4 7 38 18

SUBSCRIPTIO

N

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 JAMADA ALAWWAL 17, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net

Min 11ºMax 21ºHigh Tide

01:27 & 14:40 Low Tide

08:31 & 20:3740 P

AG

ESN

O: 1

7141

150

FILS

Embassy honors

first director

of PLO office

in Kuwait

Adele sweeps

Grammy awards

in upset victory

over Beyonce

Kuwait Times

infographic:

NBA Power

Rankings

Blast kills

at least 13,

injures 83

in Lahore

MPW announces measures to tackle Ghazali traffic snarlMoI issues guidelines on avoiding gridlock

Newsi n b r i e f

OPEC delivering on agreed output cuts

KUWAIT: The OPEC oil cartel has implemented morethan 90 percent of its agreed output cuts aimed at curb-ing a glut on world markets, Kuwait’s oil minister saidyesterday. OPEC and non-OPEC producers includingRussia agreed late last year to reduce output by about1.8 million barrels per day in a landmark deal that fol-lowed a sharp drop in oil prices. “OPEC compliance withthe output cuts is excellent ... Compliance has reached92 percent,” said Kuwaiti oil minister Essam Al-Marzouq,who chairs a committee tasked with monitoring theagreement. Non-OPEC producers had delivered onmore than half of their pledged production reductions,he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference inKuwait City. Marzouq attributed the relatively low non-OPEC implementation rate to previously agreed exportcommitments. (See Pages 5 & 21)

Hamas hardliner elected as group’s Gaza chief

GAZA CITY: Hamas elected in secret a hardlinemember of the Palestinian Islamist movement’sarmed wing as its new Gaza leader yesterday, indi-cating a tougher stand against longtime adversaryIsrael. Yahya Sinwar was elected to head theHamas political office in the Gaza Strip, officialsfrom the party said. An influential military figure,Sinwar represents for some the hardest line withinthe Islamist movement which has fought threewars against Israel since 2008. He will succeedpolitician Ismail Haniya and becomes the secondmost important figure in the party after KhaledMeshaal. Sinwar was held in Israeli jail for morethan 20 years until 2011, when he was releasedalong with more than 1,000 other Palestinian pris-oners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldiercaptured five years earlier. He has since become asenior figure in the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades,Hamas’s military wing.

KUWAIT: Even as a number of lawmakers called for theformation of a special temporary committee to study thedemographic imbalance in the country, a governmentcommittee entrusted with studying the cancellation ofthe kafala (sponsorship) system is forging ahead to find asolution that will protect the rights of both employers andemployees, achieve public interest and preserve Kuwait’shuman rights image.

Notably, many MPs believe that the uncontrolled andgrowing numbers of expats, not putting replacementpolicies into practice and lenience with visa traffickershave all led to serious consequences, limiting citizens toonly 30 percent of the total population.

According to a report in Al-Rai daily yesterday,informed sources said the government committee,comprising of elements from the social affairs and laborministry, the interior ministry and the manpowerauthority, is currently considering a proposal to makethe government sponsor all private sector employeesand regulate employer-employee relations throughcontracts to be signed by both sides, with the manpow-er authority as the sponsor.

The sources explained that the contracts will includearticles and provisions to prevent employers from holdingemployees’ passports and prevent transferring employeesto work for others unless they cancel their residency visasand depart the country, with an exception for doctors,engineers, managers and holders of university degrees.

“The study also suggests granting employees specialresidency cards to be held by sponsors and used ondeparting the country through various exits to showsponsors’ approval,” explained the sources, noting thatthis would replace the retaining of passports, which isglobally banned.

Moreover, the sources said that the new contract willprotect employees’ rights, namely financial ones, by man-dating remittances through local banks in order to docu-ment the process in case of disputes. The sources con-cluded that the study is still subject to discussions at thecommittee and other relevant ministries in order to helpregulate expats’ residencies, the demographic structure,setting special quotas per nationality, prevent these quo-tas from increasing and prevent all kinds of manipulationand tampering with residency laws.

Govt mulling cancelation of kafala system

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Public Works announced yes-terday ‘instant measures’ to tackle the traffic congestionresulting from the closure of the key Al-Ghazali Roadand Bridge. The extraordinary measures will be effectivefrom today, the ministry said in a statement, indicatingthey are a result of intensive meetings that involvedofficials from the traffic department, Kuwait Universityand the ports authority.

Ahmad Al-Hassan, assistant undersecretary for roads’engineering, said in a statement that the department iscoordinating with other state authorities to tackle theproblem that arose after the vital road was closed onFriday due to road renovation works. The problem isbeing tackled with several steps, such as reopeningclosed side roads, he added. Kuwait has been witness-ing unprecedented traffic congestions for the past twodays due to the construction works and the requiredmeasures taken.

The Ministry of Interior also issued guidelines formotorists on how to avoid traffic jams by using alterna-tive roads. It said in a statement that part of GhazaliRoad had to be shut for the completion of the Jahraroad project as well as Ghazali Road. As a result, traffichad to be diverted to the Jahra side road leading toShuwaikh Port. The ministry listed a number of otherroads that can be used to avoid the jam. Trucks arebanned from plying from 6 am to 4 pm from Sundaysto Thursdays.

DUBAI: A model of the EHang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle is displayed at the World GovernmentSummit 2017 in Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah yesterday. — AFP (See Page 13)

Dubai eyes hover-taxis to reduce jams

L O C A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Minister of State for HousingAffairs and Minister of State for Services Yasser Abul and officials.— KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yes-terday Minister of State for HousingAffairs and Minister of State forServices Yasser Abul. His Highnessthe Amir also received The DirectorGeneral of the Public Authority forHousing Welfare (PAHW) Bader Al-Woqyan and Director General ofKuwait Credit Bank Salah Al-Mudhaf. Deputy Minister of AmiriDiwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah attended the meeting. Abul,Woqyan and Mudhaf later met withHis Highness the Crown PrinceSheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the PrimeMinister Sheikh Jaber Al-MubarakAl-Hamad Al-Sabah.

In other news, His Highness theAmir received National AssemblySpeaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanem.Meanwhile, His Highness the CrownPrince received Ghanem, Sheikh AliJaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah andSheikh Salem Abdulaziz Saud Al-Sabah. — KUNA

Amir meets HousingMinister, officials

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahmeets with Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Saud Al-Sabah.

KUWAIT: There is nothing abnormalon the Kuwaiti-Iraqi borders, DeputyForeign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallahstated Sunday. The situation is nor-mal and stable on borders with Iraqand will remain the same thanks tothe vigilance of Kuwaiti people andIraq’s respect of the sovereignty ofthe State of Kuwait, Jarallah said onthe sidelines of the InternationalMigration Organization’s (IOM) cere-mony to launch a documentaryabout Kuwait’s humanitarian role.

He added that National AssemblySpeaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem hasdiscussed the issue with I raqiParliament Speaker Salim Al-Jabouriwho stated that nobody could drivea wage between Kuwaiti and Iraqipeople. Jabouri himself affirmed tothe press that his country is seriousin respecting the sovereignty of itsneighboring country and that Iraq iskeen on continuing good trustingrelations with Kuwait. Jabouri ’sstatement shows the Iraqi side’srespect of Kuwait sovereignty,Jarallah said. Earlier this month,Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadisaid that his country would not bedragged to malicious schemes ofsome entities which try to spreadrumors and fabricated news to marIraqi-Kuwaiti relations.

Renewed commitmentJarallah pointed out that the mes-

sage received by His Highness theAmir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah from the US PresidentDonald Trump included a renewedUS commitment towards Kuwaitsecurity and stability as well as theUN resolution related to Kuwait andIraq. He added that he has also metthe UK Minister for the Middle EastTobias Ellwood recently and he hasechoed a similar stance.

Ellwood has expressed the UKcommitment to the security and sta-bility of Kuwait and the UN resolu-tions related to the situationbetween Kuwait and Iraq, he said.Earlier on Sunday, Undersecretary ofMinistry of Interior General SuleimanAl-Fahad stated that there is not anyabnormal gathering on the Kuwaiti-Iraqi border and trade movement isgoing on normally. “The security situ-ation on the border is good and allconcerned sectors are doing theirduties so efficiently,” he toldreporters. Commenting on ongoingevents in neighboring countries,Fahad said: “What is happening insome neighboring countries are justdomestic political conflicts withwhich Kuwait has nothing to dowhatsoever.”

Improving livesIOM’s Director General William

Lacy Swing said that the IOM wasjoining Kuwait in its national cele-brations by launching a documen-tary about Kuwait’s contribution toimprove lives of displaced, immi-grants and refugees. During a cere-mony held at Kuwait ’s NationalLibrary to launch the documentaryentit led ‘ With Their Voices andWords,’ Swing said Kuwait has alwaysbeen a source of hope for those suf-fering from crises, and spared nofinancial or material effort to helpthose in need. He said they were cel-ebrating today the ‘generous aid’ ofKuwait. Swing praised generosity ofHis Highness the Amir Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the‘Humanitarian Leader,’ and theKuwaiti people in the help of thosein need.

Jarallah said the documentaryspoke about Kuwait’s humanitariancontributions and conveyed voices ofpeople who benefited from the aid.Kuwait has been keen on providingeducational and medical services forthose in need, he said, “which madeus proud of the size of assistance thatKuwait is offering for the needy.”

Those affected by the Iraqi andSyrian crises speak in the documen-

tary about Kuwaiti contributions andsupport, and positive effect of betterlife of them. Jarallah thanked the IOMfor shedding light on a center of shel-tering of female workers in Kuwait,which provides humanitarian servic-es and was admired by globalhumanitarian organizations.

Humanitarian diplomacyEman Erekat, head of IOM Mission

in Kuwait, said her organization pro-duced the documentary in apprecia-tion of Kuwait’s humanitarian rolearound the globe, as well as to initia-tives of His Highness the Amir whocreated the ‘humanitarian diplomacy.’She said Kuwait’s humanitarian aidfor the refugees and the displacedincluded transportation and cleaningmaterials, and tents.

Erekat said more than a millionpeople benefited from Kuwait aid inSyria alone. Kuwait ’s assistancehelped around 4,000 students to goto school every day, offered sevenrescue stations for Turkey’s coastguard, building four clinics inLebanon serving 5,000 people, andtrained women inside Syria to makecarpets to generate income, she said.Kuwait contributed $25 million forIOM over four years, she said.

AppreciationFirst Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Foreign Affairs SheikhSabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabahthanked the IOM for producing thedocumentary. Addressing the cere-mony, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled saidthe film was documenting “an impor-tant phase of humanitarian coopera-tion between the State of Kuwait andthe IOM.” The documentary, headded, highlighted humanitarian val-ues, reiterated appreciation ofKuwait’s humanitarian role and shedlight on humanitarian workersaround the world. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled recalled the honoring of HisHighness the Amir with IOM’s Medalduring the IOM’s Executive Council’smeeting in November 2014.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled thankedthe IOM and Swing for the produc-tion of the documentary, which shedlight on “positive contributions” ofKuwait within IOM programs in con-flict areas. He congratulated IOM for

joining the UN last September, andtaking over responsibility of negotia-tions over an international agree-ment for safe immigration.

He also thanked IOM for publish-ing a book talking about Kuwaitbeing a source of inspiration in timesof crises. The book talks aboutKuwait’s humanitarian activities andprograms conducted in cooperationwith IOM.

Bountiful contributionsMeanwhile, Swing said in an inter-

view yesterday that the bountifulcontributions of Kuwait and HisHighness the Amir has contributed togiving hope to those who feel hope-less about life amid displacementand wars. He added that the IOM hasalso published a new book onKuwait’s humanitarian activities, pro-grams and projects through existingcooperation between the State ofKuwait and the IOM. Swing said thesignificance of the documentarystems from the way Kuwaiti relief andmedical aid is handed out torefugees in host countries. But, heremarked that his organization isembroiled in a host of challenges,primarily how to provide effectivehelp to internally displaced persons(IDPs) and refugees, given that thereare six million IDPs in Syria.

This increasing number of IDPsand refugees is of much worry to theIOM, he said, regretting that somecountries are reluctant to hostrefugees or even to help them. Hewent to say that the current humani-tarian situation across the world hasbecome very complicated, and that asolution does not rest with humani-tarian organizations which can onlyprovide a better life to those IDPs andrefugees. Kuwaiti humanitarian aidhas really contributed to training Iraqifemale IDPs to making carpets as asource of earning money, in additionto aid to refugees in Lebanon, he not-ed. The IOM chief lauded HisHighness the Amir of Kuwait as a realhumanitarian leader whose bountifulcontributions have greatly led toimproving the living conditions ofrefugees and IDPs. — KUNA

Situation on borders withIraq normal: Deputy FM

IOM launches documentary in appreciation of Kuwait

KUWAIT: Director General of theInternational Organization ofMigration William Lacy Swing speaksduring a ceremony held Sunday tolaunch a documentary aboutKuwait’s humanitarian role. —KUNA

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah speaks on the sidelines ofthe ceremony.

A scene from the documentary entitled ‘With Their Voices and Words.’

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh SabahKhaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is honored during the ceremony.

L O C A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

KUWAIT: The Ambassador of Greece to Kuwait Andreas Papadakis visited Kuwait Times yesterdayand discussed matters of mutual concern with Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan.

— Photo by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: The Cabinet held its weeklyregular session yesterday, startingwith verses from the Holy Quran andcongratulations expressed by theministers for His Highness the CrownPrince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on his reign’s 11thanniversary, said the Cabinet ’sSecretary General Abdulatif AbdullahAl-Roudhan in a statement after thesession.

During the session, held at BayanPalace and chaired by His Highnessthe Prime Minister Sheikh JaberMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, theministers were informed about a mes-sage addressed to His Highness theAmir from the Kazakh president invit-ing His Highness to the first Islamicsummit on sciences and technologydue in Astana in September as well asthe final ceremony for ‘Expo 2017Future Energy.’ They were notifiedabout a message to His Highness the

Amir from the of general governor theAustralia, expressing congratulationson the 56th anniversary of the nation-al day. He expressed satisfaction atoutcome of his visit to Kuwait in May;a mission that would contribute tobolstering mutual cooperationbetween the two friendly countries.

They also examined a letter to HisHighness from the UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guteress, in responseto Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad’s congratu-lations on assuming the UN top post.Guteress lauded Kuwait’s adherenceto permanent partnership with theUN, expressing appreciation for host-ing peace talks among Yemeni partiesand continuous support for Iraqis,Syrians and Yemenis affected with vio-lence. First Deputy Prime Ministerand Foreign Minister Sheikh SabahKhaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah briefedthe ministers about outcome of arecent visit to the country by Prince

Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, theUnited Nations High Commissionerfor Human Rights, who laudedKuwait’s achievements in the field ofhuman rights. He also talked aboutthe visits to the country by DirectorGeneral of the InternationalOrganization of Migration WilliamLacy Swing and the Uzbek foreignminister. He shed light on the talks heheld with the Venezuelan oil ministerduring the latter’s recent visit to thecountry, namely with respect of abid-ing by OPEC’s decisions to maintainoil prices.

