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THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015 18 Rajab 1436 Volume 20 Number 6423

17

QE inclusion
in MSCI, S&P
gets $1.25bn
inow.
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Obama to push for Gulf

missile defence shield

Sport

| 28

Inspired Messi
lifts Barca past
Bayern Munich
in semi-nals.
editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa

Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780

Community College graduation

DOHA: A 101-year-old Nepalese

who survived for a week under
the rubble of a building that
caved in due earthquake in the
Himalayan nation is undergoing treatment at a make-shift
hospital set up by Qatars Red
Crescent (QRC) in a worstaffected village.
Funchu Tamang was one of the
several Nepalese to receive medical attention by the QRCs medical
staff. He is still recovering from
pneumonia and is homeless as his
family and thousands of others
need help, a QRC release said.
QRC on May 4 set up a Health
Care Unit in Trishuli village of
Nuwakot district which has provided medical attention to more
than 308 residents who were
injured in the tremor in the 48
hours since. The HCU hopes to
treat more than 7,000 in the next
three months. Continued on page 4

Bid to allay GCC fears over Iran nuclear deal

WASHINGTON: US President
Barack Obama is expected to
make a renewed US push next
week to help Gulf allies create
a region-wide defence system to
guard against Iranian missiles
as he seeks to allay their anxieties over any nuclear deal with
Tehran, according to US sources.
The offer could be accompanied
by enhanced security commitments, new arms sales and more
joint military exercises, US ofcials say, as Obama tries to reassure Gulf states that Washington
is not abandoning them.
With little more than a week
to go before Obama hosts the sixnation Gulf Cooperation Council
at the White House and then at
Camp David, aides are discussing
the options in pre-summit meetings with Arab diplomats. Ofcials
say no nal decisions on possible
US proposals have been made.

Obama is likely to press Gulf

allies to do more to integrate their
disparate militaries and work
toward a long-delayed anti-missile shield against an Iranian ballistic missile threat, the sources
familiar with the discussions said.
This could take the form of a new
high-level joint working group led
by the Pentagon, a source said.
Gulf countries have already
bought US missile defence systems
such as the Patriot system built
by Raytheon Co and the Terminal
High-Altitude Area Defence system built by Lockheed Martin
Corp. But the Obama administration is now expected to press them
to implement the initiative touted
in late 2013 by then-secretary of
defence Chuck Hagel.
The programme allows the
GCC to purchase equipment as a
bloc and start knitting together
radars, sensors and early warning

networks with US assistance

but has been held up by distrust among some of the Gulf
monarchies.
The Obama administration is
concerned about shortcomings in
the Gulf states joint operational
capacity exposed by a Saudi-led
bombing campaign in Yemen that
has failed to push back Iran-allied
Houthi ghters.
It was unclear specically what
Washington would offer the Gulf
nations which already operate some of the most evolved
US-made weaponry in order
to advance the missile shield.
Lingering rifts between GCC
members would need to be put
aside before a joint missile system would be viable. Experts now
believe the time is ripe for greater
cooperation because of deteriorating security across the region.
REUTERS

THE PENINSULA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser

bin Khalifa Al Thani at the graduation ceremony of the fourth batch of
Community College of Qatar held at Qatar National Convention Centre
yesterday. A total of 165 students graduated.

Maid runs away after climbing down building

DOHA: A maid ran away yesterday after climbing down a
second-oor apartment in a
busy neighbourhood using bed
sheets tied together, leaving her
sponsors two small children
uncared for in the balcony of
their home.
Some workers on a construction site opposite the building,
located off D-Ring Road in the

Old Airport locality, saw the maid

climb down and got alarmed.
Thinking it was an emergency,
they rushed to the building, eyewitnesses told this newspaper.
However, they saw her eeing and
tried to stop her.
The maid, reportedly from a
South East Asian country that
sends large numbers of domestic workers here, said a taxi was

waiting for her and ed the scene.

The incident, according to eyewitnesses, took place between 10
am and 11 am. Sensing foul play,
the workers then knocked on the
door of a ground oor apartment
in the building.
A man opened the door and
the workers told him what had
happened. The man immediately
called the owner of the building

QRC treating
101-year-old
quake survivor

and informed him of the incident.

He then called the police and the
Civil Defence. He was concerned
on seeing two toddlers in the balcony of the apartment the maid
had climbed down from.
Civil Defence personnel and a
police team arrived on the scene
almost immediately. The reghters used a ladder and took the
children to safety.

The man who had called the

police gave them the mobile
phone number of the buildings
owner, and from him the police
got the phone number of the
maids sponsor. The sponsor and
his wife, a working couple from an
Arab country, rushed home and
their children were returned to
their care.
THE PENINSULA
Picture on page 11

UK polls today
LONDON:
Prime
Minister
David Camerons Conservatives
and the opposition Labour Party
are tied at 34 percent popular
support ahead of Britains general election today, according to a
YouGov opinion poll for the Sun.
See also page 12

TODAYS EDITION
INCLUDES AN 8-PAGE
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ON

02

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

FM meets Indonesian minister

Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah with Indonesian

Minister of National Development and Planning, Andrinof Chaniago and
his accompanying delegation in Doha yesterday.

HOME

No confusion in Nepal relief work: Embassy

DOHA: The Nepalese embassy
here has reacted sharply to
international media reports
that suggest that confusion is
delaying earthquake relief work
in Nepal and said the reports
led by wire agencies were not
true.
First of all, it is not true that
the government is levying customs duty on quake relief materials entering the country, said
second secretary at the embassy,
Nitesh Sapkota.
The relief materials reaching
Tribhuvan International Airport
in Kathmandu need to be collected by people or organisations
responsible for distributing those

materials and they should coordinate with the local government

authorities, Sapkota said.
There is no confusion relating to getting aid, relief materials,
expert team and distribution of
relief to the victims.
The rescue operation has almost
come to an end and relief operation is going on and will continue
as needed.
Organisations sending in relief
materials from overseas must
inform the Nepalese government
in advance.
The government, according to
Sapkota, has deputed its personnel (65,016 Army personnel, 41,776
Policemen, 23,764 Armed Forces

members and thousand of bureaucrats) and resources for the

victims and there has been coordination with concerned donors
and stakeholders. Donations can
be channelised through the PM
Disaster Relief Fund or in Dohas
Case via our Embassys local Bank
Account.
There is no confusion about
how to tackle the disaster. All
the related government authorities are working on disaster
management.
At the beginning, there seemed
a kind of urgency because of the
large scale damage caused by the
quake, said the second secretary.
THE PENINSULA

Nitesh Sapkota

Licence required for importing movies, cinema devices

Cabinet welcomes outcomes of 15th Consultative Meeting of GCC leaders in Riyadh
DOHA: The Cabinet approved
a draft law yesterday which
would make it mandatory to seek
permission from the Ministry of
Culture, Arts and Heritage to
import movies, equipment and
devices for cinemas. No movie
could be screened without permission from the Press and
Publications Department of the
Ministry once the law is enforced.
The draft legislation includes
special stipulations on the conditions for licensing to screen
movies, their duration and fees
and how licensing can be aquired,
QNA reports.
Prime Minister and Interior
Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah
bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani
chaired the Cabinets regular
meeting. Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of State for Cabinet
Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah
Al Mahmoud said the Cabinet
welcomed the positive outcomes
of the 15th Consultative Meeting
of the GCC leaders held in Riyadh
on Tuesday with the participation of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani, and the

presence of French President
Francois Hollande.
The Cabinet stressed that
the Summit nal communique
expresses the unity of the GCC
countries stand towards the serious challenges facing the region

and common concern for all that

would consolidate security and
stability in the region, protect its
interests and meet the aspirations
of their peoples.
The Cabinet took necessary
measures to issue a draft decree
amending some provisions of

the Decree Law No. 17 for the

year 2010 on the organization
of the National Human Rights
Committee (NHRC) after brieng
the Cabinet on the recommendation of the Advisory Council.
Under the amended law,
the Committee will enjoy full

independence in the exercise of

its activities on human rights.
The Committees members shall
not be held accountable criminally or disciplinary on what
he shows before the Committee
and its subcommittees including opinions or statements with

Thermal insulation to become mandatory

DOHA: The State Cabinet has
agreed to issue a civic ministerial decision that would making it mandatory for all new
constructions coming up in
the country to install thermal
insulation as part of energy
conservation measures.
Utility distributor Kahramaa,
said yesterday that as part of its
energy conservation programme
Tarsheed and in collaboration
with the Ministry of Municipality
and Urban Planning, it managed to get the nod of the State

Cabinet to issue ministerial decision Number 108 of 2015.

The good thermal insulation,
including the insulation of windows in a building, will save 30 to
40 percent of energy consumption as it helps maintain internal
temperature and improves the
surrpunding environment.
Kahramaa said in a press
statement yesterday that good
insulation can also increase the
age of a building besides reducing emissions and noise pollution.
The collaboration of the

municipal ministry is sought for

making insulation compulsory
for new buildings because the
ministry is responsible for framing and enforcing building safety
and design rules.
Tarsheed had submitted a
proposal in September 2013
to the government to make
thermal insulation mandatory
for new buildings in the country. The proposals were part
of Kahramaas objectives to to
achieve comprehensive economic
and environmental development

under the Qatar National Vision

2030, according to the statement.
The amendments of a previous
ministerial decision (Number 6
of 1989) regarding th technical
specications of buildings with
regard to electricity conservation, vide the new Ministerial
Decree (No 108 of 2015) come in
line with Tarsheeds objectives to
reduce the per capita consumption of electricity by 20 percent
and that of water by 35 percent
by 2017.
THE PENINSULA

respect to matters falling within

its competence.
The meeting approved the
cabinets decision on human
resources for schools staff. The
system includes provisions related
to specifying salaries, bonuses,
allowances and other related
benets for staff as well as the
evaluation of their performance,
their vacations and the transfer
and assignment of staff.
It also ratied a draft decision
by the board of Qatar Financial
Markets Authority regarding the
organizational structure of the
authority. The cabinet approved
hosting a number of meetings for
GCC ministers and undersecretaries
of labor and social affairs in Doha in
2015. The meeting also decided to
take the necessary measures to ratify a memorandum of understanding
on mutual cooperation in the eld
of diplomatic training between
the Foreign Ministrys Diplomatic
Institute and Korea National
Diplomatic Academy at the South
Korean Foreign Ministry.
THE PENINSULA

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

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HOME
Motorist
ordered to pay
QR568,000
DOHA: A Criminal Court
has sentenced a reckless
motorist to a year in jail and
a ne of QR10,000 for causing death of two people and
injuring four others. He was
also ordered to pay a huge
compensation QR568,000 to
the families of victims in collaboration with the insurance
company. His driving licence
has been suspended for three
months. The families of two
victims died in the mishap will
get blood money of QR200,000
each and those four people
injured will receive QR68,000,
QR66,000, 24,000, and 20,000
respectively. The convict did
not appear the court and the
verdict was issued in absentia,
Al Sharq reports.

Man held for

credit card fraud
DOHA:
The
Criminal
Investigation
Department
has arrested an Asian man
accused of shopping with
fake credit card in various shops. The CID, after
receiving information about
this person and his location,
arrested him from a hotel.
During the raid, they discovered 15 fake credit cards,
three ladies handbags ad payment slips.

Eatery closed
DOHA:
Al
Daayen
Municipality closed down
a restaurant for 30 days
for selling food that didnt
meet the required specications. Three other food outlets were also closed down
by Doha Municipality for
different durations, for selling food unt for human
consumption.
THE PENINSULA

03

QA announces
daily ights to
Ras Al Khaimah
New service from October 1
DOHA: Qatar Airways has
announced expansion to its
UAE services with the launch
of direct ights to Ras Al
Khaimah,
commencing
on
October 1.
Operating daily, QR1120
will depart Dohas Hamad
International Airport at 20:15
hours and arrive at Ras Al
Khaimah International Airport
at 22.30 hours. The return ight
QR1121 will depart at 23:30 hours
and arrive in Doha at 23:45 hours.
The UAE is a market that is
strong and full of condence,
said Qatar Airways Group Chief
Executive, Akbar Al Baker.
Today, Qatar Airways enjoys
a robust operation in the UAE
with 98 ights a week to Dubai,

28 ights a week to Dubai World

Central, 42 ights a week to Abu
Dhabi and 21 ights a week to
Sharjah. Now with the addition
of seven weekly ights to Ras
Al Khaimah, Qatar Airways will
have a total of 196 weekly ights
from Doha to the UAE.
Having launched Sharjah and
Dubai World Central in March
2014 and with the announcement to launch Ras Al Khaimah
in October this year, Qatar
Airways is signicantly increasing its operations to the UAE as
a result of growing demand for
more capacity in and out of the
country.
Eng Sheikh Salem bin Sultan
bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of
Ras Al Khaimah International

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker with Chairman of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport Sheikh
Salem bin Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai yesterday.
Airport said:
Ras Al Khaimah is a global
destination for both tourism and
commerce and the new daily Qatar
Airways QR1120 ight will service
up to 400,000 passengers travelling
in and out of the Emirate on an
annual basis from October.
Ras Al Khaimah which is the
northern-most Emirate of the

UAE is located approximately 45

minutes from Dubai International
Airport and offers travellers an
even wider variety of options when
they are looking to reach Dubai.
With a wide range of activities covering water sports, sailing cruises, desert camps, golf
courses and mountain adventures, the destination enables

fun-lled stopovers as well as

extended holidays.
Operating an Airbus A320
on the Ras Al Khaimah route,
passengers from key markets in
Europe, the Americas and the
GCC region will have increased
availability of ights to the UAE
when transiting via Doha.
THE PENINSULA

First ever shuttle service between Doha and Dubai launched

DOHA: Qatar Airways has introduced
rst ever shuttle service between Doha
and Dubai. Having launched this week,
Doha-Dubai Shuttle will offer ights
from Hamad International Airport to
Dubai International Airport, as well as
Al Maktoum International Airport in
Dubai.
Special fares for the service start at
QR530 with dedicated check-in counters,
reduced check-in times and fast-track
immigration for 18 ights a day between
Doha and Dubai
The new service which is the rst of its
kind ying between the two cities brings
with it a number of enhanced services that
will reduce overall travel time and increase
convenience for passengers.
The shuttle service, along with its many

perks, will be offered on each of the 18

daily ights between the two cities, with
14 ights to and from Dubai International
Airport and four to and from Al Maktoum
International Airport.
Passengers on the Doha-Dubai Shuttle
will also be able to enjoy the newly unveiled
Qatar Airways inight entertainment
system with its brand new design and
identity.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive,
Akbar Al Baker announced the launch of
the Doha-Dubai Shuttle and the unveiled
new brand identity of the airlines inight
entertainment during a press conference
on the opening day of Arabian Travel
Market (ATM) the Middle Easts premier travel show taking place in Dubai
this week.

The Doha-Dubai Shuttle caters to the

needs of both business and leisure travellers, and provides them with a more
convenient and time-saving option when
travelling between the two cities, said Al
Baker.
Specially branded and dedicated checkin counters located at Row 5 at Hamad
International Airport will be available for
all passengers travelling from Doha to
Dubai on the Doha-Dubai Shuttle.
Passengers who plan on checking in
baggage must check in no later than one
hour before their scheduled departure
time.
Return ights from Dubai to Doha also
require check in of a minimum of one
hour before the scheduled departure
time for all passengers, including those

with only hand baggage.

Passengers ying on the Qatar Airways
Doha-Dubai Shuttle will also be able to
take advantage of fast-track immigration
in Doha, allowing them to clear passport control in a minimum amount of
time before proceeding to their boarding
gates located in either Concourse A or
B, which are no more than a seven to 10
minute walk, on average, from passport
control.
Passengers buying the Doha-Dubai
Shuttle tickets will have the opportunity
to amend their ticket once free-of-charge.
Members of Qatar Airways frequent
yer programme, Privilege Club, will
receive double Qmiles when travelling on
the Doha-Dubai Shuttle, until July 31.
THE PENINSULA

04

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

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HOME

QS Maple Conference concludes with debate

Two Qatar University students receive scholarships; three universities awarded Stars Certicates
DOHA: The QS MAPLE
Conference and Exhibition cohosted by Qatar University (QU)
and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)
ended with the presentation of
the QS Scholarship Award and
the QS Stars Certicate.
Scholarship awardees were QU
students rst-year computer science Nihal Abdulrahiman (GPA
3.92) and rst-year engineering
Esraa el Din (GPA 3.75).
QS Stars Certicates were
awarded to University of Santo
Tomas, Philippines (4 stars),
Ain Shams University, Egypt (3
stars), and Effat University, KSA
(3 stars).
The award ceremony followed a
packed programme that included
the second QS2 debate of the conference on the motion Private
universities are more effective
in partnering with industry than
their publicly-funded counterparts. Results before the presentations and oor discussion
showed 41 percent in favour to 59
percent opposed. Final results following were 40 percent in favour,
60 percent opposed.
Keynote addresses were

delivered by University of
Groningen president Prof Dr
Sibandes Poppema on How
a university can combine top
research, societal relevance and
industry relations and Academy
for Academic Leadership senior
consultant Dr Wyatt Hume on
Rankings relative to mission.
Discussion sessions on Day
Two were presented in 4 tracks
headlined respectively Quality
Assurance and Accreditation;
Learning, Teaching and the
Student Experience; Managing
Higher
Educ ation
and
Internationalization; Research
Strategy, Knowledge Transfer
and Innovation; and Graduate
Employability and Employer
Engagement. Participants included
higher education experts and university faculty and specialists
from education-related organizations from Afghanistan, Bahrain,
Hong Kong, Jordan, Kazakhstan,
Malaysia,
Qatar,
Russian
Federation, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, UAE, US, and Vietnam.
Summer School Session highlighted the growing business of
summer school education around

QU President Prof Sheikha Abdulla Al Misnad with UAE University Provost Prof Mohamed Albaili during the closing ceremony. RIGHT: Qatar University
students Nihal Abdulrahiman and Esraa el Din with CEO QS Asia Mandy Mok.
the world. Opening the session CEO QS Asia Mandy Mok
pointed to the upcoming QS
MAPLE Summer School Summit
which she said is a networking
forum that brings practitioners
together to discuss the building
of partnerships among universities to offer exchange student

programs during the summer.

In her closing remarks, QU
President Prof Sheikha Abdulla
Al Misnad said: It has been
our pleasure to welcome you and
to exchange ideas and experiences on areas that are special
to our respective institutions
and special to the social, political

and economic dynamics of our

respective regions. We learned
that higher education is not just
a matter of designing programs
and building research it is also
about understanding the dictates of the development of our
societies and working alongside
it instead of in front of it. The

6th QS MAPLE Conference 2016

will be held at the UAE University
(UAEU) in Dubai at a date to be
announced. Final closing presentation was made by UAEU
Provost Prof Mohamed Albaili
giving an overview of the university and its development.
THE PENINSULA

QRC mission extended to three months

Continued from page 1

101-year-old Funchu Tamang, who magically survived for a week under the
rubble of a building, being treated by a QRC medical team.

In a swift response to the

earthquake that hit Nepal and
claimed over 7,650 lives, the Qatar
Red Crescent formed an operation room for collecting information on the situation to dene
emergency needs.
Based on the recommendations and outcomes of continuous meetings at QRCs Disaster
Information and Management
Center, a decision was made to
dispatch an HCU on board one
of Qatars four relief ights that
reached Katmandu just two days
following the quake.
Upon reaching there, QRC
assessment team explored many
locations in order to decide the
best site for the HCU. It was
required that the location provides medical services and support

to the largest number possible of

the affected population.
In collaboration with the
World Health Organization,
the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, QRC deployed the HCU
at Trishuli, Nuwakot District. It
took two days of hard work to
assemble the unit which started
its actual services immediately on
May 4.
During the rst two days, the
HCU received 308 patients. The
rst day it received 212 cases
including earthquake injuries, and
patients of pneumonia, eye infection, chronic ailments such as
hypertension and diabetes, as well
as obstetrics and gynecology cases.
The HCU is operated by three
physicians, six nurses and a pharmacist. The medical staff is also

assisted by a number of local volunteers of medical background

who are currently receiving eld
training by QRC medical staff.
The HCU is constituted of
tents, medical and non-medical
equipment. It is a self-sufcient
healthcare facility and can provide
a full range of medical services to
more than 7,000 individuals from
30 to 100 days without resorting
to any external supplies. Its also
equipped with 30-40 beds.
The healthcare facility has
multiple outpatient clinics walkin, general, urology and gastroenterology. It also includes
emergency section, an operating
theater, orthopedic surgery room,
an emergency laboratory as well
as a 40 bed temporary ward for
patients. The HCU has also a preequipped pharmacy with a large

stock of medicines for chronic diseases, pediatrics, gynecology and

general cases. QRC teams are also
conducting health awareness sessions on infectious diseases and
Therapeutic feeding.
The QRC medical mission has
been extended to three months in
order to provide as much help as
it can to the affected population
in Trishuli and its surroundings
in light of the partial collapse of
the local hospital and scarcity of
medical services.
The Qatar Red Crescent has also
invited a team of medical personnel from the Singapore Red Cross
to work on QRCs HCU in order
to achieve the maximum operational benet from the unit and
bolster coordination between the
two agencies.
THE PENINSULA

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

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06

HOME

Anstey is new CEO of Al Jazeera America

Tunisian minister received

Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa Al Thani with Minister of
Environment and Sustainable Development in Tunisia Najib Derouichsh. They discussed ways to enhance
cooperation in municipal affairs. The meeting was attended by Ambassador of Tunisia Slah Salhi and other
ofcials.

DOHA:
Al
Jazeera
Media
Network has appointed Al
Anstey as CEO of Al Jazeera
America with immediate effect.
Anstey replaces interim CEO
Ehab Alshihabi who was responsible for launching Al Jazeera
America in 2013.
Anstey joined Al Jazeera in
2005 and has held a range of leadership positions with the organization, most recently serving as
Managing Director of Al Jazeera
English since 2010. Previously Al
was Director of News for AJE, in
charge of the news division and
the editorial content. Al was a
key member of the start-up team
of AJE that designed the editorial
vision, recruited AJEs editorial
staff, and set up AJEs worldwide
bureau network.
During his tenure as Managing
Director of Al Jazeera English, the
channel became a leader in international news winning a range of

awards for its journalism including an International Emmy, the

Royal Television Society News
Channel of the Year award, and
other international awards. Under
Ansteys leadership the channel is
now accessible to over 250 million
households across the globe in over
130 countries.
Im delighted to be leading Al Jazeera America into the
next stage of its development.
The United States is a remarkable country, with amazing people
across the nation who are looking
for in-depth, trusted, and inspiring
stories, said Anstey.
There are human stories across
the United States that need to be
told. Stories that inspire, enlighten,
and inform. We are committed to
hearing the voices from all parts
of the country, and elsewhere in
the world, and covering untold
stories with integrity and responsibility. The future of Al Jazeera

America is to build on a foundation of providing information that

is trusted, respected, and valued by
those that want to know what is
really going on in across America
and the world.
Anstey has lived and worked
in Asia, America, Europe and the
Middle East. He started his career
as a producer at CBS News, later
joining the start-up of Reuters
GMTV in the UK, before moving to the start-up of Associated
Press Television News, based in
New Delhi and Sydney, later taking on the position of Asia Editor
for APTN with responsibility for
bureaus and coverage across Asia.
Prior to joining Al Jazeera in 2005
Al was the Head of Foreign News
at ITN in the UK after many years
as their Senior Foreign Editor and
two years based in Washington DC
as Bureau Chief of ITNs operations in the US.
THE PENINSULA

NU-Q honours 41 journalism graduates

University President, Board Chairman attend
DOHA: Changing the world
through social entepreneurship was a key message at
Northwestern
University
in
Qatars fourth annual graduation exercises. The ceremony,
held in Education City, honoured
41 graduating students from
NU-Qs journalism and communication programmes.
Keynote speaker Shiza Shahid
urged the graduates to take sensible risks when facing challenges,
The truth is there are no superheros, theres just us. Shahid is
global ambassador for the Malala
Fund, named for the young activist who was shot in the head for
her efforts to get an education
in her Taliban-occupied town in
Pakistan.
Shahid, one of Time magazines
30 Under 30 World Changers,
spoke about Malalas resolve in
the days after she was attacked,
She looked at me and said, Im
ne, tell them to help the other

girls. I knew then that what

Malala had started had the potential to change the world and that
she, like before, wanted to ght
the battle to get girls in school
There are certain moments when
you have to decide who you are. In
those moments, be bold.
Everette E Dennis, dean and
CEO of NU-Q, likewise encouraged the class to continue their
public service as they pursue their
careers, The Class of 2015 has
a singular interest in and commitment to helping others. They
are poised to become exceptional
global citizens, which will add
purpose and direction to their
careers as media professionals.
The class speaker was Najwa
Abdulrahman Al Thani, a student who embodies the leadership, academic excellence and
commitment to community
serviceof the graduating class,
according to Dean Dennis. The 41
graduates received their diplomas

in the presence of 800 guests,

including some of Northwestern
Universitys highest ranking ofcials: President Morton Schapiro,
Board Chairman William Osborn
and Provost Dan Linzer. Dana
Shell Smith, US Ambassador
to the State of Qatar, was also
present to honor the graduates.
Earlier in the day, several graduates were honoured at an awards
lunch hosted by Northwestern
University President Morton
Schapiro.
Addressing the graduating class, Schapiro stressed the
unity of Northwestern students,
regardless of where they study:
Northwestern University doesnt
have satellite or branch campuses.
We have three main campuses.
One is Doha, one is in Chicago,
and one is in Evanston, he
remarked.
The lunch recognised outstanding student achievements in several categories as Deans Award

Top GCC ofcials to

discuss VAT proposal
DOHA: Undersecretaries of nance ministries
from the GCC states are meeting here today to
arguably, discuss among other issues plans to
introduce value-added tax (VAT) in the region.
This will be a preparatory event for a meeting of
nance ministers from the GCC member-countries
slated to be held here on Saturday.
Saturdays will be the GCCs Financial and
Economic Committee meeting under the chairmanship of Qatars Minister of Finance, H E Ali Shareef
Al Emadi. On top of the agenda of the committee meet
will be a number of issues, among them a discussion on
appropriate decisions regarding a proposed regional
uniform tax system, QNA reports.
Financial and economic cooperation among the
GCC states will also be discussed and the GCC common market project as well as promoting economic
integration among member-states.
THE PENINSULA

Northwestern University in Qatars fourth annual graduation ceremony held in Education City.
was given to Jaimee Haddad,
Student Leadership Award to
Marium Saeed, Communication
Award to Nissryne Dib, Journalism
Award to James Zachary Hollo and
Liberal Arts Award to Aamena

Ahmed. At a separate ceremony,

two NU-Q students, Ibrahim
AlHashmi and Marium Saeed,
were among the ve Education
City graduates honored with an
HBKU Presidents Award.

Northwestern University will

celebrate its 157th convocation in
June and NU-Q will send a contingent of graduates to walk on
behalf of the Qatar campus.
THE PENINSULA

Two get 15 years for immoral act

DOHA: A criminal court has
sentenced two youths to 15
years of rigorous imprisonment
for indulging in immoral act
with a woman after drinking.
There were in all four persons
two men and two women
involved in the crime and they
rst consumed alcohol in a city
bar. Initially, there were two men
and one woman in the group.
The woman in the group called
in another woman, a friend.
She joined the group and after
drinking they drove in the car of
accused number one. The idea
was to drop the two women to
their homes.
On the way they stopped the
car and collected takeaway food

from a restaurant and convinced

the two women to have dinner
with them.
They then drove to the home of
one of the accused men and there
one of them began doing immoral
act with the woman, who was
invited to the bar.
The other woman happened to
see it and raised alarm in fear.
She sent messages to her friends
on whatsapp and also called in the
police for help.
She ran away from the house
in fear barefoot and a police
vehicle on its way to the house,
intercepted her. The foursome
were taken into custody and
charged.
The matter went to court

which sentenced the two youths

to 15 years of rigorous imprisonment for doing immoral act and
sentenced the woman who was
their victim, to three months in
jail for drinking.
The court, however, kept the
sentence suspended for three
years, which means that the victim would have to serve the sentence if she repeats the crime in
that period.
The court sentenced the other
woman who invited the victim to
the bar to six months in jail and
gave a ne of QR3,000 in absentia for drinking and calling the
victim over for a drink, Al Sharq
reported yesterday.
THE PENINSULA

HOME

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

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07

QTA joins regional

Cruise Arabia Alliance
Gulf is among top-three winter cruise destinations
DOHA:
Qatar
Tourism
Authority
(QTA),
along
with the Sharjah Commerce
and
Tourism
Development
Authority, has joined a regional
alliance this year at the Arabian
Travel Market to strengthen
the Gulfs position as a cruise
destination.
Working with the existing
members of the Cruise Arabia
Alliance, Dubais Department
of Tourism and Commerce
Marketing (DTCM), The Oman
Ministry of Tourism (Oman
Tourism), and Abu Dhabi
Tourism & Culture Authority
(TCA Abu Dhabi), the new members will encourage further smart
collaboration between destinations to create power itineraries
that draw cruise customers from
across the globe.
The Cruise Arabia Alliance is
a successful example of advancing regional cooperation for the
shared benets of our respective tourism industries. We are
delighted to be working with Abu
Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Oman
to further grow regional cruise
services, showcasing our marine
life, harbors and cities, said QTA
Chairman Issa bin Mohammed Al
Mohannadi.
QTA displayed its plans at the
ATM Cruise Pavilion to transform
the Old Doha Port into a cruise
harbor, following the transfer of
all cargo shipping operations by
mid-2016 to the $8bn New Doha
Port.
The Old Doha Port renewal
project will form a major transformation and tourist attraction
as we boost our cruise and marine
tourism through initiatives such
as the Cruise Arabia Alliance,
said Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief
Tourism Development Ofcer at
QTA.

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) ofcials at the Arabian Travel Market in

Dubai yesterday.
We recognise that the number
of visitors will peak during the
World Cup 2022, and our strategy
is not to over-develop the hotel
sector to ensure sustainability
beyond 2022, he added. As such
we have a plan to use cruise ships
as temporary accommodation
that will supplement the existing
inventory of hotel rooms.
Cruise Arabia Alliance targets cruise markets in Europe
and North America, as well as
emerging markets such as China,
India, and the GCC. It highlights
the rich destination offerings and
many benets of cruise holidays
such as their family-friendly
nature, the affordability of cruise
travel, and the variety of on-board
entertainment available as travelers explore multiple destinations
at a leisurely and relaxed pace.

