editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780www.thepeninsulaqatar.comTuesday 26 August 2014 • 30 Shawwal 1435 • Volume 19 Number 6169

C E R T I F I E D N E W S P A P E R

ISO 9001:2008

Business | 17 Sport | 24

Qatar Exchange index jumps by 112.38 points

Qatar’s Barshim winshigh jump epic

Rafah crossing woes

A Palestinian man, hoping to cross into Egypt, holds his daughter as he waits at the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Report on page 5

UAE, Egypt ‘plot’ Tripoli strikes

DOHA: A high-level joint com-mittee has been set up to review rules for organising events and exhibitions.

The idea is to encourage local players to get involved in the ‘events and exhibition’ business.

The committee will conduct a study on the local market with the help of exhibition organising companies and partners to meet its requirements to increase the participation of exhibitors.

The panel comprises repre-sentatives from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Qatar Tourism Authority and Qatar Chamber.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The most-awaited F-Ring Road, which will con-nect Hamad International Airport (HIA) to merge with the Industrial Area Road, is set to open by mid-September, Al Sharq reported yesterday, quot-ing a source in Public Works Authority — Ashghal.

Contracting companies are busy giving final touches to sup-porting infrastructure on the 8km ring road, such as sewage and other installations. Firms have fixed side barriers, signals and other road safety requirements.

Once work on each segment of the road is completed, the project will be handed over to a consult-ant for final inspection. The con-sultant will submit a report to

another entity for review, which will be handed over to Ashghal.

F-Ring Road will enhance con-nectivity of the Industrial Area to HIA and Doha and is expected to reduce pressure on other vital roads, including D-Ring and E-Ring roads. It will also improve connectivity to Salwa Road via E-Ring Road, which will intersect at Al Obaidly Roundabout, now an intersection.

This will avoid frequent traffic jams and reduce time of motorists using E-Ring Road to access the Industrial Area, Central Market and Salwa Road.

The road starts from Air Force intersection (formerly a roundabout) and passes through South Thumama to West

Thumama, via Mesaimeer, behind Barwa Residential Complex (Mesaimeer Masakin), through Woqod Roundabout to merge to Industrial Area Road.

According to the report, con-struction work on almost all seg-ments of the eight-lane road are nearly complete, including work on a 688-metre long underpass, which also has eight-lanes (for to and fro traffic), each with a maxi-mum width of 3.65 metres.

Work on a 128-metre long over-bridge, part of the road, is near-ing completion. Finishing touches are being given to interlock of the flyover and street pillars are being provided with power.

THE PENINSULAContinued on page 3

DOHA: A team of researchers at the Agriculture Research Department, Ministry of Environment, has announced a scien-tific discovery to cure a popular disease related to date palm, QNA reported yesterday.

The researchers have not only found the reasons responsible for black spots (fungi) on date palm leaves but also discovered and isolated a resistant micro-organism (bacterium) to cure it. The findings are part of a coveted project initiated to pioneer in the field of date palm research in the world.

The project, in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medical College (Qatar), was funded by the National Science Research Priority Programme, which had allocated about QR16.4m ($4.5m) to complete the research. The research team discovered the micro-organism from the same environment which has the ability to resist and cure the fungi.

THE PENINSULAContinued on page 3

US administration kept in dark about air raids on militias: NYT reportDOHA: Twice in the past eight days, Egypt and the UAE have secretly teamed up to launch air strikes against militias battling for control of Tripoli, Libya, The New York Times reported, quoting four senior American officials.

Washington was caught by sur-prise by the act of Egypt and the Emirates. Both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington or seek-ing its consent, leaving the Obama administration on the sidelines, the US daily reported.

Egyptian officials explicitly denied the operation to American diplomats.

The UAE has not commented

directly on the strikes. But on Monday, an Emirati state news-paper printed a statement from Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, calling ques-tions about an Emirati role “an escape” from the recent election he suggested showed a desire for “stability” and a rejection of the Islamists.

Allegations about the UAE role, he said, came from a group who “wanted to use the cloak of reli-gion to achieve its political objec-tives,” and “the people discovered its lies and failures”.

The report said: Since the military ouster of the Islamist president in Egypt one year ago,

the new Egyptian government, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have formed a bloc exerting influence on countries around the region to roll back what they see as a competing threat from Islamists. Arrayed against them are the Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood that sprang forward amid Arab Spring revolts.

Several officials said US diplo-mats were fuming about the air strikes, believing they could fur-ther inflame the Libyan conflict at a time when the United Nations and Western powers are seeking a peaceful resolution. “We don’t see this as constructive at all,” the

NYT quoted one senior American official as saying.

The strikes have also proved counter-productive so far: The Islamist militias fighting for con-trol of Tripoli successfully seized its airport the night after they were hit with the second round of strikes.

US officials said Egypt had pro-vided bases for the launch of strikes. President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and other officials have issued vigorous but carefully worded public state-ments, denying any direct involve-ment inside Libya by Egyptian forces. THE PENINSULA

Continued on page 3See also page 6

F-Ring Road to open by mid-SeptemberPanel to review holding of expos Discovery to cure black

spots on date palm leaves

02 HOMETUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

www.marriottmarquisdoha.com44195000+ 974

+ 974 44195100

www.swiss-belhotel.com

www.doha.hilton.com44233333 974+

44233000 974+

TelFax

Tel

Tel

Fax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

Tel

Fax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

Tel

Fax

TelFax

Fax 44298888+ 974

Greeting cables sent to UruguayDOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable of congratulations to the President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, on his country’s National Day.

The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani sent a simi-lar cable.

Kerry thanks Qatar over scribeDOHA: The Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah yester-day received a telephone call from US Secretary of State John Kerry who thanked Qatar for efforts made to secure the release of US jour-nalist Peter Theo Curtis in Syria.

New chairman for WISH forumDOHA: The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), has appointed Dr L Suzanne Suggs, Associate Professor of Social Marketing and Head of BeCHANGE Research Group, Institute for Public Communication, Universita della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, to chair its Communicating Complex Health Messages Forum.

Suggs will lead a multidis-ciplinary working group of experts to produce evidence-based research and recom-mendations to address key challenges facing policymakers, governments and other groups responsible for communicating difficult and complex health policy issues.

The forum will assess, among other things, public under-standing of the science behind complex health issues; define what complex health issues are, and analyse how commu-nication differs between non-complex and complex health issues with different audiences.

QNA

DOHA: The Moroccan Prime Minister, Abdul Ilah bin Kiran, yesterday met the Finance Minister H E Ali Sherief Al Emadi in capital Rabat.

Discussions focused on ways of bolstering relations between the two countries. Qatar and Morocco also signed a grant agreement to finance two devel-opment projects.

Al Emadi signed the deal with the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance, Mohammed Bou Said, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Aziz Akhannouch.

The cost of the two projects is estimated at $170m.

Implementation of the projects comes within a series of development initiatives under-taken by Morocco.

The first project involves development of pastures and organising movement in desert and semi-desert pas-tures in Sous-Massa Draa and Guelmim-Es Semara regions.

It aims to improve the pas-toral environment and upgrade living and educational con-ditions for the people of the region. The second project is part of a national programme to expand irrigation to improve living conditions for the people of the region and promote and develop their organisational and occupational capacities. QNA

The Moroccan Prime Minister, Abdul Ilah bin Kiran, with the Finance Minister H E Ali Sherief Al Emadi. (Below) The Finance Minister signing a grant agreement in Rabat.

Qatar signs deal to finance two projects in Morocco$170m initiatives to develop pastures, irrigation in desert regions

DOHA: The Emergency Department at Hamad General Hospital (HGH) has received between 30 and 40 heat exhaustion cases daily during the last week.

In July, the department received 77 cases of heat -related illnesses and 118 in June.

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has urged people to take extra precautions and safeguard themselves against heat illnesses such as exhaus-tion and stroke.

Heat exhaustion is a con-dition whose symptoms may include heavy sweating and a rapid pulse as a result of the body overheating. It is one of three heat-related syndromes, with heat cramps being the mildest and heat stroke the most severe.

Causes include exposure to high temperatures, particu-larly when combined with high humidity, and strenuous physi-cal activity. Without prompt treatment, heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, a life-threatening condition. Fortunately, heat exhaustion is preventable.

“We are asking people, espe-cially outdoor workers, to take

care during this period as we have seen a sudden surge in cases of heat exhaustion due to the sharp rise in humidity,” said Emergency Department Chairman, Prof Peter Cameron.

He said people who work out-doors are highly susceptible to heat exhaustion. “It is impor-tant to ensure people exposed to the sun and heat take rest at regular intervals between 10am and 3pm, which is the hottest period of the day because that is when we see more cases.”

According to Prof Cameron, majority of patients being seen are young men, including those with underlying illnesses which aggravated their conditions.

“Only a few patients required short stay at our facility because they have other health condi-tions aside the heat exhaustion. Otherwise, a good number are mild cases.

“Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion may develop suddenly or over time, espe-cially with prolonged periods of working under high humid-ity or exercising. Possible heat exhaustion symptoms include cool, moist skin with goose bumps when in heat, heavy sweating, faintness, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, rapid pulse,

low blood pressure upon stand-ing, muscle cramps, nausea, and headache.”

Professor Cameron said every patient suffering from heat exhaustion was given prompt treatment, including intravenous fluids and electro-lytes to quickly rehydrate them.

“Colleagues should also watch for signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion in their co-workers and once they discover some-one in distress, they should take immediate action by giv-ing them cold drinks, bring-ing them to a shaded and cool area.” He said if the affected person does not improve or shows drowsiness or confusion, an ambulance should be called immediately.

“The sudden rise in heat stroke cases took everyone by surprise, but I reiterate that cases in general are not on the rise this summer compared to last year. It shows that most construction companies are complying with the government guidelines for outdoor workers.”

HMC urged anyone experi-encing signs and symptoms of heat illnesses to seek urgent professional advice or dial 999 for Ambulance Service.

THE PENINSULA

Hospital received 30-40 heat exhaustion cases daily last week

Al Zaman Exchange customer wins prize

As part of the ‘Win Everyday Promotion’ held by Xpress Money during Ramadan, Mohammed Sultan Saheeruddin, a customer of Al Zaman Exchange, won the grand prize. The prize was presented by Al Zaman Exchange Operation Manager, Zubair Abdul Rahiman, in the presence of Xpress Money Country Head, Vimal Nair, and Al Zaman Exchange Senior Accountant, Shajahan.

03TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comHOME

Campaign to counter myths about cancerBY FAZEENA SALEEM

DOHA: With 10 percent of deaths caused by cancer in Qatar, a campaign has been launched to counter myths about the disease and urge peo-ple to seek medical advice when needed.

The National Cancer Program (NCP), a collaboration between the Supreme Council of Health, Hamad Medical Corporation and Primary Health Care Corporation, recently released two videos featuring influential people and activists in Qatari society, highlighting the impor-tance of cancer awareness and calling on everyone in Qatar to take action against the disease and shatter myths about it.

Emma Walsh, Programme Manager, Cancer Prevention, Awareness and Early Prevention at NCP, during a discussion yes-terday, said, “There is strong stigma for people to receive diag-nosis and go to society.”

She also said that people delayed screening and that prevents early detection of cancer and they end up going to the hospital when the disease has struck deep roots.

“Many people with suspected

cancer do not show up for screen-ing. They come to the emergency department with other complica-tions at a late stage of cancer,” said Walsh.

Breast cancer is more common in the country, while the preva-lence of lung cancer is also high.

The first video, titled “#QatarAgainstCancer”, features NCP’s Cancer Champions, who are a group of high-profile per-sonalities in Qatar who endorse the programme, promote healthy lifestyles and encourage cancer screening.

It features Dera Al Dosari, media consultant for the Ministry of Youth and Sports and a TV pre-senter; Buthaina Al Ansari, HR Director of Ooredoo and founder and chairperson of Qatariat; Wedad Al Kuwari, distinguished Qatari writer and screenwriter known for her popular Gulf drama series; and Hassan Al Sai, a media personality known for hosting Qatar Radio’s ‘Watani Al Habib’ and Qatar TV’s ‘Al Dar’ programmes.

In the video, they urge people to “break the silence barrier” and ask them to come forward to fight cancer in the country.

In the other video, titled ‘I

Pledge to Stand Up to Cancer,’ another five Cancer Champions take a pledge to take action to fight cancer in Qatar with the aim of raising cancer awareness in the country.

The video features famous Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi, Katara’s Public Relations Director Malika Al Shuraim, iLoveQa-tar’s co-founder Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon, who is also head of Interactive and Innovation at Vodafone Qatar, popular Qatari stand-up comedian Hamad Al Amari, and fashion designer Fahad Al Obaidly.

In the video, the Cancer Champions take a pledge to end myths about cancer and to seek medical advice when needed. Most importantly, the Cancer Champions pledged to spread hope and courage among those fighting the disease.

The videos are on YouTube, are being aired by Al Rayan TV and will be screened in cinemas across Qatar in September.

In October, NCP will hold a slew of programmes to raise awareness about breast cancer, especially in universities and at the Women’s Hospital.

THE PENINSULA

Prominent Qatari personalities appear in videos

US experts train MoI staff

UAE provided aircraft, pilots

DOHA: A three-day work-shop on money laundering and drug trafficking, organ-ised by the Drug Enforcement Administration under the Ministry of Interior started at the DEA headquarters yester-day. It is being held in association with the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

The workshop will cover topics including money laundering and the drug trade, different stages of

money laundering and terrorist financing, financial investigation, sources of money laundering, field monitoring and delivery monitor-ing etc.

Top experts and officers from the US DEA office in Dubai will give lectures during the workshop.

Captain Muhammad Abdullah Al Khater, head of the Studies and International Affairs Section of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said that the

workshop was aimed at strength-ening the capacity of participants from various search and investiga-tion departments, such as DEA, Preventive Security Department, and CID, in their search and investigation operations against money laundering.

He added that money launder-ing was interconnected with drug-related crimes as drug were the main source of the funds.

THE PENINSULA

Staff from the Ministry of Interior at a workshop on money laundering and drug trafficking yesterday.

Indian based in Doha diesDOHA: Vipin Chandran, a res-ident of Doha for the last three years, died in Koothattukulam in the southern Indian state of Kerala yesterday. He was in his hometown for the funeral of his father.

The 25-year-old Vipin was electrocuted while doing some maintenance work, officials in his company said yesterday.

He was working for Helpline Services, a Doha-based firm. His funeral will be held today.

THE PENINSULA

Work unaffected by summer timings

Pesticide use will be reducedContinued from page 1

Massoud Jarallah Al Marri, Director of the Agriculture Research Department, said: “This is a very important discovery which will substantially reduce the use of pesticides. This great discovery will not only benefit the agriculture (date palm) but also protect the environment.”

Al Marri said that the research-ers have also found out the kind of environment and ideal condi-tions in which the fungi grows and prospers rapidly.

Another member of the research team, Dr Noha Fareed Al Badawi, said: “Now in the labo-ratory we have isolated five fungi

and a bacterium, which has high ability to suppress all these fungi and stops their growth.”

“From these bacteria we can also produce cure for pathogen-eses responsible for the disease, which will replace the pesticides and insecticides that are harmful to the environment and people,” Al Badawi said.

Yet another scientist, Dr Ali Al Kharbatli, who is also the team-leader in the research project, added: “We have successfully man-aged to isolate the fungi, which belong to Trichoderma family, causing problems to the date palm leaves and productivity.”

THE PENINSULA

Continued from page 1

Work on the installation of a long, 40-inch diameter water pipe is also progressing rapidly.

The source in Ashghal also stressed that the project will be completed on time as work on the road construction was not affected by the mandatory summer work-ing schedule implemented by the Ministry of Labour.

Between June 15 and August

31, all companies have to resched-ule their working hours, giving a break to workers engaged in work outdoors from 11.30am to 3pm.

The road will provide better connectivity between southern Doha and the western areas of the city, including Abu Hamour, Muntaza, Ain Khalid and the Central Market.

THE PENINSULA

Continued from page 1

The officials said that the UAE — believed to have one of the most effective air forces in the region, thanks to American aid and train-ing — provided the pilots, war-planes, and aerial refuelling planes necessary for the fighters to bomb Tripoli out of bases in Egypt.

The first strikes occurred before dawn a week ago, hitting positions in Tripoli controlled by Islamist-friendly militias, blowing up a small weapons depot and killing six people.

A second set of air strikes took place south of the city early on Saturday, hitting rocket launchers, military vehicles and a warehouse, all controlled by Islamist-allied militia.

Responsibility for the air strikes was initially a mystery. After the first set, several American officials initially said that signs pointed to the United Arab Emirates, but some said that the evidence was not conclusive.

A former Gaddafi official now consulting with the Emirates,

meanwhile, argued on condition of anonymity that the strikes must be the work of the United States, contending that Western powers wanted to ward off the danger posed by Libya’s Islamists.

On Monday, however, American officials said that the second set of strikes had provided enough evidence to conclude that the Emirates was responsible, even providing the refuelling planes necessary for fighters to reach Tripoli from Egypt.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Loyola International School Doha (LISD), a new Indian school approved by the Supreme Education Council (SEC), has started orientation for parents who have got their children enrolled there.

The school is all set to com-mence the academic year next month. The school’s campus, spread across 5,000 square metres, is located on Al Andalus Street at Al Sadd (Fereej Al Nasr).

With a special focus on the quality of educational facilities, a balance between academics and extracurricular activities, a lush green campus with outdoor play areas, Loyola International School is making all efforts to ensure the development of its students’ mind, body and soul.

Speaking about the enormous response received by the school, its director said: “We are very thankful to all the parents and their children who have visited the school campus till date for admissions or enquiries.

“We are extremely thrilled to bring the Loyola Authentic Magical Programme (LAMP), an innovative development pro-gramme that will be used by the staff and teachers of LISD

to continuously monitor the performance of every child and provide ongoing reports to the parents.”

The school is also establishing an online Campus Management System, that will be used for com-munication between the school and parents about the various aspects of their child’s progress and attendance, and parents can use this system to make special requests to the teachers and management of LISD.

The LISD director also

expressed sincere gratitude to the SEC for its timely advice and approvals, as well as all par-ents who have trusted the school and confirmed their children’s admissions for the upcoming term, and assured them of the school’s commitment to continu-ous enhancement of its academic and non-academic facilities.

The location map and other details of the campus and the school are available on its web-site (www.lisdoha.com).

THE PENINSULA

Orientation begins at new school

The premises of Loyola International School.

04 HOMETUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Al Jazeera Media Network opens Innovation ChallengeDOHA: The Innovation and Research group at Al Jazeera Media Network has kicked off its first major community initiative with an online Innovation Challenge. It is an open competition aiming to elicit new ideas about storytelling in mobile and web applications.

The Innovation Challenge competition offers substantial rewards, including the possibility of future incubation of winning ideas, invitations to large innovation events in the future, and $25,000 in cash prizes.

In a statement yesterday, Morad Rayyan from Al Jazeera Innovation and Research invited soft-ware designers, technologists and developers from around the world to participate:

“The topic of exploration for this first Challenge will be ‘non-linear narratives’.

“Typically, the stories and content we create and consume are linear, and follow a logical, cause and effect structure. Yet our minds and memo-ries work in a non-linear way, and this offers an opportunity for new types of storytelling, and new methods of media consumption.

“The applications and software put together for the Innovation Challenge should provide new, flexible, and reusable methods of creating or con-suming such non-linear narratives.”

Al Jazeera is looking for participants from its global audience with a variety of expertise, ranging from idea conception, through design/prototyping, and all the way to development. Full eligibility requirements are available at the Challenge website.

Early registration is encouraged so participants can start drafting their submissions, or browse existing submissions as they begin appearing.

Challenge participants can also team up through the platform with others who are look-ing for assistance with their ideas, which would be helpful considering that the time period for submissions is limited.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Hamad International Airport (HIA) is preparing for an increase in arriving passengers before schools in Qatar reopen.

Staff at HIA have taken a range of measures, including extending the queue layout at the taxi pick-up points to ensure passengers receive quick travel services, deploying extra staff in the terminal to offer guidance and advice, and placing additional baggage trolleys in the baggage reclamation hall.

Members of the public collect-ing arriving passengers can avail of free parking at HIA for the first 30 minutes in the short-term car park; thereafter, car parking is charged at QR5 per hour. Prior to exiting the passenger terminal, payments for the short-term car park must

be processed at the parking pay-ment machines located in the bridge connecting the Passenger Terminal Complex to the car park.

Free parking can also be found in the long-term car park, which includes a bus ride to the bus termi-nal at HIA. All unattended vehicles parked on the curb side throughout the HIA facility will be towed away by the authorities.

Abdulaziz Al Mass, Vice President Commercial at HIA, said: “We are much better equipped to handle the increase in passenger traffic this summer, and with the modern technology available to us at Hamad International Airport, we can ensure that all our passengers enjoy a seam-less, hassle-free experience.”

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Charity (QC) and the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) have signed a memorandum of understanding to take their cooperation to a new level.

The agreement was signed by Yousef bin Ahmad Al Kuwari, CEO Qatar Charity, and Fahmi Bulent Yeldrim, President of IHH, at QC’s headquarters recently.

The deal takes the lim-ited and seasonal nature of cooperation between the two organisations to a strategic and permanent level. It is expected to bring together QC and IHH in immediate, medium and long-term joint efforts to serve their humanitarian goals and to rationalise the use of their resources to achieve maximum impact.

Al Kuwairi said that their immediate focus was to jointly provide relief to war-affected regions like Syria, Palestine and Iraq, and they would also do joint relief projects in other countries, like the Central African Republic, Myanmar and Turkmenistan, among others.

He said they were not allocat-ing a specific budget for specific projects at present and that they would keep their budgets open to the needs of people they are providing relief.

Yeldrim said aggravation of humanitarian crises across the world and the prevalence of poverty on a large scale require various actors to increase their cooperation and partnership in

relief and development works to achieve the desired humanitar-ian and development objectives in line with, but not limited to, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and other regional and international initiatives.

The agreement will allow QC

and IHH to exchange exper-tise and information, integrate their roles and projects, benefit from each other’s resources and capabilities and engage in joint initiatives.

Following the signing of the agreement, both sides dis-cussed the most important joint

initiatives that can be entered into and agreed to hold a two-day workshop in the next couple of months for professionals from both organisations to prepare a joint action plan within the framework of the memorandum of understanding.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: With effect from October 26, 2014, Qatar Airways will increase the number of daily flights to Dubai International Airport (DXB) to 14 and to Dubai World Central Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) to four.

Doha-Dubai (DXB) has the high-est frequency in Qatar Airways’ route network. The route is now served by the airline 91 times a week, and this number will increase to 98. Flights to DWC, now numbering 21 a week, will increase to 28 a week.

The additional daily flight to DXB will depart at 1000 hours, arriving in DXB at 1210, and the return flight will leave DXB at 1330, arriving in Doha at 1335. To DWC, the fourth daily flight will depart at 0130, arriving in DWC at 0340, and the return flight will leave DWC at 0625, arriving in Doha at 0630 hrs.

Qatar Airways has revised its Doha and DXB departure timings to signifi-cantly improve customer convenience. The 14 daily flights will depart from

Doha on the hour and from DXB on the half hour. With the convenient timing of the flights, local passengers will have greater flexibility added to their travel plans.

Apart from DXB and DWC, Qatar Airways also operates three flights a day to Sharjah and six daily flights to Abu Dhabi, and is the only airline which operates to these four airports in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “We are dedicated to increasing our presence in key markets like the UAE and adding capacity on one of our most popular routes like Dubai demonstrates this commitment. As one of our closest neighbours in the Gulf, it is of key importance to offer excellent and frequent air travel con-nections to the UAE, and the increase in capacity will offer our passengers an even wider variety of options when they are looking to reach their final destinations.”

THE PENINSULA

QC, IHH to boost cooperationTwo charity groups to benefit from each other’s resources, expertise

Yousef bin Ahmad Al Kuwari, CEO of Qatar Charity, and Fahmi Bulent Yeldrim, President of IHH, exchange documents after the signing of an agreement yesterday.

QA increases number of flights to Dubai

Airport prepares for back-to-school rush

Qatari youth to take part in GCC workshopDOHA: A Qatari youth delegation will participate tomorrow in a work-shop organised in Bahrain by the GCC general secretariat under the theme of “Building Society and Youth Initiatives.”

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has urged the delegation’s members, whom it has nominated, to actively interact and participate in discussions dur-ing the two-day workshop to underline the role of Qatari youth on all fronts.

The ministry’s youth activities department said that all members of the delegation must do their best in representing Qatar and share the expertise they gain in the workshop with their peers in Qatar.

QNA

Going green important to people in Mena regionDOHA: Some 96 per-cent of respondents in a poll in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region consider going green is important to their lifestyle, and half of them said that they were encouraged to use email or online resources instead of printing out documents.

The recently conducted Bayt.com poll on ‘Green Workplaces in the Middle East and North Africa’ revealed that there is a keen desire in the region to adopt a greener life-style, both at work and at home.

For 72.5 percent of respondents, going green is something very impor-tant to their lifestyle, with a further 23.2 percent considering it ‘moder-ately’ important. Some 80 percent stated that envi-ronmental issues, such as pollution and conserva-tion of natural resources, concern them ‘to a large extent’, demonstrating that despite low aware-ness of technical concepts such as carbon footprints (with only 27.7 percent of survey respondents say-ing they are “very aware” of the concept), there is a significant desire among Mena residents to begin living more sustainably.

Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, were considered the most up-and-coming technologies by 71.3 percent of the respondents. Alternative fuel vehicles, such as those that run on elec-tricity, will take off in the future, according to 16.3 percent. Four in 10 (42.3 percent) respond-ents currently use public transportation to travel to their workplace.

“There seems to be growing awareness on the importance of sustainabil-ity and green energy,” said Suhail Masri, VP of sales, Bayt.com. “More than 40 percent of respondents use public transporta-tion to go to work. That’s a very positive number. Also, imagine if alterna-tive fuel vehicles were adopted by the 39.3 per-cent of respondents who drive to work. It could mean significant carbon savings.”

When at work, more than half (52.3 percent) of respondents say that they reuse items rather than throwing them away. Paperless offices are popular, with 49.1 percent stating they are encouraged to use email or online resources all the time rather than printing

out documents, and 30.2 percent stateed that they were ‘sometimes’ encour-aged to do so, though they still relied heavily on print-outs on certain occasions. A fifth (20.6 percent) of the respondents said that they were required to have paper copies of eve-rything. Recycling boxes are provided in 43 per-cent of Mena offices, and seven in 10 (66.4 percent) respondents recycle paper at work, and 49.8 percent recycle paper at home.

Interestingly, 74.1 per-cent of respondents stated that they did not conserve energy or water, either at home or in the office. Despite this, eight in 10 (83.7 percent) claimed to use energy-efficient light-ing at home, and 71.2 per-cent of the respondents claimed that their compa-nies used energy-efficient lighting for the office.

More than half (57.8 percent) put their compu-ter into sleep mode when not using it.

Data for the poll was collected online from June 24 to August 12, 2014, from 7,925 respondents from Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Sheikh Eid Bin Muhammad Al Thani Charitable Association will launch a fresh charity drive to collect QR100m to support Gaza.

A three-day campaign titled “Gaza, ihna laha” (Gaza, we are for it) will start on August 28, 2014. The drive is being launched in collaboration with local TV channels, radio stations, newspapers and commercial centres, QNA reported yesterday.

“The Association pledged to provide QR100m aide to Gaza people in three phases,” said Ali Khalid Al Hajari, who is in charge of foreign projects at the char-ity. “The first phase includes an urgent relief package worth QR30m,” he added.

So far, the Association has spent

QR81.5m on a relief package for Gaza people.

Of this, QR11.5m was allocated to buy food and medicines, treatment of the wounded and shelters for the displaced in the first phase. In the second phase, the foundation spent QR40m to repair and rebuild houses and other facilities that were destroyed. In the third phase, QR30m was earmarked to provide a source of income to families affected by the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The group has been providing humani-tarian aid to people in Gaza for several years, including food and medical services and building mosques, Islamic centres and schools, said Al Hajari.

THE PENINSULA

Eid charity to collect funds for Gaza

05TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comMIDDLE EAST

GAZA CITY: Violence rever-berated across Gaza with at least eight Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes yesterday as Egypt proposed a new ceasefire that would open key crossings into the blockaded territory.

Since an earlier truce collapsed on August 19, the death toll in Gaza has risen steadily with 110 Palestinians killed in more than 350 Israeli air strikes across the territory. Over the same period, more than 650 rockets have struck Israeli territory, one of which killed a four-year-old boy over the weekend, army figures show. Around 110 rockets were shot down.

Since midnight on Sunday, 30 Israeli strikes killed eight Palestinians, including a woman, a 78-year-old man and a three-year-old boy, raising the Gaza death toll to 2,131, with 10,890 wounded according to the emer-gency services.

On the Israeli side, 68 people have been killed, the vast major-ity soldiers. Yesterday, 71 rockets fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, while another nine were shot down, the army said.

But there was also increasing talk about a possible new ceasefire agreement which would see dele-gations return to Cairo to resume discussions on an Egyptian pro-posal to broker a longer-term end to the violence.

“There is an idea for a tem-porary ceasefire that opens the crossings, allows aid and recon-struction material, and the dis-puted points will be discussed in a month,” a senior Palestinian official said in Cairo. “We would be willing to accept this, but are waiting for the Israeli response to this proposal,” he said, requesting

anonymity because of the sensi-tivity of the negotiations.

Another Palestinian official said Egypt might invite Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams to return to Cairo within 48 hours.

“Efforts are ongoing to reach an agreement,” Hamas spokes-man Sami Abu Zuhri said, with-out going into specifics.

Daud Shihab, Islamic Jihad’s spokesman, confirmed such efforts were under way.

“The success of contacts (talks) to reach a ceasefire depends on Palestinian demands being met,” he said. There was no immedi-ate comment from Israel, with Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev saying Israel’s position of no negotiations under fire had “not changed”.

But Israeli Science Minister Yaakov Peri, an observer at the security cabinet and former head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, said if the rocket fire stopped, it was likely talks would resume, although probably not immediately. “I don’t think it will be a matter of a few hours,” he told army radio. “I think this time Israel will try to make sure over several more hours or a day that the ceasefire is holding.”

“If a ceasefire ... sticks, there is a good chance that the prime minister will instruct the del-egation to return to the talks in Cairo,” he said in a separate inter-view with public radio.

“Generally, we will agree to open the crossings,” he said, referring to Erez and the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing for humanitarian aid, which Israel was “also willing to increase”.

Regarding Gaza’s Rafah cross-ing with Egypt, “that is a deci-sion for the Egyptians,” although

TEHRAN: Tehran will “accel-erate” arming Palestinians in retaliation for Israel deploying a spy drone over Iran, which was shot down, a military com-mander said yesterday.

Iran, which does not recog-nise the existence of Israel, has confirmed it supplied Palestinian fighters from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad with the technol-ogy for the rockets being fired relentlessly into Israel from Gaza since July 8. “We will accelerate the arming of the West Bank and we reserve the right to give any response,” said General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of aerial forces of Iran’s elite Revolutionary

Guards, in a statement on their official website sepahnews.com.

Last month, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the Islamic world to arm Palestinians to allow them to coun-ter what he called Israel’s “geno-cide” in Gaza. He also said Israel was acting like a “rabid dog” and “a wild wolf”, causing a human catas-trophe that must be resisted.

The death toll from seven weeks of violence in Gaza rose to 2,124 on the Palestinian side yesterday. Sixty-eight Israelis have been killed, four of them civilians and the rest soldiers. Since a ceasefire arrangement collapsed on August 19, more than 650 rockets have

struck Israeli territory from Gaza and around 100 others have been shot down.

Iran’s warning came a day after the Guards said they had downed an Israeli “Hermes” stealth drone above the Natanz uranium enrich-ment site in the centre of the coun-try. Natanz is Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, housing more than 16,000 centrifuges. Around 3,000 more are at the Fordo plant, buried inside a mountain and hard to destroy. Israel has often threat-ened to attack Iranian nuclear installations.

An Israeli spokesman said in Jerusalem on Sunday after the report that the drone had

been shot down that the mili-tary does “not address foreign media reports”.

H a j i z a d e h said at a news c o n f e r e n c e broadcast on television that the unmanned aircraft shot down was a “ H e r m e s ” stealth drone that “can evade radar”. “Pieces of the drone have been recov-ered intact and are being ana-lysed,” he said, adding that it had a range of 800km. “It was spotted by our surveil lance

system and shot down by a Revolutionary Guards surface-to-air missile,” Hajizadeh said.

According to Hajizadeh, the drone was equipped with two cameras capable of taking high-quality images. Footage of the recovered drone pieces was aired on Iranian television. Iran and the P5+1 powers —Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany — are in negotiations to secure a nuclear deal. They reached a six-month interim agreement under which Iran suspended part of its nuclear activities in return for a partial lifting of international sanctions. AFP

Israel would support the deploy-ment of Palestinian Authority security personnel at the termi-nal, he said, defining the shape of an initial arrangement.

But a more comprehensive deal — with Israel facilitating the reconstruction of Gaza in exchange for its demilitarisation — was “far off”, he said. The invitation to new truce talks came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday.

