Eid safety call• National Taskforce for Combatting COVID-19 stresses full commitment to health measures during upcoming Eid Al Adha holidays to avoid potential spike in cases

• Active cases surged by over 1,000 in just two weeks following Ramadhan and Eid Al Fitr earlier this year, due to reckless non-compliance to guidelines

• Tamkeen’s extended Business Continuity Support Programme to benefit 1,914 salons, 393 restaurants and cafes, 346 travel offices, 205 gyms and 193 training institutions, among others

TDT | Manama

The National Taskforce for Combatting the Coro-navirus (COVID-19) yes-

terday called for Bahrain’s citi-zens and residents to seriously commit to all health and safety measures, especially with Eid Al Adha approaching, in order to avoid any potential spike in active COVID-19 cases.

This was stressed in a press conference held at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research at the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) Hospital.

Addressing the media were national taskforce members in-cluding BDF Infectious Disease Consultant and Microbiologist Lt. Col. Manaf Al Qahtani, Min-istry of Health undersecretary Dr Waleed Khalifa Al Manea, and Salmaniya Medical Com-plex Infectious and Internal Diseases Consultant Dr Jameela Al Salman. Labour Fund (Tam-keen) chief executive Dr Ebra-him Mohammed Janahi was also on hand as a speaker.

Dr Al Qahtani cited the surge in active cases that occurred as a result of gatherings that

took place during the last days of Ramadhan and during Eid Al Fitr. He said that on the first day of Eid Al Fitr (25 May), there was a total of 4,323 active cases, but just over a week later on June 3, the number increased to 4,988 cases. On June 11, about two weeks following Eid, the total active cases rose to 5,343.

Dr Al Qahtani remarked that due to the reckless non-compli-ance of precautionary measures during that time, the number of contacts of active cases in-creased dramatically by over 1,000.

He therefore called on the public to strictly follow all the precautionary guidelines issued by authorities during the com-ing Eid Al Adha holidays, so as to prevent another spike in active cases.

Dr Al Qahtani added that Bahrain continues to expand its COVID-19 testing capacity to swiftly identify, isolate and treat infected individuals. He said that Bahrain is committed to its “Test, Trace and Treat” strategy, and currently has the second highest number of tests per 1,000 people in the world.

To further limit the spread of the virus, Dr Al Qahtani noted that the Ministry of Health is now publishing cluster-based

contact-tracing reports on a weekly basis.

He also encouraged patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19, and who meet the required conditions, to donate their blood plasma at the BDF Hospital’s blood bank, to further support efforts in treating coro-navirus active cases.

Economic support to tackle virus repercussions

Dr Janahi praised the direc-tives of Bahrain’s wise leader-ship and the support extended to citizens and the private sec-tor, which have played a central role in addressing the repercus-sions of the global pandemic, particularly with the launch and implementation of several initiatives within the economic stimulus package, which has amounted to BD4.5 billion to date.

Dr Janahi noted that as a re-sult of this stimulus package, Tamkeen has introduced its Business Continuity Support Programme. He highlighted that from July, the programme is doubling the support it provides to enterprises operating in sec-tors most adversely affected by COVID-19, and that it has been extended for a further three months.

The programme extension will therefore support 1,914 sa-lons, 393 restaurants and cafes, 346 travel offices, 205 gyms and 193 training institutions, as well as supplement the income of 50 per cent of taxicab drivers, pub-lic transport and bus drivers, driving instructors, and kinder-garten and nursery workers.

The BD40 million programme has already benefited over 15,600 companies and 900 Bah-

rainis to date, including month-ly stimulus support to micro and small enterprises ranging from BD1,050 to BD12,000 over three months.

Kingdom determined to continue COVID-19 fight

Dr Al Manea noted that the Kingdom continues to tackle the pandemic as well as an in-fodemic of misinformation, to help curb the spread of the virus and reduce fear and anxiety, while also increase awareness and ensure service excellence in the health industry.

He noted that Bahrain has im-plemented innovative solutions to tackle challenges arising from the virus’ spread. These include the introduction of telemedi-cine services launched by the Health Ministry, which provide medical consultations and allow for prescriptions to be renewed remotely, among other services.

Dr Al Manea outlined that COVID-19 recoveries in the King-dom have reached 89.65 per cent of all registered cases, with a death rate of 0.34 per cent. The undersecretary added that iso-lation centers’ occupancy stands at 25 per cent, with 2,083 out of 8,357 beds occupied, while 1,649 asymptotic cases are under op-tional home self-isolation after meeting the set criteria.

Dr Al Salman underlined the Kingdom’s commitment to continue its widespread test-ing strategy in order to identify active cases early and address them immediately.

She reiterated the call to com-mitting to follow all health and safety guidelines, especially during Eid Al Adha, in order for Bahrain to overcome the pandemic.

6

Kuwait falls on broad-based losses, property shares hit Dubai5BUSINESS

WORLDS P O R T S

Archer could miss third Test after revealing racist abuseEngland’s Jofra Archer says he was racially abused after his breach of coronavirus proto-cols | P 08

THURSDAYJULY, 2020

210 FILS ISSUE NO. 8544

Shut consulate in 3 days

Paris Hilton says she still has ‘nightmares’ about her past 7 CELEBS

23WHATSAPP3844 4692

TWITTER@newsofbahrain

MAILmail@newsofbahrain.com

WEBSITEnewsofbahrain.com

FACEBOOK/nobmedia

LINKEDINnewsofbahrain

INSTAGRAM/nobmedia

210 fils (includes VAT)

BD40Mis the amount that has so far been allocated

to Tamkeen’s Business Continuity Support

Programme, which has already benefited over 15,600 companies and 900 Bahrainis to date

TOTAL CASES

ACTIVE CASES

DEATHS

DISCHARGED

NEW CASES

CRITICAL

37,637

3,613

130

33,894

321

47

BAHRAIN

City Centre Bahrain Tel: +973 17556002

www.homesrusgroup.com

At the conference, from left, Dr Al Salman, Dr Janahi, Dr Al Manea and Dr Al Qahtani

Airstrikes in Afghanistan kill 45 civilians, Taliban membersReuters | Herat

Airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan killed 45

people, including civilians and Taliban, local officials said yesterday.

Ali Ahmad Faqir Yar, the governor of Adraskan Dis-trict in the eastern Afghan-istan province of Herat, said at least eight civilians were among the dead.

“Forty-five people had been killed so far in air-strikes by security forces in the Kham Ziarat area, Taliban were among those killed,” he said.

It was unclear how many of the remaining 37 were ci-vilians and how many were members of the Taliban.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence said it was investi-gating allegations of civilian casualities in attacks by Af-ghan forces in the area.

Global COVID-19 cases surpass 15 million

Reuters | London

Global coronavirus in-fections surged past 15

million yesterday, according to a Reuters tally, with the pandemic gathering pace even as countries remain divided in their response to the crisis.

The US has the highest number of cases in the world with 3.91 million in-fections.

The top five countries with the most cases are rounded out by Brazil, In-dia, Russia and South Africa. The Reuters tally shows the disease is accelerating fast-est in the Americas, which account for more than half the world’s infections and half its deaths.

Globally, the rate of new infections shows no sign of slowing, based on official reports. After the first COV-ID-19 case was reported in Wuhan, China, in early Jan-uary, it took about 15 weeks to reach two million cas-es. By contrast, it took just eight days to climb above 15 million from the 13 million reached on July 13.

Coronavirus takes life of 21-year-old citizen

TDT | Manama

The coronavirus (COV-ID-19) took the life of a

21-year-old Bahraini male yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced.

The deceased was the youngest virus-related casualty to date in the King-dom. His passing brought the total deaths due to COV-ID-19 in Bahrain to 130.

The Health Ministry ex-pressed its condolences to the victim’s family.

Meanwhile, the minis-try announced early this morning that out of 7,791 COVID-19 tests conducted yesterday, 321 new cases were detected, including 162 expatriate workers and 159 contacts of active cases.

There were also 439 ad-ditional recoveries from the virus yesterday, bringing the Kingdom’s total number of discharged individuals to 33,894.

Following those recov-eries, the total number of current active cases con-tinued to drop as they went to 3,613, with 47 in critical condition and 91 receiving treatment. The remaining 3,566 cases are stable.

The total tests conduct-ed in Bahrain increased to 752,485.

02THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

HM THE KING’S ECONOMIC ADVISOR RECEIVES TECHNOLOGY RESEARCHER

RHF summer activities to benefit orphans, widowsTDT | Manama

The Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) has launched its 2020 sum-

mer camp.It is being held within the

framework of the RHF’s social responsibility for sponsored orphans and widows, and its active contribution in identi-fying their talents, developing their skills, and building their capabilities in various educa-tional and recreational areas.

The RHF is organising this year’s camp remotely, in line with the precautionary meas-ures against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The RHF has provided all the requirements to ensure the camp’s success, in terms of guaranteeing that the ac-tivities are compatible with remote learning and training, providing the necessary infra-structure, and ensuring that children and mothers are pro-ficient in using the relevant electronic communication pro-grammes.

This year’s camp features many programmes and activ-ities for children and youth, and it will last for two months and includes various courses in collaboration with specialised

entities. In this context, the RHF

started a training course for youth in video filming and ed-iting, designing infographics, advertising photography, and others, in a course that lasts over a month and includes 36 training hours.

The activities of the camp for children started in syn-chronisation with the youth activities, which are provided by renowned teachers who are experienced in the provision of educational activities and events. It is being implement-ed in the English language via

Google, with the programmes extending for three weeks.

RHF Programmes and Ac-tivities Department head Alaa Bodlamah affirmed the RHF’s keenness to enhance the talent and skills of children, satisfy their love for learning, support their skills and creative abil-ities, and explore their talent with a fun-based approach in the camp.

He pointed to the RHF’s keen-ness to enrich this year’s camp with many practical, health, and recreational courses and cultural activities to support, develop, and build orphans’ personalities.

“This summer camp is not just mere activities to spend free time, but rather useful ac-tivities that define the person-ality of children and reward them with skills and experi-ences and satisfy their mental and social needs in a sound educational way that contrib-utes to building a positive per-sonality capable of assuming responsibility and effective so-cial participation,” Bodlamah said.

The RHF is also keen to di-rect part of the summer pro-gramme towards encouraging sponsored mothers and wid-ows to learn useful skills.

The activities will reward children with skills and

experiences and satisfy their

mental and social needs in a sound educational way,

that contributes to building a positive

personality.RHF PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES

DEPARTMENT HEAD ALAA BODLAMAH

Bahraini Ambassador meets UK officials

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s Ambassador to the UK Shaikh Fawaz bin Mo-

hammed Al Khalifa met virtu-ally the Shadow FCO Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Wayne David, the Shad-ow Minister of Foreign Office and International Develop-ment Stephen Doughty, and the Shadow Minister for Peace and

Disarmament Fabian Hamilton.The ambassador reviewed

the bilateral relations between both kingdoms and ways to develop them, as well as their historical cooperation in all fields.

During the meeting, a pres-entation was delivered by Min-istry of Foreign Affairs Europe-an Affairs and European Union director Ambassador Shaikha

Aisha bint Ahmed Al Khalifa on the areas of cooperation be-tween Bahrain and UK, includ-ing political, economic, social and cultural fields.

Shaikha Aisha also reviewed the joint accomplishments of the two nations and their future projects.

In addition, the Office of the First Deputy Prime Minister’s Policy and Research Advisor Yara Reza Faraj delivered a presentation on the historical chronology of the development process in Bahrain, which is carried out through the imple-mentation of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and the Govern-ment Action Plan, confirming Bahrain’s success in aligning its plans and programmes with the goals of global sustainable development.

Shaikh Fawaz during the meeting

Northern Governorate continues food donation projectTDT | Manama

More than 7,500 food bas-kets have been distribut-

ed by the Northern Governo-rate within the “Your Food in Your Home” project launched by the Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) in coop-eration with the Ministry of Interior.

This is according to North-ern Governor Ali bin Al Shaikh Al Asfour, who commended the generous directives of His Majesty the King’s Hu-manitarian Works and Youth Affairs representative, Nation-al Security Advisor and RHF Board of Trustees chairman His Highness Shaikh Nass-er bin Hamad Al Khalifa, to support Bahraini families affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis through the “Feena Khair” campaign.

The Northern Governorate has coordinated with the Min-istry of Labour and Social De-velopment in distributing a number of the food baskets to several elderly care centres within the governorate.

