“Tit-for-tat retaliation”

TDT, Agencies

The White House yes-terday urged China not to engage in “tit-for-tat

retaliation” by ordering US consulate in Chengdu closed in response to Washington’s shuttering of Beijing’s consu-late in Houston.

“Our action to direct the clo-sure of PRC Consulate General in Houston was taken to protect American intellectual proper-ty and Americans’ private in-formation,” National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said.

“We urge the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat re-taliation.”

China had warned it would retaliate after it was this week given 72 hours - until Friday - to vacate its consulate in the Texas city, and had urged the United States to reconsider.

“The Ministry of Foreign

Affairs of China informed the The consulate in Chengdu was given 72 hours to close, or until 10 am on Monday, the editor of the Global Times newspaper said on Twitter.

Foreign ministry spokes-

man Wang Wenbin said some Chengdu consulate personnel were “conducting activities not in line with their identities” and had interfered in China’s affairs and harmed China’s security in-terests, but he did not say how.

6

KIMS re-brands, promises outstanding healthcare delivery4BUSINESS

WORLDS P O R T S

F1 scraps American racesUS, Brazil, Mexi-co, Canada races cancelled as F1 adds three races in Eu-rope | P 08

SATURDAYJULY, 2020

210 FILS ISSUE NO. 8546

Hagia Sophia reopens as mosque after 86 years

Demi Lovato announces engagement with Max Ehrich 7 CELEBS

25WHATSAPP3844 4692

TWITTER@newsofbahrain

MAILmail@newsofbahrain.com

WEBSITEnewsofbahrain.com

FACEBOOK/nobmedia

LINKEDINnewsofbahrain

INSTAGRAM/nobmedia

210 fils (includes VAT)

TOTAL CASES

ACTIVE CASES

DEATHS

DISCHARGED

NEW CASES

CRITICAL

38,458

3,496

136

34,826

462

48

BAHRAIN

DON’T MISS IT

Bahrain’s battle to beat single-use plastic pollution enters phase

two

P 038

US Chengdu consulate opened in 1985 and has almost 200

employees, including about 150 locally hired staff, according to its

website. KNOW WHAT

A view of the US Consulate General in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China

US F-15s intercept Mahan Air over SyriaTDT, Agencies

A close-range intercept made by two US F-15 fighter jets yesterday

forced a panicked Iranian pas-senger jet to change course suddenly over Syria, injuring several passengers, Iran media accused.

The US military, however, said its F-15s were “on a rou-tine air mission... conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approxi-mately 1,000 metres (yards)”.

U S C e n t r a l C o m m a n d (CENTCOM), which oversees American troops in the region, stated after Iranian state tele-vision aired amateur footage of passengers on board scream-ing as the Mahan Air jetliner appeared to change course suddenly.Another video appar-ently shot on a phone appeared to show at least two fighter jets flying beside the plane.

In an initial report accom-panying the footage, the state broadcaster said the military aircraft were believed to be Israeli.

Iran’s official IRIB news agency quoted a passenger de-scribing how his head had hit the roof of the plane during the

change in altitude, and video showed an elderly passenger sprawled on the floor.

All the passengers left the plane, some with minor inju-ries. The plane arrived back in Tehran in the early hours yesterday, the Fars news agen-cy reported.

Captain Bill Urban, the sen-ior Central Command spokes-man, said the F-15 “conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airlin-er at a safe distance of about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner this evening.”

“The visual inspection oc-curred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at At Tanf garrison,” Urban said. “Once the F-15 pilot identified the air-craft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.”

The Mahan Air plane landed in Beirut after encountering US fighter jets over Syria. Some passengers suffered minor injuries

02SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

‘Mobile monitoring system’ detects 1,536 violations in H1• Records 183 per cent jump in municipal violations

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s “Mobile monitoring system” launched earlier this

year to track municipal violations has boosted Kingdom’s effort in this direction by 183 per cent.

The system during the first half of this year recorded 1,536 viola-tions, which is an increase of 183 per cent from a year ago, said a top municipalities affairs official.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Undersecretary for Municipalities Affairs of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban, said the Moni-toring and Inspection Department and the Cleaning Services Section recorded the violations following the launch of the system, now in force in all municipalities of the Kingdom.

Majority of the violations were related to the cleanliness of pub-lic squares, waste management, washing of vehicles in public spac-es, parking or leaving vehicles on sidewalks, squares and other pub-lic places as well as construction per Building Regulation Law No. 13 of 1973 and the Law of Public

Cleaning No. 10 of 2019. The system, Sheikh Muhammad

said, provides a comprehensive database of the offences through a single electronic portal helping inspectors check the status of the existing violations and determine the extent of the new ones and complete procedures quickly.

The system is useful in issuing construction and reclamation cer-tificates, monitor as well as to de-tect and rectify violations related to advertisements and commercial registrations among others.

“Since its inauguration, the Ministry has conducted training workshops for all employees and created a specialised work team to evaluate and solve any technical problems that may arise.”

The ‘Mobile Monitoring System’ was inaugurated by Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Depu-ty Prime Minister and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Development and Infrastructure Projects on January 19, 2020.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa

COVID-19: Two deaths, 34,826 recoveries TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s Ministry of Health yesterday an-nounced two more

COVID-19 linked deaths yes-terday, raising the total num-ber of fatalities to the out-break in the Kingdom to 136.

A Bahraini man aged (66) and an expatriate man aged (61) are the latest casualties.

The deaths announced through the Ministry’s twit-ter feed do not release any further information of the deceased.

Ministry officials expressed their condolences to the fam-ilies of the deceased.

There are currently 3,496 active cases in the Kingdom, of which 3,448 patients are in a stable health condition. Some 80 people are undergo-ing treatment at various COV-ID-19 centres in the Kingdom, out of which 48 patients are critically ill.

The ministry said it car-ried out 10,767 tests yester-day, bringing the total num-ber of tests carried out in the Kingdom since the incep-tion of the pandemic here to 771,500.

Some 462 new cases are detected yesterday, which in-cludes 226 expatriate work-

ers, 225 contacts of active cas-es and 11 travel related cases.

By recording 414 new re-coveries yesterday, the num-ber of people cured of their infection in the Kingdom now stands at 34,826.

Meanwhile, total number of cases in the six-nation

Gulf Cooperation Council has climbed over 604,000. Total death toll has zoomed to over 5,000.

Saudi continues as the most affected country in the GCC with it announcing 37 more deaths and 2,378 confirmed cases yesterday.

Muharraq police distribute 10,000 food baskets TDT | Manama

Muharraq Governorate Police Department an-

nounced distributing 10,000 food baskets as part of the Fee-na Khair national campaign.

The campaign, held under the patronage of the Governor of Muharraq Governorate, Sal-man bin Isa bin Hindi Al-Man-nai, was launched by HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, HM the King’s Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, National Security Advisor and Royal Humanitar-ian Foundation Board of Trus-tees’ Chairman.

Brigadier Saleh Rashid Al-Dossary, Director General of Muharraq Governorate Po-lice Directorate said the food baskets were given to needy families and migrant workers in various areas of Muharraq Governorate with the partici-pation of charities, volunteers and representatives of the em-bassies in the Kingdom. Also participating were the Office of the Assistant Chief of Pub-lic Security for Operations and

Training Affairs and the Com-munity Service Police in the Directorate.

The Director-General said the directorate continues to take all precautionary meas-

ures to prevent the spread of the virus by holding awareness campaigns and ensuring com-mitment to wearing face masks in public places and shops and maintaining social distance.

In pictures, officers distributing food packages

King Hamad, Saudi Prince Mohammed hold phone call TDT | Manama

His Majesty King Ham-ad bin Isa Al Khalifa

spoke on the phone yes-terday with Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Min-ister and Defence Minister, about Saudi Monarch’s suc-cessful surgery.

HM King Hamad ex-pressed delight at the suc-cess of the surgery under-gone by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

King Hamad prayed to Allah the Almighty to bless the Saudi Monarch with speedy recovery, abundant health, happiness and long life to continue serving Sau-di Arabia and its brotherly people, as well as the Arab and Islamic nations.

HRH Prince Moham-med bin Salman assured HM King Hamad about the health of King Salman.

The Saudi Crown Prince expressed thanks and ap-preciation to HM the King for his sincere fraternal feelings, wishing him abun-dant health and happiness, as well as further progress and prosperity to Bahrain and its people.

Five lands in the dock for photographing and circulating death TDT | Manama

Police arrested five men aged between 26 and 46 years for

filming a death and circulating it on social media.

The Director-General of the Southern Governorate Police Directorate announced the ar-rest.

The suspects, all Asians by

nationality, landed in the dock after a video shot by them ap-peared on social media.

Police officers, who took note of the video, launched an investigation resulting in the identification, and arrest of the suspects.