Egypt has repeatedly urged all parties to accept an open-ended

truce and return to the negotiat-ing table in Cairo.

Abbas is expected to convene a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, a Palestinian official said without elaborating.

Previous temporary ceasefires have failed to produce agreement, although back-to-back extensions have given millions of people peri-ods of relief from incessant bom-bardment and rocket fire.

Hamas, the de facto author-ity in Gaza, says any truce must

provide for a lifting of Israel’s crippling eight-year blockade and the opening of a seaport and air-port, while Israel has demanded Gaza be demilitarised.

Senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Wasel Abu Yusef said the Palestinian lead-ership is to demand the UN Security Council set a deadline for ending the Israeli occupation.

Such a move would likely be vetoed by the United States which traditionally opposes any step perceived as anti-Israeli at the Security Council. AFP

Tehran vows to arm Palestinians

Ex-US judge appointed to UN probe panelGENEVA: Former New York judge Mary McGowan Davis was appointed yester-day to a UN commission prob-ing Israel’s Gaza offensive and the actions of Islamist militant group Hamas, the world body’s Human Rights Council said.

The move comes after Lebanese-born British lawyer Amal Alamuddin — Hollywood star George Clooney’s fiancee — turned down her nomination citing existing professional commitments. McGowan Davis is likely to prove a controver-sial choice for Israel, having served on a previous team that investigated a 2008-2009 offen-sive and whose findings were rejected by the Jewish state.

The UN Human Rights Council ordered the Gaza investigation last month, in the face of fierce opposition from Israel and the United States.

The decision came during a marathon seven-hour emer-gency session of the 47-nation council, where Israeli and Palestinians delegates accused the other side of war crimes.

The probe team was set up under a resolution lodged by Palestine, which has observer status at the council, but UN officials say its goal is to address all violations of international human rights and humanitar-ian law in Gaza, regardless of which side is involved.

“In carrying out its work, the Commission of Inquiry will aim to establish the facts and circumstances of human rights violations and crimes perpetrated in order to iden-tify those responsible,” the council said yesterday. Israel has denounced the probe as slanted against it — echoing its criticism of previous UN investigations.

An acting justice on the supreme court of the state of New York from 1986 to 1998, McGowan Davis is a renowned expert on transitional justice and human rights law.

The Gaza commission is being led by Canadian interna-tional lawyer William Schabas, and includes Doudou Diene of Senegal, who has previously served as the UN’s watchdog on racism and on post-conflict Ivory Coast. They have been tasked with reporting back to the council by March. AFP

An alleged Israeli drone that was shot down by Iran’s Guards above the Natanz uranium enrichment site on Sunday. Natanz is Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, housing more than 16,000 centrifuges.

Palestinians inspect a destroyed car after Israeli air strikes killed eight in Gaza City yesterday.

No let-up in Israel’s deadly Gaza raidsEight Palestinians killed as Egypt presses on with truce efforts

Jordan charges 8 with anti-US, Israeli plotsAMMAN: Jordanian mili-tary prosecutors yesterday charged eight suspects, includ-ing a Syrian fugitive, with plot-ting to attack US soldiers and Israel’s embassy in the kingdom and recruiting people to join Hezbollah.

“State security court prosecu-tors accused the eight men with plotting to carry out terrorist acts, including attacks against US soldiers in 2006 and the Israeli embassy in Amman,” a court official said. “The suspects, seven Jordanians and a Syrian fugi-tive, also recruited people to join (Lebanon’s Shia militant move-ment) Hezbollah,” he said, adding that the group was arrested in May last year.

The official gave no further details, but said the suspects face life imprisonment if convicted.

Jordan is home to around 600,000 Syrian refugees.

In May, the military tribunal handed jail terms of between four and 20 years to 11 people it con-victed of plotting to attack the US embassy for Al Qaeda in 2012.

Meanwhile, Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt rejected the idea that Hezbollah and IS were of a similar nature, saying that accu-sations comparing the two were nothing more than “political accusations.”

“Likening Hezbollah to IS is a political accusation” the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party said in the Aley village of Keyfoun yesterday.

AGENCIES

VIENNA/DUBAI: Iran is “in the process” of complet-ing measures on transpar-ency in its nuclear research that were agreed with the UN atomic agency, a sen-ior Iranian official was quoted as saying, suggesting Tehran had at least partly met yesterday’s deadline for cooperation.

Atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi did not give details in remarks reported by the offi-cial Irna news agency. Those

remarks came a few days after diplomatic sources in Vienna said the UN watchdog’s inves-tigation into suspected atomic bomb research by Iran appeared to be making only limited headway.

Western officials say Iran must address the questions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They say that would be an important boost for parallel diplomatic efforts to end the dispute over a nuclear program the country

says is peaceful.Under an accord reached

by the UN agency and Iran in November in an attempt to revive the long-stalled investi-gation, Tehran agreed in May to carry out five specific steps by August 25 to help allay interna-tional concerns.

They include providing information about two issues — for example, alleged explo-sives experimentation — that are part of the IAEA’s inquiry into what it calls the possible

military dimensions of Iran’s atomic activities. “They have five questions and demands ... some are completed and oth-ers are in the process of being completed,” Irna quoted Salehi as saying, without elaborating on what these were.

The IAEA earlier said it would not comment on the issue yesterday. Diplomats say it may only release details of any Iranian response in its next quarterly report, expected next week. AFP

Nuclear steps agreed with IAEA in process: Iran

06 MIDDLE EASTTUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Saudi could earn $8.5bn from Haj: StudyMAKKAH: Saudi Arabia could earn $8.5bn from this October’s Haj, according to a study published yesterday, which predicted that two million Muslims would make the pilgrimage to Makkah.

The Makkah Chamber of Commerce said revenues from the world’s largest annual gathering of Muslims would increase by three percent from last year.

The study was based on estimates that 1.98 million pilgrims will travel to the holy Muslim city of Makkah, including 1.38 million, or 70 percent, from abroad.

According to the report, a pilgrim who has travelled from another country will spend an average of SR17,381 ($4,633) during Haj, which runs for five days.

A domestic worshipper pays around SR4,948 ($1,319), the study found. Expenses include housing, food and drink, gifts and phone bills.

Millions of people visit Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia for the Haj, a pilgrim-age all Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lives if health and finances permit.

Saudi Arabia also hosts mil-lions of Muslims annually for the lesser Umrah pilgrimage, which may be undertaken at any time throughout the year.

Around six million Muslims took Umrah during the fasting month of Ramadan in July this year, according to authorities.

As well as Makkah, Saudi Arabia is also home to Islam’s other holiest place — Madinah. AFP

KHANAQIN, IRAQ: The UN yesterday accused jihadists in Iraq of waging a campaign of “ethnic and religious cleans-ing”, as Syria said it was ready to work with the global commu-nity against “terrorism”.

The accusation by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay came as Kurdish peshmerga forces pushed back Islamic State (IS) jihadists northeast of Baghdad a day after the militants overran a key mili-tary airport in Syria.

Pillay said in a statement the IS reign of terror in Iraq against non-Arab ethnic groups and non-Sunni Muslims alike involved targeted killings, forced conver-sions, abductions, trafficking, and destruction of holy and cultural sites.

“They are systematically tar-geting men, women and children based on their ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliation and are ruth-lessly carrying out widespread ethnic and religious cleansing in the areas under their control,” Pillay said.

“Such persecution would amount to crimes against humanity,” she added, as the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged the 47 nations that make up the UN Human Rights Council to hold an

emergency session on the crisis.The watchdog also said it was

time for the UN Security Council to deploy a “peace force” to create a “safe zone” around Nineveh.

Iraq is struggling to regain significant parts of the country after the jihadists led a lightning militant offensive, seizing second city Mosul in June and sweep-ing through the country’s Sunni heartland, as security forces fled.

The IS militants have also taken control of swathes of neigh-bouring Syria contiguous to the land seized in Iraq, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” straddling both countries.

Syria, locked in a civil war with various rebel groups including IS since March 2011, said Monday for the first time it will work with the international community, including the United States, to tackle the problem.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem insisted at a news conference in Syria’s capital, however, that any strikes on its territory must be coordinated with Damascus.

“Syria is ready for cooperation and coordination at the regional and international level to fight terrorism and implement UN Security Council resolution 2170,” Muallem said.

The resolution, passed earlier this month, seeks to cut funds and the flow of foreign fighters both to the Islamic State and to Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Al Nusra Front.

Western powers fear the IS “caliphate” — a successor state to historic Muslim empires — could become a launchpad for a new round of global terror attacks.

Those fears were exacerbated by the grisly IS beheading of American journalist James Foley who was abducted in Syria.

Washington has ramped up its rhetoric following the behead-ing, calling it “a terrorist attack

against our country” and said operations against the group in Syria may also be necessary.

US air strikes have allowed the peshmerga to claw back some lost territory, but the cam-paign has so far been limited to northern Iraq.

Citizens from various western countries are fighting with IS, further raising fears that they could carry out attacks at home.

In a statement on Sunday claiming a string of attacks in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk that killed 24 people the previ-ous day, IS identified two of the three suicide bombers as German.

Yesterday, the peshmerga re took three villages in the Jalawla area northeast of Baghdad from jihad-ist militants and also held off two assaults elsewhere, officials said.

The Kurdish fighters also took control of a main road used by jihadists to transport fighters and supplies, peshmerga mem-bers said.

In Syria, the jihadists on Sunday won a bloody battle for the Tabqa military airport, the last stronghold of the Damascus regime in the northern province of Raqa, a monitoring group and state media said.

AFP

AMSTERDAM: The Netherlands will end its con-tribution to Nato’s deployment of Patriot anti-ballistic missile systems in Turkey at the end of January, the government said yesterday.

The Netherlands, Germany and the United States each sent two Patriot missile batteries and soldiers to operate them in early 2013 in response to a request from Nato ally Turkey for help against attacks from

neighbouring Syria.Ankara has been one of Syrian

President Bashar Al Assad’s fierc-est critics during Syria’s civil war, which began in 2011.

Shells fired from Syrian ter-ritory frequently land inside Turkey, drawing a response in kind from the Turkish military.

A Dutch defence minis-try spokeswoman said the Netherlands no longer had the resources to keep its batteries deployed in the field, even though

the threat to Turkey from bal-listic missiles persisted.

“They’ve been deployed 24/7 for almost two years and you can’t prolong it any longer,” the spokes-woman said.

“We’ve announced this now so that Nato can take a decision on how to continue.”

The Patriot batteries had ini-tially been expected to remain in Turkey for up to a year but no time limit was ever set.

REUTERS

Syria ready to work with West to fight ISKurdish forces retake three villages

Members of Kurdish security forces take part during an intensive security deployment on southern Kirkuk in Iraq yesterday. Peshmerga Kurdish forces intensified their defences in the southern parts of the oil-rich city.

Dutch to end Turkey Patriot missile deployment in January

TRIPOLI: Libya’s Islamist-dominated General National Congress yesterday threw down the gauntlet to the interim gov-ernment of the near-lawless North African state by naming a prime minister-designate to form a rival administration.

The GNC, officially replaced earlier this month by a freshly-elected parliament, selected pro-Islamist Omar Al Hassi to form a “salvation government”, a spokes-man said.

“The GNC dismissed (interim premier) Abdullah al-Thani as head of government and gave Omar Al Hassi a week to form a salvation government,” Omar Ahmidan said at a news con-ference in Tripoli, where GNC

members met. At the same time, Libya’s new army chief declared “war on terrorists” after the elected parliament, holed up 16,000km from Tripoli in the east-ern city of Tobruk, selected him to tackle unrest sweeping the nation.

“Allow me to declare, from this moment on, war on obscurantists, terrorists and takfiris (extrem-ists),” said Abdel Razzak Nadhuri, promoted to general on taking up his new role.

The GNC meeting, for its part, gave its support for “legitimate moves aimed at liberating the country,” Ahmidan said, refer-ring to the weekend capture of Tripoli international airport by the Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) Islamist coalition. The GNC,

whose re-emergence plunges Libya’s rocky political transition into fresh crisis, met following a request from Islamists, who accused parliament in Tobruk of complicity in raids last week by mystery warplanes on Islamist positions near the airport. Thani rejected the GNC’s motions, saying its decisions were illegal.

“The meeting was illegal, its decisions are illegal and the only legislative body is parliament,” Thani said in a televised news conference from Tobruk. He said Islamist militants had ransacked and set fire to his house in Tripoli. “The homes of many Libyans have suffered the same fate,” Thani said, blaming Fajr Libya fighters.

The whole of Tripoli is unsafe

and the government headquarters building has been threatened, he added. Telling of “threats, thefts and looting” in the capital, Thani said “no public service can oper-ate in these conditions. “Libya cannot be ruled by force of arms. Only the police and army should have weapons,” the premier said.

Parliamentary speaker Aguila Salah Issa told the news confer-ence he will go to Egypt today for talks with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. The swearing-in of new chief of staff Nadhuri came as Libya’s foreign minister and his counterparts from neighbouring states met in Cairo to discuss the Islamist threat.

The neighbours backed an Egyptian call for Libya’s rival

militias to be disarmed, while agreeing with Cairo that there should be no foreign intervention to stem spiralling lawlessness.

Libyan jihadist group Ansar Al Sharia yesterday urged other Islamists to unite under its ban-ner. Ansar Al Sharia, which Tripoli and Washington have both branded a “terrorist” organisa-tion, urged other Islamists to beware what it dubbed Western plots aimed at “opposing the mujahedeen under the pretext that they are extremists”.

“Unite with the mujahedeen in Benghazi so together we can defend the same objective — a total rejection of any Western plan” for Libya, it said in an online message. AFP

Libya turmoil deepens as Islamists name PM

Turkey’s President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets the press as he arrives for a cabinet meeting in Ankara yesterday.

Saudi jails 17 for up to 33 years on terrorism chargesRIYADH: A Saudi special court sentenced 17 people to between nine and 33 years in jail for joining a “terrorist cell” in the kingdom and fighting abroad, state news agency SPA reported yesterday.

The group were found guilty of “adopting an extremist ideology,” “disobeying” authorities by travelling to fight abroad and “joining a terrorist cell” inside the kingdom, said SPA.

The group had also “contacted members of the terrorist organisation ... established a media outlet in support” of it and “financed terror,” said the statement, in an apparent reference to Al Qaeda.

The men were also accused of “possession of arms and ammunition ... to undermine security,” in addition to other charges, said SPA.

The 17 are part of a larger group of 67 defendants on trial over similar accusations. The statement did not specify the nationalities of the defendants or where they had fought.

But in July 2011, the kingdom began a series of prosecutions for alleged offences committed during the peak of Al-Qaeda violence in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006.

The Custodian of the Thow Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in February decreed jail terms of up to 20 years for citizens who travel to fight abroad, as the country struggles to deter young Saudis from becoming jihadists, after Syria’s conflict attracted several hundred Saudi nationals.

S Sudan rivals sign new truce dealADDIS ABABA: South Sudan’s warring leaders signed a fresh ceasefire deal yesterday vowing to end more than eight months of conflict, according to mediators who threatened sanctions should the agreement fail once again.

East Africa’s regional IGAD bloc, which mediated the talks between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar, called on the leaders to forge a unity government within 45 days.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.8 million have fled civil war sparked by a power struggle between Kiir and Machar, who met Monday for the first time in more than two months.

An IGAD communique welcomed the “signature by the warring parties” to the deal, “which obliges the parties to bring the conflict to an end”. Three previous ceasefire commitments have been broken within hours. AFP

Iran deputy foreign minister heads to Riyadh for talksDUBAI/RIYADH: Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian left for Riyadh, state news agency Irna reported, in the first visit to Saudi Arabia by a senior government official since Iran’s political landscape shifted in 2013.

Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are enmeshed in a strug-gle for influence across the Middle East and back opposing sides in conflicts and political disputes in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen. But both Riyadh and Tehran welcomed this month’s appointment of incoming Shia Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi in Iraq, which is battling to con-tain the extremist threat of the Islamic State militant group.

Irna said Abdollahian is sched-uled to meet Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal on issues concerning the two countries, in the first such visit since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rowhani in 2013. A spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry was not immediately available to comment.

One of Rowhani’s first official comments after being elected was a pledge to improve ties with the Islamic republic’s Gulf Arab neighbours, but mutual suspicion has persisted.

In May, Prince Saud said he had already invited Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to visit the kingdom for talks, but Iran later said the invitation was only to participate in a wider Islamic meeting and that he could not attend.

170 bodies found in shipwreckGUARABOULI, LIBYA: Libyan rescuers have recov-ered the bodies of around 170 people after a boat carrying illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sank at sea last week, a coast guard official said yesterday.

“We freed about 100 bod-ies trapped in the hold of the 16-metre (50-foot) wooden boat which foundered not far from the coast,” Abdellatif Mohammed Ibrahim said.

AGENCIES

07TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comINTERNATIONAL

Russia plans new aid convoy to UkraineDONETSK: The Kremlin announced plans yesterday for a second aid convoy into Ukraine, heightening tensions on the eve of crunch talks, while fresh clashes raged along the border and around the main rebel-held city.

A Ukrainian military spokes-man said troops were battling a contingent of “10 tanks and two armoured personal carriers” fly-ing rebel flags that had crossed a southern part of the border with Russia and was heading towards the government-held city of Mariupol.

Some 120 kilometres to the north, AFP journalists also wit-nessed heavy fighting raging to the south of Donetsk, the main rebel bastion, a day after separa-tist leaders said they had deployed tanks and artillery to the area.

Explosions rang out and smoke rose from towns to the south of the city. Ukraine’s military said four soldiers had been killed and 31 wounded in the past 24 hours.

The latest fighting comes as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian leader Vladimir Putin prepare to meet for the first time in months along-side top EU officials in Minsk today.

There was additional pressure on the talks after the Kremlin said yesterday that it planned to send another controversial aid convoy into east Ukraine “this week”. Russia sent 230 lorries carrying what it claimed was 1,800 tonnes humanitarian aid to the rebel-held city of Lugansk without Red Cross monitors on Friday after accusing Kiev of intentionally delaying the mission.

Kiev condemned the move as a “direct invasion” but the trucks returned to Russia on Saturday without incident.

“We would like to agree on the conditions to send the con-voy on the same route with the same participation of Ukrainian border guards and customs offic-ers as soon as possible,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.

There were conflicting accounts of yesterday’s fighting along the border, which if confirmed could

represent a new push by rebels in territory controlled by Kiev.

A resident in a nearby town told AFP by telephone that explo-sions could be heard coming from the direction of the frontier.

But Lavrov dismissed the claims, saying: “I haven’t heard about it, but there has been more than enough disinformation about our invasion. No doubt some for-eign newspaper will print that ‘news’ tomorrow.”

Over 2,200 people have died and 400,000 fled their homes after

more than four months of fight-ing that has left residents in some rebel-held cities without water or power for weeks.

Poroshenko has pledged to “talk peace” with Putin when they meet today but insists the withdrawal of pro-Kremlin forces is the only way to end the conflict in east Ukraine.

Kiev has accused Russia of ramping up arms supplies to the rebels as government troops have cut deeper into their terri-tory. Moscow has retorted that

Ukrainian forces must cease their punishing offensive.

Lavrov played down hopes for a major breakthrough in Minsk, saying only that the talks would “facilitate the exchange of opin-ions” about “efforts to start the political process to settle the political crisis.”

Both sides are under pressure from the international commu-nity to find a compromise.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a bilateral ceasefire and tighter border con-trols during a visit to Kiev over the weekend while stressing sup-port for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

She said later in an interview she wanted to find a way out of the crisis “that doesn’t harm Russia” with the EU and US already hav-ing slapped the harshest economic sanctions on Moscow since the collapse of Communism.

AFP

Town under Islamic law: Boko HaramABUJA: The leader of Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram said his fighters were now rul-ing the captured northeastern town of Gwoza “by Islamic law”, in the first video to state a ter-ritorial claim in more than five years of violent insurrection.

The Nigerian military denied Boko Haram had taken control of the town during fighting over the past week, although security sources and some witnesses said police and military there had been pushed out.

Abubakar Shekau’s forces have killed thousands since launching an uprising in 2009, and are seen as the biggest security threat to the continent’s leading energy producer.

The militant leader’s often rambling videoed speeches have become a regular feature of his bid to project himself as public enemy number one in Africa’s biggest economy.

In the latest video released late on Sunday, the militant who says he is fighting to create an Islamic state in religiously-mixed Nigeria, said his forces had taken control of the hilly border town of Gwoza, near the frontier with Cameroon.

“Allah has granted us success in Gwoza because we have risen to do Allah’s work,” Shekau says, reading out a statement off a notebook, with two masked gun-men on each side of him and three four-wheel-drive vehicles behind him in thinly forested bush.

“Allah commands us to rule Gwoza by Islamic law. In fact, he commands us to rule the rest of the world, not only Nigeria, and now we have started.”

Nigerian authorities did not

immediately respond to a request for comment. Local newspaper ThisDay quoted Major-General Chris Olukolade as saying the claim Boko Haram controls Gwoza was “false and empty”.

In an attack on Sunday in the remote northeastern town of Gamboru, the insurgents killed 15 people, survivors said yester-day. The gunmen came in armed pick up trucks, throwing explo-sives and spraying the town with bullets. Many fled over the border into Cameroon, witnesses said.

“They were shouting ‘Allah Akbar’ (God is Greatest) and were shooting sporadically,” Alice Adejuwon, a businesswoman and resident of Gamboru, told Reuters by telephone.

“We saw corpses on the streets as we ran out of the town.”

The video includes footage of what appeared to be an attack on Gwoza, showing fighters, backed by armoured personal carriers, pick-up trucks with attached machine guns, and one tank-like vehicle with track wheels and a large gun.

They unload salvos of gunfire across the town from trucks and on foot. The fighters are all armed with AK-47s or rocket propelled grenades, some in military uni-form, others in civilian clothes. Many of them walk casually as they take over the town.

They also fire into the hills at what appear to be fleeing secu-rity forces and civilians, and they help themselves to weapons and ammunition seized from security forces. It ends with scenes of exe-cuting captives in pre-dug mass graves, some of them beaten to death with spades. REUTERS

Militant chief’s claim on video

Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint on a road near the city of Dnepropetrovsk yesterday. Kiev said its forces clashed with an armoured column that crossed from Russia.

Hollande tells PM to form new govtPARIS: France was thrown into fresh crisis yesterday as President Francois Hollande told his prime minister to form a new government after dam-aging splits within the rul-ing Socialist party burst into the open.

It is the second reshuffle in just five months as the Socialists struggle to pull stagnating France out of the economic doldrums and the party is riven by infighting between left-leaning members and those who veer more to the centre.

A presidency statement said Prime Minister Manuel Valls had tendered the resignation of his government and the new line-up would be announced today.

“The head of state asked him (Valls) to form a team consistent with the direction he has himself set for the country,” it said.

The move caught France by surprise and sparked concern that Hollande, whose popularity is at a record low at just 17 percent, will lose further support by alien-ating key members of his party that still wield influence.

Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, whose comments over the weekend slamming the country’s economic direc-tion and France’s ally Germany sparked the crisis, said he would

not be in the new cabinet as did his ally Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti.

Montebourg also announced that Education Minister Benoit Hamon, another member of the left-leaning clan of the party, would not take part in the new line-up.

Echoing his weekend com-ments in stronger terms, the anti-globalisation advocate warned in a speech yesterday that austerity measures were

only prolonging and worsening a “serious, destructive and long” crisis in Europe.

“For two years, I fought tire-lessly to convince, I wrote notes and letters to the head of the executive and made private and public declarations to attempt to convince and implore the presi-dent to refuse excessive measures for our country that risked dam-aging and sinking our economy,” he said.

AFP

French President Francois Hollande speaks with children on the Ile de Sein, an island located near the Pointe-du-Raz, off the Brittany coast of France yesterday.

WHO sends supplies to Ebola-hit CongoGENEVA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yes-terday it has sent protective equipment for medical staff to Democratic Republic of Congo, where authorities have con-firmed two cases of Ebola in a remote area.

“The Ministry of Health has declared an outbreak and we are treating it as such,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in Geneva in response to a query.

The current Ebola epidemic, which has killed at least 1,427 people, has focused on Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone with several cases also in Nigeria.

Democratic Republic of Congo declared an Ebola outbreak in its northern Equateur province on Sunday after two of eight patients tested for the virus came back positive, Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said.

Congolese authorities who went to the remote area found 24 cases of hemorrhagic fever of “unknown origin”, including 13 people that had died, Jasarevic said.

Of these, two have tested posi-tive for Ebola, but other samples taken from suspect cases are

being analysed, he said.Hemorraghic gastroenteritis,

malaria and shigellosis have also been identified in the area, he said. At least 70 people have died in northern Democratic Republic of Congo from an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, the WHO said last Thursday, dismiss-ing reports that the illness was Ebola.

Ebola virus, which was discov-ered in the former Zaire in 1976, is endemic in the area.

This is the seventh known outbreak of the deadly disease in the country, according to the WHO.

Countries in east and south-ern Africa have imposed travel restrictions to prevent Ebola reaching their shores while bat-tling global perceptions that they are no longer safe for foreign tourists. South Africa has banned entry for non-citizens arriving from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Ebola is spread between humans through direct contact with infected body fluids. It is one of the world’s deadliest diseases, with up to 90 percent of cases resulting in death. AGENCIES

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian coalition partner have clashed in an unusually public spat over plans to introduce a motorway toll that critics say is designed to fleece foreigners.

Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU) want foreign motorists to pay tolls on German

motorways and other roads. They say it is unfair that foreigners travel for free on German motor-ways while Germans have to pay tolls in neighbouring countries such as Austria, Switzerland and France. Senior CDU mem-bers, Armin Laschet and Thomas Strobl, said the introduction of tolls on all roads and motorways would impose an excessive burden

on motorists and cause more problems than they would solve for Germany’s regions.

Their criticism drew an angry response from CSU deputy leader Andreas Scheuer in yesterday’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.

“That just shows how com-pletely clueless they are,” he said, in a surprisingly sharp rebuke of the centre-right CDU that

exposed the split in Germany’s conservative camp on the eve of elections in three German regions that start on Sunday.

“The toll is going to be intro-duced on all roads in Germany,” Scheuer said, whose conserva-tive party agrees with the CDU on most other issues.

Opinion polls show Germans favour a road toll for foreigners.

The issue is especially sensitive in Bavaria, a major crossroads for foreign motorists travelling from northern European countries to the Balkans and southern Europe.

The motorway toll issue has dominated German media for months, vying with major inter-national crises such as Ukraine, Syria and Gaza for public attention. REUTERS

German ruling coalition bickers over highway toll tax

New Slovenian PM vows to revive economyLJUBLJANA: Law profes-sor Miro Cerar vowed to bol-ster Slovenia’s shaky economy yesterday as he was voted in as prime minister of the tiny Alpine country.

The political newcomer, 51, who won snap elections on July 13 despite having set up his cen-tre-left party just a month before, said he would push for jobs and growth.

He faces a tough task of putting the eurozone country’s finances back in order after the past two governments fell after little more a year after being hit by corrup-tion trials and political infighting.

But the leader of the main opposition Slovenian Democratic Party, former prime minister Janez Jansa, slammed Cerar’s lack of clear policies.

“No candidate to head a gov-ernment has ever presented a programme without any figures or deadlines,” said Jansa, who was allowed to attend yesterday’s ses-sion despite serving a two-year jail prison term for corruption.

A commission is currently probing whether he should remain an MP.

Cerar said the main priori-ties of his new government will be “economic growth, preserving existing jobs and creating new ones and increasing international competitiveness”, along with the stabilising the health system, he said yesterday.

His SMC party has already agreed to a three-party centre-left coalition with the pension-ers’ DESUS party and the Social Democrats (SD), which will give them 52 seats in the 90-seat parliament.

His coalition is set to continue with the former government’s efforts to reduce the deficit and with the privatisation of state-owned companies. AFP

KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree yesterday to dis-solve parliament, he said on a Twitter post, paving the way for a new election on October 26.

“I have decided to pre-maturely end the author-ity of parliament,” he wrote. Under the law, the election must be held within 60 days of the decree being published. REUTERS

Parliament dissolved, vote in Oct

E S TA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6

CHAIRMAN

SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

KHALID AL SAYED

khalid@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

HUSSAIN AHMAD

hussain@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

TEL: 44557741 / 44557743

FAX: 44557746 / 44557758

P. O. BOX: 3488, DOHA, QATAR

E-MAIL: editor@pen.com.qa

ADVERTISING: TEL: 44557837 / 780 FAX: 44557870

CLASSIFIED: 44557857 E-MAIL: adv@pen.com.qa

SUBSCRIPTION / HOME DELIVERY

TEL: 44557809 /839 FAX: 44557819

E-MAIL: info@tawseelqatar.com

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: ANNUAL QR 675

6 MONTHS QR 340

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

US President Barack Obama has vowed to take action on immigration before summer’s end. Now millions of hopeful

undocumented immigrants are eagerly awaiting his move — as are Republican leaders who accuse him of abusing his power.

Back in Washington after two weeks of a golf-filled family vacation on a small island in Massachusetts, the US presi-dent is readying to take on a issue which is especially sensitive in the run-up to November’s midterm elections.

“The American people don’t want me standing around twiddling my thumbs waiting for Congress to do something,” said Obama, frustrated by the lack of action by lawmakers on Capitol Hill,

before he left.Details of any

executive orders to be signed by the president are not yet known — the White House says a range of options is being considered — but Obama’s politi-cal opponents are already angry, threatening a major political crisis.

Some hope for, while others fear, that a presiden-tial decision could offer a reprieve to nearly half of the around 11 million undocu-mented immi-grants, many of

whom have lived for years in the United States, but who live in constant fear of deportation.

One of Obama’s options would be to expand the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival” or “DACA” pro-gramme, launched in 2012, which offers temporary visas to minors who arrived in the United States before age 16,

perhaps to also include their parents or even grandparents.

But Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice, a group that advo-cates for immigrant rights, expects something more.

“I foresee a major policy change,” she told AFP.

After six years of deportations and minor reforms, “we are ready for a major change, we are ready for the Obama administration that we expected to come into office after the 2008 election,” she said, denouncing a “fundamentally broken” system that is “working against families.

But in acting alone on the issue, the president has sparked criticism he is encroaching on the role of Congress, with some lawmakers accusing him of defying the spirit of the Constitution.

He would also risk harming the chances of vulnerable Democrats fight-ing to retain their seats in conservative states — where reform is unpopular — and who are crucial to their party’s hopes of hanging on to the Senate.

Obama’s predecessors, from Republican Ronald Reagan to Democrat Bill Clinton to Republican George W Bush, each signed orders specific to cer-tain categories of immigrants coming from China, Kuwait or El Salvador, for example.

But Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that argues for reinforcing the borders, insists an executive order from Obama offering temporary legal status to a large number of undocu-mented immigrants would be in a dif-ferent category — and, in the long term, counter-productive.

“Those small actions were all radi-cally different from what the president is proposing,” Krikorian said, empha-sising that each was linked to a very specific crisis.

For example, amnesty was given to some Czechoslovakian citizens in 1968, when the Soviet Union invaded.

According to Krikorian, Obama’s proposal “would poison the well, it would make it impossible for Congress

to pass any kind of legalisation for anybody else.” If, during the midterm Congressional elections on November 4, Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and take control of the Senate, Obama risks finding himself even more politically isolated during his final two years in the White House.

Pre-election executive orders could therefore be his last chance to leave a mark on the immigration system — though far short of what he promised during his two presidential campaigns.

In early 2013, after a bipartisan bill written by senior senators, Obama pre-dicted a reform that would permit mil-lions of illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows was close at hand.

But the prospect of a consensus in Congress rapidly fell apart.

The Republican party was torn between the fierce opposition of Tea Party lawmakers and the desire to appeal to Hispanic voters — more than 70 percent of whom cast ballots for Obama and without whom it will be increasingly difficult for Republicans to regain the White House. Since a mas-sive amnesty programme in 1986, all efforts at reform have failed, including, notably, under the presidency of George W Bush in 2007. AFP

The new anti-terrorism law approved by the President, H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, introducing harsher

penalties for acts related to extremism is a critical step towards preventing such crimes. But, as we have previously argued on these pages, addressing terrorism also requires the debunking of extremist ideas, something that the UAE is also working hard to address.

Elsewhere in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria, deep instability and chaos have created a huge void for terrorist ideas to fill. The Islamic State militant group has taken advantage of

this muddled situation to disseminate its flawed ideology and radicalise a whole new generation of recruits. It is using all kinds of social media – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in particular – to promote its agenda.

As The National reported yes-terday, the recent video of the US photojournalist, James Foley, being beheaded by a member of the Islamic State group sparked worldwide revul-sion. The clip also contains a threat to kill another reporter (believed to be freelancer Steven Sotloff) if the US continues its campaign of targeted air strikes in Iraq.

The simple truth is that this is only

one example of the atrocities commit-ted by the group.

