HIS Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum in Doha on Monday.

They were briefed on the origins and historical signifi-cance of sports and the Olympic Games, particularly the ancient Greek Olympic Games. Along with presenting the history of the Olympic Games since its birth in Greece, the visitors also viewed sports artefacts from all around the world, dating back to the early days of sports, and visual displays with photographs and data about athletes from other nations.

At the end of the visit, the Amir hosted a luncheon banquet in honour of the Greek PM and the delegation accompanying him. — QNA

Amir, Greek PM visit Olympic and Sports Museum

QNADOHA

PRIME Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said that his coun-try was keen to boost ties and expand cooperation with Qatar

In an interview with the Qatar News Agency (QNA) during his maiden visit to Doha on Monday, Mitso-takis stressed his belief in Qatar’s potential to host a successful FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

“Areas such as trade, transport, energy, culture, education, investment, tourism, and sports consti-tute the core of our set prior-ities. Qatar is widely known to possess significant poten-tial and expertise in these fields,” he said, adding that there was room for greater collaboration in several ar-eas of common interest.

Describing investments as a priority to enhance bi-lateral cooperation, Misto-takis said, “Greece is a natu-ral entry point for trade with the European Union and Europe more broadly. It is quickly becoming an energy hub and offers various high-quality investment opportu-

nities. Commenting on the up-

coming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the Greek PM said, “The entire world is ea-gerly anticipating, as this is the first time in the history of FIFA that the World Cup is [being] hosted by an Arab country.”

He congratulated Qa-tar on the “meticulous or-ganization”, expressing his confidence in Qatar to offer a successful world cup edi-tion.

“We wholeheartedly wish every success to Qatar for this noble and daring en-deavour; the success of the tournament, of which I am convinced, will prove the ex-isting vigour, vision and de-termination of Qatar, as well as the vibrant dynamism of its people as a whole.”

Mistotakis appreciated the Qatari diplomatic efforts that contributed to resolving regional and international issues, as well as its endeav-ours to promote dialogue over the past years.

“I would like to warmly congratulate HH the Amir for his pivotal role in bring-ing about a successful out-come to Qatar’s challenging mediation on Chad. The recent signing of the Doha Agreement constitutes a decisive step towards rec-onciliation and the promo-tion of peace in Chad,” he said, showing his confidence that “the Doha Agreement will serve as solid ground for the National Dialogue process, which has started in N’Djamena, to bear fruit.”

He also commended Qa-tar’s humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, saying “In this context, I would also like to congratulate Qatar on its crucial role in coordinating the safe transfer of people from Afghanistan this time last year. It is thanks to Doha’s intensive efforts that the smooth operation of flights, along with a safe ha-ven in Qatar, was secured”.

QNADOHA

HIS Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis held talks at the Amiri Diwan on Monday morning.

During the talks, they dis-cussed aspects of developing joint cooperation, especially in the economy and invest-ment fields, and exchanged views on prominent regional and international

issues.Qatar’s Deputy Prime

Minister and Minister of For-eign Affairs HE Sheikh Mo-hammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Chief of Amiri Diwan HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani, Minister of State for Energy Affairs HE Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of Environment and Climate Change HE Sheikh Dr Faleh bin Nasser bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani, and Advisor

to the Amir for National Secu-rity Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Misnad attended the

talks.On the Greek side, Min-

ister of the Environment and Energy Konstantinos Skrekas and a number of members of the accompanying official del-egation attended the session.

The Greek PM was ac-corded an official reception ceremony upon his arrival at the Amiri Diwan.

We whole-heartedly wish every

success to Qatar for this noble and daring endeavour— Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA WC

Mitsotakis hails WC build up, seeks deeper ties with Qatar

Amir reviews bilateral ties with Greek PM

COVID-19 under control in Qatar but lapses can still be deadly: Dr BayatALTHOUGH Qatar has been successful in controlling the spread of COVID-19, Dr Soha Al Bayat, the head of vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health, empha-sised that the pandemic is still ongoing.

She urged people to continue taking precautions, warning that failure to do so could have deadly repercussions for the vulnerable.

“We have succeeded in controlling the pandemic, but it hasn’t yet ended, and we are not isolated from the world, where countries have gone through multi-ple waves of infections,” Bayat told Qatar TV on Monday.

Some individuals with coronavirus may only have minor symptoms or none at all, she said but this does not guarantee that everyone will feel the same way. “You may have little symptoms or none at all, but if you spread the virus to someone who is immunocompromised, pregnant, old, or a child, those people are at danger.”

Dr Bayat said she understands people’s frustration with the still-continuing precautions, but underlined that she was proud of the level of awareness among the public that put Qatar among the countries with the fewest COVID-19-related deaths. — TNN

Pakistan PM arrives in Doha today

ASHRAF SIDDIQUIDOHA

PAKISTAN’S Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif is slated to arrive in Doha on Tuesday on a two-day trip that will see high-level talks on bilateral trade and ties, particularly in the agriculture and investment sectors.

This is the premier’s maiden trip to Qatar since assuming office in April this year, Pakistan’s Ambassador HE Syed Ahsan Raza Shah told Qatar Tribune on Mon-day.

A high-level delegation comprising more than a doz-en Cabinet members and sen-ior executives from Pakistan’s

crucial sectors including en-ergy, finance and commerce would accompany the PM, the envoy said. Pakistan’s for-mer prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and federal minister Mian Javed Latif are also said to be part of the del-egation.

“During the visit, the prime minister will hold in-depth consultations with the Qatari leadership. The two

sides will review the entire spectrum of bilateral rela-tions, with a particular focus on advancing energy-related cooperation, deepening trade and investment ties and ex-ploring greater employment opportunities for Pakistanis in Qatar,” Shah said.

The two sides would also exchange views on a range of regional and international issues of mutual interest, he

added. The prime minister and the delegates are also scheduled to hold meetings with leading Qatari and Paki-stani business leaders, inves-tors and entrepreneurs.

A visit to Stadium ‘974’, which is one of the host ven-ues of the FIFA World Cup, is also part of the PM’s itinerary

Shah said Pakistan and Qatar enjoy close and cordial fraternal ties, deeply rooted in shared faith, mutual trust and understanding, and close cooperation. The relationship is marked by growing collabo-ration in all fields of bilateral interest as well as close coor-dination on regional and in-ternational issues, he added.

Qatar is home to more than 200,000 Pakistanis, who sent $311 million to Paki-stan in remittances last year. The bilateral trade between the two countries has crossed $1.2 billion, with Pakistani exports accounting for $160 million as of December 2021.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif

Busy two days planned for the new PM on his maiden visit to Qatar

Qatar Airways is airline partner of Ironman triathlons — PG 16

— CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

— MORE ON PAGE 16

Infantino briefs Greek PM on WC preparationsFIFA President Gianni Infantino briefed Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the latest preparations for the up-coming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, in Doha on Monday.

In a statement on its of-

ficial website, FIFA said that Infantino and Prime Minister Mitsotakis discussed the latest updates on football in Greece and the wider topic of global football development, a key part of the FIFA President’s Vision 2020-2023, in addition

to holding fruitful discussions on a wide range of topics.

The FIFA added that this meeting between Infantino and Prime Minister Mitsotakis follows a previous meeting in New York in September 2021. — QNA

TUESDAYAUGUST 23, 2022MUHARRAM 25, 1444

VOL.15 NO. 5656 QR 2

Fajr: 3:50 am Dhuhr: 11:37 amAsr: 3:06 pm Maghrib: 6:04 pm Isha: 7:34 pm

FINE

HIGH : 40°CLOW : 32°C

World 7Russia blames Ukraine for murder of Dugina

Business 8‘QIIB remains one of the most cost efficient banks in GCC’

Sports 12Mbappe scores after eight seconds, hits hat-trick in PSG’s 7-1 Lille rout

02 Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Contact US: Qatar Tribune I EDITORIAL I Phone: 40002222 I ADMINISTRATION & MARKETING I Phone: 40002155, 40002122, Fax: 40002235 P.O. Box: 23493, Doha.

Amir holds phone call with Somali president

THE Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a telephone conversation with President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Monday. During the phone call which HH the Amir received from the Somali president, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and the ways to enhance them, as well as the latest developments in Somalia. (QNA)

NHRC chairperson meets US State Department officialCHAIRMAN of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah on Monday met with Deputy Director of the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in the US State Department Brian Marcus. During the meeting, they discussed issues of common interest and the necessity of activating mechanisms of cooperation and the exchange of experiences and expertise in the field of human rights in general and counter-trafficking in human beings in particular. (QNA)

News in brief

QU’s College of Business and Economics unveils initiatives to help promote sustainability

QNADOHA

THE College of Business and Economics at Qatar Univer-sity (QU) has unveiled new pro-grammes and initiatives that support the college’s new stra-tegic direction in supporting sustainability and maximising its social impact in light of the transformations that the region and the world are witnessing in the economy and business fields.

The college announced its intention to offer an Executive Master’s Programme in Sports Management as the second programme after the Executive Master in Leadership within the framework of the college’s new orientation towards re-sponding to the developments taking place regionally and globally in the economic and business environment.

At a press conference held on Monday, Dean of QU’s Col-lege of Business and Economics Dr Rana Sobh explained, in the presence of a number of de-partment heads at the college, that the Sports Management Programme aims to qualify managers capable of managing sports organizations efficiently and effectively by providing them with basic knowledge and skills to carry out manage-ment functions and athletes to achieve continuous develop-ment in their professional ca-pabilities.

The college intends to of-

fer the Sports Management programme in Arabic and in a flexible manner that responds to the student’s work sched-ule so that they can complete their higher studies despite job obligations to hone their management skills during the programme approved by the International Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

The College of Business and Economics offers an Ex-ecutive Master’s Programme in Leadership in Arabic during its current academic semester (Fall 2022), which is the first Executive Master’s at QU. The first programme succeeded in attracting about 30 students from Qatar Leadership Center graduates.

On a similar note, the Col-lege of Business and Econom-ics announced the launch of an updated version of the sub-specialty in entrepreneurship under the name ‘Entrepreneur-

ship and Innovation’, focusing on the practical and applied as-pect and making it available to all QU students, which enhanc-es opportunities for spreading the culture of entrepreneurship among all university students.

The college was also ap-proved to offer a sub-pro-gramme in taxation, which aims to enable students to ac-quire knowledge and a set of skills required by the labour market in the taxation field, and a sub-specialty in the field of data analysis, which aims to develop and enrich students’ abilities and skills in making decisions in light of the avail-ability of the huge amount of data resulting from the devel-opment of information systems technology, artificial intelli-gence systems and digitisation.

The college was also ap-proved to offer an elective course in real estate finance to familiarise students with the different real estate investment alternatives, and the unique characteristics of real estate fi-nance investments compared to securities investments.

Dr Sobh announced that the first startup of Genesis Technologies company has been established at QU, ex-plaining that this company is the outcome of scientific and applied research by researchers affiliated with the college with the support of a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) in 2020.

She said the company has

developed a unique type of blockchain technology called MaxYa to recycle the power of computational power in secur-ing data to contribute to solving difficult mathematical prob-lems that have direct applica-tion in the business world, such as supply chain management and improving logistics opera-tions in various fields.

She added the college’s new strategy focuses on supporting sustainability and maximising social impact by focusing on sustainable business practices in academic programmes and scientific research.

The dean also announced that the college will organise a global competition entitled ‘Global Sustainability Space Challenge’, in conjunction with the activities of Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, in coop-eration with Metavisionaries, other global partners, and with the support of local bodies as well as the National Aeronaut-ics and Space Administra-tion (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and the US Blue Origin company Blue.

She added that the account-ing programmes at the col-lege had obtained specialised academic accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) which inspires new ways of thinking about ac-counting education worldwide according to the highest stand-ards of quality education and learning.

QRCS launches emergency response to Somalia drought

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THE Qatar Red Crescent So-ciety (QRCS) has launched an emergency response to drought in Somalia, with a set of food, health, water and sanitation as-sistance for the benefit of some 25,423 internally displaced people (IPDs) at the camps in Dolow District, Gedo Region, Jubaland, as well as 162,000 heads of livestock, at a total cost of $500,000 (QR1,822,500).

The purpose of the project is to meet the priority needs of drought-affected IDPs by providing primary health care, clean drinking water and public health awareness. These activi-ties will ensure better hygiene, reduce waterborne diseases and minimise malnutrition rates among children, pregnant women and older persons.

According to the plan, the following activities will be car-ried out:

1. Water and Sanitation: Provision of potable water for three months, totaling 270 20-litre water tanks, to be used for drinking purposes for 4,000 people and 162,000 heads of livestock, as well as distribution of 850 hygiene kits containing soap, hand sanitisers, deter-gents and jerrycans.

2. Health Care: Deploy-ment of a mobile clinic for three months to provide primary healthcare services, such as clinical examinations, labora-tory tests, minor surgeries and medications, and hold health education sessions for the ben-efit of 5,400 people.

3. Food Security: A total of 2,289 food parcels will be dis-tributed to 16,023 people, each

containing 94.5 kilograms of food staples such as flour, rice, sugar, vegetable oil, infant for-mula and dates.

Prior to the project, there was coordination with compe-tent authorities in Somalia to identify the beneficiaries and outline mechanisms of imple-mentation. The project is car-ried out in partnership with Somalia’s Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Humani-tarian Affairs and Disaster Management (MoHADM), the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) and camp management committees in Jubaland.

The drought disaster in So-malia has recently worsened, exposing more than 6.1 million people to the risks of food inse-

curity, water scarcity and mal-nutrition, up from 3.2 million in December 2021, according to humanitarian organisations in Somalia.

The southern provinces are the hardest hit by the drought, which has killed more than 34,000 heads of livestock and threatens millions of lives in Lower and Middle Juba, Gedo, Galgaduud and Mudug regions of Jubaland and Galmudug.

According to MoHADM, some 10.7 million are experi-encing severe humanitarian conditions due to drought, de-sert locusts and unstable rain-fall, in addition to the impact of COVID-19, which has weighed heavily on the country’s econo-my and food prices.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) HE Dr Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi met separately with Ambassador of Moldova to Qatar HE Victor Tvircun and Ambassador of Canada to Qatar HE Stefanie McCollum on the occasion of the end of their tenures. The secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the two am-bassadors for their efforts to bolster and enhance bilateral relations and wished them success in their new missions. (QNA)

Qatar Airways Official Airline partner of Global IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 series TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

QATAR Airways and IRON-MAN have entered a long-term global partnership, making Qa-tar Airways the Official Airline Partner of the Global IRON-MAN Series and IRONMAN 70.3 Series through the 2025 season.

Qatar Airways will also be the title partner of the 2022 editions of IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast, IRONMAN Maryland, IRONMAN 70.3 Washington and IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney triath-lons and will connect athletes, officials and fans via Brisbane

Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Sydney Airport, respec-tively.

Qatar Tourism will also be promoted to athletes and spec-tators across the global IRON-MAN series as part of the part-nership.

As part of the partnership, athletes travelling to IRON-MAN or IRONMAN 70.3 events using Qatar Airways will have access to a range of benefits, such as promotional fares for themselves and family members, and for those travel-ling to or via Qatar, additional special offers to Doha attrac-

tions are also included. Fur-thermore, athletes who have completed an IRONMAN or an

IRONMAN 70.3 event within the last 12 months will also be eligible to other unique bene-

fits. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Qatar Tourism Chairman Akbar Al Baker said, “Our partnership with The IRONMAN Group is a natural fit for our brand, where human endeavour proves that any-thing is possible. We admire the relentless effort and dedi-cation of the athletes. Those are the attributes we strive to reflect in the way we serve our customers.

“IRONMAN races are hosted in different cities across the world, making our global network the perfect medium through which to connect en-durance sports enthusiasts, athletes, supporters and offi-

cials.”“Providing our athletes

with an unmatched race expe-rience is at the core of what we do, so we’re thrilled to partner with an airline that reflects our customer centric approach and is committed to the high-est standards in everything they do,” said Andrew Messick, president and Chief Execu-tive Officer for The IRON-MAN Group. “Our IRONMAN events have long brought to-gether different communities and cultures through their love of endurance sport, so how bet-ter to continue doing this than with the world’s fastest grow-ing airline. This is the begin-

ning of an exciting partnership for both of us, our athletes and future athletes and supporters who we hope to welcome at an event in the near future.”

The partnership was marked on August 21, 2022 at the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum in Doha, Qatar. Along with leader-ship from both organisations, Lulwa Al Marri – the first Qa-tari female athlete to complete a full distance IRONMAN race, was in attendance.

For several years, many Qatari athletes have participat-ed in and completed different IRONMAN triathlons across the world.

Prof. Rana Sobh

MOFA SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS MOLDOVA, CANADA’S ENVOY

Nation 03Tuesday, August 23, 2022

CCQ, Snoonu promote entrepreneurship among studentsTribune news neTwork

Doha

The Management Science Division at the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) hosted hamad Al hajri, founder and CeO of Snoonu, a Qatar-based leading company which offers personal concierge and deliv-ery services and e-commerce application, with the aim of encouraging students to learn from the experiences of suc-cessful businessmen and en-trepreneurs.

The event was organised at the auditorium on Lusail cam-pus, which witnessed a large presence of female students of the Management Science Divi-sion, including Departments of Management and public Ad-ministration.

Speaking at the event, Dr Izzeldin Bakhit, dean of the

Management Science Division at the Community College of Qatar, said: “hosting a Qatari entrepreneur such as hamad Al hajri reflects positively on the students’ vision for their future careers, introduces suc-cess factors through learning from the experiences of entre-

preneurs who have achieved successes within a short period of time.

“This event helps students of the Management Science Division to acquire the re-quired management knowl-edge and applied skills by link-ing the educational process

and the obtained theoretical knowledge to the actual reality of the business environment in a way that highlights the po-tential challenges and how to overcome them.”

he said Qatari business success stories come as part of the efforts to promote entre-

preneurship among students of the Management Science Division in general, and Pub-lic Administration students in particular, and thus rais-ing their awareness of the im-portance of planning for their future, exploring new hori-zons in solving problems and

stimulating creativity, through promoting the cultures of en-trepreneurship and innova-tion which prepares them after graduation to work in many fields in the public and private sectors.

For his part, hajri said, “It is a pleasure to meet the stu-dents of Community College of Qatar, who represent different segments of the Qatari soci-ety, including employees in the public sector as well as creative people in various fields, having the ability to acquire new skills through continuous learning with a passion for work, which are considered one of the im-portant foundations for the success of any pilot project.”

he added, “The Commu-nity College of Qatar, with the various academic programmes it offers, provides male and fe-male students with the needed

knowledge to enhance their capabilities as entrepreneurs, preparing them to learn how to effectively manage a busi-ness, while at the same time promoting the need for college graduates to have professional courage and to implement and develop pioneering projects and achieve their dreams.”

During the meeting, hajri spoke about his experience in the field of entrepreneurship and the origin of the idea of the ‘Snoonu’ project, which started as a graduation project while he was studying at heC Paris in Qatar, which since then has become one of the fastest-growing startups in Qatar.

hajri expressed his hope that Snoonu contributes to strengthening Qatar’s global position in developing startups and developing the national economy.

QU urges members to follow health and safety proceduresTribune news neTwork

Doha

QATAr University (QU) wel-comed the return of its stu-dents and faculty members to its campus with the start of the new academic year, which started on Sunday, Au-gust 21, 2022.