The cabinet congratulated thenew German president and con-demned the recent blast outsidepremises of the higher cour t inKabul, re-affirming rejection of allforms of terrorism. The ministersexpressed sympathy with victims ofdeadly avalanches resulting fromheavy snow in Afghanistan.—KUNA

Cabinet holds weekly session

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Eleven lawmakers yesterday called forforming a temporary parliamentary panel tostudy the issue of population imbalance andrampant visa trading. The lawmakers said thenumber of expatriates in Kuwait has increased toabnormal levels because of the government fail-ure to provide employment to Kuwaitis toreplace foreigners and due to failure to confrontvisa trading. This has led to serious implicationson the country with nationals becoming a smallminority of just 30 percent of the population of4.4 million, the lawmakers said in a motion.

The motion will be submitted to the nationalassembly today to discuss whether to form thecommittee or not. The lawmakers want the com-mittee to study the causes of the serious demo-graphic imbalance and propose solutionsbesides investigating the visa trading issue.

They said the committee should present itsfindings by March 30 when a special assemblysession should be convened to review the study.The new move comes after the national assem-bly failed to hold a special session to discuss the

population issue two weeks ago because of thelack of quorum. A number of MPs have stronglycriticized the presence of a large number ofexpatriates and some of them even directlyattacked foreigners and called for imposing tax-es on them.

In a related issue, MP Safa Al-Hashem, whohas been very critical of expatriates, yesterdaypraised the assembly’s health and labor commit-tee for approving a draft law calling to imposehealth insurance on foreigners who arrive inKuwait as only visitors. Hashem said that theinsurance will be sizable and not symbolic. Shecriticized the government legal department forplanning to hire 30 expatriate advisors and call-ing for giving the jobs to Kuwaitis.

NaturalizationMP Abdullah Fahhad meanwhile called on

authorities to naturalize the 34,000 statelesspeople or bedoons whom the government issaying they are entitled to Kuwaiti citizenship.Fahhad, a member of the assembly committeefor bedoon affairs, said that he had a big hopethat the issue of the 120,000 bedoons will be

resolved when the central agency for bedoonswas established independent from the interiorministry.

But he said that the agency has unfairly treat-ed the bedoons during the past few years andtheir issue remained unresolved. The lawmakersaid that the agency officials told the assemblybedoons committee that 34,000 bedoons areentitled to the Kuwaiti citizenship and wonderedwhy they are not given the nationality.

Fahhad also said that bedoons are livingunder oppressive circumstances and many ofthem have no jobs. He wished that their situa-tion return to the pre-1990 era when they hadhumanitarian treatment. In the meantime, rap-porteur of the committee MP said he will pay avisit to the bedoons agency and vowed that theissue of failing to renew the bedoons’ specialidentification cards will be resolved.

The national assembly meanwhile holds itsregular session today and is expected to discusswhether it can hold a special debate on the bankdeposits scandal in which 13 present and formerMPs are accused of accepting millions of dinarsin bribes.

MPs demand panelto study population

Call to naturalize 34,000 bedoons

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah meets with the US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman. — KUNA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabahmeets with the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Sunil Jain.

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Interior Sheikh Khaled Al-JarrahAl-Sabah yesterday received the USAmbassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silvermandiscussing issues of joint concern, theMinistry of Interior said in a statement.Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah, duringthe meeting with the American envoy,affirmed that the Kuwaiti-US relations andcooperation have been broad between thetwo friendly countries.

In the meantime, Ambassador Silvermanexpressed appreciation for the State ofKuwait’s role in backing up regional peaceand security. He noted that the talks withthe minister addressed key issues related tomeans of boosting the bilateral ties

between the State of Kuwait and the UnitedStates of America. Kuwait and the US areclose allies, with close coordination in vari-ous sectors namely security, military andbusiness domains. Washington mastermind-ed an international military campaign in theearly 90s to free Kuwait from occupation bythe former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah alsoreceived the Indian Ambassador to KuwaitSunil Jain discussing means of boostingmutual cooperation between the twoStates. Ambassador Jain expressed grati-tude to the State of Kuwait for caring forthe Indian community in the country. Thereare some 900,000 Indians working in thecountry, serving in various sectors. —KUNA

Interior Minister meetsUS, Indian ambassadors

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Health Minister Dr Jamal Al-Harbi approved the patients’ rightsprotection charter, which includes 12articles. The new charter states that allmedical facility staff will be commit-ted to observing patients’ rights basedon the fact that a patient is a full-fledged trustworthy person fullyresponsible for his/her physical safety,has the right to receive medical careand to be treated respectfully by allhealthcare providers.

The charter also entitles patients toget full explanation about diagnosesand treatment, while protecting theprivacy of their medical information.They should also be informed aboutpossible dangers or consequencesand alternatives. The charter alsomandates doctors to ensure thatpatients or their legal representativeshave received full answers to allinquiries about their health condition.

The charter also commits a healthfacility to provide the care needed tomaintain patients’ physical and psy-chological safety and protect themfrom all dangers. It also bans subject-

ing patients to experimental remediesor medical research without clear writ-ten consent from them or from theirlegal representatives. In addition, thecharter defined a medical facility aspublic hospitals, health centers andclinics subject to the Ministry ofHealth or private sector ones super-vised by the ministry

ExplosivesDirector General of the Public

Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW)Bader Al-Woqyan announced theInterior Ministry’s approval to useexplosives at some rocky constructionsites as requested by the executingconstruction company. Woqyan addedthat explosions would be done andsupervised by elements from theInterior Ministry and the explosiveswould be stored under full InteriorMinistry supervision. Woqyan said thecompany executing the south Mutlaaproject had received special machineryit had imported after paying KD 60 mil-lion as bank warranty. He also notedthat the Public Authority for Manpowerwas contacted to increase the laborersworking on the project by 500 weekly.

Patients’ protectioncharter approved

By Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: Director of the Directorate General forCivil Aviation (DGCA) Yousif Al-Fauzan said thetotal number of planes annually availing aviationservices at Kuwait International Airport is 96,000,in addition to other planes flying throughKuwait airspace. Speaking on opening the 16thforum of the Middle East air aviation regionalplanning and implementation group, Fauzanstressed that ensuring air aviation safety, effi-ciency and the comfort of around 12 milliontravelers annually was a top priority for Kuwait.

Fauzan said aviation industries were growingin the Middle East in general and GCC in particu-

lar, and this entails constant follow up and con-trol of air traffic safety. Fauzan expressed pleas-ure over hosting the four-day forum in Kuwaitwith the participation of 20 countries to discussvarious topics of interest for regional aviationauthorities.

Deputy director for air aviation services affairsKhaled Al-Shoaibi said constant developmentsin air aviation come within an ambitious inte-grated plan to enable Kuwait international air-port to provide the finest aviation, communica-tions and weather information systems. Shoaibiadded that packages of development would beimplemented according to a special scheduledesigned to achieve the goals of the air aviation

development projects recommended by ICAO.

Court orderThe court of misdemeanor yesterday second-

ed a first instance court sentence acquittingjudges Loai Jassim Al-Kharafi and IbrahimMohammed Al-Kandari in a case filed againstthem for fighting at the Palace of Justice. Thecourt also abstained from punishing sheikhsAthbi, Khaled and Dhari Al-Fahd Al-Sabah, inaddition to Suleiman Khalifou, ordered them topay temporary compensation of KD 5,001 toboth lawyers and released them on KD 1,000 baileach after signing affidavits to maintain goodconduct for two years.

96,000 planes use airport annually

Domestic help department toinvestigate absconding claims

Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The Relations and Security InformationGeneral Department at the Interior Ministry saidthe ministry is keen on implementing all interna-tional treaties related to human rights and pre-serving human dignity and rights of domestichelpers. The department said the domestic helpdepartment of the Residency Affairs GeneralDepartment stopped accepting claims ofabsconding domestic helpers submitted by spon-sors through service centers until after going tothe domestic help department to investigate thehelper’s claims. The domestic help departmentwill enter the helper’s data, then place a securityrestriction with a message that no informationcan be accepted and that the case must bereferred to domestic help department.

CrackdownMeanwhile, Residency affairs detectives car-

ried out a security campaign in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh that resulted in the arrest of 13 ille-gal laborers for violating residency law, who

were caught working for persons other thantheir sponsors. In the meantime, the domestichelp department arrested eight African andAsian expats for running a bogus domestic helpoffice by urging helpers to abscond from theirsponsors, so who were then “sold” to other per-sons i l legally. All were sent to concernedauthorities.

No burdensKuwait Municipality Director General Ahmad

Al-Manfouhi said any increase in fees for servicesby the Municipality or the utilization of its facili-ties should not burden citizens financially,adding that a proposal is still under study.Manfouhi, during a meeting of the higher com-mittee for planning, urged a quick completion ofrules organizing the new municipality law33/2016, and asked that construction rules beeased and all notes and comments be consid-ered to avoid any defects in the current rules.Manfouhi lauded the initiative of engineer FaisalAl-Juhaim regarding the development of SalemAl-Mubarak Street in Salmiya and making it a

tourist spot similar to Souq Mubarakiya bypedestrianizing it.

Street adsKuwait Municipality’s public relations depart-

ment said street ads related to its media cam-paign on celebrating national days have beeninstalled. It said the ad carries a logo thatincludes the phrase ‘celebration is a behavior’ todeliver a message to citizens and expats not toencroach on others’ rights. Public RelationsDirector Abdelmohsen Aba Al-Akhail said thatthere will be 124 ad displays in total - 22 inFarwaniya, 16 in Jahra, 20 in Hawally, 42 in theCapital, nine in Mubarak Al-Kabeer and 15 inAhmadi governorate.

Breweries bustedPolice in Qusoor and Salmiya raided local

liquor breweries. In Qusoor, five Asians werearrested and 245 manufacturing drums and fourdistillation machines were confiscated.Meanwhile in Salmiya, police raided a housewhere drums and 51 liquor bottles were found.

KUWAIT: Pictures taken from illegal liquor breweries busted in Qusoor and Salmiya yesterday.

L O C A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

KUWAIT: Chevrolet and Cadillac Alghanim -Aftersales Group, held its annual appreciationevent on Monday, January 30, 2017, atAlghanim Service Center in Shuwaikh, bring-ing together its employees and members ofAlghanim Industries senior management. Theaim of the gathering was to assure the levelof commitment and excellent performance ofthe company’s aftersales operations, as wellas awarding the employees for their excep-tional service and devotion.

Acknowledged for exceeding expecta-tions across all functions and divisions in2016, the Aftersales team has once again setremarkable new standards in achieving cus-tomer satisfaction in the Automotive Serviceand Parts division. Members of the AlghanimIndustries’ senior management were there inperson, honoring and awarding the employ-ees for their nonstop dedication and service.Meanwhile, the family of Chevrolet andCadillac Alghanim - Aftersales Group wouldlike to thank its customers for their abidingloyalty and support as the company vows tocontinue honoring their trust and exceedtheir expectations in 2017 and beyond.

The year 2016 was of exceptional success,which is evident by the abundance of aftersales,awards Chevrolet and Cadillac Alghanim -Aftersales Group had received during the year.In competition with other General Motors deal-ers in the Middle East, Aftersales Group won 1stposition in the Service Advisor SkillsCompetition and the Technician SkillsCompetition, 2nd position (1st among GCCdealers) in the Part Skills Competition, as well asplenty of gold awards including the TopTechnician Award, Chevrolet and Cadillac

Service Manager Award, the Parts ManagerAward and 21 Gold Awards.

All the exceptional per formers wereawarded by the senior management andcomplimented for the great efforts of theteam and all the support functions to ensurethat the company tenders the best service toChevrolet and Cadillac customers at all timeswith passion and devotion in line with I-CAREprogram which inspires all employees to gothe extra mile and exceed customer’s expec-tations through memorable initiatives.

On par with Aftersales Group’s unforget-table appreciation event is the service facilityof Chevrolet and Cadillac Alghanim which

continues to elevate its customer relations andcar sales and services to new levels. The serv-ice facility aims to offer a completely satisfyingexperience from the moment customers stepin until the day they drive off to a thrilling des-tination. Performed by professionally trainedservice advisors, customers can expect a pro-fessional, detailed checkup that includes athorough inspection on all aspects related tocar safety such as wipers, brakes, engine andoil, all at no additional cost for customers.Once the checkup has been performed, cus-tomers will receive an exhaustive report detail-ing the condition of the car, the required main-tenance and pricing. Not to mention the cus-

tomer-friendly service contracts that avail tocustomers a variety of flexible paymentoptions and plans, as well as plenty of servicebenefits and perks all year long.

It is also worth mentioning that Yusuf AAlghanim and Sons Service Facility inShuwaikh is considered the biggest and mostadvanced automotive service center in theworld, with 73,000 sqm of built up area, servic-ing 1,000 vehicles every day. Throughout thefacility, advanced technology is harnessed toprovide customers high-quality and efficientservice, including a team of highly trainedtechnicians whose goal is to provide necessaryadvice and support as well as reliable and

cost-effective operation of customers’ vehicles.The facility also includes a state-of-the-artpaint and body shop that provides factory fin-ish gloss and quality when it comes to refinish-ing customers’ vehicles. Supported by body-and-paint specialists and modern equipment,the shop offers a variety of services thatincludes paint-less dent removal, custom paintand customization, sunroof installations,upholstery repairs and replacement, and manymore. Chevrolet and Cadillac Alghanim -Aftersales Group encourages customers to vis-it any of its strategically located service centersas soon as possible as to avoid any potentialmalfunction that may occur on the road.

Chevrolet & Cadillac Alghanim - AftersalesGroup celebrates 2016 achievements

Honors staff for their exceptional performance

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: On behalf of Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Ambassador toKuwait Rami Tahboub honored Khairy SalehAbu Al-Jabeen, the first director of the office ofthe Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) inKuwait, with an Order of Merit and Excellenceon Sunday at Holiday Inn Hotel. “This is the firsttime in history that a country’s ambassador ishonoring the revolution’s ambassador,”Tahboub said.

The Palestinian ambassador praised Khairy’sefforts in helping Palestinians in Kuwait. “Youare the one who did not sell his country andpeople. President Abbas does not forget his loy-al people. You supported him and directed us tothe right path - everyone should learn from hisloyalty,” he said. Jabeen thanked Abbas andTahboub for this honor and for honoring veteranfighters who served the Palestinian cause withall sincerity and dedication. “It is my honor to behere tonight. My children will remember thatour Palestinian president honored their fatherfor being loyal,” he said. Jabeen advised youngpeople to be loyal to their country, work andfamily “They should remember that ‘living foryourself is not living’,” he added.

“I am in Kuwait since 1948, and there were35,000 Palestinians here at that time. And theyelected me to represent them in this country. Iremember when they asked Ahmed Al-Shukeiri,the first chairman of PLO, why he chose me. Heanswered because the Palestinians chose him,”Jabeen recalled.

Jabeen was born in Jaffa in Palestine in 1924and graduated as a teacher from the El-RashidiaCollege in Jerusalem in 1942. He worked in jour-nalism and teaching, making contributions tothe cultural and the sports movement. After theNakba, he immigrated with other top Palestinian

teachers to Kuwait, where he contributed to thefounding of the Kuwaiti sports movement. Hewas also one of the first leaders of the PLO.

His most important achievement is the estab-lishment of the cooperative financial fund forArab employees at the Ministry of Electricity andWater as an alternative to the social security sys-tem for Kuwaiti employees, which helped manyArab families. After the Naksa in Palestinian in

1967, he founded PLO schools that absorbedthousands of Palestinian students who were dis-placed from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Heheaded the Jaffa Charity Fund in Kuwait andCommittee for the Commemoration of AhmadAl-Shukeiri. He has written many books aboutPalestinians. The ceremony was attended by alarge number of people from the Palestiniancommunity and Kuwaiti personalities.

