editor@omanobserver.om www.omanobserver.omfollow us @omanobserverEstablished 1981

OMAN DAILY

Editor-in-chief : Abdullah bin Salim al Shueili

FRIDAY | OCTOBER 23, 2020 | RABEE AL AWWAL 6, 1442 AH VOL. 39 NO. 344 | PAGES 12 | BAISAS 200

PRAYER TIMINGSFAJR: 04:52DHUHR: 11:56ASR: 15:13MAGHRIB: 17:40ISHA: 19:50

WEATHER TODAY

MUSCATMAX: 310CMIN: 220C

SALALAHMAX: 310CMIN: 250C

NIZWAMAX: 360CMIN: 180C

SUNRISE 06.08 AM

THAI PM REVOKES EMERGENCY MEASURES AFTER PROTESTS

BELARUS OPPOSITION WINS EU PARLIAMENT AWARD

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INSIDE

REGION

WORLD

Crew returns to Earth from ISS

Egypt to vote for new parliament

NEW YORK: Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and American astronaut Chris Cassidy have landed safely on Earth after spending half a year on the International Space Station (ISS), according to Nasa.

The trio landed in a remote town in Kazakhstan, Nasa said in a tweet. The 402-kilometre journey back to earth took about three hours and 20 minutes. — dpa

CAIRO: Egyptians go to the polls this weekend to elect a new parliament.

In the second national elections this year, the North African country will be electing 568 seats out of 596 in the lower house of parliament.

The remaining deputies will be appointed by President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.

Giant billboards have flourished across the bustling capital, Cairo, and elsewhere ahead of the vote on Saturday and Sunday.

And online campaigns have even seen some candidates releasing video-clips of songs to draw support.

Over 4,000 candidates are running this time, with the most fielded by a coalition led by Mostakbal Watan party. — AFP

P12OMAN LEAGUE RESTARTS TODAY WITH 7 MATCHES

JAPAN’S PLAN TO BUILD MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM

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OMANI COMPANY WINS OILFIELD CONTRACTS WORTH $1 BILLIONLeading Omani oilfield services provider Gulf Energy SAOC (GES) has won several contracts from Petroleum Development of Oman (PDO) valued at over $1 billion, its parent firm National Energy Services Reunited Corp (NESR) announced on Thursday. These contract extensions include Cementing, Coil Tubing and Stimulation, Fishing and Milling, and Downhole Tools contracts for a period up to nine years. SEE P7

UK SEALS BREXIT DEAL WITH EFTA NATIONS

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Banksy’s take on Monet masterpiece fetches £7.6mLONDON: An oil painting by British street artist Banksy parodying a Claude Monet masterpiece sold in London for £7.6 million, the second highest price at auction for the mysterious artist.

The oil on canvas work, “Show Me the Monet”, a modern take on Monet’s impressionist classic “The Water-Lily Pond”, sold for £7,551,600 ($9.8m, 8.4m euros) at Sotheby’s following a bidding battle.

“The hammer came down after five determined collectors battled for nearly nine minutes to drive the

final price beyond its estimate of £3,000,000-5,000,000 to become the second highest price for the artist at auction,” Sotheby’s said.

The sale comes a year after a Banksy painting depicting the British parliament populated by chimpanzees smashed the record for the street artist by fetching nearly £9.9 million.

On that occasion the 2009 work entitled “Devolved Parliament” attracted a 13-minute battle between 10 different bidders.

— AFP

Hariri designated Lebanon’s PM for fourth timeBEIRUT: Three-time Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri was renamed to the post on Thursday to create a reform-orientated cabinet that can lift the country out of its worst economic crisis in decades.

Hariri, 50, made his comeback to take on the difficult task almost a year after stepping down under pressure from an unprecedented protest movement demanding a complete overhaul of Lebanon’s political system.

The country is under pressure to form a crisis cabinet of independents to address a plummeting economy made worse by the coronavirus pandemic and the devastating blast at the Beirut

port on August 4.Immediately after President

Michel Aoun named him, the returning premier vowed to form a cabinet of experts, in line with conditions set by French President Emmanuel Macron to help rescue the country from crisis.

SEE PAGE 4

MUSCAT: Dr Mahad bin Said Baowain, Minister of Labour, on Thursday issued a decision declaring next Thursday, 12th Rabee Al Awwal, 1442 AH— which falls on October 29, 2020, as an official holiday for employees of public and private sector establishments.

The decision reads as follows: “On the approach of Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) birthday anniversary, it has been decided that 12 Rabee al Awwal 1442 AH, which falls on October 29, 2020, will be an official holiday for employees of units of the State’s Administrative Apparatus and other legal entities and establishments of the private sector.

Employers at private sector establishments may agree on terms to engage employees on the said holiday — if deemed necessary the nature of their work — provided they compensate the workers for the holiday.

We take this opportunity to greet His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, wishing him plentiful blessings.

— ONA

MUSCAT: In reaffirmation of the pledge he made in earlier Royal speech-proclaiming his keenness to direct financial resources in an optimum manner and to place fiscal balance on top of the government’s priorities — His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has approved a Medium-Term Fiscal Balance Plan (2020-2024) devised by the government.

The plan includes a set of programmes whose overall goal is to lay down foundations for financial sustainability in the Sultanate, cut down debt, raise the efficiency of government spending through prioritising of financial action, increase government income from non-oil sectors, bolster the State’s financial reserves and improve

revenues from government assets to enhance their capacity to address any financial challenges and to channel these revenues into the right course for economic growth and prosperity.

Within the context of this blessed Royal endorsement, His Majesty the Sultan has issued directives to speed up the establishment of a national integrated system for social assurance with a view to protecting low-income segments and Social Security Scheme families against any adverse impacts, as designed in the Plan’s measures and procedures.

The Royal orders also included the implementation of a number of developmental projects, to come up in different governorates, to the tune of RO 371 million.

BOUNTIFUL VALLEY

Wadi Bani Kharus is one of the most famous valleys that bear witness to ancient Omani history. The valley abounds with various plants, flowers, medicinal herbs and wildlife. It has afalaj, water springs, various rock formations and archaeological inscriptions on stones and old houses. SEE P2

Prophet’s Birthday holiday announced

Orders implementation of developmental projects worth RO 371 million

Medium-Term Fiscal Balance Plan to make government finances sustainable

Directives to speed up establishment of social security system for low-income families

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insideoman

WADI BANI KHARUS valley bears witness to ancient Omani history

AL AWABI: The Sultanate is rich in many tourist potentials that constitute an important asset to the national economy.

One of these important tourist destinations is Wadi Bani Kharus in the Wilayat of Al Awabi, Governorate of South Al Batinah.

Wadi Bani Kharus is one of the most famous valleys that bear witness to the ancient Omani history.

The valley is characterised by the cultivation of many fruit trees and various agricultural crops.

It abounds with various plants, flowers, medicinal herbs, and wildlife. It has also many falajs, water springs, various rock formations and archaeological inscriptions on some

stones and old houses.The water of Wadi Bani Kharus

flows down when it rains, irrigating a group of villages and orchards along the valley.

Upon the arrival at Al Awabi fort, the visitor passes by several villages, agricultural areas, and valleys such as the ‘Safun’ valley, the villages of Hadis, Dhahir Sokotra, Al Houdiniya, Al Rawda, and Al Markh, and others, to the highest point connecting the valley to the slopes of Al Jabal Al Akhdhar in the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah.

The Koor al Ghaba path, as some call it, located in the valley, represents an important and vital option for lovers of hiking and climbing. Tourists

from inside and outside the Sultanate flock throughout the year to Wadi Bani Kharus due to its picturesque nature and fabulous landscapes.

What makes this path different is the constant flow of water and the presence of many ponds for those who like to swim.

The journey begins at the Areesh Al Hail mosque, where cars park at the bottom of the valley in the village of Al Alya.

The journey can also start from the villages of Saqr and Sahukoun.

Many people continue to walk uphill, passing by Jubat al Kaysan, which may sometimes be filled with deep water, forcing hikers to take the mountain road to the right of the

water pool up to the top until reaching Koor al Ghaba.

For those who want to continue hiking and climbing, the village of Al Sujara in the Al Jabal Al Akhdhar in the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah, is their final destination after a journey that lasts more than four hours between the rocks of the valley or climbing mountains sometimes.

The tourist may visit villages of Chinot, the Maawal Cave, or Hail Al

Misbit and other villages, or go down a little to ‘Saqatna’ and

other villages of Al Jabal Al Akhdhar such as Wadi Bani Habib, Siq, Al Ain and others.