When such videos are posted on social media, they serve as a powerful recruiting tool and an effective way to spread propaganda targeted towards the young and the impressionable. Mercifully, the pushback against such cheap tactics has begun, as witnessed by a Twitter hashtag – #ISISmediaBlackout – gaining popu-larity after a Muslim woman asked people to stop sharing images and videos released by the organisation.

While there are reports that Twitter has also started removing some material, the tide of such videos will

prove difficult to turn back. To do so will require officials, corporations and individuals to take a stance against sharing such images – and it will require legislators around the world to ensure their anti-terrorism laws remain up-to-date, effective and enforceable.

The Islamic State’s toxic rhetoric can only be beaten by a concerted response. That riposte should begin with an understanding that the front line of the battle against terrorists lies as much in the chaotic modern land-scape of the digital world as it does in the distressed terrain of Iraq and Syria.

THE NATIONAL

All eyes on Obama over immigration reform

Snap parliament polls are part of my peace plan.

Quote ofthe day

Petro Poroshenko Ukrainian President

The other side

Obama’s

predecessors,

from Republican

Ronald Reagan

to Democrat

Bill Clinton to

Republican

George W Bush,

each signed

orders specific to

certain categories

of immigrants.

In early 2013, after a

bipartisan bill written

by senior senators,

Obama predicted a

reform that would

permit millions of illegal

immigrants to come out

of the shadows

was close at hand.

Syria’s readiness to join hands with other countries in fighting the Islamic State shows its desperation.

Another dimension has been added to the more than three year old Syrian conflict. The enemy of an

enemy, the adage goes, is a friend. Syria is trying this out with the United States, which doesn’t have any love lost for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

In a major change of course yesterday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem virtually invited Washington to join hands in fighting the Islamic State. This can be seen in the light of the seriousness of the threat which the Jihadis pose to Syria, Iraq and the larger Middle East.

It is not the first time that the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad has been rocked by Islamists. A large number of fighters owing allegiance to Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups have given a hard time to Syrian troops fighting a raging insurgency from early 2011. The unrest has claimed close to 200,000 and displaced over a million people. Coming as it did about the time the Arab Spring revolts in other countries started, the insurgency was initially seen as an outpouring of years of disenchantment in the population. However, the unrest started transforming into a sectarian war with hardline extremist groups targetting minorities including Alawites.

With the death toll rising sharply in the West Asian country and tens of thousands of displaced Syrians causing

overcrowding in neighbouring Jordan and Libya, the crisis in Syria triggered calls for intervention by world powers. US President Barack Obama was seen as dithering on intervention in Syria. With Washington embroiled in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama didn’t want to dissipate US military power on another intervention.

Walid Muallem, who has been the public face of Bashar Al Assad through the insurgency, said yesterday that the Syrian

government is ready to join hands with other countries in fighting the Islamic State, but any strikes on Syrian soil have to be coordinated with the government in Damascus.

“Syria, geographically and operationally, is the centre of the international coalition to fight Islamic State, Muallem said. “States must come to it if they are serious in combating terrorism,” he added.

Before the Islamic State ran riot in Iraq and Syria, the military was slowly gaining ground in the fight against Islamist militants. It had retaken several towns and for some time it seemed that Assad’s forces would finally beat back the insurgency. However, the arrival of the Islamic State changed the dynamics.

Now that Damascus would be ready to join hands with the US in a joint fight against the Islamic State, the stage is set for a blitz on the Jihadis. Seeking international help, though with a rider, shows that Assad’s regime is truly threatened by the Jihadis and his cry of help is driven by desperation•

Cry for help

Syria’s readiness to join hands with other countries in fighting the Islamic State shows its desperation.

Editorial

08 VIEWS TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Legislation must keep pace with terror tactics

VIEWS 09TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BY AMMAR ABDULHAMID

Barack Obama is embarking on a global course correction, if not an outright reversal: the policy of “don’t do stupid stuff” – the non-intervention-

ism so praised by the Farid Zakarias and Tom Friedmans of the world – is getting forced out, albeit in the typical Obama fashion of admitting nothing and never going fast or far enough.

And to hear the Chuck Hagels and John Kerrys of the administration tell the story for him, it’s all the fault of the Islamic State (IS), which is “beyond just a terrorist group”, “an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated” – a feat which, realistically, will require some intervention not just in Iraq … but in Syria.

It’s difficult to do the right thing when you’ve already end up so badly. When the Obama administration refused to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria in 2011, the indif-ference gave rise to despair and forced people to abandon their nonviolent ways to defend themselves, effectively trans-forming the nonviolent protest move-ment into an armed resistance.

Obama’s refusal to then support the rebels following the advice of his then-secretary of state, among other officials, created a vacuum that was gradually filled by extremist elements emerging out of the woodwork and jihadists pouring across the borders, a combination that paved the way for the emergence of the newly troubling and feared IS.

Now, IS has a vision being carried out – effectively, if with pure evil – by tech-nocratic leaders with succession plans, flexible but enduing structures, and major funding, with major operations based out of its hub in Syria. Soon, some of its acolytes might make like Hezbollah and run legitimate businesses across multiple countries that secretly fund terror; some already appear to be attracted to the radicalised appeal of IS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declaring a new Caliphate.

No wonder Obama is finding it so difficult to justify a policy of minimal engagement anymore – perhaps even to himself. Blanket, cold-hearted real-ism doesn’t work when networked, cold-hearted terrorism does. The line between realism and cynicism has always been too thin, and has long been crossed by the Administration.

While realism is laudable, cynicism ends up producing the very outcomes that realism intends to avoid. Letting a region take care of itself is impossible to allow when your spies are telling you about the rise of a terror group across the world, including the West – of ter-rorists that are effectively becoming a global movement of disaffected Muslims everywhere.

Some “realists” are advocating coop-eration with Bashar Al Assad. But that wouldn’t just being doing “stupid stuff” – it would be downright delusional, since cooperating with dictators who abuse their own people is exactly what gives rise to extremist anti-Western movements.

The only way for Obama to stop doing stupid stuff with his foreign policy is to

arm moderate rebels in Syria, to bomb IS bases in both Syria and Iraq and to finally impose a no-fly zone on the Assad regime.

This combination of tactics could allow the Syrian opposition – which has thus far been unable to govern the liberated areas due to Assad’s use of aerial strikes, including barrel bombs, scud missiles, and, on occasion, chemical weapons and poison gas – to move in and work with the local councils to begin returning the basic services to the local communities, bringing a measure of relief to the local civilian population.

Imposing a no-fly zone also avoids hav-ing to supply advanced weapons to rebels, including TOW missiles and MANPADs, thus minimising the risk of having them end up in the wrong hands.

Still, the opposition will have its work cut out for it in terms of ensuring effec-tive governance of the areas under their control, especially when it comes to reaching agreements between Islamist

and secularist currents. But by control-ling the flow of humanitarian aid and the funds required for the reconstruc-tion processes, the administration and other members of international commu-nity could exercise leverage to allow for compromises to be reached.

Obama already plans to take a lead-ing role at next month’s UN General Assembly, where strategies for holding back IS will be a top priority. But Western and Middle Eastern leaders need to begin preparing for a peace conference follow-ing such strikes, because a real transition plan for a post-conflict and post-Assad Syria needs to be developed.

Talks will not be easy (and could drag out for months if not longer), but if the regime’s ability to wreak havoc on rebel communities is curbed by strikes and the economic blockade against it is strengthened, time will not be on its side – rendering hopes for an eventual break-through more realistic.

It’s about time for the Obama admin-istration to do the right thing. It’s about time, after doing so much stupid stuff and aiding in the rise of IS, to begin resolving a conflict that has killed close to 200,000 people in less than four years, and pro-duced millions of refugees, becoming the worst humanitarian disaster since the Cold War.

Yes, American strikes may make disaf-fected Muslims more eager to join IS. Yes, we may be witnessing the birth of a new Islamic sect. But Barack Obama needs to stop fighting the symptoms while embracing the disease – to become a true realist and not a cynical one. Sectarian violence was not inevitable in Syria, as some analysts argued at the beginning of the revolution, but indifference and cynicism made it so.

Obama needs to engage in the region with a positive mindset, knowing that he can actually make a positive difference.

THE GUARDIAN

BY TOURÉ

An information war is being waged in Ferguson, Mo, each salvo meant to shape

public perceptions of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson.

Through this war we’ve learned that the 18-year-old Brown had marijuana in his system when he was killed, suggesting he was of poor character, and that police officer Wilson shot Brown six times, a use of force that could seem reckless or excessive. We’ve been told that Brown was a “gen-tle giant” who would have started attending classes at a technical college this month, but we’ve also seen a grainy convenience-store video in which he does not look gentle. We have seen a video of Wilson receiving an award, look-ing professional and happy, but we’ve also heard about him curs-ing at a Ferguson woman who had been maced, weeks before the town began to smoulder.

Such snippets and images are efforts to shape public opin-ion about these men. They could influence St Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch as he weighs whether to bring charges against Wilson. They could also influence the potential jury pool, showing prejudicial evidence that may not be admissible at trial.

In an information war, the news media is deployed as a weapon, our collective mind becomes a battlefield, and biases are land mines waiting to explode.

I feel confident stating that neither Brown nor Wilson is an angel — because no one is. But that doesn’t matter, because the two men have been reduced to symbols. Information wars sug-gest that character is destiny and that character is knowable, as if a handful of snapshots or tweets constitute an autopsy of the soul. They are waged in all kinds of legal battles, from civil suits to contract negotiations to public divorces.

But when there’s a black victim involved, the information takes a different and predictable turn: The victim becomes thuggified. This is an easy leap for many minds, given the widespread expectation of black criminality. If you become nervous when you see a young black male approach-ing on the street, it is not hard to convince you that a kid who was shot was not one of the “good ones,” that he was scary and maybe did something to deserve it. Information wars thrive on America’s empathy gap — the way some people struggle to see any kinship or shared humanity with strangers who don’t look like them.

So after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Fla, on February 26, 2012, people were told that he had been suspended from school, that he had written graffiti, that he had smoked mari-juana. As a result, many saw him as a thug — even though many non-thugs have been suspended from school or gotten high, and

those are not violent acts. More important, none of that sheds any light on what happened the night George Zimmerman shot him.

We all remember Rosa Parks and how she earned sainthood status within America’s civil rights mythology: On December 1, 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala, and became an icon. But Parks was not the first to defy the rules. Nine months ear-lier, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. In an interview last year with Democracy Now, Colvin said that when the cops arrived and ordered her to get up, “it felt like Sojourner Truth’s hands were pushing me down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman’s hands were pushing me down on another shoulder, and I could not move.”

So they pulled her up and jailed her. Also, shortly after her arrest, Colvin became pregnant. She gave birth the same month as Parks’s historic arrest. It’s clear why the civil rights leaders did not want to coalesce around an unmarried teen mother. She was not a per-fect victim.

Her life and image could have distracted from the message. I understand that there was a movement to shepherd and that the wrong standard-bearer could have kneecapped it.

But when individuals arrive in the court of public opinion, or in a court of law, the burden of being a perfect victim in order to receive justice is impossibly heavy. It doesn’t allow for human fallibility. Is there any information from your past that could make you look bad?

Most of us have something in our pasts we would not want revealed. And for black Americans, those facts too often are used to suggest that victims of injustice don’t deserve justice, because they weren’t some sort of credit to their race. In a nation where police often approach black communities with a dragnet, stopping and frisking everyone, marking as many black men as possible with a record, it would be hard to find a black male who looks like an angel.

But it doesn’t matter whether Brown was an angel. He was young and growing and human, and he made mistakes. That’s OK. The real question is not: Was Brown a good kid? The real question is: How are police officers sup-posed to treat citizens? California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, has put it well: “Our penal code was not cre-ated just to protect Snow White.”

Michael Brown was not perfect. But few of us are. And that does not speak to whether we deserve to die. WP-BLOOMBERG

Police point their weapons at a car as it pulls away after tear gas was used by authorities in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 11, 2014.

Rise of IS: Obama ignored Syria for too long

The ‘Act now to stop war and end racism’ (Answer) coalition holds a rally outside the White House in Washington last year.

Letting a region take care of itself is impossible to allow when your spies are telling you about the rise of a terror group across the world, including the West – of terrorists that are effectively becoming a global movement of disaffected Muslims everywhere.

If only we English could shake up our democracyBY SUZANNE MOORE

Imagine having a say, an actual say, in how your country is run. You might even consider big questions, like the distribution of wealth, the dividing up of resources, your tiny country’s place in the big bad world. You may go down the pub and argue with your

friends about what your identity actually means, you may be already certain and slag off those who think differently on Twitter, you may be wavering on several issues. You may be just 16 and able to vote for the first time in your life.

This may or may not be my business, depending of course which way Scotland votes in a few weeks time, but as this referendum hoves into view with another televised debate tonight, my main emotion is perhaps pathetically English. It is one of envy.

This conversation, this questioning about who you are, how you are to live and who is to be in charge, shows the essential internal organs of a political system being openly tested and examined.

Here in Albion, there appears to be only stubbornly undiagnosed organ failure. I do not know what it is to be Scottish and feel utterly disconnected from Westminster politics. I only know what it is to be English and feel like that.

Every time I voice that, inevitably, I am told that somehow I should vote more. When and where exactly? Instead I see that power clus-ters in ever closer elites at the top of society. These closed shops hug themselves tighter than David Cameron’s wetsuit.

The problem, we are told, is that Cameron surrounds himself with yes men. And the trouble with Ed Miliband is that he surrounds him-self with people who are very similar to him, and so it goes on until the only real alternatives on offer are Nigel Farage or Boris Johnson. Some choice. As I see it the Scots are always patronised by talking about independence in terms of marriage, divorce, and breaking up the CD collection. Yet I wonder what kind of relationship ever existed in the first place.

For many decades the Scots legal system was unique for being the only legal system without a parliament. This ended with the advent of the Scottish Parliament, which legislates for Scotland. Many features within the system have been preserved.

It has long been apparent that what has gone on in the south-east, and in the City of London in particular, has clearly not been faithful to any of the values of a fairly basic social democracy. It has been about strident privatisation and the dismantling of the welfare state. Scotland at least gets the chance to reject this, English people don’t. Because many of us have never lived in a United Kingdom. These words mean nothing to me. Whatever the Scots decide, England will shake. And it needs shaking. If England is actually a Tory land and needs Scotland as a Labour colony, then England should face up to itself, and its demons.

Independence is also often framed in terms of maturity. Is Scotland ready for independence? Surely it is the other way round. Is England grown-up enough to see itself the way it actually is? For that, we would have to be seen and heard, reconnected to the democratic processes, and be far more honest with ourselves than we are often prepared to be.

The best debates about Scottish independence have asked big ques-tions and often there are no easy answers. There is a truthfulness in that. Imagine if England could ask the same questions of itself instead of assuming that all was settled long ago. Imagine if we could do this without ceding to Ukip-style regression.

Scotland will do whatever it does. As I watch from afar, I can’t help thinking for us English, chance would be a fine thing.

THE GUARDIAN

In a nation where police often approach black communities with a dragnet, stopping and frisking everyone, marking as many black men as possible with a record, it would be hard to find a black male who looks like an angel.

Black America: Burden of the perfect victim

10 INTERNATIONALTUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

US destroys weapon at trial launchHypersonic armament malfunctionsWASHINGTON: A hypersonic weapon being developed by the US military was destroyed four seconds after its launch from a test range in Alaska early yesterday after controllers detected a problem with the aircraft, the Pentagon said.

The craft was destroyed to ensure public safety, and no one was injured in the incident, which occurred shortly after 4am EDT (0800 GMT) at the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, said Maureen Schumann, a spokes-woman for the US Defence Department.

“We had to terminate. That’s correct,” Schumann said.

“The weapon exploded during takeoff and fell back down in the range complex,” she said, adding that the test craft was destroyed in the first four seconds of its launch.

“I don’t know the exact alti-tude, but it was not very far,” she said.

The weapon was developed by Sandia National Laboratory and the U.S. Army as part of the military’s “Conventional Prompt Global Strike” technology devel-opment programme, which is seeking to build a weapon that can destroy targets anywhere on Earth within an hour of getting data and permission to launch.

Schumann said the craft, known as the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, was one of several platforms being tested as

part of the Prompt Global Strike programme. The craft had suc-cessfully flown from Hawaii to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands during a previous test in November 2011, she said.

The weapon, described by the Army as a first-of-its-kind glide vehicle, was supposed to fly from Alaska to the Kwajalein Atoll dur-ing Monday’s test.

Schumann said that, in addi-tion to the previous successful flight test, the hpersonic weapon had “gone through a series of ground testing and modeling and simulation.” She said she wouldn’t characterise yesterday’s termi-nated flight as a significant set-back for the prompt global strike programme.

“This was one concept that we were looking at in a range of pos-sible CPGS (Conventional Prompt Global Strike) concepts,” she said. “The whole CPGS programme is event-driven, not time- or sched-ule-driven. So we learn, we keep learning from a variety of ground testing and modeling and simula-tion and other tests done on the range of concepts under CPGS.”

Schumann said officials from the programme, the US Army, Navy and Missile Defense Agency were conducting an extensive investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

The investigation will inform future tests for the weapon and other prompt global strike vehi-cles, she said. REUTERS

The congregation during Michael Brown’s funeral at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St Louis, Missouri, yesterday.

Emotions run high at black teen’s funeralST LOUIS: Michael Brown, the black teen whose shooting by a white officer ignited protests and a national debate on race, was eulogised at a cathartic funeral service yesterday as a victim of abusive policing whose untimely death demands justice.

Brown’s family bid farewell to the 18-year-old with gospel hymns and fiery orations that rocked a packed Baptist church not far from the St Louis suburb of Ferguson where he was killed August 9.

“All of us are required to respond to this. And all of us must solve this,” said the Reverend Al Sharpton, who delivered an

impassioned speech that drew shouts of agreement from the mourners.

“This is not about you. This is about justice. This is about fairness. And America is going to have to come to terms when there’s something wrong,” the civil rights activist added.

People filled the 5,000-seat Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church for a service that drew activists and religious lead-ers, as well as the Brown family and their friends.

Brown’s closed bronze casket was flanked by large portraits of him as a young man and smaller ones showing him as a baby. A

St Louis Cardinals baseball cap was placed on the coffin next to a large bouquet of red roses.

Relatives and friends remem-bered him as a “gentle giant” who turned to religion in his last days and had premonitions of his own death.

But Sharpton brought the serv-ice back to the fatal act that riv-eted the nation and reopened old wounds of racial discrimination and distrust.

He recalled the scene after the shooting: “Michael Brown, 18-year-old boy, laid out in the street, hour and a half before the detective came. Another hour or so before they came in remove

his body. Family couldn’t come through the ropes. Dogs sniffing through. What did you do?”

Brown, Sharpton said, would not want to be remembered for the riots that erupted after his death but rather “as the one that made America deal with how we are going to police in the United States.”

Absent from the service was Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who was asked by the family to stay away.

After the funeral service, Brown was to be buried in a private ceremony in St Peter’s cemetery.

AFP

Three go missing as storm lashes MexicoCABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO: Hurricane Marie was pounding heavy waves into Mexico’s Pacific coast yes-terday, where three fishermen went missing after their boat capsized.

The eighth hurricane of the eastern Pacific season also dam-aged the property of some 10,000 families in the southern state of Oaxaca, officials said.

Marie, expected to reach south-ern California today, was headed up the coast of the Baja California Peninsula when it sank the fish-ing boat.

“Unfortunately, we have three missing fishermen,” said Wenceslao Petit, the director of civil protection in the tourist hub of Los Cabos.

The navy went to the rescue of the Tio Chori, which went out to sea with seven fisherman aboard. The boat overturned after being rammed by heavy waves caused by the storm, but four of the fisher-men were able to swim to shore.

A ground and air search was underway for the three still missing.

The civil protection agency declared a state of emergency in

the Los Cabos region.The government of Oaxaca, one

of the country’s poorest states, declared an emergency in ten municipalities home to the 10,000 families affected by the storm.

Area highways were damaged and landslides blocked travel in rural areas, said Felipe Reyna Romero, the state’s civil protec-tion director.

Rivers had overflown and homes flooded, he added.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said “some weakening is forecast dur-ing the next 48 hours ... but Marie is expected to remain a major hurricane through early Tuesday.”

The hurricane briefly hit cate-gory five, the most powerful storm rating on the Saffir-Simpson scale, before slightly losing steam.

The NHC said the eye of Marie was “very near” Clarion Island, more than 700 kilometers off the Mexican mainland.

The storm was packing maxi-mum sustained winds of 230 kil-ometers per hour and moving northwest at 13 miles per hour according to the latest bulletin from US forecasters.

AFP

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes yesterday for actor and director Richard Attenborough who died just days before his 91st birthday after a career in the film industry spanning over six decades.

Tributes poured in from the worlds of entertainment, sports and politics for Attenborough, who died on Sunday, praising his film work, his charm, and his commitment to do good through various humanitarian causes.

One of Attenborough’s great-est achievements was overcom-ing 20 years of resistance from Hollywood studios to finally make a cinematic tribute to Mahatma Gandhi in 1982 with the $22m epic “Gandhi” winning eight Academy Awards includ-ing best film and a best director Oscar for Attenborough.

He also won acting fame for a list of movies including playing a theme park owner in “Jurassic Park”, Kris Kringle in the 1994 Christmas fantasy film “Miracle on 34th Street”, and Big X in prison camp drama “The Great Escape”.

Cameron said Attenborough’s acting in the 1947 film “Brighton Rock”, in which he played psy-chopathic teenager Pinkie Brown, was brilliant and his

directing of “Gandhi” stunning.“Richard Attenborough was

one of the greats of cinema,” Cameron wrote on Twitter.

Attenborough, the elder brother of naturalist and broad-caster David Attenborough, was in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2008. He lived in a care home for people from the the-atrical profession with his wife of 59 years, actress Sheila Sims.

The couple was devastated in

2004 when their daughter Jane, one of their three children, and granddaughter Lucy were killed in Thailand in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Asia.

Born on August 29, 1923, in Cambridge, England, Attenborough longed to act from the age of four and won a schol-arship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1941. That year he made his stage debut in London’s West End and in 1942

played his first film part in Noel Coward’s ““In Which We Serve”.

He later joined the Royal Air Force, qualifying as a pilot, and in 1944 volunteered for a unit film-ing over Germany.

Attenborough played under-dogs and misfits in a string of character roles after World War Two, notably “Brighton Rock”, “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” and “10 Rillington Place”.

But it was directing ““Gandhi” that won him a string of inter-national awards and established him as one of Britain’s best-known cinema personalities, known for his habit of calling everyone “darling”.

Five years after “Gandhi” he made “Cry Freedom”, the story of South African black activist Steve Biko who died in police custody, that also went on to box office success.

But not all of his films were successful. His 1992 biopic of Charlie Chaplin failed to make money and “Grey Owl”, about a British schoolboy turned Canadian Indian environmen-talist, received scathing reviews.

His final film, “Closing the Ring” in 2007, received mixed responses and was deemed a muted finale to his distinguished directorial career.

REUTERS

Director Sir Richard Attenborough is dead

British Lord Richard Attenborough (right) and his wife Sheila Sim arriving at the Guards Chapel, Duke of Wellington Barracks in London on August 31, 2007.

Final debate over Scotland’s separation beginsGLASGOW: Two of Scotland’s leading politicians began a final TV debate last night, just weeks before a historic independence referendum, with secessionists looking for a game-changing performance to catch up in the polls.

As the September 18 vote nears, polls show the campaign to sever Scotland’s 307-year union with England and leave the United Kingdom is trailing in support, as it has been from the start.

Several recent polls have shown support for independence climb-ing a few points, but the most recent “poll of polls,” on August 15, which is based on an average of the last six polls and excludes

undecided respondents, found support for a breakaway stands at 43 percent against 57 percent for staying in the UK.

But expectations were riding high for the second of two live TV debates with Alex Salmond, 59, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), enjoying a reputation as a canny campaigner who has unexpectedly won elections in the past.

“This is our time, our moment. Let us do it now,” Salmond told the audience in an emotional opening statement, urging Scots to vote for full independence.

The TV debate is expected to centre on three issues: if and how an independent Scotland could

keep the pound, how many barrels of oil are left in the North Sea, and whether Scotland’s publicly funded health service would be better off in a breakaway state.

Salmond unexpectedly failed to dominate the first debate on August 5, in which Alistair Darling, the leader of the anti-independence “Better Together” campaign, put him in the spot over the issue of currency in an independent Scotland.

Darling told voters last night that choosing full independence and taking Salmond at his word was too risky a prospect.

“He’s asking us to take his word for it. Well, I’m sorry I can’t,” said Darling.

Darling criticised Salmond for failing to spell out a “plan B” if the British government refused to formally share the pound in a currency union, the nationalists’ preferred option.

All three major UK-wide par-ties have ruled out such a union, but Salmond predicts their posi-tion will change if there’s a “yes” vote in September .

Bookmaker Ladbrokes had Salmond as the favourite again before yesterday’s debate, but he is less heavily touted this time.

A spokesman for the pro-independence “Yes Scotland” campaign said the debates were important because they reached a large audience. REUTERS

Quake damage

Rubble that fell from the Vintner’s Collective tasting room on Main Street lies on the sidewalk yesterday after a 6.1 earthquake struck the Napa Valley area on Sunday in Napa, California, USA.

ASIA / PHILIPPINES 11TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BANGKOK: Thailand’s coup leader was formally endorsed as prime minister by the nation’s revered king yesterday, in a step towards forming a gov-ernment to oversee sweeping reforms in the politically turbu-lent kingdom.

Army chief General Prayut Chan-Ocha, 60, who ousted an elected government in a bloodless power grab on May 22, was cho-sen uncontested as premier last week by a national assembly made up mainly of military figures.

In a brief but elaborate cer-emony to receive the royal com-mand, Prayut -- wearing a white official uniform -- knelt and bowed in front of a large portrait of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“His majesty the king has appointed me prime minister. I am extremely grateful... this is a great honour for me and my family,” Prayut said after the ceremony.

“I will work with honesty and for the benefit of people and the nation,” he added.

The top general, who was endorsed as premier on Sunday but was officially given the royal command a day later, will also remain head of the junta as the military appears to tighten its grip on power.

A junta spokesman said Prayut would pick a cabinet and propose ministers for the king’s approval in September.

The junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), says it was forced to take power after months of protests left nearly 30 people dead and hundreds more wounded, paralysing the govern-ment, cramping the economy and frightening off tourists.

It has ruled out holding new elections before October 2015, despite international appeals for a return to democracy, vowing first to oversee reforms aimed at cleaning up politics and society.

Japan, Thailand’s single biggest foreign investor, yesterday urged a “smooth and early transition” to an elected democracy.

The statement, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, also said Japan was “particularly attentive” to the protection of “basic rights and freedoms” in the kingdom.

Rights groups have condemned the junta for smothering dissent since seizing power.

Protests are banned under martial law while hundreds of activists and political opponents were summoned by the military after the coup -- although most were released within days.

The United Nations last week also expressed alarm at a number of arrests and stiff jail sentences meted out since the coup for defaming Thailand’s monarchy.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, is revered by many Thais and

protected by tough defamation laws that carry a maximum jail sentence of 15 years for each conviction.

At least 13 new royal defa-mation cases have been opened while other allegations have been

revived, the UN said, warning of the “chilling effects” of such cases on freedom of expression.

Critics say months-long pro-tests that proceeded the coup pro-vided a pretext for the power grab against the former government

led by the powerful Shinawatra clan.

Yingluck Shinawatra was prime minister until she was thrown out of office by a controversial court decision weeks before the May 22 coup. AFP

Thai king endorses Prayut as PMCoup head set to pick a cabinet, to propose ministers for the king’s approval in September

Newly appointed Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-Ocha with his wife Naraporn during a ceremony to receive the royal command at the army headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

BEIJING: The top committee of China’s rubber-stamp leg-islature opened a session yes-terday that will discuss issues including the election method for Hong Kong’s chief execu-tive, according to state media reports.

The meeting of the stand-ing committee of the National People’s Congress comes with public discontent in the former British colony at its highest for years over perceived interference by Beijing and growing divisions over how its next leader should be chosen in 2017.

Pro-democracy campaigners from the Occupy Central group have pledged to mobilise thou-sands of protesters to block the financial district later this year if authorities reject the public’s right to nominate candidates for the post.

But the movement has been strongly criticised by Beijing and city officials as illegal, radical and potentially violent.

At the standing committee ses-sion -- due to run until Sunday -- lawmakers will review a report from Hong Kong’s current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on

whether to revise the election method, Xinhua said previously, among other Chinese issues.

One of the organisers of Occupy Central said he was “anxiously awaiting” the outcome of the session.

“The bottom line is universal suffrage that satisfies interna-tional standards must be granted, allowing people of different politi-cal backgrounds to contest the election,” Chan Kin-man said.

“If there is no room for genu-ine elections we will be forced to launch our occupation.”

Hong Kong was handed back

to China by Britain on July 1, 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement, which allows residents civil liber-ties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest.

But Beijing is insisting that candidates be vetted before the 2017 vote.

Tens of thousands of people, organised by the pro-govern-ment Alliance for Peace and Democracy, earlier this month marched through Hong Kong to protest against the Occupy Central campaign. AFP

China officials meet over HK poll reforms

Japan PM visits landslides-hit Hiroshima CityTOKYO: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday pledged full support for victims of last week’s massive landslides in Hiroshima, as he made his first visit to the Japanese city.

The death toll from the mud-slides, which buried dozens of homes, rose to 54, with a further 28 people missing as of yesterday, according to Hiroshima police.

Those missing include a newly-wed couple in their 20s, who had moved to the area just a month before the tragedy. The young wife was seven months pregnant, local media said.

Some 3,000 rescuers, including soldiers, were continuing to dig through mud and debris at the various disaster sites on the out-skirts of the city, but their round-the-clock search was occasionally hampered as fresh rain stoked fears of further landslides.

“The government wants to closely coordinate with the local authority,” said Abe, who wore the light blue protective clothing Japanese politicians often don during disasters to signify they are part of the recovery effort.

“We will do our best to have vic-tims return to normal life as soon as possible,” he told reporters.

More than 1,600 people were taking refuge in schools, town halls and other public buildings.

The city has issued evacuation advisories and orders for more than 150,000 residents with heavy rain expected in Hiroshima later in the day. AFP

Macau police arrest five over democracy pollHONG KONG: Police in Macau detained five people involved in staging an unoffi-cial referendum on democracy in the southern Chinese terri-tory, organisers said, nearly two months after activists angered Beijing by conducting a similar poll in Hong Kong.

The informal referendum among Macau’s 600,000 resi-dents coincides with the widely expected reelection of local leader Fernando Chui next Sunday.

But it is an official body of 400 that elects the leader similar to Hong Kong where a small com-mittee of largely pro-Beijing loy-alists chooses who gets on the ballot, effectively rendering the ability to vote meaningless.

The informal referendum in Macau, the world’s biggest gam-bling hub, asks whether the new leader should be elected by uni-versal suffrage in 2019.

Activists and local media said yesterday five people were arrested for allegedly breaching the privacy law. Among those detained was organiser Jason Chao, who was charged with “serious disobedience with police’, activists said. The five have been released.

Police in Macao shut down locations where electronic tablets were available to vote on whether the new leader should be elected by universal suffrage.

Bill Chou, vice president of the New Macau Group, a grassroots organisation in Macau, said the crackdown was unnecessary and high-handed, adding that every-one being polled had done so by consent. REUTERS

Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife Ani Yudhoyono arrive at Komoro airport in Dili, East Timor, yesterday on an official visit to strengthen relations.

Yudhoyono in East Timor

MANILA: Thousands of peo-ple including activists and clergy gathered at the Philippine capi-tal’s main park yesterday in a rally to denounce the “Priority Development and Assistance Fund” system which they blame for spreading corruption.

Organisers said almost 20,000 people joined the rally but observ-ers said the crowd was much smaller, with police putting it at about 5,000 at its peak.

The crowd, which included nuns, priests and lawyers, was significantly smaller than a simi-lar rally over the same issue last year which observers said drew at least 250,000.

That rally, called through a vigorous social media campaign, had captured the outrage follow-ing reports of a scam involving tens of millions of dollars from the PDAF of congressmen.

Such allocations are supposed to pay for the pet projects of leg-islators but large amounts were allegedly siphoned off.

Three powerful senators have already been jailed over the controversy.

Influential Manila archbishop Cardinal Luis Tagle praised those taking part in the “march against PDAF” in a statement posted on a church social media site.

“I extend my greetings and

solidarity. Thank you for mak-ing democracy alive and active. Thank you for advancing decency in public life,” the senior church leader said.

Peachy Bretana, an anti-PDAF official, which was one of the organisers, told ABS-CBN televi-sion the issue was non-partisan.

“This is not about parties. This definitely is not anti-administra-tion. This is pro-people,” she said.

But many of the protesters at the rally used the issue to attack President Benigno Aquino, whom they accused of abetting the PDAF system and of seeking a second term despite being limited by law to only one term. AFP

Philippine activists, priests join protest

DHAKA: A court in Bangladesh yesterday ordered the trial of 147 people, including senior leaders of the main oppo-sition party, over an explosion outside their headquarters last year.