The Arabian Gulf is among the

worlds top-three winter cruise
destinations, where sunshine,
majestic desert landscapes and
futuristic cityscapes meet. The
ve destinations bring together
the best of what the Gulf has to
offer from attractions, hotels,
retail, and authentic Arabian
experiences.
Hamad bin Mejren, Senior
Vice President of Dubai Tourism
said: The recent joining of two
new regional partners, Qatar and
Sharjah Tourism authorities, will
surely take this alliance to new
levels of strength. With this growing collaboration, our vision for
the alliance to unify efforts for
positioning the region as the leading winter cruise destination in
the world is not too far.
THE PENINSULA

08

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

VIEWS

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Editorial

Neck-and-neck race
RITONS are voting today in the most lacklustre
election in decades. It has also been called the most
competitive and complex election. Conservative Prime
Minister David Cameron and his Labour challenger
Ed Miliband have fought each other to a standstill, and
will be left biting their nails when the results are declared.
Despite ve weeks of campaigning, neither party has opened
up a clear lead, pointing to a complex, uncertain outcome. A
Guardian/ICM campaign poll said that the Labour and the
Conservatives are heading into the polls neck and neck, tied at
35 percent each, with smaller parties grabbing the rest of the
votes.
The most important feature of this election is the
resurgence of the Scots. The outcome of the vote may be
unpredictable, but one thing is clear. Less than eight months
after saying NO to independence, Scottish voters are set to
deliver a resounding endorsement of the pro-independence
Scottish National Party (SNP). Does this indicate a break-up
of the United Kingdom down the line? Its a distinct possibility.
Whoever wins the election, their victory wont be as dramatic
and stunning as the SNPs.
Another feature is the absence of foreign policy issues
during the campaigning, which experts have interpreted
as another indication of Britains retreat from the global
stage. The Washington Post wrote: For the United States,
however, the overarching result is
already clear: A stalwart US ally
Britons are
is growing weaker, more inwardly
focused and less willing or able
voting in
to join in common endeavors.
Nobody is talking about the special
the most
relationship that characterized
competitive
ties between the two powers. The
US too is heading to the polls,
and complex
and whether a Democrat or
election in
Republican becomes president,
he/she is unlikely to invest time
decades.
in resuscitating the relationship.
Washington nds a stronger ally
in Germany than Britain. Also, it
isnt a rewarding experience for British leaders to offer blind
support for US adventures on foreign soil, especially after the
severe mauling Tony Blair has suffered for supporting Iraq
and Afghan wars.
Britains retreat has accelerated during the ve-year term
of Conservative Premier Cameron and is likely to intensify if
he is re-elected. Camerons promise to renegotiate Britains
place in the European Union and hold a referendum on
whether to remain in it by 2017 has sent shockwaves in the
continent. The public discourse and debates in the country
would be consumed by this issue in the coming years to the
detriment of other vital global concerns. And the scenario
wouldnt be rosier if Miliband forms the government. He
would have to rely on the support of the SNP, which is more
interested in secession than strengthening the Union.
Whatever the outcome, Britain will remain a strong and
staunch ally of our region, especially Qatar

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Reviving American Dream

BY ELIZABETH WARREN and
BILL DE BLASIO
N THIS land of big dreams, there
was never a dream bigger or
more important than the one so
deeply rooted in our values that
it became known as the American
Dream. Across generations, Americans
shared the belief that hard work
would bring opportunity and a better
life. America wasnt perfect, but we
invested in our kids and put in place
policies to build a strong middle class.
We dont do that anymore, and the
result is clear: The rich get richer,
while everyone else falls behind. The
game is rigged, and the people who
rigged it want it to stay that way. They
claim that if we act to improve the
economic well-being of hard-working
Americans whether by increasing
the minimum wage, reining in lawbreakers on Wall
Street or doing
practically anything else we
will threaten economic growth.
They
are
wrong.
That
thinking is backward.
A growing body
of research
including work
done by Nobel
Prize-winning
economist Joseph
Stiglitz
and
the
Roosevelt
Institute shows
clearly that an
increasing disparity between rich
and poor, cronyism and an economic
system that works only for those at
the top are bad for the middle class
and bad for our economy.
When the economy works for everyone, consumers have money to spend
at businesses, and when businesses
have more customers, they build more
factories, hire more workers and sell
more products and the economy
grows. For decades, our economy was
built around this core understanding.

The rich get

richer, while
everyone else
falls behind. The
game is rigged,
and the people
who rigged it
want it to stay
that way.

We made big investments in the

things that would create opportunities for everyone: public schools and
universities; roads and bridges and
power grids; research that spurred
new industries, technologies and
jobs here in the United States. We
supported strong unions that pushed
for better wages and working conditions, seeing those unions improve
lives both for their members and for
workers everywhere.
And it worked. From the 1930s to
the late 1970s, as gross domestic product went up, wages increased more or
less across the board. As the economic
pie got bigger, pretty much everyone
was getting a little more. That was
how the United States built a great
middle class.
Then in the early 1980s, a new theory swept the country. Its disciples
claimed that if government policies
took care of the rich and powerful,
wealth would trickle down for everyone else. Trickle-down believers cut
taxes sharply for those at the top and
pushed for deregulation that hobbled the cops on Wall Street and let
the most powerful corporations far too
often do as they pleased.
Trickle-down economics failed disastrously. The rich and powerful have
become richer and more powerful. In
the past 35 years, the top 10 percent
got all the growth in income. The rest
of America 90 percent of Americans
got nothing. Zip. Zero.
Government policies matter and can
make a difference. Strengthening the
American Dream is about the basics:
- Make work pay by increasing the
minimum wage, empowering unions
to bargain collectively, ending abusive
scheduling practices for hourly workers, getting people the overtime pay
they deserve, ensuring equal pay for
equal work and making sure employers
follow the law and respect the rights
of workers.
- End the squeeze on working parents by passing a paid family leave
requirement and investing in child
care, after-school programs and
extended learning days. Let families
with children have a chance to balance
careers with quality time together.

The other side

Patent pressures

N ITS 2015 Special 301 Report

on Intellectual Property Rights, the
ofce of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) has retained
India in its Priority Watch List, noting
however that bilateral engagement
between the two countries on IPR
concerns had increased over the past
year. The USTR had done an Out-ofCycle review of India in 2014, mentioning
the improvement in trade ties, and this
year ruled out another immediate review.
The US wants India to bring its IPR
regime closer to norms that the former
seeks and has been uncomfortable in
particular with the clauses in the Patents
Act of 2005. The Act provides for a
high standard of patentability, allows

for compulsory licensing provisions

and pre- and post-grant objection to
patents. The progressive Act has been
invoked in several judgments recently in
relation to pharmaceutical patents for
example, the Supreme Court upheld the
sale of a generic version of the cancer
drug Nexavar in December 2014, and
upheld the Indian patent ofces rejection
of Novartiss application for a patent for
its anti-cancer drug, Glivec. It must be
mentioned that patent laws in India are
compliant with the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS). The restrictive patenting
laws have protected a thriving generic
pharmaceutical industry producing
low-cost drugs in India. The industry

has gradually become export-driven,

resulting in these companies becoming
keen to tie up with major pharmaceutical
companies abroad by seeking voluntary
licensing arrangements. Other countries
have also looked at Indias Patents
Act as a model, with affordability of
pharma products and drugs being a
key concern.
It is in this context that Prime Minister
Narendra Modis statement in New Delhi
on April 24, asking for aligning Indias
patent law with global standards, is
a cause for concern. The refrain of the
Central government over the past year
on this issue is that a strong IP regime
is necessary for economic growth and
investment. This is clearly a misplaced

concern, as such an emphasis is being

pushed by big pharmaceutical companies that are uncomfortable with the
health safeguards in the Patents Act
and that have lobbied with the USTR
to keep India under priority watch.
Last year the government had agreed
to the creation of a high-level bilateral
intellectual property working group with
the US While these arrangements with
the US may be useful to mitigate any
prospective attempts by the USTR to
impose trade sanctions, the government
must retain its own position on IP and
the patents regime in India, and should
not allow any dilution of its patent laws
that safeguard the public interest.
THE HINDU

- Ensure everyone can get a great

education without drowning in debt.
Rein in the cost of college and allow
families to renance student loans at
lower rates. Give every child access to
full-day pre-kindergarten. Education
is still the best ticket to the middle
class.
- Focus on research and innovation
needed to develop the technologies
of the future. Investments in medical and scientic research let us build
whole new industries and give us the
chance to create good jobs right here
in America.
- Invest in infrastructure in roads,
bridges, rail, water, power and broadband. Businesses cant grow if the
foundation crumbles beneath them.
A 21st-century economy needs 21stcentury infrastructure.
- Strengthen and expand Social
Security, not just for todays seniors
but also for todays young people. Work
is changing. A strong Social Security
system will ensure that all workers, no
matter the number of jobs they piece
together during their careers, can
count on a secure retirement.
- Strengthen the rules of the marketplace. We dont build a future by
turning the biggest banks loose to do
whatever they want, and markets dont
create value when corporations can
cheat people or roll over their upstart
competition.
- Promote fair trade by embracing only those trade policies that
strengthen our economy, create good
jobs with good wages and establish fair
rules of the road for companies around
the world. Our trade agreements
shouldnt help multinational companies
gut environmental, health and safety
standards here and abroad under the
guise of promoting commerce.
- Reform the tax code by ending the
billions in tax breaks for corporations
shipping jobs overseas and big oil companies, while leveling the playing eld
so that millionaires and billionaires
pay their fair share.
Rebuilding our middle class wont
be easy, but real change rarely is. Its
time to be bold.
The American Dream depends on it.
THE WASHINGTON POST

Quote of
the day
We can achieve an
overall majority
that gives Britain
the strong stable
government that
continues, with a
long-term economic
plan that is working.

David Cameron
Britains Prime Minister

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

ARAB VIEWS

09

Military lessons from Decisive Storm

An independent entity cannot win the
war alone, whatever its capabilities.
Combining forces is necessary to achieve
victory. There is no more chance of
relying on ground forces from outside the
Gulf since they might not be available.

DR ZAFIR MOHAMMAD
AL-AJMI
uring
O p e r at i o n
Decisive Storm there
were many deceitful
manoeuvres where the
Alliance intensied its air strikes
from the north, which made the
rebels in Yemen lose sense of the
Storms inevitability, despite the
fact that its clouds had cast political shadows.
On the night of September 21,
2014, the people of Sanaa heard
the squeak of Houthi tanks
returning from the black holes
of history, rendering the streets
unsafe, followed by dark horror
in the form of the squeal of carts
carrying corpses as during the
great plague.
After the appeal by President
Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi it was
necessary to save the Yemenis
from barbarism, so Decisive
Storm came to the rescue.
During Operation Desert
Storm in 1991, the air attack
was expected because it followed
a deadline set by the United

Nations for Saddam Hussein to

leave Kuwait.
On March 26, 2015 heavy bombing of the Houthis sites and the
forces of former President Ali
Abdullah Saleh began.
When northerly winds stop
blowing at night, the desert Arabs
say that they have gone to feed
their children.
On April 21, 2015, Operation
Decisive Storm stopped after
achieving its objectives. Although
documenting the lessons learned
from the Operation will take
time, we may summarise them as
follows:
* An independent entity cannot win the war alone, whatever
its capabilities. Combining forces
is necessary to achieve victory.
There is no more chance of relying on ground forces from outside
the Gulf, since they might not be
available.
* The battleground was complex
since it had mountains, plains and
developed areas, which required
sophisticated combat tactics,
through weapons or manoeuvres,
rearrangement of troops and
arming Gulf forces for regional
confrontations.
* There is a need to set goals
and build a database of all sources
of threat, whether of low, average
or high intensity, including the
coordinates of the targets, the
nature and degree of their reinforcement, and the economic and
military importance of the goals.
* The air campaign relied
heavily on manoeuvring, control,
communications,
intelligence

A le photo of Saudi army artillery ring shells towards Yemen from a post close to the border.
and battle management software
BMC4I to provide real-time
information and deal with it.
However, the problem was that
the Situation Aware Assistance
within this system in Decisive
Storm was joined by a superpower
that could rationalise inputs and
route outputs.
* Although the enemy forces
in Yemen will not develop their
skills in the near future to more
than guerrilla tactics, we caution

against rushing to judge the skills

of the Gulf ghters because they
didnt face the enemy. Battles of
the fourth wave can be implemented by small-sized forces with
a high degree of training, agility,
the ability to score big kills and to
inuence the battle at the tactical
and strategic levels against more
numerous opponents armed with
conventional weapons.
* Decisive Storm showed that
surprise can be achieved by

Prince Muqrins gesture true to form

BY DR SAAD BIN TEFLA

AL AJMI
t is rare in politics for a king
or president to cede his position to his deputy, especially
in the Arab world, where the rulers slogan is: We shall remain in
power until death.
In modern Arab history there
have been just two instances of
such a gesture, by Sewar Al Zahab
of Sudan and Father Emir H H
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al
Thani of Qatar.
The former ceded power as
promised, and the second voluntarily and condently handed
over the reins to Heir Apparent
H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
Al Thani. The rst fullled his
promise, and the second was loyal
to his country and his people and
did what he thought was best for
the future of Qatar.
A few days ago, Prince Muqrin
bin Abdulaziz set a precedent that
only people of his quality and mettle can.
He gave up his position of
crown prince in the largest and
most important Arab and Islamic
kingdom to the new crown prince,
Muhammad bin Nayef.
When Prince Muqrin was
appointed crown prince, I felt
sorry for him. My feelings
stemmed from my knowledge of
his dedication, loyalty and penchant for hard work.
I was also being a little selsh,
as I was aware that the burden
of his ofcial duties would reduce
our communication as friends.
I have known Prince Muqrin
for about twenty years, and he has
virtues that are rarely found in
one person.

He was named the Prince of

Hail after his retirement from the
Saudi air force as a ghter pilot.
He has also served as the Prince of
the district of Medina, the director general of intelligence and as
adviser to the late King Abdullah
bin Abdulaziz. He then became
the deputy crown prince and later
crown prince after the Custodian
of the Two Holy Mosques, King
Salman bin Abdulaziz, acceded to
the throne. He gave up his last
post seeing that someone much
younger would be able to perform
his duties better than him.
However, the truth is that
Prince Muqrin is no ordinary
person; he has many talents and
is very knowledgeable. He is a
veritable walking encyclopaedia.
He is uent in more than one
language, interested in astronomy, agriculture, marine life, the
environment, technology, poetry,
arts and culture, and reads voraciously about various topics. He
sometimes surprises me after

Prince Muqrin does not hesitate to take

any decision that he sees as right, even
if it means giving up the second most
powerful post in Saudi Arabia.
having read new books that have
not yet reach library shelves. He
acts spontaneously and with great
humility.
I am probably among the few
people who were not surprised
when Prince Muqrin requested
to be relieved of his post. He transcends any position and does not
hesitate to take any decision that
he sees as right, even if it means
giving up the second most powerful post in Saudi Arabia.
Prince Muqrins gesture was
appreciated by King Salman,
Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, who

Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, the former Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

visited him at his home in Riyadh

to show their gratitude.
Only one who knows Prince
Muqrin will understand this message of appreciation. His withdrawal from ofcial duties does
not mean his vast experience will
not be utilised, The visits carried
this message.
One of the many meanings of
the word Qarn, from which the
Princes name is derived, is the
top of a mountain.
Prince Muqrin is at the pinnacle of humility, good manners,
ethics, dedication and integrity.
The author is an academician
and a media person

integrating tactics with modern technology, so we have to

develop our weapons based on
lessons learned from bombing
the Houthis, learn the importance
of long-range and high-power
weapons, and resupply the Gulf
armouries as soon as opportunity
allows.
* The missions to hunt the
Houthis ballistic missiles were
successful. Detailed information
must be collected about the tactics

of hostile missile units by detecting

their movements and nding out
the evacuation time after launch.
* Strategic air transport capabilities and the ability to project
power quickly must be developed.
Northerly winds stop at night
while they feed their children,
but they return and continue
blowing, so be ready for them in
Operation Restore Hope.
The author is CEO of Gulf
Monitoring Group

GCC must reconsider policy

towards Sunni movements
any Gulf citizens and others questioned the sudden
announcement of the end
of Operation Decisive Storm, and
wondered about its impact on peoples morale in the Gulf.
While the faithful people of the
Gulf felt frustrated, the hypocrites,
who are intruders in Gulf society,
were thrilled, as it was good news
for them. However, God turned
their plots against them. The Gulf
eagles returned to hit the sites of
the evil and corrupt Houthis and BY MUBARAK AL
their ally, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
DUWAILAH
Like others, I thought for many
days about what had happened. Is it
a good deal? But with whom? Is it the end of the journey? How do we
explain the resumption of air strikes?
Does what happened have any link with the nuclear agreement
between Iran and the Great Satan?
I found a logical explanation for what had happened when I assumed
that there was pressure from the US on GCC countries to stop the
operation, but it was accompanied by a promising insight.
Perhaps America wanted to apply one of the terms of the nuclear
agreement by seeking to stop the war in Yemen to show its goodwill
to Iran. It seems the American demand was so strong that the Gulf
countries ignored calls from the Saudi National Guard to take part in
the ghting.
However, what God wants will surely happen and what He does not
will never be! The weakness of the US pledge has been revealed from
the rst day of the end of the operation, when Irans representative in
Yemen did not keep his promise.
By then, the US had spoken about the technical shortcomings in the
nuclear agreement, and Operation Decisive Storm was on again under
a new name, Operation Restore Hope, to avoid any embarrassing interpretation of its resumption.
Those who support Iranian expansion in the region are now living
their worst days! Operation Decisive Storm is back stronger than ever,
and instead of stopping it there is now talk of expanding it to Syria to
end the nightmare being suffered by the Syrian people for years.
This would coincide with victories achieved by the free Syrian ghters on the ground, who are waiting for the fall of Latakia and Tartous,
God willing, as that would give these cities back to the Syrian people.
After the recent sequence of events it has become imperative for
the Gulf Cooperation Council to reconsider its policy towards Sunni
Islamic movements in the region, whether the Muslim Brotherhood or
others. These groups have proved that they are the loyal and faithful
mainstream in the Gulf and their members can be a source of support
in difcult times.
Also, a country like Turkey cannot be ignored in terms of its political,
economic and military support, since the Gulf states and Turkey share
common interests and goals.
Turkey should be involved in the political and military plans of the
alliance. Supporters of the West or Iranian colonialism will try to distort
the Turkish role and distance it from the Gulf countries so that Iran
and its ally, the Great Satan, can control the Gulf states.
This was my point of view; if it is correct, then it is from God, and if
it is wrong it is from Satan.
The author is a columnist and political analyst

10

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Iran eyes top

energy slot
after N-deal

MIDDLE EAST

Tehran International Book Fair

Global oil giants may come back

TEHRAN: A nuclear agreement will allow Iran to become
the number one energy player
in the Middle East and herald
major opportunities for foreign
companies, top government ofcials in Tehran said yesterday.
The remarks, at an industry
event, underlined the broader
political and economic implications should sanctions on Iran
be lifted under a deal, following
long-running diplomatic efforts
with six world powers.
Iran has the worlds fourth
largest proven oil reserves and
the second biggest gas deposits.
Both are seen as long undertapped and ripe for exploration.
But exports have halved since
US and EU sanctions were
imposed on Irans energy industry in 2012 as punishment for
the countrys disputed nuclear
programme.
Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh,
who says nuclear talks have progressed in recent months has
signalled willingness to see global
oil giants return, said cooperation
was essential.
But such a prospect is inextricably linked to the nuclear deal
and its June 30 deadline.
We have to use the foreign
companies that will come to us
after the removal of sanctions...
to increase exports and access
regional markets, Zanganeh said
in a speech at Irans 20th Oil, Gas,

Rening and Petrochemical Fair.

It is understandable that they
left us during hard times. But we
hope to prepare ourselves to work
with them for a future in which
we become the industrys number
one in the region.
His comments also seemed
aimed at Saudi Arabia, the worlds
largest oil exporter, with which
Iran is locked in a erce dispute
over the conict in Yemen, and
with whom relations have been
worsening.
Iran, the regions dominant
Shia state, and Riyadh, its Sunni
rival and a fellow member of the
OPEC cartel, earlier accused the
kingdom of dirty tricks after it
refused to cut production when
crude prices plummeted last
year.
During the nuclear crisis Iran
has relied on domestic oil rms
and though this will continue,
Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri,
at the same event as Zanganeh,
said: We dont have any option
but to join the international production and distribution chain.
New contracts prepared by the
oil ministry would lure energy
majors back, he said.
We expect that after presenting the models of the new
agreements, which are based on
the realities of the global energy
market, they will be so attractive that it will bring the foreign
AFP
investment.

Iranian President Hassan Rowhani (right) looking at books displayed at the 28th Tehran International Book fair in Tehran, Iran. According to reports,
the book fair was inaugurated on Tuesday with over 2,800 publishers from Iran and some 60 countries presenting their publications.

Tunisias Mabkhout wins Arab Booker for novel

ABU DHABI: Tunisian university administrator Shukri
Mabkhouts rst novel The
Italian, which its author says
was inspired by the events of
the Arab Spring, was named the
winner yesterday of the eighth
annual Arab Booker prize
for ction.
The International Prize for
Arabic Fiction (IPAF), announced
in Abu Dhabi, comes with a
$50,000 cash award and a guarantee the book will be translated into English. The prize is
supported by the Booker Prize
Foundation in London and is

funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism

& Culture Authority.
The Italian is an accomplished novel. It never lets go
of the reader who willingly follows its intriguing characters
on their converging and diverging journeys through a world
full of incremental surprises,
Professor Yasir Suleiman, chair
of the board of IPAF trustees,
said in a statement. Mabkhouts
book was selected from a shortlist
of six nalists by a jury headed
by Palestinian poet and writer
Mourid Barghouti.
Mabkhout, 53, is a native

Islamists
kill Somalia
government
ofcial
MOGADISHU: Al Shabaab
Islamist militants shot dead
a
government
ofcial
in
Mogadishu yesterday and, in
a separate attack, bombed
an African Union troop convoy outside the Somali capital,
police and a spokesman for the
group said.
Abdifatah Barre, the deputy district commissioner of
Mogadishus Wadajir district, was
shot dead in his car.
Gunmen opened re on the
car of the deputy district commissioner this morning. The ofcial
died and the gunmen escaped,
Major Ibrahim Hussein, a police
ofcer, told Reuters.
Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab,
which carries out attacks frequently in Somalia and in neighbouring countries, claimed
responsibility.
The group wants to impose its
strict interpretation of Islamic
law in the region and overthrow
the Somali government, which is
backed by Western donors and
African peacekeepers.
We killed the deputy district commissioner and we shall
continue killing the enemies.
This is part of our operation in
Mogadishu, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu
Musab, its military operations
spokesman, told Reuters.
Also yesterday, an Al Shabaab
improvised explosive device
damaged an armoured vehicle
in a convoy of African Union
peacekeeping vehicles, Colonel
Mohamed Abdullahi, a police
ofcer, and the group said.
The AU convoy was passing
through Elasha town about 16km
north west of Mogadishu when
the bomb exploded.
Police and residents said AU
troops had surrounded the area.
Details about casualties were
not immediately available, but
Al Shabaab said there were many.
It is usually hard to verify casualty numbers given by the group.
Late on Monday, gunmen from
the group stormed a police station in Puntland and killed three
policemen.
REUTERS

of Tunis and is President of

Manouba University. A well
known academic and intellectual,
he has written several works of
literary criticism, but the novel
is his rst.
The main character, Abdel
Nasser, is nicknamed the Italian
because of his good looks.
In a recent interview, Mabkhout
said he had been inspired by the
events of the Arab Spring: Two
years into the revolution ... I
remembered a recent period of
Tunisias history that is similar
in its fears, changes and conicts
to what I was witnessing and

living: it was the period of transition from the reign of Bourguiba

to that of Ben Ali following
the 1987 coup.
Habib Bourguiba, the architect
of modern Tunisia, ruled for three
decades until doctors declared
him unt. He was replaced by
his then-prime minister Zine Al
Abidine Ben Ali in 1987.
Ali ed the country during
widespread anti-government protests in 2010-2011 that are seen
as the one of the main triggers of
the wider Arab Spring uprisings
in the region.
REUTERS

Djibouti helping ght

terror, says Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry (centre) and State Department Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular
Affairs Michele Bond (left) laugh as a young girl from Yemen is too shy to take her rst US Passport at a ceremony
to present passports and travel visas to Americans and their relatives planning to y to the United States, at the
American Embassy in Djibouti yesterday.

DJIBOUTI: US Secretary of
State John Kerry arrived in
the Horn of Africa nation of
Djibouti yesterday, home to the
main US military base on the
continent and just across the
sea from war-torn Yemen.
Djibouti, a strategic former
French colony and port that
guards the entrance to the Red
Sea and Suez Canal, is also a key
contributing nation to the African
Union force ghting Al-Qaedaafliated Shabaab insurgents in
neighbouring Somalia.
Djibouti is making a very
signicant contribution, helping
to push back against extremism, Kerry said during a visit
to a mosque with Djiboutian
ofcials.
Kerry is making the rst
visit by a Secretary of State to
Djibouti, and ofcials said he will
thank the government for its support in supporting some 500 US
citizens eeing the civil war in
nearby Yemen.
He will be thanking the
Djiboutian government for their
efforts in Yemen in terms of the

assistance to American citizens,

a US diplomat said.
Djibouti is home to Camp
Lemonnier, the US military
headquarters on the continent
that is used for anti-terror
operations in Yemen, Somalia
as well as for other operations
across Africa.
Kerrys visit to Djibouti ends
the east Africa leg of a tour that
has taken in Kenya and Somalia,
where the ght against the
Shabaab insurgents has been a
focus of talks.
As he did in Kenya, Kerry will
discuss with Djiboutian ofcials
how to more effectively deal with
the threat that Al Shabaab and
others have posed in the region,
the diplomat added.
He is due to meet with President
Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and
travel to Camp Lemmonier.
In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition
launched air strikes against Shia
Houthi rebels and their allies on
March 26 after they seized control of large parts of the country,
sending thousands eeing, many
AFP
to Djibouti.

Muslim Brotherhood exiles trickling back into Syria

ISTANBUL:
Hundreds
of
members of the Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood
have
returned
from exile, hoping to rebuild a
movement which was crushed
decades ago at home and is
deemed a terrorist organisation
by leading Arab states.
Membership of the Brotherhood
remains punishable by death in
Syria more than 30 years after
President Bashar Al Assads
father outlawed the group, but the
exiles are ltering back mainly
into opposition-held areas.
There they are trying to reestablish the inuence and credibility of the movement which
has no ofcial military wing and
plays down suggestions that it is
covertly supporting armed groups
ghting in the Syrian civil war.
We are encouraging people to
go back to Syria... I would say hundreds, Mohammed Walid, who

heads the Syrian Brotherhood,

told Reuters.
Walid said in an interview
that these nuclei members
had to explain the aims of his
group, which is an offshoot of the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Weve been absent from the scene
for so long now many people in
Syria dont know us much, he said
in Istanbul, where he lives.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates classify the
wider Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, and it has been
excluded from the latest round of
UN-led peace talks.
However, the Syrian army says
it practises moderate Islam, distancing itself from radical Islamic
State militants who have carved
out a self-declared caliphate in
Syria and Iraq.
Walid, a 70-year-old eye specialist from the port city of Latakia

who left Syria in the 1970s, said

the returnees had mostly settled
in Aleppo, Idlib and Hama.
In 1982 security forces under
then-president Hafez Al Assad
demolished neighbourhoods of
these northwestern cities and
killed thousands of people to put
down a Brotherhood uprising.
Apart from inactive older
members who could not leave,
no representation remained
in Syria after that, said Omar
Mushaweh, a member of the
Syrian Brotherhoods leadership.
What was once Syrias dominant Islamist movement may
one day have to compete with the
likes of Ahrar Al Sham and Jaysh
Al Islam. These are armed
Islamist brigades but they already
have political ofces and sophisticated media strategies, suggesting they may eventually establish
formal political wings.

Having seized Idlib city in

March, led by Islamist forces,
Syrian rebels have made major
gains in Idlib province in recent
weeks. Government forces,
Islamic State and other opposition ghters hold various parts of
Aleppo, while Hama city is mostly
government-controlled.
Some
Syrians
say
the
Brotherhood is backing rebel
brigades such as Jaysh Al
Mujahideen. Im sure they supported Jaysh Al Mujahideen and
other groups, but since then there
has been a negative campaign
against the Brotherhood inside
Syria, said Yaser Al Haji, a political activist in Aleppo. They are
not out in the open.
One former Brotherhood
employee said he believed
the Idlib-based Faylaq Sham
group was founded and backed
by the Brotherhood. There

is Brotherhood everywhere,
he said.
The Brotherhood is a large
body, many of whose members
work independently. However,
Walid suggested the organisation could not afford to provide supplies or money to any
ghting groups.
We are having a lot of problems with funding our activities
ourselves, so I dont think we have
enough money to support others,
he said, adding that most of its
funds came from individuals, with
occasional contributions from
Brotherhood groups abroad.
In Egypt, the Brotherhood was
once the countrys best organised
and most successful opposition
movement. However, hundreds of
its members have been killed and
thousands detained since Islamist
President Mohammed Mursi was
overthrown in 2013. REUTERS

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

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HOME / MIDDLE EAST

11

Kerry to talk
about pause in
Yemen attacks
Top US diplomat reaches Riyadh
RIYADH: Top US diplomat
John Kerry ew into Riyadh
yesterday for talks on a humanitarian pause in Yemen, where
dozens of people were reported
killed trying to ee worsening
conditions after weeks of war.
On the Saudi side of the border there were more casualties as
well, when shelling from Yemen
killed ve people, the civil defence
agency said.
Riyadh has said it is considering temporary halts in air raids
to allow aid deliveries into Yemen,
where a Saudi-led coalition took
action on March 26 in an effort to
halt an advance by Iran-backed
rebels.
Twenty-two humanitarian
organisations warned their emergency aid operations in Yemen
could cease because of fuel shortages. They urged an immediate
opening of roads as well as an
end to the coalitions air and sea
blockades.
There has been growing concern for civilians in the war.
Before he travelled to Saudi
Arabia, Kerry told reporters in
Djibouti he would raise the issue
of a temporary halt to air strikes
with ofcials in Riyadh.
We will be discussing the
nature of the pause and how it
might be implemented, said
Kerry, who last night held
talks with Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef and was to
meet Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Salman of Saudi
Arabia today.
We are deeply concerned about

the humanitarian situation that is

unfolding in Yemen... For the time
being the immediate crisis is the
humanitarian one, Kerry said.
As well as international concern over the growing civilian
death toll from the air campaign
and ghting, deliveries of fuel,
food and medicine have been
severely crippled in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.
Yemens Foreign Minister
Riyadh Yassin told reporters in
the Saudi capital that he hoped
today to also hold talks with
Kerry, especially about the
humanitarian aid to Yemen. We
hope tomorrow to discuss how we
can go forward.
The minister appeared to choke
up and later wiped his eyes after
talking about the latest casualties
in Aden.
The United Nations says at
least 1,200 people have been killed
in Yemen since March 19, roughly
half of them civilians.
The air strikes began as antigovernment ghters approached
Aden, forcing President Abdrabuh
Mansur Hadi to ee to Riyadh.
The new UN envoy for Yemen,
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is to
follow Kerry to Riyadh today in a
bid to relaunch peace talks.
There has been heavy combat in Aden, where rebel gunre
killed a pro-government general
yesterday.
Thousands have ed Yemen,
many to Djibouti in the Horn of
Africa across the Bab Al Mandeb,
a key shipping channel.

UAEs Mars probe to reach planet by 2021

DUBAI: Oil-rich United Arab
Emirates said yesterday it was
pressing ahead with plans to
send the rst Arab unmanned
probe to Mars by 2021, naming
it Hope.
The probe will leave Earth in
2020 on a mission designed to
complement the science work of
other missions and ll important
gaps in human knowledge, the
country said in a statement.
H H Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE

vice president and Ruler of

Dubai, said the mission represents hope for millions of
young Arabs looking for a better future. The probe, the size
and weight of a small car, will
reach a speed of 126,000 kilometres per hour on the 600 million
kilometre journey, which will
take around 200 days, it said.
The spacecraft will orbit Mars
until at least 2023 and send back
data to be analysed by experts in
the UAE and shared with more

on the surface, it added.

The UAE government launched
in October the plan to send the
unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.
In July, it said that UAE investments in space technologies had
already topped Dh20bn ($5.4bn).
The UAE, a seven-emirate
federation formed in 1971, will
become the ninth country in the
world with space programmes to
explore the Red Planet, according
to the statement.
AFP

Twitter account, adding, Now

we get to work.
The news came just over an
hour ahead of a legal deadline
at midnight (2100 GMT) after
which the task of forming a
government would have been
given to another party leader
most likely Isaac Herzog,
head of the centre-left Zionist
Union, which won 24 seats in the
March 17 election, behind 30 for
Netanyahus rightwing Likud.
The deal with Bennett leaves
Netanyahu in command of 61
Knesset votes, bought at the
cost of major concessions to his
partners.
Analysts say he will be at the
mercy of rebels, caprice, or even
a bad cold the rst time the coalition faces a crucial vote.
He would then be forced
to expand the ruling alliance
beyond his natural religious
and rightist partners and turn
reluctantly to the Zionist Union,
which has so far said it will sit
in opposition.
Netanyahu is left with an
unmanageable situation, said
political scientist Emmanuel
Navon, of Tel Aviv University.
The rst thing hell do
tomorrow... is take his phone
and start working on a coalition with (the Zionist Union),
he told AFP.
AFP

2022 panels stadium

cooling solutions meant
for use throughout year

The great escape

Bedsheets tied together are seen hanging from a second oor apartment in the Old Airport neighbourhood of Doha yesterday. It was
used by a maid who ed leaving two children uncared for and alone.
(ALI RAHMATULLAH)

Iraqs largest oil renery under IS threat: US

WASHINGTON: Iraqs largest oil renery is under growing
threat from Islamic State jihadists, who have advanced inside
the perimeter of the facility, the
US military said yesterday.
US warplanes have been carrying out air strikes against the IS
group around the Baiji renery
but it was unclear if Iraqi security
forces would manage to hold on to
the facility north of Baghdad, a
Pentagon spokesman said.
The enemy has entered the
Baiji renery. They do control parts of it, Colonel Steven
Warren told reporters.

than 200 institutions worldwide.

