means 2020 will be the includes another recalled left-arm seamer in Reece (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire) Reserves: Richard impossible to assemble a world-class first year since World War II in Topley. The 26-year-old last played international cricket Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Liam field in Melbourne. which the Australian Open will not in 2016 but has since suffered several major back Livingstone (Lancashire). —AFP “Unfortunately, it is not a simple be held. —AFP 15 Sports Wednesday, July 29, 2020 China will limit their boys from Brazil, says top FA official Ambitious China will turn into a team of Brazilians SHANGHAI: China’s football squad will be limited Qatar 2022. “I don’t see any resistance, honestly, but to “three or four” Brazil-born players, a senior offi- we need to develop. It’s not a long-term strategy or cial told AFP, as ex-Chelsea star Oscar expressed approach.” an interest in becoming the latest Brazilian to repre- Liu, speaking before Oscar’s comments came to sent the world’s most populous country. light this week, added: “We’re not going to have Unless there is a radical policy change by FIFA, two-thirds of the squad from Brazil. the Shanghai SIPG attacking midfielder will not be “We might have two or three, three or four prob- able to play for China because he has featured in ably, but that’s it.” competitive games for Brazil, including at the 2014 World Cup. THWARTING THE VIRUS But it is indicative of a landmark shift in Chinese The English-speaking Liu, 48, who took on the football that Oscar said: “I can think about (playing senior post in August last year, was talking from for China) because, as I said, it’s difficult to go to Suzhou, one of two cities hosting matches in this the Brazilian national team now because I’m here.” Oscar, who moved from Chelsea for an Asian- record 60 million euros in January 2017, has seen Guangzhou Evergrande’s Brazil-born forwards Elkeson and Aloisio called up by China in the past We need to year as they seek to qualify for the next World Cup in 2022. develop At least three more Brazilians, also attackers, have become naturalised or are close to doing so, GUANGZHOU: File photo taken on October 10, 2019 shows China’s Li Ke (L) and Elkeson celebrating after according to media. winning the 2022 Football World Cup qualifier between China and Guam in Guangzhou. —AFP But Chinese Football Association secretary-gen- eral Liu Yi laughed off the notion that ambitious China will turn into a team of Brazilians in a quick Liu said that while the first round of matches sporting and cultural events. fix to reach the World Cup in Qatar. year’s rejigged Chinese Super League. went “better than expected” and the small resur- “Yes, it was a bit longer than everybody thought, President Xi Jinping wants China to become a The CSL kicked off on Saturday, five months late gence of the virus has had no real impact, he is on but it’s worthwhile,” he added. football superpower but the country has made the and behind closed doors because of the coronavirus guard. “We have another 13 rounds of the competi- “At the moment I can say that we are very safe, World Cup only once, in 2002, when they left with- pandemic. tion so this is just the start of the entire process,” he we’re playing the competition in a very safe and out a point or a goal. As part of strict safety measures, eight teams are cautioned. comfortable environment.” “We had a little bit of concern when we gave the stationed at a single hotel in Suzhou, near Shanghai, Several football leagues in Europe and Asia Liu said that shelving the CSL for 2020 was nev- passport to Elkeson or whoever,” Liu said in a rare and the other eight in Dalian. Players cannot see returned from the virus before the CSL, but Liu er an option, even as the delay and pandemic interview by a senior Chinese football official. their families for two months. said: “Our central government, and I think it’s cor- dragged on, but the CFA will not be afraid to sus- “But the good thing is that, dramatically, Chinese Dalian has seen a small cluster of infections in rect, they are more cautious about the lives. pend play if a player or coach tests positive. fans love to have a few (naturalised) players in the recent days and China recorded 68 cases nationally “We were the first country and Wuhan was the “We’re definitely going to put a brake on the squad as long as they can make the Chinese team on Tuesday, the highest daily figure since April, first city to have an outbreak of the virus so we’re season, but it would be very unlikely that we’d can- better and take us to the World Cup, hopefully although still far lower than many countries. more cautious about what we’re doing, especially cel it,” Liu said. — AFP Rossi double helps LAFC get revenge Fulham in charge of play-off semi after LOS ANGELES: Diego Rossi scored twice in a 4-1 rout of champions Seattle Sounders as Los Angeles FC secured a quarter-final place in the MLS is Back Onomah’s magic Tournament on Monday. Rossi scored an early penalty and then snaked LONDON: Fulham took control of their through the defence for a second eight minutes Championship play-off semi-final against from time in the battle between the two Western Cardiff as Josh Onomah’s superb strike Conference heavyweights. Latif Blessing in the inspired a 2-0 win in the first leg on Monday. 