This was done in the pres-ence of Deputy Northern Gov-

ernor Brigadier Khaled bin Rabia Al Dossary, along with the Northern Governorate’s security coordination officer Major Salman Al Zarqawi and investment development head Issam Al Khayyat, and officials from the Labour Ministry.

The Northern Governor af-firmed the governorate’s keen-ness to deliver these baskets to all kinds of beneficiaries, who have included families and individuals affected by the pandemic or a fire dam-aging their homes, people of determination, and families in need, through the activation of community partnerships between the governorate and civil society institutions.

In addition, a number of food baskets have also been distributed to migrant work-ers affected by the current health crisis.

The Northern Governor

His Majesty the King’s Economic Affairs Advisor Dr Hassan bin Abdullah Fakhro received yesterday technology researcher Dr Jassim Haji Jassim on the launch of his new book entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Necessity Post-Coronavirus”. The advisor praised Dr Haji’s efforts in writing his book which represents his expertise that has lasted for nearly three decades in the field. Dr Fakhro wished Dr Haji further success and continuance of these scientific efforts. Dr Haji expressed his appreciation to Dr Fakhro for his continuous support for authors and researchers. Above, Dr Fakhro, right, with Dr Haji.

The Kingdom’s develop-ment process is being carried out through

the implementation of Bahrain Economic Vision

2030 and the Government Action Plan

DON’T MISS IT

Capital Governorate receives 30,000 donated face masksTDT | Manama

The Capital Governorate has received 30,000 face masks

from German Medical Centre as part of the “Together We Care” campaign launched by the gov-ernorate last April.

Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa received the donations from German Medical Centre officials Fatima Salem and Ab-dullatif Ismail.

The Capital Governor thanked them for their charitable ini-tiative and praised the social role of German Medical Centre, which has emerged through its

participation in supporting this campaign.

The Capital Governor em-phasised that the governorate will continue to coordinate

with those interested donations to support the distribution of face masks until the end of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. He added that such dona-

tions contribute to activating the concept of community partner-ship and enhancing solidarity, which is an important indicator in the development of societies.

First RCSI International Citizens namedTDT | Manama

For the first time since its launch, 29 students from

the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) have received the RCSI Bahrain In-ternational Citizenship Award (ICA).

The ICA programme is a two-year, mentored platform open for students from the School of Medicine and School of Nursing and Midwifery, and is organised and managed by the Department of Student De-velopment and Wellbeing, in conjunction with the Careers and Alumni Office.

The winners of the award are referred to as RCSI Inter-national Citizens, and they are students who have exhibited the necessary skills and knowl-edge to work successfully in the world of healthcare while demonstrating the ability to be reflective and to interact effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds.

RCSI Bahrain president Pro-fessor Sameer Otoom com-mented: “Congratulations to the first recipients of the RCSI Bahrain International Citizen-

ship Award on your terrific achievement. You have excep-tionally displayed your abil-ity to be creative, analytical, ethical, and culturally aware

leaders, who will soon be ready to enter and thrive in the field of healthcare.

“In RCSI Bahrain, we take pride in our students and we

are committed to nurturing outstanding healthcare profes-sionals who will differentiate themselves as leaders in the healthcare field.”

Aqsa Patel, one of the awar-dees, addressed her fellow award recipients, saying: “A huge congratulations is in or-der to all of us for reaching the completion of this two-year long journey. Over the past couple of years, we have devel-oped and honed skills such as focus, discipline, time manage-ment and collegiality, which we gained throughout our experi-ence in the ICA programme.”

To be eligible to take part in the ICA programme, students attend compulsory workshops on cultural competency and reflective writing along with a series of other requirements and tasks as they are guided by their ICA mentors. They are also expected to submit a port-folio and a final reflective essay on what makes them an RCSI International Citizen.

At the end of the two years, the students’ work will be as-sessed by the appointed ICA Board and those who success-fully complete the programme will receive an award.

03THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Developing information governanceTDT | Manama

Efficiently executing in-frastructure and ser-vices-related projects

and serving as a platform for the exchange of information among public sector entities are among the most important roles of the National Commit-tee for Geospatial Information Governance.

These were discussed in the committee’s sixth meeting, held via video conference, and chaired by Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) chief executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed.

The committee, made up of representatives of ministries and governmental entities, dis-

cussed their latest projects, which include a framework and implementation plan for a geospatial strategy for the Kingdom, Bahrain’s fundamen-

tal data themes, and the role of specialised entities in review-ing and finalising those themes and examining the extent of Bahrain’s geospatial readiness.

The meeting also discussed a roadmap presented by the committee, which is built on the pillars of information gov-ernance, technology utilisa-tion, and the availability of human resources qualified to work in infrastructure, com-

munications, and other sectors that contribute to bridging the spatial geography digital divide and improving public stand-ards of living.

The committee covered a number of high priority ini-tiatives, most notable among them the adoption of policies and standards for geospatial data, the development of tech-nical solutions to organise tri-al holes, infrastructure data,

and capacity-building through training.

The committee also decided to work on setting standards and policies for one-time drill-ing for all authorities special-ised in infrastructure, as well as adopting fundamental data, with a provision that the com-mittee’s next meeting would study the initiatives and set implementation timelines.

The committee, formed fol-lowing a resolution issued by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, proposes policies and national strategic plans to develop the geograph-ic information system (GIS) sector. It also sets relevant specifications and standards,

determines the responsibili-ties and ownership rights of each entity, and coordinates and gathers information to maintain quality and accuracy, ensuring that information is kept up to date and preventing its duplication.

Some of the most important tasks assigned to the commit-tee include the enhancement of system and data security, as well as capacity-building and knowledge exchange.

This is in addition to its role in utilising geospatial informa-tion and empowering leaders to take appropriate decisions, thereby helping to improve the performance of ministries and public and private institutions in the Kingdom.

A group of the RCSI International Citizens

The work of the National Commit-tee for Geospatial Information Gov-ernance helps empower leaders to

take appropriate decisions, thereby helping to improve the perfor-

mance of ministries and public and private institutions in the Kingdom

KNOW

DID

New travel restrictions come into effect TDT | Manama

New travel restrictions have been put into place in Bah-

rain in light of the global coro-navirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A notice posted on the gov-ernment’s eVisa website an-nounced that the revised meas-ures are effective from midnight yesterday.

The notice states:“In light of the World Health

Organisation’s (WHO) 11 March 2020 declaration that the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a global pandemic, the Govern-ment of the Kingdom of Bah-rain announces the following revised measures with effect from 00:00 Bahrain time, 22 July 2020.

“The issuance of visas on ar-rival for all nationalities remains suspended until further notice. Furthermore:

“1. Entry is restricted to Bah-raini citizens and residents, GCC citizens who do not require visas, diplomats, passengers

holding a valid e-visa prior to boarding, military personnel, airline crew or holders of offi-cial, service, or UN passports. All other passengers will be denied entry to the Kingdom.

“2. Any citizen, resident, dip-lomat, e-visa holder, military personnel, airline crew or hold-er of an official, service or UN passport arriving from any other country will be required to un-dergo the Kingdom’s enhanced arrivals testing procedure for COVID-19 (at their own expense) and will need to self-quarantine for 10 days from the date of ar-rival.” Meanwhile, the Nation-ality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) has announced that as of today (July 22, 2020), valid visa holders can enter the Kingdom without the need for a letter of prior permission. The requirement of prior permission has been suspended.

This decision includes hold-ers of valid visas issued only by the NPRA and does not include visas that are issued through the country’s ports, the NPRA said.

The Capital Governor, second from left, and other officials with the donated face masks

Al Qaed

Workshop held on highlighting human-interest storiesTDT | Manama

The Bahrain Red Crescent Society (BRCS), in collab-

oration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, con-ducted a remote workshop on “How to create media reports on press, TV and social media”.

The purpose was to build volunteers’ capacities and de-velop their skills in highlight-ing human-interest stories, re-lief projects, and humanitarian relief programmes.

The workshop aimed at in-spiring volunteers to produce informative media reports that emphasise the role and status of the humanitarian purpose of Red Crescent in the community as part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and its efforts to extend aid to the needy, whether at the health, social, relief or development levels.

The workshop addressed the significance of creating media reports, particularly in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and strengthen-

ing awareness among diverse segments of society of the precautionary measures that must be adhered to in order to break its chain of transmis-sion, in addition to providing the most recent information, developments, and statistics about it.

Media personality Wafaa Hussein spoke in the work-shop. Technical advice was provided on how to approach a report, visualising the form of the story and the scenes to be photographed, and assuring the high quality of lighting and proper equipment, in addition to a presentation of some of the applications used widely in this type of modern press. The workshop emphasised on reaching out to entities in-volved in humanitarian issues and its relevant subjects. This includes news and reports about disasters and crisis ar-eas and problems related to them such as displacement and asylum and the intensi-ty of their effects on people, along with the challenges that relate to poverty, destitution, and others.

Bahrain attends GCC committee’s meetingTDT | Manama

Parliament Minister Ghanim bin Fadhl Al Bouainain took

part in the 20th meeting of the GCC ministerial committee in charge of following up the im-

plementation of joint resolu-tions.

UAE Cabinet Affairs and Fu-ture Minister Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Gargawi chaired the virtual session, which was held by the GCC general secretariat.

The remote session re-viewed the GCC legislative tools to implement resolu-tions and recommendations set in the summit which was held in Muscat, in April of last year.

Parl iament Minister Al Bouainain congratulated Dr Nayef bin Falah Al Hajraf on assuming his position as GCC secretary-general, thanking the general secretariat for coordi-nating the meeting.

Lanes to be closed along Khalifa Al Kabeer Highway

TDT | Manama

Two lanes will be closed amid construction works

on a footbridge along Khalifa Al Kabeer Highway, near the Coast Guard, the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning has said.

The closure will be car-

ried out in two stages, with the middle and slow lanes closed from 11pm tomorrow until 5am on Saturday, and the slow lane from 5am on Saturday to 12noon later that day.

One lane will be provid-ed for traffic, the ministry added.

Bahrain stresses firm stance towards Palestinian issue• Bahrain participates in UN Security Council virtual briefing on Middle East situation

• UN Security Council urged to extend arms embargo on Iran due to the serious threat of its deployment of weapons

• UN secretary-general’s appeal for immediate ceasefire in all corners of the globe backed, to allow for the delivery of life-saving aid to most vulnerable pandemic-hit locations

TDT | Manama

Bahrain has affirmed its unwavering position to-wards the Palestinian is-

sue and its support for all efforts aimed at reaching a just, com-prehensive and lasting solution.

This was declared during the Kingdom’s participation in the UN Security Council’s virtual briefing on the situation in the

Middle East.A permanent resolution

should lead to the Palestinian people attaining all their legit-imate rights as other peoples, and to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capi-tal, in accordance with the prin-ciple of a two-state solution and based on the Arab peace initia-tive and relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.

Bahrain’s UN permanent rep-resentative Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei pointed out in his speech that Israeli plans to annex Palestinian lands in the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over them and over the illegal settlements estab-lished on the land of the State of

Palestine, occupied since 1967, is a serious threat to international peace and security.

It is also an explicit violation of international resolutions, and undermines the chances of achieving just and lasting peace in the Middle East, he said, stressing that today the inter-national community must build on the decades-old UN efforts to reach a peaceful, comprehen-sive, fair, and lasting solution to this central issue.

The UN permanent repre-sentative expressed the King-dom’s condemnation of the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ recent preparation of two boo-by-trapped boats to carry out hostilities and terrorist opera-tions in Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the southern Red Sea,

which reflects a clear insistence from the Houthis to threaten the safety of maritime traffic and a serious targetting of secu-rity and stability in the region.

He also stated that, due to the serious threat posed by Iranian arms transfers in the region, it has become imperative for the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo imposed on Iran to counter its deployment of weapons to its proxies, and hold Iran responsible for its ac-tions.

Ambassador Alrowaiei added that the Bahrain supports the appeal of the UN secretary-gen-eral for an immediate ceasefire in all corners of the globe, to reinforce diplomatic action in conflict areas and help create conditions for the delivery of life-saving aid to places that are among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

He added that since the shared battle has become the fight against this pandemic, the international community must push forward efforts to stop the practices that aggravate the suf-fering of civilians around the world, in order to achieve in-ternational peace and security and ensure a more prosperous future for all peoples.

04THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Israeli plans to annex Palestinian lands in the West

Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over them is a

serious threat to international peace and security.JAMAL FARES ALROWAIEI

BAHRAIN’S UN PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE AMBASSADOR

Foreign Minister receives Strategic Security Bureau chairmanTDT | Manama

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid

Al Zayani received yesterday Strategic Security Bureau (SSB) chairman Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifa.

The Foreign Minister ex-tended his congratulations to Shaikh Ahmed on the roy-al trust bestowed upon him for being appointed as the SSB chief, stressing the impor-tant role that will be played

by the bureau in supporting national efforts to promote security and stability in the Kingdom.

They reviewed means of promoting cooperation and coordination in a way that serves the highest interests of Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister earlier this week re-ceived a telephone call from his Brazilian counterpart Ernesto Araújo.

T h e t w o m i n i s t e r s e x-

changed views on the track of bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation between both countries, especially in the economic, commercial and investment fields.

They also discussed areas of cooperation to face the re-percussions of the coronavi-rus (COVID-19) pandemic and ways to recover from it, in addition to the political and security developments in the region and issues of shared interest.

Shura Council hails Egypt’s pivotal roleTDT | Manama

The Shura Council has backed Egypt’s right to

protect its western borders from terrorism and maintain Libya’s territorial integrity.

Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee chairman Dr Abdulaziz bin Abdulaziz Al Ajman hailed Egypt’s pivotal role, which stems from the Arab League Defence Treaty.

Dr Al Ajman stressed the stance taken by the Egyptian Parliament, which mandated President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to intervene in Libya to stop Turkey from interfering in Arab affairs and destabilising Libya’s security.

“The stance is in line with the call of the Libyan Par-liament and tribal leaders, urging Egypt to intervene militarily and protect their

people and country from the Turkish blatant inter-ference,” said Dr Al Ajman. He described military inter-vention as a necessity to stop Turkish interference and re-store Libya’s security, based on the principles of Arab nation-alism, as Libya is an integral part of Egypt’s security and stability and pan-Arab secu-rity.

Dr Al Ajman

An illustration from the Works Ministry of the closed lanes

Suspects admit to crime in SMC medicine robbery TDT | Manama

Chief Prosecutor Mohammed Jamal Sultan confirmed in a

statement that the accused sus-pects in connection with steal-ing medicine form Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) have admitted to their crime.

Social media reports have gone viral recently about the disappearance of medicine from SMC, triggering a thorough in-vestigation into the matter. As a

result, three suspects, including two SMC staff members have been arrested.

The staff members were a man and a woman, while the third was the one who coaxed the duo to embezzle the medica-tion from the hospital and then sell them to him.

“It was found that the third defendant incited the female staff member to steal the med-icine from the hospital and he offered to pay her for that,” Sul-

tan said.“She went to her colleague

and tabled the offer to him and they agreed to collaborate.”

The male staff member was in charge of dispensing the med-icines in question, the Chief Prosecutor revealed.

He added: “The third man would take the medicines to exchange them for illegal drugs, which he consumes.

The suspects admitted to the charges issued against them.

“The defendants will remain in police custody, pending tri-al before the High Criminal Court,” Sultan’s statement con-cluded.

The Ministry of Interior had previously announced that in-vestigations by the General Di-rectorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security indicated that the miss-ing quantity of stolen medicine is around 60,000 sedatives and narcotic pills this year.

Asian man acquitted of embezzlement on appealTDT | Manama

The High Criminal Appeals Court acquitted an Asian

man who was charged with embezzlement.

According to the defend-ant’s lawyer Dr Mohammed Al Kooheji, the man was sen-tenced earlier to one month behind bars but was released

after posting bail worth BD50. He then decided to appeal the sentence, insisting on his in-nocence as he was convicted of pocketing money paid to him by a customer, the lawyer revealed.

The defendant was work-ing in a local company and the owner filed a complaint against him after finding out

that he failed to issue a receipt against the payment of a cus-tomer.

The defendant ’s acquit-tal came thanks to the testi-mony of the customer, who told the court that the Asian man would always give the receipt after a couple of days from receiving the paid money.

“The defendant would al-ways give me the receipt after couple of days,” the customer said. “This has always been the case.

“I think the plaintiff felt there was something suspi-cious after I came to their store asking for the receipt and I told him that I paid a couple of days ago.”

Two arrested for selling shabuTDT | Manama

Two individuals have been arrested for selling the

narcotic substance shabu, the Ministry of Interior has an-nounced.

The Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science direc-tor-general reported the ar-rests of the suspects, aged 30

and 37, after receiving infor-mation that led to an investi-gation which helped identify the individuals and catch them red-handed.

The shabu was seized from their possession.

Legal proceedings have been taken to refer the case to the Public Prosecution.

The Foreign Minister, right, with Shaikh Ahmed

05THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Last Qantas 747 departs Sydney for Mojave retirementReuters | Sydney

Qantas Airways Ltd’s last Boe-ing 747 jet drew a kangaroo

tail in the sky off the Australian coast as it began its final flight to retirement in the Mojave Desert yesterday, ending the model’s almost half a century of service at the carrier.

Owen Zupp, one of the six pilots on board the final flight, brought forward by several months because of the corona-virus pandemic, said he would reflect once his team had deliv-ered the plane safely to the United States.

“Once that is done I think

it will be a memory that we can look back on with great pride,” Zupp said. “It is significant not just for Qantas’ history but avi-ation.”

Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce, who signed the plane be-fore it took off from Sydney Air-port, said the model had helped make international travel more affordable for Australians.

“It overcame the tyranny of distance that was and continued to be an issue for Australia,” he told a gathering in a hangar for

the send-off.

Ironically, the reason for the plane’s early departure was also the reason for the small crowd of 150. Thousands had been expected to attend a farewell initially planned for the end of the year.

Qantas 747s carried more than 250 million people in almost half a century of service, in-cluding Queen Elizabeth II and every Australian Olympic team since 1984. Qantas was once the world’s only airline with an all 747 fleet.

The four-engine plane with less favourable economics than

newer-generation 787s and Air-bus SE A350s had fallen out of favour even before the corona-virus pandemic but Qantas, Brit-ish Airways, Virgin Atlantic and KLM have hastened retirement plans due to the lack of interna-tional travel demand.

Qantas has grounded most in-ternational flights until at least July 2021 due to Australian gov-ernment travel restrictions.

Boeing , which has in recent years been manufacturing the latest version of the 747 primar-ily as a freighter, and its sup-pliers signalled the end of the

plane when they set the

final number of parts it would need for the programme at least a year ago.

There are only 30 747 passen-ger jets left in service globally and 132 in storage, according to aviation data provider Cirium, with freighters accounting for 93 per cent of the type still flying.

Joyce said Qantas had sold five of its 747s to General Electric Co. The final jet will deliver a load of freight to Los Angeles before flying on to the Mojave.

Vincent Chu, 29, w a s a m o n g a crowd gathered

near the airport to watch the plane leave: “I just wanted to give it a final send-off, so to speak.”

UAE’s ADNOC and ADQ form JV to invest in chemical projectsReuters | Dubai

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and

holding company ADQ have signed a joint venture deal to invest in chemicals projects in the planned Ruwais Deriv-atives Park, a statement from ADNOC said yesterday.

ADNOC will hold a 60 per cent equity stake in the ven-ture, while Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, a state-owned holding company, will have the remaining 40pc, the statement said.

ADNOC and ADQ’s invest-ment platform will evaluate and invest in anchor chemicals projects in the Ruwais park in Abu Dhabi.

ADNOC CEO Sultan al-Jaber said this was part of a strategy to develop the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) derivatives sector and attract foreign in-

vestment.The two companies will con-

duct a comprehensive feasi-bility study of projects for Ru-wais. The results of the study are due before the end of 2020 and will include opportunities for prospective investors.

The joint venture will be in-corporated in the Abu Dhabi Global Market free zone, pend-ing approvals, with both com-panies jointly determining the management team and board.

Logos of ADNOC are seen at Gastech, the world’s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan,

Indian tea prices jump to record as floods, COVID-19 slash outputReuters | Mumbai

Tea prices in the world’s sec-ond-biggest producer India

have jumped to a record after intense floods and coronavirus movement restrictions trimmed output in the main producing region.

Floods have damaged tea gar-dens in Assam - which accounts for over half of India’s produc-tion - where output had already been cut by labour movement restrictions to contain the coro-navirus outbreak, Prabhat Bez-boruah, chairman of India’s Tea Board said.

Floods in Assam have killed at least 84 people and displaced more than 2.75 million since May.

“The 10 per cent crop loss is expected to be compensated by a 12pc price rise after eight years of price stagnation, but

next year prices may decline on likely reports of higher produc-tion,” Bezboruah said.

Production losses have al-ready lifted weekly auction pric-

es to a record of 232.60 rupees ($3.11) per kg, up 57pc from a year ago, according to the Tea Board.

That compares to annual av-

erage price moves of around 1pc to 3pc in recent years, said Kalyan Sundaram, secretary of the Calcutta Tea Traders’ As-sociation.

The lost crop is unlikely to be recovered as many tea gar-dens remain submerged and the premium second flush crop that usually fetches higher prices has been damaged, said Nazrana Ahmed, chairman of Assam Tea Planters Associa-tion. Second flush refers to the leaves that bloom from a tea plant at the beginning of mon-soon season after the first set are plucked.

“Production cost has gone up substantially in the last few years. Many tea producers may not survive unless prices sus-tain at current level,” said Sujit Patra, secretary at Indian Tea Association.

Women carry firewood at a tea estate in Nagaon district, Assam

Kuwait falls on broad-based losses, property shares hit Dubai• Etisalat gains on higher Q2 profit

• Egypt’s economic growth seen slowing in 2020/21

Reuters

Du b a i ’s s t o c k m a r ke t ended lower yesterday,

dragged down by property shares, while the Kuwaiti in-dex dropped to a 9-week low as investors shunned stocks across the board.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index added 0.1 per cent, with Saudi Telecom Company ris-ing 2.3pc and Al Rajhi Bank up 0.4pc.

After trading hours, Sau-di Telecom reported a sec-ond-quarter profit of 2.72 bil-lion riyals ($725.31 million), down from 2.85 billion riyals.

In Kuwait, the index slid 3pc as all its constituents ended in negative territory, includ-ing Kuwait Projects Company, which was down 2pc.

Kuwait’s 91-year-old ruler Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah was admitted to hos-pital on Saturday for medical checks and underwent suc-cessful surgery on Sunday morning.

His office, in a statement carried by state news agency KUNA, did not specify what kind of surgery he had.

Dubai’s main share index dropped 1.1pc, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties shedding 2.2pc and its unit Emaar Malls losing 2.8pc.

Elsewhere, Emirates NBD Bank retreated 1.5pc.

In Abu Dhabi, the index edged up 0.1pc, helped by a 1.9pc rise in Emirates Tele-communication Group (Etis-alat). The telecoms company reported an increase in sec-ond-quarter net profit.

The Qatari index slipped 0.1pc, hit by a 1.9pc fall in Qa-tar Insurance Company and a 0.4pc drop in Qatar Islamic Bank.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 0.9pc, with Commercial Internation-al Bank declining 2.2pc.

Egypt’s economic growth will slow to 3.1pc in the fis-cal year 2020/2021 that began this month due to the coro-navirus pandemic, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday, down from 3.5pc forecast in a similar poll three months ago.

Closing Bell SAUDI 0.1pc to 7,428 pts

ABU DHABI 0.1pc to 4,262 pts

DUBAI 1.1pc to 2,065 pts

QATAR 0.1pc to 10,295 pts

EGYPT 0.9pc to 10,460 pts

BAHRAIN 0.8pc to 1,293 pts

OMAN 1.3pc to 3,522 pts

KUWAIT 3pc at 5,260 pts

The last Qantas Boeing 747 traced the shape of a kangaroo with its flightpath as it headed to retirement in a US desert

Taiwan passes proposal to rebrand China AirlinesAFP | Taipei

Taiwan’s parliament passed a proposal yesterday to re-

brand the island’s largest air-line to avoid confusion with carriers on the Chinese main-land.

China Airlines (CAL) is fre-quently mistaken for Air Chi-na -- the mainland’s national carrier -- and there have long been calls to rename it or make it more clearly Taiwanese.

But the movement received fresh impetus during the coro-navirus pandemic, which Tai-wan has successfully tackled.

The self-ruled island has sent medical aid overseas as a diplomatic gesture of good-will, often on China Airlines aircraft, sparking some public confusion abroad over where the shipments had come from.