Its unique orbits and instruments will produce entirely new
types of data that will enable
scientists to build the rst truly
holistic models of the Martian
atmosphere, the statement said.
These models will help the global Mars science community to
unlock more mysteries of the Red
Planet, such as why its atmosphere has been decaying into
space to the point that it is now
too thin for liquid water to exist

AFP

Netanyahu forms govt

ahead of deadline
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
held on to his job yesterday,
announcing that he had hammered together a new coalition government just ahead of
a midnight legal deadline.
But with a knife-edge majority of just one seat in the
120-member parliament expectations were that he would have
to expand the ruling alliance
beyond his natural religious
and rightist partners or battle
for survival at every vote.
I am leaving here to call the
president and the speaker of
the parliament to inform them
that I have been able to build a
government, he said in remarks
at the Knesset after marathon
talks with Jewish Home leader
Naftali Bennett.
We need to launch it next
week and we shall do so, he
added.
President Reuven Rivlins
ofce said he had sent a written
note followed up with a phone
call. I am honoured to inform
you that I have been successful
in forming a government, which
I will request is brought before
the Knesset for its approval as
soon as possible, Rivlins ofce
quoted the note as saying.
The negotiations are over,
Bennett said on his ofcial

Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, talks among engineers and scientists
during a ceremony to unveil UAEs Mars Mission in Dubai yesterday.

Its difcult to say how its

going to turn out, said Warren,
calling it a tough ght.
Senior American ofcers have
described securing Baiji town and
the nearby renery as a key step
on the way to an eventual offensive to seize back control of the
strategic city of Mosul in northern Iraq.
Baiji is an avenue of approach
into Mosul so it would be difcult
to take Mosul without Baiji, but
not impossible, Warren said.
The renery was not operational at the moment and it was
unclear if it would provide any

material benet if the IS group

took control of it, he added.
The renery lies about 200 kilometres north of the capital and
once produced some 300,000 barrels of rened products per day,
meeting half the countrys needs.
That output ended when an
IS offensive overran large areas
north and west of Baghdad last
June, cutting the renery off.
In support of Iraqi forces,
US-led coalition aircraft carried out four bombing raids
near Baiji between Tuesday and
yesterday morning, destroying
ve IS ghting positions, six fuel

tanks and other targets, according to a statement from the

US military.
Warren said the air strikes
would continue against IS forces
even if their ghters were now
inside the renery complex.
The United States and its allies
have carried out 3,713 air strikes
in Iraq and Syria since August,
ofcials said.
In mid-April, the US-led coalition ghting the IS group said
Iraqi security forces had cleared
the Baiji renery of IS group
militants.
AFP

DOHA:
The
Supreme
Committee for Delivery and
Legacy (SC) said yesterday
that it is developing innovative
and environment-friendly cooling technologies that will allow
football to be played in the
country throughout the year.
The SC is developing and netuning ten cooling methods as part
of an integrated approach in the
design of different facilities and
the proposed venues for the FIFA
World Cup that Qatar will host in
2022. Many countries with similar
climates could benet from these
technologies once the 2022 FIFA
World Cup Qatar is over, the committee said yesterday.
Solar shading is one of the
cooling technologies in which
buildings are designed to be not
exposed to direct sunlight. It is
possible to reduce heat absorbed
by a structure by 85 per cent. This
can be achieved by planting suitable vegetation around buildings
to selecting special materials that
limit solar transmission.
Another method, natural ventilation, utilises natural forces, such
as differences in pressure caused
by wind, which draws air towards
low pressure areas, and/or thermal
buoyancy which causes hot air to
be displaced by cooler air. Natural
ventilation can serve two functions
that would otherwise have to be
provided by mechanical systems,
namely reducing the temperature
of an area and improving indoor
air quality by ventilation. The
other methods are:
Night-time ventilation: This
process relies on the walls, oors
and other surfaces being cooled
at night when temperatures are
lower. The cooled surfaces are
then able to absorb heat during
the day thus allowing people to
enjoy a cooler environment.
Evaporative cooling: This
method utilises the cooling effect
generated by water as it absorbs
heat to change state to a vapour
in the process of evaporation. Just
as sweat evaporates to cool body
by absorbing heat, a water spray
near a building or space absorbs
heat and evaporates to create a

cooler local environment.

Passive Cooling: It is the process
of cooling a space or building without using energy. Some of walkways
outside the 2022 stadiums will be
passively cooled. Passive cooling can
be used in combination with other
methods and leads to reduction of
energy-intensive cooling systems.
For some spaces inside buildings,
passive cooling may be sufcient
for achieving the desired air quality
and comfort levels.
Mechanical
ventilation:
Mechanical ventilation involves
the supply of outdoor air to, or
removal of room air from, a building using electrically powered
fans. There are three basic types
of mechanical ventilation systems: one that relies on outdoor
air brought into the building, one
which discharges indoor air, and a
balanced system which uses both.
Hybrid ventilation: This twomode system combines the best
aspects of natural and mechanical ventilation at different times
of the day or season of the year
to provide a comfortable indoor
environment and good air quality.
Refrigeration: This involves
moving heat from one location to
another. This cycle is used in most
household refrigerators, large
commercial and industrial refrigeration systems. Heat is taken
from the space that needs cooling
and dispersed outside with electrically driven compressor systems.
District cooling systems: Any
group of buildings with large cooling needs normally requires a district cooling system. This means
the centralised production and
distribution of cooling energy.
Chilled water is delivered via an
underground insulated pipeline to
ofce, industrial and residential
buildings to cool the indoor air of
the buildings within a district.
Air Conditioning: Allows the
control of air ow and temperature precisely. Cooling units will
be incorporated into stadiums.
However, air conditioning will
mainly be used in conjunction
with more energy-efcient cooling methods as part of a hybrid
solution.
THE PENINSULA

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

12

EUROPE / AMERICAS

Britain goes to polls today

Conservatives, Labour level after weeks of campaigning; UKIP candidate suspended
LONDON: A late burst of opinion polls suggested yesterday that
Conservative Prime Minister
David Cameron and Labour challenger Ed Miliband had fought
each other to a standstill on the
eve of Britains most unpredictable election in a generation.
Despite ve weeks of campaigning, neither party has opened up a
clear lead, teeing up a potentially
messy and uncertain outcome
after Thursdays vote.
The stakes are high because
of a rare conuence of factors
which mean Britains future in
the European Union, as well as
its national cohesion, could hinge
on the result.
Cameron has promised to hold
a referendum on whether to stay
in or quit the EU if he returns to
power. And polls suggest Scottish
nationalists could emerge as the
third largest party, despite losing
a plebiscite last year on whether
Scotland should break away from
the United Kingdom.
We can achieve an overall
majority that gives Britain the
strong stable government that
continues, with a long-term
economic plan that is working,
Cameron said.
Miliband said his message to
undecided voters was: You can
have another ve years of a prime
minister who will put the rich and
powerful rst in our country. Or if
Im prime minister, Ill put working people rst.
Five years ago, Britain got its
rst coalition government since
World War Two when Cameron

FROM LEFT: Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, opposition Labour Party
leader Ed Miliband and British Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservatives David Cameron.
fell short of an overall majority
and struck a deal with the centrist Liberal Democrats to govern
together to steady the economy.
Many Britons thought that was
a one-off. But the rise of fringe
parties such as the pro-independence Scottish National Party and
the anti-EU United Kingdom
Independence Party (UKIP) has
drained support from the two
main parties.
Surveys by Opinium and TNS,
published yesterday, both put
the Conservatives 1 percentage
point ahead of Labour. An ICM/
Guardian poll put the big parties
level on 35 percent, with Labour

38 million internally
displaced by conicts
GENEVA: Conicts and violence in places like Syria and
Ukraine have displaced a record
38 million people inside their
own countries, equivalent to the
total populations of New York,
London and Beijing, a watchdog
group said yesterday.
Nearly one third of them a full
11 million people were displaced
last year alone, with an average
of 30,000 people eeing their
homes every day, the Genevabased Internal Displacement
Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said
in a report. These are the worst
gures for forced displacement in
a generation, signalling our complete failure to protect innocent
civilians, said Jan Egeland, head
of the Norwegian Refugee Council
which is behind the IDMC.
Internally displaced people
(IDPs) is a label given to people
who remain in their homeland,
as opposed to refugees, who ee
across borders. According to the
latest available UN statistics, there
were some 16.7 million refugees in
the world at the end of 2013, meaning the total number of displaced
people is well above 50 million.
The number of internally displaced people is thus today around
twice that of refugees a dramatic shift from a few decades
ago when the two categories stood
on equal footing, Egeland said.
One of the main reasons why
the number of IDPs is growing so
much are all the closed borders,
he said.

The trend is clear: 2014 marked

the third year in a row with
record numbers of IDPs, with last
years gures dwarng those seen
at the peak of the Darfur crisis
in 2004, the spiralling violence in
Iraq in the mid-2000s, or during
the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011,
IDMC said.
This report should be a tremendous wake-up call, Egeland
said. IDMC tracked internal displacement in 60 countries last
year, but most of the people eeing in 2014 were in just ve countries: Iraq, South Sudan, Syria,
Democratic Republic of Congo
and Nigeria.
Iraq was the hardest hit, with
2.2 million people forced to ee
inside the country from areas
seized by the brutal Islamic State
group. Around one million more
people were internally displaced
in Syria last year, bringing the
total number of IDPs there to
7.6 million, or 40 percent of the
population. In addition, some
four million Syrians have become
refugees.
For the rst time in a decade,
Europe was also the scene of massive displacement, with 646,500
people internally displaced in
Ukraine in 2014 because of ghting between pro-Russian separatists and Kiev forces. Egeland said
that number had nearly doubled
since the start of 2015, bringing the total number of IDPs in
Ukraine to more than 1.2 million.
AFP

up 3 points in the past nine days.

UKIP, which has spent much
of the campaign fending off accusations of racism, was forced to
suspend one of its candidates on
Tuesday for threatening to put a
bullet in his Conservative rival, a
Briton of Asian origin, if he ever
became prime minister.
The two men vying to become
prime minister have avoided
game-changing gaffes but drawn
mockery at times: Cameron for
forgetting the name of his soccer
team, and Miliband for engraving
his campaign pledges on a giant
stone, prompting ironic comparisons with Moses.

Stagnant polls have prompted

Cameron to rene his message,
blending the promise of higher
living standards with a warning
that Scottish nationalists could
hold to ransom a minority Labour
government, forcing it to borrow
more and edge towards Scottish
independence.
Awkwardly for the prime minister, a leading think tank cut its
forecast for Britains economic
growth in 2015, though it said
strong consumer spending should
keep the recovery on track.
But other data showed Britains
huge services sector unexpectedly picked up speed in April,

countering signs of a slowdown.

Labours Miliband, who has put
the future of the countrys treasured but troubled health service
at the heart of his campaign, will
address a nal rally in northern
England on Wednesday evening.
This is the choice at the election: a Labour government that
will put working people rst or a
government that will stand up only
for a privileged few, he will say.
The tightness of the race has
prompted some parties to try to
dene in advance what arrangements would constitute a legitimate government.
The rules state that any party
capable of getting parliaments
backing for its legislative slate can
govern. But convention dictates
that the party with the most seats
has a rst crack at trying to form
an administration.
If the two main parties are separated by only a handful of seats,
however, both may claim the right
to govern, setting up potentially
protracted standoff.
Britains highly politicised
press weighed in. The Laboursupporting Daily Mirror warned
its readers that Cameron would
axe nurses at two thirds of hospitals, while the Conservativesupporting
Sun ran
an
unattering picture of Miliband
eating a bacon sandwich.
Dont swallow his porkies and
keep him out, it said. More than
45 million Britons are eligible to
vote today, when polls open from
0600 to 2100 GMT.
REUTERS

Castro meets Medvedev

Four arrested in
German raids
on anti-Muslim
terror group
BERLIN:
German
police
arrested four people yesterday
accused of belonging to a farright terror organisation that
acquired explosives for attacks
on Muslims and refugee homes.
The early-morning swoops
in ve states occurred with the
country already on edge after
authorities last week said they
had foiled a planned Islamist
attack by a German-Turkish couple armed with a pipe bomb and
other weapons.
They also came amid an
increase in attacks on lodgings
for asylum seekers as Germany
takes in record numbers of people eeing conicts in the Middle
East and Africa.
The raids turned up pyrotechnics with large explosive
power that investigators believe
were intended for use in attacks,
said the federal prosecutors
ofce in the southwestern city of
Karlsruhe.
The four suspects, three men
and a 22-year-old woman identied only as Denise Vanessa G., are
accused of starting a far-right
terrorist organisation called
Oldschool Society with a larger
group of people last November.
Two of the accused, named
as 56-year-old Andreas H. and
Markus W., 39, are believed to be
the ringleaders, using the titles
president and vice president.
The fourth suspect was listed
as 47-year-old Olaf O. All are
German citizens, prosecutors said.
The four far-right suspects
were arrested based on warrants
issued on Tuesday by a federal
judge on charges of founding a
terrorist organisation. About
250 ofcers from special units of
police forces in ve states and the
federal police searched the homes
of the four accused as well as
those of ve other suspects.

Baltimore urges
review of police
practices

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (right) welcomes Cuban President Raul Castro during their meeting
at the Government Reception House in Moscow yesterday. Raul Castro arrived in Moscow to attend the festive
events marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its Allies over Nazi Germany in WWII.

Ukraines warring sides hold talks

MINSK: Ukraines warring
sides tried to shore up a faltering
truce deal yesterday after Kiev
said ve soldiers were killed in
clashes in the war-torn east.
Ukrainian and separatist
representatives met in Minsk
for the rst time since the two
sides inked a shaky peace deal in
February that dampened much
of the ghting but failed to halt
clashes at key hotspots.
Negotiators from Kiev and the
rebels held talks with international

mediators and ofcials from Russia

in the Belarussian capital to discuss the battered truce and a
convoluted political roadmap for
ending the conict.
Ukraines representative,
former president Leonid Kuchma
said that it had been a serious
step towards the political resolution of conict. For us security
is the most important thing,
Kuchma told journalists, adding
that the separatist representatives had been constructive.

Russias representative Azamat

Kulmukhametov said that the
encounter had given hope for a
political solution to the ghting.
The negotiators also set up a
number of expert groups to look
into security and political issues
that are expected to start looking
into the next steps contained in
the peace plan that include holding elections under Ukrainian law
and eventual autonomy in the
separatist zones.
AFP

NEW YORK: Baltimore ofcials asked the US Justice

Department
to
investigate
its police department for civil
rights violations after the death
of a black man from injuries sustained in police custody, Mayor
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said
yesterday.
The review will look into police
practices such as frisks, street
stops of suspects and arrests to see
if they violate the US Constitution,
Rawlings-Blake said.
The request follows the April
19 death of Freddie Gray, 25,
who sustained spinal injuries
after being arrested by police.
His death sparked protests and
a day of arson and looting in the
largely black city, and Maryland
Governor Larry Hogan lifted a
state of emergency for Baltimore
yesterday.
We cannot be timid in
addressing this problem and I
am a mayor that does not shy
away from our citys big challenges, Rawlings-Blake said.
Six ofcers were charged last
week in the case.
The mayor said the city would
seek to have its 3,200-member
police department equipped with
body cameras by the end of the
year. Advocates see cameras as a
way to monitor police encounters
with civilians.
REUTERS

Europes obesity crisis expands to enormous proportions

PRAGUE: Europe faces an obesity
crisis of enormous proportions as
unhealthy diets and physical inactivity
inate waistlines and health costs, the
World Health Organisation claimed
yesterday. Nearly all adults in Ireland
one of Europes fattest nations will
be overweight by 2030, the European
Congress on Obesity in Prague was told.
Even in countries with a traditionally lower prevalence of obesity such as
Sweden, obesity rates are predicted to
rise sharply, said a statement issued by
congress organisers. The data highlight
a serious problem for many countries.
The ballooning burden of overweight
and obesity, a preventable condition
mainly caused by lifestyle factors, is a

growing cause of disease and disability

around the world.
According to WHO statistics, obesity
has more than doubled since 1980, with
up to 600 million adults affected in 2014.
More than 1.9 billion people, 39 percent of
all adults in the world, were overweight.
Among children younger than ve, 42
million were overweight or obese in 2013,
according to the WHO, which has as a
stated goal to halt the rise in obesity by
2025. More of the worlds population now
lives in countries where weight and obesity kills more people than famine.
People are classied overweight if they
have a BMI (body weight index, a ratio of
weight to height) of 25 and higher, and
obese from a BMI of 30. The new research

underlines that Europe will face an obesity crisis of enormous proportions by 2030,
said the research, which covered 53 countries in the WHOs Europe region.
On current trends, some 89 percent of
Irish men are likely to be overweight by
2030, and 48 percent obese up from 74
percent overweight and 26 percent obese
in 2010. Of Irish women, 85 percent are
likely to be overweight and 57 percent
obese by 2030, up from 57 percent and
23 percent respectively.
Over a quarter of Swedish men and 22
percent of women will be obese by 2030,
up from 14 and 12 percent in 2010. In the
UK, one third (33 percent) of women are
forecast to be obese in 2030, compared with
over one quarter (26 percent) in 2010, the

congress press statement said. Sixty-four

percent of UK women and 74 percent of
men will be overweight in 2030.
In Greece, the proportion of obese men
and women will more than double from
20 percent to about 40 percent, while in
Spain obesity in women is set to rise from
16 percent in 2010 to 21 percent in 2030,
and in men from 19 percent to 36 percent.
But Joao Breda, of the WHOs regional
ofce for Europe, stressed Wednesday
that action taken today can prevent
these predictions from becoming reality, with a few countries already showing a attening trend. The Dutch are
among the thinnest in Europe, and the
Netherlands one of few countries with a
downward obesity projection. About 49

percent of men will be overweight and

eight percent obese by 2030 down from
54 percent and 10 percent in 2010.
For women, overweight rates are projected to drop from 44 to 43 percent, and
obesity from 13 to nine percent, said the
statement. Last November, a study in The
Lancet Oncology said excess weight and
obesity is now causing nearly half a million new cancer cases in adults every year.
Overweight people are more prone to
cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes,
osteoarthritis and kidney disease. Excess
body weight is estimated to have caused
3.4 million deaths in 2010, and previous
research has warned that an unabated
rise in obesity could start eating away at
life expectancy.
AFP

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

ASIA / AFRICA

13

Rescuers step up hunt

for bodies; toll rises
Bid to prevent measles outbreak in quake-hit Nepal
KATHMANDU: Nepalese soldiers and villagers dug through
snow mounds in a remote
hamlet yesterday in search of
scores of bodies of villagers and
trekkers believed to be buried
in an avalanche set off by last
months
devastating
earthquake, ofcials said.
The death toll from the April
25 quake in the Himalayan mountain nation has reached 7,675,
with more than 16,300 people
injured, the government said.
As rescuers hunted for more
than 180 bodies in the village
of Langtang, 60km north of
Kathmandu, seven bodies including of that of a German trekker
were recovered at Manaslu,
another climbing site.
The earthquake and subsequent landslides swept away
trekking trails in both Langtang
and Manaslu. Yesterday, bad
weather prevented the use of
helicopters in support of rescue
efforts in Langtang, which is on a
Himalayan trekking route popular with Westerners. More than
13,000 foreign hikers visit the
area annually.
We dont know exactly how

many people were in Langtang

village at the time of disaster,
said Uddhav Bhattarai, a local
government ofcial said. More
than three dozen workers at a
nearby hydroelectric project are
also unaccounted for. A search for
them is also continuing.
Meanwhile, health workers are
rushing to vaccinate more than
half a million children in Nepal as
fears grow that last months massive earthquake has made youngsters more susceptible to disease.
Unicef has warned of a race
against time to prevent a deadly
outbreak of measles in the impoverished Himalayan nation. The
UN childrens fund, the World
Health Organisation and the
Nepalese government are targeting the urgent inoculation
of 500,000 children in the areas
worst-hit by the quake.
Before the earthquake, one in
ten children in Nepal was not vaccinated against measles, so were
going to vaccinate half a million
children in the coming weeks,
Kent Page, Unicef Nepals emergency spokesperson, said.
At a mobile vaccination unit
in mountainous Kotdanda, near

the capital Kathmandu, a steady

stream of women queued up, each
carrying a baby or young child.
The children received a medical
checkup by female Nepali health
workers before receiving their
vaccinations.
Many of the children are living outdoors, theyre not getting
the food they need, their sort of
physical well-being isnt so good,
so theyre more susceptible to
often fatal diseases like measles,
Page said. Were doing this measles vaccination campaign to prevent any outbreak or spread of
measles, he added.
Health workers have started
by immunising children under
ve in makeshift camps that
have sprung up in three denselypopulated districts in Kathmandu
Valley Bhaktapur, Kathmandu
and Lalitpur. The vaccination
drive will eventually include 12
districts most affected by the
disaster.
Campaigners warned that
human trafckers could try
to target displaced vulnerable
women and children.
One non-government organisation working to prevent child

A team of Nepalese volunteers tears down a house damaged by the devastating earthquake that hit the country,
in Sankhu on the outskirts of Kathmandu, yesterday.
trafcking said it had seen an
increase in suspicious cases at the
porous border with India which
has in the past been used to trafc
women and children from Nepal
into slavery and prostitution.
Girls are at high risk of trafcking and sexual abuse, they
have to be protected, Anuradha
Koirala, the founder of Maiti
Nepal, an anti-trafcking organisation, said. Koirala said her

REUTERS

trafcking or attempted trafcking in the country. We have special teams inspecting camps and
shelters to ensure that women
and children live in a safe environment, said deputy spokesman for Nepal Police, Sarbendra
Khanal. Relief agencies working
in quake-hit areas are seeking to
raise awareness of the dangers to
vulnerable people.
AGENCIES

Thai authorities nd
6 more bodies at site

40,000 ee
Burundi
amid crisis
BUJUMBURA: Nearly 40,000
refugees have ed Burundi
to
neighbouring
Rwanda,
Tanzania and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in
the last month, amid protests against President Pierre
Nkurunzizas bid for a third
term, the United Nations said
yesterday.
More than a week of demonstrations have plunged the
African nation into its worst crisis since an ethnically charged
civil war ended in 2005. Civil society groups say a dozen people have
been killed. Police say the death
toll is half that number.
The opposition says Burundis
constitution and a peace deal
that ended the civil war limits
Nkurunziza to two terms.
But Burundis constitutional
court this week cleared the way
for the president to run again in
June, saying his rst term did not
count because he was picked by
parliament not publicly elected.
About a dozen demonstrators
gathered in the capitals Kinindo
district yesterday, one of them
holding a placard saying: The
constitutional courts decision will
not stop us. Nkurunziza has to
abandon the illegal term.
Witnesses saw about 200 protesters in another district. But
most of Bujumburas streets
were relatively calm and police
surrounded the scenes of recent
ashpoints, a witness said.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR
said 39,091 Burundians had sought
asylum in neighbouring states since
the start of April. At least 24,795
had gone to Rwanda, Tanzania had
taken in 6,966 people and 7,319 have
ed to Congo.

organisation had increased its

monitoring operations on the
border with India.
A cycle of unemployment, poverty, gender discrimination and
impact of 10-year Maoist insurgency has made Nepalese women
and children in the country easy
targets for trafckers.
A 2013 report by the countrys human rights commission
recorded 29,000 incidences of

A Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel (top) and a Philippine vessel (bottom) manoeuvre during a sea-jacked cargo
vessel scenario rescue operation in Manila Bay yesterday.

Philippines, Japan hold anti-piracy drill

ABOARD BRP BATANGAS:
Philippine and Japanese coast
guard teams staged an antipiracy drill yesterday, featuring
the storming of a cargo vessel
after a mock hijack, in a show of
maritime cooperation between
the two nations amid rising tension in Asian waters.
Both nations face a challenge
from Chinas growing assertiveness over territorial claims in the
South China Sea and the East
China Sea, where it uses coast
guard and shing vessels to press
into disputed areas.
The drill was the rst held by
Japan and the Philippines after
signing a strategic partnership
pact in 2012.
The rare maritime law enforcement exercises in Manila Bay
were watched by the coast guard
chiefs of 17 Asian nations, including China, who are meeting to
nd ways to cooperate in boosting

safety and battling piracy and

transnational crime.
Japan has been helping the
Philippines improve its skills
in maritime law enforcement,
safety and environment protection, Captain Koichi Kawagoe of
Japans coast guard told reporters.
This exercise is for mutual
interest, such as pirates and illegal trafcking, drug trafcking,
rearms trafcking, Kawagoe
said, adding that Japan was ready
to help Southeast Asian nations,
even in the disputed South China
Sea. As long as the incident is
related to piracy, we will coordinate our efforts.
China claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China
Sea, through which $5 trillion
in ship-borne trade passes every
year. The Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also
have overlapping claims.
China has rejected diplomatic

protests by the Philippines and

Vietnam and criticism from the
United States over its reclamation work on reefs and tiny
islands, saying it falls within the
scope of Chinas sovereignty.
Last month, Chinas coast
guard red water cannon on
Philippine shermen in a disputed
shoal in the South China Sea. In
the past, it has challenged Japans
coast guard near a disputed island
in the East China Sea.
An armed Japanese coast guard
vessel joined yesterdays law
enforcement drills, about 16km
off the port of Manila, in which
Japanese anti-terrorist team
used rubber boat to engage mock
hijackers who had seized a vessel.
The Philippines plans to hold
three exercises with Japan this
year, said Captain Artemio Abu
of the Philippine Coast Guard,
adding that Filipinos also train
REUTERS
in Tokyo.

PADANG
BESAR:
Thai
authorities investigating people-smuggling said six more
bodies were found yesterday
in the same patch of jungle
bordering Malaysia where the
remains of dozens of migrants
were exhumed last week.
The latest bodies were discovered about 1km from the hillside site where the remains of
26 migrants were found over the
weekend, near the town of Padang
Besar in the southern province of
Songkhla.
Hours later authorities released
a statement saying 38 police ofcers in southern Thailand have been
transferred from their positions
including more than a dozen from
senior immigration roles.
The move takes the number of
police transfers since last weeks
grim discovery past 50 after an
earlier spate of redeployment
which comes as the ruling junta
has vowed it is serious about tackling the kingdoms spiralling trafcking crisis.
National police spokesman
Prawut Thavornsiri said the bodies of two men and four women
had been found not far from
where the mass grave had been
exhumed at a suspected people
smugglers camp.
It was in a graveyard in a forest on the hillside... around one

kilometre from the rst camp,

he said. They were old bodies,
Prawut said, referring to their state
of decay. A second senior police
ofcer conrmed the nd. Thai
authorities have not yet identied
any of the remains, saying they are
in a severe condition of decay.
But the dead are believed to
be migrants from Myanmar
or Bangladesh. While forensic
ofcers have yet to conclude the
causes of death, police have speculated that they may have died
from malnutrition or disease.
Five ofcials from Padang Besar
have been charged with human
trafcking while three more people are on the run, Prawut added.
Rights groups have long accused
the Thai authorities of turning
a blind eye to and even being
complicit in people-smuggling.
In recent months the military
junta, which took over in a coup
last May, has vowed to crack down
on the trade. In January it said
more than a dozen government
ofcials including senior policemen and a navy ofcer were
being prosecuted for involvement
or complicity in human trafcking. Yesterdays police statement
said 13 senior police immigration
ofcers were being transferred
from the southern provinces of
Songkhla, Satun and Ranong.
AFP

25 more Boko hostages rescued

Over 200,000 road deaths a year in China: WHO

BEIJING: More than 200,000 people
are killed on Chinas notoriously dangerous roads every year, the World Health
Organisation said yesterday at least four
times ofcial government statistics.
Writing in the government-published China
Daily newspaper, the WHOs representative in
the country Bernhard Schwartlaender said the
estimated deaths were entirely preventable.
In China, over 10,000 children under 15
years of age die each year as a result of injuries
sustained in a road crash, he added. Many
more are severely injured. The WHOs 2013
global status report on road safety estimated
Chinese road deaths at 275,983 in 2010.
Government data for road deaths in China
are shrouded in secrecy, like many statistics in

the country, and the WHO gures are strikingly higher than ofcial pronouncements.
The most recent gures available from the
ministry of transport, cited by a vice-minister
at a forum, said 60,000 people were killed on
the roads in 2012 -- less than a quarter of the
estimate in the WHO document.
Chinas National Bureau of Statistics said
in February that last year road trafc deaths
ran at a rate of 2.22 people per 10,000 vehicles.
It said separately that there were a total
of 154.47 million vehicles available for civilian use in the period. Those gures imply at
least 34,292 road deaths in 2014 -- less than
an eighth of the WHO estimate.
Fatal road accidents are a serious problem
in China, where trafc regulations are often

outed. The countrys frequently overcrowded

long-distance buses are prone to accidents,
with individual incidents regularly causing
dozens of deaths.
In July last year, 43 people died when a van
carrying inammable liquid hit a bus on a
motorway in central China. In August, a tour
bus plunged into a valley in Tibet after hitting
two vehicles, leaving 44 people dead.
Schwartlaender said China was making
some progress with road safety laws but
added: It is not enough to adopt laws. They
must also be properly and rigorously enforced.
According to the WHO report, Chinas estimated trafc-related death rate of 20.5 per
100,000 people was in line with the 20.1 average
for middle-income countries.
AFP

People displaced by the Boko Haram insurgence board a truck to travel

back to their home states, after arriving in Nigeria, at Geidam, Nigeria,
yesterday. Nigerian troops rescued 25 more women and children from
Boko Harams northeastern stronghold in the Sambisa Forest.

14

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN

Thousands ee homes
ahead of Afghan battle
Security forces, Taliban in a stand-off in Kunduz
KABUL: As many as 10,000
Afghan families have ed their
homes as Taliban insurgents
and government forces prepared
for a major battle for control of
the southern fringes of Kunduz
city, ofcials said yesterday.
The World Food Programme
is preparing food packages for
displaced families and expects
to start distributing them this
weekend.
Afghan security forces and
Taliban insurgents backed by foreign jihadists on the outskirts of
Kunduz have been in a stand-off
for nearly a week since the militants launched an offensive on the
city late last month.
The Taliban push on Kunduz,
about 500 km north of Kabul,
is the most serious threat to

a provincial capital in years,

although government forces
insist the city will not fall to the
insurgents.
The Afghan army and police
are ghting without substantial
help from foreign troops, after the
Nato military mission ended its
combat role at the end of 2014.
Kunduz police spokesman
Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said government forces would soon launch
a big offensive to drive the Taliban
from Gul Tepa district on the
southern outskirts of the city.
He said that the army and
police had delayed in order to
give civilians time to clear out of
the area.
The Taliban inside the surrounding villages want to use
them as human shields, so the

villagers have escaped to the central parts of the city, Hussaini

said.
More than 10,000 families have
ofcially appealed for aid as refugees of the ghting, said Abdul
Salaam Hashemi, the head of
Kunduzs refugee department.
He said survey teams were
working to verify how many of
those families needed aid.
The World Food Programme
has veried 300 families in need of
aid and is surveying more, spokesman Wahidullah Amini said.
The UN-afliated agency is
preparing emergency kits of
our, pulses, cooking oil and highenergy biscuits for 500 families,
he said, adding that food distribution in Kunduz city would begin
REUTERS
on Saturday.

Afghan men look on in court during their trial in connection with the killing of a 27-year-old woman, in Kabul yesterday.

Four sentenced to death over

Pakistan army accuses India mob killing of Afghan woman
of supporting terrorism

ISLAMABAD: Pakistans military has accused Indias main

intelligence agency of whipping
up terrorism in Pakistan in
rare public criticism that could
increase tension between the
rivals.
The accusation came after a
meeting of the armys top commanders at the militarys headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi
on Tuesday to review an offensive
against militants in the northwest
and other security issues.
The conference also took
serious notice of RAWs involvement in whipping up terrorism
in Pakistan, the army said in a
statement, referring to Indias
Research and Analysis Wing
(RAW), its external intelligence
arm.
While Pakistani army ofcers
often privately accuse India of
meddling, it is rare for the military to accuse Indias spy agency
in an ofcial statement.