Embassy honors 1st directorof PLO office in Kuwait

KUWAIT: Palestinian Ambassador to Kuwait Rami Tahboub honors Khairy Saleh Abu Al-Jabeen. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: A visiting Pakistani delegation yes-terday discussed with officials at the KuwaitChamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)means of boosting mutual commercial coop-eration and promotion of the two countries’products. Deputy General Director of theChamber of Commerce Hamad Al-Omarindicated in a statement the mutual desire toincrease the commercial exchanges betweenthe two countries. Chairman of RawalpindiChamber of Industry and Commerce Rahil

Mal said his nation is seeking to open upwith the Arab markets.

Pakistan attaches particular interest toboosting the cooperation with Kuwait invarious domains, he added, noting a primegoal of the delegation’s visit is to pave wayfor Kuwait and Pakistani entrepreneurs tolaunch businesses in the two countries. Themeeting was attended by the Pakistaniambassador and representatives of a num-ber of Pakistani companies. — KUNA

Kuwait, Pakistan explore prospects of enhancing

trade cooperation

Members of the Pakistani delegation attend the meeting.

KUWAIT: Members of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry attend themeeting. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

CANBERRA: National Assembly SpeakerMarzouq Al-Ghanem has directed an official invi-tation to the President of Australia SenateStephen Parry to visit Kuwait alongside anAustralian parliamentary delegation. The invita-tion was handed personally in a written letter toParry at the Senate yesterday by KuwaitiAmbassador Najib Al-Bader, Kuwaits Embassy inAustralia said in a statement.

Bader conveyed to the chief of AustralianSenate Ghanems greetings and aspiration tocontinue improving the Kuwaiti-Australian par-liamentary cooperation and enhancing jointinterests. In the letter, the Kuwaiti Speaker alsostressed the importance of Parrys visit in boost-

ing bilateral parliamentary friendship and ties,and in exchanging points of view on a number ofissues of joint interest.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti diplomat recalled theprincipled stand taken by the Australian Senateand Parliament in support of UNSCs resolutionsregarding condemning the Iraqi invasion ofKuwait in 1990, as well as their support ofAustralian Prime Minister Bob Hawkes decisionsto join the US-led international coalition to liber-ate Kuwait. Parry expressed gratitude towardGhanems invitation, affirming keenness in solidi-fying the Australian-Kuwaiti ties and strengthen-ing their parliamentary joint friendship andcooperation in all fields. — KUNA

Speaker invites AustralianSenate President to visit Kuwait

CANBERRA: Kuwaiti Ambassador Najib Al-Bader meets with President of Australia’sSenate Stephen Parry. — KUNA

L O C A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

KUWAIT: Under patronage of Minister ofEducation and Minister of Higher Education DrMohammad Al-Fares, Kuwaiti University (KU)organized an exhibition for enterprises competi-tion in the Startup Kuwait National Innovationand Entrepreneurship Challenge.

The exhibition was held at headquarters ofthe Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and IndustrySunday with the participation of eight nationaluniversities and educational institutions. Thecompetition is part of the KU strategy toempower national youth and encourage themto excel in all domains, KU Director ProfessorHussain Al-Ansari said in his inaugural speech.

He added that the contest is also a material-ization of His Highness the Amir Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s vision to supportyouth and increase their contribution to thestate efforts to achieve sustainable develop-ment and diversify national economy. Heargued that the role of universities and educa-tional institutions should not be confined toteaching curricula. Educational institutions have

to play a role in qualifying youth and providingthem with different skills, tools of creativity andprofessional methods for carrying out business-es, he pointed out.

He went on to say that educational institu-tions have to encourage youth to turn theirideas into a reality on the ground to betterserve their country. This year’s edition saw theparticipation of eight universities and colleges:Kuwait University, the Public Authority forApplied Education, Gulf University for Scienceand Technology, Box Hill College Kuwait,American University Kuwait, Australian CollegeKuwait, Arab Open University, and KuwaitCollege of Science and Technology. He viewedthat the wide participation of universities, col-leges in this year’s edition has enriched theevent with a myriad of ideas and projects. Thisevent also shows the pioneering role of Kuwaitin empowering and incentivizing young entre-preneurs, he said.

Ansari also expressed admiration of theideas and projects showcased in the competi-

tion. Startup Kuwait’s National Competitionfinal, for Spring 2017, will take place next May.Startup Kuwait was formally launched inNovember 2015, after period of evaluation anddiscussions within Kuwait and beyond. It wasintroduced to foster student leadership andentrepreneurship in partnership with colleges,universities, startup accelerators and civicgroups in Kuwait and beyond.

It is the first program of its kind in Kuwait-bringing world experts, entrepreneurs,investors-accelerators together-to supportKuwait-born startups and entrepreneurs, andaims towards strengthening the entrepreneur-ship ecosystem. The Startup Kuwait objective isto create feeder programs across Kuwait thatprovide a robust and growing pipeline of start-ups year-after-year to investors and multipleaccelerators, and to bring an entrepreneurialmindset to a broad-swathe of Kuwaiti society-across economic sectors, age groups and socialbackground. An initiative that has a positive andlong lasting impact on the Society. —KUNA

KU organizes exhibition for KuwaitStartup contesting enterprises

Officials pose with Kayak 4 Kuwait team members Bashar Al-Hunaidi andMansour Al-Safran.

KUWAIT: Head of the interim committeetasked with managing the Kuwaiti OlympicCommittee Sheikh Fahad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah on Sunday lauded efforts of Kayak 4Kuwait. Success of the team came to com-plement the nation’s national celebrations,Sheikh Fahad said in a statement afterreceiving team members at KuwaitInternational Airport. The team kicked offtheir journey in Kuwait on November 10,as they covered all the six GCC memberstates, with stops at a number of ArabianGulf islands, coral reefs, and other marineenvironments.

Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Undersecretaryfor the State Ministry of Youth Affairs, saidthe team’s environment-based journey waswhat the country needed in order to raiseawareness on many levels. The expeditionchiefly aimed to raise awareness on environ-mental threats to the Arabian Gulf, by speak-

ing to government officials and communitymembers in each country on enforcing exist-ing environmental legislations, incorporatingsustainable practices and measures, and pro-viding environmental education at schools.

Meanwhile, Environment PublicAuthority’s (EPA) Director General SheikhAbdullah Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabahlauded team members Bashar Al-Hunaidiand Mansour Al-Safran, as he reiterated EPAkeenness on supporting these campaigns,which will serve the society and maintainclean marine environment.

Bashar Al-Hunaidi, head of Kayak 4Kuwait team, said the 2,000-kilometer-longjourney lasted 90 days, and aimed at urgingcitizens in the Gulf countries to protectmarine life and sailed off the northernshores of Kuwait, and had gone through,and made stops, in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain,Qatar, UAE and Oman. —KUNA

Official welcomefor Kayak 4 Kuwait

Zain officials pose with Kayak 4 Kuwait team members Bashar Al-Hunaidiand Mansour Al-Safran.

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunica-tions company in Kuwait, welcomed thecrew members of ‘Kayak 4 Kuwait’ aware-ness expedition, which lasted for 90 daysand aimed at raising positive awarenessabout the importance of preserving marinelife in the Arabian Gulf. The expeditioncame under the support of theEnvironment Public Authority (EPA).

Zain took part in welcoming crew mem-bers Bashar Al-Hunaidi and Mansoor Al-Safran during the reception ceremony thatwas held in Kuwait International Airport’sHonoring Hall with the attendance of manysupporters and sponsors.

Zain’s sponsorship of this expeditioncame in line with the company’s CorporateSustainability strategy towards the environ-mental sector. Zain is keen on raisingawareness about the importance of pre-serving the environment, especially thepreservation of marine life and naturalresources within the Arabian Gulf area.

Kuwaiti travelers Hunaidi and Safrankayaked from Kuwait across the GCCcountries and reached Oman throughout90 days, crossing over 2000 kilometers.

Kayaking is considered an ideal greensport for such an initiative that aims atraising awareness of the importance ofpreserving the marine environment with-in the GCC countries.

As part of its Corporate Sustainabilitystrategy, Zain also presented the KuwaitDiving Team with a fully equipped boatwhich the team used to achieve 800marine preservation operations in Kuwaitthroughout the past years. The companyalso partnered with the EnvironmentPublic Authority (EPA) to distribute aware-ness messages about the new environ-mental laws aimed at preserving a greenand clean environment in the country.

It is worth noting that Zain has under-taken numerous efforts to preserve theenvironment, including the introductionof reusable, biodegradable bags for cus-tomers to take home in order to reducereliance on plastic bags. The companyalso extended its utmost environmentalconcern towards the technologicalaspect by reducing the use of unwantedprinted paper and replacing it by elec-tronic usage.

Zain welcomes ‘Kayak 4Kuwait’ crew members

KUWAIT: The actual expenses of KuwaitPetroleum Corporation (KPC) and its sub-sidiaries on local products and services dur-ing the last five fiscal years (2011/2012 to2015/2016) reached around KD 4.7 billion,Minister of Oil, Electricity, and Water EssamAl-Marzouq said yesterday.

Marzouq made his remarks during theopening session of the Oil SectorConference on local content, adding thatlocal expenditure in the sector during thepast financial year has seen a steadygrowth exceeded 40 percent from the pre-vious year and it is expected to continuerising during the current and the nextfinancial years which will exceed KD 1.2 bil-lion, he added.

In his speech, Marzouq explained thatKuwait’s development plan to reform theeconomic track adopted a plan to strength-

en the concept of partnership between theprivate and public sectors by working tocreate real opportunities for partnershipbetween the two sectors.

KPC is keen to support the develop-ment plan through a strategy based onthe development of a comprehensive pro-gram of local content to enhance the roleof the Kuwaiti oil sector in the develop-ment of the local economy and promoteprivate sector participation in the petrole-um activities.

Meanwhile, KPC Chief Executive OfficerNizar Al-Adsani said KPC local banks helpedfinance around KD 2.1 billion of the environ-mental fuel project. The institution is in theprocess of working on private sector involve-ment in the petrochemical complex to befully implemented with the Al-Zour refinery,with a maximum of 30 percent. —KUNA

KPC spent KD 4.7 billion onlocal products, services

F r o m t he A r a bic pr e s sTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

CrimeR e p o r t

Major security

breach at border

Donors make robbery victim’s dayA Bangladeshi man, who was left in tears after he

was robbed of KD 190 by an unidentified person,returned home in smiles with KD 400 he received indonations by sympathizers. The Bangladeshi wasstopped by a car whose driver convinced him to get in.He then pulled a knife at him, so he was forced to handhim his money. The Bangladeshi did not file a complaintwhen a citizen took him to the police station, so the citi-zen posted his story on social media and asked donorsto help him. Several persons obliged and donated atotal of KD 400.

Sexual assaultA female citizen complained to police that she was

raped, 12 days after the incident took place. Police arelooking for the suspect for questioning. The citizen tolda Hawally police station that a citizen she knows luredher to his flat and raped her there. — Translated from theArabic press

Lawmakers who filed an interpellation against formerMinister of Information and Minister of State forYouth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah,

managed to force his resignation, make the governmentyield and designate his job to other ministers. But thequestion is: What has the grilling motion achieved? Howhave citizens benefited from it? Did the social media cam-paign accompanying the motion really reflect publiccomprehension of the meaning of constitutionalinquiries, or was the entire issue only derived by retalia-tion and gloating wishes? Is that worthy of Kuwait’sdemocracy that is supposed to regionally leading?

The above questions, especially those relating to citi-zens’ benefiting from the motion, formed the core ofdebates in various Kuwaiti Diwaniyas. If the goal of thismotion was to prove lawmakers’ competence in usingconstitutional inquiries, the cost was significantlygreater. Using up both the government and the parlia-ment’s time has delayed many projects and prolonged areview of financial and economic measures that oughtto take precedence at this stage. The grilling motion alsoresulted in MPs threatening to file further ones. Thiswould mean shelving legislation and consuming theparliament’s time, a process whose only benefit wouldbe allowing MPs to show off their power. None of these

measures benefit citizens. Excluding the minister fromthe cabinet neither solved the sport suspension crisisnor any other, making us inquire if we voted for lawmak-ers to only bring motions aimed at avenging the govern-ment, or to legislate and rectify governmental and par-liamentary practices.

Once more, Kuwaitis prove that they never learn fromprevious mistakes and that their concept of democracyis limited to winning political points, rather than devel-oping a parliament that achieves a state of inter-powercooperation. This experience proves that MPs are notserving all citizens, instead seeking personal gainthrough illegal transactions used to blackmail ministersand, thus, spreading corruption.

In previous decades, we learned not to hold MPsaccountable and to turn blind eyes to their fatal flaws.We are used to measuring a lawmaker’s strength by thenumber of grilling motions he files against the govern-ment. Nobody ever discusses the laws he proposes andwhether they would benefit citizens. We have been cele-brating the ousting of a minister by these means with-out asking: What is next? The problem in question hasnot been solved. The reason we have so many unsolvedproblems accumulating: Lack of true public monitoring.

— Translated by Kuwait Times

What have Kuwaitis

benefited from the grilling?

Annahar

We mentioned that US President DonaldTrump’s various battles were basicallydomestic ones reflecting the conflict and

division the American society has been sufferingfrom for a while. Barack Obama failed to bridge thegrowing social and political gap despite the eco-nomic improvement he oversaw after the 2008financial crisis. Trump came to power within awave of rejection to political institutions not onlyin the US, but also in the majority of the West.

The crisis over the immigrant ban reflectssevere chaos and confusion emanating from con-tradictory statements within the administration,between Trump’s advisors and his secretaries. Wein Kuwait were not left alone by the crisis; newswere published claiming that ‘Kuwait is imposingTrump’s ban on five nationalities of countries witha Muslim majority : Pakistan, I raq, Syria,Afghanistan and Iran.’

This was absolutely illogical because, althoughwe occasionally follow certain restrictions in issu-ing visas, this has never been implemented as gen-eral policy, making that piece of news completelyuntrue. This was my answer to the various newsagencies and international organizations thatcalled me inquiring about the matter.

Tracking the sources of the piece, I found it pub-lished in Arabic on a website called ‘Al-Bawwabah’which in turn quoted an Indian website known as‘Economic Time.’ From there, I could trace it to‘Sputnik International.’ It seems that we are gettinginto Russian radio jamming!

Naturally enough, the US court’s attempt to sus-pend the ban measures can be considered aneffort to get the world out of this ‘reality TV’ stateand establish some international balance.

In a recent interview with Trump, interviewerBill O’Reilly objects to Trump’s praise of Putin.“How can you praise him? He is a murderer,” hesaid and Trump, shockingly, answers: “You thinkwe are so innocent here in America?” Paradoxesmay explode but they succeed in progressingwithout maps or visions.

What is happening now is somewhat similar tothe situation in 2003, when small groups led bythe Prince of Darkness invaded and dismantledIraq, leaving it as prey for all sorts of evil. The deci-sion was described as the worst in the history ofUS foreign policy, and resulted in over $2 trillionlosses. A small extreme group cancelled all careful-ly planned plots for a gradual change in Iraq, suchas ‘Project Iraq of the Future,’ and thus, a disastertook place.