On Wednesday, lawmakers approved a proposal asking the transport ministry to come

up with both short- and long-term rebranding plans for the carrier, which is partly govern-ment-owned.

“The ministry should make CAL more identifiable inter-nationally with Taiwanese images to protect Taiwan’s national interests as overseas it is mistaken for a Chinese airline,” parliament speaker Yu Shyi-kun said while reading out the proposal.

Taiwan’s China Airlines is frequently mistaken for the mainland’s Air China, and Taipei has passed a proposal to rebrand the carrier

Fire reported at Consulate General of

China in Houston

06THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

15,212,690

622,390

9,192,420

Deaths

Recovered:

New cases

New deaths +3,886

+127,607

Covid-19 Cases:

Country Total cases

new cases

Total deaths

New Deaths

Total recovered

Active cases

Serious, Critical

Tot cases/1m pop

Egypt 89,078 4,399 29,473 55,206 41 870

Saudi Arabia

258,156 +2,331 2,601 +44 210,398 45,157 2,143 7,409

UAE 57,498 341 49,964 7,193 1 5,810

Kuwait 61,185 +751 417 +5 51,520 9,248 127 14,316

Oman 71,547 +1,660 349 +12 47,922 23,276 165 13,994

Qatar 107,871 +441 163 +3 104,641 3,067 113 38,418

Middle East

Country Total cases New deaths Total Deaths

1 USA 4,050,134 +342 145,295

2 Brazil 2,178,159 +231 81,828

3 India 1,236,696 +1,115 29,885

4 Russia 789,190 +165 12,745

5 South Africa 381,798 5,368

6 Peru 362,087 13,579

7 Mexico 356,255 +915 40,400

8 Chile 334,683 +45 8,722

9 Spain 314,631 +2 28,426

10 UK 296,377 +79 45,501

11 Iran 281,413 +219 14,853

12 Pakistan 267,428 +38 5,677

13 Saudi Arabia 258,156 +44 2,601

14 Italy 245,032 +9 35,082

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

News in brief u Drugmaker Mylan NV said yesterday it has received Indian regulatory approval to make tuberculosis treatment pretomanid available in a country that accounts for a quarter of the world’s cases. Mylan will initially make a donation of 400 treatment courses of pretomanid under the Indian government’s National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) and will provide commercial access at $364 for a six-

month treatment course.

u Embattled Philippine journalist Maria Ressa pleaded not guilty yesterday to tax evasion, as President Rodrigo Duterte’s government faced growing calls to drop all charges against the veteran reporter. Ressa, 56, and her news site Rappler, have been the target of a series of criminal charges and probes after publishing stories critical of Duterte’s policies -- including his drug war that has killed thousands. The award-winning former CNN journalist is on bail pending an appeal against a cyber libel conviction last month for which she faces up to six years in jail.

u India has cancelled a historic Hindu pilgrimage to a holy cave high in the snow-capped mountains of contested Kashmir for the first time, as cases of the novel coronavirus continued to rise yesterday. Organisers of the Amarnath Yatra, where saffron-clad Hindu ascetics walk 46 km (28 miles) to the cave across glaciers and waterlogged trails, said a “very sharp” spike

in coronavirus cases had forced the cancellation.

u The US government will pay $1.95 billion to buy 100 million doses of Pfizer Inc and German biotech firm BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate if they are able to successfully develop one, the companies said yesterday. The contract is the most the United States has agreed to spend on a vaccine yet, but the previous deals the government signed helped pay for drugmakers’ development costs. The agreement allows the U.S. government to acquire an additional 500 million doses, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense said.

Mylan gets Indian regulatory approval for tuberculosis

drug

Duterte-critic journalist pleads not guilty in Philippine

tax case

India cancels Amarnath Yatra

US to pay Pfizer, BioNTech $1.95 billion for millions of COVID-19

vaccine doses

Shut consulate in 3 days • China called the move “outrageous and unjustified”

AFP | Beijing

The United States has or-dered China to close its consulate in Houston

and accused it of ramping up spying operations,

Yesterday’s announcement infuriated Beijing, which vowed to retaliate as the two countries squabble over a slew of issues ranging from trade to the coro-navirus pandemic and China’s policies in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea.

“We have directed the clo-sure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual proper-ty and Americans’ private in-formation,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters during US Secre-tary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Copenhagen.

She added that under the Vi-enna Convention states “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the receiving state, but there were no further details about the reasons behind the decision.

In another statement, the State Department said China has engaged in massive spy-ing and influence operations throughout the United States for years.

“These activities have in-creased markedly in scale and scope over the past few years,” it said.

Before the news emerged, firefighters and police were called to the consulate building in Texas on Tuesday evening on reports that documents were being burned in the courtyard, according to local media.

The Twitter feed of the Hou-ston police force said smoke was observed, but officers “were not granted access to enter the building”.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China was told Tuesday that the consulate would have to close, calling it an “outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage China-US relations”.

“China urges the US to im-mediately withdraw its wrong decision, or China will definite-ly take a proper and necessary response,” Wang said at a press briefing.

“It is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the US

side, which seriously violates in-ternational law... and the bilater-al consular agreement between China and the US.”

The order to close the Hou-ston consulate came the same day that the US Justice Depart-ment indicted two Chinese na-tionals for seeking to steal coro-navirus vaccine research.

The two men, who are be-lieved to be in China, acted in some instances “for their own personal gain” and in others for the benefit of China’s Min-istry of State Security, Assistant Attorney General John Demers said at a news conference.

China rejected the allegations as “slander”.

US tells China

US has ordered to close Chinese consulate in Houton

Fire fighters are seen outside the Chinese Consulate in Houston (picture courtesy of Houston Chronicle)

KNOW WHAT

The Chinese Consulate in Houston was opened in 1979 -- the first in the year the US and the People’s Republic of China established diplomatic relationsThe office covers eight southern US states -- including Texas and Florida -- and has nearly one million people in the area registered at the consulate.

There are five Chinese consulates in the US, as well as an embassy in Washington.

State-run tabloid the Global Times launched a poll on Twitter in English on Wednesday asking people to vote for which US consulate in China should be closed in response, including the ones in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

The US has an embassy in Beijing, plus five consulates in mainland China and one in Hong Kong.

The Twitter feed of the Houston police force said smoke was observed, but officers “were not granted access to enter the building”

Authorities responded Tuesday night to reports of a fire at the Consulate General of China in Montrose, where witnesses saw paper being burned outside the facility

US offers $5 m reward for arrest of Venezuela chief justiceWashington

The United States yester-day offered a $5 million re-

ward for information leading to the arrest of the chief justice of Venezuela’s supreme court, who faces US money laundering charges.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Maikal Jose Moreno Perez had “personally received money or property

bribes to influence the outcome of civil and criminal cases in Venezuela” in recent years.

“Moreno Perez received the bribes in exchange for judicial actions” in more than 20 cases,

such as ordering lower-court judges to release the accused or dismiss cases, Pompeo said.

Moreno Perez, who has been on the US Treasury’s sanctions blacklist since May 2017, was added to the State Department’s separate list on Tuesday, along with his wife, for “involvement in significant corruption.”

That means the couple can-not enter the United States “in-definitely.”

Maikal Jose Moreno Perez

G u n m a n a r r e s t e d , h o s t a g e s f r e e d

a f t e r U k r a i n e p r e s i d e n t ’ s c a l l

President Zelensky apparently carried out one of the demands when he recorded a Facebook video calling on people to watch the 2005 documentary film “Earthlings”. Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, the film chronicles the harsh treatment of animals at the hands of humans.

07THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Among the chosen ones whose hajj application was accepted, Nasser Younes Solebarmo (R), a Riyadh-based Nigerian expat, sits near his wife and daughter in Riyadh

New Zealand’s Ardern sacks minister over office affair

AFP | Wellington

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ard-

ern sacked a senior cabinet minister Wednesday over an affair with an ex-staffer, amid heightened scrutiny on lawmakers’ behaviour ahead of a general election in September.

Ardern dismissed Im-migration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway after dis-covering he had an affair with a former colleague who was working at a government organisation that report-ed to him.

The centre-left leader said Lees-Galloway’s role as minister for workplace relations, which regulates employment conduct, made his position untenable.

“The minister has shown a lack of judgement over a period of 12 months -- in undertaking this relationship he has opened himself up to accusations of improperly using his office,” she told reporters.

Ardern said she was not passing moral judgement on Lees-Galloway but added: “He has not modelled the behaviour I expect as a minister that is in charge of setting a standard and culture in work places”.

Lees-Galloway, who is married with three children, issued a brief statement admitting he acted “completely inappropri-ately” and apologising for letting his family down.

Details of his affair were passed on to Ardern’s office on Tuesday by opposition leader Judith Collins, who had urged the public to contact her with allegations about inappropriate parliamentary behaviour.

Collins’ appeal came after one of her colleagues in the cen-tre-right National Party, Andrew Falloon, quit this week over a series of unwanted “sexting” messages sent to young women.

Collins became opposition leader last week promising to “take the fight” to Ardern in the September 19 election.

Ardern’s Labour Party maintains a healthy lead over Nation-al in opinion polls and Lees-Galloway’s sacking is unlikely to dent her chances of winning a second term.

However, the ability of the new opposition leader, nick-named “Crusher Collins” to take a prized ministerial scalp indicates the contest will be keenly fought.

Sacked minister Iain Lees-Galloway (pictured with wife Clare) is a married father-of-three (Courtesy of Daily Mail)

Ardern dismissed Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway after discovering he had an affair with a former colleague who was working at a government organisation that reported to him

Joy, heartache: Pilgrims in Saudi vie for downsized Hajj• Residents from 160 countries competed in the government-run lottery

AFP | Riyadh

A Jordanian couple in Saudi Arabia burst into tears of joy

to be among the chosen ones for next week’s scaled-down Hajj pilgrimage.

For the first time in modern history, millions of pilgrims outside Saudi Arabia have been barred from the Hajj -- a key pillar of Islam and one of the world’s largest mass gather-ings -- because of a coronavirus surge.

But even the dramatically cur-tailed ritual in the holy city of Mecca has drawn a huge rush of applicants.

Saudi officials said residents

from 160 countries competed in the government-run lottery that many described as an opaque selection process -- bringing elation to up to 10,000 people while leaving the vast majority disappointed.

“With so many applicants, we

hardly had a one percent chance of being selected,” said a Ri-yadh-based Jordanian engineer, 29, selected for the pilgrimage along with his 26-year-old wife, a health worker.

“We were shocked and over-joyed.”

Also among the chosen few is Nasser, a Riyadh-based Nigerian expat, euphoric at winning what he called the “golden ticket” to hajj.

“This feeling cannot be de-scribed,” he said.

But the Jordanian engineer, who declined to be named,

said he felt compelled to de-lete his social media post an-nouncing his selection, fearing he and his wife would attract the ire and envy of rejected applicants.

Pilgrims typically wait for years to be chosen through a strict quota system for hajj,

which last year drew some 2.5 million people.

Saudi authorities initially said only around 1,000 pilgrims re-siding in the kingdom would be permitted for hajj, but local media reports say as many as 10,000 will be allowed.

The Hajj ministry has fielded a deluge of anguished queries on Twitter.

The government invited on-line applications from foreign residents, saying they would make up 70 per cent of the pil-grims, but did not explain how many applied or how they were picked.

“Saudi authorities kept the selection process highly opaque since it is a sensitive matter,” Umar Karim, a visiting fellow at the Royal United Services Insti-tute in London, said..

“Keeping it hidden from pub-lic scrutiny is meant to generate less noise about who got selected and who didn’t.”

Even the dramatically curtailed ritual in the holy city of Mecca has drawn a huge rush of applicants

Brazil indigenous chief Aritana badly ill with virus

Brasília

One of Brazil’s leading in-digenous chiefs, Aritana Yawalapiti, is battling a

severe case of the new coronavi-rus, which has devastated native communities in the Amazon region, his son said Tuesday.

Chief Aritana, who is about 70 years old, tested positive for the virus after having trouble breathing in his village in the Xingu indigenous reserve, his son Tapi told AFP.

He was taken to a hospital in the town of Canarana, in the west-central state of Mato Gros-so, then transferred Tuesday to another hospital in Goia-nia, capital of the neighboring state of Goias, that had an in-tensive care bed available, Tapi said.