The move to charge them with setting off explosives in capital Dhaka came as the opposition mounted fresh protests to try to unseat a government they say is illegal.

Hundreds of opposition sup-porters have been charged since violent protests over disputed elections in January left more than 500 people dead across the country.

The latest case concerns small explosions in March 2013 outside the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) head office. After the blasts, police stormed the building, ransacked rooms and arrested key officials, in a raid shown live on private television channels.

“All 147 were charged under the speedy trial laws. They could be jailed for up to 10 years if found guilty,” Prosecutor Abdullah Abu said. The court also issued arrest warrants against 48 people who failed to turn up at the court, he said.

The BNP-led 19-party alliance

boycotted the January 5 elections, allowing the ruling Awami League party and its allies to clinch all parliamentary seats in a poll marred by violence and wide-spread fraud.

Defence lawyers blasted the latest charges, calling them a “ploy” by the government to derail fresh opposition protests to force an early general election.

“It came at a time when the opposition has called for a new movement against the govern-ment,” defence lawyer Sanaullah Miah said, adding at least 20 senior opposition officials were among those charged.

He said at least 250 BNP fig-ures, including former ministers and lawmakers, had been charged with violence in recent weeks after BNP leader Khaleda Zia urged supporters to return to the streets for countrywide protests.

Zia, a two-time former prime minister, is also facing two cor-ruption cases that could see her barred from politics if found guilty.

She has called the new govern-ment illegal and called her sup-porters to regroup for nationwide protests to topple the govern-ment. Abu said the judge had set September 25 for hearing.

AFP

Bangla court orders trial of 147 over blast

Anwar dismisses offers of exile abroadKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has rejected offers of asylum abroad ahead of a final appeal in October on an abuse conviction that could see him jailed, a political aide said yesterday.

Anwar was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison in arch for abusing a young former male aide, but is free pending a final appeal set for October 28-29.

The 67-year-old has dismissed the case as fabricated by the govern-ment to ruin his political career. The aide declined further comment but said a media report on the asylum offers was correct.

The Star newspaper quoted Anwar as saying he had received several offers by “foreign leaders” to go overseas but would not accept them.

“I met up with a few foreign leaders who advised me to go overseas to escape a possible prison sentence. At my age, they say they cannot imagine seeing me behind bars,” Anwar was quoted as saying.

The story did not specify which countries Anwar was speaking of.The accusation surfaced shortly after Anwar led a three-party alli-

ance to unprecedented electoral gains in 2008. A lower court acquitted Anwar in 2012, but an appeals court overturned the in March. AFP

China continues Diaoyu Islands patrolBEIJING: Vessels of the China Coast Guard (CCG) conducted a patrol mission in China’s territorial waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands, according to China’s News Agency (Xinhua). The vessels are CCG 2305, 2146, 2102 and 2113. China has been conducting patrols on a regular basis. AGENCIES

Kabul poll row delays presidential induction

Ex-official: 2013 poll in Pakistan was rigged

PESHAWAR: Gunmen in northwest Pakistan opened fire on tankers carrying fuel for Nato troops in Afghanistan yesterday, killing a driver and wounding two others, officials said.

The incident happened in Jamrud area of Khyber, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions where the military has been battling the homegrown insurgents for years.

“A convoy of six oil tankers was heading towards Afghanistan when four attackers riding two motorbikes attacked the first tanker, killing its driver,” sen-ior local administration official Irshad Khan said.

He said the tanker overturned

as a result of the firing, adding two other persons including a helper and a passerby were injured.

Khan said the remaining five tankers returned to Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after the attack.

Another local administration official Mehtab Khan confirmed the incident and casualties.

Nato supply trucks, which carry everything from fuel to munitions and food, often come under attack on their journey between the Pakistani port city of Karachi and border crossing points.

The coalition is winding down operations in Afghanistan with its 44,000 combat troops due to pull

out by the end of this year.The 2011 Nato attack in

Pakistan, also known as the Salala attack, occurred when US-led Nato forces engaged Pakistani security forces at two Pakistani military checkposts along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border.

Two Nato Apache helicop-ters, an AC-130 gunship and two F-15E Eagle fighter jets entered by varying estimates as little as 200 metres to up to 2.5 kilometres into the Pakistani border area of Salala in the Baizai subdivision of Mohmand Agency, FATA from across the border in Afghanistan and opened fire at two border patrol check-posts, killing up to 24 Pakistani soldiers and wound-ing 13 others. AFP

Nato truck driver gunned down

ISLAMABAD: The prevail-ing stalemate between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was jolted yesterday night when a former official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), who was directly involved in the preparations for and execution of the gen-eral elections of 2013, came out in support of Imran Khan’s allegations of electoral rigging.

The legacy of the elections has been marred by allegations, and proof of rigging along with tam-pering within the bureaucracy.

The secretary of the Election commission resigned and said that ‘historic rigging’ was seen in these elections which had been unprecedented before.

Mohammad Afzal Khan, who also goes by the name of Afzal Qadhafi, appeared on the ARY News show ‘Khara Such’, hosted by Mubasher Lucman and alleged that the general elections were ‘massively rigged’ and pointed the finger squarely at former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and retired Justice Riaz Ahmed Kiani, the ECP member from Punjab.

Afzal was the additional secre-tary at the ECP from 2012 until his retirement just after the elec-tions in May last year.

He began his career as a journalist with the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan in 1979 and served there until 1996. He then joined the ECP as direc-tor of Public Relations, where he

worked until 2003.He was appointed the NWFP

information secretary the next year, but returned to the ECP as the provincial election commis-sioner for the same province from July 2008 to March 2010.

In April 2010, he took charge as a joint secretary at ECP head-quarters in Islamabad.

The post was re-designated

in January 2012 and Afzal was made a director general, a posi-tion he retained until his eleva-tion to his penultimate post. It is not clear what made him keep quiet for over 14 months since his retirement.

Afzal alleged that the chief justice had interfered in the ECP’s mandate by appoint-ing returning officers (ROs),

but managed to cover up his own wrongdoings by influenc-ing the erstwhile Chief Election Commissioner, retired Justice Fakharuddin G Ebrahim.

“To save his skin, the CJP ordered Fakhru Bhai to submit an application seeking the apex court’s assistance in appointing ROs,” Afzal revealed.

Referring to the scandal

around the ‘35 punctures’ that Imran Khan often talks about, Mohamad Afzal Khan alleged that those involved in fixing the elec-tions had applied a lot more than ‘35 punctures’.

“The chief election commis-sioner was a silent spectator while Justice Kiani played a major role. He is the man who tarnished the image of the ECP,” he said

“Everyone, myself included, was involved in the rigging proc-ess in one way or the other,” he added.

To a query, he said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan should be asked who told him that votes polled in the 2013 elections were unverifiable.

Talking about the role of elec-tion tribunals, the former ECP additional secretary claimed that these too were used to cover up rigging.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee has lost more than four percent against the dollar in a little over two weeks as an on-going politi-cal crisis weighs on the economy, analysts said yesterday.

The slide began when crick-eter-turned-politician Imran Khan vowed to march on the capital to stage sit-ins aimed at toppling the government, which he accuses of rigging last year’s election.

The currency fell from 98.85 to the dollar on August 8 to 103 rupees to the dollar in the official interbank market yesterday -- a slide of 4.2 percent.

AGENCIES

Prolonged vote audit puts strain on security, economy

PESHAWAR: Pakistan yes-terday launched a fresh drive to vaccinate more than 700,000 children in its restive tribal belt against polio, but officials said nearly 300,000 others would miss out because of threats from militants.

The World Health Organisation declared a global ‘public health emergency’ in early May after new polio cases began surfacing and spreading across borders from countries including Pakistan.

It is one of only three coun-tries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the crippling disease remains endemic.

But violence has badly ham-pered the campaign to stamp out polio in Pakistan, where militant groups with strongholds in tribal areas -- including the Pakistani Taliban -- see vaccination cam-paigns as a cover for espionage.

Some 56 people including health workers and police pro-viding security have been killed in militant attacks on polio vac-cination teams in Pakistan since December 2012.

“A four-day vaccination drive began today to administer polio drops to children in tribal regions," senior campaign official Ikhtiar Ali said yesterday. AFP

KABUL: Afghanistan’s next president was due to take over yesterday but an inauguration deadline has been pushed to September as rival candidates fail to agree on who won an elec-tion meant to mark the coun-try’s first democratic transfer of power.

Rivals Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, as part of a US-brokered deal, must form a government of national unity and cooperate on an audit of all eight million votes that were cast to eliminate concern about wide-spread electoral fraud.

Afghanistan has been in a state of crisis since the disputed first round of the presidential election in April and the stand-off has dashed hopes for a smooth tran-sition of power from President Hamid Karzai, who has run the country since 2001.

Karzai had earlier said the new leader would take over on August 25 but a spokesman for the president said yesterday that date was never set as the inaugu-ration date.

Whatever the plan, yester-day, the Independent Election Commission was still pouring over votes cast in a second-round run-off held under UN supervision on June 14.

In particular, the commission

was due to begin throwing out, or ‘invalidating’, ballots deemed fraudulent in an audit of all eight million votes cast, organised as part of a deal to resolve the stand-off.

“The Independent Election Commission is trying very hard to finish the process as soon as pos-sible,” said its spokesman, Noor Mohammad Noor.

The new inauguration tar-get date of September 2, if met, would allow the next leader to take power before a Nato sum-mit in Wales, which starts two days later.

Countries at the summit are due to determine how much aid Afghanistan will get after most foreign troops pull out at the end of the year.

A peaceful transfer of power would allow the United States and Afghanistan's other Western allies to trumpet a degree of suc-cess as their troops leave after nearly 13 years of inconclusive war.

UNPREDICTABLE

But officials from the rival camps, as well as from the elec-tion commission, doubt that the September 2 date would be met.

“Honestly, I cannot come out with something definite on that, but I hope. It’s Afghanistan.

Things are unpredictable,” said Abdullah’s spokesman, Mujib Rahman Rahimi.

An official for Ghani’s cam-paign, who declined to be identi-fied, said little progress had been made in interpreting the frame-work for a power-sharing deal.

“Nothing yet has added to the political framework and the com-mission couldn’t reach an agree-ment in most of the areas,” the official said, adding that the can-didates were meeting to try to break the deadlock.

Many Western diplomats also say the process is unlikely to be resolved in time.

“I don’t see how there will be any space for compromise, because the pie is too small and there are too many people who want a piece,” said one Western official.

Results from the June run-off put Ghani, a former World Bank official and finance minister, in the lead. Abdullah, who came out first in the first round but fell short of the 50 percent needed for an outright win, rejected the second-round result, accusing his rival’s team of vote rigging with Karzai’s help.

Ghani and Karzai have denied the accusation.

“Prolonging of the presidential process has affected people’s daily

life, particularly in security, econ-omy and governance,” Karzai’s office said on Sunday after a meeting with the candidates to urge them to cooperate. “This must end as soon as possible.”

A commission appointed by the two camps has been meeting for days to work out a solution but it has made little progress.

“They tried to narrow the dif-ferences down and find some common ground ... but they could not agree,” said Rahimi.

“The two camps are represent-ing two different philosophies.”

On 17 July 2013, the Parliament of Afghanistan passed a pair of election laws considered crucial to holding the election on time;

President Karzai signed one and was expected to sign the other quickly. The first law to be signed lays out the composition and rules for Afghanistan’s election commis-sion and a separate commission to adjudicate complaints about voter fraud and other irregularities. The other one governs how the vote will be held. REUTERS

Pakistan launches polio drive in tribal regions

Roadside bomb blast kills four Afghan soldiersKABUL: At least four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were martyred following road-side bomb explosion, defence officials said yesterday.

General Zahir Azimi, spokes-man for the Afghani Ministry of Defence (MoD), said the four Afghan soldiers were martyred fol-lowing improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the past 24 hours.

He did not disclose further information regarding the exact location of the incident, according to the Afghan (Khaama Press).

The anti-government armed militant groups frequently use improvised explosive device to target Afghan and coalition secu-rity forces.

According to security officials, the Afghan army deaths stands at four service members daily on average which is mainly caused due to improvised explosive device attacks.

General Azimi said Afghan armed forces are currently engaged in 15 military opera-tions conducted in 13 different provinces.

Malala angered by pop musicISLAMABAD: Malala Yousafzai, the activist schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, has said she is angered by how pop music represents women. The 17-year-old campaigner has claimed most female artists in the West have accepted that they should be ‘treated like objects’.

She rose to prominence after surviving an assassination attempt in October 2012 when her calls for equal rights angered militants in her homeland of Pakistan.

A bullet narrowly missed her brain and she was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where she was treated for life-threatening injuries.

The schoolgirl has settled into a new life in the city with her family, but revealed she has been shocked by some aspects of Western culture.

“What I get a bit angry about is the image of women. It gets quite difficult for me when I lis-ten to pop music. I don’t often understand the words, but when someone translates them to me, I think, ‘What is this song rep-resenting? That, women are just there to be treated like objects?’

AGENCIES

Afghan election commission workers sort ballot papers during an audit of the presidential run-off vote in the general election at a counting centre in Kabul yesterday.

Supporters of PML-N demonstrate in support of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore yesterday.

12 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTANTUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

INDIA 13TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

NEW DELHI: In results it admitted were not to its lik-ing, the BJP suffered stun-ning reverses in by-elections in Bihar, exactly three months after it swept the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress scored gains both in Karnataka and Punjab but lost 1-2 to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

In the first pan-India popular-ity test after the May Lok Sabha verdict, the new alliance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal-United and Congress shocked the BJP by winning six of the 10 assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress wrested Bhagalpur, an urban seat, from the Bharatiya Janata Party after a gap of 23 years.

In Karnataka, the ruling Congress wrested the prestigious Bellary reserved seat and retained the Chikkodi-Sadalga seat. The BJP won from Shikaripura in the August 21 by-elections held in four states.

In Punjab, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress won one seat each. The Aam Aadmi Party, which won four Lok Sabha seats, was defeated in both places.

The best news for the BJP

came in Madhya Pradesh where its candidates won from Aagar and Vijayraghavgarh constituen-cies, while the Congress snatched Bahoriband from the BJP.

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here that the results were not to the party’s satisfaction but claimed they did not reflect the national mood.

“The results do not reflect the national mood. There were local issues and factors such as popu-larity of the candidate,” he said. He added that the results did not indicate a revival of the Congress which won only 44 seats — its worst ever showing — in the Lok Sabha battle.

The Congress was buoyant. “The BJP gave the impression that the Narendra Modi wave, which was based on false promises, will carry it through in the bypolls but unfortunately people did not vote as they expected,” Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed said. “The results are a positive signal for the Congress,” he added.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, both former chief ministers of Bihar, were jubilant. After the Lok

Sabha disaster, they ended their animosity of two decades to take on the BJP. Lalu Prasad tweeted from Mumbai: “It seems people have corrected the wrong of the Lok Sabha polls.”

Nitish Kumar vowed to step up efforts to form a nationwide anti-BJP front.

RJD’s Ajay Kumar Bulganin won from Mohiuddinnagar by 21,530 votes. His colleagues Ramawatar Paswan was elected from Rajnagar by 3,448 votes while Randhir Kumar Singh won from Chapra by 24,106 votes.

JD-U’s Rishi Mishra made it to the assembly from Jale by 7,720 votes and Ramanand Prasad Singh won from Parbatta by 56,990 votes.

In Bhagalpur, Ajit Sharma of the Congress won by 17,000 votes.

The BJP’s Awadesh Singh won in Hajipur by 6,127 votes, Nirmal Ram (Mohania) by 19,851 votes, Rashmi Verma (Narkatiaganj) by 15,742 votes and Ram Narayan Mandal (Banka) scraped through by 711 votes.

Its ally, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, was routed.

RJD leader Ashok Kumar

Sinha said the results showed that the “magic of Lalu and Nitish has clicked and the Modi factor has failed”, referring to Prime Minister Modi.

N Y Gopalakrishna of the Congress trounced Obalesh (BJP) by 33,104 votes in Bellary, 330 km from Bangalore. He secured 83,906 and Obalesh 50,802. In Chikkodi-Sadalga, Ganesh Hukkeri of the Congress won by 31,820 votes defeating K M Mallikarjun of the BJP. In Shikaripura, B Y Raghavendra of the BJP defeated H S Shanthavirappa Gowda of the Congress by 6,430 votes to retain the seat.

Congress candidate and former union minister Preneet Kaur won from Patiala in Punjab, defeat-ing Bhagwan Dass Juneja of the ruling Akali Dal by over 23,200 votes. Preneet Kaur is the wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, now a Lok Sabha mem-ber from Amritsar. Akali Dal’s Jeet Mohinder Singh won from Talwandi Sabo by over 46,600 votes, defeating Harminder Singh Jassi of the Congress.

In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, BJP’s Sanjay Pathak defeated

Congress, Lalu-Nitish derail BJP in by-electionsCongress wrests Bhagalpur seat in Bihar, scores gains in Karnataka and Punjab but loses in Madhya Pradesh

Clegg meets Modi

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (left) shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting in New Delhi yesterday. Clegg is on a three-day visit to India.

BJP vows to win in KashmirJAMMU: BJP president Amit Shah yesterday vowed to lead his party to victory in coming elections in Jammu and Kashmir, and asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to quit.

“I have come here to ensure public support to get 44 seats in the state assembly and I am sure we will get that,” Shah thundered at a public rally at Kathua town, 90km from Jammu city. “The next government in Jammu and Kashmir will be ours,” he added to loud applause and cheering.

The BJP president, a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also said that India would give “a befitting reply” to Pakistan for its frequent violations of the 2003 ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, he questioned Abdullah’s right to criticise the central government over these violations.

Saying the people of the country were with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP president said the National Conference-led government had no right to stay in power. Alluding to the Abdullah family, Shah appealed to the people of the state to end dynastic rule in Kashmir. Shah blamed the state government for mishandling the clashes during this year’s Amarnath Yatra. Senior Congress leader and two-time Lok Sabha member Choudhary Lal Singh joined the BJP at Amit Shah’s Kathua rally. IANS

Brajendra Mishra of the Congress in Vijayraghavgarh by over 50,000 votes. Pathak was the outgoing Congress legislator who joined the BJP. In Aagar, BJP’s Gopal Parmar trounced Rajkumar Gore of the Congress by over 27,000 votes.

Manohar Untwal vacated this seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Ujjain. The Congress hit back in Bahoriband where Sourabh Singh defeated BJP’s Pranav Pandey by over 7,000 votes.

IANS

NEW DELHI: Mid-segment res-idential properties witnessed the highest appreciation in Bangalore in the past three years, while in the high-end category the credit went to Pune, says a study.

As per the report by global real estate consultants, Cushman and Wakefield, mid-segment resi-dential property prices almost doubled in the north-west part of Bangalore, while they were up nearly two-thirds in some areas of Pune. The study spanned between first half (January-June) of 2011 and first half of 2014.

In the mid-segment, Chennai with 27 percent, Delhi region with 22 percent and Kolkata with 17 percent, also saw some notewor-thy increases, while Mumbai saw the second-lowest jump with 16 percent, following Hyderabad with 14 percent. In the high-end properties market, Pune recorded the highest increase in capital val-ues of 39 percent while Bangalore recorded 37 percent average increase in capital values in the period between 2011 and 2014.

The high-end property seg-ment in Chennai market recorded an average increase of 34 percent in capital values in the three-year period, while Mumbai and Delhi-NCR recorded identical average increase of 24 percent. Hyderabad with 16 percent remained at the last on the table for average increase in capital values over three years.

“Despite the disparity in levels of average appreciation in capital values in the past, it is hearten-ing to see that against poorer economic sentiments, all markets have recorded capital apprecia-tion. It is interesting to note that markets which are largely end user driven are also the ones to record highest average increases in capital values while investor driven markets such as Delhi-NCR and Mumbai have remained contained in appreciation received over the period,” said Shveta Jain, executive director, Residential Services, Cushman & Wakefield.

In the last three years, Bangalore witnessed the highest average capi-tal value appreciation in the mid segment of the top seven Indian cities. Chennai witnessed steady capital value appreciation in both mid and high-end segments during the period, while Hyderabad wit-nessed capital value appreciation of 14 percent in the mid segment and 16 percent in the high-end segment.

The high-end segment in Kolkata witnessed average capital value appreciation of 26 percent in the last three years. Average capital values in Mumbai’s mid segment increased 16 percent during the period and capital val-ues in Delhi-NCR appreciated 22 percent in the mid segment and 24 percent in the high-end.

IANS

NEW DELHI: In an email to all bank officers refer-ring to his financial inclusion scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the task of achieving a bank account for each household as a national priority, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said yesterday.

“We need to enrol over seven crore households and open their accounts. This is a national pri-ority. There is an urgency to this exercise as all other development activities are hindered by this sin-gle disability,” he wrote.

Urging bank officers to “put your shoulder to the wheel and try your level best to ensure that no one is left without a bank account”, Modi said he would eventually recognise the achievements of the best per-forming branches.

Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, to be launched simultaneously across the nation Thursday every account holder gets a RuPay debit card with a Rs100,000 accident cover. “As we go along, they will be covered by insurance and pen-sion products,” Modi said.

With a bank account, every household gains access to bank-ing and credit facilities, which will enable them to come out of the grip of moneylenders and keep away from financial crises caused by emergent needs, Modi wrote.

“We want to integrate the poorest of the poor people with bank accounts,” the prime minis-ter announced during the course of his Independence Day speech. “Why is our farmer committing suicide today? He takes credit, but can’t repay. So he dies,” Modi said.

MOM-AND-POP SHOPSFinance ministry officials said

besides the organised financial sys-tem, some 225,000 mom-and-pop shops that function as correspond-ent bankers or representatives will be roped in to provide all the finan-cial inclusion schemes.

The officials said the mis-sion will have two phases — one starting immediately with a year’s target for universal bank-ing and the second from the next Independence Day that will take up insurance and pension and conclude on August 14, 2018.

The mission will dovetail into it the RuPay credit card scheme launched by the state-run National Payments Corp in May to enable ATM withdrawals and electronic payments at all Indian banks and financial institutions.

As per 2011 Census, only 58.7 percent Indian households availed banking services. The finance ministry estimates that 75 million households still do not have access to financial services. Around 600 million people are also under-banked. IANS

MUMBAI: The first sea-plane service on mainland was launched with an aircraft taking off from Juhu Airport here and touching down on the waters of the Pawana Dam yesterday.

Pawana Dam is located in Lonavala in Pune district. The service has been launched by the Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd in collaboration with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation.

The maiden flight, with nine passengers on board and a flying time of 25 minutes, cost Rs2,999 per head one way — with the fare likely to be revised next month. The service will be extended to other water bodies in the state having tourism or pilgrim centres but lacking air connectivity.

“This is the first step towards covering India with a seaplane network over the next three-five years. It will become a vital cog in the tourism initiative of the state as well as pilgrimage with connections to tourist and pil-grim centres,” said MEHAIR co-founder and director Siddharth Verma. He added the service has received tremendous response and the daily and weekly flights

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court yesterday held that re-evaluation of marks is not an “exercise in futility” and has to have some “significance and import”, while directing the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) to admit a student denied entry due to a delay in the process.

Justice Manmohan, ask-ing SRCC to grant admission to Sunny Goel in this academic year, also said that if the college hasn’t been left with any seat, a supernumerary seat should be be created by the Delhi University.

In the judgement, the court said: “After all a student applies for re-evaluation not just for ‘statistical reasons’, but to take benefit of the increase in marks, if any.”

Goel, who had sought admis-sion in B.Com (Honours) in SRCC after his best-of-four percentage increased from 95.5 percent to 97.5 percent following revaluation of his papers by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), moved the high court, after the college denied him admission on the ground that the the process

concluded July 7 and Goel had applied on July 10.

Goel said he had applied for admission in the college and had also applied for revaluation but there was a delay on the part of CBSE in revaluating his English paper. He had contended that students with percentages less than him have been admitted to the college.

Keeping in view the fact that the overwhelming major-ity of students admitted to DU belong to CBSE board, the court directed the CBSE chairman to have meet the DU vice chan-cellor to ensure that from next academic year, “students’ re-evaluation marks are taken into account while granting admis-sion to colleges of DU”.

“For this purpose, either the re-evaluation process may be cut-short or cut-off date of colleges may be postponed by a reasonable time,” said Justice Manmohan.

The court asked the CBSE to hold a meeting within the next two weeks and a decision be taken within eight weeks thereafter.

IANS

Seaplane service begins in Mumbai

A man takes a picture of a Cessna 208 Caravan 1 seaplane before it departs from Juhu Aerodrome in Mumbai yesterday.

are fully booked till September 15.“The service will boost tour-

ism immensely, and seaplanes will turn vacation destinations into weekend destinations. Besides, the fatigue involved in reaching these destinations would also decrease drastically,” said MTDC Managing Director Jagdish Patil.

The service — to be operated with Cessna 208 (nine-seater) and Cessna 206 (four-seater) amphib-ian aircraft — will slash travel time between the two points, currently

serviced by trains, the Mumbai-Pune expressway and the Mumbai-Pune highway. The company has two aircraft in service and will acquire another Cessna 208 next month, followed by two more simi-lar aircraft by the year-end.

Besides Pawana Dam, MEHAIR is planning services to Mula, Gangapur and Dhoom dams in Pune district, and a training cen-tre for seaplane pilots to meet the requirements of its fleet.

IANS

Bangalore, Pune top in home value appreciation

Re-evaluation of marks not an exercise in futility: HC

Bank account for each household national priority, says Premier

15INDIA TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that all coal block allocations made by the government between 1993 and 2009 were illegal, throwing the already energy-starved coun-try’s power sector into turmoil.

The Apex Court said there were “legal flaws” in the proce-dure for awarding the nearly 220 coal blocks in India, which relies on the fuel for two-thirds of its power generation. The allocation of so-called “captive” blocks to private steel, cement and power firms for their own use has long been dogged by allegations of corruption.

“The allocation of coal blocks (between 1993 and 2009) based on recommendations made in all the 36 meetings of the (government) screening committee is illegal,” said Supreme Court Chief Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha. “There was no transparency and guidelines have seldom guided it (the com-mittee),” the judge said.

Another court hearing will be held next Monday to consider whether the allocations should be cancelled. The BJP government, which took power in May, brushed aside suggestions the ruling could further fuel doubts about India’s reliability as a place to do busi-ness. “The economy can now move forward rather than being cast in the shadow of uncertainty,” junior power minister Piyush Goyal said.

The Supreme Court said the allocation process suffered from “arbitrariness” and declared that “common good and public inter-est have thus suffered heavily”. The auditor general charged in 2012 that governments colluded with companies to underprice coalfields at a cost of Rs1.86 tril-lion ($30bn) to public coffers, and said the blocks should have been auctioned. Experts say that while the loss was large, that estimate may be too high.

Many blocks were awarded during under the Congress gov-ernment, led by Manmohan Singh. It was ousted in May after a decade in power by the right-wing BJP led by Narendra Modi, who vowed to stamp out corrup-tion. The scandal came to promi-nence under Congress although the BJP was also in power for part of the period cited by the court.

Shares of Jindal Steel and Power fell 14 percent to Rs253.15 while Hindalco plunged 9.6 per-cent to Rs164.65, as investors worried about whether the firms would lose their coal blocks. Both companies are heavy users of coal from the blocks.

“The question is whether the court will simply levy a penalty against companies like Hindalco and Jindal or take away their licences,” Alok Brara, publisher of leading Indian industry magazine PowerLine, said.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, a key figure in the legal fight against the coal block allocations, called the ruling “historic”. Some of the blocks are still lying idle, but min-ing is under way in others. The government has already seized back around 80 blocks because they were not being exploited.

Separately, the Central Bureau of Investigation said it was set to drop a corruption case against billionaire industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and a former top bureaucrat in the coal ministry, P C Pareck.

The case involving the 2005 awarding of a coal block to Hindalco, part of the Aditya Birla conglomerate, had sent shock waves through India’s busi-ness community as Birla is one of the country’s most esteemed businessmen. “This would mean there is no finding of any criminal act,” CBI spokeswoman Kanchan Prasad said.

AFP

Coal blocks allocations illegal: SCFlaws in awards between 1993-2009

Assam floods

School students and villagers cross a make-shift bamboo bridge in the flood-affected Morigaon district of Assam yesterday. Reports state that the flood situation in Assam’s Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts has deteriorated.

BHOPAL: A stampede at a Hindu temple in central India killed at least 10 people and injured scores early yesterday, the latest in a string of deadly accidents at mass religious events, officials said.

Hundreds of pilgrims gathered at a holy hill in Madhya Pradesh state for a ritual that involves rolling on the ground along the “path of worship” around the site, a state official said.

Rope barriers designed to con-tain the pilgrims appeared to have given way, sparking panic during the ritual at Chitrakoot in the state’s east, the official said.

“Ten people were killed and over 60 are suspected to be injured in the stampede,” M L Meena, a senior state government official, said. “During the parikrama (roll-ing), there was a situation of suf-focation and then people started falling over each other and that’s what triggered the whole thing,”

police Additional Superintendent Amit Saxena told the NDTV news network.

Television footage showed bodies of the victims placed side by side, with clothes, shoes and belongings scattered around. Tearful relatives were seen help-ing police carry the injured to waiting ambulances.

“The place is still very cha-otic and crowded, but police and ambulances have reached the spot,” local police control room official Vinay Kumar Singh said.

The devotees gathered on Kamadgiri hill, 520km from the state capital Bhopal, for Somvati Amavasya, a new moon event to honour deity Shiva.

Pilgrims roll in a clockwise cir-cle along the “path of worship” — a 5km circular stretch around the hill, which has a chain of temples along its base.

“The accident occurred when the rope barriers set up to contain

thousands of Hindu pilgrims during circumambulation of Kamadgiri hill gave way...resulting in a stam-pede,” said police Inspector General Pawan Srivastava.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced Rs200,000 ($3,300) for the families of those killed.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh offered his condolences to those involved. “Deeply sad-dened to know of ten pilgrims death in a stampede at a temple in Chitrakoot area of Madhya Pradesh,” Singh said on Twitter.

India has a long history of deadly stampedes at religious festivals, where large numbers of people crowd into congested areas. Safety regulations are few, while inadequate policing can sometimes cause panic. Some 115 devotees were crushed to death or drowned on a bridge near another Hindu temple in Madhya Pradesh last October. AFP

Temple stampede kills 10 in MP Bus fares hiked in West BengalKOLKATA: Increasing the bus fares, the West Bengal govern-ment yesterday announced set-ting up of a task force to revise the fares in accordance with the increase and decrease in diesel prices. The announcement was made by Minister of Legislative Affairs Partha Chatterjee fol-lowing a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with six bus owners’ associa-tions who have been clamour-ing for fare revision amid steep hike in diesel prices. The mini-mum fare of buses and mini buses would now be Rs6 and Rs7 respectively with an increase by Re1 in each stage. The revised fares will come into effect after a gazette notification is made in this regard.

30 shops guttedin Delhi fireNEW DELHI: Over 30 shops and an NIIT centre were gut-ted in two separate fire inci-dents yesterday. Three fire service officials suffered minor injuries. The first incident was reported from A-block in Connaught Place where a fire broke out around 7.50am inside an NIIT (National Institute of Information Technology) com-puter training centre situated on the first floor of a commer-cial building. Around 15 fire tenders rushed to the spot and it took around three hours to douse the fire which was caused by a short-circuit. In the sec-ond incident, a fire broke out in Kinari Bazaar in old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area — a whole-sale retail market specialising in wedding attire and accesso-ries — around 2.30pm. Over 30 shops were gutted in the fire.

UP rape accused not to be chargedNEW DELHI: Investigators said yesterday that they would not charge five men detained earlier this year on suspicion of raping and murdering two teen-age girls in a case that sparked global outrage. The cousins, aged 14 and 15, were found hang-ing from a tree in an impover-ished village in northern Uttar Pradesh state in May. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it would not “as yet” file charges against the men, citing a lack of evidence, but did not rule out future charges. The men are expected to be released on Friday after 90 days in detention. Media reports say the CBI’s decision was based on forensic tests that had ruled out sexual assault in the case.

AGENCIES

HANOI: India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) educational system is making quiet inroads into Vietnam, thanks to the efforts of the Indian diaspora.

The all-India education system is being popularised in a small way in this Southeast Asian nation by Navneet Kalia, founder and chair-person of Ismart Education. Kalia, who has been living in Vietnam for the past 15 years, has intro-duced the CBSE teaching method in three subjects — Math, Science and English — in junior classes across 25 schools in major cities in Vietnam.

Kalia, who launched his Ismart Education Foundation three years ago, said the CBSE teaching method has caught on, winning more schools every year.

In India, CBSE has 12 million students under it across 12,504 schools, including 1,002 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 1,944 government schools, 8,966 independent schools, 562 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Ismart holds special training sessions for Vietnamese teachers on the CBSE method of teaching English, Math and Science, said Kalia. He has now approached India’s Human Resource Development ministry to ask if they can formulate a “partial cur-riculum” based on the three sub-jects for countries keen to absorb the Indian education system.

The 25 schools are located in capital Hanoi, in Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the south central coast of Vietnam, and other cities, he said.