Govt to challenge
unseating of
Pakistan minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistans ruling party said yesterday it would
challenge an election tribunal
that unseated the countrys
railways minister over alleged
irregularities in the 2013 general
election.
Khawaja Saad Raque won the
NA-125 seat in the eastern city of
Lahore with a majority of nearly
40,000 as the Pakistan Muslim
League-N (PML-N) swept to a
landslide victory in May 2013.
But the opposition Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) party,
led by former cricket star Imran
Khan, has claimed widespread
fraud tainted the poll which made
Nawaz Sharif prime minister for
a third time.
Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz government has decided
to challenge the verdict in the
Supreme Court, planning minister Ahsan Iqbal told reporters.
Raques PTI rival Hamid Khan,
who came second in NA-125,
had led a petition against the
election result. The tribunal on
Monday ruled in favour of Khan
and ordered a fresh poll in his
constituency
The PTI has waged a national
campaign calling for the investigation into allegations of rigging and
staged a 126-day sit-in protest in
front of parliament last year.
The party says results were
changed in at least four constituencies including Raques
through fraud.
Pakistan last month formed a
nationwide judicial commission
under the Supreme Court chief
justice to investigate rigging in
elections throughout the country.
The commission is due to start
examining witnesses later this
week.
AFP

Pakistan believes India is supporting separatists in resourcerich Baluchistan province, as well

as militants ghting the state. It
also sees India as fuelling strife in
the volatile city of Karachi.
India denies interference in
Pakistan but accuses Pakistan of
supporting militants who launch
attacks in India and ght in
Indian Kashmir. India has also
accused Pakistan of backing the
Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan
denies those accusations.
A Pakistani ofcial with knowledge of the commanders meeting
said they had discussed what they
believed to be Indias involvement
in the Baluchistan insurgency.
It was unanimously felt that
India is providing all kinds of
support to Pakistans enemies,
be they the (Pakistani) Taliban,
or elements in Karachi or in
Baluchistan, said the ofcial who
declined to be identied.
There is documentary proof.

All evidence is there and we will

bring it in the open soon.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif
said in a television interview aired
later that RAW was an enemy
organisation.
RAW has been formed to undo
Pakistan and to wipe Pakistan off
the map of the world, Asif said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
made improving ties with India
a priority when he won a 2013
election.
But his push was widely seen
as causing friction with the army,
which sees relations with India as
its responsibility.
Late last month, Sharif accused
India of failing to respond to
Pakistans desire for good relations.
India was angered earlier in
April when a Pakistani court freed
on bail Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi,
accused of plotting a 2008 assault
on the city of Mumbai in which 166
people were killed.
REUTERS

KABUL: Four Afghan men

were sentenced to death yesterday for the savage lynching
of a woman falsely accused of
blasphemy, a landmark judgement in a nation where female
victims often have little legal
recourse.
The Kabul primary court also
sentenced eight people to 16 years
in prison while 18 others were
found not guilty after a three-day
trial broadcast live on national
television.
A furious mob turned on
27-year-old Farkhunda on March
19, beating her in broad daylight
and setting her body ablaze on the
banks of the Kabul river.
The attack came after an amulet seller, whom she had reportedly castigated for peddling
superstition, falsely accused her
of burning the Quran.
Her killing triggered protests
around Afghanistan and drew
global attention to the treatment
of Afghan women.
Forty-nine
people
were
arrested, including 19 police ofcers, some of whom were shown

standing by and doing nothing to

stop the mob in cellphone videos
recorded by bystanders.
The trial, which drew praise
for its fast-track nature but also
prompted concern over its fairness, saw the suspects facing
various charges, including assault,
murder and inciting others to
participate.
Judge Saullah Mojaddidi,
announcing the verdict, said
Zainul Abiddin, Mohammad
Yaqub, Mohammad Sharif and
Abdul Bashir would be hanged.
It is not a nal decision and
their right to appeal is reserved,
the judge said.
Farkhundas parents, who were
in court yesterday, said before the
verdict was announced that they
only want justice, nothing else.
Her brother Mujibullah said
his family was not happy with
the large number of acquittals
in a murder caught on cellphone
cameras and circulated on social
media.
There were dozens and dozens of people involved in killing
of my sister and the court only

sentenced four to death, he said.

We want the court... to bring
more perpetrators to justice.
Human Rights Watch said
it was very concerned over
whether due process was followed
in the swift trial in which many
of the accused did not appear to
have lawyers.
To reach a verdict against
30 defendants on such serious
charges in... days, on its face
raises serious due process concerns, said Heather Barr, a senior researcher with the group on
womens rights in Asia.
This trial leaves the impression that the Afghan government
wants a quick and dirty process to
get this case out of the headlines
and move on rather than real
justice and a real examination of
how such a terrible attack could
have happened.
The verdicts on the policemen
accused of negligence of duty
will be announced on Sunday and
the court also ordered security
forces to arrest three other key
suspects.
AFP

Texas shooter was heartthrob in Pakistan: Schoolmates

ISLAMABAD: Nadir Soo, one of the
gunmen who attacked a Texas venue
hosting a contest to draw the Prophet
Mohammed (PBUH), was a charismatic
ladies man as a teenager, contemporaries from an elite Pakistani school said
yesterday.
Soo, 34, and Elton Simpson were shot
dead by police on Sunday as they tried to
storm the controversial cartoon drawing
event.
The Islamic State group has claimed
responsibility, although US ofcials caution
it is too early to draw a rm link.
Soo studied at the $20,000-a-year
International School of Islamabad from
1992 to 1998, where contemporaries said
he was funny, popular and charming and
showed no inclination towards extremism.

Speaking on condition of anonymity,

one said Soo was quite suave and charismatic and something of a ladies man
as a student.
Whatever fundo (fundamentalist)
indoctrination occurred, (it) happened
after he graduated and moved to USA
here he was simply a cool kid with a bright
future, the contemporary said.
Soos mother taught art at the heavilyguarded school, which is popular with diplomats and rich Pakistanis, several of his
contemporaries said.
He took part in theatre productions, and
another schoolmate said Soo starred as
the lead in Bye Bye Birdie, a musical
inspired by Elvis Presley, transforming
him from a sweet, shy boy into a condent heartthrob.

He was always good looking, throwing

back his long silky hair, but after the play
he did, wow he was Mr Elvis of school,
she said, again speaking on condition of
anonymity.
She added she was shocked by news of
what Soo had done in Texas.
I had noticed on Facebook that he had
become Islamic but never thought to such
extremes, she said.
Another former pupil who was a close
friend of Soos brother said past students
were traumatised by events in Texas.
Its a very small community and everyone stays in touch. Its really sad to hear,
he said.
The family was not really religious in
any way. They were obviously Muslim by
birth like we all are.

The former pupil said Soos family were

well off and lived in a good house but
paid no fees at the Islamabad school as his
mother taught there.
The school refused to comment on the
case.
Soos parents divorced while they were
in Pakistan, two schoolmates said, and he
returned to the United States with his
mother.
Soo, who is survived by a young son,
reportedly attended the University of Utah
and later owned a struggling pizza and
chicken wings restaurant. Managing his
business reportedly meant he sometimes
had to skip prayers at the mosque.
There is no suggestion so far that Soos
time in Pakistan had any inuence on his
radicalisation.
AFP

Afghan runaways ght heroin addiction on Pakistans streets

PESHAWAR: After his brother
beat him with chains, Abdullah
decided enough was enough
and ed his home in Kabul to
Pakistan, where he lived rough,
sleeping where he could and battling drug addiction.
The 14-year-old was one of hundreds of Afghan runaways hooked
on drugs and living on the streets
in Pakistan, bedding down on
roads, under bridges, at bus stops
and around garbage dumps.
Many of them work as garbage
collectors. They wake up early
in the morning and go to quiet
spots to take heroin, opium and
marijuana.
I started with hashish when
a friend offered me a cigarette,
then I tried alcohol and heroin. I
became addicted at a very young
age, Abdullah said.
There are more than 1.5 million
Afghan refugees living in Pakistan,
most displaced by the countrys
nearly four decades of war, but
the young runaways are among
the most vulnerable.

Drug-affected Pakistani and Afghan youths take a painting class at a

rehabilitation centre in Peshawar.
Many of them were displaced
not by war but by violence at home
and Pakistan offered if not a refuge, then at least an escape.
Abdullah began his journey with
his head still bleeding from the

beating his brother had given him.

Stealing $80 from his family, he ed, catching a bus to the
Pakistan border and then a taxi to
Islamabads twin city Rawalpindi.
There, aged just 11, he worked

as a loader in a fruit market and

spent his nights in a haze of drugs
and alcohol, sleeping huddled in a
blanket on the roof of a mosque.
Government help exists for the
likes of Abdullah, but it is limited,
leaving organisations like the Dost
Foundation, a local charity, to ll
in the gaps.
Abdullah is now off the streets
and undergoing rehabilitation at
a Dost Foundation centre in the
northwestern city of Peshawar.
Now, he says, his mother is
dead and there is nobody for
him in Afghanistan. Instead
he wants to work for the Dost
Foundation when he completes
his rehabilitation.
I want to join this centre to
rescue other children who have
become addicted to drugs, he said.
I feel sorry for them when I
see them covered in lth, wearing dirty clothes, not washing for
many days.
By contrast, 15-year-old
Asmatullah wants to see his family again and say sorry.

He ed his home in November

last year after his father beat him,
and fell into drugs and alcohol
while living rough in Peshawar.
After nearly two months on
the streets, a team from the Dost
Foundation looking for kids in
trouble picked him up.
I regret what Ive done. I realise I chose a bad life, Asmatullah
said during a rehabilitation class
at the charitys centre.
I will never use drugs again. I
want to return to my family and
apologise to them.
The Foundation, which treats
more than 300 children in its
rehabilitation programme at any
one time, is trying to track down
Asmatullahs family.
At the centre, the children lead
a calmer, safer life than on the
streets.
After morning prayers, they
have lectures about the hazards
of drugs, music and dance sessions, and vocational training
sewing, embroidery, bead work
and painting.
AFP

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

INDIA

15

Salman gets 5 years in

jail for running over man

Rescued by IAF

Bollywood actor granted bail for appealing sentence

Members of a rescued Spanish rescue team after their return along with Indian Air Force helicopter crew and
Task Force Commander, Air Vice Marshal Upkarjit Singh (fourth right, standing), the Air Ofcer Commanding,
Jammu and Kashmir Area, in Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday. The nine members of the Spanish team of rescuers
including sniffer dogs, themselves went missing during their search for a Spanish team of trekkers and were
picked up by an IAF helicopter crew who had to look for them at various locations.

Sonia Gandhi tears into Modi

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday
launched her ercest attack yet
on Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, accusing his government
of promoting crony capitalists and displaying obstinate
arrogance, hypocrisy and of
running the most centralised
government.
After rst taking on the government in parliament over
vacant constitutional posts,
Gandhi later denounced the Modi
government in no uncertain terms
while addressing her party MPs.
I bring to attention the deplorable lapse of the government in
appointing a Chief Information
Commissioner, Gandhi said in
the Lok Sabha during zero hour.
This post has been lying
vacant for the last eight months.
The posts of the three information

commissioners of the Central

Information Commission have
also been lying vacant, she said.
A combative Gandhi, who had
moved an adjournment motion
over the issue, said: The prime
minister made many promises to
the people on transparency and
good governance and continues
to do so.
She said the governments aim
was to shield itself from public
scrutiny.
Minister of State in the Prime
Ministers Ofce, Jitendra Singh,
said the CVCs post was vacant as
the Supreme Court was overseeing the matter. A panel was close
to shortlisting names for the post,
he added. Unhappy with his reply,
Congress members walked out of
the house. In her speech before
Congress MPs, Gandhi went
several steps further, saying the

Anti-graft helpline
leads to 25 arrests

Probe into nances

of Gates Foundation

NEW DELHI: The Delhi governments anti-corruption helpline has received over 125,000
calls within a month of its
launch and 25 erring ofcials
have been arrested, the government said yesterday.
The 1,031 anti-corruption
helpline has got an overwhelming response with 1,25,065 calls
received in the rst 30 days, a
government statement said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
on April 5 relaunched the 1031
helpline.

Abducted Gaya
doctor freed in UP
PATNA: A Gaya-based doctor
and his wife, who were abducted
six days ago, were freed yesterday from Gomti Nagar in
Lucknow. The couple have
returned home, police said.
Pankaj Gupta and his wife
Subhra were abducted last Friday
while returning from a wedding
in Jharkhands Giridih district.
Pankaj is a well known medical
practitioner and belongs to a leading business family of Bihar.

26 hurt as bear
enters school
SRINAGAR: A bear entered
a school ground in Jammu and
Kashmirs Pulwama district
yesterday, triggering panic and
leading to a stampede in which
26 schoolchildren were injured,
police said.
A bear entered the Imam Abu
Hanifa Memorial Institute in
Rajpora (Pulwama) today, creating panic among the school children, a police ofcer told IANS.
Two children suffered contact
injuries, while 24 children were
injured in a stampede triggered by
panic and fear. The injured children were immediately taken to
a hospital. Reports from the area
said the bear escaped as people
created an uproar.
IANS

NEW DELHI: India is investigating the nances of the Bill

& Melinda Gates Foundation, a
senior Home Ministry ofcial
said yesterday, part of a growing crackdown on thousands
of foreign funded charities
and activists that has alarmed
Washington.
A spokeswoman for the Gates
Foundation said it had not been
informed of any investigation.
Home Ministry spokesman K S
Dhatwalia denied the government
was investigating it. It was not
immediately possible to explain
the contradictory statements.
The senior ministry ofcial,
who has direct knowledge of the
investigation, said authorities
found discrepancies in nancial
transactions between the foundation and the Public Health
Foundation of India (PHFI), a
renowned policy institute.
The credit amount did not
match the debit amount. At this
stage we dont know who is at
fault, whether its the people at
Gates foundation or at PHFI. This
aspect is under scrutiny, the ofcial said, declining to be named

Modi government had poisoned

the political discourse, was antifarmer and arrogant and a
government of some people, by
one person, for a select few.
Modi, she said, had very little to
showcase after one year in ofce.
Behind the smokescreen of
development, the government
is providing achche din only
for crony capitalists. Under the
pretext of Make in India, the
government is planning to dilute
the rights and interests of workers and labourers. Do they make
nothing in India? Gandhi asked.
In a personal attack on Modi,
Gandhi accused him of playing
domestic politics on foreign soil,
citing his criticism of the previous Congress-led UPA government and then prime minister
Manmohan Singh in France.
IANS

due to the sensitivity of the matter. In a statement yesterday,

the foundation said its work and
investments in India were guided
by the rules and regulations laid
out by the government.
We apply a rigorous approach
to funding our partners, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the work on the ground
at every step, and modifying the
approach if something is not
working out, it said.
The charity funded by the
personal wealth of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, the worlds
richest man with a fortune estimated by Forbes at $79bn, has
enjoyed good relations with the
government of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
It has been awarded an Indian
civil honour for social work and
Melinda Gates visited India last
month and met Modi.
In April, the government cancelled nearly 9,000 licences of
charities accused of not declaring donations from abroad, and
it has launched actions against
Greenpeace and the Ford
Foundation.
REUTERS

Wheat harvest

Farmers harvest wheat in the Tharu village near Nagrota Bagwan, some
20km from Dharamsala.

MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was sentenced yesterday to ve years

in prison for killing a homeless
man with his SUV in a 2002
hit-and-run after a night out
drinking at an upmarket bar.
Judge D W Deshpande found
Khan guilty of culpable homicide
and other charges for driving
his Land Cruiser into a group
of homeless men sleeping rough
in suburban Mumbai, rejecting
the actors claim his driver was
to blame.
After going through the arguments put forth by both sides, I
have come to the conclusion that
ve years is proper punishment,
Deshpande told the packed sessions court in Mumbai.
The 49-year-old looked stunned
and tired as the sentence was
read out, sinking into his chair
as his family gathered around,
according to an AFP reporter in
the court.
But the actor was later granted
bail ahead of an appeal in Indias
notoriously slow legal system. It
was unclear how hard the conviction would hit the career of one of
the Indian movie industrys biggest box-ofce stars.
The outcome of the case had
been keenly awaited both by his
legion of fans and by Bollywood
studios, who stand to lose millions
of dollars if they have to cancel
lming for movies for which he
has been signed up.
The sentence sparked a storm
on social media, with Bollywood
celebrities taking to Twitter in
support of Khan, while at least
one blamed the homeless for being
there in the rst place.
Roads are meant for cars and
dogs not for people sleeping on
them, playback singer Abhijeet

Bollywood actor Salman Khan sits

in a car while leaving the court in
Mumbai yesterday.
Bhattacharya tweeted.
Khan, the star of blockbusters
such as Dabangg (Fearless), ed
the scene of the crash that left
labourer Nurulah Mahbob Sharif
dead and several others injured,
according to prosecutors.
His trial began in earnest last
year after a series of court hearings and lengthy legal hold-ups.
Several prosecution witnesses,
including survivors of the crash,
testied that Khan was driving
the vehicle when it ploughed
at speed into the men sleeping
on the street near a bakery in
September 2002.
When Khan nally took the
stand in March, he said his driver
was responsible for mounting
the pavement in the suburb of

Bandra West.
The driver testied in court
last month that he had been
behind the wheel, and that the
crash occurred after the front
left tyre burst, making steering
and braking difcult.
But the judge found Khan
guilty of all charges, including
driving while under the inuence
of alcohol and without a licence.
A constable attached to Khans
security detail said in his statement to police that the actor lost
control of the car while driving at
about 90kph.
One of the sleeping labourers
injured in the accident said in his
statement that Salman was so
drunk he fell.
Khans lawyers said the star
had in fact been drinking water
and had climbed out of the drivers
seat after the accident because
the passenger side door had been
damaged.
Khan has starred in more than
100 lms and television shows
since his rst hit Maine Pyar
Kiya (I Fell in Love) in the 1980s.
But the body-building actor is
no stranger to controversy and
spent more than a week behind
bars for killing an endangered
Indian gazelle in 1998.
Film trade analyst Komal
Nahta said Khan was currently
lming two movies worth up to
Rs2bn ($31m).
Their fate will depend on
whether he is given time to complete shooting and dubbing work
before he begins his sentence, he
told AFP.
Arjun Kapoor was among
a stream of actors to take to
Twitter, saying it doesnt matter
what anyone or any court says he
doesnt deserve this at any level.
AFP

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

16

MORNING BREAK

Smartphones wrecking
marriages in China
Left to right: Cate Blanchett (Carol),
Josh Brolin (Sicario), Michael Fassbender (Macbeth)
(France) Emmanuelle Bercot
La Tte Haute (Opening film)
FILMS IN COMPETITION
Director
(Taiwan)
The Assassin
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
(U.S.-UK)
Carol
Todd Haynes
(France)
Erran
Jacques Audiard
The Lobster (Greece-UK-Ireland-Netherlands-France) Yorgos Lanthimos
(Japan) Hirokazu Kore-eda
Our Little Sister
(Norway-France-Denmark)
Louder Than Bombs
Joachim Trier
(UK-France-U.S.)
Macbeth
Justin Kurzel
(France)
Marguerite and Julien
Valerie Donzelli
(France)
Mon Roi
Maiwenn
(China-Japan-France)
Mountains May Depart
Jia Zhangke
(Italy)
My Mother
Nanni Moretti
(U.S.)
The Sea of Trees
Gus Van Sant
(U.S.)
Sicario
Denis Villeneuve
(France)
A Simple Man
Stephane Brize
(Hungary)
Son of Saul
Laszlo Nemes
(Italy-France-UK)
The Tale of Tales
Matteo Garrone
(Italy-France-Switzerland-UK)
Youth
Paolo Sorrentino
JUDGING PANEL (Presidents*)
Joel Coen*, Ethan Coen*, Rossy de Palma, Sophie Marceau, Sienna Miller,
Rokia Traor, Guillermo del Toro, Xavier Dolan, Jake Gyllenhaal
Source: Festival de Cannes

Pictures: The Weinstein Company, Lionsgate

FIVE MUST-SEE
MOVIES
1. INSIDE OUT
2. THE TALE OF
TALES
3. AMY
4. CEMETERY OF
SPLENDOUR
5. LOVE

GRAPHIC NEWS

Diets dont work the

way we want them
WASHINGTON:
Earlier
this week, long-time eating
researcher Traci Mann discussed the unbecoming truth
about diets. The takeaway
is that they dont actually
work. Over the course of her
more than 20 years studying
how people eat, Mann has
found that willpower doesnt
work quite like we imagine
it will, and our bodies are
predisposed to maintain a
weight that often doesnt t
the ideal mould we aspire to
achieve.
That being said, there is
more than mere gloom for
those hoping to shed a few
pounds, or even just eat a bit
more healthfully. Diets might
not work the way we want
them to, but there are at
least two strategies for eating
less unhealthy food and more
healthy food that have been
shown to work pretty well.
The whole second half of
my book [Secrets from the
Eating Lab] actually talks
about strategies for eating
and losing weight that dont
require will power, said Mann,
who conducted much of her
research at the University
of Minnesotas Health and
Eating Lab.
There are strategies that
are easier to do without going
on a diet that is ultimately
going to fail. In our conversation, she reveals those strategies and explains why they are
so effective.
First, she says, focus on
creating obstacles to eating
bad food. These are strategies
that put obstacles between you
and tempting food. The reason
obstacles work is because we
are lazy. An obstacle will slow
us down, if not stop us entirely.
So its a great strategy for eating less of something. Its not
going to help you eat none, but
you will likely eat less of it.
Theres this one study from

a colleagues eating lab in the

Netherlands where she showed
that if you have a bowl of
M&Ms on the table next to
you youll eat a lot of them. If
you move it across the room,
however, youll eat roughly
half as many. Now, thats a big
obstacle. Youve got to stop
what youre doing and get up
and walk across the room. But
even a smaller obstacle than
that a much smaller one in
fact will work just as well.
If you just move that bowl of
candy two feet across the table,
so its still on the table but you
have to extend your arm to
reach it, youll eat as few as
when its across the room.
So even the smallest of
obstacles slow you down. Is
it going to get you to eat no
M&Ms? No. But I dont think
the goal should be to eat zero
M&Ms. The goal should be to
not eat as many. You need to
live your life, so you should get
to have a little candy.
Second, she says, make it
easier to eat healthy food.
The other strategy kind of
ips it. Instead of making it
harder to eat unhealthy stuff,
they make it easier to eat
healthy stuff.
An example of that would
be the get alone with a vegetable strategy. The strategy
is that you put vegetables in
competitions that they can
win. Normally, vegetables

will lose the competition that

theyre normally in the
competition with all the other
delicious food on your plate.
Vegetables might not lose that
battle for everyone, but they do
for most of us.
This strategy puts vegetables in a competition they
can win, by pitting vegetables
against no food at all.
To do that, you just eat
your vegetable rst, before
any of the other food is
there. Eat them before
other food is on your plate,
or even at your table. And
that way, you get them when
youre hungriest and unable
to pick something else instead.
This has actually been tested
in a lot of ways. And it works
unbelievably well. We tested it
with kids in school cafetarias,
where it more than quadrupled the amount of vegetables
eaten. I tested it with the students in my class last fall. Not
only did it increase the amount
of vegetables they ate, but it
decreased the amount of calories they ate without trying to.
The strategies are kind of
like this. And they work. Its
not about resisting yummy
stuff. Its not about going on
a diet that is bound to fail.
Its just about making it a little harder to make the wrong
choices, and a little easier to
make the right ones.
WP-BLOOMBERG

A woman at the Shanghai World Financial Center. A China

survey says the explosion in smartphone use is ruining
marriages and driving families apart.

BEIJING: Its a common sight

in restaurants in China, like in
many parts of the world now: A
couple sitting down to a meal
together, engrossed in their
smartphones, barely saying a
word to each other.
A survey has just come out in
China, though, clearly saying that
the explosion in smartphone use is
ruining marriages in the country
and driving families apart. The
survey by the All China Womens
Federation (ACWF) found that
60 percent of married respondents complained about intrusion
from smartphone use in their
relationship.
Mobile electronic devices have
become the electronic enemy of
love, the survey said. Overuse
of the devices has become a a
major enemy to spousal relations,
parental relations and personal
health.
Of 13,000 people interviewed by
the Communist Partys womens
organisation, 43 percent said
they played with electronics during family get-togethers or when
conversing with their spouse.
More than a third of respondents said they used electronic
devices to keep their children
quiet, nearly two thirds reported
taking their smartphones to
bed, and half continue to use
those devices after turning off
the lights.
Those who did so nd it ve
times more difcult to go to sleep

than those who did not bring electronic devices to bed, the survey
showed.
None of this is unique to China,
of course. In the United States, a
Pew Research Center study found
that 25 percent of cell phone owners in a marriage or partnership
have felt their partner was distracted by their cell phone when
they were together. Eight percent
have had an argument with their
partner about the amount of time
one of them was spending online.
But the pace of change in
China, and the sheer scale of the
problem here there are more
than 500 million smartphone
users in the country is causing
ofcial concern.
The study was launched as part
of a party-led effort to rebuild
family ties, stretched by decades
of societal turmoil and social
change; radical communism followed by rampant capitalism and
explosive economic growth have
put enormous pressure on Chinas
Confucian traditions of family
loyalty and lial piety.
Before Februarys Spring
Festival holiday, an important
time for families to reunite,
President Xi Jinping said Chinas
traditions of family harmony
should not be forgotten.
Taking up the theme, the
ACWF also recommended that
people switch off their smartphones for an hour every day and
invest more time in face-to-face

interactions with family members. It has also tied its annual

campaign to nd the most
beautiful family in China to the
themes of Xis speech.
In January, a woman in the
city of Wuhan smashed her husbands $500 smartphone because
he had been so engrossed in social
media after coming home from
work that he had ignored their
3-year-old daughter, local media
reported. Burying his head in his
smartphone, he barely exchanged
10 words with his daughter on
some days, she complained.
In Beijing, Zhang Meng, a
33-year-old online games analyst,
told the China Daily newspaper
that his girlfriend gets angry
with him if he doesnt stop playing games on his iPhone. But it is
true, I cant put my phone away,
he was reported as saying.
A 2013 study by consulting
company Accenture found that
the most popular use for smartphones in China was listening to
music followed by playing games.
Further down the list came
browsing Web sites, using social
media, watching movies and television serials, reading e-books and
emailing. The most popular use
for a Tablet was watching movies
and television shows.
The average age of respondents
in the ACWF survey was 28: half
were married and most had college degrees.
WP-BLOOMBERG

Royal oxen

Cambodian governor of Battambang province Chan Sophal (right) ploughs during the annual royal ploughing
ceremony in the province yesterday. Cambodias royal oxen refused to eat any rice grain during an ancient ritual
to predict the countrys agricultural fortunes, raising fears of a poor rice harvest among superstitious citizens.

Why Singapore PM doesnt want all his citizens to go to college

WASHINGTON: The city-state of Singapore
boasts one of the most advanced economies in
Asia, and one of continents most educated populations. And thats becoming a problem.
Recently imposed restrictions on immigration
and a slowdown in the countrys economic growth
have increased the need for more Singaporeans to
take up jobs in the countrys factories, shipyards
and service industries that keep the Southeast
Asian island metropolis humming.
This is not an easy sell in a country with one of
the worlds highest proportions of college-educated
citizens, and where its leading politicians, including

Cambridge-educated Prime Minister Lee Hsien

Loong, all boast prestigious university degrees.
Nevertheless, in his May Day message to the
nation, Lee called for a fresh approach to boost
Singaporean productivity and help keep wages rising. His government wants a new scheme promoting vocational programmes and apprenticeships
to help funnel Singaporeans into the workforce,
and away from possibly pursuing full university
study. As a society, we must be supportive and
open-minded. We should not measure people by
their paper qualications, but by their skills and
contributions, Lee said.

As Bloomberg News notes, Lees stance,

though unusual, is not totally new. A few
years back, then-South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak warned of the dangers of reckless university enrolment and considered
closing some institutions of higher learning.
South Korea and Singapore may represent a
particular end of a spectrum students in
the ultra-competitive educational systems of
both these countries routinely place high in
worldwide rankings. But the concerns voiced
by the Singaporean prime minister reflect a
larger global dilemma as governments struggle

to equip their nations for what Lee terms the

unsettled world economy.
In many countries, including the US, politicians
and education reformers have argued for a new
focus on science and technical training to ensure
a countrys competitiveness in an age of tech disruption and globalisation. Sceptics, including The
Washington Posts columnist Fareed Zakaria, have
offered notes of caution, warning that an emphasis
on this sort of learning at the expense of a liberal
arts education will in the long run undermine
a countrys ability to be hotbed for innovation.
WP-BLOOMBERG

Thursday 7 May 2015

18 Rajab 1436
Volume 20
Number 6423
Price: QR2

EU, IMF hit

back at Greece
in debt row

Business | 19
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa

Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780

QE inclusion in
MSCI, S&P gets
$1.25bn inow

Ashghal unveils
e-payments
for tender
procedures

QE holds two-day London roadshow

DOHA: The inclusion of the
Qatari bourse in the coveted
MSCI and S&P Emerging
Market indices last year has
led to an inow of an impressive $1.25bn into the market and
a near-trebling of average daily
turnover.
This was disclosed by the CEO
of Qatar Stock Exchange, Rashid
bin Ali Al Mansoori, at an event
in London yesterday.
The Qatar Stock Exchange
(QSE), in collaboration with QNB
Financial Services and HSBC, yesterday opened a two-day roadshow
in London to enhance investor
relations between international
investment institutions and Qatari
listed companies.
The forum was attended by
Yousef bin Ali Al Khater, Qatar
Ambassador to the United
Kingdom. The forum is designed
to complement the companies

ongoing investor relations activities through providing an opportunity for the senior management
of listed companies to meet key
decision makers from a number
of the worlds largest international
fund managers.
Al Khater said the forum contributes to strengthening economic and investment relations
between Qatar and the UK, given
the fact that Qatar is an important
partner for the United Kingdom.
Al Mansoori, the CEO, said
in a speech that these meetings,
which aim at shedding light on the
achievements of Qatars economy
and listed companies, are part of
QSEs ongoing efforts to occupy a
leading role in the international
capital markets.
Over the past few years, Qatar
Stock Exchange has achieved signicant growth. Whilst young it
is now a well-established national

Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori and other QSE ofcials with representatives of portfolio funds and corporate stock
investors at an event in London yesterday.
institution that include protable
listed companies and offers various investment opportunities for
local and international investors
wishing to benet from the success
story of Qatars economy and the.
We look forward to working with
corporates and investors alike in
advancing this role for the benet of all Qatars stakeholders, Al
Mansoori said.
Al Mansoori also highlighted
the macro and strategic story of
Qatar and why there is a strong

investment thesis in Qatar, adding that despite the recent marked

decline in oil prices the government continues to invest heavily in
the non-hydrocarbon sector.
He said that in addition to ongoing work on the infrastructure
side, Qatar has taken concrete
steps to improve access to foreign
investors pursuant to the Emiri
Decree in 2015, rising the foreign
ownership limit in Qatari stocks.
Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, Listing
Director of Qatar Stock Exchange,

said the representatives of the

international portfolio managers
have shown great interest in investing in Qatari corporates listed on
Qatar Stock Exchange and discussed various aspects related to
operational activities and future
prospects, nancial indicators for
these companies, during dozens of
solitary meetings that all of them
brought together with representatives of the Qatari joint stock companies to participate the meeting.
THE PENINSULA

Al Attiyah Awards honour six industry leaders

DOHA: The third edition of
Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah
International Energy Awards
honoured six global industry leaders in the presence of
former minister of energy and
industry H E Abdullah bin
Hamad Al Attiyah, Minister of
Energy and Industry H E Dr
Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada,
Omans Minister of Oil and
Gas Mohammed bin Hamad Al
Ramahi, Managing Director
and CEO of Qatar Petroleum
Saad Sherida Al Kaabi and a
number of personalities in this
sector.
Dr Fatih Birol, Executive
Director-Elect
of
the
International Energy Agency, was
honoured for his lifetime commitment to Producer Consumer
Dialogue as the chief Economist
of the IEA and formerly with
the Opec. He is responsible for
the IEAs agship World Energy
Outlook publication, which is recognised as the most authoritative
source of strategic analysis of global energy markets. Dr Birol has
been named by Forbes magazine
among the most powerful people in terms of inuence on the
worlds energy scene.
Nasser Khalil Al Jaidah, CEO
of Qatar Petroleum International,
was acknowledged as the
2015 Winner of the Lifetime
Achievement Award for the
Advancement of the Qatar Energy
Industry, which he has served for
almost 40 years in multiple roles,

Award winners and other dignitaries with H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Minister of Energy and Industry
H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and Omans Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed bin Hamad Al Ramahi.
including currently as a board
member of Qatar Petroleum.
Previous winners of this accolade include Dr Ibrahim Ibrahim,
Economic Adviser at the Amiri
Diwan, and H E Dr Al Sada.