“His condition is still serious. They’re transferring him to the hospital in Goiania right now,” Tapi said by phone.

Aritana, who is known for fighting to protect the Ama-

zon rainforest and indigenous rights, had been raising funds to help indigenous communities deal with coronavirus when he got sick, he added.

Indigenous peoples in the Amazon region, who have a his-tory of vulnerability to outside diseases, have been hit particu-larly hard by COVID-19.

In Brazil, more than 17,000 have been infected and 544 have died, according to the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples’ Association (APIB).

The virus claimed the life of another top indigenous leader, Paulinho Paiakan, last month.

“We are terribly worried for chief Aritana, who is the lead-ing ‘cacique’ of the peoples of the Upper Xingu region,” said Gert-Peter Bruch, president of French environmental group Planet Amazon.

“All the iconic chiefs of the past 50 years appear to be threatened by the scourge of this disease.”

Indigenous chief Aritana explains how native handicrafts are made on a 2003 visit by Spain’s Queen Sophia to Brasilia

Health concerns for Brazilian indigenous leaders

Nurses Hold Vigil For Nurses Who’ve Died From CoronavirusNational Nurses United (NNU) display 164 white clogs shoes outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US to honor the more than 160 nurses who have lost their lives from COVID-19 in the United States.

08THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Based on what we know about other diseases and what

we know so far about SARS-CoV-2, I think

we can assume that if the virus is ‘infectious in aerosols,’ then we can become infected by breathing them in

LINSEY MARR

A PROFESSOR AT VIRGINIA TECH WHO IS A LEADING EXPERT ON AERIAL

TRANSMISSION OF VIRUSES AND WASN’T INVOLVED IN THE STUDY

Shootout at Chicago funeral leaves 14 woundedAFP | Chicago

A shootout outside a funer-al parlour left 14 people

wounded Tuesday in Chicago, as President Donald Trump threatens to send federal agents to a handful of US cities led by Democratic mayors.

The incident started when occupants of a vehicle “began firing at attendees of a funeral. At that time the attendees of the funeral exchanged fire,” Chicago deputy police superintendent Eric Carter told reporters.

Carter said 14 people were wounded in Tuesday’s shooting, but did not specify the degree of severity.

“Too many guns are on our streets and in the hands of peo-ple who should never possess them,” Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted after what she called a “horrific mass shooting.”

Trump’s threat to send more military-garbed law enforce-ment into US cities has main-ly been in response to the an-

ti-racism protests rocking the country following the death of African-American George Floyd

at the hands of a white Minneap-olis police officer in May.

After the Department of

Homeland Security deployed scores of Border Patrol police and federal marshals -- many in

combat fatigues -- to Portland, Oregon last week, Trump said he could do the same in other Democrat-led cities like Chicago and New York.

“Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trump’s troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents,” mayor Lightfoot tweeted late Tuesday.

According to reports, DHS was preparing to send 150 par-amilitary personnel to Chicago after police there clashed with demonstrators seeking to tear down a statue of Christopher Columbus.

Trump called the move neces-sary, even claiming Chicago was “worse than Afghanistan.”

The president has also sin-gled out Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland as po-tential cities for sending federal agents.

On Monday, the mayors of six major cities -- Atlanta, Wash-ington, Seattle, Chicago, Port-land and Kansas City -- said in a letter to Homeland Securi-ty Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and Attorney General Bill Barr that the uninvited paramil-itary deployments violate the Constitution.

Fourteen people were wounded in the shootout outside a funeral parlor in Chicago

KNOW WHAT

Shootings have be-come breathtakingly normal this summer

across the United States. A total of 63

people were shot and 12 killed over the weekend in Chicago in ongoing gun vio-lence, according to

local media.

Normal speaking and breathing can spread COVID-19: scientists• The team managed to collect microdroplets as small as one micron in diameter

AFP | Washington

Scientists have known for several months the new coronavirus can become

suspended in microdroplets ex-pelled by patients when they speak and breathe, but until now there was no proof that these tiny particles are infectious.

A new study by scientists at the University of Nebraska that was uploaded to a medical preprint site this week has shown for the first time that SARS-CoV-2 taken from microdroplets, defined as under five microns, can replicate in lab conditions.

This boosts the hypothe-sis that normal speaking and breathing, not just coughing and sneezing, are responsible for spreading COVID-19 -- and that infectious doses of the virus can travel distances far greater than the six feet (two meters) urged by social distancing guidelines.

The results are still consid-ered preliminary and have not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, which would lend more credibility to the methods de-vised by the scientists.

The paper was posted to the medrxiv.org website, where most cutting-edge research during the pandem-ic has

first been made public.The same team wrote a paper

in March showing that the virus remains airborne in the rooms of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and this study will soon be pub-lished in a journal, according to the lead author.

“It is actually fairly difficult” to collect the samples, Joshua Santarpia, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center told AFP.

The team used a device the size of a cell phone for the

purpose, but “the concen-trations are typically

very low, your chanc-es of recovering ma-

terial are small.”The scien-

tists took air samples from

five rooms of bedridden pa-tients, at a height of about a foot (30 centimeters) over the foot of their beds.

The patients were talking, which produces microdroplets that become suspended in the air for several hours in what is referred to as an “aerosol,” and some were coughing.

The team managed to collect microdroplets as small as one micron in diameter.

They then placed these sam-ples into a culture to make them grow, finding that three of the 18 samples tested were able to replicate.

For Santarpia, this represents proof that microdroplets, which also travel much greater distanc-es than big droplets, are capable of infecting people.

“It is replicated in cell cul-ture and therefore infectious,” he said.

Why we wear masksThe potential for microdroplet

transmission of the coronavirus was at one stage thought to be improbable by health authorities across the world.

Later, scientists began to change their mind and acknowl-edge it may be a possibility, which is the rationale for uni-versal masking.

The World Health Organiza-tion was among the last to shift its position, doing so on July 7.

“I feel like the debate has be-come more political than scien-tific,” said Santarpia.

“I think most scientists that work on infectious diseases agree that there’s likely an air-borne component, though we may quibble over how large.”

Linsey Marr, a professor at Virginia Tech who is a leading expert on aerial transmission of viruses and wasn’t involved in the study, said it was rare to obtain measurements of the amount of virus present in air.

“Based on what we know about other diseases and what we know so far about SARS-CoV-2, I think we can assume that if the virus is ‘infectious in aerosols,’ then we can become infected by breathing them in,” she said.

Hospital employees in Wuhan, China seal an airvent to prevent possible airborne transmission of the new coronavirus

The scientists took air samples from five rooms of bedridden patients, at a height of about a foot (30 centime-ters) over the foot of their beds. The patients were talking, which produc-es microdroplets that become sus-

pended in the air for several hours in what is referred to as an “aerosol,”

and some were coughing.

09THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

J e l l y f i s h a t t h e S u n s h i n e A q u a r i u m

i n T o k y o

A visitor looking at jellyfish in a 14-meter-wide tank at the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan.

US actor Johnny Depp leaves after attending his libel trial against News Group Newspapers (NGN), at the High Court in London, United Kingdom.

A f t e r l i b e l t r i a l

Bovine fine: Borneo tribal slur costs man eight buffaloes, plus gongs

Kuala Lumpur

A Pakistani man has been fined eight buffaloes and eight gongs by a court on the Malaysian part of Borneo for in-

sulting indigenous groups, an official said Wednesday.The island is home to a kaleidoscope of tribes and, in the

Malaysian part, special courts deal with indigenous laws and customs.

Amir Ali Khan Nawatay was ordered to pay the unusual fine by a native court in Sabah state after he pleaded guilty to making insulting comments about indigenous groups in May and June.

Kota Marudu district chief Baintin Adun, who presided over Tuesday’s case, said recordings of the 50-year-old busi-nessman’s comments had spread on social media, creating a lot of anger.

“We want to make this an example so other people don’t do the same thing again,” he told AFP.

“I want to appeal to society that if there are misunderstand-ings or arguments, don’t mention another person’s race.”

He did not reveal exactly what the Pakistani said. The busi-nessman is a permanent resident of Malaysia, official news agency Bernama reported.

Baintin said Amir had one month to pay the fine, or risked in-curring a 4,000 ringgit ($940) fine or 16 months in jail, or both.

Buffaloes and gongs are traditionally viewed as valuable items in indigenous communities in Sabah, and so can be used as a form of payment to settle grievances or even wedding dowries.

Race is a sensitive issue in multi-ethnic Malaysia, and Sabah is one of its most diverse states, with numerous indigenous groups.

Borneo, shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, is home to vast swathes of jungle and numerous exotic species.

A buffalo in Temerloh, outside Kuala Lumpur. The animals are traditionally viewed as valuable items in indigenous communities in Sabah

Giant whale washes up on Indonesian beachKupang | Indonesia

A giant 23-metre (75-foot) whale briefly washed up

near a beach in Indonesia but it was unclear how the enor-mous marine mammal died, a conservation official said yesterday.

Curious onlookers crowded the shore of coastal Kupang city as officials scrambled to figure out what to do with the bloated carcass, which was first spotted on Tuesday.

But the giant creature was washed back to sea on Wednes-day before it could be brought to shore for an examination.

“We think that it’s a blue whale but we don’t know what caused its death,” said local conservation official Lidya Tesa Saputra.

“It looks like it didn’t die here and may have been deceased for some time,” she added.

Blue whales are the largest animals in existence, weighing up to 200 tons and growing as long as 32 metres.

Seven pilot whales were found dead near Kupang last October.

Cross-currents off the beach pose a danger to whales as they can get caught between reefs

close to shore.In 2018, a sperm whale was

found dead in Indonesia with more than 100 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach, raising concerns about the Southeast Asian archipelago’s massive marine rubbish prob-lem.

Curious onlookers crowded the shore of coastal Kupang city as officials scrambled to figure out what to do with the bloated carcass

The creature, whose tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant, has an average lifespan of 80 to 90 years, according to National Geo-

graphic.KNOW WHAT

Trump says pandemic to ‘get worse’• Over 15 million cases have been confirmed and 615,000 lives lost since the virus was first detected in China

• Second wave fears are growing in Japan’s capital

• France also said transmissions were increasing again

AFP | Washington

The coronavirus death toll in the United States has spiked again with Donald

Trump conceding the pandemic crisis will get worse, as record infections in Australia under-scored second-wave dilemmas globally.

Over 15 million cases have been confirmed and 615,000 lives lost since the virus was first detected in China late last year.

Almost a quarter of those deaths have been in the US, the worst-hit nation after a scat-tershot response from Trump that has been dominated by him repeatedly downplaying the se-verity of the crisis.

With authorities reporting Tuesday the highest daily na-tionwide death toll in weeks of nearly 1,000, Trump adopted a newly serious tone.

“It will probably, unfortu-nately get worse before it gets better,” the president told re-porters during his first formal pandemic briefing for nearly three months.

Other nations, which had eased crippling lockdowns af-ter the virus had appeared to fade, are struggling to combat second waves.

Australia on Wednesday re-ported more than 500 infections in a day, posting a record high

nearly four months after cases appeared to have peaked.

In Melbourne, Australia’s sec-ond-biggest city where most of the new infections have oc-curred, wearing face masks will be mandatory from Thursday.

Second wave fears were also growing in Japan’s capital, with hundreds of new cases reported each day over the past week, promoting authorities to urge people to stay home during an upcoming national holiday.

“The infections are spreading not only among young people but also among middle-aged and older people,” Tokyo gov-ernor Yuriko Koike said, after new clusters were found in city restaurants and theatres.

France also said transmis-sions were increasing again over the summer holiday sea-son, after the country suffered one of Europe’s worst outbreaks during the spring.

Countries with fragile health systems have yet to enjoy even a brief reprieve from the virus, with Mexico on Tuesday pass-ing 40,000 deaths -- the pan-

demic’s fourth-highest national toll.

Fresh data from a study in India also suggested that the virus was spreading much fur-ther than charted, and that offi-cial figures were far lower than reality. The study said nearly one quarter of the population in New Delhi, India’s capital, had contracted the virus.

This would equate to roughly five million infections in New Delhi versus the official data showing 125,000 confirmed cases.

Vaccine hopes However global markets have

been buoyed by a massive Euro-pean Union aid package agreed on this week to staunch the eco-nomic havoc wrought by the pandemic.

Lawmakers in Washington are also preparing a new stim-ulus package.