Al Jabal Al Akhdhar can be reached on foot from several paths and mountain routes in a number of the valley’s villages, such as Dhabk Al Safat Road, Al Fawares Road, Al Qatimat, Thaqab, Al Hajeer and others.

It is worth noting that the Wilayat

of Al Awabi is approximately 140 kilometres from the Governorate of Muscat, linked by modern and paved roads to the Wilayat of Al Rustaq on the western side and the Wilayat of Nakhl on the eastern side, as well as by Al Jabal Al Akhdhar from the southern side.

History books have recorded news of imams, scholars, poets, writers and the various events of this wilayat and its famous valley through ages. — ONA

MUSCAT: The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Sultanate reached 111,837, while the number of recoveries stood at 97,949, comprising 87.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 related death cases stood at 1,147, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said.

The ministry also pointed out that 62 cases were hospitalised over the past 24 hours, adding that the total number of current hospitalised COVID-19-infected patients stands at 486, of them 202 are in intensive care units (ICU). — ONA

Verdicts against violators of SC decisions issuedMUSCAT: The Courts of First Instance in the Governorates of Dhofar and South Al Sharqiyah have issued penal verdicts convicting a number of people who recently breached the decisions of the Supreme Court tasked with tackling developments resulting from Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The legal action was initiated by the Public Prosecution department

when it interrogated seven people who violated the ban on nighttime movement.

The offenders were then transferred to the designated courts which awarded penalties ranging between one-month imprisonment, plus fines of RO 1,000 against each offender, plus deportation of an offender from Oman. — ONA

Heads of GCC Supreme Courts discuss ties with Cassation Courts

MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Supreme Court, took part in the 6th meeting of chairmen of GCC supreme courts.

The meeting was held via video-conferencing on Thursday.

They discussed a number of issues, including the mechanism of functioning of committee of specialists in Supreme Courts and Courts of Cassation, a paper

submitted by the Sultanate about petition in favour of the law in civil and penal provisions. Bahrain’s proposal to establish a GCC electronic access point to receive judicial and executive notifications applications among GCC countries and Qatar’s proposal to unify legal and judicial terms was considered.

Periodic meetings of this type are aimed at exchanging expertise,

streamline joint procedures and enhance cooperation among Supreme Courts and Courts of Cassation in GCC states.

They also seek to facilitate follow up of new developments, achieve judicial independence in member states and upgrade legislative and judicial system to keep pace with the growth witnessed by GCC states. — ONA

Confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at 111,837

NATION

The Royal gesture reflects His Majesty the Sultan’s resolve to sustain support for financial activity and domestic development. The departments concerned will announce the details of the Plan and outline initiatives that it covers.

May the Almighty Allah protect His Majesty the Sultan and guard him as a precious resource for this country and its people! May He perpetuate Oman’s progress and prosperity!. — ONA

HM approves Medium-Term Fiscal Balance Plan

FROM PAGE 1

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Egypt upgrades visitor experience at Giza pyramids siteCAIRO: Egypt has unveiled new visitor facilities on the plateau outside Cairo where the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx are situated, the country’s most visited heritage site and the sole remaining wonder of the ancient world.

Developers late on Tuesday night opened a new restaurant, ‘9 Pyramids Lounge’, which covers an area of 1,341 square metres and overlooks the Giza pyramids.

There will also be a fleet of new environmentally-friendly buses to guide tourists around the plateau. “One of the problems always faced is that people say there are no special services for tourists, that there is no cafeteria, no restaurant, nothing that can be offered to visitors,” said Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The new facilities are all easily taken part and reassembled so as to protect the antiquities and Waziri said the open-air restaurant offered “a panorama view that cannot be matched anywhere in the world.”

Tourism accounts for up to 15 per cent of Egypt’s national output. However, officials have said

previously the sector is losing around $1 billion each month after largely shutting down for several months from March due to the spread of coronavirus. The changes at the plateau are part of wider efforts to develop key tourist sites in the country.

Next year the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is set to be the world’s largest archaeological museum, is due to open just beyond

the Giza Pyramids. Egyptian business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, the plateau’s main developer, said the 301 million Egyptian pound project is part of a greater plan to develop the Unesco world heritage site and streamline tourists’ experience.

“We will organise the sales people,” said Sawiris. “We will not deprive them of their income but we will put them into suitable, nice places.” — Reuters

Bagad Lann Bihoue, French Navy bagpipe band, play at the Giza Pyramids necropolis on the southwestern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo. — AFP

Hariri named new Lebanon premierBEIRUT: Three-time Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri was named to the post for a fourth time on Thursday and immediately promised a government of technocrats committed to a French-backed reform plan.

Hariri said he would “form a cabinet of non politically aligned experts with the mission of economic, financial and administrative reforms contained in the French initiative roadmap”.

“I will work on forming a government quickly because time is running out and this is the only and last chance facing our country,” he added.

President Michel Aoun named Hariri to form a new cabinet to lift the country out of crisis after most parliamentary blocs backed his nomination.

Hariri, who has previously led three governments in Lebanon, stepped down almost a year ago under pressure from unprecedented protests against the political class.

“The president summoned... Saad al Deen al Hariri to task him with forming a government,” a spokesman for the presidency said.

Hariri was backed by a majority of 65 lawmakers, while 53 abstained.

Lebanon is grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades and still reeling from a devastating port blast that killed more than 200 people and ravaged large parts of Beirut in August.

Aoun warned Wednesday that the new prime minister, the third in a year, would have to spearhead

reforms and battle corruption.A relatively unknown diplomat,

Mustapha Adib, had been nominated in late August following the resignation of his predecessor Hassan Diab’s government in the aftermath of the deadly port blast.

Adib had vowed to form a cabinet of experts, in line with

conditions set by French President Emmanuel Macron to help rescue the corruption-ridden country from its worst ever economic crisis.

He faced resistance from some of the main parties however and threw in the towel nearly a month later, leaving Lebanon rudderless to face soaring poverty and the aftermath of its worst peacetime disaster.

Hariri, who was renamed Lebanon’s premier on Thursday, is a businessman who was propelled into politics by his billionaire father’s assassination.

He returns to the post almost a year after stepping down in October 2019, just days into unprecedented cross-sectarian protests demanding an overhaul of Lebanon’s entire political system.

The 50-year-old, who sports trademark slicked-back hair and a closely cropped beard, was thrust

onto the political stage after his father Rafik, himself an ex-premier, was assassinated in a February 2005 car bomb attack.

But he has struggled to fill his father’s shoes, last year grappling to address nationwide protests demanding the removal of a political elite viewed as incompetent and corrupt.

Hariri had cast himself as a champion of economic reform held hostage by unwilling coalition partners, but protesters categorised him as a product of Lebanon’s hereditary politics.

His image was further tarnished when reports surfaced last year that he had sent $16 million to a South African model, while his family business’s employees were being laid off or left unpaid.

When protests erupted last autumn, Hariri’s face emerged on flyers urging him to “Leave!”, as demonstrators accused the ruling class of bringing the country to its knees.

In his year away since resigning, Lebanon’s economy continued to crumble. His successor resigned after a massive explosion at the Beirut port that killed more than 200 people.

—AFP

JORDAN ANNOUNCES RECORD DAILY NEW VIRUS CASES

Jordan on Wednesday reported 2,648 new COVID-19 cases, its highest daily number since the start of the pandemic as the country faces a major outbreak with a tripling of deaths in just the last two weeks.

The surge in the last month has put Jordan’s infection numbers above those of most of its Middle East neighbours and reverses months of success in containing the outbreak.

It also accompanies an alarming jump in daily deaths that now average around 30. Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh said although the country had entered a “difficult phase” after widespread community transmission, it would not reimpose a national lockdown.

In brief

TEHRAN

AMMAN

IRAN TESTS HOME-MADE AIR DEFENCE SYSTEMS

Iran on Wednesday tested home-made air defence systems during military exercises, state media said, days after the expiry of an international arms embargo against the Islamic republic.

The manoeuvres — dubbed “Defenders of the Sky” — took place in “an area covering half of the country’s surface”, state television’s Iribnews website reported.

They came after Tehran ruled on Sunday that a UN arms embargo on its weapons had expired under the terms of the international agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme and UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Sudan protester killed as police clear streetsKHARTOUM: A Sudanese protester was killed late on Wednesday as security forces moved to disperse demonstrations against the transitional government’s failure to address a deepening economic crisis, doctors close to the protesters said.

At least 14 protesters were also wounded and more suffered breathing difficulties as a result of the “extreme violence” used by police to snuff out the demonstrations in the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, the medics said.

Police fired live rounds as well as tear gas to clear the protesters from the streets and a 20-year-old died from a police bullet in an eastern district of Khartoum, they added.