It is illegal to photograph deaths or circulate it over the internet, causing distress to the grieving families. Legal meas-ures are taken to refer the case to Public Prosecution.

03SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

KNOW WHAT

Nearly half of all plastic ever manufactured has been made since 2000.

Plastic recycling rates are highest in Europe at 30 per cent. China’s rate is 25 pc. The United States recycles just 9 pc of its plastic trash

About 8 per cent of the world’s oil production is used to make plastic and power the manufacturing of it. That figure is projected to rise to 20pc by 2050.

Today, we produce about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.

Say no to non-degradable plastic Bahrain’s battle to beat single-use plastic pollution enters phase two today

TDT | Manama

Scientists have warned that if current trends in plastic continue, our oceans could

contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

While some countries, who are also major plastic producers, are relatively good at managing the threat, the majority of the others are not so good at the same.

However, the world is waking up to the problem, with govern-ments starting to act.

Reports say an impressive and growing number of nations have taken action against plastic pol-lution.

Bahrain is one amongst them. The Kingdom which started

its battle against plastic pollu-tion on 21 July 2019, is moving on to its next phase starting to-day.

The battle which began by rolling out a ban on single-use plastic bags, as well as the im-port of non-biodegradable plastic bags, will now include non-degradable polyethene and Polypropylene sheets.

As per the Supreme Council for Environment, starting today, there is a total ban on importing as well as the production of dis-posable plastic table mats and covers.

The single-use plastic ban came into effect in the King-dom as per Ministerial Order Number (11) in a bid to reduce the production of plastic waste by controlling its consumption.

HRH the Crown Prince’s direc-tives and the issuance of Min-isterial Order Number (2) for the year 2019 allowed Bahrain to join leading coun-tries in ban-n i n g

the import of plastic waste, fol-lowing the United Nation’s call to mitigate ocean pollution and climate change.

Meaning, Bahraini factories are now allowed to manufacture only biodegradable plastic bags.

Following which and as per resolution no 11 of 2019, munic-ipalities in the Kingdom collab-orated with Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning to install automated garbage bag vending machines in selected locations.

These machines, designed to store and provide new eco-friendly and biodegradable garbage bags, is helping resi-dents who need them by veri-fying the users’ ID card number and Electricity &Water Author-ity (EWA) account number to check the eligibility.

Community role However, to effectively man-

age the threat, there is a need to slow the flow of the plastic at its source, which is not possible without community involve-ment.

Researchers say only 9 per cent of all plastic waste ever pro-duced has been recycled. About 12pc has been incinerated, while the rest — 79pc — has accumu-lated in landfills, dumps or the natural environment.

Bahrain has devised sev-eral projects to ensures community participation.

O n e

such initiative in this regard is that by The Bahrain association for parents and friends of the disabled. They are collecting plastic water bottles all around the year for selling it to recyclers to provide disabled individuals with wheelchairs.

The Supreme Council for the Environment also issues licenc-es for exporting waste to other countries for processing or re-cycling.

Recycling IT waste To tackle this problem, Bah-

rain has come up with several IT Recycling initiatives where old devices are collected, repaired or refurbished and reused. The project has raised Bahrain’s rating in the eWaste Recycling Technology from level one to level three under the Centre for Environment Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE).

Coordinating all these efforts is the Supreme Council for En-vironment (SCE), which also responds to any environmental incidents. Any environmental incident can be reported to SCE by calling on 80001112 or sub-mitting a case online through The National Suggestion & Com-plaint System (Tawasul).

Phase 2 overview SCE also held an aware-

ness-raising webinar

on phase 2 recently with the Testing and Metrology Direc-torate of the Ministry of Indus-try, Commerce and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry.

The webinar explained the requirements and licensing procedures for plastic products which can be done online. The technical and marketing re-quirements, in addition to mar-ket surveillance procedures and import requirements, were also deliberated.

The other sideResearchers, however, have

also pointed out that the efforts to end plastic packaging are ac-tually doing more harm to the environment. BBC in a report says that firms are swapping to other materials which are potential every worse for the environment.

Paper bags, the report cites have higher carbon emission than plastic bags and are more difficult to reuse. It also points out that several shops are selling more drinks in coated cartons under the assumption that they can be recycled.

The Green Alliance in its re-port says, “Over 80 per cent of consumers think biodegradable or compostable plastic is envi-ronmentally friendly, but there is little understanding of what the terms mean and how the material should be dealt with.”

The biodegradable garbage bags vending machine introduced during phase 1 (file)

Courtesy of UN environment

The Minister of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning Essam Khalaf inagurating the automated garbage bag dispenser at the Enmaa Commercial Complex during first phase of plastic ban (file)

For Awatef  Yusef Abdullah Al-Qalalif, age is just another number TDT | Manama

Knowledge knows no bounds, even if you are a bit late to

pursue it. Proving this to us from Bah-

rain is Awatef Yusef Abdullah Al-Qalalif from Al-Ahed Al-Za-hir Secondary School for Girls. 

At 43 years of age, she man-aged to achieve what many amongst us consider improba-ble. A General secondary school certificate with flying colours, says an AlAyam report. 

Unfortunate circumstances took her out of her school when she was pursuing her secondary school education 16 years before. 

Life then set on a different course for which she had little control. 

But, she was and is still that person who wanted to pursue her education and obtain a high school certificate. 

When the time was right enough, she had tackled it to

prove that you’re never too old for school. 

Holding her hand, in this path to excellence, was her husband Adnan Jassem Al-Sayyar, who stood firm supporting and mo-tivating her in her pursuit.

Thus after a sixteen-year hi-atus, she has just proven to the world that it’s never too late to believe in your self. 

Awatef, born in 1977, man-aged to fulfil her long-cherished dream amid all the adversities including the pandemic out-break. 

A jubilant Awatef expressed

her pride at the opportunity of-fered by the Ministry of Educa-tion for students who had been out of school for a long time to complete their studies in the home system, 

She is full of praise for the school and educators there, who received her with all respect and assisted her will all necessary help including textbooks.

Examinations were held re-motely, even though something new for her to experience, was also done with ease, thanks to the education ministry for its pioneering efforts in distance education, Awatef told Al Ayam. 

So, if you are considering fur-thering your education, but you think you are too old for school. Just don’t hold yourself back. Awatef has shown to the world, with her real-life example that what determination can achieve and that age is just another num-ber. Howzzat?

At 43 years of age, she managed to

achieve what many amongst us consider improbable. A school certificate with flying

colours

Picture courtesy of AlAyam

02SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

‘Mobile monitoring system’ detects 1,536 violations in H1• Records 183 per cent jump in municipal violations

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s “Mobile monitoring system” launched earlier this

year to track municipal violations has boosted Kingdom’s effort in this direction by 183 per cent.

The system during the first half of this year recorded 1,536 viola-tions, which is an increase of 183 per cent from a year ago, said a top municipalities affairs official.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Undersecretary for Municipalities Affairs of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban, said the Moni-toring and Inspection Department and the Cleaning Services Section recorded the violations following the launch of the system, now in force in all municipalities of the Kingdom.

Majority of the violations were related to the cleanliness of pub-lic squares, waste management, washing of vehicles in public spac-es, parking or leaving vehicles on sidewalks, squares and other pub-lic places as well as construction per Building Regulation Law No. 13 of 1973 and the Law of Public

Cleaning No. 10 of 2019. The system, Sheikh Muhammad

said, provides a comprehensive database of the offences through a single electronic portal helping inspectors check the status of the existing violations and determine the extent of the new ones and complete procedures quickly.

The system is useful in issuing construction and reclamation cer-tificates, monitor as well as to de-tect and rectify violations related to advertisements and commercial registrations among others.

“Since its inauguration, the Ministry has conducted training workshops for all employees and created a specialised work team to evaluate and solve any technical problems that may arise.”

The ‘Mobile Monitoring System’ was inaugurated by Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Depu-ty Prime Minister and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Development and Infrastructure Projects on January 19, 2020.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa

COVID-19: Two deaths, 34,826 recoveries TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s Ministry of Health yesterday an-nounced two more

COVID-19 linked deaths yes-terday, raising the total num-ber of fatalities to the out-break in the Kingdom to 136.

A Bahraini man aged (66) and an expatriate man aged (61) are the latest casualties.

The deaths announced through the Ministry’s twit-ter feed do not release any further information of the deceased.

Ministry officials expressed their condolences to the fam-ilies of the deceased.

There are currently 3,496 active cases in the Kingdom, of which 3,448 patients are in a stable health condition. Some 80 people are undergo-ing treatment at various COV-ID-19 centres in the Kingdom, out of which 48 patients are critically ill.