Hopes for an end to the crisis, which has left tens of millions unemployed around the world and crippled global commerce, have hinged on the production

of a vaccine.One leading candidate is be-

ing developed in part by phar-maceutical giant AstraZeneca, with promising results from clinical trials published on Monday.

But the firm’s chief said a global roll-out was not likely to begin until the end of the year.

Millions around the world have recovered from the disease in lieu of a vaccine, but those who survive severe cases face a long, hard road to regain their health.

In Brazil, 63-year-old Elenice da Silva was recovering from a nearly three-month battle with the virus that left her temporar-ily unable to speak.

Patients like da Silva have been left suffering from atro-phied muscles or chronic prob-lems affecting their lungs and other vital organs.

“Intensive care was awful. But now I’m feeling marvelous,” she said during her recovery. “I’m going to bake a giant cake for everyone.”

US President Donald Trump speaks during the renewed briefing of the Coronavirus Task Force

10THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Kanye West’s erratic behavior puts

spotlight on bipolar disorder

Washington

US rapper and a p p a r e n t presidential

candidate Kanye West has opened up in the past about his strug-gles with bipo-lar disorder.

B u t h i s recent errat-ic be-h a v -i o u r h a s again called into question his health and treatment.

He launched his election cam-paign Sunday with a rambling speech that saw him rant inco-herently, reveal he had wanted to abort his daughter, and break down in tears.

Other celebrities who have spoken publicly about their di-agnoses include actor Stephen Fry and the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

What is the mental illness and why is it often associated with creative people?

Highs and lowsBipolar disorder, formerly

known as “manic depression,” is characterised by extreme mood swings.

On the one hand, patients experience very high periods known as “mania” when they feel energised, elated and can make reckless decisions. They sometimes also experience delu-

sions.“They can almost have no in-

hibitions at all, which means they can spend their life savings in a day,” said Andrew Nieren-berg, a psychiatry professor at Harvard.

“They can do something that’s

really bad judgment that they wouldn’t ordinarily do, either sexually, or in relationships, or work.”

The other “pole” of the illness is depression: ultra-low episodes that can include inability to feel pleasure and suicidal thoughts.

In fact the suicide rate among bipolar disorder patients

is 10–30 times higher than that of the general

population.T h e i l l n e s s

affects up to three percent of the population,

which makes it more common than

schizophrenia but rarer than depression.

And there can be much varia-tion among patients, said Timo-thy Sullivan, the chair of psychi-atry at Staten Island University Hospital.

Some are more depressive and rarely manic, while others are the other way around.

As a result, diagnoses are typically delayed for years. If a patient has so far only experi-enced depression, they may be misdiagnosed.

West first revealed his diag-nosis on his 2018 album “Ye,” where he called it his “super-power.” Last year, he revealed it caused him paranoid delusions and described being handcuffed during treatment.

Risk factorsBipolar disorder is known to

be “one of the more heritable mental illnesses” said Kather-ine Burdick, a psychologist at Harvard and the Brigham and

Women’s Hospital.If one of your parents had the

disorder, your risk is somewhere between 10 to 20 percent.

Scientists are looking for the genes responsible, and trying to understand how these might affect the parts of the brain that deal with emotion.

Another line of research sug-gests that bipolar disorder could be linked to a flaw in how cells

regulate energy, said Nierenberg.There may also be environ-

mental factors.For many, but not all patients,

“there’s a higher rate of child-hood trauma, childhood abuse and neglect,” said Burdick.

Substance abuse is also a risk factor, and women sometimes develop it later in life compared to men.

COVID a trigger?The bedrock for treatment is

mood stabilising drugs.Lithium, which has been used

since the 1940s, is still consid-ered by many clinicians as the “gold standard” despite side ef-fects.

Anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce an abnormal immune response are being investigated as a treatment, but research is preliminary.

Experts have also started to understand the role that the dis-ruption of “social rhythms” play in bipolar disorder, which has shifted more attention toward therapy.

For instance, the death of a pet can trigger a depression-mania cycle, but when scientists stud-ied such events closely, they re-alized patients were not driven by grief alone.

“Not only did the person suf-fer psychologically from that loss, but they used to take the dog out for walks,they got exer-cise, and it also got them up early in the day so that they had social interactions,” said Sullivan.

People with bipolar disorder are sensitive to such disrup-tions, which means events like the coronavirus pandemic and

lockdowns can cause particular harm.

“I have actually had one pa-tient who I haven’t seen in more than 10 years, who I don’t cur-rently treat, who called me up out of the blue and she’s clearly manic,” said Sullivan.

Support groups like the De-pression Bipolar Support Alli-ance are credited with raising awareness and destigmatizing the illness.

Creative link?There is thought to be an

over-representation of artists, writers and musicians among people with bipolar disorder, a subject explored in the book “Touched with Fire.”

Figures from history who may have had the illness include Vin-cent Van Gogh.

“Creative people are distin-guished by particularly unique ways of thinking that involve intense emotional experiences” explained Sullivan.

“It may be that that capaci-ty for that sensitivity involves regulatory systems in the brain that also render you vulnerable to mood disorders.”

Some patients with bipolar disorder see their condition as an asset, even if it can alienate friends and family.

“Researchers have asked a group of patients with different diagnoses, ‘If you had a button that you could press tomorrow and make this go away, would you?’ said Burdick.

“And the only group of pa-tients that do not opt, more com-monly than not, to press the but-ton, are bipolar patients.”

Other celebrities who have spoken publicly about their diagnoses include actor Stephen

Fry and the late fashion designer Alexander Mc-

Queen.

Stephen Fry

Alexander McQueen

Bipolar disorder, for-merly known as “manic

depression,” is char-acterised by extreme

mood swings.

People with bipo-lar disorder are sensitive to dis-ruptions, which means events

like the corona-virus pandemic and lockdowns can cause par-ticular harm.

KNOW WHAT

Johnson says Britain was not influenced by Russia in Brexit• A report, published on Tuesday, cast Russia as a hostile power posing significant threat to Britain and the West

Reuters | London

Prime Minister Boris John-son rejected yesterday any

suggestion that Britain’s vote to leave the European Union had been influenced by Russian interference.

A day after a report by parlia-ment’s intelligence and security committee said the government had failed to try to find out whether Russia had meddled in the Brexit vote, Johnson’s gov-ernment doubled down on its refusal to launch a review.

Instead, the government said

it had taken measures since the review, which was completed in March last year, and would bring forward legislation to counter

“hostile state activity” to deal more effectively with the espio-nage threat.

“The people of this country

didn’t vote to leave the EU be-cause of pressure from Russia or Russian interference - they vot-ed because they wanted to take

back control,” Johnson told par-liament, describing the criticism as being led by those lawmakers who voted to stay in the EU at the 2016 referendum.

“It is the UK that leads the world in caution about Russian interference,” said the prime minister, who was a leading fig-ure in the “leave” campaign.

A spokesman for Labour lead-er Keir Starmer said the main opposition party had deep con-cerns about a “lack of serious-ness” in the prime minister’s response, criticising him for delaying the publication of the report for more than a year.

The report, published on Tuesday, cast Russia as a hostile power posing significant threat to Britain and the West across a range of fronts, and called for the intelligence services to probe possible Russian interference in Brexit.

The government rejected any criticism and has said there was no need for a further review.

“We categorically reject any suggestion that the UK actively avoided investigating Russia,” James Brokenshire, a security minister, told parliament.

“We are unafraid to act wher-ever necessary to protect the UK and our allies from any state threat.”

A spokesman for Johnson said the government would be bringing forward legislation “to counter hostile state activi-ty” in what the prime minister had described as an espionage act.

“It’s purpose will be to mod-ernise existing offences to deal more effectively with the es-pionage threat and to also look at what new offences and powers are needed,” he told reporters.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain

Hilary Duff on quarantining with her children: ‘It’s actually become the norm’Fox | Los Angeles

While many parents have struggled to keep their

kids occupied during the coro-navirus quarantine, Hilary Duff is singing a different tune.

The 32-year-old actress is a mother to two: Luca, 8 -- whom she shares with ex Mike Com-rie -- and Banks, 1, whom she shares with husband M a t t h e w Koma.

Duff spoke to E! News r e c e n t -l y a n d o p e n e d up about b e i n g stuck a t h o m e with her little ones.

She admit-ted that “some days are bet-ter than oth-ers,” but by and large, things are going well.

“I obviously want things to go back to normal, but I’m not going to fight it,” the singer-ac-tress said. “It’s actually become the norm -- ‘here’s what we are doing,’ you know, ‘we’re still in this’ -- and it’s not as much of a panic like, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ Like, we’re in this for a while, and I think some days are better than others.”

She added that certain luxuries have also contributed to the family’s well-being

since the novel virus outbreak.

“It ’s hard to complain b e c a u s e we have a pool, and

a backyard... and we have everything we

need. We have f o o d ,” D u f f e x-plained. “But every-one’s life has changed, s o i t ’ s d e f i n i t e l y still challenging at times.”

Like many other parents out there, the

former “Lizzie McGuire” star has had to tackle some homes-chooling since the quarantine began -- but it’s what comes after school ends that caused some worry for Duff.

11 THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

celebs

Across1- Groomer; 6- ___, I’m Adam; 11- Equivalent wd.; 14- Rate; 15- Uneven; 16- Color; 17- Midway alternative; 18- Luminous; 19- Nipper’s co.; 20- Feat; 22- Something drawn out; 24- Zero; 28- Krypton, for one; 30- Ring combo; 31- Yellow-fever mosquito; 32- Colorado resort; 33- Instant; 37- Tee follower; 38- “Delta of Venus” author Nin; 39- Wee one; 40- Unwavering; 43- Gentle water sound; 45- Army unit; 46- Evening party; 47- Hoof infection of sheep; 50- Prior; 51- Sudden convulsion; 52- Big East team; 53- Hanoi holiday; 54- Assisted; 57- Creamy white; 62- Half and half; 63- Din; 64- Fuel transport; 65- Letter addenda; 66- English royal house; 67- Food and water;

Down 1- Friend in the ‘hood; 2- Go, team!; 3- Tony-winning Hagen; 4- Poitier role; 5- Dancing par-ty; 6- Donnybrook; 7- Like Death Valley; 8- Man’s best friend; 9- Bat wood; 10- Like some mail; 11- Gesture of indifference; 12- New Mexico’s state flower; 13- ___-foot oil; 21- Brian of rock; 23- Ricky’s portrayer; 24- ___ Ark; 25- Start; 26- Native American tent; 27- Broke bread; 28- Pardon; 29- Citrus coolers; 31- Gather together; 33- Not proper; 34- Maker of Pong; 35- We’re Off ___ the Wizard; 36- Early anesthetic; 38- Bushy hairdo; 41- After John in the NT; 42- Inactive; 43- Segment; 44- Abner’s adjective; 46- Posed; 47- Camera setting; 48- Unfolds; 49- Novelist Joyce Carol ___; 50- Duck with soft down; 52- 100 centavos; 55- Acknowledgment of debt; 56- Sufficed; 58- Contend; 59- Cheer for Manolete; 60- Roulette bet; 61- Decade divs.;

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.

Paris Hilton says she still has ‘nightmares’ about her pastFox | Los Angeles

Paris Hilton has a hard time looking back on her child-

hood -- in fact, it still haunts her today.

Hilton, 39, is set to be the subject of the documenta-ry “This is Paris,” which will explore the heiress’ past and delve into her traumas, as well as how she became the person we know her to be today.

People mag-azine obtained a special sneak peek of the documentary, in which Hilton dis-closes her negative feelings surrounding her past.

“I ’m nervous. I ’m shaking,” she said. “It’s hard to even eat, because my stomach is just like, turning. I don’t know — it’s something that’s very per-sonal, and not something I like talking about.”

The former reality star add-ed: “No one really knows who I am. Something happened in my childhood that I’ve never talked about with anyone. I still have nightmares about it.”

Per the outlet, Hilton’s mother Kathy Hilton and sister Nicky Rothschild Hilton will also appear in the doc.

The film was direct-ed by Alexandra Dean and will premiere on Hilton’s YouTube

channel on Sept. 14.Hilton previously spoke

about the doc during an appearance on “The Talk,” calling it “very therapeutic” to film.

“I became very close with the director and she

really asked me so many questions,” said the former “Simple Life” star. “I started thinking about my past and what I’ve been through and realized just how much it’s affected my life and how I was holding on to so much trauma for so long.”