The university stressed to all of its personnel the im-portance of following health and safety standards while on campus in the interest of eve-ryone’s health and safety.

The university urged the community members to verify that the ehTArAZ barcode is green; adhere to

the wearing of masks in the proper manner, especially in classrooms, laboratories and enclosed spaces; ensure that hands are frequently and cor-rectly washed with soap and water and used sanitisers during working hours; and observe social distance in lec-ture halls, laboratories, out-

lets and vending machines, public places and waiting areas.

The university also ad-vised its students to stay away from areas of heavy traffic on internal roads and to cross at pedestrian crossings and to avoid direct sunlight and drink plenty of water.

High school students receive glimpse of career in medicineat WCM-Q Summer Programs

Tribune news neTworkDoha

STUDenTS from 42 high schools learned about careers in medicine and life as a medi-cal student at two Summer Pro-grams offered by Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q).

The Summer Programs – the Pre-College enrichment Program (PCeP) and the Qa-tar Medical explorer Program (QMeP) – are two-week inten-sive classes offered by WCM-Q’s Office of Student Outreach & educational Development.

The students, who have all demonstrated an aptitude for the sciences and mathematics, spent two weeks engaging with WCM-Q’s highly qualified fac-ulty and staff through a series of learning sessions that accurately reproduce the experiences of current WCM-Q students.

The programmes feature classes in biology, chemistry, pharmacology, anatomy, dis-ease investigation, medical re-search, neurology, nephrology, paediatrics, patient-physician dynamics and medical eth-ics. There are also sessions on study skills, time management, writing personal statements, applying to medical school, per-sonal wellness at college and careers in medicine, as well as an introduction to WCM-Q’s state-of-the-art Clinical Skills and Simulation Lab and a read-ing workshop. Other sessions included basic life support and first aid workshops, a case study of a stroke patient, and a cardi-ology workshop with harvey, a mechanized cardiopulmonary manikin capable of simulating scores of heart and respiratory conditions that students can learn to recognize and diagnose.

Both PCeP and QMeP also included a presentation ex-ercise, in which the students formed groups and researched a medical topic throughout the two weeks before presenting

their findings on the final day of the programme. This year, 34 students completed the QMeP, while 44 completed the PCeP. Both programmes are care-fully designed to provide stu-dents who have a keen interest in medicine and the sciences a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the opportuni-ties and challenges presented by a career as a physician-scientist.

The programmes were first offered in 2008 and have been extremely successful over the years at attracting high-caliber candidates to WCM-Q. Many students who participate in the summer programmes go on to apply to WCM-Q and several gain acceptance in each cycle of the programme.

noha Saleh, director of pre-medical administration, stu-dent outreach, and educational development, said: “Choosing to study medicine at WCM-Q presents students with a vast range of possible career paths, encompassing many different medical specialties as well as opportunities in research, edu-cation and beyond. We are very pleased that so many talented high school students joined us this year to explore these pos-sibilities through our Summer Programs. While we were very happy with the experience our Online Summer Programs de-

livered, it was of course wonder-ful to be able to hold our pro-grams in person once again.”

The majority of students who took part in the programme attend high schools in Qatar, but some participants are drawn from overseas schools. Student participant Waafi Awal attends Carroll Senior high School in Southlake, a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth in Texas, and trave-led to Qatar to take part.

Waafi said: “Coming all the way from Texas, my expecta-tions were already high as I had made a long journey, but it is safe to say that the PCeP programme has far surpassed them. not only was I able to visit a country as innovative as Qatar, but I also gained valu-able knowledge regarding the admissions process, got a taste of the college life experience, and of course, met the wonder-ful staff and programme volun-teers, who made sure everything throughout the programme ran very smoothly.”

Dr rachid Bendriss, associ-ate dean, foundation, student outreach, and educational devel-opment, said: “It has been grati-fying to see such a talented and motivated group of high school students exploring the many rewarding and inspiring career paths that can be pursued by studying medicine at WCM-Q.”

NU-Q hires new faculty membersincluding its first Qatari professor

Tribune news neTworkDoha

nOrThWeSTern Univer-sity in Qatar (nU-Q) has hired eight new academics to join its growing faculty. The new faculty comprises media industry ex-perts and scholars, including the school’s first Qatari professor.

Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CeO of nU-Q, welcomed the incoming professors and stated that they will raise the school’s academic profile. “each of these professors has a great educational background and scholarship,” Kraidy said. “They will improve the academic at-mosphere and add to north-western Qatar’s global influence by collaborating with our cur-rent faculty.”

The new faculty members have teaching and research ex-perience in media, journalism, social sciences and the humani-ties. The new faculty includes academics from the Liberal Arts Program, the Communication Program, and the Journalism and Strategic Communication Program, with two holding com-bined appointments.

Joining the Communication Program with dual positions in the Liberal Arts Program in-cluide Leila Tayeb who earned her PhD in performance stud-ies from northwestern Univer-

sity. Tayeb investigates cultural politics and the performativity of political life in dramatic and quotidian situations, with a fo-cus on the daily lives of people in urban conflict settings. Tayeb worked as a research fellow at new York University in Abu Dhabi before joining north-western Qatar as an assistant professor in residence.

The professors joining the Journalism and Strategic Com-munication program include:

Fatima el-Issawi who was a reader in journalism and media studies at the University of es-sex’s Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies be-fore joining northwestern Qatar as an associate professor in resi-dence. her research focuses on

the convergence of Arab media sectors, global journalism, jour-nalistic practices, and media policy in the Global South.

Claudia Kozman, who is a former sports writer, has joined northwestern Qatar as an as-sistant professor in residence from Lebanon American Uni-versity. her research studies the interaction between journalism and politics in the Middle east and north Africa region, with an emphasis on journalistic re-sponsibilities, media coverage, and source patterns.

Marda Dunsky is a print journalist and journalism pro-fessor whose work uses narra-tive storytelling to investigate underreported facets of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Dun-

sky is the author of Pens and Swords: how the American Mainstream Media reports the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Stories from Palestine: narra-tives of resilience. Dunsky is an assistant professor in residence at northwestern Qatar.

The Liberal Arts Program, which offers students an inte-grated education in the arts and social sciences, will welcome the following new faculty members:

haya Al noaimi, who is northwestern Qatar’s first Qa-tari professor. Al noaimi is a graduate of Georgetown Uni-versity in Qatar, where she also completed a post-doctoral study.

Yasmeen Mekawy is an as-sistant professor in residence at northwestern Qatar after com-pleting a post-doctoral teaching fellowship in the Department of Political Science at the Univer-sity of Chicago, where she also got her PhD in political science.

Jana Fedtke is a researcher with interests in science and technology in fiction, transna-tional literatures, gender stud-ies, postcolonial theory, and film with a focus on South Asia and Africa. Fedtke earned her PhD in comparative literature from the University of South Carolina and joins northwestern Qatar from her position at the Ameri-can University of Sharjah.

HBKU’s QBRI wraps up two-month intensive Summer Research Program Tribune news neTwork

Doha

The Qatar Biomedical re-search Institute (QBrI) at hamad Bin Khalifa Univer-sity (hBKU) closed its Sum-mer research Program (SrP) 2022 with an appreciation cer-emony on August 18 to exhibit student experiences through poster presentations.

The event concluded two months of intensive instruc-tion in various disciplines of biomedical research for some of the country’s most out-standing undergraduate stu-dents. The competitive SrP drew 21 candidates from Qa-tar University (QU), Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), Weill Cornell Medi-cine in Qatar (WCM-Q), and the University of Calgary in

Qatar in its sixth iteration.Students had the oppor-

tunity to spend eight weeks at QBrI learning about intrigu-ing basic and translational sci-entific research fields.

In addition to hands-on experience in QBrI’s cutting-

edge laboratories, the stu-dents took part in professional development activities and workshops focused on topics such as research innovation, experimental design, research reproducibility, and open sci-ence.

Their respective efforts received a lot of attention. These are linked to the work of leading biomedical experts at QBrI and are related to cur-rent research on stem cells, diabetes, breast cancer, and neurological illnesses. During

the appreciation event, each student presented their pro-ject in the form of a poster in front of their mentors.

Sanaa Al-Marri, a Biologi-cal Sciences Program student at CMU-Q, reflected on her experience, saying, “I acquired

tremendous exposure to what a researcher works after grad-uation.” I am appreciative for this opportunity, as well as the numerous techniques and abilities I learnt at QBrI throughout the Summer re-search Program.”

rizeq hourani, enrolled in the College of Medicine at QU, added: “The experience was exceptional. QBrI research-ers were knowledgeable and willing to teach us the funda-mentals of laboratory and re-search work. As a professional environment, it was comfort-able and full of life. I could not have asked for a better pro-gramme.”

Dr. Omar el-Agnaf, QBrI executive Director, said of the Summer research Pro-gram, “QBrI is glad to end another successful Summer

research Program for stu-dents with an interest in the health and biomedical disci-plines.” Such chances allow QBrI scientists to teach the next generation of research-ers by demonstrating our work, paving the road for them to contribute to im-proving healthcare in Qatar.”

Through the SrP and other initiatives, QBrI, as a global centre for biomedical and translational research, is totally committed to as-sisting the next generation of scientists in becoming highly trained researchers.

Visit qbri.hbku.edu.qa for more information on QBrI, a national center of excellence and a global hub for biomedi-cal and translational research on diabetes, cancer, and neu-rological illnesses.

04 Tuesday, August 23, 2022 Nation

MEEZA celebrates its multipleachievements as Cisco partner

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

MEEZA, Qatar’s prominent Man-aged and Cloud IT services and so-lutions provider, has received mul-tiple recognitions from Cisco for its expanded activities and compe-tence in the public sector in Qatar, being awarded as Cisco’s ‘Public Sector Partner of the Year’ in Qa-tar, achieving ‘Cisco Gold Integra-tor Partner’ certification for 2022-2023, and ‘Customer Experience Specialization’.

MEEZA was awarded as ‘Public Sector Partner of the Year’ in Qatar by Cisco on the Comstor and Cisco Partner Day in acknowledgement of its expansion and performance in the public government sector.

MEEZA passed the audit and maintained the Cisco Gold Integra-tor Partner’ certification for 2022-2023. The company met all per-sonnel, specialization and support requirements and has demonstrat-ed that it is qualified to sell, install and support Cisco Solutions in the Gulf region.

MEEZA has also achieved its sixth specialization -- ‘Customer Experience Specialization’ -- from Cisco, a new mandate for MEEZA to maintain the Cisco Gold Integrator

Partner Level.Commenting on the achieve-

ments, MEEZA CEO Eng. Ahmad Abdulla Al-Muslemani said, “These recognitions embody our continued managed IT market leadership po-sition and trust in MEEZA expertise and capabilities as a major provider in Qatar and the region. Our part-nership with Cisco keeps expand-ing year after year based on mutual trust and exchange of experiences to ensure that our clients receive the best services that are on par with international standard.

“We are happy to receive these recognitions from Cisco, a glob-ally renowned leader in IT and net-

working. This is an exciting time for us to further prove our competence as the preferred and reliable Qatari IT service provider.”

These recognitions followed the previous achievement of Cisco’s Gold Service Integrator and Gold Service Provider certificate.

MEEZA is a well-established managed IT service provider in Qa-tar with extensive skill set in man-aging complex environments, full understanding of country regula-tions and backed by government agreements and strategic partner-ships.

MEEZA, a Qatar Foundation venture, is centred on a mission and vision to enable, support and drive sustainable development in Qatar’s information technology sec-tor in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030. It offers scalable, highly available and resilient cloud services that are used to improve customer engagement, facilitate the transformation of products and ser-vices, and empower businesses.

MEEZA is a fast-growing player in cloud computing services, both in regional and international mar-kets. It continues to innovate and offer cost-effective IT solutions and services to help its clients focus on their core business

Qatar Charity partners Shiamuna initiative to promote Qatari values

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

QATAR Charity (QC) has an-nounced its humanitarian part-nership in the ‘Shiamuna’ ini-tiative launched by Qilaa for Consulting Company.

The initiative, which is an awareness drive for the citizens and residents, seeks to promote the values, morals and customs of the people of Qatar through sports. The initiative aims to create an atmosphere in Qatar in prepara-tion for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and to welcome fans coming to watch the tournament. This will be done by highlighting the distinc-tive and hospitable Qatari identity and promoting the beautiful values of the local community such as role models, altruism and patriotism.

“The humanitarian partner-ship of Qatar Charity in the ‘Shia-muna’ initiative comes in light of its commitment to support mean-ingful community projects that promotes our customs,” said Fais-al Rashid Al Fehaida while speak-ing at a press conference held to announce the partnership.

He praised the ‘Shiamuna’ initiative, which comes in coop-eration with the Qatar Football

Association (QFA) and the Qatar Stars League (QSL), who will work in cooperation with Qilaa for Con-sulting Company to focus on the fans watching the tournament to promote the values, customs and traditions of the people of Qatar through sports.

He also thanked Qilaa for Con-sulting Company for choosing Qa-tar Charity for the humanitarian partnership in this initiative, wish-ing everyone success in achieving the mutual goals.

Speaking at the press confer-ence, HE Sheikh Jassim bin Ab-

dulaziz Al Thani, vice-chairman of Board of Directors of Qilaa for Consulting Company, thanked Qa-tar Charity for being the humani-tarian partner in the initiative.

“It is not surprising that Qa-tar Charity sponsors most of the community initiatives in the coun-try,” he said, indicating that the objectives of this initiative are to educate those within the country about the customs and traditions of the people of Qatar, to promote these customs abroad, and to con-vey a civilised image of Qatar and its people.

Over 200 Indonesians take part in AmbassadorCup to mark country’s 77th Independence Day

CATHERINE W GICHUKIDOHA

MORE than 200 people from the Indonesian community recently took part in a bad-minton and table tennis tour-nament titled ‘Ambassador Cup’ to commemorate the 77th Independence Day of In-donesia.

The event, which was co-organised by the Association of Indonesian Community in Qatar (PERMIQA) and the Embassy of Indonesia, took place at Green Stadium Al Wakrah and brought together community members from Dukhan, Al Khor, Al Wakrah, Doha and Mesaeeid.

Besides the tournament, the event also featured food stalls which provided the spectators with an array of Indonesian traditional delica-cies. Speaking at the event, In-donesian Ambassador to Qa-tar HE Ridwan Hassan urged the community members to continue being united as they have always been.

“Diplomacy is not only about promotion and repre-sentation but also about com-munity engagement,” he said.

The ambassador reiter-ated that positive engagement with community members will help his mission in main-taining good relationships with Qatar and strengthen-ing the relationship that both countries enjoy even further.

“Community members are also our ambassadors in this country and let’s always carry the Indonesian flag high,” he

added.The organisers divided the

tournament into two groups, badminton and table tennis. Badminton was divided into three categories namely be-ginner, mid-level and advance levels.

For Badminton’s beginner category, the trophy went to Khairul and Sigit while Yuni Setiawan and Muhammad Sumanto won in mid-level category. In the advance cat-egory, Suratmin Pamungkas and Saiful Udin took the tro-phy home. In the badminton’s women’s category, the win-ners were Desti and Zubed.

Imron and Novi were the champions in the men’s table tennis tournament, while Rini and Ani became the champi-ons in the women’s table ten-nis category.

Haiti embassy observesthe International Day for Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition

CATHERINE W GICHUKIDOHA

THE Embassy of Haiti in Doha commemorated UNESCO’s International Day for the Re-membrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

“This day is doubly sig-nificant, because in the first place, it should be known that the date chosen -- August 23 -- is not trivial: it represents the date on which the Haitian Revolution began, in the even-ing of August 22 to 23, 1791. A revolution that, 12 years later, resulted in the independence of the Haitian nation and the permanent abolition of slav-ery. It must also be remem-bered that this revolution was the basis of a new world order where the entire ecosystem of slave trade was called into question until its abolition,” said Ambassador of Haiti to Qatar HE Francois Guillaume II.

“This international day is also important because it chal-lenges us today not to forget the destructive impact that the system had on millions of people of African origin. It also challenges us to pay tribute to the valiant people afflicted by this system, who never let this sad episode define their desti-ny, identity, heritage or pride.”

Speaking to Qatar Tribune, HE Francois Guillaume II said Haiti’s commemoration of this day comes during rather challenging times. However, Haiti has overcome such chal-lenges in the past and will do so again. Furthermore, as the ambassador sought to remind people, Haiti has a lot of un-tapped resources for investors and tourists as it is ‘the land of unique discoveries’.

Should you want to visit Haiti, the ambassador men-tioned, there will soon be quite enticing packages that would allow you to have a unique guest experience.

“Haiti, which used to be the number one tourist desti-nation in the region during the 60s and 70s, and was called the Pearl of the Antilles; the attributes that earned her that title are still very much pre-sent. Haiti is more than just beautiful sandy beaches and picturesque mountains, it is mostly a culturally and his-torically rich destination full of unique discoveries.”

Investment opportunities are abound in Haiti, including in the agro-industry, energy, tourism, apparel, business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT sectors.

No country has devel-

oped with humanitarian aid and that is why we are look-ing forward to engaging our international partners with the objective of lifting the Hu-manitarian Veil Syndrome in countries such as Haiti, said the envoy. “We are very for-tunate to find in Qatar a part-ner that understands the need for international stakeholders to design bold actions and in-vest in building the resilience of individuals and commu-nities to overcome the long-term development challenges of LDCs (Least Developed Countries).”

Talking about the bilateral relations with Qatar, Ambas-sador Guillaume said that these relations are strength-ening every year with a num-ber of MoUs in the pipeline. An MoU signed earlier this year between Haiti’s Ministry of Education and Qatar Fund for Development and Educa-tion Above All Foundation supports Haiti’s goals to bring out-of-school children back to school.

Guillaume II has served his country in different capac-ities, including as a diplomat since 2011 and as the Minister for Haitians Living Abroad for one year. As an economist and independent scholar in the field of international po-litical economy, whose work both in the private sector and public sector often involved leveraging Haiti’s investment potential, Ambassador Guil-laume has expressed great enthusiasm in his interactions with both public and private sector entities in Qatar, which he expects will bear mutually beneficial fruits to Haiti and Qatar bilateral relations.

‘We are very fortunate to find in Qatar a partner that understands the need for international stakeholders to design bold actions and invest in building the resil-ience of individuals and communities to overcome the long-term development challenges of LDCs (Least Developed Countries)’

Eng. Ahmad Al Muslemani

HE Francois Guillaume II

CIA Qatar celebrates I-Day of India with patriotic zeal

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

TO celebrate the 75th Inde-pendence Day of India, the Central Indian Association Qatar (CIA Qatar) held a grand cultural show in Doha, where women, in glittering jewellery and colourful clothes, repre-sented the traditions and cul-tures of various Indian states.

Several dancers and singers performed at the event making it a memorable occasion, as the

audience cheered the perform-ers all through the show.

The programme started with the rendition of the na-tional anthems of Qatar and India.

The chief guest for the even-ing, Saeed Al Sowaidi, praised the good relations between In-dia and Qatar and applauded the work done by Indians for the development of Qatar.

Many individuals were fe-licitated by the CIA for their work, such as doctors, nurses,

teachers, army men and those rendering services in the sports sector.

Speaking at the event, Pres-ident of CIA Qatar Jai Prakash Singh said, “We are proudly celebrating this occasion in Qa-tar in the presence of many pa-triotic people. It is everyone’s responsibility to safeguard our Independence.”