The ministry said it car-ried out 10,767 tests yester-day, bringing the total num-ber of tests carried out in the Kingdom since the incep-tion of the pandemic here to 771,500.

Some 462 new cases are detected yesterday, which in-cludes 226 expatriate work-

ers, 225 contacts of active cas-es and 11 travel related cases.

By recording 414 new re-coveries yesterday, the num-ber of people cured of their infection in the Kingdom now stands at 34,826.

Meanwhile, total number of cases in the six-nation

Gulf Cooperation Council has climbed over 604,000. Total death toll has zoomed to over 5,000.

Saudi continues as the most affected country in the GCC with it announcing 37 more deaths and 2,378 confirmed cases yesterday.

Muharraq police distribute 10,000 food baskets TDT | Manama

Muharraq Governorate Police Department an-

nounced distributing 10,000 food baskets as part of the Fee-na Khair national campaign.

The campaign, held under the patronage of the Governor of Muharraq Governorate, Sal-man bin Isa bin Hindi Al-Man-nai, was launched by HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, HM the King’s Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, National Security Advisor and Royal Humanitar-ian Foundation Board of Trus-tees’ Chairman.

Brigadier Saleh Rashid Al-Dossary, Director General of Muharraq Governorate Po-lice Directorate said the food baskets were given to needy families and migrant workers in various areas of Muharraq Governorate with the partici-pation of charities, volunteers and representatives of the em-bassies in the Kingdom. Also participating were the Office of the Assistant Chief of Pub-lic Security for Operations and

Training Affairs and the Com-munity Service Police in the Directorate.

The Director-General said the directorate continues to take all precautionary meas-

ures to prevent the spread of the virus by holding awareness campaigns and ensuring com-mitment to wearing face masks in public places and shops and maintaining social distance.

In pictures, officers distributing food packages

King Hamad, Saudi Prince Mohammed hold phone call TDT | Manama

His Majesty King Ham-ad bin Isa Al Khalifa

spoke on the phone yes-terday with Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Min-ister and Defence Minister, about Saudi Monarch’s suc-cessful surgery.

HM King Hamad ex-pressed delight at the suc-cess of the surgery under-gone by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

King Hamad prayed to Allah the Almighty to bless the Saudi Monarch with speedy recovery, abundant health, happiness and long life to continue serving Sau-di Arabia and its brotherly people, as well as the Arab and Islamic nations.

HRH Prince Moham-med bin Salman assured HM King Hamad about the health of King Salman.

The Saudi Crown Prince expressed thanks and ap-preciation to HM the King for his sincere fraternal feelings, wishing him abun-dant health and happiness, as well as further progress and prosperity to Bahrain and its people.

Five lands in the dock for photographing and circulating death TDT | Manama

Police arrested five men aged between 26 and 46 years for

filming a death and circulating it on social media.

The Director-General of the Southern Governorate Police Directorate announced the ar-rest.

The suspects, all Asians by

nationality, landed in the dock after a video shot by them ap-peared on social media.

Police officers, who took note of the video, launched an investigation resulting in the identification, and arrest of the suspects.

It is illegal to photograph deaths or circulate it over the internet, causing distress to the grieving families. Legal meas-ures are taken to refer the case to Public Prosecution.

04SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

US new home sales beat expectations in June

Reuters | Washington

Sales of new US single-fam-ily homes increased more

than expected in June as the housing market outperforms the broader economy amid record low interest rates and migration from urban centers to lower-density areas because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commerce Department said on Friday new home sales rose 13.8 per cent to a season-ally adjusted annual rate of

776,000 units last month. New home sales are counted at the signing of a contract, making them a leading housing market indicator.

May’s sales pace was re-vised upward to 682,000 units from the previously report-ed 676,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had fore-cast new home sales, which account for more than 10pc of housing market sales, rising 4pc to a 700,000-unit pace in June.

A new home is seen under construction in Los Angeles, California

WTO largely upholds Russia’s case against EU anti-dumping measuresGeneva

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel yesterday largely upheld a complaint brought by Russia against European

Union anti-dumping measures, the third such ruling lost by the bloc.

The panel found that the EU “cost adjustment” methodolo-gy for calculating dumping margins in the case violates WTO anti-dumping rules, particularly regarding prices for energy inputs.

But it rejected claims that the EU’s framework anti-dumping regulation, known as “the basic regulation”, breaks WTO rules.

Both sides have 60 days to appeal the decision in the case, brought in December 2016.

Apple starts making iPhone 11 in IndiaPTI | New Delhi

US technology giant Apple has started manufacturing

iPhone 11 at Foxconn’s facility in Tamil Nadu, according to official sources.

This is the fifth model of iP-hone which Apple has started manufacturing in the country.

“2020 - iPhone 11, 2019 - iP-hone 7 & XR, 2018 - iPhone 6S, 2017 - iPhone SE. This chronol-ogy is a statement in itself as to how @narendramodi govt. has developed the mobile phone manufacturing ecosystem in India.

It’s only a humble begin-ning,” Telecom and IT minis-ter Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a tweet.

According to industry sourc-es aware of the development told PTI that ‘Foxconn has been assembling iPhone 11 at the Sriperumbudur facil-ity for a few months and the devices were available in the market from last month. Fox-conn also makes the XR for Apple. Wistron makes iPhone 7.’ Apple and Foxccon did not comment on the matter.

Representative picture

Flipkart Acquires Walmart IndiaThe Quint

E-commerce platform Flip-kart yesterday announced

the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Walmart India to leverage the strong wholesale capabilities of the company as it launched Flipkart Whole-sale, a new digital marketplace designed to help transform the kirana retail ecosystem in the country.

Flipkart Wholesale will

launch its operations in August 2020 and will pilot services for the grocery and fashion categories.

I t w i l l b e h e a d e d b y Adarsh Menon, a veteran at Flipkart.

Reliance overtakes Exxon to become world’s 2nd most valuable energy firm

PTI | New Delhi

Reliance Industries hasovertaken ExxonMobil

to become the world’s second most valuable energy company after its market capitalisation scaled to a record high of over Rs 14 lakh crore.

The oil-to-telecom con-glomerate is now ranked 46th globally on market cap, according to stock market data.

On Thursday, Reliance was ranked 48th and was behind ExxonMobil. Its share price on Friday scaled an all-time high of Rs 2,163 before settling at Rs 2,146.20, taking the company to 46th position.

The Rs 13.6 lakh crore m-cap

of Reliance together with Rs 54,262 crore m-cap of its part-ly-paid shares that were issued in the recent rights issue and are traded separately, puts the company’s combined market value at Rs 14.1 lakh crore or USD 189.3 billion.

This was enough to race past ExxonMobil which has an m-cap of USD 184.7 billion.

Globally, Saudi Aramco has the highest market cap of USD 1.75 trillion, followed by Apple (USD 1.6 trillion), Microsoft (USD 1.5 trillion), Amazon (USD 1.48 trillion), and Alphabet (USD 1.03 trillion).

Reliance is now the second most valuable energy firm. Aramco being the top energy company.

Picture courtesy of the Hindu

EU eyes COVID-19 vaccines at less than $40

Reuters | Brussels

The European Union is not interested in buying potential COVID-19 vaccines through an initiative co-led by the World Health Organisation as it deems it slow and high-cost, two EU sources told Reuters, noting the bloc was in talks with drugmakers for shots cheaper than $40.

The position shows the EU has only partly embraced a global approach in the race for COVID-19 vaccines as, while it is a top supporter of initia-tives for worldwide equitable access, it prefers prioritising supplies for the EU population.

It could also deal a blow to the WHO-led COVAX initiative to secure vaccines for all.

“Using COVAX would lead to higher prices and later sup-plies,” one of the two officials said.

The COVAX mechanism meant to buy vaccines in advance is targeting a $40 price for COVID vaccines for wealthy countries, the offi-cial said, adding the EU could buy at cheaper prices with its own scheme for upfront purchases.

A spokeswoman for GAVI, a public-private vaccine alli-ance which also co-leads the COVAX initiative, declined to comment on the $40 target, saying it was impossible at this stage to predict the exact price of future doses.

The WHO had no immediate comment.

A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a “Vaccine COVID-19” sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration

KIMS re-brands, promises outstanding healthcare delivery• KIMSHEALTHwas launched through a virtual event

• Present in sixcountries, with 900 doctors and 2,000 nurses

TDT | Manama

Crowning 18 years of ac-complishments in mod-ern medicine, Kerala

Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) unveiled its new brand identity – KIMSHEALTH – uni-fying all its units in the country and abroad under a single brand and logo.

KIMSHEALTH was launched through a virtual event that was beamed on a dedicated plat-form.

The new KIMSHEALTH’s logo is a representation of its core values that include – Compas-sion, Affordability, Ethics, Qual-ity, Excellence, Transparency, Innovation and Trust.