This state of reality TV cannot go on forever. Itmay happen in other countries led by dictatorsfond of publicity and erratic policy, but in majorpowers, entangled interests can combine to rejectit. The best proof for this is the crisis surroundingthe immigrant ban! — Translated by Kuwait Times

World of reality TV

Al-Jarida

By Ghanem Al-Najjar

Al-Anbaa

KUWAIT: The Abdaly border outlet is facing a shortage ofemployees, and investigations confirmed that negligenceand dereliction are the reasons behind not having employ-ees there. Al-Rai local daily said three uniformed men werejailed for 25 days, while a passport officer received amonth’s salary deduction for being negligent and allowing30 Bahraini officers to enter Abdaly without having theirpassports stamped, because they were not at work. Theywere warned they will be discharged if they repeat the vio-lations. An informed source said that on Friday, Feb 3, a busdriven by an Egyptian with 30 Bahraini passengersonboard arrived at Abdaly border crossing. When theywent to the passport hall, they found it empty with no offi-cial to check their passports. So they went back to the busand went to the customs area, where officers made inspec-tions. The bus then went to the last gate where no one wasthere too, so they went out and boarded another bus thatwas waiting for them that took them to Nuwaiseeb bordercrossing. Nuwaiseeb officers were surprised that many visi-tors did not have their passports stamped, so authoritieswere informed and an investigation was carried out.

By Fahad Dawood Al-Sabah

I’m sad because I’m stillwaiting for my home!

You look sad, gohome and relax!

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank was honored toreceive the ‘Best Training Plan 2016’award during the opening ceremony ofthe first Organizational LearningConference organized by the Kuwaitigovernment’s Manpower andGovernment Restructuring Program(MGRP). The conference started onSunday, 12 February 2017 and will con-tinue until Tuesday, 14 February 2017 atthe Salwa Al-Sabah Hall in Kuwait.

The conference is being held underthe patronage of Sheikh MohammadAbdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah,Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, andis focused on effective training foremployment and career advancementin the private sector. During the open-ing ceremony Gulf Bank’s efforts and itslong-lasting commitment towards thetraining and development of Kuwaitiyouth was awarded.

Underscoring the importance of theaward, Salma Al-Hajjaj, General Managerof Human Resources at Gulf Bank said:“We are very pleased to be recognizedfor all the training and education initia-tives we have launched, and all theefforts that we have invested in supportof our youth. We are proud of our strongcollaboration with MGRP in trainingyoung Kuwaiti nationals for their futuresand the future of our beloved country.The award for ‘Best Training Plan 2016’MGRP marks a significant milestone inthe acknowledgement of our hard workand perseverance and most of all, thebelief in the potential of our youth.”

Hajjaj continued: “On behalf of GulfBank, I would like to express our deepestgratitude to Fawzi Al-Majdili, GeneralSecretary of MGRP, Eman Al-Ansari,

Director of National ManpowerDevelopment, Hind Al-Sabeeh, Ministerof Social Affairs and Labor and Ministerof State for Economic Affairs along withthe entire staff of MGRP for their ongo-ing efforts on behalf of Kuwaitis. I wouldalso like thank them for their trust in andloyalty to Gulf Bank.”

Hajjaj concluded by saying: “In addi-tion, to our trainings with MGRP, GulfBank is proud of its Ajyal GraduateDevelopment Program and its long-term sponsorship of INJAZ-Kuwait. All ofthese programs provide a path to nur-ture young Kuwaiti talent early in theirlives and careers to prepare them fortheir futures. We are also proud of ourBank-wide learning and developmentprogram. We offer and facilitate a widerange of trainings programs and cours-es for employees of various levels andfrom different departments, includingthe staff at our branches.”

The Ajyal Training DevelopmentProgram targets senior university stu-dents, fresh graduates as well as

employed youth with one year of expe-rience. The program featured soft skilltraining courses such as writing skillsand time management, personalityassessments, and seminars by profes-sionals sharing their experience specifi-cally within the private sector as well asto guide them to choose the most suit-able job to be able to excel and be cre-ative in their future work.

Human capital has always been atthe forefront of the bank’s prioritiesand this commitment includes Kuwait-based activities such as mentoring pro-grams or training to help studentsachieve their full career potential.Additionally, as part of its corporatesocial responsibility strategy, Gulf Bankis committed to being involved in activ-ities that support youth development.To learn more about any of Gulf Bank’sawards, products and services, visit oneof Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, call theCustomer Contact Center on 1805805,or log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, GulfBank’s bilingual website.

KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait(NBK) and Loyac concluded theTraining Program ‘Bridge.’ More than950 interns participated in this pro-gram that consisted of three trainingsessions. ‘Bridge’ Training Program aimsat training Loyac interns on best cus-tomer service practices. NBK offeredtraining material and trainers duringthe program that was launched lastMay. NBK sponsored this program aspart of its commitment to CorporateSocial Responsibility as well as towardssupporting students, youths and self-building initiatives in Kuwait.

Each session of the program fea-tured a mixture of theoretical andpractical training dedicated to provide

the interns with invaluable knowl-edge on a variety of subjects relatedto service quality and customer serv-ice, in addition to helping them tohave greater exposure to differentwork procedures.

Commenting on this occasion,Manal Al-Mattar, NBK AssistantGeneral Manager, Public Relationssaid “We are proud of the outcome ofthis program and the great number ofinterns who participated. NBK spon-sorship to this program goes with ourcontinuous support to Loyac’s activi-ties and events.”

“NBK always strives to empowerKuwaiti youth to realize their poten-tials, providing career and training

opportunities. Also, NBK developsthe professional sk i l ls of youngKuwaitis as part of its strategy todevelop national human resources,”Mattar added.

Fetouh Aldalaly, Loyac Board mem-ber expressed her gratitude to NBK fortheir continued support and involvedin LOYAC’s programs that aim to pro-vide the youth with unique opportu-nities such as the Internship programwhich offers the Bridge workshop as aprerequisite, enhancing the interns’skills, and preparing them for brightand prosperous careers.

Aldalaly stressed the importance ofdevelopment programs in shapingthe youth and preparing them for thejob market and even more so is theimportance of employers supportingsuch programs. “We thank NBK forallowing our youth to experience suchunique opportunities, and we lookforward expanding such opportuni-ties through our ongoing partnershipwith NBK,” Aldalaly added.

NBK continues to promote a rangeof philanthropic missions and socialwelfare programs as part of its corpo-rate social responsibility to assert itsleadership in supporting Kuwait’ssocial development standing as amodel in serving all aspects of thecommunity.

LOYAC is a nonprofit organiza-tion that runs several programs forthe youth to develop their profes-sional skills, enhance their personalgrowth and help them find theirsense of purpose by ex tendingthemselves to others.

Gulf Bank’s team poses for a photo during the event.

Gulf Bank Awarded

‘Best Training Plan’

NBK and Loyac concluded

‘Bridge’ training program

950 Interns participated in three training sessions

Salma Al-Hajjaj, General Manager, Human Resources receives the ‘BestTraining Plan 2016’ award on behalf of Gulf Bank.

Fugitive resists arrestA fugitive resisted arrest and injured a policeman in his

neck and under the eye. He then managed to free himselffrom handcuffs and jumped out of the moving patrol car.He suffered several fractures and was taken to hospital. Theman was found wanted on a civil case and was driving astolen car in Waha. The suspect, a 29-year-old citizen, facesseveral charges. Meanwhile, a citizen, who was accompa-nied by two men and a woman, attacked an Ahmadi policeofficer. He was arrested and taken to Fintas police station.The officer, who was on patrol in Mahboula, suspected thethree men and the girl, so he asked for their IDs. But one ofthem refused and attacked him. The man was arrested andcharged with insulting a public employee.

UN to meet afterN Korea claims successful missile test

Page 12

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Serbians seek justice for Kosovo’s forgotten victims

Page 10

Trudeau arrives in Washington to meet TrumpLeaders to participate in a roundtable discussion

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump greets Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon arrival outside of the West Wing of the White House yesterday in Washington, DC. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,a polar opposite to US President Donald Trump in almostevery way, arrived in Washington yesterday morningkeen to build a relationship that doesn’t threaten trade.In the first face-to-face meeting with the new US presi-dent, Trudeau will talk about free trade at the WhiteHouse. Trudeau and Trump will also participate in aroundtable discussion about women in the workplace.

The prime minister’s plane landed at Dulles airportafter heavy winds forced a change from Andrews AirForce base. Trudeau, age 45, and Trump, age 70, havevastly different outlooks of the world. Trudeau is a liberalwho champions free trade and has welcomed 40,000Syrian refugees.

He calls himself a feminist and his Cabinet is 50 per-cent women. Trump has few women in his Cabinet. Hehas taken a protectionist stance on trade and wants tocrack down on the inflow of migrants and refugees.

Trump’s order to temporarily halt entry into the US bypeople from seven predominantly Muslim nations,which is tied up in court, might come up during his bilat-eral meeting with Trudeau. But Trudeau is expected tofocus on common economic interests. Relations with theUS are crucial as more than 75 percent of Canada’sexports go to the US, while 18 percent of US exports goto Canada. There are fears among Canadians that theycould be hurt as Trump targets Mexico in a re-negotia-tion of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Reliable accessA White House official and a senior Canadian govern-

ment official said the two countries plan to launch a newtask force called the United States Canada Council for the

Advancement of Women Business Leaders-FemaleEntrepreneurs. The officials agreed to confirm the moveonly if they were not quoted by name because they werenot authorized to make the information public. IvankaTrump, the president’s daughter who has been an advo-cate for policies benefiting working women, was involvedin recruiting participants and setting the agenda for theroundtable. Female executives from the United States andCanada are expected to participate.

Trudeau’s close cooperation with Trump and the firstdaughter could ease some worries among Canadiansthat the US president will enact protectionist measuresthat could hurt the Canadian economy. It could also alle-viate some fears that Trump will be as combative withTrudeau as he has been with the leaders of Mexico andAustralia. The Canadian official said Trudeau’s administra-tion had suggested the task force, because the primeminister considers the issue of working women animportant part of his agenda and economic growth plan.

“It’s a smart thing if Canada proposed this,” saidNelson Wiseman, a professor at the University of Toronto.“It takes attention off of NAFTA. And from Trump’s pointof view, it contributes to softening Trump’s image, andhe’s got a problem with women.” Roland Paris, a formersenior foreign policy to Trudeau, said the prime ministerneeds to build a relationship with Trump to ensureCanada is not shut out economically. “The overriding pri-ority will be for Canada to maintain secure and reliableaccess to the US market and the supply chains that criss-cross the border,” Paris said. Trudeau, whose father wasthe late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, has beenpreparing for the Trump meeting for months. He will alsomeet with legislative leaders on Capitol Hill.—AP

LAHORE: An explosion near the Punjabprovincial assembly in the Pakistani cityof Lahore killed at least 13 people andwounded 83 others yesterday, a seniorpolice official said. Mushtaq Sukhera,inspector general of police in Punjabprovince, said five police officers wereamong the dead when an explosionrocked a protest organized by Pakistan’schemists and pharmaceuticals manu-facturers. “It was a suicide attack. Thebomber exploded himself when suc-cessful negotiations were underwaybetween police officials and the pro-testers,” Sukhera told reporters.

A spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, afaction of the Pakistani Taliban, calledReuters and claimed responsibility. Themilitant group also warned the Lahoreattack was the start of a new campaignagainst government departments. “Youare on our target across the country,” itadded in a statement. Jamaat-ur-Ahrarhad also claimed responsibility for anEaster Day bombing in Lahore last year

that killed more than 70 people in apublic park.

Security in Pakistan has vastlyimproved in recent years but Islamistgroups such as the Pakistani Talibanand Islamic State still pose a threat andhave carried out mass attacks. PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif said the attackswill not weaken Pakistan’s resolve infight against militancy. “We havefought this fight against the terroristsamong us, and will continue to fight ituntil we liberate our people of this can-cer, and avenge those who have laiddown their lives for us,” he said in astatement.The latest blast may jeop-ardize plans by Pakistan, a cricket-obsessed nation, to host the final of itsdomestic Twenty20 tournament onhome soil in Lahore in March. For years,Pakistan’s international test cricketmatches have been played abroad andthe current Twenty20 tournament isbeing played in United Arab Emiratesdue to security fears. — Reuters

Blast kills at least 13 in Lahore

LAHORE: Pakistani policemen move an injured victim from a blast siteinto a vehicle after a powerful explosion in Lahore yesterday. —AFP

WASHINGTON: The courts may have halted his travel ban butthat hasn’t caused President Donald Trump to shy away fromplanning new action on immigration in the name of keepingAmericans safe. As thousands of Mexicans protested againstTrump’s anti-Mexican rhetoric and vow to make the countrypay for his “big, beautiful border wall,” the White House con-firmed the president’s plans to weigh a new executive order tospeed up deportations of illegal immigrants. His ban nowfrozen, Trump is “considering and pursuing all options” includ-ing a new executive order on the matter, his aide StephenMiller told “Fox News Sunday.”

The issue is sure to be at the top of the agenda whenTrump meets Monday with Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau, who has made it clear in the wake of Trump’s banthat America’s northern neighbor welcomes with open arms“those fleeing persecution, terror and war.” While Trump’srestrictions on refugees and other travelers from sevenMuslim-majority countries played out in the courts, a separateexecutive order prioritizing the deportation of undocumentedmigrants paved the way for the arrest of hundreds of people,many of them Latinos, this week. “As a result of the president’sorder, greatly expanded and more vigorous immigrationenforcement activities are taking place,” Miller said of thedeportation decree.

Earlier, Trump tweeted: “The crackdown on illegal criminalsis merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang mem-bers, drug dealers & others are being removed!” Trump tweet-ed after raids on undocumented migrants this week. Over the

past week, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcementagency rounded up undocumented individuals living inAtlanta, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and othercities in what it called “routine” operations. But Miller indicatedSunday that the raids, which follow Trump’s Jan 25 executiveorder prioritizing deportation of undocumented individualsconvicted of or “charged with any criminal offense,” includingmisdemeanors, were made more robust under the decree.

“It is true that Operation Cross Check is something thathappens every year. But this year we have taken new andgreater steps to remove criminal aliens from our communities,”Miller said. The large-scale raids began in 2011 under thenpresident Barack Obama. Many Democrats have called on thegovernment to act in moderation, fearful that people withouta criminal record will find themselves swept up and in thedetentions. The case of a mother in Phoenix, Arizona who wasexpelled to Mexico on Thursday crystallized such worries,even among some Republicans. “There is a lot of worry here inArizona by those who... are illegally here but they have notcommitted aggravated felonies,” said Arizona RepublicanSenator Jeff Flake, adding that the only hope for permanentchange lies in major Congressional reform.

Miller said the next step on Trump’s travel ban would beeither filing an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court,defending the merits of the order in lower courts or issuing anew one. The order that Trump issued abruptly in late Januaryaimed to halt resettlement of all refugees for 120 days andthat of Syrian refugees indefinitely. — AFP

Trump stays course on immigrants,undocumented workers

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

ADEN: Twenty rebels and governmenttroops were killed overnight in clashes aswarring parties pushed north alongYemen’s western coast, medical and gov-ernment sources said yesterday. Therenewed clashes in the coastal towns ofMidi and Mokha, north and south of themajor Red Sea port of Hodeida respec-tively, erupted the day after governmentforces seized control of the area. “Thedeath toll this morning stands at 14Huthi rebels and six troops” loyal toPresident Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, amilitary source confirmed on conditionof anonymity.