Wednesday’s protests were called by the Sudanese Professionals Association, the same trade union alliance that spearheaded protests that led to the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al Bashir in April last year.

The large police and army presence prevented the mass turnout the SPA had called for but a few

hundred activists answered the call to protest against plummeting living standards more than a year after the end of Bashir’s three decades in power.

Sudan has embarked on a rocky three-year transition during which civilian politicians have agreed to share power with the generals who

removed Bashir in a palace coup.A chronic shortage of hard

currency has led to long queues for staple foods and fuel, and power cuts lasting up to six hours a day.

The inflation rate hit 212 per cent last month, further sapping the purchasing power of ordinary Sudanese. — AFP

Sudanese protesters take to the streets in Khartoum and neighbouring cities against a worsening economic crisis, and to demand justice for people killed during past demonstrations that toppled president Omar al Bashir. — AFP

Turkey mulling a return to virus curbs as infections soarANKARA: Turkey is considering reimposing some measures to stem a resurgence of coronavirus cases such as stay-home orders for younger and older people or even weekend lockdowns, but will avoid throttling the economic recovery, a senior official said.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the total number of infections was about five times that reported in the government’s daily tally if asymptomatic cases were included — echoing concerns by Turkey’s top medical association and opposition lawmakers. Health ministry officials were not immediately available to comment.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has warned about the uptick in numbers and urged Turks to abide by nationwide distancing and mask rules, which are subject to fines.

Vice-President Fuat Oktay said later on Wednesday that there were regional rises and falls in COVID-19 cases depending on how much citizens were adhering to personal

hygiene and social distancing measures, but no restrictive measures were on tap. “If additional measures are necessary, they can always be considered, but these are not on our agenda at the moment,” he told broadcaster CNN Turk, adding that the government took “the necessary decisions purely based on the data”.

The senior official was speaking to Reuters after Turkey’s daily new symptomatic coronavirus cases rose to 2,026 on Monday, the highest level since early May when restrictions on businesses and households were in place.

“New measures could be enforced after looking at the process over a few weeks,” the senior official said, adding that the picture would become clearer after assessing the impact of the partial reopening of schools earlier this month.

Turkey’s medical association and main opposition party have criticised a government decision to only disclose the number of symptomatic patients. — Reuters

Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri delivers a statement after the president named him to form a new cabinet, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut. — AFP

Hariri pledgs to form a government of

technocrats committed to a French initiative to

draw Lebanon out of crisis

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asia

LANDSLIDE KILLS 11 MINERS IN INDONESIA

A landslide sparked by heavy rains has killed 11 miners in Indonesia, authorities said on Thursday, marking the latest in a string of deadly mining accidents across the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The victims were about 65 feet underground at an unlicensed coal mine near a village in South Sumatra province when the accident happened on Wednesday.

“The ground wasn’t firm because heavy rains have hit the area recently,” said Ansori, an official with the local disaster mitigation agency, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

In brief

MANILA

HANOI

MUARA ENIM

VIETNAM MOBILISES SOLDIERS AS NEW STORM LOOMS

Vietnam is mobilising over 650,000 soldiers and volunteers to prepare against a new incoming storm, authorities said on Thursday.

Flooding and landslides caused by multiple storms and torrential rains in Vietnam have killed 114 people in recent weeks, while 21 others are still missing.

More flash floods and landslides are expected in the coming days as Storm Saudel crosses the South China Sea and heads towards Vietnam,Vietnam’s National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned.

13 IN POLICE CUSTODY FLEE AFTER POSITIVE VIRUS TESTS

Thirteen people in the Philippines escaped from police custody after testing positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, police said.

They crawled through a small hole they carved out of a concrete wall in the police station in the Manila suburban city of Caloocan before dawn.

Security camera footage showed the suspects escaping around 1 am, said Caloocan City police chief Dario Menor. They had taken rapid tests and were supposed to undergo a confirmatory coronavirus test, he added. There were a total of 31 people in custody in the temporary detention facility at the Caloocan City police.

Fifteen fled, but two were immediately recaptured, Menor said.

Traditional drummers perform outside the suburban railway station as they wait to be hired for the Hindu festival ‘Durga Puja’ celebrations in Kolkata. — AFP

GAIETY TO MARK FESTIVE CELEBRATIONS

Japan’s plan to build missile defence system at sea faces mounting costsTOKYO: Basing Japan’s missile defence systems at sea may cost at least twice as much to complete as its now-abandoned plans for Aegis Ashore ground-based sites and delay it to 2028, a person with knowledge of the plans said.

Fitted with powerful Lockheed Martin Corp radars, Japan’s Aegis Ashore systems are meant to intercept missile strikes from North Korea and elsewhere. In June, Defence Minister Taro Kono suspended plans for two land sites, which would have cost about $2 billion to construct, citing the possibility that booster rockets could fall on local residents. Instead, he suggested installing the systems on sea platforms or ships.

Defence ministry officials are considering several proposals, including putting Aegis on platforms resembling oil rigs, or on converted merchant ships or naval vessels. Kono’s successor, Nobuo Kishi, has said he will make a decision on the

future of Aegis Ashore by year end. Delays and higher costs could

rekindle support for an onshore plan, as Japan’s public finances are strained by debt exacerbated by massive coronavirus economic aid spending. A defence ministry official said he was unaware of the new cost and time estimates for missile defence at sea.

The land-based Aegis Ashore batteries were scheduled to be operational in 2025. Some of those proposals could cost more than $4 billion each, not including interceptor missiles and operating expenses, which would exceed those of land stations because of fuel, maintenance and larger crews, said the person

familiar with the matter, who has seen estimates being discussed by defence ministry officials.

The person declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the plans. A destroyer has about 300 sailors, about 10 times more people than needed for a land site, according to Japan’s defence ministry.

Armed with interceptor missiles designed to hit warheads in space, Aegis Ashore’s Lockheed Martin SPY-7 radar has at least three times the range of older Aegis radars already on Japanese warships.

“We are here to support whatever Japan needs, and in our mind, there is no option that is off the table,” said Tom Rowden, the Vice-President responsible for Lockheed’s overseas Rotary and Mission System business, including Aegis Ashore in Japan.

“Our main focus here is to give Japan the capability that they need to be able to defend their country.”

— Reuters

A facility of Aegis Ashore Missile Defence Test Complex is pictured in Kauai, Hawaii, US, in this photo taken by Kyodo. — Reuters file photo

Thai PM revokes emergency decreeBANGKOK: Thailand’s premier on Thursday revoked an emergency decree that had been intended to quell pro-democracy rallies despite it failing to stamp out daily protests demanding he resign and for reforms of the unassailable monarchy.

The student-led pro-democracy movement has been gaining momentum since mid-July, with mostly young demonstrators calling for Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s removal and a rewrite of a 2017 military-scripted constitution.

Some protest leaders have also issued controversial demands to reform the ultra-powerful and wealthy monarchy, whose influence permeates every aspect of Thai society.

The “severe” emergency measures were imposed last week after anti-government protesters flashed a three-finger salute to a royal motorcade — an unprecedented challenge to the monarchy. But the ban on gatherings of more than four people failed to discourage tens of thousands of demonstrators who amassed daily around major Bangkok intersections to call for Prayut to step down.

The former military chief — who masterminded the 2014 coup and has held onto power since — had

indicated late on Wednesday he was preparing to lift the state of severe emergency as part of a move to defuse tensions.

Prayut said in a televised address on Wednesday that the country must “step back from the edge of the slippery slope that can easily slide to chaos”.

He had earlier also called for an extraordinary session of parliament to discuss the crisis. That session will be held on Monday.

However, a government statement announcing the withdrawal of the emergency measures on Thursday said the decision was because the political situation had improved.

“The severe state of emergency has decreased and ended into a situation in which government officials and state agencies can enforce the regular

laws,” it said.“All conditions set under the

severe state of emergency have been stopped.”

The measures had also given the police carte-blanche to arrest protesters and seize electronic materials believed to threaten national security.

Prayut’s apparent concession came after authorities deployed water cannon on Friday, firing chemical-laced water at unarmed protesters in Bangkok’s central shopping district.

Police justified it as following “international standards”, but the tactics drew criticisms across Thai

society and have not been repeated.Scores of activists have also been

arrested over the past week, many of them prominent faces of the movement.

Revoking the emergency decree was “just a game” for the authorities to buy time and reduce tensions, according to political analyst Titipol Phakdeewanich.

“This action has no significant meaning,” said Titipol, adding that the severe measures should not have been imposed to begin with.

“People have the right to protest,” he said, adding that this was enshrined in the Thai constitution.