Anna Camp tests positive for coronavirus after ‘one time’ of not wearing mask ANI | Los Angeles

‘Pitch Perfect’ star Anna Camp revealed how she

ended up contracting COVID-19 after not wearing a mask “one time” as the public spaces be-gan reopening.

The American actor ex-plained through an Instagram post and shared the symptoms she went through. The actor mentioned she was “extremely sick” for three weeks, during which time her swab results

were negative.“People are saying it’s like

having the flu, but I’ve had the flu, and this is absolutely not that. The panic of contracting a virus that is basically untreat-able and is so new that no one knows the long term irrepa-rable damage it does to your immune system is unbelievably stressful,” the 37-year-old actor wrote.

Camp, who is also a singer, said she had been meticulous about wearing a mask, and

followed other precautionary measures throughout, includ-ing hand sanitizing.

“One time, when the world was starting to open up, I decid-ed to forgo wearing my mask in public. One. Time. And I ended up getting it,” the ‘True Blood’ actor revealed.

She noted losing her “sense of smell and taste”, and has only smelling “30 per cent” now.

Other lingering symptoms, a month later, include “dizzi-ness, extreme fatigue, impacted

sinuses, upset stomach, nau-sea, vomiting, and fever.”

She fur-ther urged everybody to follow a l l t h e g u i d e -lines, and w e a r a mask as it c a n “ s av e lives”.

Hilary Duff

Anna Camp

Scarlett Johansson and Colin JostParis Hilton

David SchwimmerRebel Wilson

Rebel goes for hike as she

continues her fitnessANI | Washington

It seems like Australian actor Rebel Wilson is reaching new heights

with her weight loss journey.According to People Magazine, the

40-year-old actor celebrated yet anoth-er successful workout session when she shared an Instagram slideshow from the top of a cliff after her hike to Bar-renjoey Head Lighthouse in Palm Beach, Australia.

In one shot, the ‘Pitch Per-fect’ star is seen wearing a teal

top and matching leggings from Gymshark. She can

be seen striking a fierce pose alongside a friend

in front of a pictur-esque landscape.

A n o t h e r B o o -

merang video shows Wilson mak-ing a face at the camera as she takes in the gorgeous view.

“#PalmBeach #Hayden #Pooches-4Lyfe ps my athleisure is @gymshark,” she wrote in the post’s caption.

Back in January, Wilson shared that she’s hoping to slim down to 75 kg, which

is about 165 lbs, by the end of the year.The ‘Isn’t It Romantic star noted, “I’ll be honest with you guys -- with

my ‘Year of Health’ mission I’m trying to get to 75kgs and ca-reer-wise am trying to get one of my movies into production

before the end of the year! Both of these things are requiring a daily effort and there are constant setbacks -- but I’m working hard x.”

‘Friends’ actor David Schwimmer settles ‘we were on a break’ debate at ‘The Tonight Show’ANI | Washington

Putting an end on the years-long debate on whether

‘Friends’ characters Ross Geller and Ra-

chel Greene were on

a

“break” during an instance in the show, actor David Schwim-mer who portrayed the char-acter of Ross on Monday (local time) said that the couple was actually on a “break”.

According to E! News, Schwimmer’s statements came during Monday’s episode of the famous talk show ‘The Tonight Show’ hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

With fans of the famous 90s sitcom being divided on

the subject, Fallon asked Schwimmer to give his take on it to which he replied, “Yeah, it ’s not even a question. They were on a break.”

T h e d e b a t e o n t h e “break,”

i s s u e started in

t h e t h i r d season of the

show and con-tinued through-out the show.

It started when Jennifer Anis-ton’s character

Rachel Green accused Schwim-mer’s character Ross Geller of cheating on him, while Ross argued and said that he did not cheat on her as “they were on a break.”

The iconic line, “they were on a break,” was repeated several times throughout the show.

During the interview with Fallon, Schwimmer also spoke about the upcoming reunion special episode of the famous sitcom.

“It’s unscripted. It’s basi-cally a really fun interview and then some other sur-prise bits,” he said.

Jennifer Aniston, Court-eney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt

LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer were all scheduled to reunite for the unscripted re-union. The spe-cial was set to film on Stage 24, the origi-nal “Friends” soundstage on the Warner Bros. S t u d i o l o t i n Burbank.

Scarlett Johansson, Colin Jost’s wedding plans remain in limboIANS | Los Angeles

Hollywood stars Scarlett Jo-hansson and Colin Jost are

rethinking their wedding plans amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In “Andy Cohen Live”, Jost opened up about his wedding plans and how he and Johans-son have had to reevaluate their

wedding plans amid the pan-demic, reports etonline.com.

Asked whether the pandemic made them rethink how they will get married, the 38-year-old said: “Of course. We don’t even know what’s legally allowed. This is not the time to get all your elderly, at risk relatives together all in one big group ...

who knows!”Jost went on to say that, at

the moment, they really don’t know “when that moment will be” that they can actually have a wedding ceremony.

“We don’t know if we could do a live show for SNL yet, let alone have a wedding where the audience is elders,” Jost shared.

Watford’s Foster says club low on confidence

Reuters | London

Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster said the

team are suffering a crisis of confidence after Tuesday’s 4-0 Premier League defeat by Manchester City left the club mired in the relegation zone.

The club’s 19th defeat in 37 games this season came only two days after Nigel Pearson became the third manager to be sacked Wat-ford in the current cam-paign. It left them 18th in the table ahead of Sunday’s clash with Arsenal.

“The confidence is so cra-zy low. I don’t know why it is or why it should be ... you get into a state of trying to minimise as much damage as you can, but it’s a dan-gerous way to approach games,” Foster told Sky Sports.

“We’re well versed with what goes on in this club. It is what it is. You get used to it in football nowadays ... you’ve got to roll with the punches.

“You can’t blame anything other than your own perfor-mances and every one of us has to look at ourselves ... we’ve got a massive game on Sunday, that’s what we’ve got to look at.”

Guardiola seeks more consistency from Manchester City next seasonReuters | London

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the

individual achievements of his players must be viewed in re-lation to the team’s success and consistency after Raheem Ster-ling’s brace sealed a 4-0 Premier League win over Watford on Tuesday.

City forward Sterling’s first-half goals took his league tally to 19 goals for the season, but Guardiola reminded his players that they were 15 points behind champions Liverpool having played one match less.

“It’s important for Raheem to score goals but we cannot forget we finished a long way off the champions. This is not good for us,” Guardiola told reporters.

“Of course, we’ve been much better than the other 18 teams. The distance from second to first is big, the distance between second and third is big too, but it’s not enough.

“The personal achievements

must always be related to the achievements of the team, which has not been perfect.”

The result meant that Guardi-ola’s side have won four league games in a row for the first time this season and the Spaniard said his team had to be more consistent to challenge for the

title in the 2020-21 campaign.“We all still need to know

we’re far away from Liverpool. This was the first time we’ve managed to win four in a row in the league. Two seasons ago, we managed 18, last season we managed 14,” Guardiola added.

“This shows how poor the

consistency has been this sea-son because we’ve had the same team. This happened because something was wrong and I need to discover what it was ahead of next season.”

City finish their campaign with a home match against rel-egated Norwich City on Sunday.

12

sports

THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Ronaldo targets more records as Juventus close in on title• Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 30 goals in Serie A this season

Reuters | Milan

Cristiano Ronaldo is eyeing more records as Juventus

head for Udinese on Thursday with a ninth consecutive Serie A title within their grasp.

Ronaldo scored a double on Monday against Lazio to bring his tally to 51 Serie A goals since arriving in Turin in July 2018.

The 35-year-old not only be-came the first player to achieve a half century of goals in Italy, Spain and England, but was also the fastest, doing so in 61 league games.

Last year the five-time Bal-lon d’Or winner scored 21 goals in his first season in Italy, but thanks to his brace against Lazio he brought his tally to 30 this term, with four games remain-ing.

Another goal would see him match former Italy World Cup winner Felice Borel, who was the last player to score 31 goals for Juventus in the 1933-34 sea-son.

For Ronaldo the title of top scorer -- ‘Capocannoniere’ -- is up for grabs, as he is currently level on 30 with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile.

And he could even overtake Bayern Munich’s Robert Le-wandowski, the top scorer in Europe with 34 goals in the Bun-desliga this season.

There is also the record of

Argentine teammate Gonzalo Higuain, who was Serie A top scorer under Sarri at Napoli in the 2015–16 season with 36 goals.

“Cristiano is unpredictable,” said Sarri. “If he puts his mind to something, he’s very deter-mined.

“Not only physically, but, above all, mentally: he is a cham-pion with his feet, but also with his head.”

‘Give your all’ “Very important victory!

We’re almost there guys! Let’s go,” Ronaldo wrote on Insta-gram after the Lazio game.

Juventus can seal the title with a win over 16th-placed Udinese, but it depends on In-ter Milan, who are eight points behind the champions, losing to Fiorentina at the San Siro.

Otherwise they could win their 36th Scudetto on Sunday, at home against Sampdoria, giv-ing Sarri, 61, his first league title.

It would allow them to start preparing for the Champions League, and overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit against French club Lyon in the last 16 next month.

“Juventus are still the best side in the league,” said Inter boss Antonio Conte, who coached the

Turin side to the first three titles in their current run of league triumphs.

“They’re set to win their ninth Scudetto in a row. We can learn from them.

“We’ve got to keep trying to improve, to be more involved in the title race, so we can eventu-ally get our hands on the Scu-detto.”

Inter Milan, who have not won the title since their historic treble in 2010 under Jose Mour-inho, are however assured of a Champions League place next season.

“It’s great that we’ve achieved this goal,” continued Conte, “it was one of the club’s main re-quests, to improve our results compared to previous seasons and to steady the ship so that things aren’t so hectic at the end of the season.”

Against Franck Ribery’s Fior-entina they were held 1-1 earlier this season, with the 12th-placed Tuscany side coming off back-to-back wins.

“They’ve got a good squad of players, they’re a good team and Giuseppe Iachini is doing a great job as coach,” added Conte.

“They’ll be unfazed by us, but when you’re up against Inter you always have the motivation to give your all.”

Lazio, in fourth, play at Cagliari after their league hopes were dashed at Juventus on Monday. They too are also poised to return to the Champi-ons League after 13 years, as they are 11 points clear of fifth-placed Roma.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus scores his first goal from penalty spot during the match against Lazio

Pakistan to pick only an ‘up to the mark’ Amir - WaqarReuters | Karachi

No player is indispensable and Pakistan will pick Mo-

hammad Amir against England only if the bowler is “up to the mark”, bowling coach Waqar Younis has said.

Amir had initially pulled out of the tour but is set to join the Pakistan squad in England fol-lowing the birth of his second daughter last week.

Waqar suggested Amir, whose test retirement last year irked the team management, could not take his place for granted in England where Pa-kistan are scheduled to play three tests and as many Twen-ty20 Internationals from Aug. 5.

“The doors are never shut for anyone even if they have played for Pakistan or (are) yet to play,” Waqar told in an on-line interaction with reporters on Tuesday.

“He is a seasoned bowler and at times it did hurt when he left test cricket at a crucial time and we all expressed our displeasure on it.

“But we have moved on and we have to see where he stands. If he’s up to the mark, then we will pick him and play him. But nobody is indispensable. I nev-er thought we couldn’t func-tion without one cricketer.”

Jolted by the crafty left-arm quick’s shock test retirement, former captain Waqar over-saw the creation of a bigger pace pool, which includes pace mainstay Shaheen Afridi and the exciting teenager Naseem Shah.

Waqar said the youngsters could learn from Amir’s ex-perience.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling scores his team’s second goal from a rebounded penalty save by Watford’s Ben Foster

Mohammad Amir

Ben Foster

Another goal would see Cristiano Ronaldo match former Italy World Cup winner Felice Borel, who was

the last player to score 31 goals for Juventus in the 1933-34 seasonKNOW WHAT

After lighting strike, Russian teen goalie returns to pitchReuters | Moscow

When 16-year-old goal-keeper Ivan Zaborovsky

was rushed to hospital after being struck by lighting dur-ing a warm-up, few thought he would survive.

Footage from the stadium outside Moscow where his youth team, FC Znamya Tru-da, were training on July 4 showed a lightning bolt rip-ping through a gloomy sky and landing directly on Zaborovsky, who crashed onto the ground unconscious.

Coach Anton Basov ran over to discover his goalkeeper ly-ing face down on the pitch. He flipped him over to discover the front of his jersey had been burnt.