Vice President of CIA Qatar Syed Rafi described ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ as the elixir of life conceived during the strug-

gle for independence. “The motivation we received from the freedom fighters of the past is catalyst for fresh ideas and commitment.”

Mohinder Bhardwaj, gen-eral secretary of the group, said, “It’s a festival to promote global peace, security and de-velopment.”

The programmes were beautifully conceptualised and choreographed by Radhika Sai and Choodamani and coordi-nated by Vandana Raj, cultural

secretary of the CIA Qatar. The host of the evening was Aaf-rin Khan. Singers from Doha Music Lovers, namely Jawed Bajwa, Mohinder Jalandhary, Divya Gopi, Pooja, Venkap-pa, Madhu Vanteru, Sara Ali Khan, Basit Pathan, Arun Lak-shmanan, Aslam, Rejin and Sonu Sahota, mesmerized the crowd. The other committee members who coordinated the event were, Ashok Raj, Jogesh Dewan, Diamond Singh, Ju-naid Shaikh and Clayton.

dpaTaipei

Taiwan’s President Tsai ing-wen on Monday received another delegation from the United states amid rising ten-sions with China.

Eric Holcomb, governor of the Us state of indiana, arrived in Taipei on sunday for a four-day trip. His visit comes after recent trips by high-ranking Democrats nancy Pelosi and Ed Markey drew ire from Bei-jing, which rejects official con-tacts between Taipei and other countries.

Beijing started large-scale military manoeuvres around Taiwan in response to Pelosi’s visit. Tsai stressed in a presi-dential office meeting with Hol-comb that the Us and Taiwan are key security and economic allies in the indo-Pacific region.

“Taiwan has been confront-ed by military threats from Chi-na, in and around the Taiwan strait. at this moment, demo-cratic allies must stand together and boost cooperation across all areas,” Tsai told him. she also said Taiwan was eager to strengthen cooperation to build sustainable supply chains.

Holcomb signed a memo-

randum of understanding with Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic affairs to facilitate bilateral business, trade and scientific cooperation.

Holcomb told Tsai indiana will continue to seek strategic

partnerships with Taiwan and said he was excited about the prospect of future collabora-tions with Taiwan.

Holcomb plans to meet with other senior government officials and representatives

from the semiconductor sector, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign affairs.

Taiwan has had an inde-pendent government since 1949, but China considers the island part of its territory.

Another US delegation visits Taiwan amid China tensions

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (second right) greeting a US delegation led by Eric Holcomb (roght), the Republican governor of the US state of Indiana, at the Presidential Office in Taipei. (aFp)

dpaNairobi

nEarly two weeks after the presidential election in Kenya, runner-up raila Odinga hand-ed in a petition on Monday to the supreme Court complain-ing of a corrupt process that led to the narrow victory of rival william ruto.

“Every rule of the game was violated. The (independent Electoral and Boundaries Com-mission) has become a cesspool of transgressions and crimi-nality, and we’re accusing the chairperson of the commission for running the commission in a very dictatorial manner,” Od-inga’s lawyer, James Orengo, told the media.

The 78-year-old Odinga has refused to recognize the result of the election from august 9, with his lawyer saying that “some systems were corrupted in order to achieve a result in favour of Mr ruto.” The elec-toral commission is split: short-ly after declaring the result four of its seven members refused to acknowledge the official result.

The deputy chairperson of the commission, Juliana Cherera, called the results “absurd.” However, election observers from the african Union and elsewhere had not raised any concerns during the election. ruto, who had held

the role of deputy president, emerged as the winner with al-most 50.5% of the vote.

The court now has two weeks to come to a decision about the petition.

if the judges decide that rules were broken, a new elec-

tion will have to take place within 60 days of the verdict.

Odinga had already gone to court four years ago over his loss against Uhuru Kenyatta, the outgoing president. The court had ruled in his favour, but he proceeded to lose the re-peat of the election as well.

This is Odinga’s fifth stab at the presidency; he blamed sev-eral previous losses on rigging. Those disputes triggered vio-lence that claimed more than 1,200 lives in 2007 and over 100 lives 10 years later.

in 2017, the supreme Court overturned the election result and ordered a rerun, which Od-inga boycotted, saying he had no faith in the electoral com-mission.

This time, Odinga is backed by the political establishment. President Uhuru Kenyatta en-dorsed Odinga’s candidacy af-ter falling out with ruto after the last election.

The election in East africa’s wealthiest and most stable na-tion is seen as a democratic barometer for the rest of the region.

Kenya’s defeated Odinga challenges presidential vote result in court

World

A supporter holds the portrait of Kenya’s defeated presidential candidate Raila Odinga as he arrives to hold a press conference at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on Monday. (aFp)

dpaGeNeva

POaCHing of african rhinos and the illegal sale of their horns has decreased in recent years, likely due in part to pan-demic-related lockdowns and restrictions, according to a new report on Monday.

in 2015, the most devas-tating year to date for african rhino poaching, 5.3% of the rhino population was poached, compared to 2.3% in 2021, ac-cording to the document by the world Conservation Union (iUCn) and Traffic, an organi-zation that monitors the illegal trade of plants and animals.

still, between 2018 and 2021, at least 2707 african rhinos fell victim to poachers. among them were white rhinos (ceratotherium simum) and black rhinos (diceros bicornis). ninety per cent of all cases were reported from south afri-ca. in that time, both the white and black rhino populations in africa decreased by around 12% each.

“The overall decline in

poaching of rhinos is encour-aging, yet this remains an acute threat to the survival of these iconic animals,” said sam Ferreira, scientific officer with the iUCn ssC african rhino specialist group. “To support the growth of rhino numbers, it is essential to continue ac-tive population management and anti-poaching activities for all subspecies across different range states.” in 2019, more il-legal african rhinos were seized in international trade than any time in the last decade. This could be due to expanded po-licing, among other factors.

Energy crisis prompts Bangladesh to cut government office hours

dpaDhaka

BanglaDEsHi government offices will cut back office hours in a bid to save energy, as the country struggles with a fuel crisis, an official said on Monday.

The decision comes weeks after the country raised fuel prices to a record level, amid the global energy crisis trig-gered by russia’s war on Ukraine.

The Council of Ministers decided to reduce the working hours by one hour per day, ac-cording to Cabinet secretary Khandaker anwarul islam.

“The new office hours will begin on wednesday, and re-main in place until the energy situation becomes manage-able,” islam said, without hint-ing as to when the schedule might return to normal.

Banking hours have also been fixed for 9 am to 4 pm (0300 to 1000 gMT), rather than 10 am to 5 pm, he said.

The Council of Ministers also requested that schools and universities introduce two

weekend days instead of one.Earlier this month, thou-

sands of activists protested a government decision to in-crease fuel prices as much as 52%, the highest in the coun-try’s history.

The Bangladesh nationalist Party of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, which organized the protest in Dhaka on august 11, began its second nationwide anti-government protest on Monday. The protest was gen-

erally peaceful.as part of the new austerity

measures, the government has also ordered a rolling power cut for one hour each day, asked thousands of mosques to refrain from using air condi-tioners outside of prayer times, discouraged imports of non-essential products, reduced de-velopment spending and asked officials to ration vehicle use in order to help reduce pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

African rhino poaching in decline, perhaps due to pandemic controls

05Tuesday, August 23, 2022

A dehorned black rhinoceros at the Bona Bona Game Reserve in South Africa. (File phoTo aFp)

Iran blames US for nuclear deal delays

agenciesTehraN

iran has said it was yet to re-ceive a response from the Unit-ed states on its latest proposals to restore their 2015 nuclear deal, and blamed washington for its inaction.

“what matters so far is pro-crastination from the american side on offering a response,” foreign ministry spokesman nasser Kanani told reporters on Monday. “we acted in time and we’ve always shown that we’ve acted responsibly” in the nuclear talks, he said.

a week ago, iran submit-ted its response to a “final text” circulated by the European Union after the latest round of talks with stakeholders – namely China, France, ger-many, russia, and the United Kingdom – in Vienna. The Us has said it reviewing the text and is in contact with its allies. On Monday, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said iran’s response to the EU pro-posal was “reasonable”.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed details of a potential agreement have emerged, which neither side has officially commented on, al Jazeera reported.

The iranian foreign minis-try spokesman on Monday said “relatively good progress” was made earlier this month during the latest round of the talks that

initially began in april 2021, but an agreement will only materialise when all issues are agreed upon.On Monday, iran’s state-run irna published a re-port that accused Us President Joe Biden’s administration of inaction. The outlet argued Us officials have “weak resolve” in facing nuclear deal opponents in washington and israeli of-ficials who want the deal dead.

last week, axios reported that israeli Prime Minister yair lapid has again called on the white House to abandon efforts to restore the nuclear accord, and said refraining from doing

so would signal “weakness”.in 2018, the Us unilat-

erally abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of action (JCPOa), as the deal is formally known, imposing harsh sanc-tions on Tehran that are in ef-fect to this day. in response, iran gradually advanced its nuclear programme, while maintaining that it was strictly peaceful.a potential agreement would lift hundreds of sanc-tions and release billions of dollars of frozen iranian assets while re-establishing stringent curbs on iran’s nuclear pro-gramme.

A vendor selling peanuts walks past a wall painting depicting Bangla-desh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as he looks for customers in Dhaka on Sunday. (aFp)

Dozens of people die in India flash floods

dpaNew Delhi

sEVEral dozen people have died in flash floods across in-dia over the past few days. More heavy rainfall is expected in the next few days in several parts of the country, according to the india Metrological De-partment forecast on Monday.

rescue operations are un-der way. six children drowned on sunday in the state of Jharkhand, stuck in standing water in an abandoned graph-ite mine, according to a report by local news agency PTi, citing police. in the particularly bad-ly affected state of Himachal

Pradesh, more than 90 roads were recently blocked due to landslides, The indian Express reported on Monday.

in parts of Madhya Pradesh state, schools remained shut on Monday, according to PTi.Heavy rain causing severe flooding and landslides is nor-mal in the current monsoon season throughout south asia.

The season typically lasts from June to september. The damage is often exten-sive, regularly sweeping away buildings and causing fatali-ties. However, the rains are vital for agriculture, which is a source of livelihood for much of the population.

Heavy monsoon rains force school closures in south-western Pakistan

dpaislamabaD

PaKisTani authorities closed all educational institutions in the south-western province of Balochistan on Monday after flash floods triggered by heavy rains disconnected the region from the rest of the country.

The Balochistan govern-ment ordered the closure of schools for one week as more rains and floods are expected in the coming days, a spokes-person for the provincial gov-ernment said.

Train operations in Balo-chistan and sindh have been suspended after the track was washed away at several points in the two provinces.

The country’s largest but scarcely populated province Balochistan remains discon-nected from the rest of the country as highways were still underwater and bridges have been washed away.

rescuers are using boats and military helicopters to res-cue those trapped by the flood-ing that affected around two million people, leaving 317,896 people to take shelter at relief

camps, according to national Disaster Management author-ity (nDMa).

The death toll has reached around 800 since June but is expected to rise.

The rainfall had been pre-

ceded by back-to-back heat-waves in the two provinces.

Flash floods, heatwaves, cloudbursts, droughts and smog resulting in low air qual-ity have been on the rise in Pa-kistan in recent years.

Pakistan is ranked number eight in the list of counties most vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing less than 1 percent of global carbon emis-sions. The country’s climate change minister has called the threat from global warning an existential one.

Villagers search for their belongings after their huts were destroyed in flood waters in Jaffarabad, Balochistan on Monday. (aFp)

Flash floods, heatwaves, cloudbursts, droughts and smog resulting in low air quality have been on the rise in Pakistan in recent years

US and South Korea start biggest military drills in years

dpaseoul

THE United states and south Korea started their biggest joint summer military ma-noeuvres in five years on Mon-day amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

a south Korean Defence Ministry spokesman con-firmed the exercises began as planned, but gave no details on how many soldiers were involved and what military equipment was being used.

The Us has some 28,500 soldiers stationed in south Korea as a deterrence meas-ure against threats from self-declared nuclear power north Korea. The Ulchi Freedom shield manoeuvres include training with computer simu-lations, joint field exercises and a large civil defence exercise through south Korea. They are planned to end on september 1.

seoul is anticipating a fierce response from Pyong-yang to the 11 days of manoeu-vres. north Korea’s leadership regularly accuses the Us of preparing for an attack with its joint military exercises with south Korea.

washington and seoul re-ject this and emphasize that the exercises are to improve defence capabilities.

EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Iran’s response to the EU pro-posal was “reasonable

Boatmen row to rescue boats amid monsoon rains at Upper lake in Bhopal on Monday. (aFp)

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, often knocks President Joe Biden for high inflation and a looming recession — a standard GoP argument go-

ing into the November elections.But inflation is even worse in

major Texas cities than across the nation as a whole. Government fig-ures show inflation is 10.2% in the Houston area and 9.4% around Dal-las, higher than the latest national average of 8.5%.

Abbott and other GoP leaders are making a paradoxical argument that the U.S. economy has slumped into a recession, but Republican-led parts of the country are still boom-ing. Those officials are blaming Biden’s policies for sky-high gaso-line and food prices, while taking credit for the job gains those same policies helped spur.

The Texas governor tweeted on July 28: “The U.S. economy is in a recession under Biden. Meanwhile, Texas was #1 in the nation for job growth in June & more Texans have jobs today than ever before in our state’s history.” Afamiliar pattern was found in 15 Republican-led states in which governors on Twit-ter would praise job growth in their states, while senators would simul-taneously say the national economy as a whole was crashing. These seemingly conflicting claims were also repeated in public remarks.

GoP leaders say state policies such as low tax rates and keeping business open during the pandemic helped to fuel hiring and invest-ment. But their claims tend to ig-nore how job growth was also boost-ed by a historic injection of federal money that began in March 2020 and continued under Biden with last year’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

Biden and his fellow Democrats have acknowledged the pain caused by inflation that hit a 40-year high this summer. But the president has stressed that the United States has avoided a recession because of the low 3.5% unemployment rate. He argues that global factors such as the pandemic, fragile supply chains and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused prices to jump — and that he’s meeting the public’s needs with the economic and climate package signed into law on Tuesday.

“Too often we hand the biggest

microphone to the critics and the cynics who delight in declaring fail-ure while those committed to mak-ing real progress do the hard work of governing,” Biden said in a swipe at the GoP.

Multiple surveys do show that voters have a sense of foreboding about the economy and that most people fault the president. Re-searchers said there’s not a lot of ac-ademic analyses to show why many voters seem willing to blame infla-tion on White House policies and give a pass to statehouses, as infla-tion had been low in recent decades and less of a factor in elections than jobs.

Andrew Reeves, a political sci-ence professor at Washington Uni-versity in St. Louis, said most voters likely judge the local and national economies by different standards. When it comes to state and lo-cal officials, voters form opinions through what they observe in their daily lives. But they often gauge the national economy through hard numbers and political ideologies.

“The ‘national economy’ is this nebulous thing that none of us ac-tually experiences,” Reeves said. “It’s an abstract concept. We may be more willing to let our partisanship shade how we see what is going on nationally. Joe Biden is well into his term, so the honeymoon is over and he owns this economy — whether his policies are directly responsible

for it or not.” Republican governors such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Georgia’s Brian Kemp are largely unscathed on inflation, even though consumer prices are significantly above the national average in both of those states. Inflation is 10.6% in the Miami area, 11.2% in Tampa and 11.5% in Atlanta.

What many voters in Republi-can states are hearing is an econom-ic argument similar to what Biden has attempted on a national scale — that job growth and government finances are strong enough to insu-late people from a downturn.

DeSantis dismissed Biden’s claims that the U.S. economy re-mains healthy, calling that “orwelli-an doublespeak.” The governor said at Florida’s Airports Council confer-ence on Aug. 1 that his state’s budg-et surplus could insulate it from a downturn.

“We’re not immune to the infla-tion, we’re not immune to the ener-gy prices,” DeSantis said. “Because Florida has been open, because Florida has excelled economically, we’re in the position where we’re going to be able to meet those needs of the state regardless of what Uncle Joe throws at us from Washington, D.C.” Job growth has been broad across the country. Data released Friday by the Bureau of Statistic s found that employment increased in 43 states and was essentially unchanged in seven states over the

past 12 months.But the bipartisan research

group EIG analyzed job growth in the three major Republican states (Texas, Arizona and Florida) and the three major Democratic ones (California, Illinois and New York). It found that the GoP areas have fully recovered and exceeded their pandemic job totals, while the re-covery has been slower in Demo-cratic states.

What seems to be the much more overarching priority among voters is not jobs but inflation, said John Let-tieri, EIG’s president and CEo. At a time of political polarization, it’s striking to him how fears about pric-es are crossing generational, class, regional and partisan lines.

“There is strong unanimity that the economy is an issue, inflation is the No. 1 problem and Biden is to blame,” Lettieri said. “This cuts across all the divides. All those dif-ferent ways we slice up the elector-ate, they’re all responding to this to one degree or another in strong ways.” Inflation appears to be an inescapable challenge for Biden, even as other issues such as abor-tion rights appear to be rallying Democratic voters. Republicans are able promote job gains to say why they would be better at leading the economy, without having to list, as Biden has stressed in speeches, their own policies for reducing consumer prices.

Gabriel Lenz, a political science professor at the University of Cali-fornia Los Angeles, said the “best measure of what voters are person-ally experiencing” is a metric known as real disposable personal income. That figure looks at how much mon-ey people have after adjusting for taxes and inflation. Its changes over the past two years mirror those of Democratic political fortunes.

When Biden signed pandem-ic relief into law in March 2021, people’s real disposable income climbed 28.7% from a year ago. The aid helped the economy recov-er while some notable economists warned it could also be inflationary. As prices rose over the past year and much of the aid expired, real dispos-able income has tumbled 3.5% over the past 12 months as a result.

Based on that number, Lenz concluded: “It’s no surprise that people are gloomy.”

Opinion

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THE OPINION AND ANALYSIS PAGES ARE THE AUTHORS’ OWN. QATAR TRIBUNE BEARS NO RESPONSIBILITY.

For Republican Governors, All Economic Success is LocalGOP leaders say state policies such as low tax rates and keeping business open during the

pandemic helped to fuel hiring and investment. But their claims tend to ignore how job growth was also boosted by a historic injection of federal money

EstablishEd sEptEmbEr 3, 2006

hamad bin suhaim al thani chairmanadel ali bin ali managing directordr hassan mohammed al ansari editor-in-chief

Youth Mental Health is in Crisis. Are Schools Doing Enough?

FoR fourth-grader Leah Rainey, the school day now begins with what her teacher calls an “emotional check-in.” “It’s great to see you. How are you feeling?” chirps a cheery voice

on her laptop screen. It asks her to click an emoji matching her state of mind: Happy. Sad. Worried. Angry. Frustrated. Calm. Silly. Tired.

Depending on the answer, Leah, 9, gets advice from a cartoon avatar on managing her mood and a few more questions: Have you eaten breakfast? Are you hurt or sick? Is everything oK at home? Is someone at school being unkind? Today, Leah chooses “silly,” but says she struggled with sadness during online learning.

At Lakewood Elementary School, all 420 students will start their days the same way this year. The rural Kentucky school is one of thousands across the country using the technology to screen students’ state of mind and alert teachers to anyone strug-gling.

In some ways, this year’s back-to-school season will restore a degree of pre-pandemic normalcy: Most districts have lifted mask mandates, dropped CovID vaccine requirements and ended rules on social distancing and quarantines.