Kalia’s future plan is to take

CBSE system making inroads into Vietnam

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (left) with Vietnam’s President Truong Tan Sang in front of a statue of the late Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi yesterday.

the CBSE system till grade 12 in Vietnam. “I have seen how the CBSE method is popular in Vietnam. We plan to take it across all schools in the country, and soon take it to other coun-tries in the neighbourhood, and even beyond. The CBSE method is as good as the best educational system in the world, so it is good if we can spread it,” said Kalia.

Kalia, who is married to a Vietnamese and has two daugh-ters aged 10 and seven, was here as part of the gathering of India diaspora who had come to inter-act with visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Swaraj arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit. There are over 2,000 Indians in Vietnam.

IANS

PATNA: Gangsters lodged in a jail in Bihar were found to be enjoying a lavish lifestyle, with mobile phones, liquor, air-condi-tioners in cells that had floor tiles found in rich homes. A gangster was even allowed to build a tem-ple inside Sitamarhi jail.

This was revealed in a joint report by the Sitamarhi district magistrate and superintendent of police after a violent clash between policemen and prisoners, mainly supporters of two gang-sters — Santosh Kumar Jha and Madhav Choudhary — inside the jail earlier this month.

Bihar Inspector General (Prisons) Prem Singh Meena said Jha and Choudhary were found to be involved in illegal activities inside the jail. An official said that the report said it was called a prison “but there is nothing to suggest that it is a prison”.

According to the report, the pris-oners loyal to Jha and Choudhary used mobile phones inside the jail, and liquor and other banned items were also made available. Choudhary managed to get a gen-erator installed in the jail, provided ceiling fans in every ward and got his ward paved with tiles.

TEMPLE INSIDE JAILBoth Jha and Choudhary

installed air-conditioners in their ward during summer. What sur-prised prison department officials was that Choudhary was busy con-structing a temple inside the jail.

“Masons, labourers, and con-struction material like cement, tiles, sand and bricks had unchecked entry into the jail,” an

official said, referring to the report.“We were shocked to learn

about unlawful activities by Jha and Choudhary inside the jail in connivance with Sitamarhi jail officials,” Inspector General Meena said.

Meena said the department will take administrative action soon. Three officials, including the dep-uty and assistant superintendents of Sitamarhi jail, were suspended on charges of negligence of duty and jail superintendent Avinash Kumar was transferred.

When Meena ordered the shift-ing of Jha and Choudhary from Sitamarhi jail, their supporters clashed with officials and pelted stones at them on August 10.

The Sitamarhi jail is not an isolated case. Prison department officials said the use of mobile phones was common in Beur jail in Patna, and in central jails in Gaya, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur.

“Access to liquor, mineral water, cell phones and pornography is possible if an inmate bribes jail officials and policemen,” a prison official said.

In the past, raids in jails have led to the seizure of television sets, mobile phones, imported liquor and cigarettes.

Criminals-turned-politicians like Pappu Yadav, Anand Mohan and Mohammad Shahabuddin hit the headlines for holding durbars (courts) inside jails.

A few years ago, then Bihar director general of police Anand Shankar had directed policemen to stop providing mineral water to inmates and stop befriending them.

IANS

Gangsters luxuriate in Bihar prison

MORNING BREAK16TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Fajr (Dawn) 3:52

Shorook (Sunrise) 5:12

Zuhr (Noon) 11:36

Asr (Afternoon) 3:05

Maghrib (Sunset) 6:00

Isha (Night) 7:30

PRAYER TIME

Weather Conditions:

Hazy to misty at first at places becoming hot and humid during the day with some clouds.

High: 39° Low: 33°

High: 39° Low: 33°

High: 39° Low: 33°

Partly cloudyPartly cloudy Partly cloudy

Today Wednesday Thursday

SUNRISE | SUNSET

05:14 17:56 05:00 17:45 00:00 10:45 05-15 KT

HIGH | LOW WIND

SUN TIDE SEA

TODAY TOMORROW

HI/LO WEATHER HI/LO WEATHER

THE REGION

TODAY TOMORROW

HI/LO WEATHER HI/LO WEATHER

THE WORLD

DOHA - SUN & SEA

WEATHER

MUSCAT 30/28 Clear 30/28 Clear

MAKKAH 43/31 Clear 42/30 Clear

KUWAIT 48/28 Clear 46/28 Clear

BAHRAIN 41/33 Clear 38/33 Clear

SANAA 28/17 Thunderstorm 29/18 Partly cloudy

RIYADH 42/29 Partly cloudy 45/29 Clear

DUBAI 38/33 Partly cloudy 40/33 Partly cloudy

BAGHDAD 47/29 Clear 48/29 Clear

ATHENS 31/25 Clear 33/26 Clear

WASHINGTON 27/20 Clear 34/22 Clear

SYDNEY 17/12 Rain 17/12 Chance of rain

LONDON 18/12 Rain 21/16 Mostly cloudy

PARIS 21/17 Chance of rain 21/18 Chance of rain

ISTANBUL 27/22 Clear 28/20 Clear

MANILA 30/25 Thunderstorm 30/25 Chance of storm

DHAKA 31/26 Thunderstorm 33/26 Chance of storm

DELHI 40/27 Partly cloudy 39/27 Clear

ISLAMABAD 33/22 Chance of storm 32/24 Partly cloudy

Multi-coloured houses

Multi-coloured houses are seen along a canal on the Venetian island of Burano, Italy, yesterday.

PARIS: The European Space Agency (ESA) yesterday said that it had drawn up a shortlist of five possible sites for carrying out the first-ever landing on a comet.

Astronomers have been scrutinising high-definition photos sent back by the Rosetta spacecraft, which rendezvoused with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on August 6 after a 10-year chase through the Solar System.

In mid-November, ESA intends to send down a robot laboratory, Philae, which will harpoon itself to the comet’s surface and carry out a battery of scientific tests. Five “candi-date” zones for the landing have emerged, ESA said in a press release.

“Choosing the right landing site is a complex

process,” it cautioned. The topography must be relatively flat and clear, and the surface stable. There also has to be sufficient sunlight to recharge the lander’s batteries beyond its initial 64-hour lifetime — yet not so much as to cause overheating.

At the same time, though, the site must offer the most potential to find scientific treas-ure. Comet “67P” comprises two lobes joined by a narrow neck, which has made it look like a rubber duck in space.

Three of the candidate sites are on the smaller lobe, or head of the “duck,” and two are on the larger lobe, or the body, ESA said.

Comets are believed by astrophysicists to be ancient ice and dust left from the building of the Solar System around 4.6 billion years ago.

This cosmic rubble is essentially a time cap-sule — the oldest, least-touched material in our stellar neighbourhood. Understanding its chemical ID and physical composition will give insights into how the planets coalesced after the Sun flared into light, it is hoped.

Rosetta is equipped with an array of sensors to help answer the question, but the biggest discoveries could be made by the 10 instru-ments aboard the 100kg lander.

The 4km comet is on a 6.5-year orbit around the Sun and today is 522 million km from the star. At their closest approach on August 13 2015, the comet and Rosetta will be 185 mil-lion km from the Sun, meaning an eightfold increase in the light received from the Sun compared with present levels, ESA said. AFP

Europe sees five possible sites for comet landing

INGLEWOOD: Miley Cyrus won the award for Video of the Year for her hit single Wrecking Ball, at Sunday’s 2014 MTV Video Music Awards outside Los Angeles.

The singer beat out Beyonce and her husband JayZ, nominated for Drunk in Love, as well as Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCV for Fancy, and Pharrell Williams for Happy, and Sia for Chandelier.

But Beyonce shined as she closed the show, showing off her vocal power in front of a special audience member — her daughter, Blue Ivy.

Cyrus, who sparked a furore at last year’s MTV awards show with her controversial “twerking” on stage, avoided scandal this year.

Rapper Drake won Best Hip-Hop Video for Hold On (We’re Going Home), which had also been contested by Canadian duo Majid Jordan.

Princess of pop Katy Perry won the trophy for Best Female Video with her song Dark Horse, fea-turing rapper Juicy J. The men’s category was won by Ed Sheeran, 23, for his Sing, a duet which he recorded with Williams.

Best Pop Video went to the young Ariana Grande, the lat-est pop sensation, for the song Problem, which also features Iggy Azalea. And New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde took home Best Rock Video for Royals, a song that, in January, won her the Grammy for Song of the Year and Best Pop Single. The first MTV awards were handed out in 1984. Winners receive a statuette of an astronaut on the moon, known as a “Moonman” award. AFP

SYDNEY: Making customers cry may not be most shopkeeper’s goal, but at Sydney’s 101-year-old Doll Hospital workers take tears as a sign of a job well done.

In an age of mass-produced plastic dolls, few doll hospitals around the world have survived, the owners said.

“We’re one of the last ones that does everything, when it comes to dolls, there’s very few that are capable of that sort of work,” said Geoff Chapman, 67 and “sur-geon-in-chief” at the family-run

business his father started more than a century ago.

Since then, the Doll Hospital has restored more than three million dolls, teddy bears, rock-ing horses and wheeled toys for Australian and New Zealand chil-dren. “We’ve had clowns as big as a person, and a 12-foot crocodile — plush — not real,” Chapman joked, noting that “the most com-mon problem usually is the hair and the eyes”.

One of the pleasures of working at the hospital is seeing customers’

Sydney’s Doll Hospital restores childhood memoriesreactions when they collect their prized possession. “It’s both men and women, obviously more women are getting dolls and teddies repaired, but there’s quite a few men attached to teddy bears too,” Chapman said. “We’ve had cus-tomers who’ve burst into tears” when they saw the treasured doll or teddy as good as new, he said.

Located behind a toy shop on a busy suburban street in south Sydney, workers fix fingers, toes and heads, and repair broken eye sockets in dolls — victims of childhood tantrums, dog attacks or sibling rivalry, sometimes as long as decades ago.

“A lot of our tools are like surgeons’, operating on human patients,” said Kerry Stuart, who has worked there for 25 years. Like a real hospital too, work depends on the availability and schedule of a specialist, as well as the backlog. Gail Grainger, for example, specialises in repairing legs, feet and fingers.

Stuart said the most difficult job is repairing “celluloid dolls” because the material is very thin, like tissue, having been made from one of the first synthetic plastics.

“The thing I like least is eyes. It’s a very difficult balancing act to get them right, so it does take a while. Sometimes I have to do them three times before I’m happy with them,” she said.

The Doll Hospital was opened by Chapman Senior as part of his general store after a batch of cel-luloid dolls made in Japan arrived damaged and Chapman had to repair them.

Demand for the hospital’s serv-ices skyrocketed during World War Two when import restric-tions meant new dolls were no longer an option and parents brought in broken dolls for repair.

“My father was through the war years, that was the busiest time at the Doll Hospital. At the peak they had 70 staff and six workrooms,” Chapman said.

Today, the Doll Hospital has up to 12 staff, some of whom work remotely, and handles up to 200 dolls and toys a month. “I would say about 80 percent of our work comes from ‘big children’,” Chapman said, a reference to the clientele being mostly middle-aged

and older women wanting to pass on childhood toys to grandchildren and others restoring memories.

“When they were children they possibly only got one doll, not a new doll every time you go down the supermarket like it happens today. That’s why it’s so emotional,” Chapman said. While

fixing plastic parts is a big part of the work carried out, hair trans-plants also are high on the list. “I think there were lots of budding hairdressers that took to their dolls and thought it was going to grow back. Well it didn’t grow back, did it?” Chapman laughed.

REUTERS

A sign at Sydney’s Doll Hospital shows the various ‘wards’ where dolls, rocking horses and prams can be admitted for repair. Opened in 1913, Sydney’s Doll Hospital has worked on millions of dolls, teddy bears and other toys.

A combination of pictures shows one doll’s head through various stages of its repainting by Australian doll repairer Kerry Stuart, a 25-year veteran. BELOW: Stuart rubs a filling compound into the cracked head of a plastic doll.

Customers Sue and Allan Paviour are pictured with their teddy bear that had been repaired.

Miley Cyrus wins top prize at MTV Video Music Awards

Tuesday 26 August 201430 Shawwal 1435

Volume 19Number 6169

Price: QR2

editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Qatar listed firms’ profits beat forecastQ2 aggregate profits QR100m higher than estimates, says SICO Ivestment Bank reportSATISH KANADY

DOHA: Qatar’s listed com-panies recorded better-than-expected profits during the second quarter of 2014 (Q2, 14), but saw a nince percent year-on-year (YoY) fall.

The SICO Investment Bank in its ‘GCC Equities - Q2, 14 snapshot’ issued yesterday noted Qatari companies’ Q2, 14 aggre-gate profits were QR100m higher than estimates. Ooredoo reported earnings of QR817m vs forecast QR583m. QNB’s profits reached QR2.6bn, higher than analysts’ estimates by QR119m.

Industries Qatar (IQ) missed analysts’ profit estimate by QR346m due to weaker urea

prices and higher than expected impact from planned shutdown.

Profits of GCC listed compa-nies increased by 17 percent YoY to reach $17.7bn. Double digit YoY profit growth has witnessed across all countries except for Kuwait and Qatar. Kuwaiti com-panies’ profits increased seven percent YoY while Qatari com-panies saw a nine percent YoY fall in aggregate earnings.

Over half of the GCC listed companies reported higher-than-expected 2Q14 profits than ana-lysts’ estimates.

Fifty two percent of Saudi companies’ earnings beat ana-lysts’ estimate with earnings being her by SR2.9bn in absolute terms, as most banks, utilities

and petrochemical companies beat estimates. Saudi Electricity reported net income of SR3.7bn in 2Q14 vs estimated SR1.6bn due to reversal of SR2.6bn of provisions; excluding which, the company would have missed analysts’ esti-mates and aggregate Q2, 14 Saudi companies’ profits would only be higher than forecasts by SR0.3bn.

In Q2, 14, the aggregate prof-its of the 477 listed GCC com-panies, increased by 17 percent YoY. Most sectors reported dou-ble digit growth except for pet-rochemical and transportation companies which witnessed single digit growth and insurance, real estate and packaging firms who reported YoY decline in earn-ings. Aggregate banks earnings

increased 14 percent YoY led by higher trading gains.

Majority of banks, petrochemi-cals and telecom companies beat analysts’ estimates whereas majority of consumer and real estate stocks missed earnings’ forecasts. 67 percent of GCC tel-ecom companies beat analysts’ estimates, followed by bank, and petrochemical companies.

Banks’ profits increased by 14 percent YoY led by strong earn-ings growth across, except for Al Rajhi and QNB. Most banks reported higher-than-expected trading gains which helped boost bottom line to a certain extent. QNB’s 2Q14 profit increased by a mere 2 percent YoY due to con-solidation of NSGB’s first half

earnings. Fifty five percent of the consumer companies reported lower than expected earnings and 50 percent of the real estate com-panies missed profit expectations primarily led by Saudi-based real estate companies.

The SICO report noted more than half of the companies in all GCC markets announced better-than-forecasted profits. Oman listed companies performed best among peers as 67 percent sur-prised investors with higher-than-expected profit, followed by UAE companies where 63 percent beat analysts’ forecasts. 50 per-cent of the Bahraini companies and 73 percent of the Kuwaiti companies missed estimates.

THE PENINSULA

Qatar Exchange index jumps 112.38 pointsDOHA/DUBAI: Spurred by industries and top banks’ stocks, Qatar Exchange index jumped 112.38 points, or 8.2 per-cent, yesterday when the bourse closed trading at 13,865.89 points.

The trading value reached QR965.48m with a volume of 16,759,297 shares changing hands from 8,488 transactions yesterday.

From the 43 listed companies, a majority from the 26 gainers advanced significantly.

Shares of six banks made gains from 3.72 percent to 0.25 percent while eight companies from industrial sector advanced. Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company was the only one to lose slightly, 0.21 percent.

Islamic Holding share jumped 4.01 percent, up QR3.60 to close at QR93.40 while Qatar International Islamic Bank share gained 3.72 percent, up QR3.30 to close at QR92.

From the real estate sector, Mazaya Qatar was up 4.07 per-cent when it closed at QR24.82 with a fair trading volume of 2,418,771 shares.

Thirteen companies declined yesterday. Qatar Islamic Insurance was down 2.16 per-cent to QR90.60. Four companies remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, stock markets in Saudi Arabia and Egypt edged down yesterday as investors booked profits after strong gains.

Saudi Arabia’s main stock index ended a six-day upswing, closing down 0.6 percent after earlier in the day rising above the psychologically important level of 11,000 points for the first time since January 2008.

Trading volume soared when the index began falling and shrank when stocks came off their lows,

while 14-day momentum formed a negative divergence — all bear-ish short-term technical signals that suggested the market might be peaking.

The index had jumped over 13 percent since the stock market regulator said on July 22 that it would allow direct investment by foreigners in the first half of next year. It published draft regulations for the reform last Thursday.

Another factor behind the uptrend was expectations that Saudi banks, which are to a considerable extent financed by Islamic deposits bearing no inter-est, will benefit from the expected rise in US interest rates. The Saudi riyal is pegged to the US dollar, meaning Saudi rate policy follows US policy.

But some banking stocks have now overshot even the most optimistic price targets. Alinma Bank, which slid 2.4 percent to 24.80 riyals and was the main drag on the index yesterday, had surged 34 percent since the July 22 announcement.

The median target price for the stock, based on estimates from five analysts surveyed by Reuters, is 19.90 riyals and the highest esti-mate is 23.30 riyals.

Egypt’s bourse also retreated from a six-year high and fell 1.0 per-cent. Among the main drags were stocks that had posted big gains in the last few days, such as prop-erty developer Talaat Moustafa and Global Telecom, which fell 1.7 and 2.8 percent respectively. “I think it’s just profit-taking as the (second-quarter) results season is over and the market is just tak-ing a breather,” said Harshjit Oza, assistant director of research at Naeem Brokerage.

AGENCIES

Tim Hortons employees prepare coffee prior to the company’s annual general meeting in Toronto.

Burger King in talks to buy Tim HortonsMIAMI: Burger King is in talks to buy doughnut chain Tim Hortons and create a new holding company headquar-tered in Canada, a move that could shave its tax bill.

Such an overseas shift, called a tax inversion, has become increas-ingly popular among US com-panies and a hot political issue. Burger King was founded in 1954 with a single restaurant in Miami, where it is currently based.

Shares of Burger King and Tim Hortons both jumped 17 percent before the opening bell, heading toward all-time highs.

In a tax inversion, a US com-pany reorganises in a country with a lower tax rate by acquiring or merging with a company there. Inversions also allow companies

to transfer money earned over-seas to the parent company with-out paying additional US taxes. That money can be used to rein-vest in the business or to fund dividends and buybacks, among other things.

Companies like AbbVie, a phar-maceutical with its headquarters just outside Chicago, have tied up with companies overseas to achieve that type of tax cut. More recently, Walgreen backed away from such a plan under intense pressure and criticism at home.

Burger King and Tim Hortons cautioned on Sunday that there was no guarantee a deal would happen, and it’s not clear exactly how much a tie-up would reduce Burger King’s tax costs. But a recent report by KPMG found

that total tax costs in Canada are 46.4 percent lower than in the United States.

Burger King said its major-ity owner, investment firm 3G Capital, would own the majority of shares of the new company if a deal were to happen.

3G Capital, which has offices in Brazil and New York, is known for its aggressive cost-cutting. The firm bought Burger King in 2010 and went to work trimming overhead costs and revamping operations before taking the chain public again in 2012. Last year, 3G also teamed with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to take H J Heinz Co private in a $23bn deal, and has been cutting costs there as well.

AP

New home sales fall, but US economy stays on solid groundWASHINGTON: Sales of new US single-family homes fell for a second straight month in July, but a surge in the stock of prop-erties on the market and slower price gains should help stimu-late demand in the months ahead.

Other data yesterday showed activity in the vast services sec-tor slowed again in August. The reports, however, did little to change views the economy is on a

solid growth path, given relatively strong job growth and manufac-turing activity.

“The housing market continues to recover,” said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The fundamentals of strengthening job growth and hopefully stronger wage gains are still favourable.”

New home sales slipped 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted

annual rate of 412,000 units, the lowest level since March, the Commerce Department said. While sales were weaker than economists expected, data for the past three months was revised to show 33,000 more new homes sold than previously reported.

The soft July sales pace is at odds with other data that have sug-gested the housing market recovery is back on track after buckling in the second half of last year.

Data last week showed a jump in new home construction and increased confidence among home-builders about future sales and buyer traffic. Home resales hit a 10-month high in July.

Economists took the new homes sales data with a grain of salt given it is highly volatile from month to month. Compared to July last year, new home sales were up 12.3 percent.

Separately, financial data

firm Markit said its preliminary services Purchasing Managers Index dipped to 58.5 this month from 60.8 in July. Still, the index remained well above the 50 threshold that separates expan-sion from contraction, and it con-tinued to mirror the strong gains seen in manufacturing.

The data suggested economic growth will continue to move for-ward at a steady clip in the third quarter, after bouncing back from

a weather-related slump at the start of the year.

Housing shares on Wall Street underperformed the broader mar-ket, where the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rallied to a record high, crossing the 2,000 threshold for the first time. The housing index was down slightly, with home-builder DR Horton off 1.3 percent and Pulte Group down 0.3 per-cent. Toll Brothers fell 1.1 percent.

REUTERS

US crude falls in light trading on weak dataNEW YORK: Brent crude oil rose yetserday and US crude fell in light trading, as support from geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Libya countered ample supplies and anticipated weak demand after a slew of disap-pointing economic data from the United States and Europe.

“Liquidity is down because of the holiday in London and the usual August vacation time, And while the market continues to see increasing geopolitical risk in Libya and the Russia, Ukraine sit-uation, traders are more focused so far on concerns about slowing demand with the weak data from Europe and the United States,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

London financial markets are closed because of a national bank holiday.

Brent crude rose six cents to $102.35 a barrel by 12.38pm EDT (1638 GMT). It hit a 14-month low of $101.07 on August 19. US crude fell by 39 cents to $93.26 a barrel.

“The market’s range-bound; it’s consolidating and finding support against previous lows,” said Bill Baruch, senior market strategist at iitrader.com in Chicago.

Brent crude has traded largely within a $101 to $106 range in August, and U.S. crude has mostly remained between $93 and $99.

Iran delays London oil conference to February 2015DUBAI: Iran has postponed by three months a conference to offer multinationals the rights to develop oil deposits, giving time for sanctions on the coun-try’s oil sector to be lifted, a senior official said yesterday.

“We want to provide for all the companies to participate and we know they will have difficul-ties before November 24,” Mehdi Hosseini, the head of the Oil Contracts Revision Committee, said yesterday.

The London conference, previ-ously scheduled for November 3, will take place in late February 2015. He expressed hope that Iran would reach a comprehen-sive nuclear deal with the world powers by the deadline.

Iran and six global powers have given themselves until November 24 to reach agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme whereby Iran would limit its atomic activities. In exchange, the West would lift sanctions that are hurting Iran’s oil-dependent economy.

“American companies have the most problems legally because of the sanctions. We thought it would be better to postpone the conference to provide an oppor-tunity for them and all foreign companies to come back,” he said.

AGENCIES

Harvest season

Farmers collect produce in the Khiyam valley at the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, yesterday.

Chinese economy falters

People use an escalator as they pass in front of an advertisement sign at a subway station in Shanghai yesterday. More Chinese manufacturers are falling behind on their payments as economic growth falters, causing accounts receivable to spike 1.1 trillion yuan ($179bn) in the first six months this year.

BUSINESS18TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Espirito Santo clan in 11th hour borrowing spreeIssues $6.6bn debt in H1 this yearLISBON: The corporate empire of Portugal’s Espirito Santo family issued ¤5bn ($6.6bn) of new debt in the first six months of 2014, according to people familiar with the matter, just as the clan’s businesses were near-ing bankruptcy.

The bonds were sold via a com-plex transatlantic scheme involv-ing companies in Panama and Europe, the people said. Much of the debt ended up with Banco Espirito Santo and its custom-ers, they added, accelerating the financial woes that led to the lender’s state bailout earlier this month.

The 11th-hour borrowing gam-bit uncovered by Reuters is being examined by Portuguese finan-cial regulators who are trying to determine whether it was legally permissible, according to people close to the examination.

It shines new light on the lengths to which Portugal’s big-gest corporate dynasty went to save their empire from collapse, mixing family affairs with those of the country’s then largest listed bank, in which until recently they were the single-largest shareholder.

The collapse of the 145-year-old Espirito Santo group has caused turmoil in international markets and rocked Portugal’s political and business world.

Regulators and prosecutors are examining possible fraudu-lent behaviour behind the fall. As part of their investigation, regulators are looking into how the bonds issued in the first six

months of the year were pack-aged, marketed and sold to clients, according to the people familiar with the examination.

Espirito Santo International (ESI), the family’s umbrella com-pany, is under court protection and could not be reached for com-ment. Espirito Santo Financial Group (ESFG), another family company now under court pro-tection, also could not be reached for comment.

Novo Banco, the new bank that has been created after Banco Espirito Santo’s bailout, declined to comment on the bonds. The bank pointed to previous state-ments in which it said all retail clients who bought very short-term debt from Espirito Santo companies would be repaid.

The Espirito Santo family’s woes became public in May, when it was disclosed that ESI, which is based in Luxembourg, had serious financial difficulties and account-ing irregularities in its accounts. ESI in turn owned a stake in ESFG, another Luxembourg-based company that owned a large stake in Banco Espirito Santo.

Portuguese regulators had been aware of the problems at the start of the year and said later in pub-lic statements that they required the family to pay back bank cli-ents who had bought bonds in the troubled family companies. Some ¤1.7bn of short-term debt had been sold to BES retail clients by the end of 2013, according to pub-lic BES statements.

REUTERS

Germany should drive Europe recovery: IMFGENEVA: IMF chief Christine Lagarde wants Germany to play a bigger role in propelling eco-nomic recovery in Europe, she hinted in an interview broad-cast yesterday, suggesting that German wages should rise.

Part of her remarks may be interpreted by personalities on the left of French politics as going in the same direction as criticism of French, German and European Union austerity policies by French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg at the weekend.

Montebourg’s attack on the thrust

of the French Socialist government’s policy caused a crisis on Monday when President Francois Hollande told Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new government.

Lagarde told Swiss public broadcaster RTS: “What I think is very important for Germany is to participate in the recovery movement in a very intense way. It has the means to do so.”

Describing the European eco-nomic recovery as “laborious”, the head of the International Monetary Fund stressed that the continent’s economic powerhouse

had “room for manoeuvre”, as seen in recent wage negotiations.

“That leeway has been disclosed in the salary negotiations between the unions and the employers’ organisations,” she said, adding that “hopefully that movement will be amplified and will help propel the European recovery.”

Last month, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said that German wages had scope to rise by up to to three percent because “we are practically in a situation of full employment”. But this runs counter to many on the German

right, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, who believe that low-wage policy has given the country its competitive edge.

But France and other European states have argued that Berlin’s big foreign trade surplus is hurt-ing them.

Since the start of the eurozone debt crisis in 2010, Germany has faced accusations that by not using its standing as Europe’s biggest economy to do more to kickstart growth, it is leaving struggling partners in the lurch.

AFP

Statoil to keep tie-up with RosneftOSLO: Norwegian energy group Statoil said yesterday it intended to continue its part-nership with Russia’s Rosneft, despite Western economic sanc-tions imposed on Moscow for its role in the Ukranian crisis.

“Of course, (the imposition of sanctions) hasn’t made it any eas-ier for either Rosneft or compa-nies working with that company and other Russian companies,” Statoil chief executive Helge Lund told Dow Jones Newswires.

“But our aim is to continue the (Rosneft) partnership, and we hope for diplomatic solutions” to the ten-sions between the West and Russia, he added on the sidelines of a press conference on the oil industry in Stavanger in southwestern Norway.

In May 2012, the state-con-trolled Russian and Norwegian giants announced a strategic partnership, Rosneft’s third alli-ance with a Western company after US-based ExxonMobil and Italy’s Eni.

The partnership with Statoil concerns joint explorations in the

Arctic and East Asia. Western sanctions against

Russia targeting sales of technol-ogy destined for some areas of the oil sector — shale oil, deep-water oil and Arctic production — could affect the development of the agreement. “This will be a more bureaucratic process, so that things will take more time,” Lund said.

Norway is not a member of the European Union, but imposed similar sanctions to those decided by the bloc.

The Nordic country and, to a larger extent, Russia are the biggest fossil fuel producers in Europe. Earlier this month, Statoil and Rosneft began explo-ration in Norwegian waters of the Barents Sea, in the joint Pingvin exploration licence granted by Norwegian authorities in 2013.

Rosneft also anticipated the coming into force of the sanctions as it announced in late July the lease until 2022 of six rigs from North Atlantic Drilling (NADL), a subsidiary of Norway’s Seadrill.

AFP

Argentina to appeal WTO ruling on import curbsBUENOS AIRES: Argentina will appeal a World Trade Organisation ruling against its use of import restrictions, according to a senior Argentine official.

On Friday, a WTO dispute panel found against Argentina in a 2012 case brought by the United States, the European Union and Japan relating to the South American country’s licens-ing rules used to restrict imports.

The panel said the rules violated WTO agreements, and urged the government of President Cristina Fernandez to bring them in line with international trade regulations.

The country would appeal the ruling, confirmed deputy economy minister Emmanuel Alvarez in comments on the radio on Saturday. “Argentine customs are not closed, but looked after,” he said.

The United States, EU and Japan had argued that Argentina did not automatically grant licenses to importers as required by WTO rules, allowing it to shield its vulnerable economy.

REUTERS

19BUSINESS TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

No acquisition interest

A man walks past in front of a cigarettes store displaying an advertisement of Mevius, one of Japan Tobacco Inc’s brands in Tokyo, yesterday. Japan Tobacco Inc is currently not interested in further acqui-sitions of vaporisers or electronic cigarette brands, its president said yesterday.

Indonesia fuel subsidy

A fuel station worker talks with his colleague as he holds a placard informing customers that fuel sub-sidy has run out at a fuel station in Jakarta, yesterday. President-elect Joko Widodo will sit down with outgoing leader this week in the hope of reaching an agreement to raise fuel prices.

Corpbank looks to Oman for restructuring Bulgarian bank’s fate in limboSOFIA: The majority owner of Bulgaria’s troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) said yesterday it was working with Oman’s sovereign wealth fund and other interested inves-tors to restructure the lender.

Corpbank’s fate has been in limbo since June, when a run on deposits prompted the central bank to seize control of it and close its operations, sparking the worst banking crisis in the poor Black Sea state since 1990s.

Tsvetan Vassilev’s Bromak owns just over half of Corpbank, the Balkan country’s fourth-largest lender. Oman’s sovereign wealth fund is the second-biggest shareholder with a stake of about 30 percent.

The central bank said on Friday it had asked the two shareholders to unveil plans for the bank’s res-cue by the end of August.

“I believe we are close to unveiling a decision in principle for the bank’s rehabilitation that will fully comply with the legal requirements for capi-tal adequacy and liquidity,” Bromak owner Vassilev said in a statement posted on his personal website.

Two days after Bulgarian Interim Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki said an unidenti-fied fund based in Vienna had expressed interest in rescuing the bank, the central bank said it had sent letters to the two shareholders.

The central bank said in its statement that Bromak had not yet notified it of any ini-tiative regarding support for Corpbank nor had Bromak sought

information on the financial state of the lender.

Yesterday, Vassilev said the central bank had not asked him to present a plan, branding this as an attempt to avoid responsibility for its handling of the case during special supervision.

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged Vassilev with embezzle-ment and said that an interna-tional warrant for his arrest had been issued.

Vassilev, whose current where-abouts are unknown, was locked in a public feud with a rival at the time of the run on Corpbank. He has repeatedly denied any wrong-doing and said the run was a plot hatched by his competitors.

“My role and attention in the current moment is focused on presenting an overall concept plan and coordinating the steps to exit the crisis by finding an adequate balance between capital adequacy and liquidity, including through the provision of liquid assets, which used to be financed by the bank so far, which would facilitate future investors in their decision to take part in the restructuring,” Vassilev said.

Also yesterday, Bulgaria’s Ombudsman Konstantin Penchev accused the central bank of inac-tion. “The Bulgarian National Bank is in a state of total pas-sivity on the case of Corpbank,” Penchev said.

“Unfortunately, we are going nowhere with Corpbank’s case. BNB keeps explaining that noth-ing can be done. This is not true.”

REUTERS

S&P 500 tops 2,000 mark for first timeNEW YORK: The S&P 500 topped the 2,000 mark for the first time yesterday helped by more promises of economic sup-port from the US and European central banks.

A fresh burst of merger activ-ity also sparked buyers, with Switzerland’s Roche paying $8.3bn for smaller pharmaceuti-cal company InterMune, and fast-food chains Burger King and Tim Hortons discussing a tie-up.

An hour into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 91.32 points (0.54 percent) to 17,092.54.

The S&P 500 added 10.49 (0.53 percent) at 1,998.89, after ear-lier having just barely topped the 2,000 mark for the first time ever.