Rally organisers had been able to defy the ban by announcing different venues an hour before gathering daily — outsmarting authorities who tried shutting down public transport lines to discourage protesters.

Wednesday’s demonstration at Bangkok’s Victory Monument drew thousands who marched to Government House.

One leader Passalawaree “Mind” Thanakitwibulpol — who had handed authorities a “resignation letter” for the premier — was later arrested and charged with breaking emergency measures before being released on bail on Thursday morning. — AFP

One of Thailand’s protest leaders, Patsaravalee ‘Mind’ Tanakitvibulpon arrives at court after she was arrested yesterday in Bangkok. — Reuters

Prayut said in a televised address that the country must ‘step back from the edge of the slippery slope that

can easily slide to chaos’

S Korea sticks to flu vaccine plan despite safety fearsSEOUL: South Korean officials refused on Thursday to suspend a seasonal influenza inoculation effort, despite growing calls for a halt, including an appeal from a key group of doctors, after the deaths of at least 13 of those vaccinated.

Health authorities said they found no direct links between the deaths and the vaccines. At least 11 of the 13 dead, including a 17-year-old boy, were part of a campaign to inoculate 19 million teenagers and senior citizens for free, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

“The number of deaths has increased, but our team sees low possibility that the deaths resulted from the shots,” the agency’s director, Jeong Eun-kyeong, told parliament.

South Korea ordered a fifth more flu vaccines this year to ward off what it calls a “twindemic”, or the prospect that people with flu develop coronavirus complications and overburden hospitals in winter. “I understand and regret that people are concerned about the vaccine,”

said Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said, who confirmed the free programme would go ahead. “We’re looking into the causes but will again thoroughly examine the entire process in which various government

agencies are involved, from production to distribution.”

Vaccine providers include domestic firms such as GC Pharma, SK Bioscience, Korea Vaccine and Boryung Biopharma Co Ltd, a unit of Boryung Pharm Co Ltd, along with France’s Sanofi. They supply both the free programme and paid services that together aim to vaccinate about 30 million of a population of 52 million.

Of the 13 who died, five received products from SK Bioscience, three from Boryung, two each from GC Pharma and Korea Vaccine and one from Sanofi. — Reuters

Choi Dae-zip, President of the Korean Medical Association, during a news conference following the deaths of at least 13 people who received a flu vaccine in recent days in Seoul. — Reuters

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S H O R T T A K E S

France’s most popular Christmas market, in the eastern city of Stras-bourg, was cancelled ahead of time on Thursday due to the resurgence of the coronavirus in the area. City authorities said that the health situa-tion was deteriorating in Strasbourg and an evening curfew was likely to come into force soon.

The situation across the Rhine in western Germany, home to many of the market’s visitors, was also “wor-rying” and authorities had restricted cross-border movement, they said in a statement. Mayor Jeanne Barseg-hian said that while the market’s 300

stalls will not be in place this year, parades, concerts and other events were still planned throughout De-cember.

The European Parliament on Thurs-day awarded the Sakharov Prize for human rights to the movement op-posing President Alexander Lukash-enko in Belarus, led by the exiled Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. “It is an honour to announce that the women and men of the democratic opposi-tion in Belarus are the 2020 Sakharov Prize laureates,” tweeted European Parliament President David Sassoli.

“They have on their side some-thing that brute force can never de-feat: the truth. Do not give up on your fight. We are by your side.”

The choice is likely to meet with

disapproval of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who staunchly sup-ports his embattled Belarusian coun-terpart. Russia already denounced the choice of the 2018 winner, Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov, who was jailed at the time.

Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes on Thursday has been admit-ted to intensive care for treatment of COVID-19, after having tested posi-tive for the virus over the weekend.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo reacted promptly and wished Wilmes a speedy recovery on social media. “No one is immune against this dangerous virus,” he said on Twit-ter. “Together, we will defeat COV-ID-19.”

Wilmes, who served as the coun-try’s interim prime minister until the end of September, had announced on Saturday that she had tested positive

for the coronavirus. According to me-dia reports, she is conscious and her condition is stable. Wilmes is not the first Belgian politician to be infected with the virus. Brussels politicians Rudi Verwoort and Sven Gatz recently also tested positive.

PARIS BRUSSELS BRUSSELS

Strasbourg cancels popular Christmas market Belarus oppn wins EU parliament rights award Belgian FM in intensive care after contracting virus

European cities plead for more flu shots as pandemic ragesWARSAW/MILAN/VIENNA: A surge in demand for vaccines to ward off the winter flu has led to shortages in some European cities, raising the risk of a potentially lethal “twindemic” as COVID-19 cases spike.

Many governments boosted vaccine orders this year and launched campaigns to encourage citizens to get shots. The aim was to inoculate earlier than usual and cover a bigger portion of the continent’s 450 million population to reduce the burden on health services.

Top manufacturers such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi , Abbott and Seqirus have boosted supplies to the region by an average of 30 per cent in anticipation of higher demand. But they are operating at full capacity and cannot meet all the late extra demand, Vaccines Europe, which represents the producers, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Interviews with at least 10 city and government officials, as well as medical experts, also show systems in major cities such as Warsaw

are struggling with the strong early demand, causing delays and temporary shortages.

“This year, patients come all the time and ask about vaccines, more than 10 people every day,” said Grazyna Lenkowska-Mielniczuk, manager at Apteka Non Stop pharmacy in Warsaw’s Wola district.

“The wholesalers tell us the same thing as we tell patients: that there are no vaccines and we have to wait.” Europe’s flu season begins in October and infections typically pick up between mid-November and the start of December, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Seasonal flu viruses cause between 4 and 50 million infections each year and up to 70,000 Europeans die each year of causes linked to flu, particularly among older adults and at-risk groups. Precautionary measures to curb COVID-19 transmission such as social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing may help curb infections this season. — Reuters

Soldiers push beds to be installed in the COVID-19 field hospital in Prague built by the Czech army with a capacity of 500 beds for COVID-19 patients. — AFP

Dublin ‘eerie’ as Ireland plunges into second lockdownDUBLIN: A “cloud of sadness” descended on the streets of central Dublin on Thursday as Ireland became the first EU nation to return to a full coronavirus lockdown.

Schools remain open but otherwise for six weeks, all Irish citizens have been told to stay home, with a strict five-kilometre travel limit for exercise.

Restaurants, bars and pubs will be shuttered and visits between different households banned.

“It is kind of eerie and poignant,” 57-year-old Dubliner Sunniva O’Flynn said during a starkly muted rush hour.

“It’s just that kind of cloud of sadness again that the city is abandoned.”

Non-essential retail businesses will also be closed in restrictions largely mirroring Ireland’s original lockdown in March.

Dublin’s Grafton Street — the capital’s main shopping district and pedestrian thoroughfare — was devoid of its usual morning bustle on the first day of the new curbs.

Usually jammed trams ferried only a handful of masked passengers, as public transport has been reduced to 25 per cent capacity to allow only essential workers to commute.

Ireland has suffered 1,868 deaths from COVID-19 and cases are rising in line with an upsurge across Europe, setting the stage for a winter of harsh restrictions.

“I’m struggling with this particular lockdown,” said bank worker Jo Finn, who lives alone and fears the weeks of confinement.

“I just want to get back to normal — I miss my friends, my family and my normal life.”

Unlike Ireland’s previous lockdown, the government has pledged to keep schools and childcare facilities open.

Elite and professional sports as well as construction work will also be allowed to continue during the month-and-a-half hiatus.

“The virus is at a point now where it is spreading in an awful lot of different ways,” Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told state broadcaster RTE.

He said the shutdown is a “pre-emptive strike” on the spread of coronavirus in the nation of five million.

“We’ve lived through it before,” he added.

“It worked, we flattened the curve... and today is day one of us flattening the curve for a second time.”

The daily death toll in Ireland has mostly remained in the single digits after peaking at 77 in April. However, the Republic is witnessing a resurgence in fresh infections of the virus, with 1,167 new confirmed cases announced on Wednesday evening. — AFP

Police officers patrol a busy Grafton Street in Dublin as Ireland prepares to enter a second national lockdown to stem the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. — AFP

Trump, Biden to face off in final debateNASHVILLE: President Donald Trump squares off against Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Thursday in what promises to be a bruising final debate with less than two weeks left in their turbulent fight for the White House.

The pair’s last televised showdown spiralled into an ugly confrontation marred by interruptions and name calling, prompting organisers to introduce mic-muting this time to try to keep things civil.

The debate in the southern city of Nashville fires the starting gun on the final sprint to the November 3 election in a deeply polarised and tense United States fearful the results will set off court battles and more protests.