39th minute and Brian Rodriguez in the 89th also Onomah’s moment of magic early in the second got on the scoresheet for LAFC at the tournament half was followed by a fine free-kick from in Orlando, Florida. Neeskens Kebano as Scott Parker’s side domi- It marked a measure of revenge for LAFC who nated in south Wales. lost to Seattle 3-1 in last year’s Western Fulham will be firm favourites to advance to Conference final. Seattle went on to beat Toronto the final at Wembley when Cardiff visit Craven for the MLS championship. LAFC were missing Cottage in the second leg tomorrow. Fulham, star striker Carlos Vela, who scored a league who finished fourth after missing out on auto- record 34 goals in 2019, but opted out of this com- matic promotion on the last day of the season, petition for family health reasons. are now unbeaten in eight matches. Rossi was brought down by Xavier Arreaga in “I’m pleased with the result. We need to the 14th minute but got up to slot home the penal- REUNION, FLORIDA: Diego Rossi #9 of Los Angeles FC is fouled and gets a penalty during a round of stay level and there is still a lot of football to be ty. He embarrassed Arreaga again in the 82nd 16 match of the MLS is Back Tournament between Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC at ESPN Wide played,” Parker said. “Overall we were out- minute when he knocked through his legs before World of Sports Complex on July 27, 2020 in Reunion, Florida. — AFP standing. We had real control about us, caused firing a low shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei and them a lot of problems and Onomah’s skill has could have had more goals if he had capitalized on come through.” Relegated from the Premier numerous chances. Martinez. But Magnus Eriksson put San Jose in but more than anything is how they play,” San Jose League last season, Cardiff were 14th when Sounders’ elimination comes one day after New front with the first of two second-half penalties in coach Matias Almeyda said. Neil Harris replaced Neil Warnock as manag- York City sent Toronto FC packing with a 3-1 win in the 49th minute. Vako made it 3-1 before Salt Lake’s “The best thing for a coach is being able to get er in November. They eventually finished fifth, a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference semi- Damir Kreilach got one back in the 75th minute. the max level out of each individual player because but failed to recapture the form that carried final. Earlier, the San Jose Earthquakes continued Chris Wondolowski in the 86th minute and I know that will allow us to have growth.” The “MLS them into the play-offs in a disjointed first-leg their impressive tournament run by reaching the Eriksson then sealed the victory for San Jose who is Back” tournament is being staged at a single performance. quarter-finals with a 5-2 defeat of Real Salt Lake. will next face either Columbus or Minnesota United location in Orlando, Florida after a four-month shut- “We have to defend better for the first The teams were locked 1-1 at half-time after on Saturday. down because of the coronavirus pandemic. The goal. We didn’t lay a hand on him,” Harris said. Cristian Espinoza’s 21st-minute opener for San Jose “The team is growing game after game, showing tournament champion will earn a place in the 2021 “There was no consistency in refereeing deci- was pegged back a minute later by Douglas a very positive attitude, their unity, their sacrifice, CONCACAF Champions League. — AFP sions, but it is a great free-kick from Kebano. “I told the players I have been in play-off finals where I have been behind. The first goal “We had breakfast. I’m not sure how at Craven Cottage will be key.” Klopp named much he remembers but I remember Swansea beat Brentford 1-0 in the other UEFA hits out at decision because for me this moment was like semi-final first leg, with the second leg at LMA Manager meeting the Pope. It was absolutely great Griffin Park on Wednesday. Fulham were and from that first season we clicked. without the Championship’s top scorer to hold Greek Cup final “I didn’t think at this moment I would Aleksandar Mitrovic, who Parker rested due of the Year have a trophy in my hands named after to a “slight” injury problem. him.” Chris Wilder, last year’s winner of ATHENS: UEFA official Herbert Huebel on Monday expressed With Mitrovic sidelined, Fulham made a the award, settled for the runner-up slow start as they chased promotion back to his dissatisfaction at the Greek football federation’s decision to LONDON: Jurgen Klopp was voted the spot this time after Sheffield United’s hold its national Cup final on August 30. The Champions League the Premier League after last year’s relega- League Managers’ Association Manager of impressive first season back in the tion. Cardiff went close to taking an early lead final is scheduled for August 23 in Lisbon, and Huebel believes the the Year on Monday after ending Premier League. date