The broad-based index was

up more than eight percent for the year. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index meanwhile gained 27.53 (0.61 percent) to 4,5666.08, its highest level since the dot-come crash 14 years ago.

Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said markets were helped by “signs of relief that central bankers are still pushing policy accommodation; signs of relief that Russia didn’t attack Ukraine; signs that M&A activity is picking up; and signs that market rates continue to be repressed.”

Speaking at the Federal Reserve’s central banking sympo-sium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, both Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi assured

that they would keep easy-money policies in place — and, for the ECB, add to them — as long as necessary to boost employment.

Roche’s $74 a share offer for InterMune, which developed a treatment for the deadly lung affliction pulmonary fibrosis, sent InterMune’s shares up 35.6 per-cent to $72.96.

Burger King said it was in talks to buy Canada’s coffee and donut chain Tim Hortons with the aim of moving Burger King’s head-quarters from the United States to Canada to take advantage of lower corporate tax rates.

Burger King shares gained 14.9 percent while Tim Hortons, traded on the Toronto exchange, added 20.23 percent.

AFP

Indian rupee ends lower after Yellen speechMUMBAI: The rupee fell yes-erday, retreating from a three-week high hit last week, as the dollar gained after US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen was seen as more hawkish than her European counterpart at a cen-tral bankers’ meeting.

Most emerging Asian curren-cies eased on Monday after Yellen called for a “pragmatic” approach to US monetary policy on Friday at a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Some caution also prevailed ahead of gross domestic product data for the April-June quarter on Friday and possibly current account deficit numbers sometime this week.

However, broader sentiment remained supported by solid for-eign flows into bonds and stocks. On Friday, foreign funds bought debt worth $286.69m, and around $49.95m in shares, official data showed.

“It is the foreign fund flows that have supported the rupee, and will continue to do so in the near term,” said Surendran A V, head of treasury at Dhanlaxmi Bank.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 60.5650/5750 per dollar compared with 60.4650/4750 in the previous session.

The falls in the rupee came after the US dollar rose to a near one-year high against a basket of six-major currencies. Most Asian emerging market currencies also fell.

The rupee also faltered after the Nifty edged lower yester-day after hitting a second con-secutive record high as gains in blue-chips were offset by a slump in resources firms follow-ing the top court’s ruling on coal allocations.

REUTERS

Lonmin aims to slash up to 5,700 jobs in South AfricaJ O H A N N E S B U R G /LONDON: Platinum producer Lonmin aims to cut around 5,700 jobs, about 21 percent of its South African workforce, as part of a drive to restore profits after a five-month wage strike this year, sources familiar with the plan said.

The plan would see the closure of four to six of the company’s 11 shafts, the two mining industry sources, one in London and the other in Johannesburg, said.

Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey said in response to questions from Reuters that she had “no knowl-edge” of the plan.

The company, the world’s third-largest producer of the pre-cious metal used for emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles, said in June that the strike and low prices meant

“restructuring of our business has become inevitable”.

Job cuts could trigger more labour unrest, including potential strikes by the hardline Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), whose members have downed tools in the past to protest against planned lay-offs.

“There will be six shafts closed and 5,700 jobs will go. That is the plan,” the Johannesburg source, who declined to be identified, said. Lonmin has a staff of around 27,000.

The source did not disclose which shafts would go but said Lonmin had decided it “could no longer subsidise the loss-making shafts and had to focus on the profitable ones”.

A key reason behind the restructuring is the wage settle-ment reached in June with AMCU

to end the strike, which will see its members get pay increases of up to around 20 percent annually for the next three years.

“The settlement was a short-term solution to get the mines running again. But the only way Lonmin can afford it is to cut marginal shafts,” said the source, who added he had been provided with an outline of the plan by a top Lonmin official.

The London-based source said at least four shafts would be closed and the board was putting together a plan that should be announced before the end of the year.

The plan may be Lonmin’s best chance at returning to healthy profit margins as it struggles to recover from the strike at a time when platinum prices are depressed.

REUTERS

BUSINESS20TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Rivalries test German luxury car dominanceSales race undermines brand exclusivityPARIS/BERLIN: Berlin-based PR executive Herbert Franz should be a soft target for German luxury automakers — his last car was a BMW X3 — but he can’t wait to leave them behind.

“This car is hip,” said Franz, 52, at the city’s biggest Jaguar Land Rover showroom, while eyeing up a British-built Evoque SUV that he fully intended to purchase.

Decked out in bright red blazer and canary yellow trousers, Franz might not be the typical customer in Germany’s conservative pre-mium market. But his shifting taste in cars foreshadows less comfortable times ahead for glo-bal leader BMW, as well as Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

The German premiums have long been on a roll, producing an export-driven sales explosion and huge returns while mass carmak-ers struggled through Europe’s crisis.

But in a headlong sales race, second-placed Audi and runner-up Mercedes have both vowed to depose BMW, giving rise to heavy discounting, which sullies luxury brands and creates opportuni-ties for the growing competition, observers say.

Now a host of younger or revived premium marques are poised to follow JLR by pitching dozens of new models against the big three, whose very ubiquity is taking the shine off their prestige.

“The German premiums have sacrificed some of their exclusiv-ity by entering smaller, volume

segments like compacts,” said Bernd Hoennighausen, an auto-motive consultant.

“They’ve pushed volume with fleet discounts of around 20 per-cent,” said Hoennighausen, who previously managed corporate fleets for Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas. “This may open the door to newer players like Jaguar, who are starting to offer fleet-relevant products.”

Among others waging or plan-ning new offensives are Fiat-owned Maserati and Alfa Romeo, Nissan’s Infiniti, and Volvo, a unit of China-based Geely.

“Our theory is that there’s room for something visibly dif-ferent that is styled in a more provocative manner,” said Andy Palmer, the senior Nissan execu-tive charged with achieving a breakthrough for the 25-year-old Infiniti brand.

“It’s particularly true for China,” Palmer said. “Chinese consumers will cross-shop — and Audi only has the market to lose because they’ve been so dominant.”

For now, the Germans remain firmly on top. Their combined sales amounted to 4.7 million vehicles last year, almost 60 per-cent of the global luxury car mar-ket, according to consulting firm IHS Automotive.

That represents a 38 percent gain since 2007, the eve of the financial crisis, when the big three claimed just over half of the market. Global car sales grew 21 percent overall, while European

The world’s first eight customers of the new BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car receive instructions during an official delivery in Munich.

demand shrank by a quarter over the period.

Superior scale also brings cost advantages — from research to production and marketing — that are not going away. BMW has led the charge into new niches, launching dozens of mod-els including SUVs in every size category, with Audi close behind.

Nonetheless, some analysts believe the tide is beginning to turn against the Germans.

UBS expects the same group of challengers, plus Tesla’s zippy electric cars and DS models from PSA Peugeot-Citroen, to grab 30 percent of global premium sales

growth in 2014-18, raising their current 12.5 percent market share.

Pressured by the increasing competition, the Germans’ return on invested capital will continue falling away from historic peaks of around 30 percent in 2010-2012, the bank predicts.

“There’s also an inherent con-tradiction between premium and concentration,” UBS analyst Philippe Houchois said. “Buyers of premium-branded cars are look-ing for some degree of exclusivity that will set them apart from less fortunate car owners.”

The resulting market fragmen-tation is “bringing the curtain

down on the unprecedented growth ... that enabled premium auto man-ufacturers to generate outsized returns”, he added.

BMW shares are up 5.4 per-cent this year, beating the wider European auto sector’s 0.4 per-cent slide. But Daimler is 1.1 percent lower and VW down 15 percent, hit by cost overruns.

A Maserati push is making headway, with first-half ship-ments quadrupling on new mod-els launched under Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne, who hopes a revived Alfa can also use its pedigree to outrun upstarts such as Infiniti and DS.

“Unless you’ve got history, you’re not going to create the brand,” the chief executive told reporters recently.

Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover recorded 19 percent sales growth last year, thanks in large part to the compact Range Rover Evoque coveted by Franz, and aims to fol-low up with the imminent Jaguar XE sports sedan and a later SUV.

Land Rover has proved that the Germans can be challenged, said Eric Neubauer, joint-CEO of France’s Neubauer Group, whose Paris-area dealerships sell 19 car brands from Kia to Ferrari.

REUTERS

Pakistan rupee slides against dollar amid political crisisKARACHI: The Pakistani rupee has lost more than four percent against the dollar in a little over two weeks as an ongo-ing political crisis weighs on the economy, analysts said yesterday.

The slide began when cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan vowed to march on the capital to stage sit-ins aimed at toppling the government, which he accuses of rigging last year’s election.

The currency fell from 98.85 to the dollar on August 8 to 103 rupees to the dollar in the official interbank market yesterday — a slide of 4.2 percent.

Followers of Khan and another opposition leader, populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, have been massed outside parliament since August 15 in a bid to force Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.

Pakistan was granted a $6.8bn IMF bailout package last year to help the country achieve eco-nomic reforms, particularly in its troubled energy sector, but ana-lysts warned gains the country has made are at risk.

“The fears loom large that the current political crisis would lead to distracting from economic reforms under the IMF deal,” said Taha Khan, head of research at Taurus Securities.

“If any change occurs in the government, it would raise con-cerns among IMF officials as to how the fund facility would go on.”

Imran Khan has vowed to default on the country’s interna-tional loans if he comes to power and has also called on citizens to stop paying taxes as part of a campaign of civil disobedience.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $7.8bn before the IMF package was approved but later nearly doubled to $14.8bn — though they have since slid to $13.9bn according to the latest figures. Ministers have said the political impasse is costing the economy millions of dollars a day due its impact on trade, the stock market and foreign investment.

AFP

China tells German auto suppliers to find local partnersFRANKFURT/SHANGHAI : Three German car parts sup-pliers have been told by China they can no longer manage their Chinese units independ-ently but need to form partner-ships with local peers, the chief executive of auto parts maker ElringKlinger told a German newspaper.

Such a decision, if substanti-ated, would fit with an increas-ingly tough stance adopted by China’s competition regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), towards the foreign car industry.

It recently began to investigate foreign carmakers following com-plaints that they were overcharg-ing Chinese customers.

“The Chinese state has told several (German car) suppliers that they are no longer allowed to

operate their Chinese subsidiar-ies on their own but only as part of a joint venture in the future,” ElringKlinger’s Stefan Wolf was quoted as saying in the Monday edition of Stuttgarter Zeitung.

Wolf said he knew of three companies that now needed to look for a Chinese partner, but did not name them. He said ElringKlinger had not been affected for now.

“If that were to happen, it would be an attack on intellec-tual property. Fifty percent of the company is being taken away — this, effectively, is expropriation,” Wolf said.

The companies targeted tend to have expertise in key technolo-gies, Wolf told the paper, adding that ElringKlinger had already transferred a lot of know-how to its Chinese division.

“I believe this is an attempt to catch up on know-how and inno-vation,” he told the paper.

Foreign automakers like Volkswagen and Daimler are obliged to form joint ventures in China, but several overseas com-ponent makers have not been subject to the same requirements.

Those companies have expanded their operations in China, the world’s largest auto market, and grabbed a bigger part of the industry’s value chain as car manufacturers cut back on research and development to keep down fixed costs.

In 2012, suppliers spent ¤37bn ($49bn) on research and develop-ment, equivalent to 69 percent of global automotive research and development spending, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

As a result, their share of

overall value creation in the auto-motive industry is expected to rise to 81.1 percent by 2025 from 77.3 pct in 2012, according to the firm.

German auto parts maker Robert Bosch GmbH’s China unit said it has not received any noti-fication from Chinese authorities with regard to changes of foreign investment policies related to the automotive component industry.

“We believe that foreign invest-ment will continue to play a vital role in China’s economic develop-ment and foresee (an) improving investment environment of fair-ness and open competition in China,” Bosch said in an e-mailed statement. Bosch already has some joint ventures in China.

Continental, another major German automotive supplier, said it had received no requests from the Chinese authorities to form

joint ventures. The China units of US engine maker Cummins Inc and France’s Faurecia SA said they were unaware of any policy changes.

A spokesman for automotive cable and wiring systems supplier Leoni AG said it too was unaware of a current request, but acknowl-edged that Chinese authorities had been in touch about forming a joint venture in the past.

China last week fined a dozen Japanese parts makers a record $201 million for manipulating prices, and European car brands including Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes are scram-bling to lower prices for new cars and spare parts to appease Chinese regulators who have accused some of them of anti-competitive behaviour.

REUTERS

Roche shares up after $8.3bn deal for US firmZURICH: Shares in pharma-ceutical group Roche rose yes-terday after the Swiss giant announced an $8.3bn takeover of US firm InterMune, boosting its role in the lung disease sec-tor and reducing its reliance on cancer drugs.

With analysts saying that the high price paid by Roche for the California biotechnology company would be worthwhile eventually, the group’s stock rose by 0.38 percent to 262.25 Swiss francs ($286.92) in Zurich.

The overall SMI index was meanwhile up by 0.5 percent.

Roche’s announcement late on Sunday of a $74-per-share deal with InterMune corresponded to a premium of 38 percent on the Californian firm’s Friday closing price, the Swiss group said.

“We are very pleased that we reached this agreement with InterMune. Our offer provides significant value to InterMune’s shareholders and this acquisi-tion will complement Roche’s

strengths in pulmonary therapy,” said Roche CEO Severin Schwan.

“We look forward to welcom-ing InterMune employees into the Roche Group and to making a difference for patients with idi-opathic pulmonary fibrosis, a dev-astating disease,” he said.

InterMune’s flagship medi-cine pirfenidone has already won approval in the European Union and Canada as a treatment for idi-opathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and is under regulatory review in the US. IPF causes a progressive loss of lung function due to fibro-sis, or scarring, and can be fatal.

Roche is already present in the sector thanks to its drugs Pulmozyme and Xolair, and has other therapeu-tic medicines targeting respiratory diseases in the pipeline.

The Swiss group’s purchase is part of a move to lessen its reli-ance on its bedrock anti-cancer drugs, noted Rainer Skierka, an analyst at the bank J Safra Sarasin.

AFPT he logo of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche outside their headquarters in Basel.

BY CHRIS HUHNE

Until now the story of human prosperity has been all about cheap, abundant energy. However, something big has been happening. For the first

time in history, we are growing richer while using less energy. That is unalloyed good news for budgets, incomes and the planet. We have reached a technological tipping point.

From the middle ages, living standards just edged up at a snail’s pace, and we did little damage to the planet, because growing forests absorbed carbon from wood burning. The population was small. We led lives that were, in Hobbes’ phrase, “nasty, brutish and short”. Then we started burning coal on a large scale in the 18th century, and the industrial revolution made the graph look like a hockey stick: suddenly incomes were doubling in decades, following centuries of stability. After allowing for inflation, real GDP in England and Wales doubled from 1830 to 1864, again by 1898, and again by 1951, despite two world wars.

Gross domestic product is a measure of activity, not welfare. But there is plenty of evidence of real progress. If life is better than death, this surge of growth was more good news. Green thinkers have rightly been suspicious of economic growth: the curve of rising living standards has been tracked by the curve of rising energy use from coal, oil

and gas. The simple answer was green puri-tanism: change our lifestyle. Don the hair-shirt. Stop consuming more. Stop growth

– and therefore stop pollution.The good news is that we can increasingly

see a future where technology does most of the change for us. The UK economy has doubled in real terms since 1985, but total energy consumption is exactly the same as it was in that year. Indeed, energy consump-tion has fallen since 1970 while the economy has nearly trebled in size.

Of course, industry is a big user of energy, and a lot of heavy manufacturing has migrated to China and other low-labour cost parts of the world. Global energy use and carbon emissions are rising because of popu-lation and income growth, but the energy-saving trend is visible even in developing countries. Global GDP per unit of energy is 35 percent higher than it was in 1990.

What has been going on? Cars are far more efficient, even though larger. A good supermini now runs more than 70 miles per gallon of fuel, whereas the most efficient mini in 1965 did 43 miles per gallon. With hybrids and fully electric vehicles, there is more fuel economy coming. We are also tak-ing the train more: electric trains run better than diesel. Nearly two-thirds of our energy bills go on home heating, and our boilers are better and homes more insulated: “Which?” estimated recently that a new condensing boiler will save 39 percent over an old heavy boiler. For a typical British semi-detached

house, that is a saving of £460 a year. Some of this is simply a response to the

marketplace. Oil in the late 60s cost $3 a barrel. It now costs $103. Not surprisingly, rising energy costs have put a premium on new energy-saving technologies and the roll-out of existing ones.

Businesses are bound to be early adop-ters of energy-saving technologies, because retailers and distribution firms can spend a fortune on energy. They are used to assessing investment and returns, whereas householders are often put off by the higher initial cost, and poorer households simply cannot afford the switch of energy efficient products even though they pay back quickly. Poorer householders simply cannot afford the up-front cost.

It is also why one of the most short-sighted decisions of this government was to halve the amount of support for energy saving through the eco subsidy, and just this summer to end the cashback scheme for the energy-saving green deal because it was too successful. The £120m budget allocated until next spring was exhausted in six weeks.

Bad policy, and Treasury short-termism, is a crying shame (if nothing new). But the big picture is clear, and optimistic. Energy-saving is working. Green growth makes sense, and is happening. There is a future that preserves the gains of industrialisa-tion without its polluting losses. Our living standards are rising, while our energy use is not. THE GUARDIAN

BY WILL HUTTON

For 30 years, privatisa-tion of public assets has been portrayed as an easy win-win. The state gets

a much-needed one-off boost to its revenues and the now priva-tised business gets all the dynamic benefits of private ownership. It will be more efficient, prices will be lower, subsidies reduced and a regulator will act as a long stop to ensure that the public interest is protected. What could be better than that?

Britain pioneered privatisa-tion, but other countries have eagerly followed. All around the world, super-rich plutocrats have emerged, growing fat on priva-tised plunder – Russian and Latin American oligarchs can thank privatisation for their riches. So can Virgin’s Richard Branson and Stagecoach’s Brian Souter. But at least the quid pro quo is that assets have been better managed than they would have been under the “dead” hand of the state.

Or have they? And is privatisa-tion quite the panacea it is alleged to be? It will take years for the lazy assumption that privatisa-tion is always best to be turned

around, but there are already straws in the wind. First, there was the fiasco of the Royal Mail privatisation, where already the new owners and managers are questioning how long they can sustain universal postal provision. Then there was the monumen-tally misjudged low price at which the shares were sold.

Now privatisation is being ques-tioned on a second front. The next round of rail fare increases will mean that fares will have risen by almost a quarter since 2010. Given the chancellor’s ambitions to eliminate the public sector defi-cit solely by spending cuts, thus reducing further subsides to the rail industry, another 24 percent rise is in prospect by 2018. This is devastating. British rail fares, the highest per passenger mile of any country in Europe, are set to become higher still. This is a poll tax on wheels, to many, an una-voidable impost that must be paid at the same rate by rich and poor alike, even though rail transport is an indispensable public service. Small wonder that rail re-nation-alisation is emerging as one of the most popular policies with voters.

In London and the south-east, high property prices make

incredibly expensive commuting the only viable option for many first-time buyers; mortgage repayments and fares consti-tute almost half of their dispos-able incomes. Commuters suffer overpriced, crowded trains and unacceptable unpredictability in their service. They are but pawns – overcharged and underserved and told by centre-right politi-cians how happy they should be because they use a privatised industry. After all, investment is booming, passenger numbers ris-ing and safety is better. It’s not all bad.

But at what price? Voters are right – the system may be improv-ing but it is incredibly expensive. Even buying the right ticket is a minefield. Conceptually, it was absurd to divide the network from the train companies that run on it; any rail system works as an integrated whole. It was equally a conceptual disaster to imagine that because each train licence is of necessity a monopoly.

As a result, the holders are invited to be short-term value extractors rather than long-term value creators, hired hands to drive down costs paying high dividends to whatever tax haven.

What’s more, it was crazed to believe a public good required minimal or no public grants. Lastly, it was asinine not to understand that private capital demands financial returns well above the cost of capital available to the low-risk state.

As a result, there have to be never-ending and ongoing effi-ciency gains beyond the initial round of layoffs and wage cuts to deliver those extra returns. That cannot be done even by the hand of God. The only recourse is poorer service provision, struc-turing activities through offshore tax havens to avoid tax and ever higher fares. The bits of the sys-tem that work are those that have been redesigned to accept economic logic and the “public-ness” of what is of necessity a public monopoly network. The collapse of Railtrack in 2001 after the Hatfield disaster forced the creation of Network Rail, a not-for-dividend statutory cor-poration limited by guarantee, an elaborate organisational con to avoid the dread words “public company” and “nationalisation”, even though it is 100 percent owned by the state. The de facto state backing has allowed it to run

up borrowing of £30bn to finance rail investment, but at higher rates of interest than if it had been openly acknowledged that it was publicly owned. The cumula-tive extra servicing cost is more than £150m, but as the Office for National Statistics is now calling for the con to be ended and the debt reclassified as public debt, it’s all for nothing. Brilliant.

Directly Operated Railways is the 100 percent publicly owned company that took over the east coast mainline when the incompe-tent private operator walked away from its obligations in 2009. Five years of public ownership and it is now the best run and most efficient operator, making a net surplus of £16m for the taxpayer. Its reward?

To be sold back to a private operator next February that will redirect the surplus through a tax haven as dividends, game the Department for Transport for higher government support and walk away if the financial returns are not good enough. Thus the benefits of British-style private ownership in a public network. Meanwhile, the absurdities of pri-vatisation continue. Two of the three companies that own the

rolling stock leased to the train operating companies are owned in Jersey, the third is owned in Luxembourg. None shows any interest in supporting rolling stock manufacture in the coun-try they so casually pillage. The ultimate owner of Virgin trains are Branson’s family trusts in the Virgin Islands. Operating in a tax haven allows him to move from business to business without mas-sive tax liabilities.

Properly owned private com-panies are a force for good, but they do not belong everywhere. Networks of key public services such as rail are natural monopo-lies; ownership in other countries respects that truth, and Britain’s attempt to escape it has been a costly debacle.

It’s time to build and expand the public institutions we have and insist that any private holder of a franchise designed to deliver a public good is constituted as a public benefit company with a charter that sets outs obligations to match the privileges, including paying UK tax. It’s time to end the rip off. Commuters of Britain unite! You’ve nothing to lose but your overpriced season tickets.

THE GUARDIAN

Don’t fear growth, it’s not the enemy of the planet

BY JILIAN MINCER and LISA BAERTLEIN

Like millions of Americans, Darnel Ware needs to save money, even if it’s 40 cents on a bag of flour.

He searches for those savings during his daily vis-its to the Family Dollar Store near his home in Fraser,

Michigan, sometimes stopping by as many as 10 times a week “if there are things I need,” said the 51-year-old home care provider.

“I buy a lot of everything; merchandise and food products.” He said he typically spends about $30 a trip on items like the

soft drinks, paper cups and cookies he bought on a recent after-noon at the small store in a strip mall alongside other discount retailers and small factories five miles from Detroit.

The small but frequent purchases of low-income customers such as Ware add up: Family Dollar Stores,, which operates about 8,200 stores in mainly urban sections of the US, is the target of an $9bn cash takeover offer from rival Dollar General and an $8.5bn cash and stock offer from Dollar Tree. Both competitors are betting not only on the health of the deep discount retail sector but also on the intractability of poverty in America.

Mid-market retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Macy’s Inc and JC Penney Company Inc have been struggling in recent years as consumers have been slow to return to their pre-recession, freer spending ways. On Wednesday, Target said it was cutting its full-year earnings and slashing prices.

But the popularity of so-called dollar stores is growing. Shopping by the 46.5 million Americans living below the poverty

line poor helped boost the annual US market for deep discount stores by 45.7 percent to $48.2bn between 2008 and 2013, according to London-based market researcher Euromonitor International. The firm projects the sector to grow to $57bn in 2018. The US Census sets the poverty line at $24,000 a year or less for a family of four. Such forecasts help explain the battle over Family Dollar, the number-two deep discount chain. Market leader Dollar General Corp on Monday made its $78.50 a share bid, which Family Dollar rejected on Thursday, citing antitrust concerns.

In July, the third-ranked chain, Dollar Tree Inc, bid $74.50 a share. Family Dollar has said it prefers Dollar Tree’s lower offer.

The deep discounters’ reliance on poor Americans, who made up 15 percent of the US population in 2012, compared with 12.5 percent in 2007, has been validated by investors. From 2000 to now, as the poverty rate rose 11.3 percent to 15 percent, Family Dollar’s stock price rose by about 300 percent. Against that backdrop, the bidding over Family Dollar, said Kurt Jetta, CEO of retail analyst Tabs Group, reflects an “acceptance that there will be a sizable and perhaps growing low-income population that makes dollar stores an ongoing opportunity.”

Not all analysts agree that dollar stores are poised for continued growth. Roger Davidson, a former grocery executive at Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market Inc and Supervalu, said dollar stores face increasing competition from other discounters, including Wal-Mart, which is opening smaller neighbourhood stores.

Deep discount dollar stores have been around for decades, but have grown by about 10,000 to about 24,500 stores in the last decade. Combined sales of the big three - Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General - have grown to $35bn. Dollar stores offer their customers low prices, but not necessarily the best value. For example, Huggies diapers this week were selling in a Family Dollar store for 27 cents a diaper in an 80-diaper pack. But at Walmart, shoppers could pay 17 cents a diaper if they purchased the larger 120-diaper pack. The poor often don’t have the funds needed to buy in bulk, experts said. Nor do they necessarily have the wherewithal to travel to often remote big-box stores like Target and Walmart. The dollar stores play the role of “fill in” retailers, said Joan Storms, a retail analyst at Wedbush Securities. Their customers try to do most of their shopping at places like Walmart when they get paid or receive benefits, she said, but they pick up necessities and other items at the deep discount stores.

The expiration of unemployment benefits for millions of job-less Americans and a reduction in food stamp payments last year also helped the deep discounters, analysts said. With less cash on hand to make regular “big shops” at places like Walmart, these consumers are more likely to turn to the dollar stores to buy a few items at a time to feed their families.

With wages stagnant, even middle-class consumers follow this shopping pattern, giving dollar stores a source of revenue not wholly dependent on the lowest-income Americans. In real dollars, the median US wage has declined since 1999, when it was $56,080 compared with $51,017 in 2012. Everything is going up. So you’ve got to save what you can. REUTERS

Stop picking passengers’ pockets and bring trains back under public control

Dollar stores in battle to double down on the poor

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

21 BUSINESS VIEWS TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 25-08-2014

QE Market Summary Comparison Today Previous day

25-08-2014 24-08-2014

Index 13,865.89 13,753.51

Change 112.38 22.68

% 0.82 0.16

YTD% 33.59 32.51

Volume 16,759,297 10,123,024

Value (QAR) 965,488,892.98 521,743,498.61

Trades 8,488 5,527Up 27 | Down 13 | Unchanged 04

QE Indices SummaryQE Index 13,865.89 0.82 %

QE Total Return Index 20,680.84 0.82 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,812.73 0.96 %

QE All Share Index 3,502.36 0.71 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services

3,401.31 0.94 %

QE All Share Industrials 4,623.44 0.81 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,313.1 0.15 %

QE All Share Real Estate 2,959.21 0.42 %

QE All Share Insurance 4,105.82 1.36 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,583.52 0.05 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services

7,567.72 0.23 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services

7,569.45 0.35 %

22 MARKETTUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD & SILVERWORLD STOCK INDICES

CRUDE OIL

Buying SellingINDEX Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

US$ ..........................QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK ...........................QR 6.0034 QR 6.0871

Euro .........................QR 4.7766 QR 4.8429

CA$ ..........................QR 3.2926 QR 3.3583

Swiss Fr ..................QR 3.9528 QR 4.0083

Yen ..........................QR 0.0346 QR 0.0353

Aus$ ........................QR 3.3577 QR 3.4242

Ind Re ......................QR 0.0596 QR 0.0608

Pak Re .....................QR 0.0357 QR 0.0364

Peso ........................QR 0.0823 QR 0.0840

SL Re .......................QR 0.0277 QR 0.0283

Taka .........................QR 0.0464 QR 0.0476

Nep Re ....................QR 0.0373 QR 0.0380

SA Rand ..................QR 0.3373 QR 0.3441

BRENT

$ 102.55

DUBAI

$ 100.26

GOLDQR149.9904

SILVER QR 2.2839

All Ordinaries 5632.769 -7.771 -0.14 5672.3 5072.7

Cac 40 Index/D 4303.8 51 1.2 4598.65 4080.6

Dj Indu Average 17001.22 0 0 17151.6 14719.43

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 1026.29 32.57 3.28 999.95 312.38

Hang Seng Inde/D 25166.91 54.68 0.22 25201.21 21137.61

Iseq Overall/D 4712.84 20.82 0.44 5195.97 4497.23

Karachi 100 In/D 28519.34 -352.41 -1.22 30639.78 25273.11

Nikkei 225 Index 15613.25 74.06 0.48 16164.01 13885.11

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1994.76 1627.47

Straits Times/D 3330.28 4.78 0.14 3387.84 2953.01

Straits Times/D 3274.06 -8.82 -0.27 3291.83 2953.01

A B G Infra-T/D 72.3 -3.8 1261A C C-A/D 1531.05 13.3 22473Aarti Drugs-B/D 755.65 11.8 7331Aban Offs-B/D 708.5 -24.15 181552Ador Welding-B/D 210.8 3.8 1343Aegis Logis-B/D 333.45 -3.6 17992Ahmed.Forg-B/D 326.05 3.45 220164Alembic-B/D 41.45 6.6 4964562Alok Indus-B/D 11.79 0.19 3768448Apollo Tyre-A/D 166.7 -1.6 418257Asahi I Glass-/D 85.95 -0.15 14053Ashok Leyland-/D 35.55 -1.05 780081Bajaj Hold-A/D 1394.95 19.6 1040Ballarpur In-B/D 16.4 -0.35 308909Banaras Bead-B/D 36.2 1.1 4611Bannari Aman-B/D 1090 -20.65 1199Bata India-A/D 1262.2 15.4 34878Bayer Crop-B/D 2392.65 -170.8 8908Beml Ltd-B/D 541.8 -3.05 20356Bh Electronic-/D 1799 -9.2 4878Bhansali Eng-T/D 16.7 -1.65 7442Bharat Bijle-B/D 595 1.7 4010Bharatgears-B/D 65.1 -2.85 11043Bhartiya Int-B/D 361.2 4.75 11387Bhel-A/D 231.35 3.8 754424Bhuwalka Stl-T/D 10.75 -0.55 200Bom.Burmah-B/D 188.6 -4.2 51129Bombay Dyeing-/D 69 0.8 667954Camph.& All-B/D 315.15 8.25 7785Canfin Homes-B/D 384 3.7 2614Caprihans-B/D 63.6 0.2 7170Cast.Bo/D 351.7 -5.75 37598Century Enka-B/D 182.15 3.4 57974Century Text-A/D 606.3 11.25 298588

Chambal Fert-B/D 59.55 -1.45 199295Chola Invest-B/D 403 1 1278Chowgule St-T/D 17.75 -0.15 8289Cimmco-B/D 36.3 1.7 14255Cipla-A/D 505.95 7.85 185004City Union Bk-/D 78.45 0.1 54089Cmc Ltd-B/D 2049.5 61.05 5425Colgate-A/D 1501.8 -1.4 20473Container Cor-/D 1330.1 -16.2 2922Dai-Tichi Kar-/D 126.45 -0.55 26478Dcm Shram Ind-/D 121.85 1.75 8748Dhampur Sugar-/D 51.2 -1.45 26705Dr. Reddy-A/D 2884 57.75 10973E I H-B/D 99.95 0.8 61225E.I.D Parry-B/D 199.65 -1.7 34128Eicher Motor-A/D 9909.85 -84.45 1609Eimco Elecon-T/D 312 9 2960Electrosteel-B/D 26.9 -2.2 363679Emco-B/D 37.7 -1.2 17378Escorts Fin-B/D 3.29 -0.15 5376Escorts-B/D 113.5 0.8 271317Essar Oil-T/D 121.05 0.05 86708Eveready Indu-/D 94.65 -0.35 102619F D C-B/D 150.65 3.6 90139Federal Bank-A/D 118.8 -3.95 297751Ferro Alloys-B/D 6.71 -0.04 34145Finolex-B/D 295.2 -7.25 48773Gail-A/D 427.4 -5.1 108024Galada Power-T/D 14.52 -0.28 15693Gammon India-T/D 31.05 -0.25 141411Garden P -B/D 43.85 1.3 19547Godfrey Phil-B/D 2748 -30.8 1644Goodricke-B/D 176.05 -2.6 38702Goodyear I -B/D 584.4 -8.1 3479