It is a great honour after

three years for the Al Attiyah
International Energy Awards to
now have an alumni group of 20 of
some of the most respected gures
in the global oil and gas industry,

Qatars six brands among Top 50

DOHA: Qatar has six out of
the top 50 brands in Mena in
2015, with a combined brand
value of $8.21bn, according to a
recent study published by Brand
Finance, the worlds leading
brand valuation and strategy
consultancy.
According to the study, Qatar
Airways is the fourth most valuable brand with a brand value of

$2,774m, followed by QNB at fth

position with a value of $2,603m
and Ooredoo at 11th spot with
$1,740m, Commercial bank (41st)
with $413m, Doha Bank (47th)
with a brand value of $358m and
Qatar Islamic Bank (48th) with
$317m. All of Qatars brands have
performed well this year. The
average brand value growth rate
for the Middle East as a whole is

23 percent; the rate for Qatari

brands is nearly double that at
47 percent. The Middle Easts
two fastest growing brands are
both from Qatar; QIB has risen
91 percent and Ooredoo 82 percent helped in part by the rebrand
of providers in markets such as
Algeria, Tunisia, Kuwait and
Oman under the Ooreedoo master
brand.
THE PENINSULA

said H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al

Attiyah, Qatars former Minister
of Energy & Industry. We should
also take the opportunity to
thank the distinguished work of
the independent 2015 Selection

Committee, which is also made

up of globally respected gures,
including once again headed up
by Pulitzer Prize winning Author
Dr Daniel Yergin, he said.
The other 2015 winners
included Dr Ramzi Salman,
Former Deputy Secretary
General of Opec, who was recognised for his Lifetime contribution to the Advancement of Opec;
Prof Giacomo Luciani, Executive
Master in Oil & Gas Leadership,
IHEID, was honoured for the
Advancement of Education for
Future Energy Leaders; Dr Pierre
Terzian, President & Editor-inChief of Petrostrategies, for the
Advancement of International
Energy Journalism.
The late CEO of Total,
Christophe de Margerie, was
recognised posthumously with an
Honorary Lifetime Achievement
Award for the Advancement of
International Energy Policy &
Diplomacy.
We take great pride and honour in receiving this posthumous
recognition of our late CEO
Christophe de Margerie, said
Stephane Michel, Totals Middle
East-North Africa President.
Christophe dedicated his life to
developing Total, and left behind
a legacy of one of the top energy
industries of this world. Today, we
are very honoured to have Mrs De
Margerie amongst us to be a part
of this extraordinary celebration,
and for her to accept the award
on his behalf .THE PENINSULA

QATARS MOST VALUABLE BRANDS

National Regional
Rank
Rank

Brand

Brand
Value
2015
(USDm)

Brand
Rating
2015

Brand
Value
Change
(%)

Brand
Value
2014
(USDm)

Brand
Rating
2014

Qatar Airways

2,774

AA+

54%

1,806

AA+

QNB

2,603

AA

44%

1,811

AA

11

Ooredoo

1,740

AA

82%

958

AA

41

Commercialbank

413

A+

47%

280

A+

47

Doha Bank

358

A+

13%

318

A+

48

Qatar Islamic Bank

317

A+

91%

166

DOHA: The Public Works

Authority Ashghal has
launched a new e-payment
service that will speed up its
tender procedures.
The service will enable companies to buy and download
the authoritys tendering documents and circulars online
through Ashghals website
www.ashghal.gov.qa.
Ashghal started receiving request to buy tendering
documents electronically from
the rst quarter of 2015, after
cancelling the manual system.
This function is one of
many important services
that Ashghals integrated
Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) system offers, Ashghal
said yesterday. This system will
work on replacing the manual
paper system for nancial and
administrative processes with
the electronic systems aiming
to increase the efciency of
processes and internal procedures in the authority.
This electronic platform is
designed especially to include
all contractors information,
in addition to offering them
exclusive services such as:
sending tenders alerts and
allowing participating companies to review all updated
information about open
tenders.
The automation will also
include awarding and delivering contracts to companies
electronically. This will in turn
save a lot of the time needed
to send and track important
documents. Most second phase
services are expected to be
activated during 2016, while
the development and addition
of more services to the system
will continue, based on work
requirements and the need for
these services that will keep on
elaborating with the progress
of the implementation and
activation.

QP invites bids
for Al-Shaheen
oileld work
DOHA: Qatar Petroleum
(QP) has issued invitations
to a group of leading international oil and gas companies
to compete for the future
operation and development
of Al-Shaheen oileld starting in mid-2017. The date
marks the expiration of QPs
existing Al-Shaheen exploration and production sharing
agreement with Maersk Oil
of Denmark. Maersk Oil is
among the companies invited
to compete for the future
development and operation
of Al-Shaheen Field.
Saad Sherida Al Kaabi,
President and CEO of Qatar
Petroleum said: The future
operation and development of
Al-Shaheen oil eld is of critical strategic importance to the
optimum exploitation of the
natural resources of Qatar.
Therefore, the selection of our
partner in this endeavour will be
based on such partners ability
to offer the best technological
solutions for the elds development combined with the best
nancial return to the State.
Al-Shaheen oil eld, located
80km off Qatars shores, is one
of the largest oil elds in the
THE PENINSULA
world.

18

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BUSINESS

EU unveils digital strategy to cut US grip

Union considering new regulation
BRUSSELS: The EU unveiled
plans to shake up rules for online
services in the hope that breaking down borders can revive the
blocs economy, but risks accusations of trying to throw up new
barriers to the US rms that
dominate its market.
With some fanfare, the
European Commission presented
a range of broad policy proposals. They range from possible new
regulation for Web platforms like
Google and Facebook to popular
plans for cutting delivery costs on
online shopping over EU borders
and ending blocks on watching
online videos abroad.
The Digital Single Market
Strategy is central to Jean-Claude
Junckers strategy to create jobs
across the 28-nation bloc and the
Commission president, in ofce
since November, won cautious
plaudits from across EU politics
for what remain general ideas.
Today, we lay the groundwork
for Europes digital future, said
Juncker, who posted a jokey online
video for the occasion, seeking to
burnish the EUs threadbare populist credentials. I want to see pancontinental telecoms networks,
digital services that cross borders
and a wave of innovative European
start-ups. I want to see every consumer getting the best deals and
every business accessing the widest market, he said.
Representatives of big US tech
companies, however, already
smarting from last months move

Indias lower
House gives
nod to GST
NEW DELHI: Indias lower
house of parliament passed
a tax reform bill intended to
transform the country into a
seamless market, boosting
economic growth and cutting
the cost of doing business.
But the goods and services
tax (GST) bill must now be
passed by the upper house,
where Prime Minister Narenda
Modi has been struggling to
pass his reforms since storming
to power a year ago on a pledge
to revive the economy.
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley urged parliament to
support the long-awaited bill,
saying it would transform India
into a common market and
end multiple taxes and levies
on products across the country. The GST would ensure
a seamless and uniform indirect tax regime besides lowering ination and promoting
fresh growth, Jaitley told
parliament.
The government is hoping to
introduce the GST from April 1,
2016. But the reform still faces
hurdles including approval by
more than half of Indias 29
states and territories, some of
which object to giving up their
own right to levy taxes. Modis
efforts to introduce a string
of economic reforms have
been frustrated by parliament
where his BJP lacks a majority
in the upper house. The GST
would end Indias patchwork of
taxes, under which each state
has used its powers under
the constitution to tax
different commodities at different rates.
AFP

by the new Commission to pursue Google on antitrust charges,

warned against snaring fast-moving industries in ways that would
hurt a Europe that US President
Barack Obama recently accused of
taking a protectionist turn.
The idea of regulating platforms is ill-conceived, the
Computer and Communications
Industry Association (CCIA) said
in a statement after conrmation
of the EU plan to complete a major
review of the platform business by
the end of the year to assess the
value of calls for them to be more
tightly overseen.
Such rules could hurt the small
European start-ups more than
incumbent global giants with big
legal teams, the CCIA argued.
As well as the inquiry into
online platforms, the EUs competition commissioner conrmed
she would investigate the e-commerce sector for possible breaches
of antitrust law, especially in relation to postal charges.
European Union leaders reject
charges of anti-Americanism in
their efforts to reshape online
markets at home. But there is no
lack of suspicion among European
voters and politicians at the power
of US tech companies, not least
following revelations in recent
years that Washington has been
spying on its allies.
Europeanisation of digital
policy is absolutely the way to go,
said Guenther Oettinger, the commissioner for the digital economy.

Vice President for the Digital Single Market of the European Commission Andrus Ansip (left) and EU Commissioner
for the Digital Economy and Society Guenther Oettinger give a press conference on Digital Single Market Strategy
at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday.
(It) will give us digital sovereignty
which we dont always have.
A German conservative,
Oettinger is a vocal critic of US
might in a sector where German
media companies have, for example, been lobbying to protect content from online giants.
The review of platforms, which
had been expected, will focus on
the transparency of search results
and pricing policies, how platforms use data they acquire, their

relationships with other businesses

and how fairly they promote their
own services. The overall strategy, laid out by Junckers vicepresident for digital Andrus Ansip,
includes a set of initiatives focusing on reforming copyright and
national telecoms rules, knocking
down barriers to cross-border parcel deliveries and helping start-ups
to sell online by simplifying sales
tax across the EU.
He aims to deliver on his

Daimler unveils world rst self-driving truck

LOS ANGELES: German carmaker Daimler has unveiled
what it calls the worlds rst
self-driving truck authorised
for use on public roads, presenting the ground-breaking vehicle in the US state of Nevada.
The Freightliner Inspiration
truck was launched on the iconic
Hoover Dam, an hours drive
from Las Vegas, said Wolfgang
Bernhard, head of Daimlers
truck and bus division.
The Hoover Dam provides the
ideal setting for a debut as signicant to the trucking industry
as this, he said. Not only was it
built primarily using trucks, but
it signies inspiration like few
other structures in the world.

To show the signicance and

opportunities of autonomous
driving functions for the global
trucking industry we were willing to go ways that people did not
dare to think about before, he
added.
The Stuttgart-based company
said in a statement that Nevada
had approved two Freightliner
Inspiration trucks for regular
driving on public roads.
The vehicles have smart systems including sensors and active
speed regulators, and are authorized for use without a human
driver although one has to be
present to monitor the system
and take the wheel if necessary.
The authorization to drive on

roads in the United States is an

important step for self-driving
trucks, said Bernhard.
Daimler, whose vehicles include
the high-end Mercedes-Benz
range and compact Smart cars,
is also the worlds biggest maker
of trucks with brands including
Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner,
Fuso and BharatBenz.
The German giant is a pioneer
in self-driving technology, both in
cars and trucks.
In an interview in the German
business daily Handelsblatt
Bernhard trumpeted the advantages of self-driving vehicles.
Besides increased safety compared to human drivers, they can
save up to 5 percent in fuel usage.

Cinco de Mayo celebrations at NYSE

A traditional Mexican band plays on the oor of the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate Cinco de Mayo
yesterday in New York City.

iPhones gain in Europe, China; phablets on the rise

WASHINGTON: The latest
iPhones have helped Apple gain
smartphone market share in
Europe and China, with a large
number of customers switching
from Android devices, a market
tracker said.
Kantar Worldpanel also said
that in the United States, the
market for phablets, or largescreen smartphones, has quadrupled over the past year, also
helping Apple with its iPhone 6
Plus. The newest data showed
that in urban China, Apple
boosted its share to 26.1 percent

promises by the end of next year,

setting up battles with a variety of
industrial interests.
EU telecoms regulations will
also be overhauled next year.
Telecom operators welcomed
the announcement, saying that
reforming the rules would lead
to greater investment in Europes
ageing copper networks. But alternative operators warned against
tolerating monopoly power to subsidise spending.
REUTERS

in the rst quarter, up from 17.9

percent for the same period in
2014. Androids market share in
China, meanwhile, slipped eight
points to 72 percent.
China is now driving more
volume for Apple than the US,
Kantar said.
Kantar found that Apple lifted
its smartphone share in Europes
ve largest markets by 1.8 points
to 20.3 percent in the quarter.
One-third of Apples new customers switched from Android in
these markets Britain, France,
Germany, Italy and Spain.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

continued to attract consumers
across Europe, including users
who previously owned an Android
smartphone, reported Carolina
Milanesi, chief of research at
Kantar.
Androids market share in the
big EU markets share declined by
3.1 percentage points compared to
last year, to 68.4 percent, Kantar
said.But the free Google Android
operating system is still dominant
due to a price advantage.
In Great Britain, while 25.6
percent of new iOS buyers

switched from Android during

the quarter, Androids leadership
remains strong, thanks to the
price options consumers have in
both the contract and pre-pay
market, said Dominic Sunnebo,
business unit director at Kantar.
Thirty-ve percent of consumers who bought an Android
smartphone in the rst quarter
said their decision was driven
by receiving a good price on the
phone. Another 29 percent said
that getting a good deal on the
tariff/contract was a factor in
their purchase.
AFP

The truck drivers job is also

made less tedious and therefore
more attractive, he added.
He added that a totally selfdriving truck, without the need
for human monitoring, will not
be with us before 2025. Selfdriving cars in urban settings,
where trafc conditions are more
complex, are even further off, he
added.
Daimler is currently seeking
authorization in Germany similar to that obtained in Nevada,
he added.
The German carmaker tested
a Mercedes-Benz self-driving
truck in Germany in July, but on
a stretch of motorway with no
other trafc on it.
AFP

Boeing poised
to clinch $3bn
plus Kuwait
F/A-18 order
WASHINGTON: Kuwait is
expected to announce in coming
weeks an order for 28 Boeing
Co F/A-18E/F Super Hornets,
a $3bn-plus deal that will keep
the jets St Louis production
line running well into 2019,
according to people familiar
with the deal.
Kuwait, which operates a eet
of earlier F/A-18 models, has
signed a formal letter stating its
rm plans to buy newer-model
Boeing jets, according to one of
the people who is familiar with
the deal but was not authorised
to speak publicly.
A second source conrmed that
the US government was working
with Kuwait to approve the sale of
advanced Boeing ghter jets, but
gave no further details.
One US ofcial said the proposed Kuwaiti purchase of Super
Hornets would be discussed
as part of President Barack
Obamas summit meeting with
Gulf Cooperation Council leaders next week but said it was not
clear the deal would be nalised
then. The expected deal would
make Kuwait the second foreign
country after Australia to order
the new Boeing jets.
The Kuwait order, as well as
separate moves by lawmakers to
approve the US Navys request for
12 extra Super Hornets, should
now provide sufcient comfort
for Boeing to bet its own money
to extend its St Louis production
line. It is currently slated to shut
down at the end of 2017.
Boeing spokeswoman Caroline
Hutcheson said a near-term
Middle Eastern order and congressional funding for 12 more
Super Hornets would allow the
company to continue delivering
jets without a break in the production line. She said both elements were needed, cautioning
against any assumption that the
Kuwaiti order alone would sufce
to keep the line running beyond
the end of 2017.
Howard Berry, Boeings top
international sales executive, last
month said the company expected
a decision about F/A-18 orders
within months from an unnamed
Middle Eastern country.
Boeing assembles the jets in
St Louis, while weapons maker
Northrop Grumman Corp builds
the planes aft/centre fuselage
section and vertical tails in El
Segundo, California. REUTERS

Al Rayan Bank operating

income jumps 168pc
DOHA: Al Rayan Bank, formerly known as Islamic Bank
of Britain (IBB), yesterday
announced its strongest nancial
performance to date, resulting in
the Bank more than doubling its
operating income and posting its
rst prot since its inception in
2004.
The banks operating income
increased 168 percent to 11.8m in
2014 from4.4m in 2013. The bank
saw 86 percent increase in total
customer nancing, to 450.3m.
Retail deposits increased 59 percent to 509.8m and while wholesale deposits increased 53 percent
to 31.7m.
Commenting on Al Rayan
Banks performance, Robert
Sharpe, the Banks newly
appointed Chairman said, The
nancial year 2014 has been a
momentous one in the Banks history and has laid the foundations
for a prosperous future. The 75m
additional investment from Masraf
Al Rayan was a transformational
event, the rst results of which we
have proudly announced today. The
Board believes that stakeholders
in the Bank including shareholders, customers and employees have
good reason to be optimistic about
its future prospects. This is based
on Al Rayan Bank having a clear
and balanced strategy to increase
assets, liabilities and shareholder
value, having a strong risk culture
and a regulatory capital position
that is well above the regulatory
requirement.
Sultan Choudhury, Chief
Executive Ofcer, Al Rayan Bank,

added, Increasing consumer condence, the continued strength of

the housing market and opportunities to provide property nance
to the commercial sector as well
as to investors in the Gulf has
enabled Al Rayan Bank to post its
best results to date. This has all
been underpinned by the strong
nancial and strategic support of
the parent company, Masraf Al
Rayan. We look forward to even
better results in 2015.
Al Rayan Banks achievements
follow its acquisition by Masraf Al
Rayan (MAR) in early 2014. This
was accompanied by a 75m additional investment by MAR and the
implementation of a number of
strategic initiatives in order to help
the Bank achieve sustained profitability. Al Rayan Bank received
formal shareholder approval, in
December 2014, for a change to its
name and brand, in line with its
new parent company. MAR has
an extremely strong brand presence in Qatar and the GCC and
the name change will help to align
Al Rayan Bank more closely with
its parent, both internally and
externally. It will also enable the
Bank to grow both nationally and
internationally by creating a unied brand for the Group.
Al Rayan Bank opened its doors
in 2004 as the UKs rst wholly,
Sharia compliant retail bank. The
Bank currently has over 50,000
retail, business and premier customers and has earned a reputation for providing innovative
products which appeal to people
of any faith. THE PENINSULA

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BUSINESS

19

Lenders dash Greek

hopes for quick deal
Athens makes 200m interest payment to IMF
AT H E NS/ F R A N K F U RT :
European lenders yesterday
dashed Greeces hopes for a
quick cash-for-reforms deal in
the coming days, leaving Athens
in an increasingly desperate
nancial position ahead of a
major debt payment next week.
Talks between the two sides have
dragged on for months without a
breakthrough and EU ofcials say
Greeces leftist government has
failed to produce enough concessions for a deal at next Mondays
meeting of eurozone nance ministers. Since the last Eurogroup
quite a bit of progress has been
made, Eurogroup chief Jeroen
Dijsselbloem said. Still, lots of
issues have to be solved, have to be
deepened more, with more details,
so there will be no agreements on
Monday. We have to be realistic.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsiprass
government remains hopeful the
Eurogroup meeting will acknowledge progress in the talks, possibly enabling the European Central
Bank to let Greek banks buy more
short-term government debt to
ease a cash crunch.
But there was no sign in
Brussels or Frankfurt that any
such easing of the squeeze is likely
soon without concrete evidence of
progress on reforms.
The ECBs Governing Council of
policy-setters approved increasing
emergency funding to Greek banks
by 2bn at its weekly review, the
biggest rise in recent weeks. The
governors also debated imposing
a steeper discount on the security
that banks offer for this assistance but held off on any change
for now, people familiar with the
matter said. That means such a

switch will not happen for at least

another week.
Athens managed to scrape
together funds to make a 200m
interest payment to the IMF yesterday, but faces a more daunting
750m repayment on May 12.
With some municipalities,
regional and public entities
resisting an order to turn over
cash reserves to the central
bank, sources close to the government have expressed doubt about
whether Athens can make both
the IMF payment and pay wages
and pensions later this month.
A government source said the
money raised so far by the decree
has fallen short of a target of 2.5bn
and that Athens is expected to
continue resorting to other one-off
measures such as holding off some
payments to suppliers. Greek ofcials had initially pinned their hopes
on an interim agreement with lenders this week but with talks deadlocked on major issues like pension
and labour reforms, they are now
pushing for a more comprehensive
deal later this month.
Mondays Eurogroup meeting
could serve as a platform for
an eventual accord with lenders,
Greek Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis said after talks with
his Italian counterpart.
Tsipras discussed the two
major stumbling blocks in a
phone conversation with European
Commission President JeanClaude Juncker and they concurred on the role of a modern
collective bargaining system, the
leaders said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear
if the conversation had helped
bridge any differences. Restoring

collective bargaining by sector

abolished under Greeces ve-year
bailout programme was one of
Tsipras campaign promises.
Prime Minister Tsipras has made
some concessions on restarting
stalled privatisations, harmonising
value-added tax and improving tax
collection, but has refused to budge
so far on pension cuts and labour
law reform that would make it easier to lay off workers. Greeces lenders also oppose his plans to raise the
minimum wage.
Asked when a deal might be
possible, a source at the negotiating table, speaking on condition
of anonymity, said: It depends on
when Tsipras decides to tell his
own people that he has to cross at
least some of the red lines.
Greeces Deputy Prime Minister
Yannis Dragasakis met ECB
President Mario Draghi late on
Tuesday to plead for Greek banks
to be granted funding support and
allowed to buy more short-term
treasury bills, easing the governments cash crunch.
Greece sold $1.3bn of six-month
T-bills yesterday, covering the
entire amount it sought to raise
in the rst of two auctions this
month. Despite an increasingly
dire nancial position as bailout
aid remains frozen, Athens has
been able to nd domestic buyers
to plug any gaps resulting from
foreign investors reluctance to
roll over their own Greek T-bill
holdings. However, the ECB has
capped the amount that Greek
banks can buy because of concerns
that their use of central bank
funds amounts to indirect monetary nancing of the government.
REUTERS

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin (right) speaks with Netherlands Minister of Finance and Eurogroup President
Jeroen Dijsselbloem in a boat on the River Seine after a meeting at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris yesterday.

EU, IMF hit back at Greece in row

BRUSSELS: The EU and IMF
hit back yesterday at accusations by Athens that internal
rifts were blocking a bailout
deal as cash-poor Greece survived yet another big interest
payment averting bankruptcy.
The row burst into the
open just as a feverish push by
Athens to secure a deal spread
across European capitals with
Greek Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis visiting Rome yesterday before a visit to Spain today.
The European Commission,
the European Central Bank
and the International Monetary
Fund share the same objective of
helping Greece achieve nancial
stability and growth, the institutions in charge of Greeces rescue
programme said in a rare joint
statement.
It said they would work closely
together to make progress at a
crunch Eurogroup meeting of
eurozone nance ministers in
Brussels on Monday.

The rejoinder came a day after

the radical new government of
Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras blamed divisions between
its international creditors for a
three-month impasse in talks
aimed at unblocking 7.2bn in
bailout cash.
Greece angrily said this was
the exclusive responsibility of
the EU and the Washingtonbased IMF, which have together
supplied the two bailouts for debthit Greece since 2010.
At the heart of the alleged
divisions were IMF rules under
which the fund can only support
countries whose debt is judged to
be sustainable, and reported calls
from the IMF for Europe to write
off some of Greeces debt.
But Greeces debt is the highest
in the eurozone and is forecast to
soar to 180.2 percent of annual
economic output this year.
And Jean-Claude Juncker,
the head of the European

AA&B exhibits Godrej

Security Solutions range
DOHA: The Commercial &
Industrial Division of Abdullah
Abdulghani & Bros (AA&B)
Co unveiled its latest range of
Godrej Security Solutions at an
event held recently.
A wide range of products was
showcased & a brief presentation
on Godrej Security Equipment
was given by delegates from
Godrej.
The Commercial &
Industrial Division of Abdullah
Abdulghani & Bros. Co provides
sales and after sales services for
a wide range of construction,
industrial machinery and general
products needed by various industries. They represent 12 world
renowned brands Toyota & BT
Material Handling Equipment,
Kawasaki Wheel loader, Godrej
Storage Solutions, Exide batteries, Sumitomo tires to name a few.
The Godrej Group is a global

conglomerate with diversied

activities that range from engineering goods, aerospace, home
and ofce furniture, warehouse
storage solutions, construction,
security equipment, locks, forklifts, appliances and software to
toiletries, chemical fertilisers and
food products. The group has a
total sales turnover of in excess
of $4bn.
It is one of the most respected
business houses in India and is
well reputed for its values of
fair, transparent, ethical dealings and always adhering to its
business commitments. Security
Solutions Division is the third
largest Division of Godrej & Boyce
Mfg Co Ltd and has been accredited with IMS (Integrated Quality
Management Systems) certication from TUV Germany.
THE PENINSULA

Commission, held a telephone

conversation with Tsipras that a
statement said broached some of
thorniest issues in the deadlocked
talks.
The head of the Eurogroup
of eurozone nance ministers,
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, meanwhile
said the chances of a deal were
clearly improved. Theres a
more positive outlook to reach a
deal than some weeks ago, said
Dijsselbloem, the Dutch nance
minister, after talks in Paris with
his French counterpart Michel
Sapin.
Sapin and Dijsselbloem cautioned that no deal should
be expected at the Brussels
Eurogroup on Monday, despite
high hopes that a solution for
Greece would nally be reached.
However Varoufakis said in
Rome that he was very condent about the Monday meeting, after meeting Italian nance
minister Pier Carlo Padoan.
AFP

Al Nabit new
Tamayuz
head at QIB

Delegates from Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros and Godrej Security Solutions at the event.

DOHA:
Qatar
Islamic
Bank (QIB) has appointed
Abdulrahman Al Nabit as
its new Head of Tamayuz
Banking. The appointment is
in line with the banks strategy to promote local talents
from within the bank.
For the past four years,
Al Nabit has been the Area
Manager responsible for QIBs
Northern Region Branches
Network. He is a senior banking executive with over 20
years of experience, holding a
bachelor degree in Accounting
from Qatar University. Tamayuz
(Afuent) segment is offering
premium clients tailor-made
products, nancial planning
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Obama puts Nike in trade spotlight despite sweatshop stigma

WASHINGTON:
President
Barack Obama (pictured) will
make a high-prole pitch for a
Pacic trade deal he promises
will protect workers tomorrow at Nike Inc, a company
once reviled for using Asian
sweatshops to make its famous
sneakers.
In choosing the companys
Oregon headquarters as the backdrop for his message, Obama risks
reminding people of global trades
downside just when he needs to
convince nervous Democrats to
back the 12-nation Trans-Pacic
Partnership (TPP), a key plank
of the administrations strategic
pivot to Asia. But appearing at
Nike also allows Obama to talk
about how things have changed
from previous trade deals, and to
associate his TPP with a company
that says it has learned from the
past mistakes of globalisation.
Obama calls the TPP the most
progressive trade agreement in
our history, but ofcials declined

to say why he chose Nike to showcase a deal economists say will

add $77.5bn to US annual economic output.
Stories exposing low wages and
abuse at Indonesian shoe factories
supplying Nike surfaced in the
early 1990s, eventually sparking
consumer boycotts.
In 1998, then-chief executive
Phil Knight acknowledged that
his product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced
overtime and arbitrary abuse
and pledged to raise standards.
Nike required contractors to
sign a code of conduct and hired
auditors to monitor changes.
Although the approach had
little impact initially, conditions
improved signicantly after
Nike began training and working more closely with suppliers,
said Richard Locke of Brown
University, who began studying
the company in 2002. Theyre
still being paid less than they
would be paid here, because wage

rates are lower in these countries, said Locke, who has pored
over Nikes internal audit data.
But the actual working conditions pace, cleanliness, healthiness its like a modern factory
anywhere.
Skeptics point to Nikes past

as vindication for their message

about the TPPs dangers.
They are the symbol of what
everyone is afraid the future
under TPP will be, which is a
United States brand name, a
handful of well-paid, high-income
professional jobs ... and then

production offshore to the lowest

possible wage venues, said Lori
Wallach of consumer advocacy
group Public Citizen.
Nike employs about 26,000
Americans, 8,000 in Oregon,
where its shoes are designed. But
they are produced by more than
1 million workers in nearly 700
contract factories, a third in TPP
partner Vietnam, where unions
say the minimum wage is $100$140 a month. The pact would
make importing those shoes
cheaper.
Obama making the case that
the TPP paves the way to more
sustainable US jobs could give
political cover to Democrats braving union opposition to support
legislation to speed deals like the
TPP through Congress. Four of
Oregons six Democratic members
of Congress have signaled support
for the bill, which is expected to
be voted on by end-June. Nike
said it is proud of its record in
Oregon, where one in ve jobs

depend on trade and where it contributes $2.5bn a year to the state

economy, according to Hilary
Krane, the companys general
counsel and chief administrative
ofcer. Our whole Oregon operation from the start has been built
on international trade, she said.
Nike spokesman Greg Rossiter
said the company had fundamentally changed the way we
do business and improved conditions for workers in contract
factories, although more work is
still needed.
For Nike, Obamas visit allows
it to align itself as part of the
solution to the ills of globalization, said Peter LaMotte, senior
vice president at crisis communications rm Levick.
While there will always be
those who remember Nike for
the child labor issues, the vast
majority of the American public
will associate them more with
Air Jordans, LaMotte said.
REUTERS

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

20

BUSINESS

Yellen cites potential dangers in US stocks

Risks to nancial stability moderated, not elevated: Fed

US Securities and Exchange Commission

Commissioner Kara Stein during the IMF Finance
& Society conference at IMF headquarters in
Washington, DC, yesterday.

WASHINGTON:
Federal
Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said
high equity valuations could pose
potential dangers but that stability risks across the US nancial
system remained in check.
I would highlight that equity
market valuations at this point
generally are quite high, Yellen
said. There are potential dangers
there.
Yellens view on the run-up in
stocks was an answer to questions
from International Monetary
Fund Managing Director Christine
Lagarde, who joined the Fed chief
for the opening session of the
Finance and Society conference
here. Weve also seen the compression of spreads on high-yield
debt, which certainly looks like a
reach for yield type of behaviour,
Yellen said.
Another potential trouble spot
that Yellen pointed out was low
long-term interest rates, which
could spike as the Fed normalises
its policy, causing disruption across
the nancial system.
When the Fed decides its time
to begin raising rates, these term
premiums could move up and we
could see a sharp jump in longterm rates. So were trying to ...

communicate as clearly about our

monetary policy so we dont take
markets by surprise, she said.
Yellen tempered these remarks
by saying that she did not see any
bubbles forming at the moment,
and she described risks to nancial stability as moderated, not
elevated.
The question and answer session with Lagarde occurred after
the two delivered similar speeches
highlighting the need to continue
reining in risk across the banking
sector.
Yellen also noted concerns about
potential liquidity problems facing
certain asset-managers should
they face a wave of redemptions.
In her remarks, Yellen outlined
the contributions of the banking
system to society and the economy.
But she quickly turned her
speech to the distorted system
of incentives and weak controls
throughout the nancial industry that set the stage for the 2008
nancial crisis. A combination of
responses to distorted incentives
by players throughout the nancial
system created an environment
conducive to a crisis, Yellen said.
Lagarde also cast a critical eye
on the behaviour of bankers and

the need for change. What is

needed is a culture that induces
bankers to do the right thing even
if nobody is watching, Lagarde
said in her prepared remarks.
Lagarde noted that more women
leaders would help improve governance in the nancial system,
a comment that resonated in the
events crowd and waiting speakers, which featured some of the
worlds most powerful women in
nance.
Lagarde also said bank compensation incentives need to change
so as to not reward excessive risktaking. Yellen said that regulators
were too focused on individual
rms before the crisis, and not
focused enough on the safety of
the entire nancial system.
Policy makers, including the
Fed, remain watchful for areas in
need of further action or in which
the steps taken to date need to be
adjusted, she said.
When Lagarde asked Yellen
about shadow banking, the Fed
chief said it was an area the Fed
was closely watching and one that
needed appropriate regulation.
Yellen did not comment on
monetary policy in her remarks.
REUTERS

International Monetary Fund Managing Director

Christine Lagarde and Federal Reserve Board
Chairwoman Janet Yellen (front) at the conference in
Washington, DC.