But many of the pandemic’s longer-lasting impacts remain a troubling reality for schools. Among them: the harmful ef-

fects of isolation and remote learning on children’s emotional well-being.

Student mental health reached cri-sis levels last year, and the pressure on schools to figure out solutions has never been greater. Districts across the country are using federal pandemic money to hire more mental health specialists, rolling out new coping tools and expanding curricu-lum that prioritizes emotional health.

Still, some parents don’t believe schools should be involved in mental health at all. So-called social-emotional learning, or SEL, has become the latest political flash-point, with conservatives saying schools use it to promote progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality, or that a focus on well-being takes attention from aca-demics.

But at schools like Lakewood, educa-tors say helping students manage emotions and stress will benefit them in the class-room and throughout life.

The school, in a farming community an hour’s drive south of Louisville, has used federal money to create “take-a-break” cor-ners in each classroom. Students can rifle through a “self-regulation kit” with tips on deep breathing, squishy stress balls and acupuncture rings, said school counselor Shelly Kerr. The school plans to build a “Reset Room” this fall, part of an emerging national trend to create campus sanctuar-

ies where students can go to decompress and speak with a counselor.

The online student screener Lakewood uses, called Closegap, helps teachers iden-tify shy, quiet kids who might need to talk and would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Closegap founder Rachel Miller launched the online platform in 2019 with a few schools and saw interest explode af-ter the pandemic hit. This year, she said, more than 3,600 U.S schools will be using the technology, which has free and premi-um versions.

“We are finally beginning to recognize that school is more than just teaching the kids reading, writing and arithmetic,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of the national School Superintendents Associa-tion. Just as free lunch programs are based on the idea that a hungry child can’t learn, more and more schools are embracing the idea that a cluttered or troubled mind can-not focus on schoolwork, he said.

The pandemic magnified the fragility of mental health among American youth, who had been experiencing a rise in de-pression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts for years, experts say. A recent report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention found 44% of high school students said they experienced “ persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness ” during the pandemic, with girls and LGBTQ youth

reporting the highest levels of poor mental health and suicide attempts.

If a silver lining exists, the pandemic raised awareness of the crisis and helped de-stigmatize talking about mental health, while also bringing attention to schools’ shortcomings in handling it. President Joe Biden’s administration recently announced over $500 million to expand mental health services in the country’s schools, adding to federal and state money that has poured into schools to cope with pandemic-era needs.

Still, many are skeptical schools’ re-sponses are enough.

“All of these opportunities and re-sources are temporary,” said junior Claire Chi, who attends State College Area High School in central Pennsylvania. Last year, her school added emergency counseling and therapy dogs, among other supports, but most of that help lasted a day or two, Chi said. And that’s “not really a mental health investment for students.” This year, the school says it has added more counse-lors and plans mental health training for all 10th graders.

Some critics, including many conserva-tive parents, don’t want to see mental health support in schools in the first place. Asra Nomani, a mom from Fairfax County, virginia, says schools are using the mental health crisis as a “Trojan horse” to intro-

duce liberal ideas about sexual and racial identity. She also worries schools lack the expertise to deal with student mental ill-ness.

“Social-emotional well-being has be-come an excuse to intervene in the lives of children in the most intimate of ways that are both dangerous and irresponsible,” Nomani said, “because they’re in the hands of people who are not trained profession-als.” Despite the unprecedented funding, schools are having trouble hiring coun-selors, mirroring the shortages in other American industries.

Goshen Junior High School in north-west Indiana has been struggling to fill a vacancy of a counselor who left last year, when student anxiety and other behavioral problems were “off the charts,” said Jan Desmarais-Morse, one of two counselors left at the school, with caseloads of 500 students each.

“one person trying to meet the needs of 500 students?” said Desmarais-Morse said. “It’s impossible.” The American School Counselor Association recommends a ra-tio of 250 students per school counselor, which few states come close to meeting.

For the 2020-21 school year only two states — New Hampshire and vermont — achieved that goal, according to an Asso-ciated Press analysis of data from the Na-tional Center for Education Statistics.

IT’S time to get real. It’s been time to get real. Russia has won its war against Ukraine.

This outcome comes as no surprise. Anyone with access to a map could see that the chances of Ukraine prevailing against Russia were slim to none.

The only way Ukraine could have emerged victorious -- which would, according to the Ukrainians themselves, mean pushing it out of Crimea and deposing the separatist pro-Russian republics of Donetsk and Luhansk -- would have been if the United States and its Western allies had been willing to launch nuclear weapons, which would have led to global annihilation. once the decision was made not to start World War III, Ukraine’s de-feat became inevitable. This, every-one sane knows, is for the best.

Determinative to this conclu-sion was an unusual pair of moti-vations. Normally, when a war is fought on one country’s territory, the invaded country fights harder than the invading forces. Para-doxically, despite suffering dam-aged infrastructure, the invaded state enjoys the home advantages of complete knowledge of the bat-tlefield and much shorter supply lines. Aside from sporadic cross-border missile strikes, this war has been fought entirely on Ukrainian territory.

This conflict is different be-cause Russia has to win; it cannot walk away. Ukraine has a 1,200-mile border with Russia, it wants to join an anti-Russia military al-liance and its government was openly hostile to Russia before the war. And when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, its armies came through Ukraine, where the Nazis were greeted as liberators. Unlike America, which could bring its troops home after losing on the other side of the world in Afghani-stan and Iraq and shrug off its im-perialist misadventures and could leave vietnam after pretending that more political will on the home front would have resulted in vic-tory, Russia sees its military opera-tion as existential. Ukraine isn’t a misbegotten side project. It’s as es-sential in the same way the United States would respond to a Canada that turned hostile to the U.S.

Unfortunately, and dangerous-ly, American media consumers are being pounded with an endless del-uge of propaganda promoting the ludicrous idea that Ukraine is win-ning and/or will ultimately prevail militarily. This fantastical assertion props up political support for ship-ping $60 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine, with more on the way -- never mind the 70% that President

volodymyr Zelensky’s wildly cor-rupt government sells on the black market and the Javelin missile sys-tems that wind up for sale on the dark web. (Christmas is coming! Don’t forget your favorite political cartoonist and columnist.) By way of comparison, the U.S. Depart-ment of Health of Human Services estimates that we could abolish homelessness here for $20 billion.

We’re also being told that Rus-sia is crumbling under the crush-ing blow of vicious Western sanc-tions deployed as part of the White House’s openly stated war aim that it wants “to see Russia weakened.” The Russian economy, it is said, is collapsing. Russian elites, they say, will soon overthrow President vladimir Putin.

Let me tell you firsthand: There is zero sign of economic distress in Russia.

I’ve spent the last two weeks in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia’s two biggest cities. Stores are bustling; people are spending; unemployment is low and still fall-ing; there are lines at ATMs and whatever else is happening, the economy is anything but bad. The Galeria Mall across the busy street from my hotel in Saint Petersburg has a few closed stores shut down by Western chains, but the ma-jority remain, and consumers are shopping like mad. European and American tourists are few and far between, but it’s exactly the same here in sanctions-free Istanbul where I’m writing this. Westerners stopped coming at the start of the CovID-19 lockdown two years ago and still haven’t returned. If Rus-sians are unhappy with Putin -- and they’re not -- it’s not because of the economy.

I know from bad economies; where I live in New York, crime is out of control, homeless people go untreated for an array of mental ill-nesses and some are killing people, and being killed, and many store-fronts have been empty and board-ed up since the beginning of the pandemic. Any New Yorker would or should happily trade places with their Muscovite counterpart, who lives in a city with clean streets and subways that don’t serve as rolling homeless shelters and where life feels as if CovID-19 was never a thing. News stories that claim Rus-sia is on the ropes are a giant mag-nificent pile of lies so over-the-top that I can’t help but be impressed by their glorious audacity and eas-ily debunked mendacity. All you have to do is go to Russia, as I did, and see for yourself that it’s all bull -- but hey, that’s a lot of trouble -- because of sanctions that seem to be hurting us more than them.

In Actual Russia, No Sign of Sanctions

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden greet Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as they arrive at Garner Field to visit Robb Elementary School to pay their respects to the victims of the mass shooting, May 29, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.

06 Tuesday, August 23, 2022

World

DPANiamey

Heavy rainfall has claimed the lives of at least 40 people in the West african country of Niger so far this month.

Since the beginning of august, 18 people have drowned and 22 others have died in collapsed houses, according to the civil defence agency.

another 55 people have been injured, according to figures released at the weekend.

Nationwide, over 8,300 homes have been de-stroyed by the waters. The regions of Zinder, Niamey and Maradi have been particularly severely affected.

The Sahel state of Niger borders Mali and Burkina Faso in the southwest. Niger has a population of almost 25 million. Its rainy season typically lasts from June to October.

DPANairobi

THe number of children facing severe drought across the Horn of africa has increased by more than 40% in the space of two months, the UN children’s agency UNICeF has warned.

Between February and april, the number of children facing the impact of drought - including acute hunger, malnutrition and thirst - increased from 7.25 million to at least 10 million, UNICeF said on Monday.

The UN agency has revised its emergency appeal from $119 mil-lion to nearly $250 million to reflect the growing need across the region.

More than 1.7 million children across ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia require urgent treatment for “se-vere acute malnutrition,” according

to UNICeF. If rains fail in the com-ing weeks, this figure will rise to 2 million.

“If we don’t act now we will see an avalanche of child deaths in a matter of weeks,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICeF’s regional director for eastern and southern africa. “Fam-ine is just around the corner.” The drought in considered the worst in 40 years. Hundreds of thousands of people were driven from their homes by the drought that began three years ago. UNICeF warns that they are extremely dependent on humanitarian aid.

DPALoNdoN

CrIMINal barristers in england and Wales have vot-ed in favour of an all-out strike next month in a row with the government over jobs and pay.

Members of the Criminal Bar association (CBa) have been walking out on alternate weeks but were balloted on whether to escalate the industrial action with an indefinite, uninterrupted strike that would start on September 5. The ballot closed at midnight (2300 GMT) on Sunday and the result was announced on Monday morning. CBa vice chairwoman Kirsty Brimelow QC said this is “last-resort action” over a de-mand for less money than it costs the Government for the courts to sit empty.

She told BBC Breakfast: “The effect (of the strike) will be that the courts continue to sit empty with trials and cases not being heard. It is a last-resort action.

“The remedy is for an injection of money into the backlog of cases, which currently stands at 60,000 cases, that barristers are working on that will cost the government only £1.1 million ($1.18 million) per month.

“Currently, it’s costing much more for the courts to sit empty.” according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures, more than 6,000 court hearings have been disrupted a result of the dispute over conditions and government-set fees for legal aid advocacy work.

Data released under freedom of information laws show that during the first 19 days of industrial action - between June 27 and august 5 - there were 6,235 court cases disrupted, including 1,415 trials, across england and Wales. Criminal barristers are due to receive a 15% fee rise from the end of September, meaning they will earn £7,000 more per year.

More than 40 lives lost due to heavy rains in Niger so far this month

10 million children in the Horn of Africa face severe drought

Criminal barristers in England and Wales vote for strike

DPA moscow

rUSSIa has blamed Ukraine for the murder of political scientist Darya Dugina, the daughter of a major Putin ally, the domestic intelligence agency FSB says.

“The crime was prepared and committed by the Ukrain-ian secret services,” the FSB said on Monday, according to the Interfax agency. The FSB’s claim could not be verified, and others have said a rus-sian partisan movement was behind the killing. Kiev had previously denied having any-thing to do with Dugina’s kill-ing over the weekend.

russian President vladimir Putin offered his condolenc-es to Darya Dugina’s fam-ily following the murder of the 29-year-old supporter of the war in Ukraine. In a telegram on Monday to the late Dugina’s father, right-wing nationalist alexander Dugin, Putin wrote “an ugly, brutal crime destroyed the life of Darya Dugina, a bril-liant and talented person with a real russian heart: good, lov-ing, helpful and open.” Dugina worked for russian state media and was a staunch backer of the war in Ukraine. Her father is very close ally of the russian president.

“a journalist, scholar, phi-losopher, and war correspond-ent, she served the people and the fatherland honestly, and demonstrated what it means to be a russian patriot,” Putin wrote. The 29-year-old Du-

gina was also considered a fer-vent supporter of russia’s war against Ukraine. She was killed in a car bombing late Saturday.

earlier, a former russian politician claimed that a hith-erto unknown partisan move-ment is behind the fatal attack on Darya Dugina, a russian right-wing political activ-ist and journalist. In a video published on youTube late Sunday, Ilya Ponomarev, who is now living in Ukraine, said that the attack “opens a new page of russian resistance against Putinism. a new page - but it won’t be the last.” Pon-omarev said that the National republican army movement is responsible for the attack.

Meanwhile Ukrainian President volodymyr Zelensky warned that negotiations be-

tween Ukraine and russia will be cut off if Moscow holds a show trial of captured Ukrain-ian prisoners. Zelensky’s com-ments in his Sunday night address were in reference to reports that a trial was be-ing planned in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been captured by russian troops and Moscow-backed separatists.

“If this despicable show trial takes place, if our people are brought into this scenery in violation of all agreements, all international rules,... This will be the line beyond which any negotiations are impos-sible. russia will cut itself off from the negotiations. There will be no more conversa-tions,” Zelensky said.

However, the leader of

the pro-russian separatists in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine retorted that Zelen-sky’s remarks would not stop the trial going ahead. “all criminals, war criminals, espe-cially the neo-Nazis of the azov regiment, must receive their appropriate punishment,” Denis Pushilin said on russian state television on Monday.

according to Pushilin, preparations for the first stage of the trial were coming to an end and a date depended on investigators. Separatists have material ready on 80 incidents by the controversial national-ist azov regiment and that 23 people were arrested.

With the war on its way to reach the six-month mark, russia is having trouble to mo-tivate its auxiliary troops from

separatists regions in Ukraine loyal to Moscow, according to the British intelligence. “Com-manders are probably resort-ing to direct financial incen-tives, while some combat units are deemed unreliable for of-fensive operations,” the Brit-ish Ministry of Defence said on Monday in its daily report.

The report refers to a video circulated on Ukrain-ian social media channels on august 15, in which elements from a military unit of the self-proclaimed luhansk People’s republic (lPr) in eastern Ukraine outline their refusal to be deployed as part of of-fensive operations in Donetsk.

“The fighters claimed they had fulfilled their duty in secur-ing the lPr’s control over all of luhansk Oblast, which was secured in July 2022, and were unwilling to fight in Donetsk Oblast despite threats and intimidation by senior com-manders,” the report stated.

The daily report by the Ukrainian General Staff on Monday also said that, al-though russia is maintaining a hold on the territories it has captured, “the enemy is expe-riencing an acute shortage of trained and motivated rein-forcements for units that are systematically suffering loss-es.” as the war drags on, calls for increasing the pressure on russia came from estonia on Monday, with Foreign Minis-ter Urmas reinsalu telling es-tonian radio that more sanc-tions would be necessary to stop russia’s invasion.

Russia blames Ukraine for murder of Dugina

People look at destroyed Russian military equipment at Khreshchatyk street in Kyiv, that has been turned into an open-air military museum ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24, amid Russia’s inva-sion of Ukraine. (aFP)

Show trial of captured Ukrainian prisoners will cut off negotiations, warns ZelenskyDPA

brusseLs

eUrOPe will stand united against russian war efforts in Ukraine, vowed european Commission President Ursu-la von der leyen on Monday as she lambasted russian President vladimir Putin ahead of the europe-Wide Day of remembrance for victims of authoritarianism.

“Putin brought the hor-rors of war back to europe, along with the reminder that peace cannot be taken for granted,” von der leyen said in her statement.

The european Union has observed the europe-Wide Day of remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, or “Black ribbon Day,” eve-ry august 23 since 2009.

The date is also the an-niversary of the Molotov-ribbentrop Pact, a military non-aggression agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which paved the way for the Ger-man invasion of Poland in September 1939. The eU stands “united against the russian state-controlled propaganda that distorts history, spreads conspiracy and punishes those who op-pose it,” von der leyen said.

In recent years, the eU has underlined the impor-tance of the date for high-lighting the Soviet Union’s crimes and abuses in eu-rope, pushing back against russian-led revisionism.

a european Parlia-ment resolution, passed in 2019, described Kremlin

attempts to “whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime” as “a dangerous compo-nent of the information war waged against democratic europe.” against the back-drop of von der leyen’s statements, several dozen members of the european Parliament are pushing to dramatically increase the

number of russian citizens facing eU sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The letter, which was sent to eU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, de-mands that a list of 6,000 russian citizens be on a list of people who face sanctions by the bloc and who have seen their assets frozen.

Europe united against Russia’s war: EC President

European Commission Presi-dent Ursula von der Leyen

Against the backdrop of von der Leyen’s state-ments, several dozen members of the European Parliament are pushing to dramatically increase the number of Russian citi-zens facing EU sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine.

07Tuesday August 23, 2022

More than 1.7 million children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia require urgent treat-ment for “severe acute malnu-trition, according to UNICEF

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

QATAR Chamber, in co-operation with Al Rowad Training Centre, recently organised a training work-shop on the development of the business environment in Qatar and means to encour-age foreign investments, especially in light of the per-manent development of the

legal business incubator in the state.

The workshop was deliv-ered by Abdulrahim Al Hour who reviewed many issues including the impact of the legal and legislative incuba-tor on the development of the business environment.

During his presentation, Al Hour stressed that the de-veloped laws and regulations in the work environment led

to an open labour market that is characterised by fair competition, noting that this will help raise the competi-tive work environment be-tween companies and create many job opportunities.

He also noted that the recruitment process in Qa-tar has passed through ad-vanced stages, starting with creating job opportunities and focusing on religious

and cultural awareness of the State of Qatar, affirming that this will reflect positive-ly on all participating parties including the employer, the employee, and the economic sector in general.

He lauded the rapid technological development witnessed by all state min-istries and its impact on the development of the business sector.

QC holds training course on business environment

‘QIIB remains one of the most cost efficient banks in GCC’

SATYENDRA PATHAK DOHA

QATAR International Islamic Bank (QIIK) remains cost ef-ficient and has one of the low-est cost-to-income (C/I) ratios domestically and in the GCC, QNB Financial Services (QN-BFS) has said in a report re-leased on Monday.

“QIIB’s cost-to-income ra-tio remained at a very healthy level, declining from 26.7 per-cent in 2017 to 18.8 percent in 2021 and 19 percent in the first half of 2022. We expect the C/I ratio to further decline to 17 percent by 2024, supported primarily by revenue growth,” the report said.

“We maintain our expect-ed five-year earnings CAGR of 10.8 percent (2021-26e) for QIIB after the first half of 2022 results. We also retain our market performance rat-ing and our target price (TP) of QR10.438 as growth in earnings is already priced in. The stock has rallied 21 per-cent against 9 percent for the QSE Index since we raised our price target in mid-February. Currently, QIIK’s stock is up 36 percent YTD, only lagging QIB’s gains among banks,” QNBFS said in the report.

“While the stock is set to have its weight increased in MSCI in November and in FTSE in December, we see limited upside as valuation re-mains rich,” it said.

QIIB generates growth of 5 percent in 1H2022 bottom-line YoY because of a sharp drop in provisions and im-pairments. The non-funded income was strong. On a posi-

tive note, fees and f/x income surged by 28.7 percent and 108.3 percent, respectively.