Trump has stepped up his attacks on Biden, whose national polls show leading the race, as he fights to hold on to the White House after four tumultuous years.

To cut down on the interruptions that marked the last debate, during the two minutes the candidates have to respond to the moderator’s questions only their mic will be live.

“I think the mute is very unfair and I think it’s very bad,” Trump said this week, branding debate moderator Kristen Welker a “radical Democrat.”

Biden, 77, had no public events on his schedule on Wednesday for the third day in a row, as the 74-year-old Trump has been hitting multiple rallies per day.

Barack Obama was stumping for his former vice-president on Wednesday, urging Democrats to not

be lulled into complacency by Biden’s lead in the polls.

He issued a stark reminder of 2016, when surveys showed Hillary Clinton as the clear favourite — only for her and her supporters to be shocked by a Trump victory on election day.

“We can’t be complacent. I don’t care about the polls,” the former two-term president told a drive-in rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of a handful of battleground states

expected to decide the election.“There were a whole bunch of polls

last time. Didn’t work out. Because a whole bunch of folks stayed at home. And got lazy and complacent. Not this time. Not in this election.”

He told supporters that too much was at stake to have four more years of Trump leading the nation, seeking to contrast his successor — a real estate mogul and ex-reality TV star — with Biden.

“And the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously.”

The coronavirus has killed more than 220,000 people in the US and seriously wounded the world’s largest economy, prompting fierce criticism of the president’s handling of the crisis.

While Obama was in Pennsylvania, Trump visited North Carolina, another of the battleground states, as he seeks to recapture the enthusiasm of four years ago.

Trump’s message has included telling Americans that the coronavirus outbreak is practically over and attacks on the business dealings of Biden’s son, Hunter, while his father was vice-president.

A Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters released on Wednesday gave Biden a 51-43 lead in Pennsylvania, which Trump won by a narrow margin in 2016.

Trump is trailing Biden in the national polls and another Quinnipiac poll spelled potential trouble for his reelection hopes.

The poll had the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates in a 47-47 dead heat in Texas, a state which Trump won by nine points four years ago and which hasn’t voted for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

More than 40 million Americans have already voted, according to the US Elections Project of the University of Florida, nearly 30 per cent of the total turnout in 2016. — AFP

Combination of file pictures shows US President Donald Trump and Democratic Presidential candidate and former US vice-president Joe Biden during the first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. — AFP

The debate in Nashville fires the starting gun on the final sprint to the November 3 election in a deeply polarised and tense US fearful the results will set

off court battles and more protests

Ireland has suffered 1,868 deaths from

COVID-19 and cases are rising in line with

an upsurge across Europe, setting the stage for a winter of

harsh restrictions

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this page are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer.

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FALLS FOUL OF OWN RULE

Housing policy comes back to haunt S Korea finance ministerCYNTHIA KIM

South Korea’s finance minister, the architect of rules aimed at protecting tenants and slowing de-posit increases, has himself been forced to look for a new home as landlords react to the rules by quickly replacing tenants so they can bump up deposits.

Hong Nam-ki is also faced with broadening his search as the average deposit where he lives 20 minutes from parliament has soared by a third since his housing rules took effect in July, with the irony of his predicament setting the Internet alight. “Worse comes to worst, he can camp by the Presidential Blue House, right?,” one netizen asked on a real estate forum.

Seoul apartment prices have risen more than 50 per cent since the left-leaning President Moon Jae-in inherited loosened mortgage rules from the previous administration three years ago. To slow buy-to-rent demand, the Housing Lease Protection Act, led by Hong, capped increases of “jeonse” deposits at 5 per cent and allowed tenants to extend standard two-year contracts

for another two, unless landlords themselves move into the property. Jeonse is a lump-sum returnable deposit paid in-stead of monthly rent. Landlords invest the deposit and pocket re-turns.

The Act led to an unprecedented shortage of jeonse housing nation-wide as landlords sought to empty properties ahead of July implemen-

tation so they could increase deposits for new tenants, expecting not to be able to raise them again for four years.

In Hong’s case, his lease ends in January at which time his landlord is set to move into the property, a realtor citing an industry database said, echoing local media reports.

“My fellow landlords, lets not rent out to Hong, let him suffer!” wrote another netizen on the popular real estate forum. “Lets make him feel what the government has done!”

For a comparable three-bedroom apartment in Hong’s complex in up-market Mapo, west-ern Seoul, the finance minister would now face deposits that have surged 32 per cent in three months to 830 million won ($731,310), showed data from Naver Real Estate. Hong, who has served the government for over 30 years, had a net worth of 1.06 billion won at December-end, government data showed.

SCHADENFREUDE Hong is one of group of senior officials popularly blamed for failing to curb runaway home prices in Asia’s fourth-largest economy even after more than 20 rounds of mortgage curbs and other steps during Moon’s tenure.

In that time, median Seoul apartment prices have risen more than 50 per cent, KB Bank data showed. His forced move opened a geyser of schadenfreude, with South Koreans struggling to find affordable housing mocking Hong for being a victim of his own making.

“Dear Hong, come and live in my place. I’ll give you a good deal,” said one netizen. “Hong’s so smart. Way to go bro. Keep playing the victim and demand a bigger job from Moon,” said an-other. — Reuters

FROM LAWS IN US STATES PREVENTING

PEOPLE WITH FELONY CONVICTIONS FROM

VOTING TO THE CLOSURE OF POLLING

STATIONS, BLACK AMERICANS CAN FACE

GREATER BARRIERS IN GOING TO THE

BALLOT

HONG IS ONE OF GROUP OF

SENIOR OFFICIALS POPULARLY BLAMED

FOR FAILING TO CURB RUNAWAY HOME PRICES IN ASIA’S FOURTH-

LARGEST ECONOMY EVEN AFTER MORE

THAN 20 ROUNDS OF MORTGAGE CURBS AND OTHER STEPS

Lack of antidotes adds to ethical dilemmas for COVID drug trialsKATE KELLAND

UK scientists seeking approval to deliberately infect healthy people with COVID-19 in trials must first convince ethics specialists that, among other things, they have potential “rescue therapies” or antidotes to halt the disease.

The problem is that, for the novel coronavirus, there is still no effective treatment or cure. That means, for now, that the best scientists planning the so-called human challenge studies can offer is Gilead’s remdesivir — an antiviral drug that was found in a large trial to have no impact on COVID-19 death rates.

Chris Chiu, a scientist at Imperial College London co-leading the COVID-19 challenge experiments, said the plan was to give remdesivir to infected volunteers based on a “strong belief ” it will be effective if given in the very earliest stages of disease.

Some ethics and medicine experts said that posed problems. “As an effective rescue therapy does not yet exist for SARS-CoV2, there is a serious ethical dilemma... to address here,” said Stephen Griffin, an associate professor in the school of medicine at Britain’s Leeds University.

Other specialists said the lack of antidotes or rescue therapies was only one of several risks the research team

would have to minimise, and trial volunteers would have to accept, if the studies are to gain ethical approval.

Plans to reduce those risks include picking the most robust, healthy, young volunteers to be infected, and using the bare minimum amount of the coronavirus to infect them with COVID-19.

Dominic Wilkinson, a professor of medical ethics at Oxford university, said that, while desirable, having an effective treatment at the ready after deliberately infecting volunteers was “not essential for the ethics of such a trial”.

“The ethical necessity of these trials, and of any trial, is that you assess the risks, you minimise the risks, and you communicate the risks,” he said. “It’s not the case that you have a situation where there are no risks.”

PUBLIC TRUST Human challenge trials are not new. Scientists have used them for decades to learn more detail about — and develop treatments and vaccines against — several other diseases such as malaria, flu, typhoid and cholera.

“Generally with such trials in the past, they were done when you had a specific treatment,” said Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO), when

asked about the planned UK trials using the novel coronavirus.

“You must ensure that everybody involved understands exactly what is at stake... and ensure informed consent is rigorous — that they really do understand all the risks,” she said.

Ohid Yaqub, a science policy expert at Britain’s University of Sussex, pointed to WHO guidelines on the issue, which among other things say human challenge trials “might be considered when the disease an organism causes has an acute onset, can be readily and objectively detected, and existing efficacious treatments ... can be administered... to prevent significant morbidity, and eliminate mortality.”

Yaqub warned of a risk to public trust in science and medicine if these criteria are ignored or skimmed over, adding: “There needs to be wider consultation about undertaking such studies.”

He noted that selecting a small number of low-risk participants would mean “fatality, hospitalisation or long-term symptoms are extremely unlikely scenarios”, but added: “Even their remote possibility threatens trust in research and vaccines more than necessary, because public engagement on this issue has been limited.”

