13/07/2026

MONDAY | JULY 13, 2026

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Place your order on the app Pick up at your nearest store and enjoy! Former Qatar ruler Sheikh Hamad dies, aged 74 ORDER AHEAD IN THE APP, PICK UP IN STORE © 2026 Starbucks Coffee Company. All rights reserved.

VW boss prefers smart solutions to plant closures BERLIN: Volkswagen Group chief executive Oliver Blume said he believed the carmaker could avoid factory closures as it presses ahead with efforts to cut costs. “There are smarter solutions than closing plants,” Blume told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. A cost-cutting programme at Volkswagen’s German sites was already delivering results, he said. “We were able to reduce our factory costs in Germany by an average of 20% last year alone. That’s significant progress.” Blume’s comments came after a meeting of the supervisory board on Thursday, where he reportedly failed to secure approval for a more far-reaching cost-cutting package. According to a report in the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, which cites sources within the group, representatives of the workforce and the German state of Lower Saxony voted against the package. Details of the rejected package have so far emerged only through media reports. According to Manager Magazin , up to 100,000 jobs could be cut worldwide – twice as many as previously planned. Bild reported that the figure could even be as high as 120,000. Four of the group’s plants in Germany are also under threat of closure, including a factory operated by VW’s Audi subsidiary. – Bernama measures after years of strained relations. Lee has taken a dovish approach to North Korea since taking office in June 2025, in stark contrast to his predecessor’s hawkish policy. – AFP South Korea asks North to help search for sailor SEOUL: South Korea asked the North yesterday to help search for and return a missing navy sailor believed to have drifted across the de facto inter-Korean maritime border. The request follows reports that the sailor went missing yesterday morning while a vessel was on patrol off South Korea’s eastern coast near the Northern Limit Line (NLL). “A sailor aboard a South Korean navy vessel conducting a security mission in the East Sea went missing on the morning of July 12 and is believed to have drifted north of the NLL,” Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a brief statement provided to AFP, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. “As the South Korean navy is searching for the missing sailor, we request North Korea’s cooperation, on humanitarian grounds, in the search and the individual’s return.” The sailor holds the rank of seaman apprentice, Yonhap News Agency reported. Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back also instructed officials to “make every effort to rescue the missing serviceman as quickly and safely as possible”, the Defence Ministry said in a statement, without providing further details. The appeal comes as President Lee Jae Myung has sought to ease tensions with the nuclear-armed North by pursuing dialogue and confidence-building

o A‘ moderniser who seized power’

a decade of infrastructure building that remade Doha. His foreign policy carved out a role for Qatar as a mediator, brokering talks in conflicts from Lebanon to Yemen and Darfur while maintaining ties with the United States – hosting US Central Command – as well as Iran and groups aligned with it. That balancing act laid the groundwork for Qatar’s role in negotiations between the United States and Iran, and in its years-long efforts to halt the war in Gaza. Qatar under Sheikh Hamad played a prominent and controversial role during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, using its resources and huge influence to back revolutionary movements and groups across the region. While Doha portrayed its policy as support for popular demands for political change, critics accused it, and Sheikh Hamad, of selectively backing factions aligned with its interests, particularly groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. This put Sheikh Hamad at odds with fellow Gulf monarchs in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which viewed many of these movements as a threat to regional stability and monarchical rule. The activism elevated Qatar’s regional profile but also deepened

Sheikh Hamad died yesterday. It did not mention the cause of his death. The Qatar that the current Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani inherited was already well on its way to being remade by his father. Sheikh Hamad presided over one of the most consequential periods in the country’s history, driving a rapid transformation of the tiny desert state that reshaped its economy, global profile and political ambition. A forceful, independent-minded personality, he explained in a speech to mark his abdication in 2013 that he wanted a new generation “with their innovative ideas and active energies” to take over. Sheikh Hamad was the architect of Qatar’s effort to develop its liquefied natural gas infrastructure that allowed it to get its vast gas reserves to global markets, turning the state into one of the world’s largest exporters and laying the foundations for its vast wealth. He established media network Al Jazeera, which gave Qatar an outsized voice in Arab politics and projected its influence far beyond the Gulf. He also oversaw the successful bid to host the 2022 football World Cup, a move that firmly put Qatar on the global stage and accelerated

tensions with its neighbours and left a legacy that continues to shape Gulf politics. Sheikh Hamad’s abdication was intended to ensure a smooth succession and minimise discord within a ruling family with a history of palace intrigue. He himself seized power from his father in a bloodless coup in 1995. A year later, he survived an attempted counter-coup that analysts attributed to his father, who had come to power in similar fashion in 1972 by ousting his cousin. One of Sheikh Hamad’s most consequential partners in Qatar’s modernisation drive was one of his wives, Sheikha Moza binti Nasser, who fostered a public profile that was rare for a Gulf ruler’s wife. Sheikha Moza’s influence rose alongside his efforts to reposition the state at home and abroad. While Sheikh Hamad pushed through political and economic reforms that reshaped the country’s trajectory, she advanced a parallel agenda in education, research and social development. When the emir took power, he was the youngest leader in the region at 44. He was viewed as less aloof than other Gulf Arab leaders, and could often be found at his favourite cafe in Doha’s souq, talking with patrons. – Reuters

DOHA: Qatar’s former emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, a sweeping moderniser who seized power in 1995 and broke with tradition to hand it over to his son 18 years later, has died at the age of 74. Qatar’s top government body, the Amiri Diwan, announced that

Sheikh Hamad’s foreign policy carved out a role for Qatar as a mediator. – REUTERSFILEPIC

Seoul issues new heatwave warning SEOUL: South Korea issued its first-ever emergency heatwave alert yesterday under a new warning system launched this year, advising people to halt outdoor activities and keep cool.

The new warning system was introduced to better deal with a rising number of heatwaves in South Korea, which have become longer and more intense, officials said. An emergency alert is issued when areas experiencing a heatwave are forecast to hit perceived temperatures of 38ºC or an actual temperature of 39ºC for one day. “The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued an Emergency Heatwave Warning for two cities in southern North Gyeongsang Province – Gyeongsan and Pohang,” said chief Lee Mi-seon at a press briefing. “This marks the first time it has been issued since the system took effect,” she said. The affected areas saw temperatures reach the emergency criteria over the weekend. “An emergency heatwave warning does not simply mean the weather is extremely hot,” Lee said. “It indicates conditions in which even healthy people face an elevated risk of harm, including heat-related illness and death.” People engaged in outdoor

A Korean family walks through a fountain tunnel to cool off at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. – AFPPIC

four to 14 over the same period. A heatwave day is defined as one with a maximum temperature of at least 33ºC, while a tropical night is one when the overnight low remains 25ºC or above. – AFP

annual number of heatwave days has more than doubled to 19 over the past five years, from eight in the 1970s. The average annual number of tropical nights has also jumped from

activities should stop immediately and move to a cool place, and no one, especially children or pets, should be left inside a vehicle, she said. KMA data show the average