“The bank reported annu-alised RoE of 17.3 percent in the first half of 2022 against 17.5 percent in the first half of 2021. We still forecast RoE to reach 16.5 percent by 2025 from 14 percent in 2021. Moreover, we estimate RoR-WAs to increase from 1.8 per-cent in 2021 to 2 percent by 2025,” it said.

“Net loans are expected to grow by a five-year CAGR of 5.4 percent against 6.3 percent in 2016-21. Net loans con-tracted by 4.3 percent in the first half of 2022 against 2021 to QR35.4 billion due to the repayment of facilities by the public sector. Excluding loans to the public sector, growth in loans would have been 5 per-cent,” the report said.

On the hand, the report said, retail loans expanded by 12.6 percent at the end of 1H2022 against FY2021 and makeup 44 percent of total loans. Having a large portion of the loan portfolio concen-

trated with retail loans may give rise to further impair-ments, in-line with FY2021.

On the other hand, de-posits increased by 1.6 per-cent in 1H2022 vs. FY2021 to QR39.3bn. Hence, LDR dropped from 96 percent in FY2021 to 90 percent in 1H2022. “Management met its goal in reducing this ratio below 100 percent and we ex-pect the LDR to hover around the 90 percent levels,” it said.

“CoR in 2022 is expected to remain high at 89bps, low-er than 2021’s 95bps. QIIB booked lower provisions in 1H2022. On the other hand, we expect provisions to in-crease in 2H2022 against 1H2022. Moreover, the bank plans to increase credit provi-sions as it aims to reach 100 percent coverage of Stage 3 loans,” it said.

On a positive note, the re-port said, coverage of Stage 3 loans improved to 82 percent against 75 percent in FY2021. Moreover, management con-tinued on building its buff-ers for Stage 2 loans. As such, allowance for loan losses (Stage 2) increased by 10 percent against FY2021. Go-ing forward, we forecast the coverage ratio to continue to increase as management tar-gets 100 percent coverage of Stage 3 loans.

The bank’s capitalisation remains strong. QIIB ended 1H2022 with a robust Tier-1 ratio of 15.2 percent. CET1 ratio was flat 11.2 percent against FY2020. We expect management to maintain a healthy capital position in the near future.

Minister of Finance HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari met with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue of Pakistan Miftah Ismail at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Doha. The meetings focused on bilateral relations and aspects of co-operation were discussed.

The workshop was addressed by Abdulrahim Al Hour who reviewed many issues including the impact of the legal and legislative incubator on the development of the business environment.

QIIB headquarters in Doha.

AGENCIES PARIS

FRANCE’S TotalEnergies and Italy’s Eni announced on Monday a major gas discovery off the coast of Cyprus.

“TotalEnergies and Eni (operator) have made a sig-nificant gas discovery at the Cronos-1 well, in Block 6, off-shore Cyprus. This discovery follows the Calypso-1 discov-ery made on the same Block in 2018,” TotalEnergies said in a statement.

“Located at approximately 160 km southwest of the Cy-prus coast, Cronos-1 encoun-tered several good quality car-bonate reservoir intervals and confirmed overall net gas pay of more than 260 meters,” the statement added.

“This successful explora-tion well at Cronos-1 is an-other illustration of the impact of our Exploration strategy which is focused on discover-ing resources with low techni-

cal cost and low carbon emis-sions, to contribute to energy security including providing additional sources of gas sup-ply to Europe,” said Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice Presi-dent, Exploration at TotalEn-ergies.

It marks the third offshore gas find reported in waters off Cyprus, all of them still untapped, and comes as the European Union seeks alter-native supply to Russian gas after Moscow’s February inva-

sion of Ukraine.Cyprus and the companies

are ‘already processing ways to expedite and optimise use of this new discovery, (which will) contribute to efforts of Europe in boosting its energy security,’ Cyprus’s Energy Ministry said.

Sector rivals are also drill-ing in the east Mediterranean region where gas output has soared as older discoveries fi-nally bear fruit.

An appraisal well reaf-firmed a reservoir of high quality gas in another area south-west of the island, Cyp-riot authorities said in March.

TotalEnergies and Eni began drilling work at the Cronos-1 prospect in offshore Block 6 in May. In 2018 they reported a ‘promising’ gas dis-covery at Calypso-1, another well in Block 6.

They are collaborating via local units Eni Cyprus and To-talEnergies EP Cyprus BV and each hold a 50 percent stake.

TotalEnergies, Eni announce major gas discovery off Cyprus

TotalEnergies and Eni began drill-ing work at the Cronos-1 pros-pect in offshore Block 6 in May.

AGENCIES LONDON

THE euro slumped on Mon-day to its lowest level since 2002 as a fresh surge in gas prices heightened worries over the region’s economy.

Europe’s common cur-rency slid as much as 1 per-cent to as low as $0.9934 in afternoon action, leaving it as one of the worst performers among major currencies on the day.

The fall came as the bench-mark TTF gas price in Europe rallied more than 10 per cent to a high of €292.50 per meg-

awatt hour ($85 per million British thermal units), before easing slightly to €278, leav-ing it on course to notch up its highest closing price on re-cord. In the UK, gas prices for next-day delivery surged as much as 33 per cent to £4.80 a therm ($57 per million BTU).

The rise in European TTF prices to more than 14 times their average of the past dec-ade may crimp industrial pro-duction in mainland Europe and push the region into re-cession, traders and econo-mists have said. Widespread fears of shortages this winter have led gas users to try to

lock in supplies, pushing up prices even as fears of a severe economic slowdown grow.

The euro initially breached parity with the US dollar in July, but had rebounded. The latest fall reflects both con-cerns about the energy crisis and also a broad rise in the dollar turbocharged by ex-pectations the US Federal Re-serve will raise interest rates much more aggressively than the European Central Bank.

“The end of summer sees the euro back under pressure, partly because the dollar is [rising] and partly because the Damoclean sword hanging

over the European economy isn’t going away,” said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale.

The latest surge in gas pric-es had been triggered by an announcement by Gazprom, Russia’s state-backed gas mo-nopoly, late on Friday that it was planning maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany early next month, traders said.

Gazprom has already slashed capacity on the line to just 20 per cent of the norm, triggering a more than dou-bling in gas prices in main-land Europe since June.

Euro hits lowest level in two decades as gas prices soar

KUWARI MEETS WITH PAKISTAN’S FINANCE MINISTER

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022

DOW QE GOLD

SILVERWTIBRENT

33,069.58-637.16 PTS

1,749.80-0.74%

18.98-1.05%

13,801.16-165.88 PTS

58,773.87-872.28 PTSSENSEX

PRICE PERCENTAGE96.05 -0.69%

PRICE PERCENTAGE90.19 -0.64%

QIC concludes Summer Internship Program PAGE 9

British inflation could hit 18% next year on rising energy bills, warn experts PAGE 10

Tribune news neTworkDoha

Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), the leading insurer in Qatar and the MENa region, has concluded its Summer Internship Program with an award ceremony.

the event provided an opportunity to acknowl-edge students from different schools and academic insti-tutions who took part in this year’s programme, QIC said in a statement on Monday.

this year, QIC’s seven-week Summer Internship Program, which ended on august 18 was meticulously designed to help interns dis-cover which direction they would like to take their ca-reer while gaining first-hand experience.

the paid internship of-fer qualified high school and undergraduate students a meaningful, career-oriented experience with world-class mentors who help guide them through their projects and continue to support them even after the intern-

ship is finished. among the interns re-

ceiving awards was awadh rashid al-Buainain a high-school student at Qatar academy al Wakra. after be-ing awarded his certificate of completion, he said: “QIC’s Summer Internship Program was a valuable experience that helped me gain insight

on insurance and hands on experience in Informa-tion technology (It) which I plan to continue doing in the future.”

“QIC is delighted to have delivered yet another high-quality internship pro-gram this summer. Interns were engaged with differ-ent departments within QIC

working alongside full-time employees performing real tasks while receiving senior mentorship.” said Nasser Jassim al Mohannadi, Head of Department – Corporate retail & Motor Claims, after the awards ceremony.

“Our summer internship program is without a doubt an excellent opportunity to

build leadership, communi-cation skills and gain insight into working life at Qatar In-surance Company”, Mohan-nadi added.

Qatar Insurance Com-pany (QIC) is a publicly listed composite insurer with a con-sistent performance history of over 50 years and a global underwriting footprint.

Founded in 1964, QIC was the first domestic insur-ance company in the State of Qatar. today, QIC is the market leader in Qatar and a dominant insurer in the GCC and MENa regions.

QIC is one of the highest rated insurers in the Gulf re-gion with a rating of a/Stable from Standard & Poor’s and

a (Excellent) from aM Best. QIC is also the first & best digital insurance company in Qatar and the largest insur-ance company in the MENa region by gross written pre-mium, profitability and total assets. It is listed on the Qa-tar Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation in ex-cess of Qr7.8 billion.

QIC concludes Summer Internship Program

Qatar Insurance Company’s Summer Internship Program interns with their certificates.

Debt-hit Cineworld confirms it is considering bankruptcyAgencies

CINEWOrlD has confirmed it is considering filing for bankruptcy in the US, as the cinema chain continues to struggle with $5 billion worth of debt.

But the company, which also owns the Picturehouse chain in the UK, insisted its cinemas “remain open for business” and that there would be “no significant im-pact” on jobs.

Cineworld employs more than 28,000 people globally.

like other cinema chains, Cineworld was hit hard by the pandemic.

Many theatres were forced to close for extended periods during the lockdowns, or had to operate at a reduced capac-ity due to social distancing rules.

Cinema chains had hoped blockbusters such as the lat-est Bond film, top Gun: Mav-erick and thor: love and thunder would draw audi-ences back in after lockdown restrictions eased.

top Gun: Maverick, star-

ring tom Cruise, has taken $1.8 bn at the global box of-fice, making it one of the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.

But last week, Cineworld warned there had still not been enough major releases to attract cinema audiences and said this was hitting ad-missions.

In 2019 before the pan-demic, global box office tak-ings hit a record $42.5bn ac-cording to Comscore, buoyed by films such as avengers: Endgame and Frozen 2.

So far in 2022, films such as Jurassic World Dominion and Minions: the rise of Gru have performed strongly.

But box office takings this year are down by around a third, or 32%, compared with 2019.

Cinema chains have also been facing tough competi-tion from streaming services, which soared in popularity during the lockdowns.

In 2020, a row broke out when Cineworld and rival aMC, which owns the Odeon Cinemas chain, criticised

Universal Pictures for releas-ing trolls: World tour online at a time when theatres were forced to close because of cor-onavirus.

Cineworld subsequently

signed a deal with Warner Bros to show films in theatres before they are streamed.

More recently , Netflix reported a sharp fall in sub-scribers, as the rising cost of

living leads to people cutting back.

On Friday, shares in Cine-world plunged 60% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the firm was preparing

to file for bankruptcy “within weeks”.

Cineworld said on Mon-day it was looking at various options for how to restruc-ture the business, including a Chapter 11 filing in the US.

this allows a company to continue to operate while it negotiates with its creditors.

the company would not comment on whether it was also considering filing for bankruptcy in the UK, or what the potential impact could be on its 4,600 employees there.

It also would not be drawn on what will happen to people who pay for Cineworld or Pic-turehouse membership, or who have vouchers, in the event of it filing for bankruptcy.

In a statement, the firm said: “Cineworld would ex-pect to maintain its opera-

tions in the ordinary course until and following any filing and ultimately to continue its business over the longer term with no significant impact upon its employees.”

Cineworld has 128 cin-emas in the UK and Ireland. Globally, it has 9,189 screens across more than 750 sites.

It operates in 10 countries, including the US, Poland and Israel.

Cineworld currently has a market value of around $69m but is carrying close to $5bn of debt.

the firm has expanded through acquisitions around the world. However, two years ago it ditched a plan to take over Cineplex, leading to a protracted legal battle as the Canadian firm sought sub-stantial damages from Cine-world.

Shares in Cineworld re-covered slightly on Monday morning. But at just over 4p, the share price is still a long way off from where it was at the start of 2020 when it reached 220p before the pan-demic struck.

Many theatres were forced to close for extended peri-ods during the lockdowns, or had to operate at a reduced capacity due to social distancing rules

Pedestrians walk past the entrance of a Cineworld cinema in London on Monday. (aFP)

09Tuesday, August 23, 2022Economy & Business

AGENCIES

RISING energy prices could push UK inflation as high as 18 percent next year, the high-est rate in nearly 50 years, eco-nomic analysts have predicted.

Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - hit 10.1 percent in July, five times the Bank of England’s (BoE) target.

Investment bank Citi said inflation was “entering the stratosphere” and could rise to 18 percent, while the Resolu-tion Foundation said it could reach 18.3 percent.

The BoE predicted infla-tion will rise to more than 13 percent in the coming months.

Citi’s forecast - which would be the UK’s highest rate of inflation since 1976 - comes ahead of Friday’s energy price cap announcement on the maximum amount suppliers can charge households for gas and electricity from October.

The investment bank’s forecast is at the higher end of the scale compared to those made by other economists, such as EY-Parthenon which has forecast inflation to be at 15.4 percent.

However, economists at the Resolution Foundation think tank told the BBC that based on the current price cap predictions and the latest data on the rate prices are rising at, inflation could go as high as 18.3 percent.

Citi’s chief UK economist, Benjamin Nabarro, said af-fordability concerns were “growing more deafening by the day”.

“The question now is what policy may do to offset the im-pact on both inflation and the real economy,” he said.

Consultancy Cornwall Insight now expects a typi-cal household energy bill to £3,554 a year from October. This is slightly below its previ-ous forecast.

However, it now expects energy regulator Ofgem to an-nounce a price cap in Janu-ary of £4,650, which is higher than its previous estimate of £4,266.

Its calculations reflected a 15 percent increase in whole-sale prices in the last week, Cornwall said.But the “highly volatile nature of the market” means these figures are ex-pected to go up and down over the next couple of months, it added.

In October, all UK house-holds will get a £400 discount on their fuel bills and some eight million low-income households will get an addi-tional £650.

But Citi said that without further government support the price cap could hit £3,717 in October and £4,567 in Jan-uary, reaching £5,816 in April.

Octopus Energy chief ex-ecutive Greg Jackson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that if the price of beer had

risen as much as gas prices, buying a pint would cost £25.

“People don’t know what a therm is, but, underneath it, the price per therm has gone

from 60p to around £5 at the moment and that’s what’s pass-ing through to customers if we don’t do something,” he said.

Sarah Coles, a senior per-sonal finance analyst at Har-greaves Lansdown, said there were 10 food groups that have seen their prices rise more than 18.6 percent in the past year, including bread, milk, pasta and butter.

“Inflation at 18.6 percent would push millions of people into dire straits,” she said.

“And because these horri-ble price hikes are being driven by the essentials people need to stay alive - like food and heat - it’s going to hit those on lower incomes hardest, who’ve got nothing left to give.”

On Monday European gas prices rose sharply due to sup-

ply fears, after Russian energy firm Gazprom announced it would shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline - the main gas export route to Germany - to complete three days of un-planned maintenance.

British gas for immediate delivery was also up 37 per-cent to 503p per therm.

Oil and gas analysts at In-vestec said in a briefing note that it anticipated UK gas pric-es to remain elevated if Russia continues to restrict supplies to Europe.

“This is remarkable in summer, when gas demand for heating is at its lowest,” its analysts said.

“The outlook for UK/Euro-pean gas prices are to remain high; even in 2025 it is three-times the 10-year average.”

British inflation could hit 18% next year on rising energy bills, warn experts

The BoE predicts inflation will rise to more than 13 percent in the coming months.

Ford cutting 3,000 white-collar jobs in bid to lower costs

AGENCIES

FORD Motor is cutting about 3,000 white-collar jobs as it at-tempts to lower costs and make the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles.

Leaders of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker made the announcement Monday in a companywide email, saying that 2,000 full-time salaried work-ers would be let go along with another 1,000 contract workers.

The cuts represent about 6% of the 31,000 full-time sala-ried work force in the U.S. and Canada. Ford’s 56,000 union factory workers are not affected. Some workers also will lose jobs in India.

Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley said in the email that Ford will provide benefits and significant help for the workers to find new jobs.

They wrote that Ford has a chance to lead in the new era of connected and electric vehicles.

“Building on this future re-quires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century,” the email said. “It means redeploying resources and addressing our cost struc-ture, which is uncompetitive versus traditional and new com-panies.”

Farley and Ford wrote that they examined each team’s shifting work to decide where cuts would be made. The com-

pany determined that its cost structure wasn’t competitive with General Motors, Stellantis and Tesla. It has said previously that it has a target of cutting $3 billion in annual internal com-bustion vehicle structural costs.

“We are eliminating work, as well as reorganizing and sim-plifying functions throughout the business,” they wrote in the email.

A spokesman said the cuts were made across all areas of the company, including cuts in the large work force of internal combustion engineers.

The company already has restructured in Europe, Asia and India.

Farley has said repeatedly that the company has too many people and needs to trim costs so it can move faster as it transi-tions to electric vehicles.

On the company’s earnings conference call in July, Farley said the company is too complex its costs aren’t competitive. It also has too many employees in some areas.

“We have skills that don’t work anymore,” he said. “We have jobs that need to change.” Farley has said has too many ver-sions of its internal-combustion vehicles. It plans to create more models off the same electric ve-hicle underpinnings, spending capital on areas that affect cus-tomers such as software, digital displays and automated driving systems, Farley said.

Business and Economy

Supply chain ‘will be disrupted’ by strike at biggest UK port: Union

DPA LONDON

A trade union official has warned that the supply chain “will be severely dis-rupted” by an eight-day strike at the UK’s biggest container port.

Unite national officer Robert Mor-ton also warned there “will be more strikes” if his members’ pay demands are not met, as some 1,900 members of Unite at Felixstowe, Suffolk, are expected to walk out in a dispute over pay in the first strike to hit the port since 1989.

On Monday, the second day of in-dustrial action at the port, Mr Morton said Unite wants an improved pay offer in line with at “least the rate of inflation,” suggesting a figure between “7 percent and 12.3 percent” would be acceptable.

Paul Davey, head of corporate af-fairs at the Port of Felixstowe, stressed there is a “7 percent plus £500” offer on the table, and has urged Unite to let its members vote on it.

Morton told Sky News: “The sup-ply chain will be severely disrupted, I accept that. That’s one of the unfortu-nate parts of things like this.”

“It could be over this afternoon if the employer agreed to meet us for real-time negotiations. The last message they gave to us is that ‘yes, we will meet you, but no, we will not move our position one inch.’ That’s the wrong approach.”

He acknowledged that the union has not put the employer’s offer to its members, but added: “At the be-ginning of the negotiations we asked

them what they wanted and they said, ‘we want you to go and negotiate and come back with at least the rate of in-flation. If it’s anything less than that, then don’t bring it back.’”

“So when we get further up the ne-gotiations, perhaps we will put an of-fer to them, but it certainly won’t be at 7 percent,” he added.

Workers including crane drivers,

machine operators and stevedores are taking action after voting by more than 9-1 in favour of strikes.

The union said the strike will have a significant impact on the port, which handles around four million contain-ers a year from 2,000 ships.

But a port source previously sug-gested the strikes will be an “incon-venience not a catastrophe,” claiming

the supply chain is now used to dis-ruption following the pandemic.