— Reuters

MATTHEW LAVIETES AND ANASTASIA MOLONEY

First-time voter Rosie Lebron has been protesting in the streets of New York City to end racial injustice, following in the footsteps of her great-grandmother who marched sixty years ago.

“My great-grandmother, she protested during the civil rights movement. She’s like ‘Why is my baby still doing this?’” said Lebron, 21, during a march against police brutality. “It’s been too long, way too long. We’re still here after years,” Lebron said.

Not only did the police killings of Black Americans like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd spark mass protests, but the sense of injustice has galvanised first-time Black voters like Lebron to vote in the November 3 presidential election.

Some are young, and this is their first shot at casting a ballot. Others never bothered before, and still others were not allowed to vote, such as felons whose convictions previously banned them from voting.

Grassroots advocacy organisations are hoping to nurture new-voter enthusiasm, motivate turnout and overcome what they say are not insignificant obstacles thrown in the path of Black would-be voters.

In the 2016 election that put President Donald Trump in office, nearly 12 million eligible Black voters did not cast ballots, said Sabeel Rahman, head of Demos, a think-tank

Black Americans may stumble in move to ballot boxes from street protests

THE LACK OF ANTIDOTES OR RESCUE THERAPIES

WAS ONLY ONE OF SEVERAL RISKS THE

RESEARCH TEAM WOULD HAVE TO MINIMISE,

AND TRIAL VOLUNTEERS

WOULD HAVE TO ACCEPT, IF THE

STUDIES ARE TO GAIN ETHICAL

APPROVAL

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

focused on voting rights and racial equity.

Black Americans face entrenched and historical barriers, even though the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed more than a half century ago, Rahman said. “There are myriad barriers in our electoral system that are essentially designed to make it harder for people to vote, and that burden falls especially disproportionately on people of colour, especially Black voters,” he said.

“Voter suppression targeted at Black Americans... is hugely consequential

in terms of swinging the result.” Critics argue that restrictions are aimed at Black voters who tend to be Democratic supporters, but some Republicans say restrictions like voter identification and dropping infrequent voters from the rosters are necessary to prevent fraud.

One obstacle has been laws in many states that prevent people with felony convictions from voting, which disproportionately affects Black men, campaigners say.

— Thomson Reuters

In the 2016 election that put President Donald Trump in office, nearly 12 million eligible Black voters did not cast ballots. — Reuters

OMAN DAILY OBSERVERFRIDAY OCTOBER 23, 2020

Analysis6

FRIDAY | OCTOBER 23, 2020 | RABEE AL AWWAL 6, 1442 AH

business editor@omanobserver.om www.omanobserver.omfollow us @oman_bizMUSCAT

STOCK MARKET

CRUDE OIL PRICE

3,557.40Oman Crude $ 41.92Brent Crude $ 41.85Light Crude $ 40.08

UK’s Sunak stumps up more help for businessesLONDON: British finance minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday was forced to offer more financial help to businesses grappling with a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which looks increasingly likely to derail the economic recovery.

Sunak told parliament the government will shoulder more of the burden for paying employees’ wages for businesses that are still open but experiencing difficulty, and offer more money to hospitality companies.

The move marks a turnaround for Sunak after he long resisted calls to extend the generosity of government support schemes. Opponents have said it was obvious that more help was needed and that it should have come sooner.

Britain — the worst-hit European nation during the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 44,000 related deaths — is now seeing a second wave of the virus, recording 26,688 new cases and 191 deaths on Wednesday.

“I’ve always said that we must be ready to adapt our financial support as the situation evolves, and that is what we are doing today. — Reuters

LONDON: Over half the small and medium-sized companies which together provide jobs for two-thirds of European workers fear for their survival in the coming 12 months, according to a survey released by management consultancy McKinsey on Thursday.

The survey was conducted in August, before the current acceleration in new coronavirus cases across Europe that is forcing governments to impose new restrictions on activity and prompting speculation of fresh national lockdowns.

The finding comes as warnings multiply of an impending wave of business insolvencies and as the International Monetary Fund and others urge the region’s governments to double down on

state support to help companies weather the coronavirus pandemic. The McKinsey survey of more than 2,200 companies in five countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain —found that 55 per cent expected to shut down by September next year if their revenues remained at current levels.

At the current trajectory, one in 10 small and medium-sized companies were expected to file bankruptcy within six months.

“This is a substantial burden on the financial sector,” report co-author Zdravko Mladenov said of just one of the knock-on impacts of such a development, which would also send jobless totals surging and stymie wider investment in the economy.

— Reuters

German consumer confidence dips

FRANKFURT: The mood among German consumers has darkened as fears rise of further restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a closely watched survey said on Thursday.

The GfK institute’s forward-looking assessment of consumer confidence heading into November fell to -3.1 points from a revised figure of -1.7 in October, well below expectations of -2.0 according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Rising infection numbers and the toughening of restrictions are leading to a “fear of further lockdown increases if the rate gets out of control in the coming winter months,” GfK’s Rolf Buerkl said.

The recovery of the mood since lockdowns in the spring, which was “strong” according to Buerkl, “has therefore come to a standstill”.

The German economy had enjoyed a rebound after being weighed down in the spring, when businesses and factories were shuttered.

The survey hit a historic low of -23.1 in May, before reaching -0.2 in August, a high point since pandemic-related restrictions were introduced in the country.

But the GfK survey, based on around 2000 interviews, found that German shoppers now thought their income prospects were bleaker, with expectations of the economy sinking after five months of rising sentiment. — AFP

OMANI FIRM WINS OILFIELD CONTRACTS WORTH $1 BILLIONBUSINESS REPORTERMUSCAT, OCT 22

Leading Omani oilfield services provider Gulf Energy SAOC (GES) has won several contracts from Petroleum Development of Oman (PDO) valued at over $1 billion, its parent firm National Energy Services Reunited Corp (NESR) announced on Thursday.

These contract extensions include Cementing, Coil Tubing and Stimulation, Fishing and Milling, and Downhole Tools contracts for a period up to nine years, including a main term of five years with two possible extensions of two years each, with contracts expiring between 2030 and 2032. In addition, a new contract for Directional Drilling and Turbine Drilling was also awarded for a term of up to six years.

Raoul Restucci, Managing Director, PDO, commented: “I am pleased to see local companies,

such as Gulf Energy, come of age due to PDO’s localisation efforts and In-Country Value Strategy, which while delivering world class technology advances for the upstream sector also ensures creation of jobs, training and learning opportunities for Omanis and enhancements in the domestic supply chain and manufacturing. Companies such as Gulf Energy are leading the change in transforming the upstream sector in Oman as well as the region, and I wish them the best for the future.”

Salman al Maimani, PDO Wells Contract Manager, commented, “PDO has always encouraged and supported local companies to take on ever larger work scopes and expects market leading delivery and technologies within a competitive framework. We also believe that to create a successful business we need to provide the local companies enough runway so that they can

build a sustainable enterprise around a stable framework. Hence, we are very pleased to see the progress GES has made up to this point, and these contract extensions and awards are in line with our strategy to reward the best performers who show the potential to further contribute to PDO’s In-Country Value objectives. I wish GES the best for the future and hope they continue to contribute to PDO’s and Oman’s success in the coming years.”

Sultan al Ghafri, Gulf Energy Vice-President commented: “We would like to thank the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and PDO for their continued faith and confidence in our capabilities as well as the differentiated level of service which GES has delivered over the years. The last fifteen years have seen GES, a local Omani company, grow from a startup to one of the largest oilfield service

providers in Oman and the region. These awards and extensions allow GES to further grow and contribute to the Oman E&P Industry and get to the next level. GES has invested heavily in both building manufacturing and operating facilities and these awards allow us to build on this base to bring cutting edge technologies for the benefit of our customers in Oman and train and deploy Omani nationals as we have done in the past.”

With these awards, NESR has cemented its position in Oman for the foreseeable future and has opened new growth avenues to expand its product lines over the next decade in the Sultanate of Oman and in the MENA region, said Houston-headquartered NESR.

Founded in 2017, NESR is one of the largest national oilfield services providers in the MENA and Asia Pacific regions.

KEY PACKAGE: PDO awards multi-year contracts to local oilfield services provider Gulf Energy SAOC

Indian economy set for a near double-digit contractionBENGALURU: The Indian economy will suffer its deepest contraction on record this fiscal year and recent government stimulus does not go far enough to significantly boost activity depressed by the coronavirus pandemic, according to economists.

With over 7.6 million coronavirus infections, India is the second worst hit country in the world after the United States and the spread shows no signs of abating.