The eight arrows pointed to-wards the centre represent the patient being at the centre of all that KIMSHEALTH does. The eight arrows directed towards the centre is all that the organ-ization it does for its patients. The inner star that is formed by the arrows represents the quality and excellence of the service it provides. The red colour symbolizes its strength, determination and passion. All these elements reflect KIMS’ commitment to continuously innovate and evolve to serve its

patients better.“KIMSHEALTH is contempo-

rary while drawing on our leg-acy it offers outstanding health-care delivery underpinned by cutting-edge technology, digi-talization, unparalleled compe-tence and exceptional patient care,” said Dr M I Sahadulla, Group Chairman and Managing Director of KIMSHEALTH, in a message delivered online.

KIMSHEALTH is poised to grow into a top healthcare or-ganization in India, Middle East and Africa. “We are cur-rently present in six countries, with 900 doctors and 2,000 nurses and allied health staff and millions of patients who trust us. Our flagship hospital in Thiruvananthapuram has grown steadily from 250 beds to 650 beds over the years. Also, KIMS Bahrain Hospital has be-come the first private hospital in Bahrain to treat COVID positive patients,” Dr Sahadulla men-tioned.

KIMS EastOn the occasion, he an-

nounced KIMS East to be oper-ational later this year in Thiru-vananthapuram, which will take the group’s total bed strength to over 2,000 across India and the GCC region.

Dr Sheriff Sahadulla, Group

Chief Executive Officer, said some of the new offerings from KIMSHEALTH would include a revamped website which will be relaunched as www.kimshealth-care.com, a new functional KIM-SHEALTH mobile app for access-ing medical reports and doing telehealth consultations, and a patient loyalty program. He also added that KIMSHEALTH is committed to its mission of providing high-quality, cost-ef-fective care with courtesy, com-passion and competence. The Group’s vision is to become a leading healthcare organiza-tion of excellence that trans-forms lives through exceptional care.

Padmashri Dr G.Vijayaragha-van, Vice Chairman & Founder Director of KIMSHEALTH said, “We are the largest private medical postgraduate training and research institute in this country. Last year, KIMSHEALTH conducted two international, six national and two state con-ferences, 78 internal medical education programmes and 13 courses of the American Heart Association.”

E M Najeeb, Group Exec-utive Director, KIMSHEALTH said, “A major focus area of KIMSHEALTH CSR would be to ensure the availability of the bionic arm through KIMS Inali

limbs. The hand prosthesis is a battery-operated artificial limb for amputees, which will be made available at a very afforda-ble rate through KIMSHEALTH CSR. We are also introducing 3D printing technology in hand prosthesis for the first time in South India.”

Indo-Bahraini partnershipTalking about KIMS’ expan-

sion in the GCC region, Ahmed Jawahery, Chairman of KIMS Bahrain Medical Centre and President of Royal Bahrain Hospital, said: “It is important to note that KIMS is the first Indo-Bahraini partnership in private healthcare space in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Our consistent commitment to pro-viding quality medical services and dedication of our expert medical and non-medical staff has allowed us to grow beyond the Kingdom of Bahrain suc-cessfully.”

Dr Zuhara Padiyath, Director at KIMSHEALTH said: “It has been my privilege and pleasure to be part of this journey for the last 2 decades. Today the lega-cy continues with a new name KIMSHEALTH and new logo for standardizing the care for India and GCC Region. We are now continuing the journey with re-newed energy and enthusiasm.”

04SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

US new home sales beat expectations in June

Reuters | Washington

Sales of new US single-fam-ily homes increased more

than expected in June as the housing market outperforms the broader economy amid record low interest rates and migration from urban centers to lower-density areas because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commerce Department said on Friday new home sales rose 13.8 per cent to a season-ally adjusted annual rate of

776,000 units last month. New home sales are counted at the signing of a contract, making them a leading housing market indicator.

May’s sales pace was re-vised upward to 682,000 units from the previously report-ed 676,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had fore-cast new home sales, which account for more than 10pc of housing market sales, rising 4pc to a 700,000-unit pace in June.

A new home is seen under construction in Los Angeles, California

WTO largely upholds Russia’s case against EU anti-dumping measuresGeneva

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel yesterday largely upheld a complaint brought by Russia against European

Union anti-dumping measures, the third such ruling lost by the bloc.

The panel found that the EU “cost adjustment” methodolo-gy for calculating dumping margins in the case violates WTO anti-dumping rules, particularly regarding prices for energy inputs.

But it rejected claims that the EU’s framework anti-dumping regulation, known as “the basic regulation”, breaks WTO rules.

Both sides have 60 days to appeal the decision in the case, brought in December 2016.

Apple starts making iPhone 11 in IndiaPTI | New Delhi

US technology giant Apple has started manufacturing

iPhone 11 at Foxconn’s facility in Tamil Nadu, according to official sources.

This is the fifth model of iP-hone which Apple has started manufacturing in the country.

“2020 - iPhone 11, 2019 - iP-hone 7 & XR, 2018 - iPhone 6S, 2017 - iPhone SE. This chronol-ogy is a statement in itself as to how @narendramodi govt. has developed the mobile phone manufacturing ecosystem in India.

It’s only a humble begin-ning,” Telecom and IT minis-ter Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a tweet.

According to industry sourc-es aware of the development told PTI that ‘Foxconn has been assembling iPhone 11 at the Sriperumbudur facil-ity for a few months and the devices were available in the market from last month. Fox-conn also makes the XR for Apple. Wistron makes iPhone 7.’ Apple and Foxccon did not comment on the matter.

Representative picture

Flipkart Acquires Walmart IndiaThe Quint

E-commerce platform Flip-kart yesterday announced

the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Walmart India to leverage the strong wholesale capabilities of the company as it launched Flipkart Whole-sale, a new digital marketplace designed to help transform the kirana retail ecosystem in the country.

Flipkart Wholesale will

launch its operations in August 2020 and will pilot services for the grocery and fashion categories.

I t w i l l b e h e a d e d b y Adarsh Menon, a veteran at Flipkart.

Reliance overtakes Exxon to become world’s 2nd most valuable energy firm

PTI | New Delhi

Reliance Industries hasovertaken ExxonMobil

to become the world’s second most valuable energy company after its market capitalisation scaled to a record high of over Rs 14 lakh crore.

The oil-to-telecom con-glomerate is now ranked 46th globally on market cap, according to stock market data.

On Thursday, Reliance was ranked 48th and was behind ExxonMobil. Its share price on Friday scaled an all-time high of Rs 2,163 before settling at Rs 2,146.20, taking the company to 46th position.

The Rs 13.6 lakh crore m-cap

of Reliance together with Rs 54,262 crore m-cap of its part-ly-paid shares that were issued in the recent rights issue and are traded separately, puts the company’s combined market value at Rs 14.1 lakh crore or USD 189.3 billion.

This was enough to race past ExxonMobil which has an m-cap of USD 184.7 billion.

Globally, Saudi Aramco has the highest market cap of USD 1.75 trillion, followed by Apple (USD 1.6 trillion), Microsoft (USD 1.5 trillion), Amazon (USD 1.48 trillion), and Alphabet (USD 1.03 trillion).

Reliance is now the second most valuable energy firm. Aramco being the top energy company.

Picture courtesy of the Hindu

EU eyes COVID-19 vaccines at less than $40

Reuters | Brussels

The European Union is not interested in buying potential COVID-19 vaccines through an initiative co-led by the World Health Organisation as it deems it slow and high-cost, two EU sources told Reuters, noting the bloc was in talks with drugmakers for shots cheaper than $40.

The position shows the EU has only partly embraced a global approach in the race for COVID-19 vaccines as, while it is a top supporter of initia-tives for worldwide equitable access, it prefers prioritising supplies for the EU population.

It could also deal a blow to the WHO-led COVAX initiative to secure vaccines for all.

“Using COVAX would lead to higher prices and later sup-plies,” one of the two officials said.

The COVAX mechanism meant to buy vaccines in advance is targeting a $40 price for COVID vaccines for wealthy countries, the offi-cial said, adding the EU could buy at cheaper prices with its own scheme for upfront purchases.

A spokeswoman for GAVI, a public-private vaccine alli-ance which also co-leads the COVAX initiative, declined to comment on the $40 target, saying it was impossible at this stage to predict the exact price of future doses.

The WHO had no immediate comment.

A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a “Vaccine COVID-19” sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration

KIMS re-brands, promises outstanding healthcare delivery• KIMSHEALTHwas launched through a virtual event

• Present in sixcountries, with 900 doctors and 2,000 nurses

TDT | Manama

Crowning 18 years of ac-complishments in mod-ern medicine, Kerala

Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) unveiled its new brand identity – KIMSHEALTH – uni-fying all its units in the country and abroad under a single brand and logo.