for the Greek Cup final is too late to decide which clubs when Leandro Bacuna’s drive forced an awk- Liverpool’s 30-year wait to win the Premier Meanwhile, Klopp wants to retain a ward save from Marek Rodak, but Robert qualify for next season’s European competitions from the country. League. Klopp led Liverpool to the Premier lean squad to ensure Liverpool remain “FIFA and UEFA strongly support and recommend the com- Glatzel was unable to turn in the rebound League title in the same season they were competitive next season. The Reds boss after a superb tackle by Michael Hector on pletion of all national competitions, including the Greek Cup, FIFA Club World champions. used 24 players in the Premier League before the end of the current season and before August 3, the the goalline. The German’s award was announced this term. Klopp gave chances to some Lee Tomlin and Junior Hoilett combined to date announced by UEFA for the submission of final scores and by former Manchester United boss Alex of the club’s academy players in the FA the clubs that will represent Greece in the European inter-club set up Glatzel moments later, but his shot was Ferguson, after whom the trophy is now and League Cups to cope with fixture straight at Rodak. Fulham eventually found competitions,” Huebel said in a statement. named. “Jurgen, fantastic,” Ferguson said congestion. The final between Olympiakos and AEK Athens was originally their rhythm and Cardiff keeper Alex Smithies on Sky Sports. “We speak about Leeds But he believes keeping as small a core denied Onomah at the far post after the mid- scheduled for July 26 but the former refused to play at a smaller spending 16 years in the Championship, as possible keeps the players on their stadium in Rizoupoli instead of the Athens Olympic Stadium. fielder stretched to reach Kebano’s cross. but Liverpool 30 years since winning that toes. “The solution cannot be to have a Tom Cairney was inches away from break- However, Olympiakos wanted the match to be played this league, incredible. much bigger squad for the specific Sunday and were also angry at the new date. “The new decision ing the deadlock in first half stoppage-time “You thoroughly deserved it. The per- moment and then realise you cannot use when the Fulham midfielder’s curler clipped the not only ridicules Greek football but mainly alters the integrity of formance level of your team was out- all the players,” Klopp said. the top event as the transfer window starts on August 3 and so on outside of the post. Onomah had scored in standing. Your personality runs right “These players can only play the foot- Fulham’s win over Cardiff on July 10 and he August 30 the rosters of the teams will not be the same as those throughout the whole club. It was a mar- ball they play because they know they played during the season,” Olympiakos said in a statement. tormented them again as the 23-year-old put vellous performance. are needed. “They are all human beings Parker’s team ahead in the 49th minute. Olympiakos called on UEFA, FIFA and the Greek government “I’ll forgive you for waking me up at and nobody can be held back for a year “to not allow this shame”. “We call on them to intervene now to Harrison Reed found the former Tottenham 3.30am to tell me you have won the and then on the last day of the year be trainee and he turned Marlon Pack, then change the decision of the ‘uneducated advisers’ who instead of league! Thank you, but anyway, you thor- told, ‘Now we need you’. promoting the good of Greek football, serve selfish interests. weaved past Sean Morrison and Curtis Nelson oughly deserved it. Well done.” Former “In between now and then there before stroking a low finish into the bottom Apathy in the face of corruption creates complicity,” Olympiakos Borussia Dortmund boss Klopp said of must be a lot of training and support said. Huebel was appointed three years ago by FIFA as chairman corner. Democratic Republic of Congo winger Ferguson: “I know it’s not 100 percent and challenges stuff like this. “The size Kebano capped Fulham’s mature display in of a monitoring committee to ensure oversight of the operations appropriate as a Liverpool manager but I of the squad is not that important to and processes of the Greek federation. — AFP stoppage-time when he smashed his free-kick admire him. I remember he was the first me, the quality of the squad is very past Smithies from the edge of the area. — AFP British manager I met. much so.” — AFP Established 1961 Sport

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020

Scots to meet World Cup conquerors China will limit their boys from Rossi double helps 14Japan in eight nation tournament 15 Brazil, says top FA official 15 LAFC get revenge