While the government has removed most restrictions imposed on businesses to slow the spread of the virus, the Reserve Bank of India issued gloomy economic forecasts earlier this month but kept interest rates unchanged citing rising inflation.

That puts the onus on the government, which last week announced another round of fiscal stimulus to boost demand by $10 billion.

But the October 13-21 poll of 55 economists showed they were more pessimistic about this fiscal year’s outlook than just two months ago.

Nearly 90 per cent of economists,

34 of 39, who responded to an additional question said the latest government stimulus was not enough to boost the economy significantly.

“While the measures introduced to push consumer spending and capital expenditure are clearly innovative within the confines of fiscal prudence, they do little to move the needle significantly in

terms of the growth outlook this (fiscal) year,” said Sakshi Gupta, senior economist at HDFC Bank.

After shrinking a record 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter, the Indian economy was forecast to contract 10.4 per cent and 5.0 per cent in the third and fourth quarter, respectively and merely stabilise in the first three months of 2021.

That compares with contractions

of 8.1 per cent and 1.0 per cent, respectively, and 3.0 per cent growth forecast in August.

For the current fiscal year ending March 31, Asia’s third-largest economy was predicted to shrink 9.8 per cent, more than the RBI’s latest 9.5 per cent projection, and 26 of 55 economists saw a contraction of 10 per cent or more for the year.

The poll marks the seventh consecutive downgrade to this year’s outlook and if confirmed, would be the weakest annual economic performance since records began six decades ago.

Although the economy was expected to grow 9.0 per cent and 5.7 per cent next fiscal year and in FY 2022-23, respectively, all but one of 36 economists with a view said it would take at least a year for Indian GDP to reach pre-COVID-19 levels.

Despite higher inflation projections, economists expect the central bank to be more concerned about reviving growth than price pressures driven by supply-side disruptions and to cut interest rates next quarter.

— Reuters

Labourers work at the construction site of a residential complex in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi. — Reuters

INDIA IS THE SECOND WORST HIT COUNTRY IN

THE WORLD AFTER THE UNITED STATES

AND THE SPREAD SHOWS NO SIGNS

OF ABATING

I’ve always said

ready to adapt our

that our support will

RISHI SUNAKBritish finance minister

Over half Europe’s small firms fear for survival

businessOMANDAILYOBSERVER8insideoman

F R I D A Y l O C T O B E R 2 3 l 2 0 2 0

China and US economies diverge over coronavirus responseChina’s economy in 2021 is going to be 10 per cent bigger than it was in 2019, and every other major economy is going to be smaller: economist

WASHINGTON/BEIJING: The United States and China dealt with the spread of the devastating coronavirus pandemic in vastly different ways, and that split is reshaping the global battle between the world’s two leading economies.

About 11 months after the Wuhan outbreak, China’s official GDP numbers this week show not only that the economy is growing, up 4.9 per cent for the third quarter from a year earlier, but also that the Chinese are confident enough the virus has been vanquished to go shopping, dine and spend with gusto.

China’s total reported death toll is below 5,000 and new infections are negligible, the result of draconian lockdowns, millions of tests, and strict contact tracing that set the stage for an economic rebound.

“China’s success in containing the virus has allowed its economy to rebound more quickly, and with relatively less policy support, as compared with other large economies,” said former senior US Treasury official Stephanie Segal, a senior fellow at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In the United States, 221,000 people are dead from COVID-19 after a delayed federal response, partisan battles over mask-wearing and lockdowns, and plenty of public events that do not follow public health guidelines. The country is in the midst of a new wave of infections.

Entertainment venues, restaurants and tourist spots are closed or only partially open, millions of people are out of work

indefinitely, GDP is expected to shrink this quarter and the United States faces a gap in economic output that could last years.

“Obviously the US government bungled it,” said Harry Broadman, a former senior US trade official and managing director with Berkeley Research Group. The singular authority of China’s Communist Party helped Beijing enforce contact tracing and lockdowns, Broadman said. Other democracies, including New Zealand and South Korea, stamped out the virus as China did.

The real difference between the United States and China is Washington “has been arguing over stimulus issues on Capitol Hill and it’s still far too little and too late,” said Broadman, who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents. “That has created more and more uncertainty on the part of business.” Ahead of a November 3 re-election bid, US President Donald Trump has blamed China for the spread of the virus and asserted

his administration had done all it could to contain it. Asked during a town hall due to be broadcast on Sinclair Broadcast Group on Wednesday if he would have done anything differently, Trump said, “No, not much.” White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern said on Wednesday that China does not accurately report anything, “let alone data regarding coronavirus infections and economic growth.” He said Trump was rebuilding a strong and inclusive economy with the expected arrival of new treatments and vaccines in what the spokesman called record time.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday released data that showed a slight to modest recovery in the US economy, although the picture varied greatly from sector to sector.

Experts cite longer-term concerns about China’s economic prospects, including the high debt levels of its state-owned companies.

— Reuters

Workers load goods for export onto a crane at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. — Reuters

Goldman Sachs fined $350 million in Hong Kong over 1MDBHONG KONG: financial titan Goldman Sachs was fined $350 million by Hong Kong’s securities watchdog on Thursday for its role in the massive 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal, the latest in a growing list of global punishments the firm faces.

Goldman Sachs Asia — the Hong Kong-based compliance and control hub of the company — showed “serious lapses and deficiencies in its management supervisory, risk, compliance and anti-money laundering controls”, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission said.

The regulator added that Goldman had accepted the SFC’s findings, leading to an early resolution of the disciplinary action.

The SFC said Goldman’s failures contributed to the misappropriation of $2.6 billion from the $6.5 billion that 1MDB raised in three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013.

“Goldman Sachs Asia fell far short of the standards expected of a licensed intermediary in the 1MDB case and suffered not only reputational damage from its

own failures, but also brought the securities industry into disrepute,” Thomas Atkinson, the SFC’s Executive Director of Enforcement, said.

Goldman Sachs Asia received $210 million — or 37 per cent

of the total revenue — from the 1MDB bond offerings, which was the largest share among the various Goldman Sachs entities.

The SFC investigation concluded that Goldman Sachs Asia allowed the offerings to proceed despite

numerous red flags not being properly scrutinised and answered.

The fraud involved former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies, and the cash plundered from state coffers bankrolled a global spending spree.

It was used to buy everything from artwork to real estate to a superyacht.

The Hong Kong announcement comes two days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman is preparing to admit wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal and pay the US government $2.8 billion.

The deal would end the criminal probe into the corruption case involving the Malaysian government’s investment fund, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by high-level officials at the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2015.

Two ex-Goldman bankers are accused of misappropriating billions, bribing officials and giving false statements in relation to bond issues they arranged for the fund.

The Malaysian government dropped the charges against Goldman in July after reaching a $3.9 billion settlement with the financial giant.

— Reuters

A man walks past 1MDB advertisement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. — Reuters

MELBOURNE: Oil prices dropped in early trade on Thursday, adding to heavy losses overnight, after a build in US gasoline inventories pointed to a deteriorating out-look for fuel demand as coro-navirus cases soar in North America and Europe.

US West Texas Intermedi-ate (WTI) crude futures fell 27 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $39.76 a barrel at 01:27 GMT, after skidding 4 per cent on Wednesday.

Brent crude futures retreat-ed 21 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $41.52 a barrel after sliding 3.3 per cent on Wednesday.

US gasoline stocks rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week to October 16, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, compared with expectations for a 1.8 million-barrel drop.

Overall product supplied, a proxy for demand, averaged 18.3 million barrels per day in the four weeks to October 16, the EIA said — down 13 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

“The latest EIA report showed an unexpected in-crease in gasoline inventories, which came at the same time as reduced gasoline output be-cause of refinery outages due to Hurricane Delta. So the im-plication is gasoline demand is pretty soft,” said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank.

With new daily COVID-19 infections hitting records in several US states and in Eu-rope, new lockdowns and Chi-na’s clampdown on outbound travel to help stem the spread of the disease bode ill for fuel demand.

Worsening the outlook, hopes that US lawmakers would reach an agreement with the White House on an economic stimulus package dimmed late on Wednesday after President Donald Trump accused Democrats of holding up a compromise deal.

— Reuters

In brief

Malaysia’s budget carrier AirAsia Group Bhd has secured a loan as part of its ongoing capital rais-ing plans, an executive said on Thursday.