Hospital sources in Hodeida con-firmed at least eight dead. Forces loyal toYemen’s president, backed by a Saudi-ledArab coalition, entered the historic port

town of Mokha last month as part of apush to drive Shiite Huthis out of thearea. Government forces had taken thedocks of Mokha earlier in February andare now aiming to take the main port ofHodeida, which is still under the controlof Huthi rebels. Prior to the government-backed military offensive, the Huthis hadcontrolled nearly all of Yemen’s 450 kilo-meter Red Sea coastline.

More than 400 combatants have beenkilled in the fight for coastal control. Thecrisis in Yemen took a major turn for theworse with the military intervention ofthe Saudi-led alliance in March 2015. TheUnited Nations estimates more than7,400 people, including around 1,400children, have been killed in the twoyears since.—AFP BAGHDAD: Reverberations from President

Donald Trump’s travel ban and other stances arethreatening to undermine future US-Iraqi securitycooperation, rattling a key alliance that over thepast two years has slowly beaten back the IslamicState group. Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi,has sought to contain any backlash from publicanger sparked by Trump’s executive order ban-ning Iraqis from traveling to the US Also breedingresentment and suspicion are Trump’s repeatedstatements that the Americans should have takenIraq’s oil and his hard line against Iran, a close allyof al-Abadi’s government.

Al-Abadi and Trump spoke Thursday night forthe first time since Trump’s inauguration. The USleader, who has pledged a stronger fight againstIS militants, promised increased help for Iraqagainst terrorism, and al-Abadi asked him toremove Iraq from the travel ban, according to anIraqi official who spoke on condition of anonymi-ty to discuss the telephone call. Iraqi anger atWashington comes at a crucial juncture in a longand often contentious relationship. US-backedIraqi forces are about to launch an assault aimedat retaking the western half of Mosul that is stillunder Islamic State control. If Mosul is complete-ly secured, it largely would break the extremistgroup’s “caliphate” in the country.

However, Iraqi and US officials have saidmaintaining security in a post-IS Iraq will be justas difficult - preventing a resurgence of the mili-tants and containing political divisions amongIraq’s Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Both countrieshave talked of keeping some US troops longterm to back Iraq’s security forces in that task, arecognition that complete American withdrawalat the end of 2011 was a mistake. Now the Iraqileader is coming under pressure. Lawmakers aredemanding he reduce cooperation withWashington in the future, limit or preventAmerican troops from staying in the countryafter the defeat of IS, and reciprocate for anytravel ban on Iraqis.

On behalf of the worldMembers of powerful Shiite militias have out-

right warned of retaliation against Americans ifthe US carries out any military action againstIran, their patron. “Trump embarrassed al-Abadi,”said Saad al-Mutalabi, a lawmaker and long-timeally of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, oneof al-Abadi’s most powerful political opponents.“ There will be a general consensus thatAmericans should not stay in Iraq after Mosul,after the statements and the executive orderfrom Trump,” he said. “We believed that we had a

strategic agreement with the US.”“We are fighting ISIS on behalf of the entire

world,” he added, using an alternative acronymfor IS. “This has been a severe, severe disappoint-ment among all Iraqis.” Publicly, al-Abadi hasmaintained measured tones. While he calledTrump’s ban an “insult,” he refused to enact a rec-iprocity measure despite a strong call fromParliament to do so. The US government hasbeen reaching out regularly to al-Abadi’s gov-ernment to try to prevent the situation fromescalating, sending the message that the US iswell aware of the potential consequences ifIraqis turn against it, said a US official, whospoke on condition of anonymity because hewasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

Thursday’s call was seen as a positive steptoward defusing some of the tension, withTrump telling al-Abadi he would see what hecould do to lessen the impact on Iraqis whoshouldn’t be kept out of the US, the official said.Since Trump announced the order, many in theUS government have been encouraging theWhite House to remove Iraq from the list.Although there has been no indication thatTrump plans to delist Iraq entirely, he could takesteps to exempt more Iraqis from the ban.Within Iraq’s military, some are galled at beinggrouped in with terrorists by the travel banwhen they have been engaged in slow, gruelingcombat against IS for more than two years.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led air power andAmerican special forces have pushed IS out ofcities in western Anbar province, along theEuphrates and up the Tigris river valley to Mosulin the north. Since Oct, they have taken back theeastern half of Iraq’s second-largest city. Iraqispecial forces Sgt. Maj. Hussein al-Kabii, sta-tioned in Mosul, called Trump’s statement abouttaking Iraq’s oil and his travel ban “just unbeliev-able.” “I have fought Daesh in Anbar, Fallujah,Salahuddin and now I’m currently fighting themin Mosul,” he said using the Arabic acronym forIS. “We have given a lot of blood fighting Daesh.”

Rocky relationship Lukman Faily, the former Iraqi ambassador to

the United States, said the ban still sways Iraqiperceptions of the US despite being temporarilyblocked by a US federal court ruling. “Iraqis willnot want to have long-term security cooperationwith the United States if the United States viewsthem as terrorists,” he said. Iraq’s Kurds, whohave autonomous rule in the north, have beenmore enthusiastic about Trump - despite the flapover his statements about Iraq’s oil, some of

which they control. That is in part rooted in thedistrust of Iraq’s Arab majority by many Kurds.Some Kurds welcome Trump’s more unbridledtough talk against Islamic militancy, which manysee as an Arab phenomenon, and believe it willbring Trump closer into alliance with them.Some have said they understand why the USwould bar Iraqis’ entry - though they argue anexception should be made for Kurds.

Some in Baghdad and the Iraqi militarywould likely welcome stepped-up US militaryhelp. But Trump’s early moves frustrate analready rocky relationship with Washington.After the US-led invasion of Iraq that oustedSaddam Hussein in 2003, the American trooppresence grew as high as 168,000. The war thatensued killed nearly 4,500 American troops andhundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Many amongthe Iraqi public, as well as the military and politi-cal class acknowledged the need for - even wel-comed - US forces and political support.

But that has been mixed with anger overabuses and civilian casualties caused by UStroops, as well as frustration that US policy mis-steps following the 2003 invasion, including dis-banding the Iraq army after Saddam’s fall,helped foster the insurgency, eventually leadingto the creation of al-Qaida in Iraq and later theIslamic State group. The fight for Mosul hasbrought Iraq and the US closer. There are nowsome 6,000 US forces inside Iraq, US troops havemoved closer to frontline fighting and Americanspecial forces have conducted greater numbersof raids into IS-held territory aimed at taking outkey leaders.

But Iraqi politics is still dominated by power-ful Shiite blocs with close ties to Iran.Throughout his time in office, al-Abadi has strug-gled to balance his reliance on the two rivals, theUnited States and Iran. A smaller US presence inIraq post-IS would likely usher in a larger role forarmed groups with close ties to Iran, a scenariosimilar to what happened in the days followingMosul’s fall in 2014.

After IS overran nearly a third of the countryin a matter of days, Iran swiftly came to Iraq’s aidwith fighters and weapons, while the US waitedfor weeks to begin a campaign of US-led coali-tion airstrikes. The spokesman of one Shiite mili-tia, Kataib Hezbollah, warned that his fighterswere ready to target US interests if the Trumpadministration goes too far against Iran. “If theUS takes military action against Iran, we willreturn the favor,” Jaafar al-Husseini said. “Wehave all the details of (US troop) movements.They are right under our eyes.—AP

Trump moves spark Iraqi anger,

calls against future alliance

US-backed Iraqi forces to launch an assault

MOSUL: In this photo, US and Iraqi forces work together at a joint base, on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq. —AP

DAMASCUS: Syria’s regime is ready torelease detainees in exchange forhostages held by rebels, the official SANAnews agency reported yesterday, ahead ofpeace talks in the Kazakh capital. “Thegovernment is ready... as part of effortstowards the next meeting in Astana toexchange detainees for men, women andchildren-civilians and soldiers-kidnappedby terrorists,” SANA said, referring to therebels. Kazakhstan has invited Syrianrebels and government officials to peacetalks on Wednesday and Thursday inAstana, after a first round last monthorganized by regime backers Russia andIran and rebel ally Turkey.

The Syrian government’s position comesafter the “success... of the Syrian state infreeing numerous civilians and soldiers kid-napped by terrorist groups,” the agency cit-ed an official source as saying.

On Wednesday, the authorities handedover 55 detainees-who were mostlywomen and included eight children-inexchange for the release of 57 civiliansincluding 19 children from the coastal cityof Latakia who had been held by the rebelssince 2013. Official media broadcastimages of President Bashar al-Assad and hiswife Asma receiving the former hostages.

The announcement of the prisonerswap came after Assad dismissed a reportreleased last week by AmnestyInternational accusing the Syrian authori-ties of hanging up to 13,000 people overfive years in a government prison.

The Astana talks are to be followed bya new round of UN-sponsored peace talksin Geneva on Feb 20. Syria’s war has killedmore than 310,000 people since it erupt-ed in 2011 with anti - governmentprotests.—AFP

Damascus ready for

prisoner swap with rebels

20 killed as clashes

erupt on Yemen’s coast

MOSCOW: Russia’s military yesterdayreleased drone footage showing moredestruction of treasured monuments bythe Islamic State in Syria’s Palmyra sincejihadists recaptured the UNESCO WorldHeritage Site late last year. The black-and-white video dated Feb 5 shows part of theRoman amphitheatre reduced to rubbleand the tetrapylon, a 16-columned struc-ture that marked one end of the ancientcity’s colonnade, wiped out. “The picturesclearly show that the terrorists blew up theproscenium-the central part of the ancientRoman theatre-and the columns of thetetrapylon,” the Russian defense ministrysaid in a statement.

The new wave of destruction was firstannounced last month by Syria’s antiqui-ties chief, with the UN’s cultural agencyblasting it as a “war crime” and “culturalcleansing”. IS fighters scored a majorpropaganda coup by recapturing Palmyrafrom the Syr ian government inDecember, some nine months after theywere ousted from the historic site. Beforebeing forced out of Palmyra in a Russian-backed offensive in March, IS razedworld-famous temples and tower tombsat the site. The tetrapylon, built duringthe rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletianin the 3rd Century AD, consisted of foursets of four pillars each supporting mas-sive stone cornices.

The monument had suffered consider-able damage over the centuries and onlyone of the 16 pillars was still standing in

its original Egyptian pink granite. The restwere cement replicas erected by theantiquities depar tment in 1963. TheRoman amphitheatre dates back to the 1stCentury AD and was used by IS for public

executions during its occupation of thecity between May 2015 and March lastyear. The loss of Palmyra came as regimeforces and their Russian backers werefocusing on the fierce fighting for rebel-

held eastern Aleppo, which the govern-ment finally retook in Dec. Russia hasbeen flying a bombing campaign in sup-port of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assadsince Sept 2015.—AFP

CAIRO: A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency shows EgyptianPresident Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Lebanese President Michel Aoun during a wel-come ceremony at the Presidential palace in Cairo yesterday. —AFP

CAIRO: Lebanese President Michel Aounyesterday started his first visit to Cairo sincehis election in October and held talks withhis Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and religious leaders. “Hopes of the rolethat Egypt could play are high. An Egypt ofmoderation and openness... could launchan Arab rescue initiative based on a strategyto fight terrorism,” Aoun said at a joint pressconference. He said Egypt could “work onfinding political solutions for the crises inthe Arab world and especially Syria”.

The two sides “agreed on the need tostand together against the dangers of ter-rorism”, Sisi said, adding that Egypt wasready “to support the capabilities ofLebanon’s army and its various securitybodies”. Aoun, a Maronite Christian, alsomet the leader of Egypt’s Coptic Church,Pope Tawadros II, and held talks with Grand

Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar, thehighest institution of Sunni Islam. Today,the Lebanese president is scheduled tomeet Ahmed Abul Gheit, secretary generalof the Cairo-based Arab League.

Aoun, who was elected with the sup-port of the powerful Iran-backed Shiitemovement Hezbollah, visited Saudi Arabialast month on a mission to patch up rela-tions with Riyadh. A Lebanese officialsource said at the time that Saudi Arabiaand Lebanon had agreed to hold talks onrestoring a $3-billion military aid packagethat Riyadh froze last year. Mainly SunniSaudi Arabia, a fierce regional rival of Iran,froze the aid deal over what it said wasHezbollah’s dominance in Lebanon. Aoun’selection ended a two-year deadlockbetween Iran- and Saudi-backed blocs inthe Lebanese parliament.—AFP

Aoun makes first Egypt visit

as Lebanese president

DUBAI: UN chief Antonio Guterres yesterday said he“deeply” regretted opposition to former Palestinian primeminister Salam Fayyad as the organization’s peace envoyto Libya, days after Washington vetoed the appointment.“I deeply regret this opposition and I do not see any rea-son for it,” Guterres said at the annual World GovernmentSummit hosted by Dubai. Guterres described Fayyad, aformer World Bank official with a track record of fightingcorruption, as “the right person for the right job at theright moment”.

“It’s a loss for the Libyan peace process and theLibyan people,” he added. The UN leader onWednesday had informed the Security Council of hisintention to appoint Fayyad as a replacement forGerman Martin Kobler to conflict-torn Libya. But USambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley vetoedthe appointment, saying Washington did not supportthe message the move would send. Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US veto ofFayyad as counter to the “free gifts constantly given tothe Palestinian side”.

Israeli media has meanwhile reported that theJewish state could accept Fayyad’s appointment ifTzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, wereoffered the position of UN deputy secretary general.

The head of the United Nations requires the unani-mous support of all 15 Security Council members forappointments of special representatives to conflictareas. Libya has been in turmoil since a 2011 revolu-tion overthrew and killed longtime dictator MoamerKadhafi.—AFP

UN chief deeply regrets

veto of Palestinian

ex-premier as envoy

Russia releases drone footage of fresh Palmyra destruction

PALMYRA: An image grab taken from video footage made available on the Russian Defense Ministry’s official website yesterday,reportedly shows destruction to the tetrapylon monument in Palmyra, Syria. —AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

FLORIDA: Dylan Moye rides his bike past Donald Trump protesters gatheredin downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. —AP

PALM BEACH: US President DonaldTrump’s south Florida estate is no longerjust the place where he goes to escape. Hehas described the sprawling Mar-a-Lagoproperty as the Winter White House andhas spent two weekends there so far thismonth. But it’s also become a magnet foranti-Trump protesters and the subject ofan ethics debate over his invitation toJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tojoin him this weekend - with Trump pledg-ing to pay for the accommodations.Demonstrators chose the estate site as avenue for protesting Trump’s decisionapproving construction of the DakotaAccess oil pipeline.

The North Dakota project, opposed by aNative American tribe fearful of water con-tamination from potential oil leaks, hadstalled in Democrat Barack Obama’s admin-istration. Trump’s executive order clearedthe way for the developer to start buildingthe final stretch of pipeline. During Trump’sother weekend in Florida, several thousandpeople marched near the property toprotest his temporary ban on travel to theUnited states by refugees as well as citizensof seven mostly Muslim countries. A federalappeals court has upheld a lower court’sdecision that temporarily blocks the ban’senforcement.

Trump’s election is also putting charita-ble organizations, such as the AmericanRed Cross, in an awkward position forchoosing Mar-a-Lago for events bookedmonths in advance. The Red Cross held itsannual fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, as it hasdone for many years, on Feb 4, about aweek after Trump enacted the travel ban.Trump and his wife, Melania, attended.“What an honor, what a great honor it is.And let’s go to Florida,” Trump told Abe onFriday at a White House news conferenceshortly before they boarded Air Force Onefor the trip.