Morton added: “We’ve been ask-ing for a minimum of the rate of in-flation. The RPI at the moment is at (12.3 percent).” “However, if we can sit down and thrash this out, there will be a figure between 7 percent and 12.3 percent that’s acceptable to my membership.”

China cuts mortgage rate as property market crisis deepens

AGENCIES

CHINA’S central bank has cut its mortgage rate as of-ficials work to support the crisis-hit property market.

The People’s Bank of Chi-na (PBOC) lowered the five-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 1.5 percentage points, which matches its biggest cut on record.

The world’s second larg-est economy faces a prop-erty crisis that has seen some building projects grind to a halt.

Lockdowns due to the country’s strict zero-Covid policies are also affecting businesses and consumers.

On Monday, the PBOC reduced the five-year rate to 4.2%, which will bring down the cost of home mort-gage repayments around the country.

It also lowered the one-year loan prime rate, which is usually used to determine corporate loans, from 3.7% to 3.65%.

Iris Pang, Greater China

chief economist at ING Bank, said the moves are part of a wider effort to shore up the real estate industry.

“At the same time, some local governments have started to lend to property developers to continue the construction of uncompleted homes,” she said in a note on Monday.

“The two measures to-gether should reduce the concern of existing home mortgage borrowers,” she added.

China’s property crisis is estimated to have wiped more than a trillion dollars off the value of the sector last year.

Home sales in China have fallen for 11 months in a row, official data shows. That is the longest slump since Chi-na created a private property market in the late 1990s.

Several Chinese devel-opers have halted building work on homes that had already been sold, because of concerns over their fi-nances.

Economic woeseconomists at the Resolution Foundation think tank told the BBC that based on the current price cap predictions and the latest data on the rate prices are rising at, inflation could go as high as 18.3 percent

An aerial photograph shows the Ever Alot container ship docked by stopped container loading cranes at the empty UK’s largest freight port, in Felixstowe on Monday. (AFP)

10 Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Adidas CEO to quit as China sales take a hit

DPA NUREMBERG, GERMANY

THE chief executive of Ger-man sportswear giant Adidas, Kasper Rorsted, will leave the company next year in mutual agreement with the board, it was announced on Monday.

Rorsted, who came to Adi-das in 2016, had focussed on the company’s core brand and succesfully boosted its profit-ability. Part of his strategy had been to increase Adidas’ presence in the Chinese mar-ket.

In recent years, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a call by the Chinese government to boycott Western products, sales in China slumped, hit-ting Adidas particularly hard.

As a result, the company has lost ground to local rival Puma, with shareholders in-creasingly dismayed at lower profit predictions and a strug-gling share price.

A statement by the com-pany proclaimed that “the search for a successor has be-gun.” Rorsted will continue to act as CEO until a successor has been appointed and will facilitate the transition.

The chairman of the board of Adidas, Thomas Rabe, praised Rorsted for increas-ing the company’s online turnover fivefold and boost-ing the company’s sustain-ability credentials.

However, Rabe added that it was now the time to hit the restart button with new lead-ership after three difficult years of the pandemic and in-ternational tensions.

Rorsted said that “exter-nal factors” had negatively affected business in recent years, and that surmounting them had cost a lot of effort.

Now, he said, the com-pany is on the right path, with 85% of markets growing by double-digit percentages.

Economy & Business11Tuesday, August 23, 2022

As drought risks rise, investors eye thirsty companies, solutions

Agencies New York

As droughts worsen across the world, investors are turning up the heat on companies wasting water and trying to pick winners from a sparse crowd of specialist listed companies looking to address the problem.

From Kenya to California and nearly half of Europe, a shortage of fresh water has grabbed the atten-tion of policymakers and given mil-lions of citizens a fresh window into the stressed state of the planet.

Against that backdrop, a group of investors managing nearly $10 trillion on August 16 said they planned to step up efforts to pres-sure boards to better manage the critical resource and could vote against directors of laggard firms. read more

The vested interest in doing so is clear: analysis from environmental disclosure platform CDP and Planet Tracker in May showed listed com-panies could face losses of at least $225 billion from risks related to water.

“These are no longer far-off events; they are happening right now,” said Dexter Galvin, CDP’s global director of corporations and supply chains.

Last week, for example, Toyota (7203.T) suspended production at a plant in China’s sichuan prov-ince amid a drought-induced power shortage.

Awareness of how fraught the situation is - with 2.3 billion people currently living in water-stressed countries, according to the United Nations - has led a number of asset managers to launch equity funds to tap growing interest among inves-tors to help find a solution.

Global data from Morningstar Direct shared with Reuters shows 23 water funds launched over the last five years, with a collective $8 billion in assets at the end of July.

David Grumhaus, Jr., portfolio manager for the $812 million Vir-tus Duff & Phelps Water Fund, said there has been a “spillover effect” as water crises have worsened.

“When the top news story is that boats can’t make it through the Rhine River and Germans aren’t go-ing to get all their supplies, it does definitely make people think about water and our fund,” he said.

Despite their name, water eq-uity funds do not directly own wa-ter rights, which are highly localized and regulated, and instead invest in companies with business exposure to water, according to Morningstar senior manager research analyst

Bobby Blue.Common holdings include util-

ity American Water Works Com-pany, water technologist Xylem and the swiss industrial firm Georg Fis-cher AG , which works on the safe transportation of water.

The number of listed compa-nies exclusively focused on this commodity, so-called pure plays, is small, fund managers and analysts said.

simon Gottelier, co-manager of the $282 million Thematics Wa-ter Fund, estimated that there are around 25 to 30 investable water utilities globally, as well as a “hand-ful” of water technology businesses.

“Everyone wants to do some-thing about water, but it’s just dif-ficult to do so through public equi-ties,” said Morningstar’s Blue.

Managers therefore turn to a larger pool of companies which have water segments alongside other business units. Many of these focus on desalination, smart irrigation,

and pollution prevention.Cedric Lecamp, manager of the

$9.2 billion Pictet-Water strategy, said his firm has identified 360 com-panies with a “meaningful exposure to the water theme.”

His fund’s largest position at the end of July was Danaher Corpora-tion (DHR.N), which owns water quality businesses but derives most of its revenue from the life sciences and diagnostics sectors, according to company filings.

Water fund managers called this diversification beyond pure-play utilities not only necessary, but a potential asset given the range of companies working on water solutions.

“There hasn’t been a massive explosion of new companies who are providing solutions in the water space,” said Justin Winter, co-man-ager of the $7.3 billion Impax Water strategy.

“But the outlook for the existing companies basically has never been

better.”Xylem senior Vice President Al-

bert Cho said it forecasts revenue growth around 5% through 2025 as customers look to boost water effi-ciency. That’s not a high growth rate for a technology company, but Cho called it significant for the water sector, where buyers often are un-derfunded local utilities.

Many see digitizing their infra-structure as a powerful tool to boost efficiency such as by spotting under-ground pipe losses. With the right equipment, “you know where your water is and where it’s leaking and can do something about it,” Cho said.

Meanwhile, Germany is under the threat of drought as summer temperatures and reduced rainfall have seen water levels fall further in the Rhine River, a major transporta-tion route.

The depth of the river at some points has reached critical levels (below 40 centimeters) affecting private and industrial traffic on

the river.When the water level recedes,

the highway and railway have to be put into operation significantly in-creasing the transportation costs.

German news agency dpa re-ported on Tuesday the water level of the Rhine at one of the benchmark measuring points near the Dutch border has reached a historic low of zero centimeters.

Germany’s government is now looking for ways to deepen the Rhine at strategic points, with the country’s Transport Minister Volker Wissing saying on ARD TV earlier on Wednesday that more invest-ment is underway in the rail and road network.

The Rhine, Danube, and Elbe rivers are Germany’s most impor-tant waterways.

These rivers connect the country through various channels, forming a shipping network and making a sig-nificant contribution to Germany’s industry and trade.

The Rhine starts in switzerland, passes through the French border to Germany, and empties into the North sea from the Netherlands.

some 900 kilometers (559 miles) of the river are suitable for shipping -- connecting Germany’s developed industrial regions to the supply chain.

About 300 million tons of goods and products are shipped from the Rhine each year, making up 80% of water transport in Germany.

ships can no longer go fully loaded on the river route, with barg-es being loaded at one-quarter to half capacity, to keep them higher in the water.

This necessitates the use of more ships than usual or the transfer of these loads to trains or trucks.

Also, the low water level in the river slows down the speed and in-creases the transport costs exces-sively.

Recently, there have been diffi-culties in the supply of various raw materials from Rotterdam and Ant-werp, Europe’s largest ports, to fac-tories and power plants in industrial centers in Germany.

shippers have to transfer their cargo to trucks and railroads in nar-row areas of the river.

In a time of high inflation, the bottleneck in global supply chains, and the natural gas crisis, the fall in the Rhine presents a new challenge for the German industry.

As energy companies are expe-riencing difficulties in shipping coal from the river, it is feared produc-tion in thermal power plants may decrease.

The German government, on the other hand, has decided that the railways should give priority to en-ergy products, especially coal, due to the problem in river shipments.

According to a study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, if water levels at the Kaub monitoring station -- where the river is narrow and shallow -- remain below the critical mark of 78 centimeters for a month, the industrial output of Europe’s largest economy would di-minish by around 1%.

some economists predict that a disruption to the transportation on the Rhine may slow Germany’s eco-nomic growth by 0.5 percent.

The Rhine normally sees its low-est level in autumn.

The water level in the river does not rise with just a short rainfall. Prolonged rainfall is required for these levels to rise.

In October 2018, the water level in the river reached a record low, with the depth in the narrow areas of the river reaching 25 centimeters.

An aerial view of Lake Powell is seen, where water levels have declined dramatically to lows not seen since it was filled in the 1960s as growing demand for water and climate change shrink the Colorado River and create challenges for business owners and recreation in Arizona.

Agencies LoNdoN

OIL prices remained volatile on Monday slumping in early trading, then paring losses be-fore dipping again amid a tight market, growing concerns about a slowdown in demand in China and the possibility of Iranian crude coming back to the market.

Brent, the global bench-mark for two thirds of the world’s oil, was trading 1.09 per cent lower at $95.67 a barrel at 6.45pm Qatar time. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks Us crude, was down 0.85 per cent at $90 a barrel.

“There remain many fac-tors influencing the oil price right now from a tight mar-ket to a diminishing growth outlook and a potential Iran nuclear deal,” said Craig Er-lam, a senior market analyst at Oanda.

Oil prices had slumped earlier due to “lacklustre Chinese data last week” that

showed demand concerns continue to outweigh any sup-ply-side issues, despite warn-ings around upcoming tight-ness in the market from the new Opec secretary general, Emirates NBD’s Mena econo-mist Daniel Richards said.

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais said global oil markets remained at risk of a supply squeeze.

China, the world’s big-gest importer of crude, also cut lending rates last week to revive demand as its economy slowed unexpectedly in July, with factory and retail activ-ity slumping under Beijing’s “zero-Covid” policy.

“Traders believe that slower economic growth will adversely influence the pric-es,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade.

“Traders are also paying attention to the power supply situation in China, and power restrictions in some regions could affect economic activity

as China’s south-western si-chuan [province] began limit-ing electric power supply.”

The prospect of Iranian crude returning to the market is also being closely watched by traders.

The leaders of the Us, Britain, France and Germany discussed efforts to revive the

2015 Iran nuclear deal during a call on sunday.

The EU and Us last week said they were studying Iran’s response to what the EU has called its “final” proposal to revive the deal, under which Tehran curbed its nuclear programme in return for sanc-tions relief.

A potential deal would help Iran to pump more oil into the market and ease the supply crunch caused by the Ukraine conflict.

The prospects of Iran re-turning to market could be-come clearer over the course of this week “although that has been suggested many times

this year and yet here we are. We could see WTI remain choppy around $90 and Brent hover above $92 for a little while longer yet,” Erlam said.

Aslam said he believed the momentum for a three-day rally last week had waned “as there are more bears in the market than bulls”.

“Investors believe that if the Fed continues on its hawkish monetary policy, it will create more obstacles for Us economic growth, and that could negatively affect oil demand.”

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell is expected to speak at the Us central bank’s annual symposium from Thursday to saturday this week in Jackson Hole, Wyo-ming, and possibly indicate the pace of future interest rate increases.

The Fed’s next meeting is set for september 20 and september 21, where it may raise interest rates by 75 basis points for a third consecutive time as it attempts to arrest

inflation, which is running at a four-decade high.

The Us dollar index hit a new five-week high on Mon-day after Fed officials, includ-ing Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond president Thomas Barkin, indicated that the cen-tral bank is expected to con-tinue with its aggressive mon-etary tightening policy before the Jackson Hole symposium.

At the last meeting in July, when the central bank approved a 0.75 percentage point rate increase, Fed offi-cials indicated they were like-ly to press forward with the rate increases to bring down inflation to their preferred 2 per cent target.

“The dollar bulls are back in force,” said Ipek Ozkardes-kaya, a senior analyst at swis-squote Bank.

“The stronger dollar is not only a headache for the rest of the world, it is also a head-ache for the Us companies as the revenues they make out-side the Us lose value when converted back to Us dollars.”

Oil prices remain volatile amid tight market, demand concerns, possible return of Iranian crude to market

Brent, the global benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, was trading 1.09 per cent lower at $95.67 a barrel at 6.45pm Qatar time on Monday.

STATS PERFORM/DPA

KYLIAN Mbappe equalled the record for the fastest goal in Ligue 1 history as he struck just eight seconds as part of a hat-trick in Paris Saint-Ger-

main’s emphatic 7-1 win over Lille on Sunday.

The 23-year-old superbly lifted over Leo Jardim almost immediately from kick-off, with Ligue 1 announcing it matched Michel Rio’s eight-

second strike for Caen against Cannes in 1992.

That set the stage for an utterly dominant performance from the champions as Lionel Messi, Achraf Hakimi and Neymar all added goals before

half-time.Neymar and Jonathan

Bamba exchanged goals short-ly after the interval before Mbappe added two more in the final 24 minutes to cap a memorable display.

PSG started in some style as Mbappe latched onto Messi’s ball over the top and lobbed Jardim inside 10 sec-onds.

Mbappe hit the side net-ting after rounding Jardim midway through the first half,

yet Messi doubled the visitors’ advantage with a cool finish from 12 yards after a clever one-two with Nuno Mendes.

Hakimi then added a third six minutes before half-time with a composed finish hav-ing been played in by Neymar, who got in on the act four min-utes later with a clinical strike after Messi’s deflected pass fell kindly for him.

Neymar grabbed his sec-ond seven minutes into the second half following a won-

derful dummy from Mbappe, before Bamba pulled one back for Lille with a close-range fin-ish after Gianluigi Donnarum-ma had saved his initial effort. Mbappe and Neymar com-bined again superbly to make it 6-1 as the former lashed home. They were at it once more three minutes from full-time when Mbappe ran onto Neymar’s pass to thump past a helpless Jardim and cap an emphatic victory.

“We’re trying to find the best balance possible (with the front three),” Galtier said, as per L’Equipe. “Leo, Kylian and Ney played like this last season but in a different formation. Tonight, they played for each other.Scoreline: PSG 7 Mbappé (1’minutes, 66’minutes, 87’min-utes), Messi (27’minutes), Hakimi (39’minutes), Neymar (43’min-utes, 52’minutes) beat Lille 1 Bamba (54’minutes). HT 0-4.

Mbappe scores after eight seconds, hits hat-trick in PSG’s 7-1 Lille rout

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

AL Wakrah’s Angolan inter-national Gelson Dala sizzled at the Al Janoub Stadium on Monday night leading his to a thrilling 3-0 win over Qatar Sports Club (Qatar SC) in the fourth round clash of QNB Stars League.

The thrilling win also saw Al Wakrah take the top spot in the standings with 10 points. Al Arani with 9 points from three games are second while Al Du-hail with 7 points are third.

The Blue Wave led 1-0 at half time. Their goals came from Murad Naji (43rd min-ute), Mohammed Hassan (47th minute), and from the sterling Gelson Dala (93rd minute).

Wary of their opponents, Qatar Sports Club began sprightly and had their chanc-es. But deep into the opening session (33rd minute), Sebas-tian Soria’s dangerous free-kick missed its target.

A minute later, Al Wak-rah’s Mohamed Benyettou sent in a fine pass to Moham-med Hassan inside the box but the latter hit over.

Soon, exciting free-flowing football action followed with both teams displaying super play. In the 41st minute, Qa-tar SC’s Bashar Resan’s back tackle against Murad Naji saw Al Wakrah get a free kick. Taken by their captain Lucas Mendes, the left-footed kick

curled and dipped but only to hit the crossbar.

Two minutes later, in a siz-zling counter-attack, Moham-ed Hassan sent in a brilliant cross from the right to Naji who beat the goalkeeper to

his right, sending the Al Wak-rah fans into a frenzy with the opening goal.

The Blue Wave returned immediately into the second half picking on a defence lapse of Qatar SC to make it 2-0.

Given a centre by Gelson Dala from the left, Hassan scored gleefully.

The brilliance of Dala was on view in the 58th minute when the Angolan dashed past Qatar SC defenders all on his

own and cut through between two players but his push just went wide to the left.

Threatened and given little leeway, Qatar SC made another attempt being rewarded with a free-kick in the 77th minute. But Khalid Mahmoudi’s shot went wide to the right.

Next minute, the action moved to the other side but Australian Lucas Sainsbury’s free kick landed on the top of the net.

Dala then provided more joy to his team and fans. Pick-ing on a pass off a header from Ismail Mahmoud (after a long goal kick from Saoud Mubarak), a lurching Dala broke through the defence to beat Bader Benoun and Sataa Al Abbasi at the rival net to make it 3-0.

This was Al Wakrah’s third win of the season, besides a draw, in four games while Qatar SC are eighth with four points.

Dala dazzles as Al Wakrah thrash Qatar SC, move top of standings

Kylian Mbappe scores his team’s first goal against Lille OSC at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Asq, northern France on Sunday. (AFP)

Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his team’s seventh goal and his hat-trick against Lille OSC at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Asq, northern France on Sunday. (AFP)

Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Kylian Mbappe (R) scores his team’s sixth goal during the French L1 match between Lille OSC and Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Asq, northern France on Sunday. (AFP)

Al Wakrah fans celebrate their team’s 3-0 win over Qatar Sports Club in the fourth round match of the QNB Stars League Season 2022-23 at the Al Janoub Stadium on Monday.

Qatari Diar is Presenting Partner for Lusail Super CupTHE Lusail Super Cup Local Organising Committee has announced Qatari Diar as the Presenting Partner for the Lu-sail Super Cup, which will be held at Lusail Stadium on Fri-day 9 September.

The Lusail Super Cup will be contested by the champions of Saudi Arabia and Egypt at the 80,000-capacity venue, which will also host the FIFA World Cup™ final later this year. Qatari Diar’s involve-ment in the event was an-nounced during a press con-ference at Al Bidda Tower.

Hassan Al Kuwari, Mar-keting Director, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, said: “We are delighted to partner with Qatari Diar to stage the Lusail Super Cup at Lusail Stadium. The development of Lusail City is one of Qatar’s major achievements and we are very proud to be hosting huge matches in this loca-tion. We are also very excited to be staging FIFA World Cup matches in Lusail later this year, including the final on Qatar National Day.”