Riad Asmat, CEO of the group’s Malaysian unit, AirAsia Bhd, said “a loan has been approved and disbursed”, in response to a Reuters query about a report from New Straits Times that said the airline had secured a 300 million ringgit ($72 million)

coronavirus pandemic.The report, citing sources, said

the airline took the loan from Sabah Development Bank Bhd and that it would tide the airline

local operations. “ We would not be able to disclose the specif-ics including the lender(s) and amount involved. — Reuters

MALAYSIA’S AIRASIA SECURES LOAN, CAPITAL RAISING PROGRESSING

KUALA LUMPUR

Britain said on Thursday it had agreed a provisional trade deal with Norway, Switzerland and two other non-EU partners to ensure continuity after its Brexit divorce from the European Un-ion.

The UK government said its arrangement with the European Free Trade Association — which also includes Iceland and Liech-

on January 1.The EFTA countries are out-

side the EU. Three of them pay to ensure access to the bloc’s sin-gle market under an overarching partnership called the European Economic Area (EEA). Switzer-land has its own patchwork of deals with the EU.

Britain, after this year, will lie outside the single market but is engaged in tough talks with Brussels for a new trading part-nership. — AFP

UK SEALS BREXIT TRADE DEAL WITH EFTA NATIONS

LONDON

US home sales to Chinese buyers may plunge as much as 60 per cent this year, according to a US

travel curbs imposed to thwart the coronavirus counter the impact

dollar.Rich Chinese buyers seeking

to put away years of export-earned dollars have become the

decade.Deal numbers, however,

dropped a total of 62 per cent over -

President Trump’s trade war and nerves over whether buyers and their families would be guaran-teed visas in future weighed.

— Reuters

IF YOU CAN’T FLY, YOU CAN’T BUY: CHINESE US HOMEBUYING SINKS

NEW YORK

Oil slips on weaker demand outlook

GOLDMAN SACHS ASIA — THE HONG KONG-BASED COM-PLIANCE AND CON-TROL HUB OF THE COMPANY — SHOWED ‘SERIOUS LAPSES AND DEFICIENCIES IN ITS MANAGEMENT SUPERVISORY, RISK, COMPLIANCE AND ANTI-MONEY LAUN-DERING CONTROLS’, HONG KONG’S SECU-RITIES AND FUTURES COMMISSION SAID

OMANDAILYOBSERVERF R I D A Y l O C T O B E R 2 3 l 2 0 2 0 9

sport

Australia’s Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, withdrew from the US PGA Zozo Championship on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19, the tour announced.

The 40-year-old from Adelaide was going to make his first start since sharing 38th at last month’s US Open. Instead, he will begin a self-isolation period under health and safety protocols.

“While it’s difficult news to receive — as I really looked forward to playing this week

— my focus now is on recovery for the final stretch of the fall,” Scott said.

Scott will be hoping to get well in time to compete at

the Masters, which was moved to November 12-15 in this year’s coronavirus-disrupted schedule.

Scott, ranked 15th, took his most

recent US PGA triumph in February at Riviera.American Jim Herman, the

first alternate, replaced Scott in the Zozo field, which tees off on Thursday in the opening round at Sherwood Country Club. — AFP

LOS ANGELES

Scott tests positive for COVID-19Australia’s innovative Vic Open, the only event on the world’s professional golf tours where men and women tee off in alternate groups on the same course, fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday. Jointly sanctioned by the men’s European Tour and the US-based elite women’s LPGA Tour, it was due to be played in February at a course south of Melbourne.

But difficulties around providing a safe environment for players and a lack of certainty on quarantine and border issues proved too complicated.

Its cancellation follows Australia’s three biggest tournaments — the men’s and women’s Australian Open

and the PGA Championship — all being called off last week for similar reasons.

“We’re very proud of how far the Vic Open came since the mixed concept was put together, and we’re more than aware of how popular this event has become,” said Golf Australia chief James Sutherland.

“We’ve tried to make it happen, but the call had to be made.” — AFP

Fears that the COVID-19 pandemic might have a dire impact on women’s sport in Australia have eased in recent months and on Thursday 120 of the world’s best cricketers were gathered in Sydney for the 2020 Women’s Big Bash League. Sports bodies have been hit hard in the pocket by the global health crisis but while international competition remains problematic, women’s programmes and tournaments have

largely survived, altered but intact.The WBBL Twenty20 tournament

gets under way on Sunday and will take place entirely in Sydney with the players cloistered in a bio-secure bubble at the vast sports complex built for the 2000 Olympics Games. The 2019 edition of the eight-team tournament was the first as a standalone product and attracted good crowds and TV audiences.

— Reuters

MELBOURNE SYDNEY

Vic Open falls victim to pandemic Women’s Big Bash ready to roll

S H O R T T A K E S

Ko looks to recapture winning formWASHINGTON: New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, a two-time major champion who hasn’t won in two and a half years, is happy just to be playing at this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship.

The event, which starts on Thursday at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia, was created to help ease the gap on players who would usually be playing in Asia at this time of year, the COVID-19 pandemic having shut down those opportunities for 2020.

“We would have all loved to have been in Asia,” Ko said on Wednesday. “I’ve not been in the US in October before.

“Obviously right now the best option for all of us was to stay within the US. I think it’s nice that we still get another playing opportunity.

“It’s going to be good golf — 2020 has been a pretty tough year for a lot of people all around the world, and I think for us to have another playing opportunity is something that we’re very grateful and thankful for.”

That’s true for world number 39 Ko.

“The first little while where I wasn’t competing at the level when I was playing at my best, I think I compared myself a lot to then,” she said.

“I just got to try my 100 per cent when I’m out there, grind my butt out there and just do the best that I can and the results happen.

“A lot of those things are out of my control, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep playing consistently well and put myself more in contention and in

those positions.”Ko has been doing that lately.

She shared second at the Marathon Classic in the LPGA’s second return event from the pandemic shutdown and was sixth in last month’s ANA inspiration major.

“I’m doing pretty good,” Ko said. “I feel like after quarantine, the time I spent practicing and recovering and training, it was good to see the results kind of show some of that time. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep working hard to have more of those moments.”

The 23-year-old former world number one likes the layout but knows lifting a 16th career LPGA trophy will be a difficult task.

“It’s definitely not easy to win,” Ko said. “I’ve just got to, in my off weeks, try my best, keep working on the areas I feel like need to be worked on and at a tournament just being focused and hopefully have a good week.”

Ko said she had pondered returning to New Zealand at one stage but decided to remain in her Florida home for now.

“I did think about maybe going home, but at that time it was also a little bit of a risk for me to get on a long haul flight, especially as I’m not on the west coast. Makes it a little bit tougher to go home,” Ko said.

“Even though I would’ve loved to have been home, luckily the golf courses and all that in our community back in Orlando was very safe. I just opted for that option. Hopefully I’ll be back home in New Zealand very soon.” — AFP

TIGER OPENS ZOZO DEFENCE WITH

MASTERS IN MINDLOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods has improved his game since missing the cut at last month’s US Open, but defends his title at this week’s Zozo Championship with an eye towards next month’s Masters.

The 44-year-old former world number one tries for an unprecedented 83rd career US PGA title starting on Thursday at Sherwood Country Club, where Woods once hosted his Hero World Challenge charity event.

“My game is definitely better than it was at the US Open,” Woods said. “I feel a little bit more prepared, a little bit better, and hopefully that translates into playing the golf course.”

Woods won his 82nd career tour title last October in Japan at the Zozo, matching Sam Snead for the all-time record, but the event was moved to California this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving Woods a chance to repeat as champion on a different but familiar layout.

“I think that having it here and having Zozo come to America and have it come to this venue in particular is fantastic for all of us,” Woods said.

“The fact we’re able to have this championship, it was a big thing for the tour and a big bonus. It’s awesome for us to be able to come back here to Sherwood. It’s a golf course I know well.”

As well as defending his crown, Woods is using the event as a tune-up for the Masters, which was moved from April to November due to the virus outbreak.

Woods said he might play the Houston Open the week before the Masters, but typically takes that week off and tries to ease the strain on his surgically repaired back by seldom playing in consecutive weeks.

“My plan is just to play and practice,” Woods said. “This entire year has been different for all of us. My run-up to Augusta is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. That’s just the way it is.

“The whole idea is to be ready in a few weeks and whether or not that’s playing one more event or just playing here at Zozo, just making sure that I’m ready for Augusta.”

Woods has called off this year’s

World Challenge, planned for December in the Bahamas, due to COVID-19 issues. The 15-time major champion notes that Sherwood has undergone some major changes since the last time he played a competitive round on the layout.

“The greens have changed since the last time I’ve played,” he said. “They’re a little bit flatter, a little bit bigger. Some of the contours are gone and so it’s a bit different.

“It’s on the softer side, and I think that some of the redesign that they’ve

done here and the redo has made this golf course certainly more member-friendly and I think that the scores will be awfully low this week.”