The two world leaders and their wivesheaded straight to Mar-a-Lago, where theyenjoyed a late dinner at the crowded patiorestaurant. Joining them under a white-and-yellow striped canopy were RobertKraft, the owner of the Super Bowl-winningNew England Patriots, and several inter-preters. Paying members and their gueststook in the scene and mingled with Trumpand Abe into the night. On Saturday, Trump

and Abe paid visits to two of Trump’s golfcourses in nearby Jupiter and West PalmBeach, before a more formal delegationdinner at Mar-a-Lago.

World leaders typically exchange gifts,and Trump and Abe did so when Aberushed to New York City in November tobecome the first foreign leader to meetwith Trump after the election. Abe gaveTrump a pricey, gold-colored Honma golfdriver; Trump reciprocated with a golf shirtand other golf accessories. White Housespokesman Sean Spicer said that Abe’sfree-of-charge stay at Mar-a-Lago isTrump’s gift to Abe this time around. Butthe gesture wasn’t sitting well with govern-ment watchdog groups. Robert Weissman,president of Public Citizen, said Trump andAbe don’t need to meet at Trump’s com-mercial property, where the membershipfee recently was doubled to $200,000.

Great friendship “Hosting a foreign leader at the presi-

dent’s business resort creates impossiblesets of conflicts,” Weissman said. “If thepresident hadn’t offered to pay, the US gov-ernment would be paying Donald Trump’sbusiness for the purpose of hosting theJapanese leader.” Typically, the US govern-ment would pick up the costs associatedwith such a visit. Weissman said that CampDavid, the US government-owned retreatin Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, whichpresidents use for personal getaways aswell as to conduct the people’s business,would do fine. “Why should you go to aresort in Florida?” Weissman asked. “Fine,you want to go to a resort in Florida? Don’tgo to one Trump’s family owns.”

But Trump has shown that he isn’t tooconcerned about possible conflicts of inter-est involving him and his family. This pastweek, Trump used his official governmentTwitter account to criticize Nordstrom afterthe retailer said it had dropped a line ofclothing and accessories sold by his daugh-ter Ivanka. Trump offered a possible expla-nation for inviting Abe to Mar-a-Lago, say-ing a “great friendship” had developed fromtheir New York meeting. The president isexpected to continue bringing world lead-ers to the estate, helping to fulfill the visionof the property’s former owner, MarjorieMerriweather Post. —AP

Trump’s south Florida estate raises ethics questions

RALEIGH: Lawyers for Army Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl will tried yesterday toconvince a judge that he cannot get afair trial on charges of desertion andmisbehavior before the enemybecause of highly charged statementsmade by US President Donald Trump.The pretrial hearing before a militaryjudge at Fort Bragg is expected tofocus on statements that Trump madeduring the presidential campaign.Bergdahl is scheduled for trial in Apriland could face a life sentence if con-victed of misbehavior before the ene-my. He is accused of endangering thelives of soldiers who searched for himafter he walked off his post inAfghanistan in 2009.

Defense attorneys argue thatTrump violated Bergdahl’s due processrights by repeatedly calling him a “trai-tor” and making other harsh state-ments about the soldier. The defensemotion, filed shortly after Trump wassworn in as president, cites more than40 instances of Trump’s criticism atpublic appearances and media inter-views through August 2016. Bergdahl’sattorneys argue that potential jurorsmay feel obligated to agree with thenew president and would have a hardtime ignoring what he said.

Although Trump repeatedly saidBergdahl should face stiff punish-ment, even suggesting he be thrownout of a plane, prosecutors contend

that any reasonable observer wouldunderstand that Trump’s commentsamounted to campaign rhetoric andshould not be taken literally. Theyargue that Trump’s use of the term“traitor” was not meant in the legalsense, but in a conversational way.Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, has saidhe walked off his post to cause alarmand draw attention to what he saw asproblems with his unit. He was heldcaptive by the Taliban and its allies forfive years. The Obama administration’sdecision in May 2014 to exchangeBergdahl for five Taliban prisonersprompted some Republicans toaccuse Obama of jeopardizing thenation’s safety.—AP

Bergdahl hearing expected to focus on criticism from Trump

WASHINGTON: US PresidentDonald Trump was expected tounveil new measures on immigra-tion as early as yesterday in thename of keeping Americans safe,with a top aide insisting he did notoverstep his authority with his con-troversial travel ban. With the bannow frozen by a federal appealscourt pending further legal review,Trump is “considering and pursuingall options,” presidential aideStephen Miller told “Fox NewsSunday.”

The White House could either filean emergency appeal to theSupreme Court, defend the merits ofthe order in lower courts, or issue anew executive order. The last optionwas floated by Trump himself onFriday. “We are contemplating newand additional actions to ensure thatimmigration is not a vehicle foradmitting people into our countrythat are hostile to its nation and itsvalues,” Miller said on NBC’s “Meetthe Press.” “There’s no such thing asjudicial supremacy. What the judgesdid is take power away that belongssquarely in the hands of the presi-dent of the United States.”

The issue is sure to come upwhen Trump meets Monday withCanadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau, who said after theRepublican leader issued his banthat America’s northern neighborwelcomes with open arms “thosefleeing persecution, terror and war.”While the fate of Trump’s restrictionson refugees and travelers from sev-en Muslim-majority countries playsout in the courts, a separate execu-tive order prioritizing the deporta-tion of undocumented migrantspaved the way for the arrest of hun-dreds of people, many of themLatinos, this past week.

As thousands of Mexicansprotested Sunday against Trump’svow to make the country pay for his“big, beautiful border wall,” theWhite House confirmed the presi-dent’s plans to weigh new action tospeed up deportations of illegalimmigrants. “As a result of the presi-dent’s order, greatly expanded andmore vigorous immigrationenforcement activities are taking

place,” Miller said of the deportationdecree. Earlier, Trump tweeted: “Thecrackdown on illegal criminals ismerely the keeping of my campaignpromise. Gang members, drug deal-ers & others are being removed!”Over the past week, the federalImmigration and CustomsEnforcement agency rounded upundocumented individuals living inAtlanta, Austin, Chicago, LosAngeles, New York and other citiesin what it called “routine” operations.

Robust But Miller indicated Sunday that

the raids were made more robustunder Trump’s Jan 25 executiveorder prioritizing deportation of

undocumented individuals con-victed of or “charged with anycriminal offense,” including misde-meanors. “It is true that OperationCross Check is something thathappens every year. But this yearwe have taken new and greatersteps to remove criminal aliensfrom our communities,” Miller said.The large-scale raids began in

2011 under then president BarackObama. Many Democrats havecalled on the government to act inmoderation, fearful that peoplewithout a criminal record will findthemselves swept up.

The case of a mother inPhoenix, Arizona who wasexpelled to Mexico on Thursdaycrystallized such worries, evenamong some Republicans. “Thereis a lot of worry here in Arizona bythose who... are illegally here butthey have not committed aggra-vated felonies,” said ArizonaRepublican Senator Jeff Flake,adding that the only hope for per-manent change lies in majorCongressional reform.

New actions Miller insisted in interviews

Sunday that the president has thepower to keep some people fromentering the country. The orderthat Trump issued abruptly in lateJanuary aimed to halt resettle-ment of all refugees for 120 daysand that of Syrian refugees indefi-nitely. It also barred for 90 days

the entry of nationals from sevenpredominantly Muslim countries.The ban was supposed to be inplace while the governmentcomes up with a new system ofso-called “extreme vetting” ofpeople seeking entry visas. Thiscould include checks on theirsocial media accounts, accordingto John Kelly, the secretary ofhomeland security.

But a federal judge in Seattleissued a stay against the order onFeb 3. A three-judge appeals panelin San Francisco then voted unani-mously against reinstating Trump’sban. The idea of the White Houseissuing a modified immigrationorder that would survive scrutiny

in the courts does not convinceDemocrats, who from the outsethave charged that Trump’s decreeis simply anti-Muslim and playsinto the hands of extremists. “It willbe used as recruitment (tool) forterrorist organizations. It will putAmericans at greater risk travelingabroad,” said Democratic SenatorBen Cardin.—AFP

New immigration measures forthcoming: White House

Trump considering and pursuing all options

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump flashes a thumbs up as he walks on the South Lawnupon arrival at the White House in Washington from a trip to Florida. —AP

LIMA: President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has urged UScounterpart Donald Trump to consider extraditingfugitive former leader Alejandro Toledo, believed tobe in the United States, to face graft charges. The netappeared to be closing on the former Peruvian presi-dent as Israel said it would refuse entry to Toledo, whois accused of taking bribes from Brazilian constructiongiant Odebrecht. Toledo’s French-born wife ElianeKarp has Israeli citizenship. “President Kuczynski hasasked Donald Trump to evaluate... with the StateDepartment the idea of sending Toledo back to Peru,”

where he is wanted on charges of taking $20 millionin bribes while in office, state news agency Andinareported on Sunday.

However, the United States said it could not arrestToledo until it received more information on the case,according to Peruvian officials, who were scramblingto send investigation documents to their US counter-parts. Peruvian authorities believe Toledo, 70, is in SanFrancisco. He is a visiting professor at nearby StanfordUniversity. Toledo issued a statement on Twitter lateSunday night, without revealing his whereabouts but

denying he was on the run as he had not been facingcharges when he left Peru. “The court in Lima did notrequest my testimony to help with their investigation.On the contrary, it accused me of crimes that I havenot committed and that the court cannot prove,” hesaid. Toledo has branded the accusations against himas political persecution. But he has struggled toexplain the source of the money. A White House read-out of a call between Kuczynski and Trump did notmention Toledo. Instead, it said the pair discussed the“humanitarian situation” and other concerns inVenezuela, and “the need to promote democraticgovernance throughout the WesternHemisphere.”The White House hinted at a futuremeeting between the two leaders.

Israel alerted Toledo, once hailed as an anti-corruption champi-

on, is accused of taking a huge payoff fromOdebrecht in exchange for a massive highway con-tract connecting Peru and Brazil during his 2001-2006presidency. Peruvian police launched a manhunt forhim after a judge ordered his arrest Thursday night.There is a $30,000 reward for information leading tohis capture. The Peruvian government has indicatedthat Toledo might try to flee to Israel. “We heard froma solid source that he was trying to flee to Israel. Sowe alerted Israel,” Interior Minister Carlos Basombriosaid on RPP Radio.

But Israel blocked any such effort by Toledo.“Toledo will be allowed in Israel only when his affairsin Peru are settled,” foreign ministry spokesmanEmmanuel Nahshon said in a statement. Peru’sauthorities have a warrant for Toledo to be detainedand held in preventive custody for 18 months pend-ing a full investigation. He is accused of influencepeddling and money laundering. —AFP

Peru asks Trump to consider deporting ex-president Toledo

NORTH CAROLINA: In this file photo, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrivesfor a pretrial hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. —AP

LIMA: In this file photo, then presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo holds up hisink-stained finger and identification card after voting in the general elections, inLima, Peru. —AP

LYON: At least four skiers were killed and fivewere missing in the French Alps yesterday after amassive avalanche swept through Tignes skiresort, rescue workers said. The huge cascade ofsnow and ice, some 400 meters wide, wasapparently set off by a group of skiers higher upthe mountain, the station said in a statement.The four victims were from a group of nine peo-ple-eight holidaymakers and a guide-who wereskiing off-piste when the avalanche hit.

A rescue official from the nearby town ofAlbertville said a search was underway for thefive others. The five were initially feared buriedunder a huge mass of snow but it lateremerged that the group may have split in twobefore the avalanche, meaning they may haveescaped the accident. The avalanche was thedeadliest of its kind in the French Alps since thestart of the winter. Last month, 29 people diedin Italy after an avalanche buried a hotel in thecentral town of Rigopiano.

Staff in Tignes, which is situated near theItalian border, witnessed the wall of snow barrel

down the mountain and raised the alarm ataround 10:35 am (0935 GMT) yesterday. Rescueworkers and sniffer dogs backed by two helicop-ters rushed to the scene, located at an altitude of2,100 meters. They initially said they had foundtwo people dead and two alive. The police saidthe two found alive appeared to have diedshortly after being rescued. Yesterday’s ava-lanche risk in the area was listed as three on ascale of five, meaning there was little risk of aspontaneous large-scale avalanche.

The ski station said it was a “slab” avalanche,caused when dense wind-packed snow breaksoff. Before yesterday, 13 accidents had beenrecorded in the Alps and Pyrenees so far thiswinter, claiming a total of three lives. One ofthe worst avalanches in the past decade tookplace in the summer of 2012 in the Mont-Blancrange. Nine climbers from Britain, Germany,Spain and Switzerland were killed as they triedto scale the north face of Mont Maudit.Avalanches can travel at speeds of up to 400kilometers per hour. —AFP

Four dead, five missing in massive French Alps avalanche

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

TUNIS: A rise in “brutal tactics” by Tunisian securityforces in line with nationwide emergency laws tocounter terrorism are threatening reforms in Tunisia,Amnesty International said in a report yesterday.Since the 2011 Tunisian revolution that sparked theArab Spring, the North African country has beenwracked by jihadist attacks that have killed morethan 100 soldiers and police, some 20 civilians andalso 59 foreign tourists. Authorities have hit back byimposing a series of security measures and Tunisiahas been under a continuous state of emergencysince a November 2015 attack that killed 12 presi-dential guards.

Entitled “An end to the fear: abuses underTunisia’s state of emergency”, the report “exposeshow entrenched impunity has fostered a culture inwhich violations by security forces have been ableto thrive”, said Amnesty’s Heba Morayef. It outlineswhat Amnesty calls “ Tunisian security forces’

reliance on the brutal tactics of the past, includingtorture, arbitrary arrests, detentions and restrictionson travel of suspects as well as harassment of theirfamily members”. All this, it says, “is threateningTunisia’s road to reform”.

“The chilling accounts detailed in this report sig-nal a disturbing rise in the use of repressive tacticsagainst suspects in terrorism-related cases over

the past two years, providing a grim reminder offormer President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s rule,” saidAmnesty. Ben Ali was ousted in the 2011 revolt. Thereport details 23 cases of torture and other ill-treat-ment by police, the National Guard and counter-ter-rorism brigades since Jan 2015.

My toenails came off Amnesty said victims spoke of being “brutally

beaten with sticks and rubber hoses, placed instress positions such as the ‘roast chicken’ position

or forced to stand for prolonged periods, subjectedto electric shocks, deprived of sleep or had coldwater poured on them”. It quoted a man identifiedonly as Ahmed, to protect his identity, speak ofbeing “raped with a wooden stick” in police deten-tion. “They beat me until I fell unconscious,” Ahmedis quoted as saying. “They beat me on my legs andfeet and my arms which became bruised andinflamed. I still get nightmares from the torture Iendured. They beat me until some of my toenailscame off,” he told Amnesty.

Tunisian authorities have also imposed travel banson at least 5,000 people and restricted the move-ments of dozens more to prevent citizens from join-ing jihadist groups abroad, said Amnesty. “There is nodoubt that the authorities have a duty to countersecurity threats and protect the population fromdeadly attacks, but they can do so while respectingthe human rights protections set out in the Tunisian

constitution and international law,” said Morayef,North Africa research director at AmnestyInternational. “Giving security agencies a free hand toact above the law will not deliver security,” she said.