KIMSHEALTH was launched through a virtual event that was beamed on a dedicated plat-form.

The new KIMSHEALTH’s logo is a representation of its core values that include – Compas-sion, Affordability, Ethics, Qual-ity, Excellence, Transparency, Innovation and Trust.

The eight arrows pointed to-wards the centre represent the patient being at the centre of all that KIMSHEALTH does. The eight arrows directed towards the centre is all that the organ-ization it does for its patients. The inner star that is formed by the arrows represents the quality and excellence of the service it provides. The red colour symbolizes its strength, determination and passion. All these elements reflect KIMS’ commitment to continuously innovate and evolve to serve its

patients better.“KIMSHEALTH is contempo-

rary while drawing on our leg-acy it offers outstanding health-care delivery underpinned by cutting-edge technology, digi-talization, unparalleled compe-tence and exceptional patient care,” said Dr M I Sahadulla, Group Chairman and Managing Director of KIMSHEALTH, in a message delivered online.

KIMSHEALTH is poised to grow into a top healthcare or-ganization in India, Middle East and Africa. “We are cur-rently present in six countries, with 900 doctors and 2,000 nurses and allied health staff and millions of patients who trust us. Our flagship hospital in Thiruvananthapuram has grown steadily from 250 beds to 650 beds over the years. Also, KIMS Bahrain Hospital has be-come the first private hospital in Bahrain to treat COVID positive patients,” Dr Sahadulla men-tioned.

KIMS EastOn the occasion, he an-

nounced KIMS East to be oper-ational later this year in Thiru-vananthapuram, which will take the group’s total bed strength to over 2,000 across India and the GCC region.

Dr Sheriff Sahadulla, Group

Chief Executive Officer, said some of the new offerings from KIMSHEALTH would include a revamped website which will be relaunched as www.kimshealth-care.com, a new functional KIM-SHEALTH mobile app for access-ing medical reports and doing telehealth consultations, and a patient loyalty program. He also added that KIMSHEALTH is committed to its mission of providing high-quality, cost-ef-fective care with courtesy, com-passion and competence. The Group’s vision is to become a leading healthcare organiza-tion of excellence that trans-forms lives through exceptional care.

Padmashri Dr G.Vijayaragha-van, Vice Chairman & Founder Director of KIMSHEALTH said, “We are the largest private medical postgraduate training and research institute in this country. Last year, KIMSHEALTH conducted two international, six national and two state con-ferences, 78 internal medical education programmes and 13 courses of the American Heart Association.”

E M Najeeb, Group Exec-utive Director, KIMSHEALTH said, “A major focus area of KIMSHEALTH CSR would be to ensure the availability of the bionic arm through KIMS Inali

limbs. The hand prosthesis is a battery-operated artificial limb for amputees, which will be made available at a very afforda-ble rate through KIMSHEALTH CSR. We are also introducing 3D printing technology in hand prosthesis for the first time in South India.”

Indo-Bahraini partnershipTalking about KIMS’ expan-

sion in the GCC region, Ahmed Jawahery, Chairman of KIMS Bahrain Medical Centre and President of Royal Bahrain Hospital, said: “It is important to note that KIMS is the first Indo-Bahraini partnership in private healthcare space in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Our consistent commitment to pro-viding quality medical services and dedication of our expert medical and non-medical staff has allowed us to grow beyond the Kingdom of Bahrain suc-cessfully.”

Dr Zuhara Padiyath, Director at KIMSHEALTH said: “It has been my privilege and pleasure to be part of this journey for the last 2 decades. Today the lega-cy continues with a new name KIMSHEALTH and new logo for standardizing the care for India and GCC Region. We are now continuing the journey with re-newed energy and enthusiasm.”

05

society

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

Southern Governor, HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, held a virtual Majlis during which he met the citizens of East Riffa, Al-Buhair and Al-Hajiyat. Officials from the Southern Governorate and the Southern Police Directorate participated in the remote meeting. The Governor stressed the importance of distant meetings in enhancing communication with the citizens in order to identify their needs and meet their expectations, in line with the directives of Interior Minister, General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali reviewed the efforts being exerted by the Southern Governorate to follow up on the implementation of the precautionary measures taken to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), in cooperation and coordination with all security directorates.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for International Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, held a meeting, through video conference, with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkmenistan, Berdiniyaz Matiyev. During the meeting, the two sides hailed the distinct relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Turkmenistan and its development in all areas, in light of the keenness of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of the Republic of Turkmenistan to support all means aimed at strengthening friendly relations and joint cooperation.

Ministry of Labour & Social Development, in collaboration with Ministry of Health, organised a seminar “Towards healthy & safe summer 2020”. The online event held under the patronage of Ahmed Al Haiki, Assistant Under Secretary for labour affairs, discussed work ban and prevention of summer diseases as well as precautions against infection of Covid-19

Inspector-General Major-General Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa visited the Interior Ministry’s coronavirus combating team. He was received by the head of the team Dr Khalil Abdulwahid. He was briefed on plans and programmes to confront the pandemic and limit the spreading of the virus. He highlighted the directives of Interior Minister to support the efforts of the team. He expressed thanks and appreciation to the follow up of the Chief of Public Security.

Air India AI 940 departed for Delhi with total 152 passengers on-board from Bahrain International Airport as part of Vande Bharat Mission by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India

In line with its commitment towards youth development and empowerment in the Kingdom, the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) sponsored the 12th Edition of the Annual Young Entrepreneurs Competition, organized by INJAZ Bahrain. During the competition, participants also competed for the ‘Excellence in Marketing’ Award, also sponsored by the Bank

Thai youths burn image of PM as resignation calls growReuters | Bangkok

Young Thai political activists set fire to pictures of Prime Minister

Prayuth Chan-ocha outside govern-ment house yesterday and called for his resignation, as pressure builds on the generals who orchestrated a 2014 coup to leave office.

In the past week there have been small protests seeking to drive him from office in at least six provinces, while internal party squabbles have led to six cabinet members resigning.

Yesterday’s demonstrators burned images of Prayuth and his deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, both former army chiefs.

“We want to burn the bad things in Thailand,” said protester Niwiboon Chomphoo, 20, adding that Prayuth remained in charge because of a con-stitution that was “unreliable and

unfair for our democracy”.Opponents say the military drafted

a basic law that all-but guaranteed junta leader Prayuth remained in power as a civilian premier after na-tional elections last year, with mem-bers of his royalist military clique in key posts.

Prayuth also faces a tough chal-lenge to revive an economy that the central bank says could shrink by a record 8.1 per cent this year and may have seen 7-8 million job losses, largely from coronavirus impacts.

Youth groups are planning more protests at the weekend.

Last Saturday about 2,500 peo-ple rallied against Prayuth in one of the biggest demonstrations since the 2014 coup, during which there were veiled negative references to the powerful monarchy.

Hagia Sophia reopens as mosque after 86 yearsTurkish president joined thousands of worshippers for first prayers after iconic Istanbul landmark’s reconversion into mosqueReuters | Istanbul

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands

of worshippers at Hagia Sophia for the first prayers there since he declared the monument, re-vered by Christians and Mus-lims for almost 1,500 years, a mosque once again.

Erdogan and his top minis-ters, wearing white facemasks as a precaution against COVID-19, knelt on blue carpets at the start of a ceremony which marks the return of Muslim worship to the ancient structure.

Earlier, crowds formed at checkpoints around the his-toric heart of Istanbul where massed police maintained se-curity. Once through the checks, worshippers sat apart on prayer mats in secured areas outside the building in Sultanahmet Square.

“We are ending our 86 years of longing today,” said one man, Sait Colak, referring to the near-ly nine decades since Hagia So-phia was declared a museum and ceased to be a place of wor-ship. “Thanks to our president and the court decision, today we are going to have our Friday prayers in Hagia Sophia.”

A top Turkish court an-nounced this month it had an-nulled Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum. Erdogan immedi-ately decreed that the building, a Christian Byzantine cathe-dral for 900 years before being seized by Ottoman conquerors

and serving as a mosque until 1934, had been converted once again to a mosque.

Several hundred invitees joined Erdogan for the cere-mony inside the sixth-century building. Some, including his son-in-law and Finance Min-ister Berat Albayrak, could be seen recording images of the historic occasion on their mo-biles phones.

A large screen and speakers were set up in the square to broadcast proceedings to the thousands gathered outside.

As crowds grew, leaving little space for social distancing, Is-

tanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said authorities had stopped people entering the area due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. On Twitter he called for patience and said the mosque would be open for prayer until Saturday morning.

“God is greatest,” chanted people in the square. Some slept after arriving overnight and oth-ers ate on the grass, shaded by trees from the hot sun. Some in the crowds held Turkish and Ottoman flags.