Ahmed Al Sada, Director – CEO Office and Public Rela-tions, Qatari Diar, said: “Stag-ing the Lusail Super Cup will be yet another proud moment in the story of Lusail City, which is one of the fastest-growing and most sustainable cities in the world. Everyone in Qatar and across the region is eagerly awaiting the FIFA World Cup and we are incred-

ibly proud that Lusail City and Lusail Stadium will play a prominent role during the tournament as we welcome fans from across the globe.”

Lusail Stadium is Qatar’s biggest FIFA World Cup tour-nament venue. It will host ten matches during Qatar 2022, starting with Argentina versus Saudi Arabia on 22 November and culminating with the final on 18 December. The stadium boasts a host of sustainabil-ity features, including a roof made from PTFE that protects the venue from warm wind, keeps out dust and allows in enough light for the pitch to grow while providing shade to reduce the burden on the sta-dium’s air conditioning. Last week, Lusail Stadium achieved a five-star Global Sustainabil-ity Assessment System rating for its design and build and a Class A* rating for construc-tion management.

Lusail City is Qatari Diar’s flagship project and spans 38,000,000m². It is the larg-est single development in the country’s history and embod-ies the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to develop a knowledge economy and reduce reliance on hydro-carbons.

More than 200,000 resi-dents will eventually live in Lusail, with 170,000 people expected to work in the city’s 19 districts, which will encom-pass residential, commercial, hospitality and retail opportu-nities, along with community needs, like schools, healthcare facilities, mosques, sporting facilities, entertainment and shopping areas. There will also be a new financial district, two golf courses, beaches and a marina to host 1,800 boats and yachts.

Al Wahrah’s Mohammed Khalid celebrates with teammate Gelson Dala after their win over Qatar Sports Club at the Al Janoub Stadium on Monday.

Al Duhail score 1-0 win over Al Markhiya PG 14

89 Days to go

I think every national team has the same possibilities to win the World Cup. – Mexi-co forward Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022

PA MEDIA/DPALONDON

CASEMIRO insists his move to Manchester United is not motivated by money and says he is determined to succeed at what he believes is “the biggest team in the world.”

The Brazilian, who has en-joyed a glittering career at Real Madrid, winning five Champi-ons Leagues and three LaLiga titles after joining in 2013, is set to be unveiled as Manches-ter United’s fourth summer signing for a fee of £60million ($70.8million).

United, who have suffered chastening losses to Brighton and Brentford at the start of the new season, have strug-

gled to compete for trophies in recent seasons leading many to suggest Casemiro’s move was driven by money.

But the 30-year-old said during his farewell ceremony at Real Madrid on Monday that he is excited by the chal-lenge at Old Trafford.

“Those who think I’m leav-ing for money is because they don’t know me,” Casemiro said at the ceremony, as re-ported by Marca.

“I think there are a few (people) and they don’t know me. It’s not for money. They’re wrong. That’s not the case.

“At the end of the Cham-pions League final (where Real Madrid beat Liverpool) I had the feeling that my cycle was over.

“I am honest. After the holidays, with a clear head, the feeling was the same. It wasn’t that fast. I already spoke with the club as soon as the Cham-pions League finished.

“People don’t forget the club I’m going to, the biggest team in the world and that can compete with the greatness of Real Madrid, although now it doesn’t.”

Cristiano Ronaldo won four Champions League titles alongside Casemiro for Real Madrid but has been strongly linked with wanting a move away from Old Trafford this

summer.“I haven’t spoken to Cris-

tiano, I hope he stays because he’s one of the best players of all time,” Casemiro added.

Casemiro’s deal was not completed in time for him to face Liverpool at Old Trafford on Monday.

“If I could, I would play today for United against Liver-pool,” Casemiro said.

“I am really excited, it’s a club with great history, I will have to work hard to make a name for myself because there, I have won nothing yet.”

Sports 13Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Manchester City move not about money – Casemiro

Real Madrid’s Brazilian midfielder Casemiro smiles as he addresses a press conference during his official farewell event, at the Ciudad Real Madrid training complex in Madrid on Monday. Manchester United have agreed to sign Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro in a deal worth up to a reported $70 million. (AFP)

Brazilian says he’s determined to succeed with ‘biggest team in world’

Those who think I’m leaving for money is because they don’t know me. I think there are a few (people) and they don’t know me. It’s not for money. They’re wrong. That’s not the case. At the end of the Champions League final, I had the feeling that my cycle was over.

Real Madrid’s Brazilian midfielder Casemiro

‘Like he’s 20’: Pedri stunned by new Barcelona goal hero Lewandowski

STATS PERFORM/DPA

PEDRI heaped praise on Rob-ert Lewandowski after the Bar-celona striker scored twice in a 4-1 win against Real Sociedad to open his La Liga account.

On the back of a frustrat-ing goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano on the opening weekend, the former Bayern Munich frontman opened the scoring with just 44 seconds on the clock.

Aleksander Isak equalised for La Real, who had chances to take the lead, before the introduction of Ansu Fati in the second half inspired Bar-celona to their first win of the campaign.

Fati provided the assist for Ousmane Dembele to fire Xa-vi’s side ahead, then combined with Lewandowski for the strik-er’s second before the favour was returned for Fati to score Barcelona’s fourth of the night.

The win brings an end to a three-match winless streak for Barcelona, stretching back to last season, and, while Le-wandowski’s efforts came on his 34th birthday, Pedri made it clear he appears far more youthful.

“Even though he’s 34, he looks like he’s 20. It’s crazy how many goals he scores and, above all, how he works for the team, he helps us a lot,” Pedri told Movistar after the match.

Barcelona’s win came af-ter a less than inspiring per-formance in the first half. Xavi’s changes proved to be decisive, while the head coach believes the win rein-forces the style in which his team want to play.

“We talked at half-time that we had to attack the spac-

es more,” Xavi said. “Last week was a blow and

this victory reinforces us be-cause this is about insisting and wanting. At times we have played well, at others not so much when we have lost con-trol and complicated things for ourselves.”

Lewandowski opened his account for Barcelona after just 44 seconds.

Aleksander Isak wasted no time in equalising for the hosts, who forced Marc An-dre Ter Stegen into some fine saves and saw a second-half

goal ruled out for offside.Ansu Fati provided the in-

spiration to end Barcelona’s three-game streak without a win, coming off the bench to provide two assists in six min-utes - Ousmane Dembele and Lewandowski the beneficiaries.

The Spaniard then added his name to the scoresheet af-ter Lewandowski returned the favour, coolly slotting home to ensure all three points would come to Catalonia.

Barcelona’s barren streak of 360 minutes without a goal came to an abrupt end,

Lewandowski steering home after Alejandro Balde led a counter-attack for the visitors to celebrate his birthday with his first La Liga goal.

The hosts took just five minutes to respond though, Frenkie de Jong dispossessed in midfield and David Silva feeding through Isak - who saw his finish loft over the head of Marc Andre ter Stegen after a deflection off Eric Gar-cia.

Seven minutes after the restart, the hosts thought they had taken the lead as Brais

Mendez’s free-kick found its way all the way past Ter Ste-gen but the offside flag was raised as Robin Le Normand impeded the German’s view.

Fati provided an immedi-ate impact after his introduc-tion, backheeling into the path of Dembele to drill home into the far corner, then tapping a pass to Lewandowski to make it three.

Lewandowski then turned provider for Fati, flicking the ball through for the Spaniard to slot home and guarantee a first win of the season.

Barcelona’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the Spanish League match between Real Socie-dad and FC Barcelona at the Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian on Sunday. (AFP)

Tuchel charged over post-match remarks

about refereePA MEDIA/DPA

LONDON

THOMAS Tuchel has been charged with alleged improper conduct over his comments about referee Anthony Taylor after Chelsea’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Tottenham.

The Chelsea boss admit-ted “maybe it would be better” if Taylor did not referee the Blues again, after a contro-versial day for the officials in the derby draw at Stamford Bridge on August 14.

Tuchel was hit with a 35,000 pound ($41,200) fine and a suspended one-match touchline ban for his dugout spats with Spurs boss Antonio Conte that saw the two coach-es sent off in west London.

The FA has now also con-cluded an investigation into Tuchel’s comments after the Spurs draw by charging the German coach with improper conduct through either im-plying bias, questioning a ref-eree’s integrity or bringing the game into disrepute.

“Thomas Tuchel has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to com-ments that he made after Chelsea FC’s Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 14 Au-gust 2022,” said an FA spokes-person.

“It is alleged that the man-ager’s comments in his post-match press conference con-stitute improper conduct as contrary to FA Rule E3.1 they imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match referee, and/or bring the game into disrepute.

“Thomas Tuchel has until Thursday, August 25, 2022 to provide a response to this charge.”

Tuchel was left incensed by Tottenham battling back for a draw with Harry Kane’s added-time header.

The Blues boss felt Rich-arlison was offside for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s Spurs open-er, before lamenting Cristian Romero’s hair pull on Marc Cucurella before the visitors’ second.

Romero’s challenge on Cu-curella was checked and dis-missed by VAR, only for Spurs to score from the corner to steal the draw.

Mike Dean later admitted his error in not ordering ref-eree Taylor to review the in-cident on the pitchside moni-tors, from his VAR role in the clash, which would have led to a red card for Romero.

Straight after the Totten-ham match, Tuchel admitted he felt referee Taylor should perhaps be taken off Chelsea duties in future.

When asked if Taylor should not referee Chelsea again, Tuchel replied: “Maybe it would be better, maybe it would be better. But hon-estly we also have VAR, to help make the right decisions. Since when can players have

their hair pulled, since when is that?”

When asked again about Chelsea supporters’ concerns about Taylor’s officiating, Tuchel continued: “I don’t think that just some of the fans think that: I can assure you that the whole dressing room of us, every person thinks that. Not only the fans. You know the players, they know what’s going on when they are on the pitch. They know it.”

Asked if the players are worried when Taylor is in charge, Tuchel added: “Yeah, of course.” Tuchel moved to clarify his comments on Fri-day, ahead of Chelsea’s Pre-mier League trip to Leeds.

The former Paris St Ger-main boss insisted he had not criticised or questioned refer-ee Taylor’s integrity at all.

“I want to make it very clear I did not attack his integ-rity, I did not question it,” said Tuchel.

“I said very, very early that the two decisions were deci-sions for the VAR. But I was not happy with the way he whistled the game but OK. But this is what happens. This will go to the board (independent regulatory commission) and they will decide.”

Chelsea’s German head coach Thomas Tuchel (R) reacts next to Leeds United’s US head coach Jesse Marsch (L) celebrating after winning at the end of the English Premier League at Elland Road in Leeds, northern England, on Sunday. Leeds won 3 - 0 against Chelsea. (AFP)

Tuchel was hit with a 35,000 pound ($41,200) fine and a suspended one-match touchline ban for his dugout spats with Spurs boss Antonio Conte that saw the two coaches sent off in London.

MANCHESTER UNITED EDGE PAST LIVERPOOL 2-1 AT OLD TRAFFORD Manchester United’s English striker Marcus Rashford shoots past Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker to score their second goal during the English Premier League match at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on Monday. Jadon Sancho (16th min) and Rashford (53’) scored for Manchester United while Mohamed Salah pulled one back for Liverpool (81’).Sancho showed superb control and composure to deservedly put United in front before Rashford raced clear to beat Alisson from substitute Anthony Martial’s pass.Salah set up a tense finish when he scrambled in a header with nine minutes left but United survived to give Ten Hag just the sort of triumph he needs to make his mark at Old Trafford. (Pic: AFP)

Sports14 Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Former F1 boss Ecclestone denies over $470mn fraud in Singapore trust

PA MEDIA/DPALONDON

FORMER Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has denied fraud over an alleged failure to declare to the British govern-ment more than £400 million ($472.30 million) in a trust in Singapore.

The 91-year-old was charged after a probe by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which would have allowed the business magnate to draw a line under any pre-vious tax irregularities, West-minster Magistrates’ Court heard.

He is accused of failing to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account contain-ing around $650 million.

The billionaire was met by photographers and camera op-erators, who had been warned by police not to mob him be-cause of his age, as he entered court on Monday morning.

His white Range Rover, with a personalized number plate, passed three times be-fore the business magnate left the vehicle dressed in a dark three-piece suit, white shirt and dark tie.

Ecclestone was escorted through the building’s exit by court security along with his legal team.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring allowed him to stand outside the dock after his barrister, Clare Montgom-ery QC, said her client was “having a little bit of trouble hearing”.

Ecclestone stood to con-firm his name and address in Knightsbridge, central London, before indicating a not guilty plea to a charge of fraud by false representation between July 13, 2013 and October 5, 2016.

Prosecutor Robert Simp-

son told the court: “This charge arises out of a Revenue and Customs (HMRC) inves-tigation into Mr Ecclestone’s finances.

“This would have allowed him to enter into a struc-tural disclosure facility which would’ve drawn a line under any previous tax irregularities.

“During the course of that investigation he was asked about any trusts placed abroad that he was involved with.

“The Crown has based this charge on the basis he failed to declare a trust in Singapore

with a bank account contain-ing approximately 650 million US dollars.”

Ecclestone was granted unconditional bail ahead of his next appearance at Southwark Crown Court on September 19 during the hearing, which last-ed around five minutes.

The judge told him: “Given the value of the alleged fraud, if convicted, this court would not have sufficient sentenc-ing powers.” According to the charge, the business magnate allegedly claimed that he had “established only a single

trust, that being one in favour of your daughters”.

He is also alleged to have said “other than the trust es-tablished for your daughters you were not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK”.

Ecclestone, who has three grown-up daughters – Debo-rah, 67, Tamara, 38, and Petra, 33 – and a young son, Ace, al-legedly made the representa-tions “intending to make a gain, namely not stated, for yourself”.

The charge against the bil-lionaire was authorized by the

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) last month following an investigation by HMRC, which said the probe had been “com-plex and worldwide”.

Chief Crown Prosecutor Andrew Penhale said at the time: “The CPS has reviewed a file of evidence from HMRC and has authorized a charge against Bernard Ecclestone of fraud by false representation in respect of his failure to de-clare to HMRC the existence of assets held overseas believed to be worth in excess of £400 million.”

Ex-Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone leaves the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London, on Monday after appearing for fraud charges. Ecclestone is facing a claim of fraud over an alleged failure to declare ($477 million of overseas assets to the British government. (AFP)

Milan come from behind as Bennacer rescues a draw against Atalanta

STATS PERFORM/DPABERLIN

MILAN came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw against Atal-anta as Ismael Bennacer can-celled out Ruslan Malinovskyi’s opener with a fine equaliser for the Serie A champions.

Malinovskyi’s deflected first-half effort put Gian Piero Gasperini’s hosts in the as-cendency as Junior Messias, Pierre Kalulu and Theo Her-nandez spurned good oppor-tunities for the visitors.

With Stefano Pioli’s side pinning Atalanta back after the break, Bennacer bent a fine effort home to earn Milan a valuable point in their bid to defend the Scudetto.

While Milan were unable to force a winner and make it two wins from two Serie A out-ings, they remain unbeaten in league action since January after claiming a point from a difficult away trip.

Rafael Leao and Malinovs-kyi both dragged efforts into the side-netting during an open start, before Messias vol-leyed wide after receiving a glorious cross-field pass from Hernandez 23 minutes in.

The hosts hit the front in the 29th minute when Ma-linovskyi met Joakim Maeh-le’s cut-back with a left-footed strike from the edge of the

area, beating Mike Maignan with the help of a slight deflec-tion off Kalulu.

Kalulu headed Hernandez’s free-kick over as Milan looked to respond after the break, be-

fore Leao cut inside to bend a long-range effort narrowly wide of the top-right corner.

Maignan turned Mario Pasalic’s powerful header over the crossbar 10 minutes into

the second half, before Juan Musso raced off his goal-line to smother Hernandez’s goal-bound effort as the Rossoneri upped the ante.

Atalanta’s resistance was

finally broken with 22 min-utes remaining, Bennacer whipping a terrific effort in off the far post after cutting in from the right to ensure the spoils were shared.

AC Milan’s Algerian defender Ismael Bennacer (C) celebrates after scoring the equalizer during the Italian Serie A match against Atalanta at the stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium in Bergamo on Sunday. (AFP)

Al Duhail’s South Korean professional Nam Tae-hee (No. 19) in action during the fourth round QNB Stars League match against Al Markhiya at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.

Nam Tae-hee strikes in Al Duhail’s 1-0 win

over Al MarkhiyaTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

NAM Tae-hee’s goal helped Al Duhail beat Al Markhiya 1-0 to register their second suc-cessive win in the QNB Stars League at the Khalifa Interna-tional Stadium on Monday.

This was the last year’s runners-up team’s second positive result of the season with their South Korean star Tae-hee getting the winner in the 54th minute of the match after both sides shared a goal-less first half.

Al Markhiya held sway for a long time after Al Du-hail’s initial flurry at the start, and the promoted team even looked threatening, making several forays.

The Red Knights, how-ever, came back strong in the second session and combined with a fine move from the left. In the end, Youssef Farahat cut across a good cross and Nasser Saleh Yazidi set up the ball nicely for Tae Hee to make the perfect strike from the cen-tre of the penalty box.

A second successful strike, which was disallowed, had come in the 76th minute. Far-ahat had sent the ball into the goal but only after substitute Suhaib Gannan had taken it out of the hands of goalkeeper Loukay Ashour who had flung a full stretch. The referee said

no goal after a VAR check.Markhiya could consider

themselves a little unlucky as a powerful Hamroun Jugurtha hit struck the crossbar of the goal post in the 26th minute and flew away. Jugurtha was helped by a fine cross from Ayman Hussein.

Towards the end too, Al Markhiya - who began the new season beating Sadd - made several attempts but a solid Al Duhail goalkeeper Shehab El-lethy stood guard. In the 73rd minute a Driss Fettouhi shot brushed the head of Duhail skipper Luiz Martin and flew in taking Shehab by surprise but the goalkeeper still made a great save.

Ten minutes later, Shehab was again tested by Tilal Ali and Fettouhi on two occasions but he foiled the attempts. Earlier at the start, Al Duhail came close to scoring in the 16th minute when Michael Olunga’s kick off a volley went just wide off the left post.

“It was a good but hard fought win for us. Personally, I would have liked to be among the scorers but it didn’t hap-pen today,” said Olunga after the match. On the injured Ed-milson Junior, who watched the match from the stands with a cast in his ankle, Olunga said, “He’s our key player and obviously he’s missed on the field. I hope he recovers soon.”

Rejuvenated Al Sadd face Al Gharafa

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

REIGNING champions Al Sadd will take on Al Gharafa in the fourth round clash of the QNB Stars League at the Edu-cation City Stadium on Tues-day. The kick-off is at 7.30pm.

Sadd are heading into the tie after a victory over Al Ahli last week, and their Spanish coach Juan Manuel Lillo said his team was looking to earn their second successive win.

“The recent victory gave us a great motivation especially to our young players. The team is doing better than what we have seen so far and win-ning the next match will defi-nitely help us move forward,” he said.

Al Gharafa coach Andrea Stramaccioni was expecting a tough challenge from Al Sadd. “Al Sadd are a champion side but we are ready as we pre-pared well for the match. I am happy with my team’s perfor-mance and particularly our young players are performing well. Al Sadd are also playing with youngsters so the match is going to be a tough chal-lenge,” he said.

In another match at the Ahmad Ali Stadium today, Al Rayyan will be looking to open their account when they face Al Ahli in their fourth match.