“This report exposes how entrenched impunityhas fostered a culture in which violations by securityforces have been able to thrive.” The United Nations’special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson spent five days in Tunisiaearlier this year to assess progress it achieved inpromoting human rights. At the end of his mission,Emmerson plauded Tunisia’s efforts to counter ter-rorism but said “the fight should be grounded inhuman rights to serve as a model for the region andbeyond”. “I am particularly concerned about theconditions I witnessed in the Mornaguia Prison,which fall well below international minimum stan-dards,” he said. He also voiced concern about “alle-gations of ill-treatment and torture”.—AFP

Security forces abuses threaten Tunisia reform

ABIDJAN: Six journalists, including threemedia owners, have been arrested in theIvory Coast for “spreading false informa-tion” about a mutiny by security forces,their newspapers and the public prosecu-tor said. The move came after elite forcesbecame the latest troops to protest overpay in recent weeks in the West Africannation, firing into the air in the army bar-racks town of Adiake.

“Regarding recent action taken by themilitary... we have come to believe thatcertain media organizations are spread-ing false information in a bid to encour-age soldiers to revolt,” said a statementfrom the public prosecutor broadcast onnational television on Sunday. The editorand owner of the independent dailiesL’Inter and SoirInfo were arrested andheld in a police camp in the capitalAbidjan, along with the editors and own-ers of the opposition newspapers LeTemps and Notre Voie.

The journalists will be questioned to“find out where responsibility lies” for thealleged false information, the prosecutor

said. They were arrested on suspicion ofbreaking the law which forbids incitingrebellion among the military, attackingstate authority and publishing false infor-mation relating to defense and statesecurity, the statement added. The eliteforces mutinied in Adiake, some 90 kilo-meters from Abidjan, between Tuesdayand Thursday, but later “apologized to theauthorities” according to a high-level mili-tary source. Troops first launched amutiny over pay on Jan 5.

Those protests subsided when thegovernment reached a deal with 8,500mutineers, agreeing to give them 12mil l ion CFA francs (18,000 euros,$19,000) each. However more soldiershave since taken to the streets demand-ing similar bonuses.

Last year Ivory Coast approved anambitious military budget to modern-ize the army and buy new equipment.But the 1.2-billion-euro pot would beinsufficient to offer similar payments toall of the country’s 23,000-strong secu-rity forces. —AFP

I Coast arrests six journalists

over mutiny false information

BELGRADE: Calling their dead “second-class vic-tims”, Serbian families of civilians killed byKosovo’s ethnic Albanian rebels in the late 1990shope a new court at The Hague will finally bringthem justice. Nineteen international judges wereappointed this month to the tribunal, which willtry crimes allegedly committed by the KosovoLiberation Army (KLA) in its fight for independ-ence from Serbia, a conflict that left 13,000 dead.Global attention has long focused on the masskillings and atrocities by the Serbian forces ofthe late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

An 11-week NATO bombing campaignpushed the troops out of predominantly ethnic

Albanian territory in 1999, and Kosovo declaredits independence a decade later. But allegedcrimes committed by the Kosovo rebels, againstSerbians but also against Roma and fellowAlbanians deemed to be collaborators, haveattracted relatively little scrutiny. “No one hasbeen adequately punished or justly condemned”over missing family members, said NatasaScepanovic, who leads an association for fami-lies of Serbian victims. “We have been discrimi-nated against since the beginning of our sad

story,” she said. The claims were raised in a 2008book by Carla del Ponte, the ex-prosecutor ofthe International Criminal Tribunal for the formerYugoslavia (ICTY).

A few years later, a Council of Europe reportreiterated the allegations against several formerKLA leaders, some of whom had become high-ranking Kosovo officials. “There cannot and mustnot be one justice for the winners and anotherfor the losers,” Dick Marty, a Swiss prosecutorwho led the council’s inquiry, said in his report.In particular, he accused Hashim Thaci-now thepresident of Kosovo-of leading a mafia-style net-work involved in assassinations and unlawful

detentions. Thaci has denied the accusationsand said he is willing to cooperate with the tri-bunal, that he had “nothing to hide”.

Last hope The Council of Europe report noted the dis-

appearance of almost 500 people, includingabout 400 Serbs, after Milosevic’s forces with-drew from Kosovo in June 1999, when the KLAhad “virtually exclusive control on the ground”.Some of the possible indicters at the new court

in The Hague, including former KLA command-ers Ramush Haradinaj and Fatmir Limaj, havealready been tried and acquitted by the ICTY.The United Nations and NATO-led forces inKosovo wanted “to promote short-term stabilityat any price, thereby sacrificing some importantprinciples of justice”, the report said.

NATO forces were not yet on the groundwhen Serbian troops started to withdraw, leavinga security vacuum in which retaliations againstSerbian civilians went unchecked. But seven rela-tives of Marinko Djuric, including his father,decided to stay in Istok, in northwestern Kosovo.“Since they were not responsible for any crime,they believed themselves to be safe,” Djuric, now58, said in Belgrade. But the situation worsened,and an evacuation was promised for June 29. Noone saw them again. “Six were killed, the seventhdisappeared and we know nothing of his fate,”Djuric said. For Beriana Mustafa, a 35-year-oldethnic Albanian journalist, the Hague tribunal isher “last hope”. Her father, Xhemajl Mustafa, wasan adviser to the former Kosovo presidentIbrahim Rugova and a political opponent of theKLA, was assassinated at the entrance of hisapartment in 2000, after he wrote articles criticalof the rebels. If the court “fails to establishresponsibility, I will close this chapter of my lifewithout waiting any longer,” she said.

I can’t tell youBut many Serbs from Kosovo remain skeptical

about what the court can achieve. “We are con-sidered responsible for the conflict, and our vic-tims are second-class victims,” said MiskoDeverdzic, 42, whose father disappeared afterbeing taken to a KLA interrogation centre inMarch 1999. Deverdzic left the area, but laterreturned to ask an Albanian neighbor for infor-mation about his father. He said he was told, “Iknow what happened but I can’t tell you”. The tri-bunal will have to work with patchy evidence, assome witnesses have died, while others maystruggle to remember exact details of the events.

Security is also a concern: During previous tri-als of KLA members, several witnesses disap-peared or died in suspicious circumstances. Thecourt, which operates under the laws of Kosovo,was set up in The Hague to ensure that witnessesare protected. “My message is that no one shoulddoubt that this is a very serious undertaking,”David Schwendiman, an American who is chiefprosecutor of tribunal, said in Sept.—AFP

Serbians seek justice for

Kosovo’s forgotten victimsNo one has been justly punished or condemned

BELGRADE: A photo shows Natasa Scepanovic, who leads an association for families of Serbianvictims, standing in front of photographs of Serbs missing and killed, during an interview. —AFP

ERFURT: Bjoern Hoecke, chairman of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany(AfD) party in the eastern federal state of Thuringia, leaves after giving a statementyesterday at the Thuringian regional parliament in Erfurt, eastern Germany. —AFP

BERLIN: A prominent member of a Germannationalist party could face expulsion overa speech in which he suggested that thecountry end its tradition of acknowledgingand atoning for its Nazi past. Alternative forGermany said party leaders voted by thenecessary two-thirds majority yesterday toopen expulsion proceedings against BjoernHoecke, who heads its branch in the east-ern state of Thuringia. The decision comesas the party prepares for a national electionin September in which it hopes to enterparliament for the first time.

Hoecke last month said Germany needsto perform a “180-degree turn” when itcomes to remembering its past, and saidthe Berlin memorial to the millions of Jewskilled in the Holocaust is a “monument ofshame.” “This is the conclusion of a processthat has been going on for some time,” saidthe party’s national co-leader Frauke Petry,a longtime foe of Hoecke.

In 2015, he was criticized for racism

after talking about the “life -affirmingAfrican proliferation model” and rebukedby party leaders.

With his Jan 17 speech, Hoecke over-stepped the mark of the “democraticallytolerable,” Petry said. “We think that thisstep was necessary because, in such animportant election year, the party must beunited.” It is unclear how high the chancesare of Hoecke being expelled. The matterwill initially be considered by a party tribu-nal in his home state. He also has allieselsewhere in the party, which is known forstrong internal rivalries.

Hoecke said he regrets the leadership’sdecision but is confident about the pro-ceedings. “I am convinced that I violatedneither the statute nor the principles of theparty,” he said. The four-year-old Alternativefor Germany, or AfD, has risen in polls overthe past year as it assailed ChancellorAngela Merkel’s decision to allow largenumbers of migrants into Germany. —AP

German nationalists

seek expulsion over

Nazi past comments

NAIROBI: A Kenyan court yesterday jailed sev-en union officials for a month over a doctor’sstrike that has crippled public hospitals for 10weeks. The sentencing prompted the union tosay it was calling off talks with the government.With national elections due in August, thestrike is fast-becoming a hot issue for PresidentUhuru Kenyatta who is aiming to win a secondterm. Kenya’s labor court had handed suspend-ed sentences to the union officials a month agoafter they ignored an earlier court order to endthe strike. But jailing them yesterday for con-tempt of court, Judge Hellen Wasilwa said theseven had provided no reason for punishmentto be deferred.

“The applicants have not demonstrated tocourt any new and compelling issue, or pointedout any mistake or error apparent on the record,or any sufficient cause that would warrantreview of the court’s order,” Wasilwa said. The

officials were handcuffed and driven to jail pastplacard-waving supporters gathered outside thecourt. The Kenya Medical Practitioners,Pharmacists and Dentist Union’s response wasunequivocal. “We are disappointed, we have sus-pended all the negotiations,” said ThuraniraKaugiria, a union official. Union members andsupporters will hold daily vigils outside prisonuntil the officials are released, he added.

Legitimate strike Opposition leader Raila Odinga criticised

the decision to send the union leaders to jailand blamed the ruling Jubilee Party govern-ment for the crisis. Odinga said he was “horri-fied disturbed and shocked” at the sentencingand said it marked “the lowest point thatJubilee’s intransigence, incompetence andinability to lead has brought the nation to.” Thenationwide strike involving thousands of doc-

tors and nurses began on Dec 5. It has left pub-lic hospitals closed and patients unable to getbasic medical care. Doctors have rejected agovernment offer of a 40 percent rise saying itfalls short of promises made in a 2013 agree-ment. Staff shortages and a lack of equipmenthave also failed to be tackled.

Widespread industrial action is not limited tohealthcare, with Kenyan university lecturersalso on strike over pay since last month. Aseries of corruption scandals-including in thehealth ministry-are fuelling the discontent, as isanger towards lawmakers who are among thebest paid in the world and have voted them-selves new benefits while claiming to beunable to meet doctors’ and lecturers’demands. While inconveniencing many ordi-nary Kenyans, the doctors’ strike has nonethe-less received wide support in the media andthe public.—AFP

Kenya jails doctors’ officials

as strike drama deepens

NAIROBI: In this file photo, Kenyan nurses and other health-workers on strike demonstrate over low pay at Uhuru Park in downtownNairobi, Kenya. —AP

ROME: The Italian government expressedalarm yesterday about the fate of an Iranianacademic detained in Tehran for nearly ayear and reportedly sentenced to death forespionage. Ahmadreza Djalali, who used towork at the University of Eastern Piedmont,was arrested on April 25, 2016 when in theIranian capital for a conference, accordingto Italian media.

The foreign ministry in Rome said in astatement it had “activated its channels ofcommunication with the Iranian authoritiesto highlight its extreme concern” about the45-year-old.

Stressing his academic links, the min-istry sought information about Djalali’sdetention-he is reportedly in Tehran’s noto-rious Evin Prison-and asked “that he bequickly returned to his family”.

Djalali’s wife, who is living in Stockholmwith the couple’s two children, told Corrieredella Sera that he faced “the death penaltyfor collaboration with enemy states”. Djalaliworked at the University of EasternPiedmont between 2012 and 2015 and alsohad employment in Belgium. There hasbeen no comment from Iranian officials ormedia about his case.—AFP

Italy voices extreme concern

at academic’s arrest in Iran

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

YANGON: Myanmar is to investigatewhether police have committed abusesagainst Rohingya Muslims, the govern-ment has said, after officials promisedthat allegations of atrocities againstmembers of the Muslim minority wouldbe looked into. The UN human rightsoffice said in a report this monthMyanmar’s security forces had commit-ted mass killings and gang rapes ofRohingya Muslims and burned their vil-lages since October in a campaign that“very likely” amounted to crimes againsthumanity and possibly ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar has denied almost all alle-gations of human rights abuses in north-ern Rakhine State, where many Rohingya

live, and says a lawful counterinsurgencycampaign has been under way sincenine policemen were killed in attacks onsecurity posts near the Bangladesh bor-der on Oct 9. The military said last weekit was setting up a team to investigatealleged atrocities by the security forcesand the interior ministry followed thatup on the weekend with a promise toinvestigate police. The Home Ministrysaid in a statement a “departmentalinquiry” would be conducted “to find outwhether the police forces have commit-ted illegal actions including violations ofhuman rights during their area clearanceoperations”.

The ministry, which is controlled by

the military, said action would be takenagainst personnel “who failed to followinstructions”. “The UN report providesmany detailed accounts of what alleged-ly happened, and that’s why an investi-gation committee was set up to respondto the report with evidence,” PoliceColonel Myo Thu Soe told Reuters yester-day. “The UN report includes very serioushuman rights abuses allegations againstpolice in Myanmar including rape. But aswe know, it did not happen,” he said.

DiscriminationSeparately, five policemen have been

sentenced to two months detentionafter a video appeared online showing

them abusing Muslims during an opera-tion aimed at rooting out suspected mili-tants in Rakhine State, Myo Thu Soe said.In addition, three senior police officersinvolved in the case have been demoted,he added. It is rare in Myanmar for secu-rity forces to be held accountable forabuses, or for such allegations to beinvestigated transparently, rights groupssay. Almost 69,000 Rohingyas have fledfrom Myanmar to Bangladesh since thesecurity force sweep was launched inOct, according to UN estimates.

More than 1,000 Rohingya Muslimsmay have been killed in the crackdown,two senior UN officials dealing withrefugees fleeing the violence said last

week. A Myanmar presidential spokesmansaid the latest reports from military com-manders were that fewer than 100 peo-ple had been killed in the counterinsur-gency operation. Rohingya have faceddiscrimination in Myanmar for genera-tions. They are not classified as a distinctgroup under citizenship laws and areregarded instead as illegal immigrantsfrom Bangladesh, entitled only to limit-ed rights. About 1.1 million Rohingyalive in apartheid-like conditions innorthwestern Myanmar. The violencehas renewed international criticism thatMyanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi hasdone too little to help members of theMuslim minority.—Reuters

Myanmar to probe police over allegations of crimes against Rohingya

NEW DELHI: A strike in the Indian capital by thousandsof Uber and Ola drivers demanding better pay has par-alyzed the ride-hailing services that have grabbed busi-ness from traditional taxi and rickshaw operators withtheir cheaper fares. Commuters faced delays for afourth day even as the city-state’s government laid onextra buses to help them get to work, after driversstopped taking bookings via the smartphone apps thatconnect them to nearby passengers. Some driversreverted to only taking passengers from taxi stands oroff the street.

It was the first big confrontation between the tradeunions representing taxi drivers in the Delhi region of25 million people and the two ride-hailing players,which have been ramping up services in India’s $12 bil-lion taxi market. Strike leaders said they were demand-ing an increase in incentives, provision of adequateinsurance policies and shorter working hours. “Thesecompanies are cheating us. They do not pay us on timeand expect us to work like slaves,” said Jatindra Singh, asenior member of the New Delhi Taxi Union. Singh said35 unions representing nearly 4,000 drivers were back-ing the strike.