The player who so often had saved his team was the one who needed saving.

After Basov performed first aid, Zaborovsky was taken to hospital where he was put in an induced coma to assess his injuries.

Less than three weeks later, Zaborovsky has returned to the pitch. The only thing that re-minds him of what could have been a deadly incident is a burn on his chest, where he had been wearing a chain.

“It was difficult to breathe, but that’s about it,” he said, add-ing that he didn’t remember anything from the day of the incident. “It’s getting better and

better now. Things are back to normal.”

On Tuesday, Zaborovsky signed a contract with his club’s senior team, which plays in Russia’s third divi-sion, something that had been planned before the lightning strike.

“Ivan is the goalkeeper on the regional team. He has good prospects,” Basov said.

Tokyo 2020 preparing to deliver Games with COVID-19: CEO MutoReuters | Tokyo

Tokyo Olympics organisers are preparing to host the

Games next year even if the global coronavirus pandemic hasn’t eased substantially, or-ganising committee chief exec-utive Toshiro Muto said.

The Tokyo Olympics had been scheduled to start on Fri-day but were put back to 2021 because of the pandemic.

Since then, organisers have scrambled to rearrange an event that has been almost a decade in the making whilst trying to ensure next year’s Olympics are safe for athletes, officials and supporters.

Muto said that although organisers hoped the threat posed by the virus could be reduced, nobody knows what the situation will be when the Games start on July 23, 2021.

Organisers are assuming coronavirus will remain a ma-jor problem.

“It is rather difficult for us to expect that the coronavirus pandemic is contained,” Muto told Reuters. “But if we can de-liver the Games in Tokyo with coronavirus, Tokyo can be the role model for the next Olympic

Games or other various interna-tional events.”

Muto said he hoped Tokyo 2020 could be the benchmark in a post-pandemic world.

“By delivering the Games successfully in Tokyo we strongly hope that can create a legacy that is in the history of mankind.”

AFP | Shah Alam, Malaysia

Her eyes fixed on the flag in the distance, Jamia-tul Akmal Abdul Jabar

takes a run-up past her cheering friends and kicks a football down a golf course in Malaysia.

This is “footgolf”, a novel fu-sion of two of the world’s most popular sports that is growing fast and attracting people to the fairways.

It follows the rules of golf, but players leave their clubs at home and instead tee off with their feet try to complete each hole in as few kicks as possible.

Jamiatul was having a go at

the sport with her friends on a converted course with 21-inch (53-centimetre) holes outside the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The 38-year-old said she had considered golf “such a boring game” but was rather taken by footgolf.

“You feel that this is some-thing new, something to expe-rience,” Jamiatul, an avid futsal player, told AFP. “I’m planning to book another (session).”

Thousands of players are now kicking balls on footgolf courses in about 36 countries, and the sport has been governed by an international federation since

2012.Several World Cups have been

staged, although the 2020 edi-tion originally due to take place in Japan has been postponed to next year due to the coronavirus.

The sport’s origins aren’t clear, but one of the earliest re-corded tournaments was in the Netherlands in 2008.

Boost for coursesIn Malaysia, people started

playing footgolf in 2018 at the Bukit Jelutong course outside the capital Kuala Lumpur, which had been abandoned but was given a makeover by Footgolf Malaysia.

Jeffrey Cottam, who co-found-ed the organisation, said initial attempts to start the sport were resisted by course owners who balked at the idea of letting foot-ballers onto their greens.

But he finally managed to set up at Bukit Jelutong, and the company now manages two foot-

golf courses in Malaysia -- the second is in the southern state of Johor -- with a third on the way.

More than 2,000 people play

each month in Malaysia, Cottam said.

“Footgolf, like golf, isn’t about strength and how young you are,” he told AFP. “It’s more technical... It’s not about beating people. It’s about beating the course.”

He also hoped the growing popularity of the sport could give some help to ailing courses.

Golf has fallen out of favour in many countries, with young people largely uninterested and few having the time to spend a whole day playing the sport,

leading to many courses closing.But footgolf is giving them

some much-needed revenue -- in the US, for instance, the sport is now played on more than 500 courses, according to the Amer-ican Footgolf Federation.

Danny Chia, a Malaysian pro-fessional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour, also said footgolf might help courses.

“There are a still a lot of golf courses out there that are not doing very well,” he told AFP.

“This could be a new avenue for them.”

13THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

Get in the hole - Jamiatul Akmal Abdul Jabar watches as she sinks a foot putt in Shah Alam, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, during a round of footgolf

Sole in one! Players get a kick out of footgolf

Jamiatul Akmal Abdul Jabar kicks from the tee on a footgolf course in Shah Alam, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur

A still image shows soccer goalkeeper Ivan Zaborovsky who gets struck by a lightning in Moscow Region

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past the Olympic rings in front of the Japan Olympics Museum in Tokyo

Jamiatul Akmal Abdul Jabar tries to find the green during a round of footgolf

The sport’s origins aren’t clear, but one of the earliest recorded tournaments was in the Netherlands in 2008KNOW WHAT

Footgolf is a novel fusion of two of the world’s most popular sports that is growing fast and attracting people to the fairways. It follows the rules of golf, but players leave their clubs at home and instead tee off with their feet try to complete each hole in as few kicks as possible

14THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

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Archer could miss third Test after revealing racist abuse England paceman Jofra Archer was forced to self-isolate after a breach of coronanvirus protocols

AFP | London

England’s Jofra Archer says he was racially abused after

his breach of coronavirus proto-cols and is struggling to get into the right frame of mind to play in the decisive third Test against the West Indies.

The 25-year-old fast bowler was omitted from the England team that won the second Test at Old Trafford on Monday due to an unauthorised trip home after the West Indies’ victory in the first Test in Southampton.

He is free to play after two negative coronavirus tests.

Archer said in his Daily Mail column published yesterday that he had not “committed a crime”.

He said some of the social me-dia criticism he had received had been racist and felt uncer-tain about taking the field on Friday for the final Test, also at Old Trafford.

“I need to be 100 percent men-tally right so that I can throw myself into my cricket this week,” Archer wrote.

“If I play and don’t bowl 90 miles an hour it’s going to be news. If I don’t bowl 90 miles per hour for long enough it’s

going to be news,” he added.Archer said England had

enough bowling resources if he was not ready to return.

Second Test standout per-former Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, veter-an James Anderson and Mark Wood are all available.

“I give 100 percent every time I go out there and I don’t want to go out on the field unless I can guarantee doing that,” Archer said.

The paceman, who was fined and issued with a written warn-ing for his breach of the rules, thanked England star Ben Stokes

for helping him “deal with being in the spotlight of international sport”.

Barbados-born Archer, sub-jected to racist abuse by a spec-tator during a tour of New Zea-land last year, said he would no longer tolerate such comments online.

“Some of the abuse I have tak-en over the past few days on Instagram has been racist and I have decided that enough is enough... so I have forwarded my complaints to the ECB (Eng-land and Wales Cricket Board).”

Archer, who burst onto the in-ternational scene last year when he bowled the decisive Super Over in England’s World Cup final win over New Zealand, said he wanted to look ahead.

“I know what I did was an er-ror of judgement and I have suf-fered the consequences of that,” he said. “I haven’t committed a crime and I want to start feeling myself again.”

I need to be 100 percent mentally right

so that I can throw myself into my cricket this week. If I play and

don’t bowl 90 miles an hour it’s going to

be news. If I don’t bowl 90 miles per

hour for long enough it’s going to be news

JOFRA ARCHER

England’s Jofra Archer looks on during a match (file photo)

Taqawi congratulates Princess Reema on IOC membership

TDT | Manama

President of the Bahrain Badminton and Squash

Federation, Dr. Sawsan Haji Taqawi, has extended sin-cere congratulations to HRH Princess Reema bint Ban-dar bin Sultan Al-Saud on winning the membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Taqawi expressed her delight over HRH Princess Reema’s IOC victory, which, she said, reflects the dis-tinguished status enjoyed by Saudi and Arab cadres, lauding the competence and experience of Princess Ree-ma. She stressed that HRH Princess Reema’s victory is the fruitful outcome of the support enjoyed by wom-en sports leaders in Saudi Arabia, under the leader-ship of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al- Saud.

Taqawi wished HRH Prin-cess Reema every success in developing the internation-al olympic movement, along with other IOC members.

Dr. Sawsan Haji Taqawi

Man United should recall Henderson to help De Gea, says BerbatovAFP | London

Manchester United need to bring back in-form

keeper Dean Henderson from his loan spell at Sheffield Unit-ed to help regular starter Da-vid de Gea rediscover his tal-ent, according to their former striker Dimitar Berbatov.

The Spaniard has come un-der scrutiny this season, par-ticularly after his performance during United’s 3-1 defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-fi-nal with goals from Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount coming following his errors.

“If United decide to bring back Dean Henderson from Sheffield United, I think that will do De Gea good,” Ber-batov told Betfair. “Players need that competi- t i o n and Henderson is doing tre-mendous-ly well in my o p i n -ion.

“Henderson is 23, which for a goalkeep-er is still very young, he’s got a lot of football ahead of him, but you can see that he is hun-gry to play and I think the competition he could bring to De Gea

could be the difference maker, or breaker.

“Sometimes when you feel to secure in your position that is the moment when you start making mistakes.

“It’s the same with outfield players, when you think you are untouchable you make more mistakes because you are over-confident.”

Henderson, who last year signed a contract with Man-chester United until June 2022, has already registered 13 clean sheets this season for Sheffield United.

“He (De Gea) is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world, regardless of the mis-takes he has made this season,”

said Berbatov. “Every goalkeeper, even the greats of the past have all made mis-

takes throughout the years.

“It’s David’s job to evaluate his perfor-mance and

I ’ m s u r e he knows that he’s not doing well and

h e c a n do much,

much bet-ter.”

Dean Henderson

Basketball federation moves games re-start to SeptemberTDT | Manama

The Bahrain Basketball As-sociation (BBA) has an-

nounced that it has moved the start of the resumption of play in the 2019/2020 na-tional basketball season from mid-August to the first week of September.

The BBA has decided to amend the dates of the remain-ing games in the Zain Bahrain Basketball League and the Khal-ifa bin Salman Cup in order to allow for more preparation time for the participating clubs, fol-lowing what could be around a five-month ban caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-demic.

The Golden Square semi-fi-nals of the Zain league will now take place from September 3 to 11 in best-of-three format. That will lead to the championship series from September 20 to 26, also to be played over three

games, if necessary.Meanwhile, the Khalifa bin

Salman Cup will continue with its quarter-final contests on September 16 and 17, with the participation of one foreign pro-fessional player.

The final four, to be played in a best-of-three format, will be held from September 29 to October 5, setting the stage for the one-off Cup-deciding con-test on October 10, which will mark the end of the national basketball season.

The semi-finals and finals of both the Zain league and the Khalifa bin Salman Cup will be played with two professional players per team.

BBA president Talal Kanoo

expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to all the clubs under the BBA umbrella for their continuous cooperation in de-veloping the game in Bahrain and national competitions.

Kanoo indicated that the deci-sion to amend the dates for the resumption of play comes with-in the framework of strengthen-ing relations between the BBA and clubs, and for the benefit of all.

He stressed that the BBA is sparing no effort in implement-ing measures to help protect the health and safety of all those involved when games are set to come back, in line with the national efforts to combat the global health crisis.

BBA president Talal Kanoo

Participating basketball clubs must strictly adhere to all health and safety measures is-sued by the Bahrain Olympic Committee and Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs when

games resume. Only 20 team members per club, including players and technical and administrative staff, will be allowed to enter the playing arena for each game. Partici-

pants will be barred from entering the venue if their body temperature checks indicate a reading of 37.5 degrees Celsius or above

DON’T MISS IT

100-goal milestone yet to sink in, says Leicester’s VardyAFP | London

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy said scoring 100 Premier

League goals was a massive achievement but its signifi-cance would hit home only after his retirement from the game.

The 33-year-old, who net-

ted his 100th Premier League goal in the 3-0 home victory over Crystal Palace earlier this month, became the first Leicester player to reach the milestone.

He also became the 29th player to score a century in the English top flight, with his 103 Premier League goals coming in

210 games, after he debuted in the competition in the 2014-15 season at the age of 27.

“It’s a massive achievement but it’s one of those, ‘yes you’ve done it’, but it’s all about the next game then, so you don’t really get time to have it sink in,” the English striker told the club’s website.Jamie Vardy