“This is a source of great pride for us, great excitement,” said worshipper Latif Ozer, 42.

06SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

We want to burn the bad things in Thailand.

Prayuth remained in charge because of a

constitution that was unreliable and unfair

for our democracyNIWIBOON CHOMPHOO

15,822,303

639,547

9,645,272

Deaths

Recovered:

New cases

New deaths +180,038

+3,872 Country Total

casesnew cases

Total deaths

New Deaths

Total recovered

Active cases

Serious, Critical

Tot cases/1m pop

Saudi Arabia

262,772 +2,378 2,672 +37 215,731 44,369 2,143 7,541

UAE 58,249 +261 343 +1 51,235 6,671 5,885

Kuwait 62,625 +753 425 +4 52,915 9,285 129 14,652

Oman 73,791 +1,145 359 +4 53,007 20,425 170 14,431

Egypt 90,413 4,480 31,066 54,867 41 883

Qatar 108,638 +394 164 105,420 3,054 101 38,691

Middle East

Country Total cases New deaths Total Deaths

USA 4,210,609 +594 147,943

Brazil 2,303,661 +233 84,440

India 1,337,021 +760 31,405

Russia 800,849 +154 13,046

South Africa 421,996 +250 6,343

Peru 371,096 17,654

Mexico 370,712 +718 41,908

Chile 341,304 8,838

Spain 319,501 +3 28,432

UK 297,914 +123 45,677

Iran 286,523 +148 15,289

Pakistan 270,400 +68 5,763

Saudi Arabia 262,772 +37 2,672

Italy 245,590 +5 35,097

G l o b a l C o u n t r i e s w o r s t a f f e c t e d

Figures as of closing

Covid-19 Cases:

Pro-democracy students burn a portrait of Thailand’s Prime Minister

India, China set for more talks to de-escalate Himalayan standoffReuters | New Delhi

Indian and Chinese dip-lomats were set for more

talks to narrow differences on ways to pull back troops eye-balling each other across a disputed border in the western Himalayas, where 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash over a month ago.

There were no shots fired during the June 15 fighting in the Galwan Valley of In-dia’s Ladakh region when the Indian soldiers were beaten with rocks and clubs, but it still marked the worst clash in decades between Asia’s nuclear-armed giants.

Since then the two sides have held several rounds of talks to restore calm, and reduced the numbers of troops in the valley, while still pouring reinforcements into the region.

Once they agree how to sequence a pull back from frontline positions, the next step would be for the with-drawal of all the additional forces and military equip-ment that were deployed in rear areas after the clash.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque

Inside the Hagia Sophia, the Christian frescoes and glittering mosaics adorning the cavernous

dome and central hall were concealed by curtains during Muslim prayer times but will remain on display otherwise

KNOW WHAT

News in brief u Brazilian president

Jair Bolsonaro refused to let his case of coronavirus keep him down, going for a spin on a motorcycle and chatting maskless with a team of groundskeepers outside the presidential palace. Bolsonaro, 65, has been in quarantine at the Alvorada Palace

in Brasilia since testing positive for the new coronavirus on July 7. He had to cancel upcoming travel plans after a new test came back positive again Wednesday.

u The United States accused Russia of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, warning that the threat against Washington’s systems was “real, serious and increasing.” US Space Command “has evidence” that Moscow “conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon” on July 15, it said in a statement. “Last week’s test is another example that the threats to US and Allied space systems are real, serious and increasing,” the statement continued.

u The bodies of 28 Sudanese army officers involved in a failed coup against former president Omar al-Bashir in 1990 have been found in a mass grave, prosecutors said. It is the second mass grave discovered since Bashir, who ruled the African country for three decades and ruthlessly crushed dissent, was overthrown by the army during street protests last year.

u A German woman kidnapped in Baghdad earlier this week was freed overnight and is now in the custody of her embassy,

officials from the two countries said . “Security forces have freed activist Hella Mewis,” Iraq’s military spokesman Yahya Rasool said. Iraq’s interior ministry said a joint task force, including the elite Falcons intelligence forces and federal police and anti-crime units, carried out the operation in east Baghdad.

u Russian prosecutors have launched an investigation into a toxic leak from a mine abandoned 16 years ago in the Ural mountains, after images from the area showed a landscape burnt bright shades of red and yellow by streams of chemical waste. The mine and its impact on the surrounding area came to renewed public attention this year after a popular blogger shared pictures of the site.

u Former Salvadoran defence minister General David Munguia was arrested on suspicion of unlawful association and other crimes linked to the arrangement of a 2012-2014 truce between crime gangs, El Salvador’s attorney general said. An arrest

warrant was also issued for former Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, who sought political asylum in Nicaragua in September of 2016, saying he was facing political persecution in his country.

u Canada announced an independent probe of its deadliest-ever mass shooting, including whether the police response to the killing spree that left 22 people dead was adequate. A panel of three experts will examine the Nova Scotia arson and shooting massacre that ended with police gunning down the shooter after a 13-hour manhunt.

Despite infection, Bolsonaro takes spin,

chats up workers

Iraq forces free German

woman kidnapped in

Baghdad

US accuses Russia of firing anti-satellite

weapon in space

Reuters | Lille, France

He’s the new wizard of French ice cream who is sending a chill down the

spine of traditionalists.David Wesmael has nothing

against a scoop of well-made gelato or a cone of whipped ice cream.

But the restless innovator is taking a blowtorch to the “ar-chaic” conventions which he claims has left ice cream frozen in the past.

His creations often skate dar-ingly over the thin line between ice cream and the more sophis-ticated domain of French pa-tisserie.

Biting through the thin choco-late shell of one of his ice cream bars, flavours and textures ex-plode -- from crunchy praline to runny caramel and vanilla spiked with lemon confit.

“There are so many things you can do with ice cream -- more perhaps in terms of texture and taste than even with patisserie,” he told AFP in the chill of his lab-oratory in the northern French city of Lille.

“There is infinite potential, and so many possibilities which have yet to be explored in ice

cream making,” said the former star pastry chef.

From his spherical “vacher-ins” of filled meringue to ice cream bonbons, bars and “tubes” which can be cut into slices, Wesmael is determined to give the summer treat a place at the top table of haute cuisine.

Putting on the Spritz “I am trying to do something

different and show the public that ice cream is not something that just comes in a pot or a cor-net,” he said.

It’s a chilly 11 degrees Celsius (53 Fahrenheit) in his lab, but his artisan “glaciers” are not feeling the cold in their white coats.

Every second out of the freez-er counts when you are piping a chilled hazelnut and almond praline onto shortbread in a bar mould.

The same speed and precision is needed for the next step of floating the caramel and candied lemon in vanilla ice cream, so that the middle melts as soon as you bite through the crisp coating.

Vanilla, celery and lemon Wesmael also loves making

the standard ice creams that he himself calls “archaic”.

But even with traditional ice creams and sorbets he adds his own touch, decorating every tub by hand and coming up with new flavours every week for his shops in Paris and Lille -- from strawberry and red pepper to

Spritz and even vanilla, celery and lemon.

When it comes to miraculous-ly transforming raw materials, “nothing beats ice cream and sorbet”, Wesmael argued.

It was this alchemy and the untapped potential of ice cream that tempted him away from pure patisserie, which has undergone a huge re-naissance in France in recent years.

Even his standard vanilla ice cream is the product of deep re-

search, mixing pods from Mada-gascar and New Caledonia to get a “stronger and longer-lasting flavour”.

For his competition entry in 2004 to join the tiny elite of French artisans officially pro-claimed the country’s best, the young Wesmael created a frozen sculpture of “an angel pregnant with the world” that represented the Italian Renaissance.

Around it were frozen des-serts based around basil, lemon, balsamic vinegar and Sicilian

pistachios.As it happens, pistachio is the

bestselling ice cream in both his shops.

But he is most proud of his “tubes”, which are easy to cut and can survive out of the freez-er for two hours thanks to the cylinder they come in.

“You can slice them into rounds, put different flavours to-gether or add different elements from the garden like a coulis of fresh mint or strawberries in season, he said.

07SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

French chef gives traditional ice cream a whipping

This wizard of French ice cream comes up with new flavours every week from strawberry and red pepper to Spritz and even vanilla, celery and lemon

David Wesmael is seen during his work

Ice cream maker David Wesmael poses with his tubes

Gli the cat can stay even as Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia changesReuters | Istanbul

With thousands of Insta-gram followers and even

a former US president as a fan, Gli the cat is almost as famous as her home, Istanbul’s ancient Hagia Sophia.

But with the decision to turn the museum into a mosque, Turks have been wondering whether Gli will have to move out — with the question crop-

ping up daily on local news out-lets and social media.