The Lions, coached by Nicolas Cordova, are the only side in the league yet to score a point after the first three matches. “Of course, regard-ing the team’s results, there is a kind of pressure and we will

play the match with the best we have. The important thing for us is to work and work, to achieve a positive result,” said Cordova before adding the re-cent injuries have made the task difficult for his side.

Al Ahli, who suffered a defeat to Al Sadd, are hop-ing to bounce back but coach Nebojsa Jovovic is wary of Al Rayyan threat. “We know that Al Rayyan have not achieved any victory so far in the league, but that does not mean that we can beat them easily. We have to make every effort and do our best to win it,” said Jovovic.

Al Rayyan meet Al AhliAl Rayyan coach Nicolas Cor-dova while speaking to the media ahead of their Week 4 match against Al Ahli, said, “We have prepared well de-spite some injuries suffered to the team in the last match. The team trained in the best way and prepared for the match. Of course, regarding the team’s results, there is a kind of pressure and we will play the match with the best we have. The important thing for us is to work and work, to achieve a positive result.

Al Rayyan player Abdulrah-man Al Korbi said, “The team’s situation is difficult after three rounds have passed without a victory. For us, this match is crucial and the three points are a requirement, so we will go into the game with all serious-ness to win the three points.

The match to be played at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium kicks off at 5.20pm.

Roma midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum broke his right leg in training on Sunday, just two weeks after joining the club. The Netherlands international moved earlier this month on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain, with the Serie A side possessing an option to buy. Wijnaldum won the Ligue 1 title with PSG last term, having joined on a free transfer from Liverpool, but he moved to join Jose Mourinho’s side after just a single season with the French giants. He made his Serie A debut off the bench in Roma’s 1-0 victory over Salernitana on the opening weekend but is now set for a stint on the sidelines. In a statement, Roma said: “Following an injury sustained during training this afternoon, Georginio Wijnaldum subsequently underwent medical tests that confirmed the presence of a fracture to the tibia in his right leg. “The player will undergo further assessments in the coming days.” Roma continue their campaign at home to Cremonese on Monday, before travelling to Turin to tackle Juventus. It remains to be seen whether 31-year-old Wijnaldum can recover from his injury in time to feature for the Netherlands at the World Cup, which begins in November. (STATS Perform/DPA)

Wijnaldum suffers broken leg two weeks after joining Roma

Quick read

Sports 15Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Coric defeats Tsitsipas to cap off great week with Cincinnati titleSTATS PERFORM/DPA

NEW YORK

BORNA Coric won his first ever ATP Masters 1000 title on Sun-day when he defeated world number seven Stefanos Tsitsi-pas 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 in the final of the Western & Southern Open.

Coric, who entered the tournament ranked 152nd in the world, put together a week of tennis he will never forget as he beat five consecutive top-20 opponents in Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista-Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Cameron Norrie and finally Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas looked likely to enjoy a comfortable first set when he raced to a 4-1 lead after breaking Coric’s serve at the first opportunity, but the Croatian roared back to level the scores and force a tie-break after saving three more break points.

The momentum was with Coric from there as he cruised through the tie-break without dropping a point to take the opener and stun the world number seven.

Tsitsipas threatened to take the momentum straight back as he quickly took a love-to-40 lead against Coric’s opening service game of the second set, but the 25-year-old in the second ATP Masters

1000 final of his career - and the first since Shanghai in 2018 - was on a mission, sav-ing another three break points to stay in control.

Coric would save six of

the seven total break points he faced in the contest, and he put an exclamation point on the best tournament of his career by breaking the Greek’s serve twice to secure the win.

The stats indicate this was far from a fluke, as Coric was better both on serve - winning 69 per cent of his points com-pared to 57 per cent from Tsit-sipas - and on return, creating

12 break points opportunities while Tsitsipas created seven.

With the win, and the 1000 ranking points, Coric will rise 123 places when the next rank-ings are released, up to 29th.

Borna Coric of Croatia celebrates after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in their men’s singles final of the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, on Sunday. Coric defeated Tsitsipas 7-6, 6-2. (Getty Images/AFP)

Gill’s ton fires India to series whitewash in Zimbabwe

ICCHARARE

INDIA completed a 3-0 ODI series clean sweep courtesy of a Shubman Gill ton, beating Zimbabwe by 13 runs in Ha-rare on Monday.

KL Rahul was a late addi-tion to the Indian squad, with Shikhar Dhawan initially set to lead the side. In order for the Indian vice-captain to get some much-needed match practice ahead of the Asia Cup, it was decided to draft him into t

he side for the series. Ra-hul did not get to bat in the first game and only made 1 in the second ODI.

The opener finally got to spend time in the middle, fac-ing 46 deliveries for a knock of 30. Though he did not look at his flowing best, his time facing some deliveries could prove to be invaluable with some tough tests ahead.

Shubman Gill has had a stunning start to life in ODI cricket as he pushes his case to be a permanent fixture in the squad. And he did his case no harm by notching up a maiden international century.

His knock was control personified while also crisply timing the ball. After India’s sedate start, he helped the visitors up the ante, scoring at run-a-ball. He also allowed Ishan Kishan to settle in, with their partnership of 140 lay-ing the foundation for India to post a reasonably big score.

His knock of 130 came in only 97 deliveries, before perishing against Brad Evans (who notched up his first five-wicket haul in international cricket). But the job was done as India ended up posting a to-

tal of 289/8.Zimbabwe had a tall ask in

hand to chase this total down. They were not helped by three of their top four batters failing to notch up big scores. Takudzwa-nashe Kaitano (13), Innocent Kaia (6) and Tony Munyonga (15) all fell relatively cheaply.

But Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza kept the hosts’ fight going. Williams first took the attack on, scoring a 46-ball 45 before being trapped by Axar Patel. His knock included 7 boundaries.

As Zimbabwe kept on los-ing wickets, Raza, Zimba-bwe’s man in form unleashed a fiery knock. Raza was se-vere against the Indian bowl-ing attack, especially Shardul Thakur, smashing him for 20 in one over. By this point he was their last hope alive, being well set after bringing up his fifty, as Zimbabwe had already lost seven wickets.

Raza wouldn’t give up though, bringing up a brilliant century, the sixth of his career. His partnership with Brad Ev-

ans would be worth 104 runs, which got Zimbabwe close to the target. Evans would do his job brilliantly, rotating the strike, while Raza went all guns blazing.

The big breakthrough would finally come when Avesh Khan trapped Evans lbw for 28. Gill made another big contribution, taking a bril-liant catch as Raza’s stunning knock of 115 came to an end, with Shardul Thakur getting the wicket.

Zimbabwe still needed 15

runs when Raza fell and ago-nisingly they ended up short by 13 runs, with Khan get-ting the final wicket of Victor Nyauchi. But it was a per-formance which would leave them with a lot of positives.

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have all scored their maiden ODI cen-turies against Zimbabwe.Scores: India 289 for 8 (Gill 130, Kishan 50, Evans 5-54) beat Zimbabwe 276 (Raza 115, Williams 45, Avesh 3-66) by 13 runs.

India’s Shubman Gill celebrates after scoring his century during the third One-Day International against Zimbabwe at the at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Monday. (AFP)

Udonis Haslem announcing his return.

Haslem to return for 20th NBA season

with the HeatSTATS PERFORM/DPA

BERLIN

UDONIS Haslem has con-firmed he will be back for an-other year, and what will be his 20th season in the NBA.

The Miami Heat forward, who is the franchise’s all-time leader in rebounds, has agreed a 1-yr deal worth $2.9million.

Haslem had raised doubts as to whether he would return or retire, with the Heat putting the offer on the table almost two months ago.

The 42-year-old has ul-timately chosen to continue, saying at his basketball camp in Miami on Sunday: “I have

decided to follow through with what me and my father had talked about, and I will finish what I started and I will play 20 years.

“I will play this year, be-cause I talked about that with my father and that’s what we said we would do.

“It won’t be the same. Won’t be as easy. But the goal still remains the same. Win. Win a championship. Leave it on the line and hold your head high when it’s all over.” Haslem has won three NBA championships with Miami, and made 13 appearances last season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Sri Lanka’s fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera.

Blow for Lanka as Chameera ruled out

ANIPALLEKELE

SRI Lanka’s right-arm fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 due to a calf injury.

Chameera sustained the injury during the team prac-tice session. Sri Lanka Crick-et announced that Nuwan Thushara will replace Cha-meera in the 18-man squad. Chameera’s absence will put extra pressure on a young Sri Lankan seam-bowling attack at the Asia Cup. Their fast-bowling contingent now has Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan, Asitha Fernando and Matheesha Pathirana.

Coming to the Asia Cup, the 15th edition of the tour-nament will be played in the UAE between six teams (main event) from August 27 till Sep-tember 11.

Defending champions In-dia are also the most success-ful team, having won the tro-

phy seven times. While the last edition of the tournament was held in an ODI format, this edition will feature the T20 format.

The six teams are divided into two groups India, Paki-stan and a qualifying team in Group A; and Sri Lanka, Bang-ladesh and Afghanistan form Group B. Each team plays the other once in the group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super 4 round. The top 2 teams from Super 4 will quali-fy for the final.Sri Lanka squad for Asia Cup: Dasun Shanaka (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Ashen Bandara, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madush-anka, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwanidu Fernando, Nuwan Thushara and Dinesh Chandimal.

Hasnain named as Afridi’s replacement for Asia Cup

ANIDUBAI

MOHAMMAD Hasnain will replace left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi in Pakistan’s 15-member squad for the T20 Asia Cup 2022, which begins on August 27.

Afridi was ruled out of the upcoming Asia Cup after being advised a four-six weeks rest by the medical team follow-ing an injury to the right knee ligament. He will also stay out of action during the home se-ries against England as well, which will start from Septem-ber 20 onwards, but will re-turn to action during the New Zealand Tri-Series in October, which will be followed by the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Australia 2022. Shaheen had suffered a right knee ligament injury while fielding during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

Shaheen will stay with the squad to complete his reha-bilitation. The Pakistan side will arrive in Dubai from Rot-terdam on Monday.

The 22-year-old Moham-mad Hasnain has represented Pakistan in eight ODIs picking up 12 wickets at an average of 37.91 with best bowling figures of 5/26. The pacer has played 18 T20Is for Pakistan picking up 17 wickets at an average of 30.70 with best figures of 3/37.

This is the 15th edition of the Asia Cup which will be played in the UAE between six teams (main event) from Au-gust 27 till September 11.

Defending champions In-dia are also the most success-ful team, having won the tro-phy seven times. While the last edition of the tournament was held in an ODI format, this edition will feature the T20 format.

NEW YORK: World No 2 Alexander Zverev has withdrawn from the US Open as he continues his recovery following ankle surgery, tournament organisers announced on Monday. The 25-year-old underwent surgery in June after damaging ligaments in his right ankle. “Alexander Zverev has withdrawn from the US Open. Get well soon, Alex!” US Open said in a statement. Zverev has been sidelined since June after he suffered the injury against Rafael Nadal in the semifinals at Roland Garros. Ahead of the second-set tiebreak, Zverev rolled his right ankle while chasing a ball behind the baseline, and was forced to leave the court in a wheelchair. He later underwent surgery for three torn lateral ligaments in the affected ankle. The 25-year-old German was more than three hours into an epic semi-final with Rafael Nadal when he badly rolled his ankle while moving to his right.The World No. 2 crashed to the ground and was taken off the court in a wheelchair before returning several minutes later to shake the hand of the chair umpire and hug Nadal. “I am now on my way back home,” the World No. 2 wrote on Instagram in June. (ANI)

ZVEREV PULLS OUT OF US OPEN DUE TO ANKLE SURGERY

BRIDGETOWN (Barbados): West Indies have been fined 40 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against New Zealand in the third and final ODI in Barbados on Sunday.Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Refer-ees imposed the sanction after Nicholas Pooran’s side was ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. (ANI)

WI fined for slow over-rate against NZ

The Last Word16 Tuesday, August 23, 2022

AMIR, GREEK PM DISCUSS RELATIONS, VISIT QATAR OLYMPIC AND SPORTS MUSEUM

QNA DOHA

THE Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister of Greece Kyri-akos Mitsotakis held an official talks session at the Amiri Diwan on Monday.

During the talks session, they discussed aspects of develop-ing joint cooperation, especially in the economy and investment fields, and exchanged views on prominent regional and interna-tional issues.

HH the Amir and the Greek Prime Minister also visit Mon-day the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum.

During the visit, HH the Amir and the prime minis-ter were briefed on the history and legacy of sports around the world and the Olympic Games, especially the ancient Greek Olympic Games. They also saw sports collectibles from all over the world, since the early be-ginnings of sports, and visual displays containing images and information about athletes from different countries, in addition to highlighting the history of the Olympic Games since its incep-tion in Greece.

At the end of the visit, HH the Amir hosted a luncheon ban-quet in honour of Greek PM and his accompanying delegation.

Attracting foreigninvestment crucialfor Greece: PM

Mistotakis also pointed out that attracting foreign invest-ments was the key objective of his government over the past years. He said, “Foreign direct invest-ment reached a 20-year high in 2021, while gross fixed capital formation increased by 12.7 per-cent in the first three months of this year,” attributing this success partly to “the fact that Greece also has a highly-educated and skilled workforce”.

He outlined the measures taken to accelerate foreign direct investments. “Our updated legal framework relating to FDI pro-vides a friendly, safe and reliable environment for investment, re-ducing red tape. Among others, we are focusing on the develop-ment of offshore wind parks, we are constructing an FSRU unit for LNG cargoes off the port city of Al-exandroupoli, with plans to build another one nearby,” he said.

He added that his country

welcomes Qatari investors based on the promoted infrastructure projects across his country.

Mistotakis described his country’s exit from the enhanced surveillance framework as “a wa-tershed moment for Greece, as it signifies the end of a difficult 12-year period that was marked by a prolonged recession, strife and the rise of populist forces.” “Greece will now have the opportunity to operate more freely, without however allowing the damaging exorbitant or unnecessary fiscal outlays that were commonplace in the past,” he added.

“The investment inflows, combined with the significant fall in the unemployment rate over the past three years, show that the private sector already has confi-dence in this government and its policies, investing capital and cre-ating new jobs,” he said, explain-ing the progress Greece has been able to achieve through the enor-mous sacrifices of its people and the strength of its institutions.”

DFI join hands with Embrace Doha to host public screenings of ‘Made in Qatar’ films

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

DOHA Film Institute (DFI) has partnered with Embrace Doha, an independent culture house, to host public screenings at Souq Al Wakra that will further strengthen the collaboration between the lo-cal community and Qatar’s home-grown talents.

Aimed at nurturing community engagement and making Doha Film Institute’s film screenings even more accessible for the public, the new partnership will flag off with the first-ever public screening of local films in Wakra on August 25 with a ‘Made in Qatar’ showcase of six short films, several of them award-winning works of art that highlight the rich creative talent in the country.

The second screening is sched-uled for September 15, 2022.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, DFI Chief Executive Officer, said: “As we prepare for the tenth edition of our flagship Ajyal Film Festival in a year of unprecedented excitement in the nation, we are further enhancing our local partnerships and creat-ing vibrant platforms for the wider community in Qatar to discover stories originating from our coun-try. Such events help amplify voices from Qatar’s growing national film industry and unlock opportunities for emerging home-grown creators to drive the creation of compelling content from our region and foster understanding through artistic dia-logue.

“Our partnership with Embrace Doha will create another inspiring avenue for the public to applaud and appreciate the enthusiasm, cre-ativity and passion of our nation’s exciting voices in film, with locally conceived ideas that are being cel-ebrated outside Qatar.”

Shaima Sherif, Embrace Doha managing director, said: “We would

like to welcome everyone into our cultural house and experience local filmmaking in a traditional Qatari majlis. We hope that we can use

Doha Film Institute’s platform and talents to amplify Qatar’s rich cultural heritage to the masses.”

On August 25 at 7pm, Embrace Doha will screen a bouquet of six compelling short films – including short narratives, animation and documentaries – directed by Qa-tari and Qatar-based filmmakers. A second screening will be held on September 15, providing the op-portunity for more members of the public to watch the inspirational and poignant films.

The captivating programme of documentaries, short form narra-tives and animations include:

Smicha (2017), by Amal Al Muf-tah, about seven-year-old Lulwa, who dotes on her elderly grand-father, and depicts that love is not found in blurry details, but in a powerful bond that never fades; Al Johara (2016) by Nora Al-Subai, a colourful story about a girl who is made a servant in her own home by her evil stepfamily. With the help of a neighbour, an eccentric, tradi-tional old woman, she might be able to attend her very first wedding.

Jassim Al Rumaihi’s award-winning documentary, The Palm Tree (2015) is a short poetic take

on the majestic tree that is consid-ered as a significant symbol of cul-ture and heritage across the Arab world; Fishermen (2017), directed by Obada Yousef Jarbi, is about three fishermen who run away from the crowded city towers and lights. In the middle of the sea, they are far away from everything that reflects the modernity of Doha; a reflection of the Doha’s cosmopolitan per-sonality; Voices from the Urban-scape (2017) by Shaima Al Tamimi and Mariam Salim expresses the city’s pace of growth, while vari-ous voices from the community describe the progress; and Makhbz (2015) by Aisha Al Muhannadi, the repetitive actions of men and ma-chines become a dance of grace and beauty, and the making of bread in Madinat Khalifa becomes a mes-merizing vision.

Animated titles include Where Are You Right Meow? (2018) by Maysam Al Ani, about a young art-ist, Ayako, who struggles with crea-tive block. Suddenly, her beloved cat Beru goes missing and she goes to look for him around her neigh-bourhood; and Director Kholood Al Ali’s Red (2017) about a shy and lonely boy, who trudges through the snowy streets of a desolate urban landscape, where he sees an aban-doned pair of red trainers hanging from a telephone wire.

Qatar Post expo reviewshistory of sports stamps

QNADOHA

THE ‘Sports for All’ exhibition, hosted by Qatar Post, celebrates sports stamps and highlights a group of stamps that talk about the first postage stamp in Qatar and the pictures it carried dur-ing that period.

The exhibition, which will run until September 4, is being held in coopera-tion between the Qatar Stamp Center and Qatar Post three months before the start of the FIFA World Cup Qa-tar 2022 to shed light on the history of special stamps issued in major sport-ing events around the world. This in-cludes the World Cup and other sports such as chess, swimming, handball,

football, tennis, fencing and snow-boarding.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), stamp collector Abdul-rahman Al Langawi said that the histo-ry of stamps related to sports extends before the launch of the first World Cup in 1930.

The exhibition includes 14 ‘frames’, with each one containing a number of different sports stamps around the world. The exhibition also includes explanations in Arabic and English, an overview of the history of post in Qatar and the center, and the stamp hobby. Visitors can view the exhibits and the various stamps they contain, he ex-plained.

For his part, Issa Al Fakhro, a col-

lector of sports and historical stamps, said that the Sports for All exhibi-tion contains a collection of stamps, through which all known sports in the world are shown. Each stamp carries a full explanation of each sport so that the visitor can learn about different sports and their history.

The exhibition is being held to promote the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. It is intended that the Qatari Youth Hobbies Centre will cooper-ate with a number of authorities in the country during the coming pe-riod to hold exhibitions for Olympic sports, as part of a plan to spread cultural awareness of sports through the hobby of stamps spread around the world.

Continued from page 1