Nigeria borrows to StanChart sees UK bank tax

pay salaries as cash rising again amid HQ review
crunch worsens
ABUJA:
A
cash
shortage
caused by low oil prices has
forced Nigeria to borrow heavily
through the early part of 2015,
with the government struggling
to pay public workers, ofcials
said yesterday.
We have serious challenges.
Things have been tough since the
beginning of the year and they are
likely to remain so till the end of
the year, said Finance Minister
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, adding that
more than half of this years borrowing allowance had already been
exhausted.
Nigeria, Africas top economy
and largest oil producer, has been
hammered by the 50 percent fall
in oil prices as crude sales account
for more than 70 percent of government revenue. As it stands today,
most states of the federation have
not been able to pay salaries and
even the federal government has
not paid (April) salary and that
is very worrisome, said Imo state
Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Okonjo-Iweala said the federal
government had a projected borrowing allowance for 2015 of 882bn
naira ($4.4bn). But 473bn naira
had already been used up to meet
recurrent expenditures, including
salaries of public employees. We
have front-loaded the borrowing
programme to manage the cash
crunch in the economy, the minister told reporters.
According to the Central
Bank (CBN), Nigeria currently
has $29.6bn in foreign reserves,
but analysts said depleting those
funds to offset revenue shortfalls
could further undermine global

condence in the countrys economy. The CBN issues letters of

credit to all domestic rms that
import foreign goods, a measure
which serves as a guarantee for
international companies that have
been reluctant to do business in
Nigeria, said Jide Akintunde, editor
of the Financial Nigeria magazine.
The CBN is expected to maintain
reserves covering six months of
imports. If we do not have the
required level of reserves, imports
could start to freeze up, Akintunde
said.
For Okonjo-Iweala, accelerated
borrowing is the easiest strategy
to manage the current shortfalls,
Akintude said, although with a new
government set to take power at
the end month, the revenue crunch
will soon be someone elses problem.
President-elect Muhammadu
Buhari will be sworn in on May 29
and is not expected to retain any
of the key ministers appointed
by outgoing president Goodluck
Jonathan. Government critics have
alleged that Nigerias revenue crisis
was compounded by excessive and
wasteful political spending through
last months general elections.
Leaders of Buharis All
Progressives Congress party
warned that the incoming administration will be confronted with
serious economic headwinds after
taking ofce. But Akintunde said
the news is not all bad for Buhari.
The current benchmark oil price
is $54 per barrel and with crude
selling above $60 this week, Nigeria
should have sufcient revenue to
meet costs and invest in public
projects, he said.
AFP

LONDON: Standard Chartered

said it expected Britain to
increase its bank levy again and
the rising cost of the tax was a
key issue in its assessment of
whether to keep its headquarters in London or move to Asia.
Standard Chartered Chairman
John Peace told investors yesterday the Asia-focused bank had
no current plans to move but
was keeping its domicile under
review. Rival HSBC is formally
reviewing the best place for its
HQ and will decide whether to
move in the next few months.
We are listening carefully to
our shareholders on this issue ...
in light of the latest increase in
the bank levy, the likelihood of
further increases and the impact
on the groups costs, Peace said at
the annual shareholder meeting.
Analysts said a move could
make more sense for Standard

Chartered than HSBC, but the

bank had other operating problems that would be a higher priority for its new chief executive.
Former JPMorgan investment
bank boss Bill Winters is taking
over as CEO from Peter Sands on
June 10. Winters started working at the bank last week, and has
been meeting shareholders and
visiting operations.
Standard Chartered is trying to
turn around its performance after
a torrid two years and a purge of
leadership. The bank is trying
to cut costs and shrink its loan
book to improve its protability
and deal with concerns about
its capital. The banks shares
are up 13 percent since Winters
was appointed in February. One
shareholder at the meeting said
Winters was the bearer of hope
for the bank.
Former McKinsey consultant

Sands told investors he was proud

of his 13 years at the bank, including more than eight as CEO.
Along the way weve had many
ups and downs, weve had great
successes and made our share of
mistakes, he said.
Peace said the bank was taking action to revive its fortunes,
but was being careful not to take
any knee-jerk actions which may
damage the long term prospects.
The bank also came under
re from environmental group
Greenpeace for advising and funding a controversial Australian coal
mining project, and was urged to
end its relationship with any company involved in the Carmichael
mine. Peace said the bank was
looking into the issue and would
go no further until it was satised with all the environmental
aspects, but refused to say if it was
funding the project. REUTERS

Denmark proposes cash-free shops

COPENHAGEN: The Danish
government proposed getting
rid of the obligation for selected
retailers to accept payment in
cash, moving the country closer
to a cashless economy.
Nearly a third of the Danish
population uses MobilePay, a
smartphone application for transferring money to other phones
and shops, and Sweden, Denmark
and Finland lead in credit card
payments per inhabitants in the
European Union.
The government said as of next

year, businesses such as clothing

retailers, gas stations and restaurants should no longer be legallybound to accept cash.
The proposal is part of a preelection package of economic
growth measures aimed at reducing costs and increasing productivity for businesses. It would
need to be approved by parliament although the timing of a
vote is as yet unknown.
The proposal is unlikely to meet
much opposition in Denmark,
where it is common to use debit

or credit cards for the smallest of

payments, such as a pack of chewing gum at a convenience store.
Financial institution lobbyist
Finansraadet said going cashless
would save shops money on security and time on managing change
from the cash register.
However, there are some fears
that a complete move to electronic payment may increase
the risk of fraud. In Sweden, for
example, such cases have doubled
in the past decade.
REUTERS

Doha Bank wins Environmental Award

DOHA: Doha Bank added yet
another triumph to its growing
list of accolades when it won the
Environmental Award by the
Arab Organisation for Social
Responsibility.
This is the second successive
year that Doha Bank has been
honoured with the Environmental
Award, which recognises outstanding achievement in environmental stewardship.
The ceremony was attended by
Pierre Moukarzel, President of
the Arab Organisation for Social
Responsibility, Dr Mohammed
Essa Al Adwan, Ambassador of
the Arabian Cooperation Affairs
at the Arab Organisation for
Social Responsibility and representatives from various elds.
Khalifa Abdulla Al Kabi,

Head of Recovery of Doha Bank,

received the award in Dubai.
At Doha Bank we understand
that we have a responsibility
towards not only our customers,
employees and stakeholders but
also towards the planet we live on
and the communities in which we
operate, said Sheikh Fahad bin
Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani,
Chairman of the Board of Directors
of Doha Bank. Improving our
own environmental performance
through acting in an ecologically
responsible manner that helps
reduce resource waste and save
energy is something we place great
emphasis on, and serves as the
foundation upon which our community outreach programmes aimed
at promoting public awareness
and participation in sustainability

initiatives are built.

Doha Bank is one of the very
few institutions in the region that
have an active green policy in
all areas, and the banks corporate headquarters in West Bay
are LEED certied and designed
to save energy while maximising ambient comfort. The Bank
also maintains a well-dened
Environmental Policy that
encourages staff at all levels to
Reduce, Reuse & Recycle to
minimize resource utilisation.
A pioneer in the area of green
banking, Doha Bank has been at
the forefront of the Middle East
banking sectors transition to
paperless banking and has introduced environment-friendly and
bio-degradable credit cards.
THE PENINSULA

Khalifa Abdulla Al Kabi, Head of Recovery of Doha Bank, with the award.

BMW condent
for 2015 after
good start
FRANKFURT:
German
automaker BMW said it was
condent about the outlook
for 2015 after getting off to a
good start in the rst three
months. The BMW group
continued to perform well
during the rst three months
of 2015, with sales volume,
revenues, prots all rising to
new highs, the automaker
said in a statement.
BMW said it reafrms its
targets for the full year. (We)
can look ahead to the rest of
the year with condence.
In the period from January
to March, group revenues
grew signicantly by 14.7 percent to 20.92bn ($23.5bn).
Underlying or operating
prot rose by 20.6 percent to
2.52bn and net prot came
in at 1.52bn, up 4.0 percent
on the year.
Unit sales climbed by 8.1
percent to 526,669 units, thus
setting a new record for the
period, the statement said.
We have got off to a good
start in 2015, said chief executive Norbert Reithofer. We
are aiming to achieve solid
growth in 2015, and hence new
record gures for sales volume
and prot before tax, he said.
Economic conditions in
some regions will, however,
continue to pose challenges.
The situation on the Russian
automobile market, for
instance, is likely to remain
difcult. The ongoing process of normalisation of the
Chinese automobile market is
also likely to continue, resulting in less dynamic growth,
Reithofer cautioned.
AFP

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BUSINESS VIEWS

Global reation putting

end to deation scare
BY WAYNE COLE and JAMIE MCGEEVER
rapid revival of commodity prices and a sudden sell-off in
top-rated, low-yielding bonds have signalled the passing
of this years global deation scare, forcing a rethink of
both the consumer price outlook and investments worldwide. The epicentre of the rapid slide in bond prices has been the
eurozone, where yields on 10-year German paper have more than
quadrupled to 0.595 percent in just ve days, erasing all the price
gains made this year.
Specic triggers for the turnaround since last week are hard to
identify, but the continued recovery of oil prices and news of the
eurozone emerging from four months of deation may have been
tipping points. Brent crude futures have now risen more than 50
percent from a six-year low struck as recently as January. If that
is sustained or even increased throughout this year, policymakers
largely committed to ultra-loose policy could be in for a shock.
Even if oil prices stay where they are for the remainder of the
year, the 12-month headline ination outlook in many countries
will now be transformed by year-on-year base effects that will
feed into ination indices early 2016. There has been a profound
easing in nancial conditions over the past six months a potent
dose of stimulus, said Christel Aranda-Hassel, a research analyst
at Credit Suisse. No fewer than 27 central banks around the world
have eased monetary policy to some extent this year in a battle
against deation, slowing growth or both.
The sudden emergence of reation trades in bonds and commodities partly reects the European Central Banks unprecedented campaign of sovereign bond buying starting to work far
more quickly than even optimists dared hope. Not only have euro
ination rates stopped contracting, but private sector bank lending is expanding again for the rst time in years and ination
expectations have turned positive. But whatever the exact trigger,
some economists fear the end of the deation scare could weigh
on future economic activity by re-tightening nancial conditions.
Reation policies can include reducing taxes, changing the money
supply and lowering interest rates.
This move is most likely position driven, but if it continues it
might weigh on the economy, said Peter Schaffrik, head of rates
strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
The fact that bond markets in the United States, Britain and
Asia have tracked the backup in European yields suggests investors
globally are focusing on the shifting global ination, not a stellar
economic recovery or even European-specic trends.
Growth numbers have revealed a sharp loss of momentum in
the US and Chinese economies in the rst quarter, while business
surveys showed Asia remaining sluggish in the coming months.
But data last week showed the eurozone had emerged from deation, the US service sector is expanding nicely and wage ination
is picking up in the United States.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries touched a two-month top at 2.23
percent yesterday, having climbed from 1.92 percent in little more
than a week. Yields in Australia, Canada and Britain all hit their
highest in at least four months, with British bonds bearing the
added burden of political uncertainty ahead of a general election
today.
While global turning points are notoriously hard to call, commodities have also been acting that way in recent days. Oil and
copper prices have sped to their highest for the year so far, while
zinc reached ground not trod in eight months. Brent crude has
climbed 53 percent from its January trough to reach $69.15 a barrel,
with US crude not far behind at $62.08.
The jump in bund yields look eerily similar to that for copper,
hinting at some correlation if not causation. However, a far less
benign explanation for the back-up in bond yields might be the
simply that the rush for returns at ever-longer maturities drove
yields so low that buyers went on strike.
This is a theory favoured by RBSs head of treasury strategy,
William ODonell, who calls it a Term Risk Tantrum, referring
to the premium investors demand for lending money out for years
and years.
In our opinion, this macro re-pricing is synonymous with the
fraying/unwinding of many crowded trades across xed income
and risk markets. It looks like we are nearing the precipice of what
could prove to be a sustained outright bearish correction.
If the rise in yields is not a reection of an improving economic
background, then it may prove self-defeating by tightening nancial
conditions and snufng out any recovery.
Key will be whether policymakers start publicly protesting at the
sea change in bonds, as they have so often in recent years.
It all reads like a global economy that is not sure if it is at a
turning point or not the long end of the yield curve says yes but
central banks still say maybe at best, wrote analysts at Rabobank.

21

Oils bull run hides

a deep disconnect
BY RON BOUSSO, DMITRY
ZHDANNIKOV and LIBBY
GEORGE
hile oil futures prices
rebound with vigour as analysts cite
strong demand, the
physical crude market tells a much
more cautionary tale. Tens of millions of barrels are struggling to
nd buyers in Europe with traders
of West African, Azeri and North
Sea crude blaming poor demand.
The deep disconnect between the
oil futures and physical markets
looks similar to the events of June
2014 when the physical market
weakness became a precursor for
a futures price crash.
Being large physical buyers of
crude we have a direct pulse of the
market and feel immediately when
it is well supplied, as is happening
now, Dario Scaffardi, executive
vice resident and general manager
of Italian rener Saras, said. In
the short-term, futures prices do
not necessarily reect accurately
the physical market.
Benchmark Brent oil futures
prices LCOc1 more than halved
between June 2014 and January
2015 after OPEC refused to cut
output and instead chose to

undercut more expensive producers, including a booming

US shale oil sector. But since
Januarys lows of $46 per barrel,
prices have risen back to $69 per
barrel yesterday on fears the output in the US would fall deeper
than expected and on signs of a
faster-than-expected demand rise
across the world. However, data
from Opec and the International
Energy Agency show the world
is still pumping 1.5 million barrels per day more crude than it
consumes. Traders say they are
seeing increased evidence of crude
barrels struggling to nd a home.
Traders in Azeri Light crude,
usually one of Europes favorite
grades due to its high quality,
said some 10 cargoes from the
May tanker loading program are
struggling to nd buyers, just
two days before June volumes are
due to go into the market. As a
result, the Azeri price premium
to benchmark dated Brent is the
weakest since December, when it
hit a ve year low. In the North
Sea, Norwegian Ekosk crude fell
to its weakest since August last
year due to a signicant number of
unsold May cargoes, despite June
program already trading.
The worst situation, however,

is in Angolan and Nigerian crude,

which has struggled in the past
two years due to the US oil boom.
Traders said around 80 million
barrels of Nigerian and Angolan
crude oil are on the market with
at least a dozen May-loading cargoes still available. Indian reners,
which had bought large quantities
of Nigerian oil in March and April,
are now turning to cheaper Iraqi
Basra and Venezuelan crudes.
Near term oil market fundamentals continue to look dire,
particularly in the Atlantic Basin,
with Nigerian, Mediterranean and
North Sea differentials all weak,
analysts from London-based
Energy Aspect consultancy said.
There is no guarantee oil
futures will follow the physical
market as they did after June 2014.
A number of unknowns could take
oil prices either way. A failure to
reach a nuclear deal between Iran
and the West in June will reduce
the likelihood of increased supplies from Iran and therefore give
prices some support.
The ex-boss of BP, Tony
Hayward, said last month the
withdrawal of capital and workforce from the US shale oil industry was so steep that a new oil
price bull market may come much

quicker than expected.

Others argue that shale producers have become much more
efcient in recent months and can
switch production back on as soon
as prices reach $70 per barrel.
The head of oil trading house
Vitol, the worlds largest, Ian
Taylor, said he saw another dip in
oil prices soon.
On the demand side, the biggest unknown is whether China
will resume buying large volumes
of oil for its strategic reserve
in the second half of the year.
However, an increasing number
of market watchers agree that
the fundamentals point to what
should be a more bearish market, at least until either supply
is cut or demand increases. We
cannot help but compare the current price strength to the myth of
Sisyphus, said Tamas Varga from
PVM oil brokerage.
The top of the current bull
mountain might not be close but
unless there is a fundamental
change in the physical supply/
demand balance, the rock might
start rolling back down shortly
again just like it did in the second
half of 2008 and 2014 only for the
bulls to start the arduous uphill
battle all over again. REUTERS

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

REUTERS

Fund managers bet on millennials parenthood

BY DAVID RANDALL
my
Paternite,
a
real estate agent in
Maplewood, New Jersey,
is getting used to hearing from clients in their late twenties and early thirties who say
they never thought they would
leave New York City for the suburbs. Parenthood or a second
baby on the way has changed
their minds.
They still want good restaurants, but now its also about
space, affordability and being able
to send their kids to a good public school, said Paternite, 45, who
said that about 70 percent of her
business now comes from young
families who are making the move
from Brooklyn or Manhattan.
Millennials, typically dened as
those born between 1981 and 1997,
may be turning into their parents
after all. A generation thats been
stereotyped as urban, single and
aghast at the idea of a car-based
life in the suburbs is starting to
age, prompting fund managers
to bet on companies that should

benet if the U.S. birth rate

reverses a six-year slump.
With 4.3 million millennials turning 30 this year and the
number set to jump to 4.6 million
by 2020, there will soon be more
adults in their early 30s than at
any other time in US history,
according to an analysis of US
Census data by Wells Fargo.
As a result, fund managers are
increasingly buying home builders,
mortgage lenders and baby clothes
makers that stand to benet as
millennials spend less on themselves and transition to parenthood. Look at what a 25-year-old
single person spends money on,
and look what a 35-year-old with
kids spends money on, said Bill
Smead, portfolio manager of the
$1.1bn Smead Value fund. This
is a chance to get rich on that
transition.
Smead, whose portfolio is about
two-thirds invested in companies
that he says will benet as millennials reach parenthood, holds
homebuilder NVR Inc, mortgage
lenders such as Wells Fargo &
Co and Bank of America Corp,

and local-advertising plays such

as Gannett Co, which owns carshopping website Cars.com.
In the housing market, meanwhile, millennials made up 32
percent of sales in 2014, up 4 percentage points from two years
earlier making them the largest segment of buyers, according
to the National Association of
Realtors. Those homes are more
likely to be purchased in the close
suburbs rather than in urban
cores, according to an analysis
of US Census data by real-estate
listing rm Trulia, which found
that millennial growth in big-city
suburbs was 1.4 percent in 2013,
compared with 1.2 percent growth
in dense cities.
The generation once seen as
shunning cars accounted for
27 percent of new auto sales in
the US last year, up 9 percentage points from 2010, according
to a recent study by JD Power
and Associates. Especially in the
older millennials, were seeing a
move towards more traditional
patterns, just on a delayed time
frame, said Sarah House, an

economist at Wells Fargo.

Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors and
head of its Global Allocation fund,
said he was not put off by the fact
that US home ownership rates hit
a 20-year low in the fourth quarter. He has been adding shares
of home improvement and other
housing-related companies, anticipating a wave of suburbanisation
now that the nancial crisis has
passed. Nor is he deterred by the
fact that the number of births in
the US declined for a sixth consecutive year in 2013, to 3.93 million.
The fact that youve got these
millennials delaying life and not
getting married and not having
kids is not a function of the fact
that they are completely different from every other generation,
Orlando said. Its a reection that
they went to college and ran up
debt and couldnt nd a job. Now
that the economy is starting to
improve for these folks, household formations have literally gone
vertical.
Household formation rose by 1.7
million in the fourth quarter from

the year before, and increased

1.5 million in the rst quarter
from the same time frame in
2014, according to the Commerce
Department. That, in turn, should
lead to a jump in demand for the
products that cater to suburban
life, Orlando said.
As individuals get married and
buy houses and have kids, you
need car seats and cribs. Thats
the next layer of stuff thats been
delayed since 08, he said.
Its a surprising turnaround
for a generation that Wall Street
is desperate to reach. Over the
last decade, the number of mentions of the millennial generation
on quarterly corporate earnings
calls has jumped from just one
in all of 2007 to more than 100
in the most recent earnings season alone, according to Thomson
Reuters data. Greg Creed, the
CEO of Yum Brands Inc , owner of
Taco Bell, told analysts in March
that the muse of a Taco Bell is a
22-year old.
Stephen Dodson, manager of
the $12m Bretton Fund , is skeptical that there is that much of a

millennial mindset. Instead of any

generational habits, the term millennial could often be ascribed to
any upwardly mobile city-dweller,
he said.
Dodson, whose fund performance is in the top third of largecap funds tracked by Morningstar
over the last year, has large positions in baby-clothes retailer
Carters Inc, parent company of
OshKosh Bgosh, and Gap Inc,
owner of baby Gap stores. Shares
of Carters are up nearly 15 percent for the year to date after the
company reported strong rstquarter earnings. Gap, meanwhile,
has seen its shares dip 3.5 percent
over the same time.
Another company that Dodson
is looking at, but hasnt yet
invested in, is MEDNAX Inc,
which staffs physicians for hospital delivery rooms, including neonatal care and anesthesiologists.
Shares of the company are up
almost 9 percent so far this year.
This company is about as
direct investment you can make
on the birth rate increasing,
Dodson said.
REUTERS

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

22
QE Indices Summary
QE Total Return Index

19,167.78

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index

4,725.89

1.47 %

QE All Share Index

3,297.69

0.99 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial

Services

3,271.34

0.40 %

QE All Share Industrials

4,122.29

1.28 %

QE All Share Transportation

2,504.98

0.12 %

QE All Share Real Estate

2,651.96

1.74 %

QE All Share Insurance

4,369.81

4.22 %

QE All Share Telecoms

1,319.78

0.58 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods &

Services

7,519.34

0.16 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods &

Services

7,507

0.50 %

Index
Change
%
YTD%
Volume
Value (QAR)
Trades

Today

Previous day

06-05-2015

05-05-2015

12,334.06
126.42
1.04
0.39
16,202,501
1,228,713,902.17
7,195

WORLD STOCK INDICES

1.04 %

QE Market Summary Comparison

12,207.64
84.42
0.70
0.64
9,085,942
374,933,305.24
5,643

Up 29 | Down 11 | Unchanged 03

MARKET

INDEX

All Ordinaries

Days Close

5816.207

Pt Chg

0.315

% Chg

Year High

Year Low

0.01

5963.5

5248.5

Cac 40 Index/D

5088.94

6.97

0.14

5283.71

4076.16

Dj Indu Average

18070.4

46.34

0.26

18288.6

15855.12

Hang Seng Inde/D

27755.54

-368.28

-1.31

28588.52

23312.5

Iseq Overall/D

6136.13

69.05

1.14

6365.07

5072.7

Karachi 100 In/D

33533.64

-189.89

-0.56

35055.94

28648.23

Nikkei 225 Index

19531.63

11.62

0.06

20252.12

16592.57

S&P 500 Index/D

2125.92

1820.66

Straits Times/D

3471.19

-11.51

-0.33

3549.85

3267.89

Straits Times/D

3290.99

-1.82

-0.06

3387.84

2953.01

Straits Times/D

3274.06

-8.82

-0.27

3291.83

2953.01

EXCHANGE
RATE

GOLD & SILVER

GOLD
QR140.3044
SILVER
QR 1.9482

Buying Selling
US$.......................... QR 3.6305
UK ........................... QR 5.5122
Euro ......................... QR 4.0787
CA$.......................... QR 3.0076
Swiss Fr .................. QR 3.9305
Yen .......................... QR 0.0302
Aus$ ........................ QR 2.8912
Ind Re ...................... QR 0.0568
Pak Re ..................... QR 0.0355
Peso ........................ QR 0.0810
SL Re....................... QR 0.0270
Taka ......................... QR 0.0464
Nep Re .................... QR 0.0355
SA Rand .................. QR 0.3014

CRUDE OIL
BRENT
$ 66.82
DUBAI
$ 64.52

QR 3.6500
QR 5.5894
QR 4.1365
QR 3.0662
QR 3.9852
QR 0.0307
QR 2.9492
QR 0.0579
QR 0.0362
QR 0.0827
QR 0.0276
QR 0.0473
QR 0.0362
QR 0.3074

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 06-05-2015

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS A List of Shares from the world

COMPANY
NAME

CLOSE

NET VOLUME Volume

CHG TRADED

A B G Infra-T/D
198 -10
A C C-A/D
1411.75 -56.5
Aarti Drugs-B/D 682.75 -36.75
Aban Offs-A/D
399.1 -2.55
Aegis Logis-B/D 678.5 -23.25
Ahmed.Forg-B/D 229.05 -9.05
Alembic-B/D
36 -1.1
Alok Indus-A/D
6.66 -0.27
Apollo Tyre-A/D
165.2 -10.6
Asahi I Glass-/D
131
-5
Ashok Leyland-/D 66.9 -3.75
Ballarpur In-B/D 13.64 -0.33
Bata India-A/D
1036.7 -26.6
Bayer Crop-A/D
3927 -12.35
Beml Ltd-A/D
949 -75.7
Bh Electronic-/D 3150.4-115.25
Bhansali Eng-T/D
20 0.75
Bharatgears-B/D 72.85 -0.2
Bhartiya Int-B/D
400
-4
Bhel-A/D
229.55 -15.2
Bom.Burmah-B/D 424.25 -20.7
Bombay Dyeing-/D 65.35 -1.8
Camph.& All-B/D 255.6 -6.8
Cann Homes-B/D 668.5 -43.75
Caprihans-B/D
82.6 -1.7
Castrol India-/D 453.25 -19.65
Century Enka-B/D 172.8 -24
Century Text-A/D 637.25 -70.15
Chambal Fert-B/D 63.65 -1.1
Chola Invest-B/D
581 -21.05

3204
26637
11301
360306
8994
130083
74737
1127362
321037
8525
1938325
115845
37386
2716
54134
41848
6812
3661
10928
403357
80515
276245
4939
31914
8521
61885
136764
819803
22078
2892

COMPANY
NAME

CLOSE

NET VOLUME Volume

CHG TRADED

Chowgule St-T/D
22.9 0.55
Cimmco-B/D
106.8 -15.5
Cipla-A/D
636.25 -26.25
City Union Bk-/D
96.6
2
Cmc Ltd-A/D
1882.5 -45.55
Colgate-A/D
2015.6 -47.75
Container Cor-/D 1720.15 -41.7
Dai-Tichi Kar-/D
204.5 -5.8
Dcm Shram Ind-/D 78.25 -3.15
Dhampur Sugar-/D 32.65 -1.6
Dr. Reddy-A/D
3355.2 -47.75
E I H-B/D
104.9 -3.8
E.I.D Parry-A/D
159 -7.05
Eicher Motor-A/D 15045-507.05
Eimco Elecon-T/D
465
13
Electrosteel-B/D 18.45 -0.7
Emco-B/D
30.15 -1.65
Escorts Fin-B/D
3.99 0.07
Escorts-A/D
121.85 -2.45
Essar Oil-T/D
106.75 1.15
Eveready Indu-/D 273.5 -15.8
F D C-B/D
153.2 -1.55
Federal Bank-A/D 128.85 -5.95
Ferro Alloys-B/D
5.15 -0.11
Fgp Ltd-B/D
1.72 -0.08
Finolex-A/D
263.25 -10.85
Gail-A/D
365.7 -7.15
Gammon India-T/D 19.95 -1.4
Garden P -B/D
28.5 -1.6
Godfrey Phil-B/D
494 2.85

15117
59171
197474
65155
3462
23513
9444
22299
5204
16837
46992
20020
12192
4560
4657
232034
46772
3001
119402
16346
51942
8708
149117
14724
2000
5884
69013
124679
13516
1192

COMPANY
NAME

CLOSE

NET VOLUME Volume

CHG TRADED

Goodricke-B/D
153.4 -3.8
Goodyear I -B/D 595.25 -19.25
Hcl Infosys-B/D
42.95 -2.3
Him.Fut.Comm-T/D 13.58 -0.59
Himat Seide-B/D
79.3 -1.6
Hind Motors-T/D
6.88 -0.25
Hind Org Chem-/D 14.88 -0.46
Hind Unilever-/D 856.25 -22.7
Hind.Petrol-A/D 594.95 -33.85
Hindalco-A/D
137.7 -1.75
Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1163 -16.7
I F C I-A/D
32.05
-2
Idbi-A/D
70.5 -4.75
Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D
584
-2
India Cement-A/D 87.85 -4.55
India Glycol-B/D
91.85 -4.25
Indian Hotel-A/D 103.5 -3.4
Indo-Tcount-T/D
422.5 -20.3
Indusind-A/D
801.75 -34.35
J.B.Chemical-B/D 214.4 -6.05
Jagson Phar-B/D
27.5 -1.45
Jamnaauto-B/D
215 -7.9
Jbf Indu-B/D
225.1
-9
Jct Ltd-B/D
2.99 -0.1
Jenson&Nich.-B/D
5.9 -0.13
Jktyre&Ind-A/D 116.05 -3.6
Jmc Projects-T/D 179.9 -8.1
Kabra Extr-B/D
69.7 0.2
Kajaria Cer-A/D
777.5 -14.15
Kalpat Power-B/D 226.3 -4.15

9780
7920
206156
625618
31647
87795
6265
232016
130645
1502528
373588
498605
978731
2393
241660
24480
34253
7447
142401
71056
13722
2073
45457
184434
11562
297781
10479
30726
13045
12077

COMPANY
NAME

CLOSE

NET VOLUME Volume

CHG TRADED

Kalyani Stel-T/D
136.6 -5.2
Kanoria Chem-B/D 42.15 -1.5
Kg Denim-B/D
21.25 0.3
Kilburnengg-T/D
55.1 -2.55
Kinetic Eng-B/D
44.1 -0.4
Kopran-B/D
49.2
-2
Lakshmi Elec-B/D 403.4 -1.5
Lgb Broth-B/D
500 -3.25
Lloyd Metal-B/D
6.9 -0.28
Lok.Hous&Con-B/D 8.7 -0.45
Lumax Ind-B/D
316.9 -12.9
Lupin-A/D
1755.85 -54.65
Lyka Labs-T/D
56
-2
Mah.Seamless-B/D 203.7 -11.85
Mangalam Cem-B/D 243 -11.8
Maral Overs-B/D
30 -4.3
Mastek-B/D
395 -19.5
Max India L-A/D 426.55 -14.25
Mrpl-A/D
68.25 -2.4
Nahar Spg.-B/D
91.7 -3.8
Nation Alum -A/D 48.2 0.7
Navneet Edu-B/D 93.15 -0.55
Nepc India-T/D
2.27 -0.09
Neuland Lab-B/D 352.8 -19.5
Nrb Bearings-B/D 119.1 -9.3
O N G C-A/D
328.35 -13.55
Ocl India-B/D
404.5 -10.5
Oil Country-B/D
33.65 -0.85
Orchid Chem-B/D 49.75 -2.35
Orient Hotel-T/D
21.5 -0.25

39904
3140
9300
50025
1768
85840
3346
2450
1400
24521
1431
114932
131975
8202
6597
94970
100601
24572
39295
4687
187650
20742
3844
2397
6338
562008
1406
10198
81037
2100

COMPANY
NAME

CLOSE

NET VOLUME Volume

CHG TRADED

Orient.Carb.-T/D 456.5
Orient.Carb.-T/D 456.5
Punjab Chem.-B/D 201.4
Radico Khait-B/D
89.6
Rallis India-A/D 211.25
Rallis India-A/D 211.25
Reliance Indus/D 381.45
Ruchi Soya-B/D
40.85
Saur.Cem-B/D
39.55
Tanfac Indust-/D
23.2
Tanfac Indust-/D
23.2
Thirumalai-B/D
94.5
Timexgroup-T/D
25.2
Tinplate-B/D
57.45
Ucal Fuel-B/D
105.1
Ucal Fuel-B/D
105.1
Ultramarine-B/D
69.3
Unitech P -A/D
14.2

-22.3
-22.3
-13.7
-2.05
-5.85
-5.85
-15.45
-1.7
-0.05
-1.05
-1.05
-0.9
-0.65
-2.5
-6.3
-6.3
-0.65
-1.35

3149
3149
14014
36330
22534
22534
126326
61505
37706
10173
10173
12180
119153
55269
12341
12341
15792
9538867

LONDON
3I Group/D
Assoc.Br.Foods/D
Barclays/D
Bg Group/D
Bp/D
Brit Am Tobacc/D
Bt Group/D
Centrica/D
Gkn/D

488.2 -4.6
769825
2854
20 1013007
251 0.8 18305541
1198.5
1.5 3670918
474.7 -0.25 12718689
3589 41.5 1247116
454 4.8 11388400
256.5 -0.1 5834310
351.9 3.9 4920077

COMPANY
NAME

CLOSE

NET VOLUME Volume

CHG TRADED

Hsbc Holdings/D 631.7

Imperial Tobac/D 3220
Kingsher/D
353.3
Land Secs Grou/D 1215
Legal & Genera/D 259.8
Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 83.47
Marks & Sp./D
547.5
Pearson/D
1301
Prudential/D
1603.5
Rank Group/D
196.5
Rentokil Initi/D
139.7
Rolls Royce Pl/D
1028
Rsa Insrance G/D
417
Sainsbury(J)/D 263.401
Severn Trent/D
2064
Smith&Nephew/D 1114
Smiths Group/D
1151
Standrd Chart /D 1047.5
Tate & Lyle/D
597
Tesco/D
226.1
Unilever/D
2856
United Util Gr/D
947
Vodafone Group/D 232.3
Whitbread/D 5034.9497