The grey cat with shining green, crossed eyes, has become a favourite with visitors, includ-ing former US President Barack Obama, who was filmed strok-ing her during a trip in 2009.

Authorities have made clear Hagia Sophia can remain as her home.

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan, told

Reuters that Gli, as well as all other cats in the area, would stay where they were.

“That cat has become very famous, and there are others who haven’t become that fa-mous yet. That cat will be there, and all cats are welcome to our mosques,” he said.

That’s bound to be welcome news to Umut Bahceci, a tour guide who started an Instagram account for Gli four years ago

and now has more than 48,000 followers. The account is filled with photos of the cat, some tagged by the tourists who meet her.

“I started noticing Gli every time I went (to Hagia Sophia) because Gli was posing for peo-ple like a model,” she told Reu-ters. “I get messages such as, ‘Gli, we will come to Istanbul to see you.’ This is truly a very nice feeling,”

Gli the cat of Hagia Sophia is pictured in Istanbul

Ice cream maker David Wesmael is seen during his work

David Wesmael has been award-ed “un des meilleurs ouvriers

de France” (one of France’s best craftsmen). He is seen wearing

his white laboratory coat with its tricolore collar, which can only be worn by a tiny elite of the coun-

try’s best craftspeople

KNOW WHAT

08 SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

celebs

Katy Perry

Across1- First name in spydom; 5- Invites; 9- St. Louis gridder; 12- King of comedy; 13- Iota preceder; 15- Defense grp. since 1949; 16- Bits of thread; 17- Counterfeit; 18- Capital of Norway; 19- Constrain; 21- Winter wind; 23- Wine choice; 24- Ballroom dance, when doubled; 25- Disclose; 28- Precedence; 33- Stand-in; 34- Greek goddess of the earth; 35- Long ago; 36- Capp and Capone; 37- Knobby; 38- Took the gold; 39- Highly ranked competitor in sporting events; 41- Clanton foe; 42- Make fit; 44- Sing for; 46- Eye membrane; 47- Feline; 48- ___ avail; 49- One on the run; 53- Sterile; 57- Phooey!; 58- Square one; 60- The last Mrs. Chaplin; 61- Skeptic’s scoff; 62- Bottom line; 63- “Trinity” author; 64- Driving aid; 65- Prying; 66- Carry;

Down 1- Germinated grain used in brewing; 2- Et ____ (and other men); 3- Strong taste; 4- In-fectious disease of cattle; 5- Optimally; 6- Excelled; 7- Small cask; 8- Astound; 9- Like some decisions; 10- Salt tree; 11- Heath; 14- Reclusive; 15- ___ public; 20- Member of the Conservative Party; 22- 17th letter of the Greek alphabet; 25- Bridge declaration; 26- 1957 hit for the Bobbettes; 27- Difficult question; 28- Military chaplain; 29- Get as a result; 30- Herbert Hoover, for one; 31- Literary device; 32- Gossipmonger; 34- Incite; 37- Most tidy; 40- Pour from one container to another; 42- Outstanding; 43- Student who withdraws; 45- Doze; 46- Expensive; 48- Gogol’s “___ Bulba”; 49- Prepare a book or film for release; 50- Kemo ___; 51- Canadian tribe; 52- Harrow rival; 54- Mower brand; 55- Monogram ltr.; 56- Matter for Holmes; 59- From ___ Z;

S U D O K U C R O S S W O R D

Yesterday’s solutionYesterday’s solution

How to playPlace a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Demi Lovato announces engagement with Max EhrichANI | Los Angeles

American singer Demi Lovato got en-gaged to her boyfriend Max Ehrich. She took to Instagram to flaunt her

sparkling engagement ring and share the big news with all her fans.

The 27-year-old singer posted several pictures from the moment when Ehrich went down on his knees on a picturesque beach.

She posted four pictures of herself with Ehrich and one close-up picture of the en-gagement ring which bore an emerald-cut solitaire.

The ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ singer compli-mented the special post with a long note on her relationship with her actor boy-friend.

“@maxehrich - I knew I loved you the moment I met you. It was something I can’t describe to anyone who hasn’t expe-rienced it firsthand but luckily you did too.. I’ve never felt so unconditionally loved by someone in my life (other than my parents) flaws and all,” she wrote in the caption.

“You never pressure me to be anything other than myself. And you make me want to be the best version of myself. I’m hon-oured to accept your hand in marriage,”

she added.The ‘I Love Me’ singer

went on to express how she is excited to start a new life with the ‘Pregnancy Pact’ actor.

“I love you more than a caption could express but I’m ec-static to start a family and life with you. I love you forever my baby. My partner. Here’s to our fu-ture!!!!” she wrote in the caption.

Fans of both the celebrities poured love over the post and expressed their excitement for the new phase of their l i v e s . T h e couple had started dating each other ear-lier this year in March.

Katy Perry: Push myself into thinking in a different wayIANS | Los Angeles

Singer Katy Perry likes to push the darkest moments of her life and channel her

emotions into upbeat songs.The pop superstar, who has gained

global fame with hits including “Firework”, “Roar” and “Dark horse”, has always been candid about her constant struggle with darkness, and how she over-comes it.

Speaking about how she man-ages to push herself to write upbeat songs when she is down, Perry said: “Actually, I think it’s kind of like, my high-er self or my better self from my spirit side kind of just takes the wheel and says, ‘scoot over, I’m gonna start channeling a little inspiring message for you from the heavens and hopefully it will inspire you to continue further and therefore

maybe inspire someone else’.”“When I write songs like ‘Firework’ and ‘Roar’,

it’s not because I’m like ‘Yay’, it is like ‘I’m really bummed’ and I just have to push myself into

thinking in a different way. And through that push, I usually get something kind of spe-cial,” she added, and joked: “There is a lot of pushing in my life and a lot more pushing coming up.”

Amid the pandemic and the quarantine, Perry is looking forward to giving birth to

her first child with fiance, actor Orlan-do Bloom. She is keeping a positive outlook throughout -- something that can be sensed through her posts on her social media handles.

“Yeah, it is good and I am happy and my body feels good,” she said, when asked about her pregnancy during a special virtual press event held before her first-ever performance at the Tomorrow-

land Around The World - The Digital Festival this weekend.

Justin Bieber reschedules world tour for next year; announces new datesANI | Washington

Here is happy news for all Beliebers! Singer Justin

Bieber announced he is offi-cially gearing up for his world tour next year.

Keeping health and safe-ty in mind amid coronavi-rus pandemic, the singer had earlier postponed his then scheduled 2020 concerts for his ‘Changes

Tour’.As per his new announcement,

the concert is now officially kicking off on June 2, 2021, at San Diego and wrapping it on August 15 at Sacramento.“I can’t wait to get out there

and connect with my fans on this tour,” Billboard cited Bieber as saying in a statement.

“ W e ’ v e b e e n th rough so m uch this year. More than ever, we’ve come to understand how m u c h w e n e e d each other, and how mean-ingful these moments can really be,” the 26-year-old sing-er added.

The rejigged tour pro-duction signals that he will not be stopping at

any stadiums as originally planned, but he will be making 19 new arena stops in New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and more cities.

Artists Kehlani and Jaden Smith, who were roped in to

join him, will no longer be accompanying Bieber for the tour.

According to Billboard, the tickets for the new show will go on sale on August 6. One dol-

lar from each ticket purchase will be do-nated to the Bieber Foundation, which is committed to supporting mental health awareness.

Sarah Hyland is not thinking about wedding right nowIANS | Los Angeles

Actress Sarah Hyland has decided to postpone her wedding with actor

Wells Adams because she wants to focus on more important things.

“I think right now there are more im-portant things to worry about,” Hyland told people.com.

“We definitely want to get married one day and have the wedding of our

dreams and have every-body that we love there. But we postponed wed-

ding planning because we want to be able to

focus on what’s important right now, and that’s helping to

spread information to wear masks and to only go out for essential needs and also take a really big look inside yourself and reflect on how you treat

others,” she added.She continued: “There’s a

lot of learning, and I’m real-ly more focused on political things rather than wedding

things. There is a lot going on in the world right now and that’s what we should

be focused on.”Hyland is best known for her stint in

“Modern Family”, which airs in India on Star World. Created by Steven Levitan and Chistopher Lloyd, the show is about the Pritchett family and it won hearts for showing a diverse picture of the mod-ern American family with themes woven around a gay couple, adoption, dating, young pregnancy and ethnicity.

Taylor Swift to release surprise eighth album ‘Folklore’ tonightANI | Los Angeles

Fans of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift have a reason to rejoice

as the musician on Thursday an-nounced a surprise new album ‘Folklore’ which is set to be her eighth studio album.

The ‘You Belong With Me’ singer took to social media to drop the first look of her upcoming album and made the grand announce-ment with a long note on the al-bum.

