Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Monday 3 July 2017
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Qatar stock exchange drops as Arab ultimatum deadline nears

By MAGGIE HYDE All of the affairs are head-
Associated Press ed for the better.”
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qa- Qatar’s foreign minister,
tar’s stock exchange Sheikh Mohammed bin
dropped Sunday as the Abdulrahman Al Thani,
tiny Gulf nation braced showed no signs of back-
for a deadline to accept ing down in during a press
demands from four Arab briefing in Rome on Satur-
countries in part over what day, saying they were nev-
they allege is its support for er meant to be accepted
extremist groups. and that his country “is pre-
Saudi Arabia, the United pared to face whatever
Arab Emirates, Egypt and consequences.” Qatar’s
Bahrain cut off ties with 2022 government offered no ad-
FIFA World Cup host Qatar ditional comment Sunday.
in early June, restricting ac- While in Rome, Al Thani met
cess to their airspace and with Italian Foreign Minis-
ports and sealing Qatar’s ter Angelino Alfano, who
only land border, which it gave his backing to ongo-
shares with Saudi Arabia. A traditional dhow floats in the Corniche Bay of Doha, Qatar, with tall buildings of the financial ing mediation efforts led by
They issued a 13-point list of district in the background. Qatar’s stock exchange dropped Sunday as the tiny Gulf nation Kuwait.
demands to end the stand- braced for a deadline to accept demands from four Arab countries in part over what they U.S. Secretary of State Rex
off June 22 and gave the allege is its support for extremist groups. Tillerson has also tried to re-
natural gas-rich country 10 (AP Photo/Saurabh Das) solve the dispute, with the
days to comply. 8,822.15. sovereignty. things would be fine, re- U.S. last week urging Saudi
Qatar’s main QE stock in- The deadline is set to expire Qatari supermarkets saw gardless of what happens Arabia and its allies to stay
dex lost more than 3 per- by day’s end, though the panic buying when the four over the course of the next “open to negotiation” with
cent when it reopened fol- countries that issued the ul- countries initially cut ties. days. Qatar.
lowing a weeklong hiatus timatum did not provide a But the capital, Doha, was “We have a government, Russian President Vladimir
for the Eid al-Fitr holiday precise time or detail what largely calm Sunday as res- thank God, that is wise and Putin has separately spoken
break — its first session since immediate penalties, if any, idents waited to see how knows how to provide for all with the leaders of Qatar
the demands were laid out. Qatar will face. the crisis would play out. of our needs, how to main- and Bahrain, urging direct
It eventually recovered Qatar has repeatedly de- Abdelaziz al-Yafaei, a Qa- tain security,” he said. “We dialogue among all the
some of its losses later nied charges it supports tari out for an evening walk have enough funds in the states involved, according
in the trading session to extremism and says the de- along the city’s bayside, country, on the economic to statements released by
close down 2.3 percent at mands are an affront to its said he was reassured that side. the Kremlin on Saturday.q

Samsung to sell recycled Note 7 phone in South Korea at $611

By YOUKYUNG LEE units. Aviation authorities around flaws in design and produc- is part of its efforts to mini-
AP Technology Writer Overseas sales plans will be the world banned the pricy tion of batteries supplied mize waste.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — determined later, it said in phone on flight and pho- by two battery makers. Like the previous Note se-
Samsung Electronics said a statement. tos of scorched Note 7 cir- After Samsung recalled mil- ries, the Note FE, short for
Sunday its recalled Galaxy Samsung said the Note FE culated on social media. lions of Note 7 phones, en- “Fan Edition,” features the
Note 7 phones will be recy- has “perfect safety.” Samsung spent billions of vironmental activists have jumbo screen measuring
cled and sold starting this The original Note 7 was one dollars to recall the Note 7 pressured the South Kore- 5.7 inches (14.48 centime-
week in South Korea. of the biggest black eyes in and fix its damaged brand. an tech giant to reuse the ters) diagonally and the
The Galaxy Note FE phone, Samsung’s history. Earlier this year, the com- electronics parts to reduce stylus pen. q
using unused parts in the When it was launched in pany released the investi- waste.
recalled Note 7 smart- August 2016, the Note 7 gation results and blamed Samsung said the Note FE
phones, will go on sale in was Samsung’s answer to
South Korea on Friday at Apple’s upcoming iPhone.
700,000 won ($611), about It was also one of the
three quarters of its original most expensive Samsung
price. phones with the price start-
The company said the sup- ing at $850.
ply will be limited to 400,000 But after reports emerged
that its batteries were prone
to overheat and catch
fire, Samsung recalled the
phone in less than a month
of its launch and released
another one with replaced
batteries.
But the second batch
also tended to overheat,
prompting Samsung to dis-
continue the Note 7.
The debacle dealt a blow
to Samsung’s corporate
image.