5.8
100
-0.3
-6
2.5
1.06
-0.5
-3
-9.5
-1
-0.3
-7
2
-11.7
-21
0
0
1.5
4
-0.8
22
-3.5
3.75
-15

12112848
1165513
2681793
1569102
11261936
121807924
1606707
933558
2569082
58265
1596676
7182114
1003765
11947655
539409
920979
240260
1615412
401404
14084318
1341726
632956
29825794
534993

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SPORT

23

Hawks, Grizzlies pull even

Carroll top scores for Atlanta; Horford and Millsap shine for winners
ATLANTA:
The
Atlanta
Hawks downed the Washington
Wizards 106-90 yesterday to
even their NBA second-round
playoff series at one game apiece.
DeMarre Carroll led the Hawks
with 20 points and Al Horford and
Paul Millsap scored 18 apiece for
top-seeded Atlanta as they pulled
level in the best-of-seven Eastern
Conference set.
Defence was the difference,
Carroll said. It is defence that
gets us going, and the intensity
was a lot better.
Millsap and Horford combined
for 11 assists, with Millsap pulling
down a game-high 11 rebounds as
the Hawks made the most of the
injury absence of Wizards point
guard John Wall.
Wall missed the game with a
wrist injury suffered in game one
of the series, in which the Wizards
shocked the Hawks 104-98.
Wall, who had posted four
straight double-doubles, was
scratched from game two less
than an hour before tip-off.
The swelling was too much

NBA Playoff
Los Angeles: Results yesterday in the second
round of the NBA playoffs (best-of-seven):
Eastern Conference
at Atlanta
Atlanta 106 Washington 90
(Series tied 1-1)
Western Conference
at Oakland
Memphis 97 Golden State 90
(Series tied 1-1)

for him to handle today, Wizards

coach Randy Wittman said.
Ramon Sessions, starting in
place of Wall, led the Wizards
with 21 points. Bradley Beal nished with 20 points while Paul
Pierce and Otto Porter had 15
points apiece for a Washington
team that suffered their rst
defeat of these playoffs.
The Wizards will try to regain
the series lead when they host
game three on Saturday.
In Western Conference action,
Memphis point guard Mike
Conley shook off the lingering
pain of a facial fracture to lead
the Grizzlies to a 97-90 victory
over top-seeded Golden State
on the Warriors home oor in
Oakland.
The Grizzlies knotted the
series at one game apiece as they
handed the Warriors their rst
home defeat since late January.
Conley had missed three games
since he was hurt in game three
of the Grizzlies rst-round win
over Portland, when he took an
inadvertent elbow to his left eye.
He admitted that his 27 minutes on the oor felt more like 50.
But with a clear plastic protective mask over his still-bruised
face he scored 22 points, and
his defensive effort helped limit
Golden States newly crowned
NBA Most Valuable Player
Stephen Curry to 19 points.
I thought Mike Conley had
tremendous heart, Grizzlies
coach David Joerger said. Day-in,
day-out hes gotten a little bit

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (right) tries to grab a rebound away from Memphis Grizzlies
centre Marc Gasol (left) during the second half of their NBA Conference semi-nals game two at Oracle Arena
in Oakland, California, USA, yesterday. The Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 97-90.
better, but you never have the
expectation that hes going to go
back in and be who he was two
weeks ago right away the rst
night out.
Conley got a scare midway
through the second quarter
when Draymond Green hit on his

NHL play-offs
Results from the NHL Play-offs Second
Round games on yesterday
Chicago 1 Minnesota 0 (Chicago lead the
best-of-seven series by 3-0)
Anaheim 3 Calgary 4
(Anaheim lead the
best-of-seven series by 2-1)

while Marc Gasol and Courtney

Lee added 15 points each for the
Grizzlies, who took full advantage
of 20 Warriors turnovers.
Memphis will try to take the
lead in the series when they host
game three on Saturday.
AFP

Miami Marlins hold off

Washington Nationals

Flames edge
Ducks in
overtime
NEW YORK: Centre Mikael
Backlund scored the overtime winner on a delayed penalty call as the Calgary Flames
beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in
Game Three of their Western
Conference
playoff
series
yesterday.
The Ducks still lead the series
2-1, with Game Four set for Friday
at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Working from the point,
Backlund sent a long shot through
trafc that missed everybody and
hit twine for the winner.
Left winger Brandon Bollig
scored his second of the postseason, while center Joe Colborne
scored his rst in regulation for
the Flames before rookie left
winger Johnny Gaudreaus late
equalizer to force overtime.
Wingers Patrick Maroon, Matt
Belesky and Corey Perry scored
in regulation for the Ducks, while
center Ryan Getzlaf and defenseman Simon Despres each had a
pair of assists.
Gaudreau scored the tying goal
on a ve-on-three power play

protective mask trying to force a

jump ball.
I got hit a couple of times and
after that I knew what it felt like
and just kept playing through it,
he said.
Zach Randolph scored 20 points
and pulled down seven rebounds,

Calgary Flames centre Mikael Backlund (11) and Anaheim Ducks

centre Rickard Rakell (67) battle for the puck during the rst period in
game three of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at
Scotiabank Saddledome yesterday.
with the goalie pulled with 19.5
seconds left.
With Flames center Matt
Stajan and Despres off on coincidental minors, Ducks defenseman
Sami Vatanen took a penalty for
ring the puck over the glass.
The Flames then capitalized in
the dying seconds as Gaudreau
walked in on the right wing and
ripped a top-corner blast past
Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen,
who made 17 saves in the game,
to tie the game at 3-3.
Right winger Patrick Kanes
rst-period power-play goal was
the difference in Chicagos 1-0 win
over the Wild yesterday, giving
the Blackhawks a 3-0 stranglehold on their Western Conference
semi-nal playoff series.
Goalie Corey Crawford added
a 30-save shutout for Chicago,
which quieted the raucous

Minnesota crowd in the rst

period, then frustrated the home
team throughout.
The Blackhawks, who ended
Minnesotas season in the playoffs the past two years, can sweep
the series and send the Wild to
the offseason again with a win on
Thursday.
The Wild had 21 saves from
goalie Devan Dubnyk, but were
an offensive no-show once again.
Minnesota managed just two
even-strength goals in the series
so far.
It was a familiar role for Kane,
who has been Minnesotas playoff
nemesis in recent years. It was his
overtime goal in Game Six last
season that ended the Wilds playoff run. In 14 career playoff games
against the Wild, Kane has seven
goals and six assists.
AGENCIES

WASHINGTON:
Three
innings into the game, Mat
Latos was getting into a groove
and an ailing Stephen Strasburg
was done for the night.
Latos and four relievers combined on a three-hitter, and
the Miami Marlins got all the
offense they needed early against
Strasburg in 2-1 victory over
the Washington
Na t i o n a l s
Baseball
yesterday.
Miami
2
S t r a s b u r g Cincinnati
7
(2-3) left for a
Ny
Yankees
6
pinch hitter in
2
the third inning Boston
9
after allowing Atlanta
two runs and Ny Mets
3
throwing
64 La Dodgers
8
pitches.
2
Oakland
Hes got a little issue under his Chicago White Sox 5
5
shoulder blade, Kansas City
manager Matt Texas
7
Williams said. St. Louis
7
Had it last start. La Angels
5
Could be an align6
San Francisco
ment issue, but as
he nishes pitches
it grabs him every once in a while.
Tonight it got a little bit worse. So
well have to have the chiropractor
look at him.
In the second inning, Strasburg
grimaced after throwing a pitch
and was visited by the team
trainer, pitching coach Steve
McCatty and Williams. The righthander stayed in the game, but
not for long.
Strasburg was scheduled to

lead off the third and put on a

batting helmet, but was told to
take a seat in the dugout.
Its something thats just been
lingering and I just felt it more
and more, he said.
I felt like it was something that
I felt I could have gone through
it, but at this point in the season
you just want to get it right and
not alter your
mechanics too
Results
much.
Washington
1
Strasburg
Pittsburgh
1
gave up four
Toronto
3
hits, walked two
Tampa Bay
0
and hit a batPhiladelphia
0
ter with a pitch
in his shortest
Baltimore
2
outing since a
Milwaukee
2
two-inning stint
Minnesota
1
against Miami
Detroit
2
on August 28,
Cleveland
3
2013.
Latos (1-3)
Houston
1
allowed one run
Chicago Cubs 4
and
two hits over
Seattle
4
6 1-3 innings to
San Diego
0
earn his rst win
with Miami. He
struck out six and walked ve.
That was probably the best
Ive felt all year, the right-hander
said. After allowing two walks in
the seventh, Latos was replaced
by Nick Masset.
I would have loved to have
him get through the seventh,
but he gave us everything he had
and really kept a great lineup in
check, Marlins manager Mike
Redmond said.
AGENCIES

China hammer throwers gold medal reinstated

HONG KONG: Chinese womens hammer thrower Zhang
Wenxiu had her 2014 Asian
Games gold medal reinstated
yesterday
after
successfully
overturning a positive drugs
test, the Olympic Council of
Asia (OCA) announced.
Chinas track and eld team at
the Incheon Games was rocked
by news of the positive dope
test ve days after Zhang threw
77.33 metres to claim gold on
September 28.
A sample provided by Zhang
before the competition had
shown the presence of zeranol,
a banned substance. She was
disqualied and stripped of her
gold medal.
Zhang appealed and the OCA

said in a statement yesterday

that further independent testing
last month had shown that the
presence of zeranol was, as Zhang
asserted in her appeal, caused by
eating contaminated food.
Zeranol is found naturally in
a fungus associated with cereal
crops -- mycotoxin zearalenone
-- and can even permeate into the
body merely through contact with
the skin.
Ms. Zhang did not ingest the
Prohibited Substance detected
in her sample, the statement
continued.
Based on this new information and supported by WADA
(the
World
Anti-Doping
Authority), the Olympic Council
of Asia recognises that Ms.

Zhang did not return an Adverse

Analytical Finding for the presence of zeranol, nor therefore
commit an Anti-Doping Rule
Violation during the 2014 Asian
Games.
Accordingly, the Olympic
Council of Asia will return the
Gold Medal to Ms Zhang.
Meanwhile, Australian hurdler
Sally Pearson believes she has
recaptured the quick starts that
were her hallmark in the halcyon
days when she swept to the world
title and Olympic glory in successive years.
The 28-year-old will compete
in her rst international meeting outside Australia this year at
Sundays Golden Grand Prix in
Kawasaki as she builds up to the

world championships in Beijing

in August.
Pearson lost her 100 metres
hurdles world title to American
Brianna Rollins in Moscow in
2013 and has battled to match
her form of 2011-12, when she was
virtually unassailable and became
her countrys rst IAAF female
athlete of the year.
But the Gold Coast native was
buoyed by her winning time of
12.59 seconds at national championships in Brisbane in March
- the third fastest time of the year
- and feels she is ring out of the
blocks again.
The way I ran at nationals was
a relief more than anything, she
said in an Athletics Australia
news release.

Ive been trying to change my

race a bit, especially my start,
working toward getting it back
to the good old days in 2011 and
2012 where I was the best starter
in the world, and (until Brisbane)
my start had been a bit off this
year.
I have been beaten out of the
blocks and thats something Im
not used to.
We have tried to get my quick
start back to where it was and the
information we have now shows
that I am starting faster than I
ever have, which is exciting.
To me the start is the most
important thing about my race
and if I can nail that then not
many people can catch me from
there.
AFP

Wiggins wants to
put Hour record
beyond reach
LONDON: Bradley Wiggins
(pictured) believes he can put
the Hour world record out of
reach when he tackles one of
cyclings toughest challenges
next month at Londons Olympic
velodrome.
A few weeks after fellow Briton
Alex Dowsett set a new world
record of 52.937 kilometres in
Manchester, Olympic time trial
champion Wiggins says it is not a
matter of if he can better that
distance, but by how much.
It sounds a bit horrible to
say, but I think I could break the
record tomorrow, the 35-yearold Wiggins, who recently left
Team Sky to return to the track,
said in an interview in The Times
yesterday.
But I dont just want to break
it, I want to put it right up there,
as far out of reach as I can.
The seventime Olympic
medallist who
left his track
roots to become
the rst Briton
to win the Tour
de France in
2012, believes
he can add two
kilometres to
Dowsetts mark.
Ive got 55km in my head and
I believe thats realistic, he said.
And I think if I do that it will
stand for 20 years.
Wiggins is not downplaying the
iconic challenge which has seen
four riders break the record in
the last eight months, but believes
riding around 220 laps of the velodrome at virtually full bore is no
worse than anything he faced on
the road.
I dont see it as being any
harder than climbing the Ventoux
to save fourth place in the Tour
de France, he said.
I cant see it being any harder
than keeping concentration for
three weeks to win the Tour, or
riding around Hampton Court
with the weight of expectation to
win Olympic gold.
Ive been in a lot of pressure
situations, I know what I can do.
The challenge is dealing with
the heat, the crowd, pacing yourself early when the crowd is egging you on, he added.
Once he has completed his Hour
attempt, his focus will return to
Rio 2016 where Wiggins is eyeing
a fth Olympic gold medal and a
British record-extending eighth
in all.
Whatever happens, thatll be
it after Rio, he said.

UCI satised
with Astanas
doping reforms
PARIS: Cyclings world body
the UCI says Astana, who last
month were allowed to retain
their WorldTour licence despite
a series of doping shocks, have
agreed to undergo a fundamental reform in order to prevent
the risks of doping.
In February, the UCI had
demanded the Kazakh-funded
team be stripped of its World
Tour Licence which would have
barred them from the main international races, including the Tour
de France and Tours of Italy and
Spain.
But an independent commission agreed to allow Tour
de France champion Vincenzo
Nibalis team to keep racing in a
decision delivered on April 23.
Detailing its reasons for that
verdict the UCIs independent
licensing commission in a statement explained that at this
stage, in view of the modications ... and the absence of further
incidents since autumn 2014, it is
found that the sanction of a withdrawal, motivated mainly by facts
of the past would be too harsh a
punishment.
Astanas place in the peloton
had been under threat since ve
riders with either the professional
World Tour squad or the teams
Continental Tour afliate failed
doping tests last year.
Kazakh brothers Maxim and
Valentin Iglinsky both tested positive for the banned blood booster
EPO while three members of the
Continental Tour squad, also
all Kazakhs, tested positive for
steroids.

24

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SPORT

Dakar Rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah is seen with a race ofcial in Shiraz, Iran. Al Attiyah will feature at this weeks Shiraz International Rally, the third round of the FIA Middle East Championship. Shiraz is one of Irans
ve largest cities located in Fars province. The city is at an altitude of 1486 meters above sea level and enjoys a temperate climate. RIGHT: Al Attiyah joins other drivers and riders at a pre-event press conference. QMMF
President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah is also present at the rally to oversee the event in his capacity as FIA Vice President.

Alonso is back in the spotlight

The former Formula One world champion prepares for home Grand Prix in Spain
BARCELONA: While Lewis
Hamilton chases his fourth victory in ve races in Barcelona
this weekend, much of the
immediate attention at the
Spanish Grand Prix will be on
a home hero with no hope of
winning.
Bookmakers were last week
offering better odds, before the
birth, on Britains latest royal
baby being named Macbeth than
on Fernando Alonsos McLaren
team winning at the Circuit de
Catalunya.
They are now a more reasonable 250-1 on the Spaniard, winner
in Barcelona with Ferrari in 2013
and Renault in 2006, and team
mate Jenson Button although just
getting into the points for the rst
time this year will be a big step up
for the ex-champions.
Alonso, who will attend an FIA
news conference today, will be
very much in the spotlight however on his return to the circuit
where he crashed heavily in preseason testing.
That accident ruled him out of

the opening race in Australia and

triggered all kinds of conspiracy
theories about his condition and
what had really caused the crash.
Neither McLaren nor Alonso
made any mention of the incident
in their pre-race preview, preferring to focus on improvements
they expect to see in the rst race
of the European season.
Im incredibly happy to be
heading back to Europe, to my
home country and racing in front
of the loyal Spanish fans, said
Alonso.
We are seeing improvements
race by race, and I want to ensure
that we maintain this consistency throughout this weekend,
he added.
Although we wont be ghting
for victory in Barcelona, I know
I can count on the support of the
fans to bring even more motivation during the whole weekend,
which will be very special.
After a three week gap, the
fth round of the season will be
closely watched for signs of any
shift in the pecking order with

teams bringing upgrades to their

cars now they have had time back
at the factory.
The battle at the front, however, is still likely to be between
Mercedes, with double world
champion Hamilton in commanding form, and resurgent Ferrari.
The Briton, who posted on
Instagram a photograph of himself ringside at last weekends
Floyd Mayweather vs Manny
Pacquaio welterweight unication bout in Las Vegas, is up for
another ght.
Having tasted success there
(Barcelona) for the rst time last
year, I want to do it in even better
style this time, said 2014 winner
Hamilton, who has a 27 point lead
over team mate Nico Rosberg.
Mercedes motorsport head
Toto Wolff added: Lewis is in the
zone right now, probably driving
as well as he has ever done, and
Nico showed his teeth in Bahrain
with some forceful overtaking and
a strong, aggressive race.
Were expecting more of the
same in Spain.
REUTERS

German
Formula
One driver
Sebastian
Vettel (left)
of Red Bull
Racing
and
Spanish
driver
Fernando
Alonso of
Scuderia
Ferrari
during
a press
conference
at the
Sochi
Autodrom
Circuit,
in Sochi,
Russia,
in this
October
2014 le
photo.

Cudlin, Al Naimi to ght for Qatar Superbike title

DOHA: Ace riders Alex Cudlin
of Australia and Mashel Al
Naimi of Qatar this week will go
head-to-head to claim honours
in the nal round of the Qatar
Superbike Championship.
As expected, it is going to be
an exciting weekend with a tough
battle for the title between Cudlin
and Al Naimi.
QMMFs Australian rider has
an advantage of 21 points over
Qatari rider Al Naimi, but with
50 points up for grabs, it could be
anyones race this Saturday.
Cudlin has been on the podium
in all rounds except in the third
round where he lost a lot of points
due to mechanical problems.
Cudlin hopes to end the season
with a victory and the championship title.
Im really looking forward to
this weekends two races, Cudlin
said.
I feel really motivated and
ready. We have been clawing
back points all season on Mashel.
To enter the nal round ahead
on points is a positive sign, the

Australian added. Ive said at the

start of the season that I want to
win my 5th straight championship title. I hope on Saturday that
comes true, Cudlin warned.
I will, of course, try and win
both races this weekend, but the
most important is to try and win
the championship title, Cudlin
said.
Al Naimi has been leading
the championship since the fth
round, but in the last round he
couldnt add to his overall tally as
he had problems with his Honda
bike. The Qatari rider didnt start
in the second race.
I am very excited for this
weekend and ready for a nice
battle with Alex, Al Naimi said.
I know it will be difcult to
win the championship but I will
try my best to win both races. I
will wait to see what Alex can do,
but for sure it will be an exciting
weekend, Al Naimi said with a
smile.
The second battle of the weekend will be for the third place in
the championship.

QMMF Racing Teams Moto2

rider Anthony West of Australia
is third in the standings with 150
points but as he will not take
place this weekend.
The ght for the third place
will be between Qatari duo Nasser
Al Malki, Saeed Al Sulaiti and
Germanys Nina Prinz, as there
is only a four-point gap between
them.
In the Supersport category, the
championship will be also decided
this weekend as Qatari rider
Jassim Al Thani will be looking to add to his overall tally of
207 points. Lebanons Mahmoud
Tannir is second with 190 points.
Tomorrow (May 8), track activity will start at 5:00pm with the
free practice 1, followed by free
practice 2 at 7:15pm. The ofcial
qualifying session is scheduled to
start at 9:15pm tomorrow and the
Superpole will start at 10:15pm.
Races will be held on Saturday,
with the rst race of the nal
round starting at 7:35pm and the
second race at 10:20pm.
THE PENINSULA

Qatars
Nasser Al
Malki takes
a bend in
this le
photo taken
at Losail
International
Circuit.

RIGHT: Alex Cudlin is seen

with QMMF President Nasser
bin Khalifa Al Attiyah in this le
photo. The Australian rider will
be aiming to bag his fth Qatar
Superbike Championship title.

Standings after Round 6

Superbike Category

Qatars
Mashel
Al Naimi
who would
be racing
this week
at Losail
International
CIrcuit.

Alex Cudlin (AUS) Kawasaki

219 points

Mashel Al Naimi (QAT) Honda

198 points

Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki

150 points

Nasser Al Malki (QAT) BMW

145 points

Saeed Al Sulaiti (QAT) Kawasaki

143 points

Nina Prinz (GER) Kawasaki

141 points

Rajini Krishnan (IND) Kawasaki

109 points

Yousef Al Malki (QAT) BMW

83 points

Ahmed Al Muyini (KSA) BMW

65 points
Supersport Category

Jassim Al Thani (QAT) Triumph

207 points

Mahmoud Tannir (LIB) Honda

190 points

Abdul Aziz Binladin (KSA) BMW

150 points

Nasser Al Khadra (KUW) Yamaha

144 points

Fahid Al Sowaidi (QAT) Honda

130 points

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SPORT

Ancelotti wants Real

patience for Juve decider
Coach says Madrid will need full support of fans at home next week
TURIN: Coach Carlo Ancelotti
said Real Madrid will need
patience and the full support of
the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
when they host Juventus next
week looking to secure a second
successive Champions League
nal.
Real were crowned European
champions for a record 10th time
last year with a 4-1 drubbing of
city rivals Atletico in Lisbon.
But a 2-1 defeat to Juventus
in Turin complete with an
opening goal from former Real
Madrid striker Alvaro Morata
has given the Spanish giants food
for thought ahead of next weeks
decisive return leg.
Morata, who moved to Juventus
in the summer, refused to celebrate when he opened the scoring with a tap-in after goalkeeper
Iker Casillas had pushed Carlos
Tevezs angled strike into his path
at the back post.
Cristiano Ronaldo, with his
76th goal in the competition, levelled on 27 minutes with a simple header as Juves defence went
missing, only for Tevez to seal the
win from the penalty spot just
before the hour after being felled
in the area.
Real have the benet of a precious away goal, but after seeing
his side struggle to nd their feet
before nally taking command
when it was already too late,
Ancelotti said he expects a different Real side next week.
We made more mistakes than
normal, that was because of Juves
pressing. Their line was higher in
the second half, said Ancelotti.
But well be condent because
we are playing at home and the

Real Madrids Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti leaves at the end of his sides UEFA Champions League semi-nal
rst-leg match against Juventus at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Tuesday night.
fans there will help us. We have to
be patient. The result is a negative
one but not such a bad one.
Morata, who moved from Real
to Juventus last summer, was subdued after opening the scoring on
eight minutes.
His response was understandable. It was Ancelotti who gave
the 22-year-old more playing
opportunities at Real, including a cameo appearance in the
Champions League nal last

Carreno named
new Qatar coach
DOHA:
Uruguayan
Jose
Daniel Carreno was yesterday
named as new coach of Qatar,
the host nation of the 2022
World Cup.
Carreno, who trained Qatari
club Al Arabi SC in 2014, takes
over from Algerian Djamel
Belmadi, who had been in
charge from March 2014 until
last week when his departure
was announced.
The rst challenge awaiting
the 52-year-old Carreno, widely
known as El Crespo (The
curly one), will be helping Qatar
qualify for the 2018 World Cup
in Russia. As a player Carreno
spent most of his career at
Uruguayan club Montevideo
Wanderers, having also turned
out for French outt Lens for
three seasons.
As a coach, he has trained
teams in Ecuador, Colombia
and Chile, and before Al Arabi

Jose Daniel Carreno

had been in charge of Al Nassr
in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Qatars 2018 FIFA World Cup
qualifying matches commence
in June this year.
Carreno will be the third
coach for Qatar since January
2014.
AGENCIES

year which earned him a winners medal.

I didnt celebrate because of
my past with Real, said Morata,
who insisted that despite Juves
great performance the Old Lady
of Turin cant quite celebrate just
yet.
We put in a great performance
but we havent achieved anything
yet. In the return leg Real will be
on top form at home, as always.
Ancelottis team is the best

team in the world so we have

to give everything we can if we
are to secure our place in the
nal.
Compared to Real and despite
their prestige as Italys top club
on the domestic front Juve
secured their 31st Serie A title
on Saturday the Turin giants
are relative failures in Europes
premier club competition.
Against Reals 10 triumphs,
Juve have two victories from

1985 and 1996, and have nished

runners-up ve times.
Fresh belief in the clubs
European ambitions has swept
into the club following the arrival
of coach Massimiliano Allegri,
who replaced Antonio Conte in
the summer.
Where Conte failed -- taking
Juve as far as the quarter-nals
in 2013 before bowing out to eventual winners Bayern Munich -Allegri has already succeeded.
It was Juves rst semi-nal
since 2003, when they ousted Real
in the semis before failing at the
nal hurdle, a penalty shoot-out,
in the nal against league rivals
AC Milan.
Allegri has won plaudits for
the tactical nous that has allowed
Juve to get this far, with defender
Patrice Evra saying: Against a
great Real side, we showed a lot
of people what it means to play
for a club like Juventus.
A lot of that is down to Allegri,
and the clubs staff, who helped us
prepare for this game in the best
way possible. Our coach is just like
us, he wants to get to the nal.
Allegri could have inuential
French midelder Paul Pogba -- a
target for Real and several other
major European sides -- back in
time for the return leg.
But the Italian insisted that,
without a goal, Juves chances of
reaching the nal in Berlin look
slim.
Next Wednesday well be up
against an extra motivated Real
side. I want to repeat, we have to
play better than we did tonight.
We have to score against them,
otherwise reaching the nal will
be difcult.
AFP

Knockout king Rafa eyes

third Europa League prize
PARIS: Rafeal Benitez is
expecting no favours from
Ukraine underdogs Dnipro for
his swashbuckling Napoli side,
while holders Sevilla await
Fiorentina in todays Europa
League
semi-nal
rst-leg
matches.
A third Europa League title
is at stake for knockout king
Benitez, who won the Champions
League with Liverpool in 2005,
the then UEFA Cup with Valencia
in 2004 and the Europa League
for Chelsea in 2013.
The prize for going through is
nothing less than a place in the
nal of a European competition,
said Benitez.
The second legs will be played
a week later and the nal itself
is in Warsaw on May 27, with a
place in next seasons Champions
League on offer to the winner for
the rst time.
Fourth in Serie A and fresh
from a 3-0 win over AC Milan,

Todays Europa
League Fixtures
At Sevilla
Sevilla (ESP) vs Fiorentina (ITA)
At Naples
Napoli (ITA) vs Dnipro (UKR)

Napolis free-scoring football has

the Argentine striker Gonzalo
Higuain as a spearhead and he
has seven goals in the competition, backed by a trident of
attacking midelders.
Chief amongst Higuains support act is Marek Hamsik, the
spikey haired tormentor of
Wolfsburg, who were thrashed
4-1 in Germany in the quarternal rst leg, a match that sent
a message to all Europa League
pretenders.
Little known Dnipro are the
former rocket factory side that
twice won the old Soviet League
and have been a top four side for

much of the past 20 seasons in

Ukraine. Benitez said he would
pay them every respect.
Dnipro has already shown
their capacity and potential beating teams like Olympiakos, Ajax
and Bruges. All of those teams
are well known in Europe and
have been knocked out by this
Ukrainian team, he said.
Dnipro
won
3-0
at
Chernomorets in their most
recent league game but their
coach the 65-year-old Myron
Markevych was a worried man
ahead of the trip to the San Paulo
stadium.
I had a feeling my players were
carrying heavy bags, he said after
watching the weekend win.
But he can count on goalkeeper
Denys Boyko who recently made
his Ukraine debut, three goal
Nikola Kalinic and the mideld
conjuror Yevhen Konoplyanka,
tellingly the Europa Leagues
most fouled man.
AFP

Time has come to end anarchy at FIFA: Maradona

Jordans Prince Ali bin Al Hussein (left), FIFA presidential candidate,

poses with soccer legend Diego Maradona after he spoke in the Soccerex
Asian Forum on developing the business of football in Asia at the King
Hussein Convention Center at the Dead Sea, Jordan, on Monday.

DEAD
SEA,
Jordan:
Argentinas World Cup winning captain Diego Maradona
launched a blistering attack on
FIFA President Sepp Blatter
on Monday saying that world
soccers governing body had
descended into anarchy with the
79-year-old Swiss in charge.
With the FIFA presidential
election less than a month away,
Maradona, one of the greatest players to ever grace the
game and the inspiration behind
Argentinas 1986 World Cup victory, said the time was long overdue for Blatter to go.
He said he would do all he could
to help Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein
win the election, even though
the 39-year-old Jordanian royal
hinted on Monday he might consider pulling out of the contest if
he thought one of the other two
challengers could win.
In a syndicated interview with
Guillem Balague, the moderator at
the Soccerex Asian Forum at the

King Hussein convention centre,

some 60km from the Jordanian
capital Amman, Maradona pulled
no punches and gave his backing
to the Jordanian royal.
Asked why he replied: If I
didnt believe that he would be
a good president, I wouldnt be
here.
As the football world knows,
inside FIFA there is total anarchy,
where there is only one man who
decides everything.
But he knows absolutely nothing. Therefore it is time for a
change. And it is so because even
his colleagues should actually
advise him to leave.
Maradona, 54, who was voted
along with Pele the joint-best
player of the 20th century by
FIFA in 2000, said he believed
that the continued presence of
Blatter, who is seeking a fth
term as president, would continue
to harm football.
He has done a lot of damage to
football since he has been there.