The Grammy-winning musi-cian began the announcement by stating most of the things that she had planned for the summer “didn’t hap-pen,” except for the album which she will be dropping in “tonight at midnight.”

“Surprise. Tonight at mid-night I’ll be releasing my en-tire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into,” she wrote.

The 30-year-old musician fur-ther revealed that though she had recorded the music in “isolation,” she had also collaborated with some musical heroes like Aaraon Dessner, Bon Iver and Jack An-tonoff.

There’s a lot of learning, and I’m really more focused on political

things rather than wedding things. There is a lot going on in the world right now and that’s what we should be focused on

SARAH HYLAND

Sarah Hyland

Justin BieberDemi Lovato

Henderson crowned football writers’ player of the yearAFP | London

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was named the

Football Writers’ Association player of the year yesterday for leading the Reds to their first league title in 30 years.

T h e 3 0 -y e a r- o l d b e a t Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford and teammates Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane to the prize.

As well as making his pres-ence felt in 30 Premier League games this season as Liverpool have surged to the title with an 18-point lead at the top of the table, Henderson led by example off the pitch during football’s three-month shut-down due to coronavirus.

He spearheaded the Player-sTogether initiative during the lockdown which saw players team up with to raise money for Britain’s National Health Service.

“I accept it on behalf of this whole squad, because without them I’m not in a position to be receiving this honour. These lads have made me a better player, a better leader and a better person,” said Hender-

son.“If anything I hope those

who voted for me did so partly to recognise the entire team’s contribution.”

As well as the top five, 10 other players received votes from FWA members.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Raheem Ster-ling, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ser-gio Aguero, Adama Traore, Danny Ings, Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Jonny Evans were all nominated.

Leicester keeper Schmeichel defends under-fire De GeaAFP | London

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel says

the criticism being levelled at his Manchester United counterpart David de Gea was building a “dangerous narra-tive”.

Calls for De Gea to be dropped have grown after the

29-year-old’s mistakes in Unit-ed’s FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea last weekend, with Dean Henderson backed to take over after an impressive loan spell at Sheffield United.

Schmeichel said media coverage of De Gea’s perfor-mances could give viewers the impression the Spaniard was constantly making mistakes.

F1 scraps American races US, Brazil, Mexico, Canada races cancelled as F1 adds three races in Europe

• The coronavirus-affected season will see F1 debut for Portugal’s Portimao track and a return for Germany’s Nurburgring and Imola in Italy

AFP | London

Formula One scrapped all four of this season’s rac-es in the Americas due to

the COVID-19 pandemic yester-day and added three European rounds, including old favourites Imola and the Nuerburgring, to the calendar.

While previously scheduled grands prix in Canada, Texas, Mexico and Brazil were can-celled, Formula One said in a statement that Portugal’s Por-timao will host a race for the first time.

“Due to the fluid nature of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, local restrictions and the impor-tance of keeping communities and our colleagues safe, it will not be possible to race in Brazil, USA, Mexico and Canada this season,” it said.

The cancellations take the tal-ly of races axed from the orig-inal 2020 calendar to 11. The

other casualties of COVID are Australia, France, Monaco, the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Sin-gapore and Japan.

The revised schedule now has 13 rounds, with Formula One aiming for a reduced champion-ship of between 15 and 18 with final races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in mid-December.

Fifteen grands prix is the min-imum needed to fulfil television contracts.

China’s postponed race in Shanghai is also expected to be cancelled but Vietnam re-mains in play and there has been talk of returning to Malaysia’s

Sepang.Formula One, whose commer-

cial rights are held by U.S.-based Liberty Media, said it looked forward to returning to the Americas next season.

Texas, which was due to host the U.S. Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas on Oct. 25, has been one of the states hardest hit by the resurgent coronavirus.

Formula One said the Nuer-burgring would host the Eifel Grand Prix, named after the German region, on Oct. 11 -- giving champions Mercedes a home race.

The Portuguese Grand Prix will be held on Oct. 25 at the Al-garve circuit, the country’s first race since 1996, and Imola hosts the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Nov. 1 -- giving Italy three races for the first time.

The others are at Monza and Mugello, the latter owned by Ferrari and due to host the Ital-ian team’s 1,000th world cham-

pionship grand prix in Septem-ber.

The only other occasion one country has hosted three races in the same season was 1982, when the United States had grands prix at Long Beach, De-troit and Las Vegas.

Imola previously hosted the Italian Grand Prix in 1980 and San Marino Grand Prix from 1981 to 2006. Brazil’s triple world champion Ayrton Senna died there in 1994 while driving for Williams.

The old Nuerburgring was a famous pre-World War Two venue for grand prix racing and the remodelled circuit last fea-tured in the Formula One world championship in 2013. The cir-cuit sank into insolvency in 2012 and then changed ownership in 2014.

In its long history, the rural circuit has hosted races vari-ously designated as the German, European and Luxembourg Grands Prix.

09SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

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Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes navigates a bend at the Nurburgring in 2013 (file photo)

Two changes made on BRAVE CF 36 fight card, Stoute and “Magic Man” get new opponentsTDT | Manama

BRAVE Combat Federation’s second straight show in as

many weeks has two changes made to its fight card due to travel restrictions regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the main event of BRAVE CF 36, which is set to take place in Bucharest, Romania, this Mon-day, July 27th, Todd Stoute will now face Cristian Constanti-nov. In the main card, Maciej Gierszewski has a new oppo-nent as Sahil Siraj makes way for Florin Pirtea.

Stoute was set to take on vet-eran Amílcar Alves in the main event of BRAVE CF 36, but the Brazilian will no longer be able to fly into Romania due to travel restrictions. He will be replaced by experienced kickboxer Cris-tian Constantinov, who steps up at a Catchweight of 104 kg to make his MMA debut.

A similar case has changed the opponent for “Magic Man” Maciej Gierszewski, who was supposed to face Sahil Siraj. He will now take on Florin Pirtea in a 72kg Catchweight bout. Florin has fought for BRAVE CF’s first show in Romania in partnership

with RXF and has been recruited for his second bout, this time on short notice.

The rest of the card remains unchanged as BRAVE CF gears up for its second event of the

European Invasion, which will have five shows in five weeks, with the first two taking place in Romania and the last three being hosted in Sweden.

BRAVE CF 36 will feature five fights and some of the best pros-pects in the continent, with four undefeated fighters to taste action: Ion Surdu, Mochamed Machaev, Bilal Tipsaev, and Ma-tiss Zaharovs.

IPL cricket to start September 19 in UAE, says chairmanAFP | Mumbai

The star-studded Indian Premier League cricket

will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates, its chairman said yesterday, add-ing that players may need to undergo quarantine.

Although India’s cricket authorities are still awaiting government approval, Brijesh Patel said the world’s richest cricket tournament will be played for 51 days with the fi-nal on November 8.

Under current UAE corona-virus rules, all travellers must self-isolate for two weeks after arriving. “Whatever are the UAE rules for tourists will be followed by everyone,” Patel told AFP.

“The IPL will take place be-tween September 19 to No-vember 8. This is confirmed and the rest we will decide in the (IPL) governing council meeting next week.”

Top stars ranging from Eng-land’s Ben Stokes to Austral-ians Steve Smith and David Warner have been lined up by the eight IPL teams on lucra-tive contracts. Any quarantine period could clash with do-mestic seasons.

Patel said the Board of Con-trol for Cricket in India will prepare operating procedures to combat the virus threat dur-ing the tournament.

“It is going to be a full-fledged 51-day IPL. We are in touch with the ECB -- Emirates Cricket Board. And we will get clearance from the Indian gov-ernment soon,” he said.

The 13th year of the IPL was meant to have started in March but has been repeatedly post-poned because of the pandem-ic. Dates were finally set after the T20 World Cup, which was scheduled to start in Australia in October, was postponed this week.

The IPL is the BCCI’s main revenue earner. It has said it would lose more than $500 million if this year’s tourna-ment had not gone ahead.

IPL Trophy is seen at a stadium (file photo)

Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson (C) lifts the Premier League trophy during the presentation

The old Nuerburgring was a fa-mous pre-World War Two venue

for grand prix racing and the remodelled circuit last featured in the Formula One world cham-pionship in 2013. The circuit sank into insolvency in 2012 and then changed ownership in 2014

KNOW WHAT

BRAVE CF 36 Fight CardCatchweight (104 kg): Cristian Constantinov vs Todd Stoute

Welterweight: Ion Surdu vs Kevin RuartCatchweight (72 kg): Maciej Gierszewski vs Florin Pirtea

Featherweight: Ciprian Maris vs Mochamed MachaevBantamweight: Matiss Zaharovs vs Bilal Tipsaev