Hcl Infosys-B/D 81.4 -0.95 992447Him.Fut.Comm-T/D 13.66 -0.1 549864Himat Seide-B/D 87.95 -1.3 197594Hind Unilever-/D 717.1 12.75 131191Hind Motors-T/D 7.56 -0.14 48473Hind Org Chem-/D 18.35 0.4 64374Hind.Petrol-A/D 454.9 -3.2 173911Hindalco-A/D 164.65 -17.4 2251660Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1055.85 11.2 71410I F C I-A/D 34.55 -1.25 988959Idbi-A/D 78.9 -2.15 270284Ifb Agro-B/D 215.05 5.05 807Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 250.5 10.45 58656India Cement-B/D 111.9 -1.35 268008India Glycol-B/D 122.7 -3.25 23276Indian Card-B/D 124 -1.5 1097Indian Hotel-A/D 92.15 2.5 158473Indo-Tcount-T/D 149.5 -3.5 24526Indusind-A/D 567.05 -2.6 89608J.B.Chemical-B/D 210.75 -1.45 95668Jagatjit Ind-T/D 48.6 -0.9 1425Jagson Phar-B/D 21.8 -1.1 36260Jamnaauto-B/D 117.2 -1.7 1703Jbf Indu-B/D 136.5 -2.55 11716Jct Elect P -B/D 0.62 0.01 96355Jct Ltd-B/D 2.59 0.02 189179Jenson&Nich.-B/D 2.69 -0.01 4388Jik Indust-B/D 0.81 0.03 33700Jindal Drill-B/D 228 -17.75 2247Jktyre&Ind-B/D 284.85 -1.25 47675Jmc Projects-T/D 138 -2.55 3220Kabra Extr-B/D 61 -1.55 12516Kajaria Cer-B/D 631.2 -9.65 2364Kakatiya Cem-B/D 110.75 -0.75 3709

Kalpat Power-B/D 166 -8.6 32700Kalyani Stel-T/D 107.15 -3 81291Kanoria Chem-B/D 44 0.75 27701Kg Denim-B/D 18.25 0.3 17387Kilburnengg-T/D 30 0.1 17954Kinetic Eng-B/D 43.65 -0.45 3590Kopran-B/D 61.75 2.65 2251355Lakshmi Elec-B/D 419.25 -7.3 6122Laxmi Prcisn-B/D 46.55 -0.9 2909Lgb Broth-B/D 519.4 -6 14092Lok.Hous&Con-B/D 12.95 -0.44 48811Lumax Ind-B/D 414.7 0.8 20584Lupin-A/D 1262.85 11.8 38810Lyka Labs-T/D 16 0.5 69302Mafatlal Ind-B/D 147.45 3.45 4430Mah.Seamless-B/D 341.7 -11.3 14097Maha Scooter-B/D 770 34.65 1917Mangalam Cem-B/D 247.85 -12 69616Maral Overs-B/D 22.5 -0.15 10084Mastek-B/D 190 -1.85 11060Max India L-A/D 324.4 11.1 88587Mrpl-A/D 61.7 -0.95 96125Nagreeka Ex-B/D 25.7 0.2 1606Nahar Spg.-B/D 111.15 5.25 17508Nath Seeds-T/D 7.65 -0.38 8984Nation Alum -A/D 54.05 -3.3 387249Navneet Edu-B/D 93.65 -1.1 98420Nepc India-T/D 3.76 0.06 19181Neuland Lab-B/D 327.35 7.35 6786Nrb Bearings-B/D 106.9 -1.05 205299O N G C-A/D 428.75 1.9 948207Ocl India-B/D 311.75 -0.65 7274Oil Country-B/D 48.95 -0.15 40643Onward Tech-B/D 55.65 -2.4 2263

Orchid Chem-B/D 73.7 -2.4 490506Orient Hotel-T/D 20.8 -0.1 12861Orient.Carb.-T/D 291.4 19.6 56860Oudh Sugar-B/D 23.8 0.1 3281Patspin India-/D 8.34 -0.51 1301Punjab Chem.-B/D 105.45 9.05 24184Radico Khait-B/D 91.1 -2.7 28734Rallis India-B/D 232.9 -4.95 326648Reliance Indus/D 510.6 -8.8 65439Ruchi Soya-B/D 41.3 -0.75 51769S Bk Bikaner-B/D 604.5 -2.45 4519Salora Inter-B/D 33.15 0.85 6143Saur.Cem-B/D 63.55 5.4 178080Savita Oil-B/D 711.4 9.3 1017Tanfac Indust-/D 16.1 0.75 9137Thirumalai-B/D 96.2 3.3 38142Timexgroup-T/D 16.18 -0.51 124179Tinplate-B/D 74.45 -1.7 95579Ub Engineer-B/D 12 -0.61 8876Ucal Fuel-B/D 80.3 1.25 55342Ultramarine-B/D 70.3 -1.9 117704Unitech P -A/D 22.5 -0.85 6295499Univcable-T/D 52 0.2 3928Uppergsugar-T/D 40.1 -1.7 2221

3i Group/D 387.9 0.3 1047720Assoc.Br.Foods/D 2812 -11 337609B Sky B/D 860.9472 0.5 2833791Barclays/D 222.8 2 40042990Bg Group/D 1185.7628 8 2660771Bp/D 481.3802 1.25 14780885Brit Am Tobacc/D 3496.5258 -18 1281230

Bt Group/D 379.9 0.3 10420384Centrica/D 316.6 -1.3 5325139Gkn/D 355.2947 -1.4 4753037Hsbc Holdings/D 644.2 3.3 38321380Imperial Tobac/D 2574 -13 1096402Kingfisher/D 304.6 -2.2 5394290Land Secs Grou/D 1087 6 1201198Legal & Genera/D 241.2 -0.4 10382437Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 75.6868 1.01 128366501Marks & Sp./D 436.4 -0.9 2092066Next/D 7055 20 215482Pearson/D 1128 3 1586977Prudential/D 1448.5 6.5 3705652Rank Group/D 160.4 0 16800Rentokil Initi/D 126.8 2.3 8449690Rolls Royce Pl/D 1024.0792 -15 3993145Rsa Insrance G/D 437.1 0.6 2320881Sainsbury(J)/D 307.8418 -0.6 3937756Schroders/D 2406 14 516146Severn Trent/D 1933 -17 364251Smith&Nephew/D 1052.870961 -6 2479521Smiths Group/D 1304.652121 9 621456Standrd Chart /D 1214.0365 0.5 3724232Tate & Lyle/D 684 -1 976910Tesco/D 248 2.5 15848196Unilever/D 2624 -18 1380977United Util Gr/D 896 2.5 1314672Vodafone Group/D 204.704499 3.25 93343964Whitbread/D 4373 -1 278066

LONDON

MIDDLE EAST | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 04-08-2010COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

23SPORT TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Late birdies bring Mahan sixth career PGA titleUS golfer wins Barclays by two strokes, Tringale shares second spot PARAMUS, United States: Hunter Mahan fired a six-under par 65 yesterday to win the US PGA Barclays tourna-ment by two strokes, giving the American his first tour victory in more than two years and sixth PGA tour title..

Mahan, who had not taken a title since the 2012 Houston Open, birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to seize a three-stroke lead, then sank a clutch eight-foot bogey putt at 18 to claim the first event in the US tour’s season-ending play-offs.

“Haven’t played my best this year so to get a win in an event like this and the timing what it was, it feels incredible,” Mahan said.

Mahan, who had only a pair of top-five finishes this season before this week, finished 72 holes on 14-under 270 with Australians Jason Day and Stuart Appleby and American Cameron Tringale sharing second on 272.

Four-time major winner Ernie Els was on 273 with Americans William McGirt and Matt Kuchar with Jim Furyk another shot back, his winless streak when leading or co-leading after 54 holes stretching to eight events since he last won any title back at the 2010 Tour Championship.

The event launched the season-ending series of tournaments that reduce fields until 30 players qual-ify for the Tour Championship finale next month in Atlanta.

Mahan now leads the point

chase, giving him the best chance at the $10m bonus for the season points winner.

“I felt great the past few weeks,” Mahan said.

“The game was starting to come around, making some putts. I knew it was around the corner but to do it today is really incredible.”

Mahan was surprised at the 18th green by his wife Kandi and daughter Zoe, who flew to subur-ban New York to see his first win as a father.

“There was a lot going on in my head right then, but it’s always great to see them,” Mahan said. “They make every day a little bit better.”

Mahan opened with a birdie and added another at the fifth, but he made his move on the back

nine, with birdies at the 11th and par-5 13th before his key run of three in a row, the last a 25-footer that eased the pressure on 18, where he found trees off the tee and went over the green on his approach only to make a vital putt.

When Day failed to hole out from the rough in the last group just behind him, Mahan had the victory.

Day endured a second consecu-tive roller-coaster round to stum-ble after sharing the 54-hole lead

with Furyk. Day opened with a birdie and birdied the next three odd-numbered holes with bogeys mixed in at four and six.

A bogey at 11 was answered by birdies at 13 and 14 but four pars into the clubhouse for a 68 were not enough to overcome Mahan’s sizzling finish.

Tringale, who turned himself in for a violation that disqualified him from the PGA Championship earlier this month, birdied 15, 16 and 17 on the way to a 66 but a closing bogey doomed his title

bid on his 27th birthday. “Being my birthday, I was going to have a great day no matter what,” Tringale said.

“I just played with a peace and a vast understanding. I felt in control of everything.”

Appleby birdied five of the first six holes on the back nine to post the score to beat thanks to a clos-ing 65.

“It was nice to get out there and feel comfortable,” Appleby said. “It was a great stretch and nice to see more putts drop.” AFP

Hunter Mahan holds the

Barclays Trophy after winning

the the Barclays golf tournament with a score of 14 under par

at Ridgewood Country Club,

yesterday.

World Rankings1. (1) Rory McIlroy (Britain) 11.10

2. (2) Adam Scott (Australia) 9.16

3. (3) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 8.02

4. (4) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 7.73

5. (5) Justin Rose (Britain) 7.30

6. (6) Jim Furyk (US) 6.96

7. (9) Jason Day (Australia) 6.88

8. (7) Matt Kuchar (US) 6.74

9. (8) Bubba Watson (US) 6.48

10. (10) Phil Mickelson (US) 6.06

11. (13) Rickie Fowler (US) 5.52

12. (11) Tiger Woods (US) 5.44

13. (12) Jordan Spieth (US) 5.31

14. (14) Martin Kaymer (Germany) 5.17

15. (15) Zach Johnson (US) 4.89

MLB: Tigersoutsmart Twins NEW YORK: Max Scherzer tied the Major League lead with his 15th win as Detroit beat Kansas City to move within two games of the Royals for first place in the American League Central Division.

Scherzer, the reigning American League Cy Young win-ner, allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings.

The Tigers scored a two runs in three straight innings to run-away with the contest as Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter each had four RBIs.

Tsuyoshi Wada flirted with a no-hitter through six hit-less innings to lead Chicago past the first-place Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore outfielder Steve Pearce homered off Wada in the seventh, but that was the only hit the Orioles managed for the game.

Wada exited in the seventh after he struck out eight batters in the game.

First baseman Lucas Duda homered twice and the New York Mets turned a rare triple play in a rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

REUTERS

Mission accomplished as Phelps gains rhythm at Pan Pacific

GOLD COAST, Australia: Michael Phelps says he accom-plished all he wanted to in his first international meet back from retirement, after win-ning three gold medals at the Pan Pacific Championships in Australia.

The all-time greatest Olympian, who has won 18 gold medals at the Games, improved through the four-day meet at the Gold Coast which finished Sunday, winning the 100-metre butterfly and as part of the successful men’s med-ley and 4x200m freestyle relay teams.

Four months into his comeback, his form was in stark contrast to this month’s US Championships, where he failed to win.

But the 29-year-old said there was room to improve as he looks to next year’s world champi-onships in Kazan, Russia, and further ahead to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“I think for my first real inter-national meet back we accom-plished everything we wanted to,” he said.

“We were able to find out some of the things that I need to improve on over the next year and things I want to improve on.

“It is frustrating at times, but it’s usually how I respond well, so this is going to be a fun year and it’s going to be an exciting year.

“I have already started talking with (coach) Bob Bowman about some of the things that I need to do, like times that I need to go even before the world champs next summer.”

Phelps said he was pleased with how he was finishing races.

“It shows that I can finish races well. I finished pretty strong in all my swims here, now I just have to step on the first half,” he said.

While there was much inter-est in his performances, team-mate Katie Ledecky was the undisputed star of the meet with five gold medals and two world records.

The 17-year-old carved almost six seconds off her 1500m record with a swim of 15 minutes 28.36

seconds on Sunday, after breaking her 400m mark on Saturday.

Ledecky also won the 200m and 800m freestyle golds, and was part of the American women’s winning 4x200m freestyle relay team.

“I knew it was my last race of the meet and the last race of the season and I wanted to finish a really good season on a good note,” she said of the 1500m.

The Americans finished the top nation, with 14 golds ahead of hosts Australia’s 10 and Japan’s seven.

Australia proved their suprem-acy over the Americans in the sprints, winning both 100m free-style gold medals and the two 4x100m freestyle relays.

Cameron McEvoy swam the race of his life in the 100m free-style to post the third-best time this year of 47.82 seconds ahead of US Olympic champion Nathan Adrian (48.30) and dual world champion James Magnussen (48.36) with Phelps ending up fourth.

World and Commonwealth champion Cate Campbell out-paced her sister Bronte in the women’s 100m event at 52.72sec, after posting the year’s best time of 52.62 in the heats.

Campbell now has her eyes on the Olympic title in Rio.

“I’ll definitely be taking some time off and then refocusing. We’ve got two years to go and it’s looking very good,” she said.

Japan continued its strong showing by pushing the Phelps-led Americans all the way in the 4x200m freestyle relay and going down by just 0.13secs.

The Japanese highlight was Kosuke Hagino’s win over Phelps by just two-hundredths of a sec-ond to deny the American titan his second individual gold medal of the meet in the 200m individual medley.

Ryosuke Irie downed US Olympic champion Matt Grevers in the 100m backstroke, Yasuhiro Koseki won the men’s 100m breaststroke and Hagino also claimed the 400m individual med-ley. AFP

World champ Campbell to undergo surgery GOLD COAST, Australia: Australia’s Cate Campbell (pic-tured) said she’s willing to sac-rifice her world sprint freestyle title in order to be fit for the 2016 Olympics after announc-ing a shoulder operation to end months of chronic pain.

T h e w o r l d , Commonwealth Games and newly-crowned Pan Pacific 100m freestyle champion said next year’s world championships in Russia were “not a major drama” compared to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“I’m actually getting shoul-der surgery next week,” she told reporters, after winning the 50m freestyle gold.

Campbell, 22, was the dominant women’s sprinter at the Pan Pacs, which finished on the Gold Coast Sunday, winning the 50m and 100m freestyle events and help-ing Australia win the 4x100m

freestyle and medley relays. Campbell, who won the 100m freestyle world title in Barcelona last year, said the surgery would remove a bone spur that was pinching a nerve on her right shoulder, ensuring she would miss the rest of the year.

She said she was pre-pared to miss defending her 100m freestyle title at next year’s world champi-onships in Kazan, Russia if it meant she was fully fit by the 2016.

Campbell revealed she had been in “chronic pain”

for months.“I’ve been keeping it under

wraps because I’m not one to complain or make excuses but now that I’m finished (the season) you probably won’t be seeing me for the rest of the year,” she said.

“It hasn’t hugely affected my training but it’s something I need to fix out from Rio.” AFP

(From left to right) Matt McLean, Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Coner Dwyer of the USA stand during their medal ceremony at the Pan Pacific Championships at the Gold Coast, Australia in this August 22 file photo.

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada

receives help from her

coach during previews for the US Open

tennis at USTA Billie Jean

King National Tennis Center yesterday in New York.

Bouchard, Halep seek Grand Slam success NEW YORK: Eugenie Bouchard, tipped as the next superstar of women’s tennis, arrives at the US Open seek-ing to take a year of remarkable Grand Slam success to the last level -- victory.

The 20-year-old Canadian has accomplished the rare feat of reaching at least the semi-finals of the year’s first three Grand Slams.

Tall, blonde and photogenic, she has a knack for social media and a boatload of endorsements.

Her first trip to a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon resulted in a crushing defeat at the hands of Petra Kvitova.

But New Yorkers find her this week on the cover of the New York Times Magazine’s US Open edition -- a marquee moment that Bouchard calls “an honor”.

The fanfare surrounding sev-enth-seeded Bouchard is in con-trast to the relatively low profile of Simona Halep, the 22-year-old Romanian who fell in the French Open final to Maria Sharapova.

Halep reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January, and was beaten in the semi-finals by Bouchard at Wimbledon.

And with eight career titles,

two of them this year, she has quietly risen to number two in the world -- aided by the injury absence of China’s Li Na -- and goes into the Open seeded second behind five-time champion Serena Williams.

“I think there is a good group of us coming up,” Bouchard said. “For sure, we probably motivate each other a little bit, as well.

“I think it’s just so interesting to have great champions who are still playing so well but are getting older, to see them play against the young guns who are going out with nothing to lose,” she said.

“I think it makes very interest-ing tennis.”

Both Halep and Bouchard have struggled in the hardcourt build-up to the Open.

Halep opens her campaign on Monday, in the first match of the tournament on the 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

It could be an intimidat-ing prospect, but Halep doesn’t think she’ll feel the pressure of the occasion against US wildcard Danielle Rose Collins.

“I have experience everywhere now to play, so I feel prepared for everything,” she said.

“I have just to do my game on court.” AFP

Baseball ResultsNY Yankees 7 Chicago White Sox 4

Cleveland 3 Houston 1

Tampa Bay 2 Toronto 1

Cincinnati 5 Atlanta 3

Seattle 8 Boston 6

Washington 14 San Francisco 6

Philadelphia 7 St Louis 1

Milwaukee 4 Pittsburgh 3

Detroit 13 Minnesota 4

Chicago Cubs 2 Baltimore 1

Texas 3 Kansas City 1

NY Mets 11 LA Dodgers 3

Colorado 7 Miami 4

San Diego 7 Arizona 4

LA Angels 9 Oakland 4

SPORT24TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim competes in

the Men’s high jump during the Diamond

League Athletics

meeting in Birmingham on

Sunday

Qatar’s Barshim winslatest high jump epicIndoor champion beats Bondarenko at Diamond League BIRMINGHAM, England: Mutaz Essa Barshim and Bohdan Bondarenko staged another of the epic men’s high jump duels which have illumi-nated the 2014 athletics season at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting on Sunday.

Qatar’s world indoor champion Barshim eventually prevailed, winning on a countback with a height of 2.38 metres after both men failed three times at 2.41 metres. Ukrainian Bondarenko, last year’s world outdoor cham-pion, was second with the same height.

“I’m happy, I got the win which is all that matters,” Barshim said.

“It’s the battle they are all talking about, Barshim versus Bondarenko. I’ve got a lot of com-petitions coming up so there is a lot to still compete for.

Bondarenko added: “To jump 2.38 was a good result and second place was okay.”

Kenya’s David Rudisha, who produced the finest track per-formance of the 2012 London

Olympics when he broke the world 800 metres world record in the final, failed in an attempt on the world 600 metres mark set in 1986 by American Johnny Gray.

As he did in London, Rudisha led from the start to cross the line in one minute 13.71 seconds, the fourth fastest time ever in an event which rarely features on the programme.

“This is my first 600 metres, so I guess it was difficult to judge the pace, it has been a bit of a

struggle coming back from injury last year,” said Rudisha.

Olympic champion Kirani James, of Grenada, made no contest of the men’s 400 metres, easing to victory in 44.59 seconds. Britain’s new European champion Martyn Rooney finished third.

“I am very pleased with that,” James said. “I’ve had a successful end to the season, it’s always good to finish on a high.”

The women’s 400 provided a popular winner in Britain’s world

champion Christine Ohuruogu, who ran a conservative first 200 before finishing strongly to win in 51.40.

Jamaican Kerron Stewart won the women’s 100 in 11.22 sec-onds after American Tori Bowie failed to finish. Bowie, the fastest woman in the world this year, who had won her heat, limped off the track clutching her left thigh.

Australian Olympic 100 metres hurdles champion Sally Pearson, who was disqualified for a false start at last week’s Stockholm Diamond League meeting, was first out of the blocks on Sunday but was then overhauled by Americans Dawn Harper-Nelson and Queen Harrison, the winner in Stockholm.

Harper-Nelson, the fastest woman in the world this year, edged Harrison to win in 12.66.

New Zealand’s Olympic and world women’s shot put cham-pion Valerie Adams, unbeaten since 2010, extended her winning streak to 55 with a best mark of 19.96 metres. REUTERS

(From left to right) Britain’s Tiffany

Porter, Dawn Haprper-Nelson of the US and Queen Harrison of the US

compete in the women’s 100m

hurdles during the Diamond League Athletics meeting in Birmingham on

Sunday.

Farah breaks two-mile European record LONDON: Distance-running star Mo Farah marked his first appearance on a home track in more than 12 months by smash-ing Steve Ovett’s 36-year-old British record for the rarely run two miles at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Sunday.

The Olympic, world and European champion at both 5,000 and 10,000 metres, Farah won in a time of eight minutes 07.85 sec-onds as he comfortably surpassed the 8:13.51 secs mark of Ovett, the 1980 Olympic 800m champion.

“Early on I felt a bit tired and then as I got into it I just felt bet-ter and better,” Farah said. “I kept looking at the clock and thinking, ‘I can do it, I can do it’.”

Farah won both the 5,000 and 10,000m at the European Championships in Zurich ear-lier this month, having started the season with an unconvincing marathon debut in London and then suffering a shock health scare which ruled him out of the Commonwealth Games.

But, with next month’s Great North Run in Gateshead, north-east England, set to be his final race of the season before he begins preparations for next year’s World Championships in Beijing, Farah reflected on a roller-coaster campaign.

“When you’re at the top it’s harder. When you go through a struggle you are more deter-mined, you want it more.

“Sometimes getting beaten or getting ill makes you want it more.”

Farah collapsed after finishing second in the New York City Half-Marathon in March, was a dis-appointing eighth in the London Marathon the following month and missed the Commonwealth Games after having to be airlifted to hospital amid concerns over his heart.

There was more home success as Lynsey Sharp reversed the placings at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by beating Kenya’s world champion Eunice Sum to win the 800m in 1:59:14.

Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada won the men’s 400m in 44.59 secs, with Britain’s European champion Martyn Rooney third.

Another London 2012 cham-pion, Kenya’s David Rudisha, won the rarely run 600m, having taken 800m Olympic gold two years ago.

In the women’s 400m, Britain’s world champion Christine Ohuruogu won in 51.40 secs while Commonwealth gold medallist Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica was first home in the women’s 400m hurdles. AFP

Britain’s Mo Farah

competes to win the men’s

two-mile race during

the Diamond League

Athletics meeting in

Birmingham on Sunday.

Norway down Qatar to clinch bronze, Slovenia dethrone Egypt for gold medal NANJING: Qatar could not push their performance bar higher and finished as the fourth best team in the men’s section at the second Youth Olympic Games handball yesterday.

At the Jiangning Sports Centre, Qatar, playing the bronze medal play-off, lost the match to Norway 25-33.

Slovenia, later in the day, clinched the gold medal, dethron-ing Egypt 31-25. The champions were narrowly ahead at the inter-val with 13-11 edge.

Powered by Gal Marguc and Blaz Janc, who blasted eight goals each, Slovenia took the match in their grip and did never let it slip off. Ali Refaat was the main striker for Egypt with five goals.

After days of intense competi-tion in Nanjing, the responsibil-ity of winning a medal had fallen on the Qatar handball team and 800m runner Idriss Moussa Yousef.

Qatar, however, appeared to be struggling to overcome the set-back of losing the semi-finals to Egypt.

The kind of spark and flair were needed against Norway, they were missing a bit and the European team controlled the proceedings after Qatar failed to utilise early fast breaks and attacks.

After tying scores thrice inside six minutes, Norway forged 6-3 ahead through tall left-handed Magnus Abelvik Rod’s double

strike and Aksel Horgen. Then it was an uphill battle for Qatar to return into the match. The gap kept widening and it was 14-8 by 21 minutes. Qatar tried to bounce back and reduce the deficit a bit but Norway again increased it to six goals at the interval (19-13).

There was some early pres-sure by Qatar after the resump-tion and their best moments in the match were when they struck three goals in a row to come close (21-25). Norway quickly stepped up the attack and scotched any hopes of comeback that Qatar had. Rod was outstanding and contributed 11 goals alone for the

winners, despite suffering two suspensions of two minute each. Horgen netted six. Eirik Kopp, Tormod Hauane and Sinder Andre Aho all cracked four goals each.

For Qatar, Faruk Colo was the top-scorer with six. Amor Dhiab had five. Six players - Jovo Damjankovic , Abdulaziz Helali, Adson Bajrik, Amine Guehis, Nour Ahmed and Mohamed Abdelraouf, chipped in with two each.

Coach Chouaib Kafi said that

he was hoping his team would be able to return home with a medal but it was not possible for his inexperienced team.

“We came to Nanjing with the preparations for the upcoming Asia Cup in mind. If we had won something, it’d have been an icing on the cake. We tried our best but the competition level was quite different here.

“Next week, we’ve to go to Jordan to play in the Asian youth championship, which is also very important and will

decide the qualifiers for the World Championships in Russia. That is also high on our priority list. The fourth place is also good for us.

Team manager Ali Madadiy said Qatar were not able to get over the setback of losing to Egypt.

“The team’s performance was looking still affected by the defeat at the hands of Egypt. There were many things in the mind at the same time so it was slightly difficult to focus on the bronze medal match.” QOC

A Qatari player faces the challenge of three

Norwegian players during the handball

bronze medal play-off at the Youth Olympic

Games in Nanjing yesterday.

Sad end for Yousef in Nanjing NANJING: Qatar’s campaign in the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing came to an unfortunate end with Idriss Moussa Yousef being disquali-fied on the ground of technical reason in the men’s 800m A final yesterday.

Early in the evening when Qatar suffered defeat against Norway in the bronze medal match, it had become evident that Yousef was the last medal hope.

Yousef perhaps knew it and in a hurry to get to the front-running group, he committed the infringe-ment of the lane rule. As a result, though he finished sixth in the race, won by American Myles Marshall, the result of the Qatari runner was declared disqualified.

Yousef was pitched against a quality field and he tried his best to place himself in the lead-ing bunch. After the first lap, he moved up to the fifth spot.

As the race drew to the close, Moroccan Mohamed Elamrani attacked and Marshall quickly shifted into higher gears, scotch-ing his bid to come to the front. Then as the finish line loomed closer, Marshal accelerated and won the gold medal in 1:49.14.

He was followed by Ugandan Geofrey Balimumiti, who was timed at 1:49.37 for the silver medal. This was the personal best time for the Ugandan runner. The bronze medal was claimed by Ethiopian Bacha Morka Mulata with a time of 1:49.73. QOC

Handball ResultsGold Medal: Slovenia bt Egypt 31-25 (half-time 13-11)

Scorers – Slovenia: Gal Marguc 8, Blaz Janc 8, Jaka Malus 6, Tilen Sokolic 3, Rok Cvetko 3, Leon Raso 1, Darko Stonjnic 1, Matic Kotar 1

Egypt: Aly Refaat 5, Ahmed Salem 4, Yahia Omar 4, Shady Ramadan 4, Hady Morsy 3, Ahmed Abdelaal 3, Omar Belal 2

Bronze Medal: Norway bt Qatar 33-25 (half-time 19-13)

Scorers – Norway: Magnus Abelvik Rod 11, Aksel Horgen 6, Eirik Kopp 4, Tormod Hauane 4, Sindre Andre Aho 4, Jonas Berggraf Olsen 1, Simen Nicolay Schonningsen 1, Sander Andreassen 1

Qatar: Faruk Colo 6, Amor Dhiab 5, Jovo Damjankovic 2, Abdulaziz Helali 2, Adson Bajrik 2, Amine Guehis 2, Nour Ahmed 2, Mohamed Abdelraouf 2, Moustafa Heiba 1, Omar Abdelfattah 1.

25SPORT TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Australia crush Zimbabwe by 198 runs in first ODI

HARARE: Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh both fell ago-nisingly short of centuries but still helped Australia to a record one-day international tally at the Harare Sports Club as they crushed Zimbabwe by 198 runs yesterday.

Australia’s 350 for six off 50 overs beat by 10 runs the highest total for any team at the venue in an ODI and marked a satisfy-ing start to preparations for the World Cup they co-host with New Zealand early next year.

Zimbabwe could only muster 152 in reply, bowled out with more than 10 overs left in the opening match of the triangular series in Zimbabwe’s capital.

The 25-year-old Maxwell hit a rapid-fire 93 off 46 balls before being caught in the deep as he swung lustily trying to hit a third successive six. He had been on course to break team mate James Faulkner’s 57-ball record for the fastest Australian ODI hundred.

Marsh was out for 89 off 83 balls but the century partnership between the pair contributed to a blistering 147 runs off the last 10 overs.

Maxwell included an outra-geous display of ambidextrous shot making in his innings, hit-ting nine fours and clearing the boundary five times.

But the most powerful shot of the innings came from Mitchell Johnson whose six off Tinashe Panyangara in the penultimate

over struck the window of the television commentary box, shat-tering the glass and cutting com-mentator Mpumelelo Mbangwa, the former Zimbabwe test bowler. He was not seriously hurt.

Aaron Finch helped Australia get off to good start but was caught down the leg side for 67 while fellow opener Brad Haddin was first out for 46 just before Australia reached three figures in the 18th over.

Zimbabwe lost their first wicket after eight balls when Tino Mawoyo was trapped leg before by Mitchell Starc but Hamilton Masakadza and the Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza put on 63 for the second wicket as the home

side displayed some fighting spirit.But after Raza was caught,

Masakadza watched a proces-sion of partners come and go at regular intervals before he was seventh man out, stumped for 70.

Johnson conceded only seven runs in the six overs he bowled, taking one wicket.

Australia next play South Africa at the same venue tomor-row in the second game of the tri-series.

Australia, without captain Michael Clarke who missed the game because of a hamstring strain, were playing their first ODI since beating England in Adelaide in late January.

REUTERS

Marsh, Maxwell blitz takes Aussies to record ODI tally in HarareEngland’s World Cup-winning captain Katy McLean

BCCI calls Dhoni comments ‘personal opinion’MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has labelled Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s com-ments as “personal opinion” after the national team’s cap-tain said beleaguered coach Duncan Fletcher still called the shots and would lead them into next year’s World Cup.

“I have not spoken to Dhoni and so the BCCI will not like to react to his comments,” BCCI secre-tary Sanjay Patel told Reuters on Monday about Dhoni’s comments on the eve of their one-day series against England which appeared to undermine former captain Ravi Shastri.

“However, it seemed to me as his personal opinion.”

Shastri was appointed as director of cricket for the one-day series as part of a coaching shake-up following the 3-1 Test series defeat.

The appointment had created questions about Fletcher’s role after bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding mentor Trevor Penney were also given a ‘break’ for the series by the BCCI.

Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun were made assistant coaches and R. Sridhar named as fielding coach.

The 52-year-old Shastri, who played 80 Tests and 150 ODIs for India, said after his appointment the team staff, including Fletcher, would report to him.

The 33-year-old Dhoni, who leads India in all three formats and captained the side to their 50-over World Cup victory at home in 2011, however said Fletcher was still firmly in charge.

“Definitely he (Fletcher) will lead us into the World Cup,” Dhoni told reporters in Bristol on the eve of the five-match series. “Also he is still the boss.

“We have Ravi (Shastri) who will look into everything, but Duncan Fletcher is the boss. It’s not as if his powers or his position have been curtailed.

“I don’t know what you feel from outside, but still operations remain the same. REUTERS

England women’s rugby team goes proLONDON: England’s lead-ing women rugby union players will have the chance to become professionals for the first time next month, the Rugby Football Union announced yesterday.

Following England’s recent victory in the Women’s World Cup final, the RFU will issue 20 central contracts to create a fully professional sevens squad ahead of the abbreviated game’s Olympic debut at the 2016 Games in Rio.

Earlier this month, England’s amateurs won the Women’s World Cup for the second time, beating Canada 21-9 in the final in Paris.

Now 12 members of that squad will be among the 20 receiving full-time funding, with England’s World Cup-winning captain Katy McLean set to give up her day job as a teacher.

“This is fantastic news for the sport and exactly what we need as an England squad to continue to be at the top of our sport on a global scale,” said McLean.

“I am extremely excited about this new challenge and where this full time programme can take us as an England team.”

England’s 20 centrally con-tracted players will train five days a week during the season, excluding tournament commit-ments, based at Twickenham and Guildford’s Surrey Sports Park, south of London.

England Women’s Sevens coach Simon Middleton said. “We are delighted to be able to offer a full time Sevens programme for next season.

“The inclusion of Sevens in the Olympics has meant that a sig-nificant number of sides we are competing against have been full-time for a year or more.

He added: “We have been plan-ning to do this for some time but we needed to make sure that we could focus on the XVs Rugby World Cup whilst also ensuring we had the building blocks in place to guarantee that a full-time programme is effective.

“With two years to go until the 2016 Olympics Games we felt this was the right time to move for-ward.” AFP

Wallabies seek ‘mental relaxation’MELBOURNE: The Wallabies will have plenty of down-time over the next week to “men-tally relax” after their humilia-tion by the All Blacks at Eden Park, captain Michael Hooper has said.

The 22-year-old flanker was one of the few Australian play-ers to stand up during the 51-20 onslaught, which kept the Bledisloe Cup, the annual tro-phy contested between the two nations, in New Zealand hands for a 12th consecutive year.