Its time for him to step aside and

let us, who are full of strength,
renovate football.
Maradona played in the World
Cups of 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994
and later coached Argentina to
the World Cup quarter-nals of
2010.
He implied he was unhappy
about way things were done at
FIFA, particularly regarding the
choice of Russia and Qatar for the
2018 and 2022 World Cup nals.
First we didnt know where
the World Cup was going to be
held. Then we found out that
after Brazil it was Russia and
then Qatar.
Without any doubt whatsoever Blatter is scared. Blatter
is scared. Hes scared of being
left out of his share of the cake,
Maradona said.
That is what really annoys
someone like me, who has played
in four World Cups. I was chasing
the ball, Blatter is chasing champagne.
REUTERS

25
Israel, Palestine
football chiefs
to meet on
expulsion bid
ZURICH: The heads of Israeli
and Palestinian football will
meet in Zurich in a bid to head
off a Palestinian bid to expel
Israel from the sports governing body, FIFA said yesterday.
The announcement of the meeting came after FIFA President
Sepp Blatter held talks with
Israeli Football Association chief
Ofer Eini to discuss the dispute.
The Palestinian Football
Association (PFA) has called for a
vote at the FIFA annual congress
on May 29 calling for Israels
expulsion for blocking Palestinian
football through its sanctions on
the Palestinian territories.
Blatter, a vociferous advocate
of keeping politics out of sport,
has made it clear he opposes any
suspension of Israel.
FIFA President Blatter reiterated his position that any member association that is fullling
its statutory duties should not be
suspended. This would also apply
to the IFA as long as they full
such duties, said a statement
released after Wednesdays talks.
A meeting between the presidents of the IFA and PFA is
scheduled to take place in Zurich
in the next few days, it added.
Blatter and FIFA secretary
general Jerome Valcke met with
Eini and Israel federation secretary general Rotem Kamer.
The main point on the agenda
was the proposal by the PFA to
suspend the IFA at the upcoming
FIFA Congress.
FIFA had earlier held talks
with Palestinian association leaders. In its draft resolution for the
FIFA congress, the Palestinian
protests over Israels treatment of
Arabs and acts such as setting up
clubs in the occupied Palestinian
territories.
Israeli forces raided the PFA
headquarters in the West Bank
city of Ramallah in November.
Palestinian football chiefs have
also condemned Israeli travel
restrictions on Palestinian players and on importing equipment
into the occupied territories.
To be passed the Palestinian
resolution needs the support of
three quarters of the 209 federations at the FIFA congress.
A FIFA delegation visited the
Gaza Strip in January and pledged
$1m to help rebuild stadiums
damaged in the conict.
AFP

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho to
extend Chelsea
deal: Reports
LONDON: Chelsea manager
Jose Mourinho has verbally
agreed a two-year extension to
his current contract, according
to reports in the British media
yesterday.
Mourinho, 52, returned to
Chelsea in 2013 on a four-year
contract and this season has led
the club to the Premier League
title their rst since 2010 and
the League Cup.
During his rst spell at
Stamford Bridge, between 2004
and 2007, he won two league titles,
in 2005 and 2006, as well as two
League Cups and one FA Cup.
Mourinho is already the bestpaid manager in England, with a
reported annual salary of 8.4m
($12.75m), and British tabloid The
Sun reported that his new deal
would be worth around 10.5m
per year.
Speaking after Chelsea secured
the league title with a 1-0 win
over Crystal Palace on Sunday,
Mourinho reiterated that he will
stay at the club as long as owner
Roman Abramovich wants him
to remain. As I was saying since
the beginning of the season, I stay
here until Mr Abramovich wants
me to stay, said the Portuguese.
The day he tells me to go, I go.
AFP

26

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SPORT

Qatars dream team aims to shine at Diamond League opener

DOHA: Along with international stars like IAAF World
Athlete of the Year Renaud
Lavillenie and double Olympic
and world champion Mo Farah,
a dream team of Qatari athletes will also be in action at the
Diamond League opener at the
Qatar Sports Club track here on
May 15.
The Face of Qatar Athletics,
Mutaz Essa Barshim, will not be
in action because of the absence
of the mens high jump event
from the schedule but the rest
of Qatars most prominent athletes will be out to impress at the

grand opening of the 2015 IAAF

Diamond League season.
Starting from the 100m, the
hosts will be represented by
the reigning Asian champion
and Asian record holder Femi
Ogunode. The 24-year-old, bronze
medalist in the 60m World Indoor
Championships last year and a
ve-time Asian champion, has
already started the outdoor season with a superb run of 10.15s
in a 100m outing in Tampa, USA,
where he trains under the guidance of Dennis Mitchell along
with Justin Gatlin, one of his
major rivals on May 15 in Doha. At

the recent Arab Championships

in Manama, Bahrain, Ogunode
ran even faster, 10.04, but he was
assisted by an illegal 4.1 m/sec
tailwind.
Ogunode is one of the most successful Qatari athletes in the history of the Doha meeting. He may
boast of his second-place nish in
the 200m race in 2011 and a thirdrank in 2014, when he matched
Mutazs Doha record (third in
2011 and second in 2013).
The 800m race will feature the
likes of Musaeb Abdulrahman
Balla and Jamal Hairane.
Balla, 26, feels condent enough

for a long awaited international

quantum leap, following his brilliant 2015 indoor season which
saw him topping the world rankings with an awesome 1:45.48
clocking win in Stockholm, a new
national record.
Balla already posted an Arab
Championships win in Manama
in April with a time of 1:46.74.
21-year-old Hairane, the 2014
Asian Games bronze medalist,
elected to open his 2015 outdoor
campaign in the 1500m. He won
silver at the GCC Championships
and was sixth at the Arab
Championships. In Doha he will

Iranians start well at

Asian Championship

check his progress in the 800m,

against the worlds best twolap athletes the likes of World
Champions Mohammed Aman
and Asbel Kiprop and he will be
looking to improve his 1:47.61 personal best.
Finally, athletics acionados
will enjoy Qatars new wonder
kid Abdalelah Harouns Diamond
League debut in a non-scoring
400m race scheduled exclusively
for Asian athletes.
Haroun, just 18, was the sixth
fastest in the world indoors with
45.39, a new Asian senior record
and has already ran 44.68 twice

outdoors once in the high altitude of Sasolburg, South Africa

in March and again at the end
of April at sea level in Manama
during the Arab Championships.
His time was fast enough to help
him win gold in Manama, his rst
international title, while it was
just two hundreds of a second shy
of the Asian junior record, owned
by Saudi Arabias Hamdan Odha
Al Bishi. This performance puts
Haroun third in the 2015 outdoor
list so far, an unbelievable breakthrough for an athlete who was
completely unknown until last
winter.
THE PENINSULA

Al Sadd, Al Wakrah win

Japans Icho Kaori shows class in womens wrestling

DOHA: Iranian grapplers stole
the limelight on the opening day
of the Senior Asian Wrestling
Championship that got under
way at Aspire Academy here
yesterday.
Spurred with good support
from fans, the Iranians clinched
two gold medals to ensure a ying start to their campaign in the
ve-day championship.
A total of 30 countries from
around the world are taking part
in the coveted event that begun
with a simple but impressive
opening ceremony.
Masoud Mahmoud secured the
rst gold medal for Iran when he
was adjudged the winner of 65kg
free style nal against Ishida
Tomotsugu of Japan after the
bout ended with a score of 1-1.
Pliev Ruslan of Uzbekistan won
bronze medal in the category
after overcoming Hwang Ryong
Hak of North Korea in the third
position match.
Alireza Mohammed was
crowned Asian champion in the
86kg freestyle after a thrilling
ght against Matsumoto Atsushi
of Japan. Trailing 2-0, Mohammed
made a brilliant ghtback with
an aggressive display to turn the
bout in his favour. He won the
bout 6-3 to ensure second gold
medal for Iran.
Iran also won a silver and
bronze medal with Komeil Nemat
losing 125kg nal to Aiaal Lazarev
of Kyrgyzstan. Younes Firouz
added a bronze medal with 10-0
victory over Nodirjon Safarov in
57kg.
Meanwhile,
three-time
Olympics gold medalist and ninetime world champion Icho Kaori
lived up to expectations to win
the only gold medal of the day
for Japan.
She outclassed Tynybekova
Aisuluu of Kyrgyzstan with onesided score of 10-0 in the female
wrestling 58kg category. The
bronze medal in the category went
to Adildina Aiym of Kazakhstan
who defeated South Koreas

for his country as he suffered a

10-8 defeat to Usukhbaatar
Purevee of Mongolia after a tough
ght.
Todays qualication matches
will start at 9am while the nals
will start from 6pm.
THE PENINSULA

Senior Asian Wrestling

Championship Results
Mens Freestyle (57kg)
Gold: Erdenebat Vekhbayar (Mgl) bt Samat
Nadyrbek Uulu (Kgz) 4-1
Bronze: Fumitaka Morishita (Jpn) bt Hak Jin
Kong (PRK) 6-3

Bronze: Younes Firouz Sarmastidizaji (Iri) bt

Nodirjon Safarov (Uzb) by fall
Mens Freestyle (65kg)
Action from bouts of the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship in Doha
yesterday.
PICTURES: ABDUL BASIT

Gold: Masoud Esmaeilpoor (Iri) bt

Tomotsugu Ishida (Jpn) via criteria, 1-1
Bronze: Ganzorig Mandakhnaran (Mgl) bt
Azat Mirakhimov (Kgz) 6-0
Bronze: Ruslan Pliev (Uzb) bt Ryong Hak
Hwang (PRK) by tf,13-2

TOP: An Al Sadd player scores during a H H The Emir Cup match against
Al Shamal at Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday. Sadd beat Shamal 90-63.
BELOW: An Al Wakrah player dribbles past an Al Ahli player. Wakrah beat
Ahli 87-78.
PICTURES: BAHER AMIN

Mens Freestyle (86kg)

Gold: Alireza Karimimachiani (Iri) bt Atsushi
Matsumoto (Jpn)
Bronze: Umidjon Ismanov (Uzb) bt Azamat
Dauletbekov (Kaz), 8-6
Bronze: Purevee Usukhbaatar (Mgl) bt
Muhammad Inam (Pak), 10-8
Mens Freestyle (125kg)
Gold: Aiaal Lazarev (Kgz) bt
Komeil Ghasemi (Iri) by fall
Bronze: Ziwei Deng (Chn) bt Mohammed
Sabah Abdulmalek Saklawe (Irq) by tf, 10-0
Bronze: Farkhod Anakulov (Tjk) bt Hitender
(Ind) by criteria, 2-2
Womens Wrestling (58kg)
Kyeon Kim 3-0. Mongolia and
Uzbekistan also won a gold medal
each on the rst day. Bekhbayar
Erdenebat won the premier medal
for Mongolia in 57kg free style
after winning against Nadyrbrek
Samat of Kyrgyzstan.

Gheeta Phogat secured the

only medal of the day for India
when she prevailed over Thi
Loan Nguyen of Vietnam 3-0
in the third position match.
Pakistans Mohammad Inam
missed the chance to win bronze

Gold: Kaori Icho (Jpn) bt Aisuluu Tynybekova

(Kgz) by tf, 10-0
Bronze: Aiym Abdildina (Kaz) bt Kyeongeun
Kim (Kor), 3-0
Bronze: Geeta Phogat (Ind) bt Thi Loan
Nguyen (vie) by fall

Lupie wins Umm Garn Cup race

Harry Bentley rides Lupie to victory in the Umm Garn Cup race at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Trainer Jassim Al Ghazali (second from left) with Lupie after the victory. Lupie beat
Sandbetweenourtoes also trained by Al Ghazali and ridden by Stephan Ladjadj and Victory Laurel trained by I. Al Malki and ridden by Alberto Sanna to win the marquee race of the day.
PICTURES: JUHAIM

THURSDAY 7 MAY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SPORT

Younis, Azhar hammer

luckless Bangladesh
Shahadat injury, no balls cost hosts dear on rst day
DHAKA:
Younis
Khan
and Azhar Ali hit centuries
as Pakistan capitalised on
Bangladeshs misfortune to post
a commanding 323 for three on
the opening day of the second
and nal Test yesterday.
Younis made 148 and Azhar was
unbeaten on 127, the pair having
shared a third-wicket stand of
250 to rescue the tourists from
58-2 after Bangladesh captain
Mushqur Rahim won the toss
and elected to eld in Dhaka.
Both batsmen were lucky to
reach three gures after being
reprieved by no-balls even as
Bangladesh struggled to overcome
the loss of strike bowler Shahadat
Hossain in the days rst over.
Shahadat, who replaced the
injured Rubel Hossain for the
decisive Test, collapsed on his follow through after sending down
the rst ball and hobbled off the
eld after his second delivery.
Shahadat returned after the
morning drinks break, and even
though he did not bowl for the rest
of the session, he took a catch in
the deep to dismiss Sami Aslam.
However, Shahadat succumbed
to injury again while training during the lunch break and had to be
lifted away on a stretcher.
Chief selector Faruque Ahmed
said the 28-year-old seamer had
injured his right knee and was
unlikely to take any further part

Scoreboard
Pakistan (I innings):
Mohammad Hafeez c Rahim b Shahid .......8
Sami Aslam c Shahadat b Taijul ...............19
Azhar Ali (batting) .................................. 127
Younis Khan c Shuvagata b Shahid ........148
Misbah-ul Haq (batting) .............................9
Extras (LB6, W1, NB5) .......................... 12
Total (for 3 wkts, 90 overs) ...............323
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-58, 3-308).
To bat: Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab
Riaz, Yasir Shah, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan.
Bowling: Shahadat 0.2-0-4-0, Soumya
11.4-1-32-0 (2nb), Shahid 21-6-43-2 (3nb,
1w), Taijul 30-2-102-1, Shuvagata 8-0-47-0,
Shakib 14-0-68-0, Mominul 2-0-8-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-12-0, Imrul 1-0-1-0.

Pakistans Younis Khan reacts after scoring a century against Bangladesh during the rst day of the second
Test match, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka yesterday.
in the match.
Left with a depleted attack,
Bangladesh used nine bowlers to
try to contain the run ow, with
Rahim and Tamim Iqbal the only
ones who did not turn their arms
over.
Part-time seamer Soumya
Sarkar would have dismissed
Younis on 78, caught in the covers from a mistimed drive, but TV
replays showed the bowler had
overstepped to concede a no-ball.
Similarly, Azhar escaped on 18
when he was caught in the slips
off Mohammad Shahid, only to see
TV umpire Ranmore Martinesz
conrm a no-ball.
Azhars dismissal at the stage
would have reduced Pakistan
to 38-2 after Bangladesh had
removed one of the openers
cheaply.
Mohammad Hafeez, who hit
a double-century in the drawn

rst Test in Khulna, was caught

behind off Shahid for eight.
Left-arm spinner Taijul
Islam had Sami Aslam caught
by Shahadat on the mid-wicket
boundary for 19, but Younis and
Azhar settled in to tame the
depleted attack.
I love to score for my team,
said Younis, the 37-year-old
veteran of 98 Tests, who hit 11
boundaries and three sixes in his
29th Test century.
When the team is under pressure and needs me, it feels nice to
get a century because it is good
both for me and the team.
Partnerships are always the
key. Azhar and I got together and
had a big one today. But we need
to keep up the good work tomorrow also, he said.
Azhar, who reached his eighth
hundred by lofting Taijul for
his 10th four, added three more

boundaries before stumps.

Younis was dismissed by the
hard-working Shahid ve overs
before stumps when he slashed
a short ball to gully, where
Shuvagata Hom made no mistake.
Captain Misbah-ul Haq was
unbeaten on nine at stumps with
Pakistan well-placed to build
a huge total and put the hosts
under pressure.
Shahid, who took two of the
three wickets, rued the injury to
team-mate Shahadat, saying the
outcome may have been different if he had been bowling at the
other end.
This is denitely a pace bowlers wicket, he said. There was
grass on the pitch, there was
movement and we were getting
a lot out of it.
I wish Shahadat was around to
bowl. Hopefully things will work
out better for us tomorrow. AFP

27

Gayle powers RCB

rout of Kings XI
BENGALURU:
Royal
Challengers Bangalore (RCB),
riding high on a hurricane century by Chris Gayle, handed out
a massive 138-run defeat to a
spiritless and spineless Kings
XI Punjab in an Indian Premier
League match and moved into
the fourth spot with their fth
win in 10 outings here yesterday.
It was a hiding of sorts as RCB
piled up 226 for three which left
visiting skipper George Bailey
ruing his decision to eld after
winning the toss, and under pressure, the visitors collapsed to 88
in 13.4 overs as pacemen Mitchell
Starc (4 for 15) and Sreenath
Aravind (4 for 24) sliced through
the line-up.
Gayle struck a brilliant 117 off
57 balls, with seven fours and 12
sixes.
For Kings XI Punjab, runnersup last season, but looking like
ragtag team, it was their fth
consecutive defeat in 10 matches,
leaving them at the bottom of the
eight-team league with just four
points with little hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.
RCB, with a massive total on
the board, bowled well even as the
Kings XI batsmen, barring Axar
Patel (40 not out, 21b, 5x4, 2x6)
showed little or no determination
to even make a ght of it, much
less win the game.
The early dismissals of openers
Manan Vohra (2) who replaced
Virender Sehwag, and Murali
Vijay (2), took the wind out of
Kings XI sails.
It was a regular procession
thereafter before Axar Patel used
the long handle, but to little effect

as wickets fell in a heap at the

other end.
RCB, thus, recorded their
biggest IPL victory (in terms
of runs), beating their previous
best of 130-run win over Pune
Warriors in 2013, at this very
venue when Gayle smashed his
highest T20 score of 175.
Earlier, it was all about Gayle
and his 14th T20 century as he
led a merciless onslaught on the
Punjab bowlers who were made
to look ordinary while the home
batsmen rained 18 sixes and 14
boundaries on a balmy night when
the rains stayed away.
The visiting attack had no
answer to rst Gayle, who was let
off when on 27 with Bailey unable to get to a skier off Sandeep
Sharma in the third over of the
innings.
The lapse proved costly as
Gayle showcased his brute power
as well as a ne sense of timing
to gallop to his century.
Spearhead Mitchell Johnson,
bowling at some speed, leaked 43
runs in his four overs while leftarm spinner Axar Patel went for
51. Only seamer Anureet Singh,
though wicketless, looked the
part, conceding just 25 runs in
four overs.
Gayle and skipper Virat Kohli
(32) laid the platform with a
119-run partnership for the rst
wicket in just 11.2 overs before the
innovative de Villiers joined the
Jamaican to heap more misery on
Punjab bowlers.
Along with de Villiers, Gayle,
who completed 3,000 runs in IPL,
added 72 runs before offering a
tame return catch to Patel. IANS

Scoreboard
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
CH Gayle c & b Patel ..............................117
V Kohli b Sandeep Sharma ....................... 32
AB de Villiers (not out) ............................... 47
KD Karthik b Sandeep Sharma .................... 8
SN Khan (not out) ..................................... 11
Extras (LB 3, W 7, NB 1) .......................... 11
Total (3 wkts; 20 overs) ......................226
Did not bat: Mandeep Singh, D Wiese, MA
Starc, HV Patel, YS Chahal, S Aravind
Fall of wickets: 1-119, 2-190, 3-199
Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-41-2 (1nb);
MG Johnson 4-0-43-0 (2w); Anureet Singh
4-0-25-0; GJ Maxwell 2-0-23-0 (1w); AR Patel
4-0-50-1 (2w); Karanveer Singh 2-0-41-0 (2w)
KINGS XI PUNJAB
M Vijay b Patel ........................................... 2

M Vohra c Wiese b Starc ............................. 2

WP Saha c Kohli b Aravind ........................ 13
GJ Maxwell b Aravind ................................. 1
DA Miller b Aravind .................................... 7
GJ Bailey* b Aravind ................................... 2
AR Patel (not out) ...................................... 40
MG Johnson b Starc .................................. 1
Anureet Singh b Starc ................................ 0
Karanveer Singh b Starc ............................. 4
Sandeep Sharma c & b Chahal ................... 7
Extras (LB 5, W 4) ..................................... 9
Total (all out; 13.4 overs) ...................... 88
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-19, 3-20, 4-33, 5-34,
6-39, 7-49, 8-49, 9-65, 10-88
Bowling: MA Starc 4-0-15-4 (2w); S Aravind
4-0-27-4; HV Patel 2-0-13-1; YS Chahal 2.40-24-1; D Wiese 1-0-4-0

Serena, Sharapova win Madrid battles

Mirza wants to
inspire girls across
the subcontinent
NEW
DELHI:
Outside
Bollywood lms, Sania Mirza
might be the only Indian success welcomed as warmly in
neighbouring Pakistan and the
28-year-old expects her doubles feats to inspire girls on
both sides of the border to pick
up a tennis racquet.
Mirza (pictured) has long
been the face of the womens
game in India and her highprole cross-border wedding to
Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik
ve years ago placed her in a
unique position.
Her rise to the top ranking in
WTA doubles was hailed
in both countries.
Maliks international
career has stalled since
his last one-day match
two years ago, but Mirza
last month became the
rst Indian to climb to
the top after winning
the Family Circle Cup in
Charleston, South Carolina, her
third successive title partnered
with Martina Hingis.
It feels good, Mirza said.
Me and my husband, we live in
a kind of extraordinary situation
because we both are professional
athletes from different countries
who still represent their own
country after marriage and I
dont think that happens very
often. We both are very active,
still playing and its great if it
can inspire not just people in
India and Pakistan but hopefully
girls can pick up tennis racquets

in the whole subcontinent, really

think that sports can be a career
option.
That does not come rst to
the head of any girl or parent ...
Whether its India, Pakistan or
anywhere in the subcontinent,
Id like to believe people hopefully will get a little inspired
by this and hopefully things
change.
Once a top 30 singles player
with a potent forehand, Mirza
was the rst Indian to win a
WTA singles title in 2005, but
after battling knee and wrist
injuries, feels her switch to doubles has been vindicated.
I ended my singles
career solely for the reason that my body was not
just able to take it anymore, said Mirza, calling
it a surreal feeling to
top the doubles rankings.
I had three surgeries
in seven-eight years and
in those years ... it was either
playing doubles or not playing
tennis at all. I love tennis too
much to have given up on it so
soon. Finally at peace, Mirza
has set herself a couple of goals.
It would be great to try and
get records on how long I stay
there and denitely try and win
a womens doubles Grand Slam
which has not happened. (I) have
come close so many times even
though (I) won mixed Grand
Slams. Hopefully try and end
the year at one, if not this year,
next year.
REUTERS

MADRID: Top seed Serena

Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova survived
marathon three-setters to reach
the Madrid Open quarter-nals
yesterday.
Williams saved three match
points and needed two and threequarter hours to take her undefeated record this season to 23-0,
making the most of a late serving
collapse from former number one
Victoria Azarenka.
I could have won, she could
have won. I ended up winning and
I dont know how, said Williams
after her 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-1)
win. I feel like it was intense.
I dont feel like there were
a lot of long points, which was
weird.
Williams next faces either Ana
Ivanovic, the Serbian seventh
seed, or Spanish 10th seed Carla
Suarez Navarro.
Third seed Sharapova went for
two-and-a-half hours before seeing off Frenchwoman Caroline
Garcia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Sharapova ended the dramatic
third-round match with a secondserve ace conrmed from the
chair after breaking for 6-5.
Williams had found herself in
trouble in the third set against
Azarenka, who saved a match
point in the 10th game to make it
5-5 and then broke for a 6-5 lead.
Sometimes when youre at
that point you have nothing to
lose, said Williams. You just
kind of play and hopefully go
down with dignity.
Thats kind of how I felt at
that point.
But Azarenka fell victim to the
serving yips, missing on three
match points and sending over
three double-faults in a row to
lose serve and take the match into
a deciding tiebreaker.
Williams then raced to ve

after beating Halep for the title

in Paris last June.
The Russian started 2015 by
winning 17 of her rst 18 matches,
but came to Madrid having lost
three in a row.
She has now won 57 of her last
62 matches on clay as she waits to
play fth seed Caroline Wozniacki
in the quarters.
Wozniacki advanced over
Polands Agnieszka Radwanska
6-3, 6-2.
AFP

Madrid Open Results

Russias Maria Sharapova returns a ball to Caroline Garcia of France

during a Madrid Open match at the Caja Magica (Magic Box) Sports
Complex in Madrid yesterday.
match points, escaping on her
rst from Azarenkas long forehand return.
This is denitely an escape
you can say. Ive had some other
escapes, said the American.
Against Sharapova, the 28thranked Garcia, clearly peeved to
have missed her chance against
the ve-time Grand Slam winner,
gave an abbreviated drive-by
handshake as the players met for
a few quick seconds at the net,
following protocol in name only.
In the third it just came down
to a few points, she was the much
more aggressive player in the
third set; she was going for a lot,
said Sharapova.
Conditions also play a big role,
you have a bit of altitude here.
The ball bounces quite high.

Consistency is really important

against an opponent thats so
aggressive and going for the lines
so much.
Sharapova is ghting to regain
the number two WTA ranking
that she lost last month with
an early defeat in Stuttgart and
needs to reach the nal to have a
chance of standing second again
behind Williams.
The scenario opened up at the
weekend when second seed and
2014 runner-up Simona Halep
lost in her opening match.
Garcia reached the quarternals a year ago as a qualier and
beat number 13 Karolina Pliskova
in the second round this week to
earn her spot against Sharapova.
Sharapova is also building for
her French Open title defence

Results from the fth day of the ATP and

WTA Madrid Open yesterday (x denotes
seeded player):
Mens Second Round
David Ferrer (ESP x7) bt Albert RamosVinolas (ESP) 6-4, 6-0
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Marin Cilic
(CRO x9) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
John Isner (USA x16) bt Thomaz Bellucci
(BRA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (11/13), 6-1
Simone Bolelli (ITA) bt
Luca Vanni (ITA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Tomas Berdych (CZE x6) bt Richard Gasquet
(FRA) 7-6 (7/3), 7-5
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x10) bt Fabio Fognini
(ITA) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) bt Jack Sock
(USA) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x3) bt Steve Johnson
(USA) 6-4, 6-3
Womens Third Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS x3) bt Caroline Garcia
(FRA) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Petra Kvitova (CZE x4) bt Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-1, 6-4
Irina Begu (ROM) bt
Barbora Strycova (CZE) 6-4, 6-4
Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Victoria
Azarenka (BLR) 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/1)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x5) bt Agnieszka
Radwanska (POL x9) 6-3, 6-2

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Inspired Messi lifts

Barca past Bayern

Lekhwiyas Nam
Tae-Hee (10) giving
an interview to a
television channel at
the end of the AFC
Champions League
match against Saudi
Arabias Al Nassr
Riyadh at King
Fahd International
Stadium in Riyadh
yesterday. Television
footage showed the
Lekhwiya player
Tae-Hae was hit
by a rival player in
the tunnel at the
end of the match.
BOTTOM: Tae-Hae
escorted to safety
by an ofcial.

Argentinian scores twice in 3-0 victory

BARCELONA:
Barcelonas
Lionel Messi struck twice and
set up Neymar in the nal 13
minutes as Pep Guardiolas
return to the Camp Nou as
Bayern Munich coach ended
in a 3-0 defeat in the rst-leg
of their Champions League
semi-nal.
On his 100th appearance in
European football, Messis double moved him back ahead of
Cristiano Ronaldo as the all-time
leading scorer in the Champions
League and Barca to the brink of
their rst nal in four years.
Manuel Neuer had kept Bayern
in the game with a string of ne
saves, but was helpless as Messi
drilled home the opener from
the edge of the area in the 77th
minute and then delightfully
chipped the German three minutes later.
Messi then fed Neymar in stoppage time to roll past Neuer and
hand Bayern an almost impossible
task in next weeks second-leg.
Guardiola was given a warm
reception by the home fans as
he took his seat for the rst time
in the away dugout, but his early
tactical plan to play three at the
back nearly proved costly.
Bayerns intense pressing was
forcing Barca to play long more
than they are accustomed to,
but it nearly worked to perfection when Messis headed ick-on
sent Luis Suarez clear behind the
Bayern defence after 12 minutes.
Neuer, though, stood up brilliantly to divert the Uruguayans
effort to safety with an outstretched right leg.
Suarez turned provider for
the next opening as his low cross
picked out Neymar only for his
goalbound effort to strike Ranha
and deect behind.

Champions League
Barcelona: Result of a Champions League
semi-nal rst-leg tie in Barcelona
yesterday:
Barcelona (ESP) 3 (Messi 77, 80, Neymar
90+4) Bayern Munich (GER) 0
On Tuesday
Juventus (ITA) 2 (Morata 8, Tevez 57-pen)
Real Madrid (ESP) 1 (Cristiano Ronaldo 27)
Second legs
May 12: Bayern Munich v Barcelona
May 13: Real Madrid v Juventus
Final - Berlin, June 6

Barcelonas Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates

after scoring during the UEFA
Champions League match
at the Camp Nou Stadium in
Barcelona yesterday.

The visitors then had a huge

chance of their own as Thomas
Mueller picked out the unmarked
Robert Lewandowski, but the
Polish international -- who was
playing with a protective facemask after suffering a broken
nose and cheekbone just last week
-- sliced his effort wide.
A change of system from
Guardiola to a four at the back
regained some measure of control, but the pace of the game
was still unrelenting. Messi bent
an effort just wide after ghosting past three Bayern defenders,
whilst Suarez was also off target
with an unmarked header from a
corner. At the other end, Thiago
Alcantara curled just wide on his
return to the club where he made
his name. However, it was Neuer
who came to Bayerns rescue
again six minutes before the break
as he spread himself to deny Dani
Alves as he latched onto Andres
Iniestas through ball.
Bayern started the second
period the brighter, but it was

once again Neuer who was the

busiest goalkeeper as handled a
driven shot with Messi after a
neat one-two with Neymar.
The two combined once more
moments later but Neymar just
couldnt bring Messis lofted pass
under his control and Neuer galloped from his line to clear the
danger. However, Messi was not
so forgiving when offered room on
the edge of the area for the rst
time as he red past Neuer at his
near post 13 minutes from time.
Three minutes later he produced an even more sublime
nish as the Argentine received
Dani Alvess pass and left Jerome
Boateng stumbling to the ground
before dinking the ball over the
advancing Neuer on his weaker
right foot.
Yet, Neymar was cooler when
bearing down on Neuer in stoppage time from Messis pass as he
this time found the back of the
net and all but secured Barcas
passage to the nal in Berlin early
next month.
AFP

Bayern Munichs defender Juan Bernat (left) ghts for the ball with Argentinian striker Leo Messi (centre).

Lekhwiya down Al Nassr

3-1 to make last sixteen
DOHA:
Qatar
champions
Lekhwiya advanced to the
last 16 of the AFC Champions
League with a comprehensive
3-1 win over Saudi Arabias Al
Nassr yesterday.
The victory helped Lekhwiya
win Group A with 13 points,
while Irans Persepolis claimed
second spot with 12 after beating
already-eliminated Bunyodkor of
Uzbekistan 2-1.
Lekhwiya, who won both the
Qatar Stars League and the
Qatar Cup and are in line for a
domestic treble if they claim the
ongoing Emir Cup, went ahead
through Yousef Msakni in the
27th minute, while Nam Tae-hee
consolidated in the 32nd.
And although Hassan al-Rahab
pulled one back for Al Nassr with
a 36th minute strike, a Sebastian
Soria penalty early in the second half saw Lekhwiya home
convincingly.
Also in Group A, Persepolis
piled on the misery for Bunyodkor
who nished their group engagements with just one point from
six matches.
Mohamed Noori gave the
Iranians a 49th minute lead but
Sardor Rashidov equalized in the
61st to raise Bunyodkors hopes of
a consolation win.
However, an own goal by Obid
Djurabayev put paid to that as
the Uzbeks crashed to their fth
defeat, 2-1.
In Group B, Al Ain thrashed
Naft Tehran 3-0 with Omar
Abdulrahman, Asamoah Gyan
and Jires Kembo-Ekoko nding
the target in the second half.
Al Ain thus topped the table
with 12 points, while Naft
Tehran also made the last 16

AFC Champions
League
Tokyo: Results from the AFC Champions
League yesterday:
Group A
Lekhwiya (QAT) 3 (Yousef Msakni 27, Nam
Tae-hee 32, Sebastian Soria 58) Al Nassr
(KSA) 1 (Hassan al-Rahab 36)
Persepolis (IRN) 2 (Mohamed Noori 49,
Obid Djurabayev 72-og) Bunyodkor (UZB) 1
(Sardor Rashidov 61)
Group B
Pakhtakor (UZB) 0 Al Shabab (KSA) 2 (Mousa
al-Shamri 6, Abdulla al-Asta 67-pen)
Al Ain (UAE) 3 (Omar Abdulrahman 63,
Asamoah Gyan 74, Jires Kembo-Ekoko 86
Naft Tehran (IRN) 0
Group E
Jeonbuk Motors (KOR) 4 (Lee Jae-Sung 26,
Kim Hyung-Il 52, Eninho 80-pen, Edu 88)
Shandong Luneng (CHN) 1 (Wang Tong 45+1)
Binh Duong (VIE) 1 (Vinh 56) Kashiwa
Reysol (JPN) 0
Group F
Gamba Osaka (JPN) 2 (Usami 64, Lins 82)
Seongnam FC (KOR) 1 (Hwang 15)
Buriram United (THA) 5 (Diogo 12, 38, 57,
Tunez 36, Macena 60) Guangzhou R&F (CHN) 0
after already-eliminated Al
Shabab of Saudi Arabia shocked
Uzbekistans Pakhtakor 2-0.
Earlier in East Asia, Gamba
Osaka beat Seongnam FC 2-1
to reach the last 16 and dash
the hopes of Buriram United,
who went out despite thrashing
Guangzhou R&F 5-0.
Takashi Usami and Brazilian
striker Lins scored in the second half as the Japanese treblewinners came from a goal down
against Seongnam to qualify top
of Group F.
But Gambas win was a

heart-breaker for Thailands

Buriram, whose ve-star display
at their Thunder Castle stadium
wasnt enough to earn them a
place in the knock-outs.
On the nal night of games in
Group E, Jeonbuk Motors went
through in style with a 4-1 win
over Shandong Luneng, while
already-qualied Kashiwa Reysol
lost 1-0 to Binh Duong.
At Buriram, Guangzhou twice
rattled the woodwork early on
before Diogo opened the oodgates for the home side with an
assured nish on 12 minutes.
Gilberto Macena fed his fellow
Brazilian with a curling ball into
the box which Diogo cushionvolleyed past Guangzhou keeper
Zhang Shichang.
Chinese defending was suspect for Burirams second, when
Venezuelan centre-back Andres
Tunez leaned into his marker to
nod home a corner all too easily.
And Diogo pounced for his second seven minutes before halftime, when he was rst to a loose
ball and slapped his shot low and
into the net to make it 3-0.
Buriram didnt stop after the
break and Diogo completed his
hat-trick before Macena got on
the scoresheet with half-an-hour
to go. But there were grim faces in
the Buriram dug-out when news
arrived that, eight minutes from
time in Osaka, Lins had scored
the goal which would seal their
elimination.
In Group E, Jeonbuk needed
only a draw against Shandong
but goals from Lee Jae-Sung,
Kim Hyung-Il, Eninho and Edu
showed that the 2006 winners
mean business in the knock-outs.
AFP