ST PETERSBURG: Yoshitomo Tsutsugo No 25 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits in the second inning during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. —AFP MLB rocked by virus outbreak Brewers rally in 9th, take down Pirates in 11 innings CONCACAF LOS ANGELES: An outbreak of COVID-19 rocked Major Colin Moran homered twice for Pittsburgh, and Jarrod left forearm strain. JaCoby Jones hit a three-run homer for League Baseball on Monday, forcing the postponement of mul- Dyson added a two-run single. the Tigers while Victor Reyes added a solo blast and drove tiple games less than a week after the sport launched its season in two runs. reveals WCup following a four-month coronavirus delay. METS 7, RED SOX 4 Major League Baseball confirmed in a statement that games Pete Alonso hit a missile for his first home run of the season, ASTROS 8, MARINERS 5 qualifying shake-up between the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles in Florida, Dominic Smith and Michael Conforto also went deep, and visit- Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve both slugged their first home and the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in ing New York won at Boston. runs of the season while Brandon Bielak produced 3 1/3 innings MIAMI: The final round of CONCACAF’s quali- Pennsylvania, had been scrapped. Alonso, the home run champion a season ago with a of effective relief in his major league debut as host Houston fying tournament for the 2022 World Cup is to The decision followed reports that 10 more members of the record-setting 53 as a rookie, put a 1-for-12 start behind him beat Seattle to claim a four-game series. be expanded from six to eight teams, the gov- Marlins — eight players and two coaches — had tested positive with a two-run blast over the Green Monster as the Mets Bielak (1-0), recalled earlier on Monday after ace right-han- erning body for football in North America, for the coronavirus following Sunday’s game against the Phillies snapped a two-game skid. Smith’s homer drove in three runs, der Justin Verlander landed on the 10-day injured list with a Central America and the Caribbean confirmed in Philadelphia. Four Marlins players — pitcher Jose Urena, first and Conforto hit a two-run shot. Seth Lugo pitched 1 1/3 forearm strain, retired the first eight batters he faced after on Monday. baseman Garrett Cooper, outfielder Harold Ramirez and catcher scoreless innings for his first save. entering in the fourth inning. He wound up allowing two runs CONCACAF said in a statement that five Jorge Alfaro — had already tested positive for COVID-19. Mitch Moreland and Xander Bogaerts homered and (one earned) on four hits while striking out four without a walk. teams — Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Major League Baseball said in a statement the games had been each had two RBIs for the Red Sox, who lost their third Rookie first baseman Evan White staked the Mariners to a Jamaica and Honduras — would automatically postponed in order to allow for additional testing. straight at home. Boston pitching has given up seven runs in 3-0 lead with his first career home run, a two-run blast to left- start in the final eight-team round robin league Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s Hunter Renfroe swatted two home each of the defeats. center off James in the top of the third. The Astros rallied for where 3.5 berths for the 2022 finals in Qatar will runs, including back-to-back shots with Joey Wendle in an four runs in the bottom of the inning against Mariners starter be up for grabs. eight-run fourth inning, as the Rays beat the Atlanta Braves 14- PADRES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2 Kendall Graveman (0-1). Those five teams will be joined by three 5 on Monday in St Petersburg, Fla. Fernando Tatis Jr. capped a five-run fourth inning with a teams who emerge from two rounds of prelimi- The Rays sent up 11 batters in the deciding frame against bases-loaded triple, leading host San Diego to a victory over BLUE JAYS 4, NATIONALS 1 nary qualifiers which will involve the remainder Atlanta starter Mike Foltynewicz (0-1) — using four hits, three Arizona. The Padres won three of the four games in the season- Teoscar Hernandez hit two home runs and Rowdy Tellez of CONCACAF’s 35 FIFA member nations. walks and a hit batter to extend their winning streak to three opening series. In the first inning, Trent Grisham hit his first and Danny Jansen each had one as Toronto won at Those preliminary rounds will get under games. The eight runs were Tampa Bay’s most in an inning since home run as a Padre. The Diamondbacks got both of their runs Washington. way in October, with 30 teams drawn into six scoring nine in the first against Toronto on Oct. 4, 2015. in the third inning, on a Starling Marte RBI double and an Ryan Borucki (1-0) allowed one hit and a walk with two groups of five. Rays starter Tyler Glasnow fired four strong innings, strik- Eduardo Escobar RBI single. San Diego starter Joey Lucchesi strikeouts in 1 1/3 relief innings to gain the victory. Anthony The six group winners will then meet in three ing out nine, walking two and allowing just a solo homer. Diego allowed two runs on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 3 Bass pitched around a single in ninth to earn his first save of the two-legged second round games, with the win- Castillo (1-0) worked a perfect fifth, and Tampa Bay pitchers 2/3 innings. Cal Quantrill (1-0) followed with 1 1/3 scoreless season. ners of each tie advancing to the final round of recorded 19 strikeouts, setting a team record for the most in a innings. Arizona’s Luke Weaver (0-1) gave up six runs on seven Washington starter Anibal Sanchez (0-1) allowed four runs qualifying. nine-inning game. hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. on six hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked one. The final round of qualifiers will start in June Foltynewicz, who allowed six runs on four hits in 3 1/3 Toronto starter Trent Thornton allowed one run, eight hits and 2021 before reaching their conclusion in March innings, was designated for assignment after the game. Matt ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 0 two walks while striking out three in four innings. 