Australia have two weeks to stew over the loss before they take on South Africa in Perth, in their third match of the Rugby Championship, but will not get another crack at the All Blacks until Oct. 18 when the neighbours play a third, dead rubber match for the Bledisloe in Brisbane.

Having raised expectations at home of an upset at Eden Park by drawing the first match 12-12 in Sydney a week before, reality set in at the airport on the way home from New Zealand. AFP

India-England series begins with Bristol washout

Covers protect the square from rain at the County Ground in Bristol

yesterday. The opening one-day international in a five-match series

between England and India was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Bristol yesterday due to heavy rain. Umpires made the decision to cancel the game after downpours throughout the night and morning left standing water on the outfield. This meant that

hard-hitting Nottinghamshire opening batsman Alex Hales’s

one-day international debut was put on hold. Hales has appeared in 32 Twenty20s for England and scored his country’s first century in cricket’s shortest format when

he made 116 not out from 64 balls against Sri Lanka at the World

Twenty20 in March.

England have no hope at World Cup, says SwannBRISTOL: Graeme Swann (pictured) believes England “do not have a cat in hell’s chance” of winning next year’s World Cup unless they add more firepower to their top-order batting.

Sunday saw England captain Alastair Cook suggest that the team’s prospects for the tour-nament in Australia and New Zealand were “very good”.

But former England off-spinner Swann was far more pessimistic.

Swann, speaking to BBC Radio’s Test Match Special as rain washed out the first one-day international against world champions India in Bristol without a ball bowled yes-terday, insisted England were “so far behind other teams” in their approach to the limited-overs game.

“If he (Cook) truly believes England can win this World Cup...I am the greatest patriot there is but we do not have a cat in hell’s chance,” Swann said.

Opening batsman Cook’s posi-tion in the one-day side has been called into question, with many pundits arguing his orthodox approach, while well-suited to Test cricket, has increasingly

little place in a one-day context where big hitters dominate at the top of the order.

“I love Cooky totally, but I do not think he should be both-ering playing one-day cricket any more,” said the 35-year-old Swann, who played 60 Tests and 79 ODIs for England before retir-ing during the team’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.

“Let young people (play) who want to smash it everywhere,” he added as he called for promising batsmen James Vince and Jason Roy to be added to the squad.

If the rain had held off in Bristol, England would have given an ODI debut to dynamic

Nottinghamshire opener Alex Hales. The 25-year-old scored England’s first Twenty20 inter-national century when he made 116 not out from 64 balls against Sri Lanka at the World Twenty20 in March.

Swann played in the last World Cup in 2011, where England bowed out with a 10-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals in Colombo.

Recalling that match, Swann said: “I remember (Jonathan) Trott getting 86 in Colombo. We’d batted to our batting plan per-fectly, got 229.

“They (Sri Lanka) knocked it off in 40 overs.

“That’s how we always played it. It’s crazy. The batsmen who won’t win you World Cups in Australia will probably do very well in England.

“If you’re not getting over 300 now on good wickets you’re not going to win games.”

Michael Vaughan, England’s captain at the 2007 World Cup, added: “We’ve made the same mistake now as we did in my time, five to six years ago and in the 1990s. AFP

AUSTRALIAA Finch c (sub-Sibanda) b Nyumbu............. 67B Haddin b Chigumbura ............................ 46M Marsh c Raza b Chatara ........................ 89G Bailey c Utseya b Williams ...................... 14G Maxwell c Mawoyo b Chatara ................. 93S Smith (run out) ......................................... 1J Faulkner (not out) ..................................... 5M Johnson (not out) .................................. 20Extras (B-l, LB-4, W-7, NB-3) ..................... 15Total (for 6 wkts in 50 overs) ............... 350Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-145, 3-178, 4-287, 5-298, 6-317.Bowling: Panyangara 7-1-68-0; Chatara 9-0-77-2; Nyumbu 8-0-64-1; Williams 10-1-59-1; Chigumbura 6-0-33-1; Utseya 10-1-44-0.ZIMBABWET Mawoyo lbw Starc .................................... 1

Sikandar Raza c Marsh b Lyon ................... 33H Masakadza st Haddin b Smith................. 70B Taylor c Finch b Johnson ........................ 10E Chigumbura c Haddin b Faulkner .............. 0S Williams c Maxwell b Marsh ...................... 1R Mutumbami lbw Lyon ............................. 11P Utseya c Starc b Smith ............................. 9T Panyangara b Starc .................................. 1J Nyumbu c Faulkner b Smith ...................... 1T Chatara (not out) ...................................... 6Extras (LB-2, W-7) ...................................... 9Total (all out in 39.3 overs) .................. 152Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-64, 3-83, 4-86, 5-88, 6-117, 7-138, 8-144, 9-144, 10-152.Bowling: Johnson 6-2-7-1; Starc 6-1-23-2; Richardson 5-2-28-0; Marsh 5-0-15-1; Lyon 7-1-42-2; Faulkner 6-0-19-1; Smith 4.3-0-16-3.

Scoreboard

Younis returns after family tragedyKARACHI: Veteran bats-man Younis Khan (pictured) will play no further part in Pakistan’s one-day series in Sri Lanka following the death of his 10-year-old nephew, an official said yesterday.

“Younis will return home on Monday as his nephew Saad Khan died while having a liver trans-plant in India,” a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman said.

The 36-year-old Younis made only 3 in Pakistan’s four-wicket win in the first ODI in Hambantota on Saturday.

Saad’s body was sched-uled to reach Pakistan yes-terday and would be flown to the family’s hometown in the coun-try’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the funeral will be held. Pakistan have already lost ace spinner Saeed Ajmal, who will miss the first two ODIs to have his suspect bowl-ing action tested in an Australian biomechanics lab. AFP

Australia’s Glenn Maxwell plays Australia’s Glenn Maxwell plays a shot during the ODI tri-series a shot during the ODI tri-series opening match against Zimbabwe opening match against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.

SPORT26 TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Second seed Halep survives scare at US Open NEW YORK: Second seed Simona Halep survived a scare at the US Open by overtaking American wild card Danielle Collins 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2 in yes-terday’s opening center court match.

The French Open finalist moves on to face Slovakian Jana Cepelova, a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 winner over Spain’s Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, in the second round of the season’s last grand slam.

But the 22-year-old Romanian had a tricky time getting by Collins, a US college champion from the University of Virginia.

Down a break at 3-4, the 20-year-old American brought the set back on serve at 4-all and with her confidence growing the collegian ran away with the decider by taking advantage of a slew of errors from Halep.

That shock seemed to snap the Romanian back to attention, and bring her groundstrokes under control as she roared to victory

over Collins, who was playing her first tour-level main draw match.

“She played a tough match, I want to congratulate her,” world number two Halep said in an on-court interview. “First set I was a little bit nervous. This court is huge. “It’s my best ranking ever and best moment of my life. I have to enjoy it, but it’s not easy. Everybody is telling me I have chances to win this title.”

Meanwhile, World number one Djokovic, recently married and soon to be a father for the first time, is gunning for a fifth straight US Open finals appear-ance and a second title to add to the one he won in 2011.

He was set for a first career meeting with Diego Schwartzman, a 22-year-old from Argentina.

“I know he’s very quick on the court,” Djokovic said. “He defi-nitely has nothing to lose. I’m going to try to use my experience on the center court and get a win.” REUTERS

Female stars gear up for FINA World Cup in DohaReigning champion Hosszu, Belmonte look to dazzle in mega event DOHA: Organisers of the two-day FINA Mastbank World Cup Doha 2014 starting tomorrow have confirmed that some of the world’s leading female swim-mers including internationally renowned stars Katinka Hosszu (Hungary), Mireia Belmonte (Spain) and Marieke D’Cruz (Australia) will be in Qatar to compete at the mega event.

Doha marks the first of seven highly anticipated meets for the FINA Mastbank Swimming World Cup 2014 with a number of female champions announced to join a host of Olympians, World Champions and world record holders already confirmed in the line-up including men’s Olympic champion Chad Le Clos, three-time Olympic medalist Oussama Mellouli and four-time Olympian from South Africa, Roland Schoeman.

The addition of Hosszu ‘the Iron Lady’ to the impressive entry list is welcomed news for all fans who can witness the excitement of the meet with open admission across two days action at the Hamad Aquatic Centre.

Hosszu, the reigning World Cup Champion has continued her dominant form in 2014 following a remarkable 2013 World Cup in which she set six world records, winning 32 events and the overall title by a stunning 537 points.

Known as one of the fittest swimmers in history with world-class freestyle times from 200m to 800m, the 25 year old Hungarian will arrive in Doha direct from

a successful showing in the 32nd European Championships in Berlin, were she took Gold in the 400m and 200m Individual medley and set two championship records in the process.

Speaking ahead of the FINA Mastbank World Cup 2014 open-ing meet in Doha, Katinka Hosszu said:

“I’m really looking forward to the opening of the series in Doha, the facilities are world-class and it’s a perfect place to start the World Cup,” she said.

“I’ve carried the momentum from 2013 into 2014 and feel good about the series ahead. I feel fit and healthy but swimming is as much a mental sport as physical so a strong performance in Qatar for the opening of the World Cup will give me the opportunity to draw upon that experience when we return in December for the FINA World Championships (25m).”

Joining Hosszu in Doha and one of her closet challengers for the title of World Cup Champion is Spain’s towering all-rounder Mireia Belmonte.

A holder of world records, World Championship podiums and European titles from 400 to 1500m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 200 and 400m medley and two-time silver Olympic medal-ist (200m Butterfly & 800m Freestyle) at the London 2012 Olympics, Belmonte is the com-plete swimmer.

She also had great success in 2013 including breaking world

records in the short course 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle. Like several competitors to swim in Doha, Belmonte is set to increase her grueling multi-event pro-gramme during 2014, using the FINA Mastbank World Cup 2014 series as a transitional period aimed at securing gold in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Belmonte said: “The FINA Mastbank World Cup series always brings together the best swimmers in the world so the competition is always tough. But that’s what everyone competing wants. We all swim to win and the opening meet in Doha will be

an important gauge to see who is strongest at this part of the season.”

Fans will get a chance to wit-ness up to 140 elite athletes from 36 countries in the meet includ-ing experienced campaigner Australia’s Marieke D’Cruz, the former world record holder in the 50m butterfly and 50m breast-stroke. D’Cruz won the overall Swimming World Cup title in 2008 and is a short course spe-cialist, having won two silvers in the 2012 short course world championships.

Delighted at the contingent of female stars set to compete at the

free-to-attend FINA Mastbank Swimming World Cup, Khaleel Al Jabir, President, Qatar Swimming Association said:

“The swimming world will descend upon Doha in 2014 as we have the privilege of host-ing the first World Cup meet and the FINA World Swimming Championships,” he said.

“It is a very special time for for Qatar. To have an interna-tional entry list of this quality is extremely pleasing. Qatar is ready to welcome the leading swimmers and host an exceptional World Cup for all athletes, fans and offi-cials.” THE PENINSULA

World champion Katinka Hosszu of Hungary is among the star swimmers

who will be vying for honour at the FINA World Cup starting from tomorrow in

Doha.

Barca made errors over youth transfers: President BARCELONA: Barcelona made errors in the transfer of under-age players but will go to CAS over the severity of the FIFA transfer ban for two con-secutive windows, said presi-dent Josep Maria Bartomeu.

FIFA upheld a decision last Wednesday to sanction the Catalan club for breaching rules on the international transfer of under-18 players and it means they now cannot register play-ers in the next January and July-August 2015 windows.

The initial ban was suspended pending Barca’s failed appeal, allowing the likes of Luis Suarez to be brought in during this win-dow, but Bartomeu said they will now take the fight to get the penalty reduced to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“We were conscious that the ban was going to be ratified because we have committed some errors,” he told Spanish television.

“We will go to CAS. We are going to work on a good defence so that in the coming months the situation can be resolved more favourably for us.

“We have a few weeks to send our motives for wanting to have the ban reduced. Often these cases end up with CAS. We rec-ognise that we have done things badly but the sanction is very heavy.”

The world governing body also rejected Barcelona’s appeal against a 450,000 Swiss francs ($493,637) fine and they have been given 90 days to regularise the situation of all the minor play-ers concerned.

Suarez led a long list of recruits during the close season and Barca have especially reinforced in defence after fortunately being able to sign players before the appeal was heard. REUTERS

F1: Hamilton wonders whether Rosberg can be trusted in future SPA, Belgium: Lewis Hamilton (pictured) says he no longer knows whether to trust Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg on the track after they collided at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix but has ruled out retaliation.

The incident, with Rosberg’s front wing making contact with Hamilton’s rear tyre and caus-ing a puncture on the second lap of the race, was an avoidable one that wrecked the Briton’s afternoon.

Hamilton eventually retired after struggling with a damaged car while Rosberg, now 29 points clear in the Formula One stand-ings with seven races remaining, finished second.

With the Spa paddock swept by

the controversy, Hamilton fuelled the flames by telling reporters Rosberg had said in a post-race meeting he did it on purpose to ‘prove a point’.

“When you’re out there you have to trust people to think with their heads and not do things deliberately. But after that meeting I don’t really know how to approach the next race,” Hamilton said.

“I’ll have to make sure we’re not wheel-to-wheel,” he added when asked whether he would trust Rosberg in simi-lar circumstances going into the chicane at Monza next week. “Whatever the case I will always put the team first and I won’t take

anything into my own hands.” In a potentially lethal sport where drivers go wheel-to-wheel at speeds in excess of 300kph, trust

is essential. Racers need to be sure that others will be firm but fair, not weaving more than allowed or closing the door entirely.

Deliberately driv-ing into a rival to gain an advantage or out of revenge is a no-no, even if several examples from

the times of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher come to mind.

The Mercedes pairing have banged wheels before this sea-son, without consequences, but Sunday’s incident moved their

rivalry on to another level. An accident waiting to happen for some, although not in Hamilton’s book, it was the first time they had collided and done serious damage to the prospects of a team that had started one-two and expected to finish that way.

“He basically said he did it on purpose,” Hamilton had said on Sunday. “He said he could have avoided it. He said ‘I did it to prove a point’.”

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff later attempted to clarify that, explaining that “Nico felt he needed to hold his line. He needed to make a point. It wasn’t deliberately crashing. That is non-sense. “If he could turn back time, he would probably not do it again in the way he did.” REUTERS

British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton (left) of Mercedes AMG GP in action against his team-mate German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg during the 2014 Belgium Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps race track near Francorchamps, Belgium on Sunday.

Danielle Collins of the

US reacts during her

match against Simona Halep of Romania at the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean

King National Center,

yesterday.RIGHT: Halep reacts after

winning a point

against her counterpart.

Order of Play Arthur Ashe Stadium

(All times in GMT) 1500

Alison Riske (USA) vs Ana Ivanovic (SRB x8)

Not before 1700

Marcos Giron (USA) vs John Isner (USA x13; Petra Kvitova (CZE x3) vs Kristina Mladenovic

(FRA)

2300

Marinko Matosevic (AUS) vs Roger Federer (SUI x2); Serena Williams (USA x1) vs Taylor

Townsend (USA)

Louis Armstrong Stadium 1500

Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) vs Sam Querrey (USA); Olga Govortsova (BLR) vs Eugenie Bouchard (CAN x7); Damir Dzumhur (BIH)

vs David Ferrer (ESP x4); Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) vs Madison Keys (USA x27)

Grandstand 1500

Samantha Stosur (AUS x24) vs Lauren Davis (USA); Pablo Andujar (ESP) vs Jack Sock

(USA); Misaki Doi (JPN) vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR x16)

Not before 2100

Gael Monfils (FRA x20) vs Jared Donaldson (USA)

Leaving England was a mistake, says Balotelli

27SPORT TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Striker Messi scores twice as 10-man Barcelona sink ElcheBARCELONA: Lionel Messi wasted little time in finding his stride as he struck twice to lead 10-man Barcelona to a 3-0 home win over Elche and hand new coach Luis Enrique a happy start to the La Liga season on Sunday.

Youngster Munir El Haddadi hit the woodwork as did Andres Iniesta before Messi made the breakthrough, turning well in the box and slotting in after 42 minutes.

Barca’s job was complicated with Javier Mascherano sent off for bringing down Garry Rodrigues a minute later but Munir, drafted into the side as a replacement for the injured Neymar, clipped home to make it 2-0 shortly after the restart.

Messi, whose Argentina side were beaten in the World Cup final by Germany in July, was the talisman once again for Barca.

He made space for himself on the edge of the area and found the back of the net again after 63 minutes.

The result handed Luis Enrique a promising start with Barcelona after the club failed to win any major trophy last season under Gerardo Martino.

“I’ve always said that Messi is the best player in the world in all the ways that you want to look at it,” Luis Enrique told a news conference.

“If Messi wanted to be a defender he would be the best in the world defending. We have seen him do more difficult things in training and he will keep being

the best in the world as long as he wants to be.

“The game was made more dif-ficult with the sending off and the team had to respond by playing a

bit deeper but with the team we have and Messi in form it worked out.”

Luis Enrique put his confidence in youth with Munir and Rafinha

given a chance in attack alongside Messi. It was a sign of veteran Xavi’s changing role in the side that he was on the bench with new signing Ivan Rakitic taking

his place and the Croat slotted in effortlessly in the midfield.

It was the usual Barca style with more pace than they showed for much of last season but they

found it difficult to break down a well-organised Elche.

Munir has looked sharp during pre-season and his quick move-ment and shot almost gave Barca the lead midway through the first half but his effort came back off the crossbar.

Iniesta also struck the wood-work from 25 metres and Dani Alves failed to hit the target from inside the area before Messi gave them the lead.

Mascherano’s dismissal for upending Rodrigues as last man did not unsettle Barca and hav-ing quickly got their second from Munir they never looked back.

Messi was found by Alves and he toyed with the Elche defend-ers, looking to go one way then the other, before picking his spot to complete the scoring.

In other matches, Eibar made their debut in the top flight with a 1-0 victory over neighbours Real Sociedad with Javi Lara scoring the only goal before halftime.

Joaquin Larrivey, Fabian Orellana and Nolito gave Celta Vigo a 3-1 victory over Getafe whose only reply came from Jorge Sammir.

Villarreal beat derby rivals Levante 2-0 with second half goals from Ikechukwu Uche and Denis Cheryshev.

Champions Atletico Madrid were scheduled to begin their title defence yesterday at Rayo Vallecano having lifted the Super Cup on Friday with a 2-1 aggre-gate win over Real Madrid, who also host Cordoba in their La Liga bow yesterday. REUTERS

New Catalan coach Luis Enrique off to winning start despite Mascherano’s red card

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (left) scores a goal against Elche during a La Liga match at Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona on Sunday night.

‘Not good enough’: Van Gaal on startSUNDERLAND: Louis van Gaal (pictured) has demanded an immediate improvement from Manchester United after admitting their start to the sea-son has not been good enough.

They avoided matching their worst opening sequence to a Premier League campaign since 1992 by earning a point with an unconvincing display in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

But after the first-day defeat at home to Swansea, the new Old Trafford manager was left with much to ponder, his assertion that his side need a miracle to win the title this season looking increas-ingly accurate.

He revealed confidence was low after seeing Juan Mata’s goal at the Stadium of Light on Sunday cancelled out by Sunderland’s Jack Rodwell to leave the former champi-ons already five points behind the early pace-setters in their attempts to improve on a disappointing seventh-place fin-ish in May.

“So much is down to confi-dence,” van Gaal said. “In pre-season, our confi-dence was much better than it is now. “We’re working hard to improve and if we win the next match then that confidence will start to come back.”

The Dutchman added: “The players are disappointed because we thought we would win today (Sunday), and yet we have one point and it’s not good enough for Manchester United.

“I can’t say it was a better per-formance than last week because we didn’t create as many chances as against Swansea. Our passing needs to be better because we gave the ball away a lot when I didn’t expect us to.”

Van Gaal couldn’t lift spirits with a positive update on United’s pursuit of Real Madrid’s Angel di Maria, as he remained cautious over the prospects of signing

the $99m-rated Argentinian midfielder.

“I can’t say about transfers at the moment,” he explained. “When a transfer has been fin-ished then we can say something but now you have to wait and see.

“The club has to announce it. When we are thinking it’s the right time to announce it then we’ll come to you and say we’ve bought this player or that player, but at the moment we can’t say anything.”

Showing his sense of humour hasn’t been diminished by his testing introduction to life at Old Trafford, van Gaal added: “People have asked me if I like di Maria. Well, I like Lionel Messi also. There are a lot of players in the world I like, but they can’t always come here.”

United defender Chris Smalling limped off before half-time with a groin injury to add to the lengthy Old Trafford injury list before the club return to action against MK Dons in the League Cup on Tuesday.

Van Gaal — who refused to condemn Ashley Young for a sec-

ond-half dive that earned the England midfielder a caution — said: “We had seven players out injured before this game, so now with Chris, that’s eight.

“It’s too early to say if he might be out for some time. I’m not a doctor. It’s an unusual situation to have four midfield players out injured. That would impact on any club.

“That’s why I played Adnan Januzaj in central midfield when I brought him on.”

Sunderland performed well enough to have claimed a first home league win over United for 17 years.

But coach Gus Poyet was far from disappointed after his side claimed a second point of the campaign with a battling display.

AFP

Bad first impressionJust days after signing for

Manchester City in 2010, Balotelli hit the headlines after crashing his Audi R8 en route to the club’s training ground. The Italian striker was found to be carrying £5,000 in cash at the time of the accident and when the police asked why, he reportedly replied: “Because I am rich”.

Dart shameBalotelli once again showed

his lack of maturity and poor judgement when it emerged that he threw darts at Manchester

City youth team players through a training ground window in March 2011. No one was hurt in the incident and he escaped punishment.

Fireworks off the pitchBalotelli had a run-in with the

emergency services in October 2011 after a firework was set off in the bathroom of his home, triggering a fire.

The next day, he scored in the Manchester derby and cel-ebrated by revealing a T-shirt which reads: “Why always me?”

Bizarre prison breakMario and 17-year-old brother

Enock were arrested stroll-ing through the grounds of a women’s prison in Brescia, near Milan, in October 2011.

Balotelli is said to have told police that curiosity got the bet-ter of him and “just fancied hav-ing a look”.

Banned after Parker stampBalotelli was charged with

violent conduct by the Football Association, and subsequently handed a four-match ban, after appearing to stamp on the head of Tottenham’s Scott Parker during a Premier League match in January 2012. AFP

LONDON: Mario Balotelli admitted he was glad to be back in the Premier League after the controversial Italy striker completed his $26.5m move to Liverpool yesterday.

Balotelli left England in January 2013 after a series of problems on and off the field prompted Manchester City to sell him to AC Milan.

The 24-year-old had grown weary of his reputation as a bad-boy and believed a return home to Italy, where he had previously starred for Inter Milan, would get his career back on track.

But he endured a difficult spell with Milan and was subjected to racial abuse from opposing fans.

After sealing his switch to Anfield on a three-year £90,000-a-week contract, which includes an option for a further year’s extension, Balotelli con-ceded he had been wrong to ever leave England.

“I’m happy to be back because I left England and it was a mis-take. I wanted to go to Italy but I realised it was a mistake,” Balotelli told Liverpool’s website.

“English football is gener-ally better. English football is beautiful.”

With his future now lying on Merseyside, Balotelli, who won

In this picture taken on October 23, 2011, Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring a goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford. See chart below.

Algeria suspend all football after player deathALGIERS: Algeria have sus-pended all football this weekend in memory of Albert Ebosse, the striker killed on Saturday after being struck by an object thrown from the crowd during a Ligue 1 match in the north African country.

The Algerian Football Federation said in a statement it was considering several puni-tive measures including expelling Ebosse’s club JS Kabylie from all competitions. It did not specify a time period.

The Cameroon forward was struck on the head by an object allegedly thrown from a section of his club’s own fans as the play-ers left the field at the end of a 2-1 defeat to USM Alger in Tizi Ouzou, a match in which he had scored his side’s goal.

JS Kabylie confirmed in a state-ment posted on the club’s website that he had passed away in hos-pital later on Saturday, though they did not give the exact cause of death.

The federation said the deci-sion to cancel all matches this weekend was also to protest “the irresponsible action of fanatics and hooligans who per-petuate violence in stadiums which has reached unacceptable proportions”.

The federation and JS Kabylie said an immediate sum of $100,000 had been given to Ebosse’s family and the remainder of his contract would also be paid out.

The 24-year-old Ebosse was the leading scorer in the Algerian league in the 2013-14 season with 17 goals having played the previous season in Malaysia.

The world players’ union FIFPro said the incident was a reflection on the poor manage-ment of football in Africa.

“In recent years, we have constantly had to denounce the flagrant lack of professionalism among African executives,” said Stephane Burchkalter, general secretary of FIFPro’s African division. REUTERS

Balotelli’s five moments of madness

the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010, has ambi-tions of repeating that feat with Liverpool on the Reds’ return to Europe’s elite club competition this season.

“I want to win another Champions League for sure, because the Champions League wasn’t all mine, I was in a team,” he said.

“I always start a competition wanting to win it. I want to take this team to the Champions League.”

Balotelli suffered a hostile reception from Liverpool fans during his visits to Anfield while with City, but he has already been given a warm welcome by sup-porters who gathered outside the club’s training ground to catch a glimpse of the striker.

“I didn’t expect it (the warm reception) because whenever I played against Liverpool, the fans

weren’t nice with me but that’s normal — it’s football!” Balotelli said.

“Now that I play for Liverpool, I can see the expectation in peo-ple. They’re very happy and that makes me very happy at the same time.

“To play here for Liverpool excites me, but if you’re an oppo-nent it’s difficult.

“Liverpool are one of the best teams here in England. The foot-ball is very good here. It’s a great team with young players, and that’s why I came here.”

Balotelli was not eligible to feature against his old club Manchester City in yesterday’s Premier League clash, but he could travel to Manchester to watch the match after complet-ing a one-on-one training session with the Reds’ head of condition-ing and fitness Ryland Morgans at the club’s Melwood base. AFP

Tuesday 26 August 201430 Shawwal 1435

Volume 19Number 6169

Price: QR2

editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Sport | 23 Sport | 25

Late birdies bring Mahan sixth PGA title

Australia crush Zimbabwe in first ODI tie

Sport Lippi ban weakens Guangzhou grip on title SINGAPORE: Guangzhou Evergrande face a serious test of their resolve this week after a triple player suspension and touchline ban for coach Marcello Lippi loosened their grip on the AFC Champions League title.

A 1-0 quarter-final first-leg deficit against Western Sydney Wanderers does not seem insur-mountable at Guangzhou’s Tianhe stadium, but disciplinary woes have complicated the Chinese champions’ task today.

Last week’s red cards to Zhang Linpeng and Gao Lin have robbed Guangzhou of two of their most dependable players, while Lippi earned a touchline ban for storm-ing onto the pitch in protest at the late dismissals.

The Chinese champions will be further weakened by the loss of Korean centre-back Kim Young-Gwan, who is ineligible after pick-ing up his second yellow card of the knock-out rounds in Sydney.

Zhang and Kim have started every game for Guangzhou in this season’s competition, while Gao has played in eight of their nine matches. However, they will take comfort from playing the second leg of the quarter-final at their home stadium.

Wanderers head coach Tony Popovic remains wary of the Chinese club, who still have former Italian internationals Alessandro Diamanti and Alberto Gilardino available.

“There is no one getting car-ried away in our dressing room,” Popovic said. “We have a slight advantage but we are just in front at half-time. Of course we antici-pate a really difficult game, but they go home knowing they antic-ipate a difficult game as well.”

The Chinese Super League side are trying to become the first club since Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad in 2005 to successfully defend the Asian title.

The winners will face either last year’s runners-up, FC Seoul, or 2009 champions Pohang Steelers in the semi-finals. Their all-Korean quarter-final is still very much in the balance ahead of today’s return match at Seoul World Cup Stadium after a goal-less draw in the first leg last week. REUTERS

Qatar’s Al Sadd seek quick goals to overturn deficitAFC Champions League: Qatari club hosts Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal today

Al Sadd players, coach and backroom

staff gather around for a team talk at Jassim

Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha

yesterday. Al Sadd host

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal for their return

leg of the AFC Champions

League quarter-finals

today.

BY RIZWAN REHMAT

DOHA: Former Asian champi-ons Al Sadd will be looking for an early goal in hope of over-turning a 1-0 deficit when they take on Saudi giants Al Hilal in the return leg of their AFC Champions League quarter-finals clash today.

Last week, former champi-ons Al Hilal relied on Salman Al Faraj’s second-half strike to beat a resolute Al Sadd side in front of more than 63,000 fans at the King Fahd Stadium.

“If we can score in the first 15 minutes, it will be good for us to continue the game,” Al Sadd coach Hussain Amute said yes-terday. “It will be difficult if we

receive one goal. The only way to qualify is to score. If we play like a team, then we can get a good game,” he added.

Amute said he was pleased to see Al Sadd - champions in 2011 - battle it out in front of a hostile crowd last week.

“I think they (Al Sadd players) did good (in front of 63,500) fans). They were focused,” Amute said when asked about crowd pressure last week.

“And I think we defended well. But we didn’t take too many chances in the attack because we had only two people up front. I guess it is a home game and we will take more risks. I hope that we score from the opportunities we get,” the Moroccan said.

The Al Sadd coach admitted his camp was feeling the pressure as were the home team fans.

“Sure, we are all under pres-sure (smiles) - the team, and the fan, everybody is under pressure,” Amute said.

“It is a big game. We have to give all what we have - technically, tactically and mentally. We have to play with character,” Amute said.

The Al Sadd coach was quick to point out that scoring goals would remain key in today’s clash.

“I think we have to go forward to score to qualify for the semi-finals. But we have to keep our balance - we have to keep good balance in attack and defence. If we receive (a) goal it will be very difficult to score against a top side. I think we have to defend well and take some risks in front,” he explained before add-ing that his side was free of injury concerns.

Al Hilal, the two-time Asian winners, have not been to the semi-final stage of the continental tournament since 2010 and two years ago they were eliminated from the quarter-finals by even-tual winners Ulsan Hyundai of Korea Republic.

Yesterday, Al Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf seemed miffed at being asked to do the mandatory press conference in the morning, just hours after his side landed in Doha.

“We came yesterday (Sunday) night. I think this is not the right time for a press conference,” Reghecampf said. When asked to clarify the concern, he added: “I don’t have nothing to say. What I say is enough. It wasn’t very nice to come for this press conference when we have training in the night. I think that is not respect for us.”

Turning his focus to the game tonight, an angry Reghecampf hit back: “I think the real game is on the pitch and not before. And we are ready to give answers on the pitch.”

He added: “I hope we are ready for the game. And I am sure our players are ready to play.”

The 38-year-old retired Romanian international said Al Sadd - trailing 1-0 from the first

leg - will be forced to open up the game tonight.

“We saw that Al Sadd play too much on the defence in the last game. They tried to close out our best players. I think tomorrow night they are going to open the game,” Reghecampf.

“They have to do that. They have to score. I think our team will have more open spaces to score. That’s why I think we will play very good and score,” he added. “We are not fearful. We have come here to win. We don’t have to fear any side. It is a football game. Everything is pos-sible. We are playing against a big team. We are also one of the best teams in Asia. We have very good players. The atmosphere is very good that’s why I am happy to play a good team,” Reghecampf thundered.

“We have come here knowing that we are playing against a big team. They have good players. They played a very good game in Riyadh. We are ready for that. I think they are going to make changes. That’s why we have to be very careful. I think our team has the power to win the game tomor-row night,” the Romanian said.

THE PENINSULA

Al Sadd coach Hussain Amute

directs his team during a

training session at Al Sadd Stadium in

Doha.

Al Hilal coach

Laurentiu Reghecampf

is seen during a press

conference at Al Sadd Stadium in Doha

yesterday.

AFC Champions League Quarter-final Fixtures

DOHA: Fixtures from the Asian Champions League Quarter-final second leg matches (all times GMT):

TodayQuarter-final, second leg

Al Sadd (Qatar) vs Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) (1600)

Al Ittihad (Jeddah) (Saudi Arabia) vs Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) (1750)

TomorrowFC Seoul (Korea) vs Pohang (Korea) (1030)

Guangzhou Evergrande (China) vs Western Sydney Wanderers FC (Australia) (1200)

“If we can score in the first 15 minutes, it will be good for us to continue

the game. It will be diffi-cult if we receive one goal. The only way to qualify is to score. If we play like a team, then we can get a good game. I guess it is a home game and we will

take more risks.” Al Sadd coach Hussain

Amute

“We came yesterday (Sunday) night. I think this is not the right time for a press conference. We saw that Al Sadd play too much on the defence in the last game. They tried to close out our

best players. I think tomor-row night they are going to

open the game. They have to

do that.”Al Hilal coach

Laurentiu Reghecampf

SRI LANKA’S WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES

������������������������ ��� �������������������������

����������������

L A N K A D E E P A M I D D L E E A S T W E E K L Y

PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY DAR AL SHARQ

� ��������������� ���������������� ��������!"#$%&'()#*#+,'-*,)#