2022 — eight months before the World Cup Adams and Dansby Swanson both homered for Atlanta. Chris Bassitt combined with five relievers on a nine-hitter kicks off in Qatar. and Mark Canha hit his first home run of the season as host WHITE SOX AT INDIANS, PPD. In the final round, each team plays each oth- CUBS 8, REDS 7 Oakland took three of four in its season-opening series with The scheduled opener of a three-game series at er on a home and away basis with the top three Jon Lester tossed five hitless innings, but visiting Chicago Los Angeles. Bassitt pitched into and out of trouble in his four Cleveland was postponed due to inclement weather and will finishers qualifying for the World Cup. The had to hold on for a victory over Cincinnati after nearly blowing shutout innings, allowing five hits and one walk. He struck out be made up as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday. The fourth-placed team will enter a playoff against a a seven-run lead. Anthony Rizzo homered for the third time on five. Burch Smith (2-0), T.J. McFarland, Yusmeiro Petit, Jake makeup game will start at 3:30 p.m. ET with the originally team from a different region. the young season while Steven Souza Jr. and David Bote each Diekman and Soria took it from there, limiting the Angels to scheduled game following approximately 45 minutes after The qualifying shake-up came after the had two RBIs for the Cubs, who have totaled 17 runs during four hits over the final five innings to cap a series in which the completion of the first game. coronavirus pandemic forced cancellation of back-to-back wins. The Reds fell behind 8-1 before scoring all Oakland pitching allowed just 11 runs. The Angels finished the several FIFA international windows, making of their runs against a Cubs bullpen that allowed seven runs on game with the potential tying run at the plate, but Mike Trout ORIOLES AT MARLINS, PPD. CONCACAF’s previous qualification plans six hits and eight walks in four innings. After plating two runs in struck out looking against Soria with runners at first and sec- Miami’s scheduled home opener against Baltimore was unworkable. the ninth, Cincinnati still had the bases loaded with one out. ond. Trout went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a walk. postponed, as was the game scheduled for Tuesday between In a statement, CONCACAF President Victor However, Jeremy Jeffress entered and struck out Phillip Ervin the two teams, after more than a dozen members of the Marlins’ Montagliani said the new format offered greater and got Joey Votto to line out to center field on a 3-2 count. ROYALS 14, TIGERS 6 roster and staff reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. The opportunity for World Cup qualification to Maikel Franco smacked two of Kansas City’s six homers, games scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday between the teams in the region. BREWERS 6, PIRATES 5 (11 INNINGS) including a three-run blast to cap a six-run fourth inning, as clubs in Baltimore have yet to be impacted. “All teams now have the chance to compete Eric Sogard’s RBI double in the 11th inning gave Milwaukee they spoiled Detroit’s home opener. Franco notched his first for direct access to Qatar 2022 and dream of a win and spoiled Pittsburgh’s home opener. After the Brewers multi-homer game since July 26, 2018. Whit Merrifield had YANKEES AT PHILLIES, PPD. playing at a World Cup,” Montagliani said. scored four runs in the ninth to force extra innings, Brock Holt three hits, including a two-run homer, scored three runs and The opening game of a scheduled two-game set between “We have also respected the positions of started at second in the 11th and scored on Sogard’s one-out knocked in three more for Kansas City. Jorge Soler, Salvador New York and host Philadelphia was postponed as a precau- those nations which had already mathematically shot down the line in left against Dovydas Neverauskas (0-1). Perez and Brett Phillips also homered in the victory. tion following the Phillies’ season-opening series with Miami, qualified for the Final Round under the previous David Phelps (1-0) pitched scoreless ball in the 10th and 11th Foster Griffin got the win in his major league debut, toss- which experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 among its play- system.” —AFP innings for the Brewers. ing 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief before departing with a ers and staff. —Reuters