Both Uber and Ola faced disruptions, with their appsshowing ‘No Cars Available’ when attempts were madeto book a ride near Connaught Place, in Delhi’s city cen-tre, around midday yesterday. “We’re sorry that ourservice has been disrupted and for any inconveniencethis has caused,” an Uber spokesperson said in a state-ment. “Serving riders, drivers and cities is core to ourmission and we are working hard to ensure that driversare able to get back behind the wheel and riders canget from A to B conveniently, reliably and safely.”

Ola did not respond to requests for comment. SanFrancisco-based Uber has focused on India as its mostpromising market outside the United States since itmerged its Chinese operation into market leader Didilast year. It operates in 28 Indian cities and has 200,000active drivers. Homegrown rival Ola calls itself India’smost popular mobile app for transportation. It is pres-ent in 102 cities and offers rides in 450,000 vehicles.

The ride-hailing players face resistance from tradi-tional, unionised taxi services and three-wheeler autorickshaws, whose standard fares they are undercutting.Both taxi drivers and private “driver partners” often useboth platforms to solicit rides. —Reuters

KABUL: Pakistan is conducting the mass repa-triation of Afghan refugees through coercion,threats and abuse, Human Rights Watch said ina scathing report yesterday, accusing the UNrefugee agency of complicity in promoting theexodus. Hundreds of thousands of Afghanshave been forced to return to their homeland,which is racked by conflict, poverty and unem-ployment, joining more than half a million oth-ers uprooted by war inside the country.

The report, entitled “Pakistan Coercion, UNComplicity: The Mass Forced Return of AfghanRefugees”, called the repatriation the world’slargest forced return of refugees. “After decadesof hosting Afghan refugees, Pakistan in mid-2016 unleashed the world’s largest recent anti-refugee crackdowns to coerce their massreturn,” said Gerry Simpson, a refugeeresearcher at Human Rights Watch. “Because theUN refugee agency (UNHCR) didn’t stand uppublicly to Pakistan’s bullying and abuses, inter-national donors should step in to press the gov-ernment and UN to protect the remainingAfghan refugees in Pakistan.”

The report said a combination of insecurelegal status, the threat of deportation duringwinter and police abuses-including extortion,arbitrary detention and nocturnal raids-had leftthe Afghan refugees with no choice but toleave Pakistan. “In July, 11 soldiers and police

came to our home at 3 am. They entered with-out asking and threw all our things on the floor.They demanded to see our refugee cards andsaid they were expired,” a 26-year-old Afghanwas quoted as saying. “Then they stole all ourmoney and told us to leave Pakistan,” said theman, who returned to Kabul with his wife andtwo children.

The report was also critical of the UNHCR,saying that by doubling its cash grants toAfghans returning from Pakistan to $400, it waseffectively encouraging the exodus. “The UNrefugee agency should end the fiction that themass forced return of Afghan refugees fromPakistan is, in fact, mass voluntary return,”Simpson said. “If UNHCR feels that giving cashto returning refugees is the best way to helpthem survive in Afghanistan, it should at thevery least make clear it does not consider theirreturn to be voluntary.”

Returning to insecurity There was no immediate reaction to the

report from the Pakistani government, whichhas previously cited security concerns andstrains on its resources after nearly four decadesfor the repatriation. It has repeatedly extendeddeadlines for refugees to leave, most recentlyuntil Dec 2017. UNHCR rejected the criticism.“The UN Refugee Agency shares concerns of

Human Rights Watch regarding the pressureson Afghans in the late summer which affectedthe repatriation last year, but does not agreewith the conclusions of its new report,” the UNbody said in a statement.

“The multiple drivers behind this surge...include pressures by authorities amidst broadersecurity operations, changing attitudes amonghost communities, uncertainty about therenewal of refugee ID cards, economic hard-ship, stricter border controls disrupting tradeand family ties.” Some Afghan refugees havebeen sheltering in Pakistan since fleeing theSoviet invasion of 1979. Up to 2.4 million regis-tered and unregistered Afghan refugees wereestimated to be in Pakistan last year, thoughthe figures have not been updated since therepatriation began.

UNHCR listed it as the world’s third-largestrefugee -hosting nation. Conflict-tornAfghanistan is struggling to reabsorb largemasses of refugees and failed asylum-seekersbeing sent back from Pakistan, as well as fromEurope and Iran. The Afghan government, heav-ily reliant on foreign aid, has promised refugeesland and cash grants but is struggling to deliver.The growing influx has sent living costs soaringand daily wages falling in many areas. Safe areasare in any case decreasing as the governmentsteadily loses territory to insurgents.—AFP

PESHAWAR: In this photo, Afghan refugee children study at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP photo

Rights group raps Pakistan for

forced repatriation of Afghans

Thousands of Afghans forced to return

ASHGABAT: Turkmenistan’s reigningstrongman Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedovbagged a new seven-year term with nearly98 percent of a weakly contested vote, elec-toral officials said yesterday, following a pre-liminary count. The election commissionclaimed at a press conference in the capitalAshgabat a turnout of over 97 percent forthe poll, in which eight men viewed astoken opponents for Berdymukhamedovalso competed. Central ElectoralCommission chief Gulmyrat Myradov didnot even mention the shares of the votegained Sunday by the other candidates.

But he said: “using this opportunity wewould like to congratulate with all ourhearts Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov onhis electoral victory.” Berdymukhamedov,59, a former dentist and health ministertook power in 2006 after the death ofTurkmenistan’s first president, SaparmuratNiyazov. Casting his vote at a school inAshgabat, the president said the electionwould decide “the fate of the people forthe coming seven years”. “If I am electedthen our policies aimed at improving thewelfare of the people will continue,”Berdymukhamedov said.

Last year Berdymukhamedov signed offon constitutional changes that paved theway for his lifelong rule by removing upperage limits for presidential candidates.Another change lengthened presidentialterms from five to seven years. Voters inAshgabat overwhelmingly said they werebacking Berdymukhamedov. “I voted forthe first time, and chose our president,” saidZokhra, an 18-year old student who wasvoting at her university. “We are decidingour future,” said Zokhra, adding that shewas handed one of Berdymukhamedov’sbooks and a bunch of flowers by officialsafter she cast her vote.

One-sided vote But a number of people in and around

the capital told AFP they did not intend tovote, casting doubt on the official turnoutfigure. Sabir Rakhmanov, an Ashgabat taxidriver, said he could not participatebecause he is registered to vote in anotherregion. “I don’t think my vote would affectanything anyway,” he said. “The main thingis to have regular work. That’s something Iwould vote for!” One-sided votes are typicalin Central Asia, a Muslim-majority ex-Sovietregion politically close to Russia and China,where reigning presidents are usuallyexpected to die in power. “These regimes

have a logic of their own and they verymuch follow that logic,” said Annette Bohr,an associate fellow of the Russia andEurasia program at the Chatham Housethink tank. Turkmenistan’s regime is “evenmore repressive and personalist” thanthose found in neighboring Kazakhstanand Uzbekistan, Bohr said.“Berdymukhamedov is predictable in thathe will do what he has to do in order toperpetuate that regime.”

Leadership cult Like Turkmenistan’s first president

Niyazov, who renamed months after familymembers and wrote a “book of the soul”that was compulsory in schools,Berdymukhamedov has presided over aflowering leadership cult. Both men arehonored by golden statues in Ashgabat,where natural gas wealth is flaunted in lav-ish, grandiose white marble architecture,even as other parts of the country sufferfrom poverty.

Berdymukhamedov is referred to bystate media as the country’s “protector” andhas written a number of poems and songsas well as books on tea, medicine and hisbeloved horses.

New York-based watchdog HumanRights Watch said ahead of the polls thatBerdymukhamedov has taken “a few mod-est steps to reverse some of Niyazov’s dam-aging policies” but has continued some ofhis “most serious abuses.” “Voters cannotexpress their views about all candidates inan open manner and without fear,” thegroup warned ahead of the vote.Turkmenistan is set to host the AsianIndoor Games in September and ReportersWithout Borders said Friday that the hand-ful of independent journalists in the coun-try are “being subjected to an unprece-dented crackdown” ahead of the show-piece event.

Although Turkmenistan sits on theworld’s fourth largest natural gas reserves,it has failed to diversify export routes andits hydrocarbon-based economy as awhole. In recent years the country of over 5million people has traded its traditionaleconomic reliance on Russia for depend-ence on China, which buys the vast majori-ty of its gas. At the beginning of 2015 thegovernment devalued the manat currencyby 19 percent, while Berdymukhamedovhas warned of the need to raise tariffs forwater, gas and electricity, which were allfree under Niyazov.—AFP

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court yesterdaybanned public celebrations of Valentine’sDay in the capital Islamabad, the latestattempt by authorities to outlaw a holidayseen by many in the traditional Muslim soci-ety as vulgar and Western. The Islamabadhigh court issued the order after a petition-er declared love was being used as a “cover”to spread “immorality, nudity and indecen-cy... which is against our rich traditions andvalues”. The ruling, seen by AFP and greetedwith approval by Islamist parties, also calledfor the electronic and print media to stoppromoting Valentine’s Day.

Some restaurants in Islamabad contin-ued to send out text messages advertisingValentine’s Day promotions even after theban was announced. However preparations

appeared muted in more conservative areassuch as Peshawar, capital of northwesternKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, where onlya handful of shops were selling Valentine’sDay-themed goods. The annual occasion isincreasingly popular among youngPakistanis, many of whom seize the chanceto celebrate romance by giving cards,chocolates and gifts to their sweethearts.

But the country remains deeply conser-vative, and many disapprove of the holi-day as an indecent Western import. Lastyear, Pakistan president MamnoonHussain had urged the nation to refrainfrom celebrating Valentine’s Day, saying ithad no place in the Muslim-majoritynation. Other officials blasted it as “vulgarand indecent”.—AFP

Turkmen president wins 7-year

term with nearly 98% of vote

ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN: Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedovcasts his vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Ashgabad. —AFP

Pakistan high court

bans Valentine’s Day

ISLAMABAD: A girl buys flowers to celebrate Valentineís Day, in Islamabad, Pakistan,yesterday.—AP

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka arrested nearly 550soldiers in a single day as it reins in themass desertion that’s plagued the armedforces since the end of the civil war, an offi-cial said yesterday. The military has beenpursuing nearly 43,000 deserters whorefused to voluntarily turn themselves inunder a government amnesty designed toclean up the ranks. Arrests have begun inearnest since the grace period expired inDec, ending any hope soldiers had ofavoiding a court martial.

The mass apprehension of 546 soldiersduring a sweep on Thursday was “thelargest ever”, brigadier Roshan Seneviratnesaid. “Those who surrendered during theone-month amnesty period could eitherrejoin the service or be legally discharged,”he added. More than 9,000 officers and sol-diers took advantage of the amnesty, turn-

ing themselves in to avoid punishment. SriLanka’s army, navy and air force have acombined strength of just over 275,000personnel, but desertion has been a seriousproblem throughout its history.

Soldiers routinely walked off the jobduring the 37-year war against Tamil sepa-ratists which ended in May 2009, butdesertion remained an issue even aftercombat had ceased. Officials say peacetime desertions were due in part to areduction in risk-related allowances paid tosoldiers, and the growth of better payingjobs in the private sector. Many have foundwork in construction and transport, whilepolice have reported the involvement ofdeserters in gun-related crimes. More than25,000 security personnel were among atleast 100,000 people killed during SriLanka’s civil war.—AFP

Sri Lanka arrests nearly 550

deserters in army clean-up

Strike paralyses

Uber, Ola services

in Indian capital

I N T E R N AT I O N A LTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

JAKARTA: A former Indonesian educa-tion minister backed by the main opposi-tion party has quietly made gains in therace to become the capital’s governor bycourting disaffected Muslim voters whileacrimony over a blasphemy trial occu-pies his rivals. Anies Baswedan poses alate but serious challenge inWednesday ’s vote for governor ofJakarta, a post that can be a steppingstone to the presidency of a country withthe world’s largest Muslim population.Campaigning for the election has raisedthe sensitive issue of religion in politicsof a country with a state ideology thatenshrines religious diversity in an offi-cially secular system.

Officials from the Gerindra partybacking Baswedan dismiss any sugges-tion he has played a religious card, while

acknowledging he has appealed to vot-ers, who happen to be Muslim, in slumswhere the incumbent, Basuki TjahajaPurnama, has raised anger with forcedevictions to combat flooding. “Anies hasmade sure he heard the voices of the vic-tims of forced evictions who were mainlyMuslim,” said Arif Poyuono, a seniorGerindra official, referring to Baswedanby his first name.

Baswedan’s popularity has spikedsince the head of the party, PrabowoSubianto, who narrowly lost the 2014presidential election, started campaign-ing on his behalf, promising a comebackto the national stage in 2019, Poyuonosaid. The Jakarta poll is being widely seenas a proxy battle for the 2019 presidentialelection. Purnama, Jakarta’s first ethnicChinese and Christian governor, has won

credit for cutting red tape and improvingthe performance of the bureaucracy. Hehas the backing of President JokoWidodo’s party, and is standing again.

The third contender is AgusYudhoyono, the son of former PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But theelection has been overshadowed byPurnama’s trial on blasphemy chargesstemming from an accusation that heinsulted the Koran in comments abouthow people vote. Purnama, known bythe nickname Ahok, denies insulting theKoran but the accusation has providedcommon ground for Widodo’s oppo-nents and Islamist political forces, whohave staged massive rallies against him.Former President Yudhoyono and his sonhave rejected claims that they or theirfamily supported the protests.

PolarizedThough largely staying out of the

fray, Baswedan has also turned to reli-gion in the hope of winning votes andsome analysts warn that his tactic risksfanning greater intolerance. “With Ahokarguably commanding the so-calledpluralist vote, Anies’ campaign team andpolitical backers clearly made a decisionto focus on the Muslim vote at a timewhen such identities have becomeincreasingly polarized and politicized,”said Ian Wilson, a lecturer at Australia’sMurdoch University. Analysts attributeBaswedan’s popularity partly to hisstrong per formances in televiseddebates, as well as efforts to appeal tomore conservative Muslims.

Baswedan on Saturday made anappearance at Jakarta’s grand mosque,

Istiqlal, where religious leaders urgedthousands of people attending prayersto elect a Muslim leader. Baswedan, anacademic and one of the firstIndonesians to win a Fulbright scholar-ship to study in the United States, servedas Widodo’s speechwriter during his2014 presidential campaign beforebecoming minister for education andculture. He was removed from the cabi-net in a reshuffle last year.

He has pledged to improve publiceducation, contain living costs andend forced evictions. After lagging hisr ivals for months, recent polls putBaswedan in second place, just behindPurnama. Wednesday ’s e lec t ion iswidely expected to go to a secondround in May if no candidate wins anoutright majority.—Reuters

Indonesia opposition-backed candidate may be dark horse in Jakarta poll

MANILA: A war on drugs in thePhilippines has given rise to a culture ofimpunity and President Rodrigo Duterteis making too many policy decisions with-out consultation, according to formerleader Fidel Ramos. Ramos, who backedDuterte’s election campaign but has sincebecome one of his bluntest critics, saidthere was “too much unilateralism” in theadministration, especially on law enforce-ment and security issues. More than 7,600people have been killed during a merci-less drugs crackdown that started sevenmonths ago. That includes more than2,500 in police operations.

Ramos was asked during an interviewon Sunday with online news channelRappler whether the bloodshed duringthe drugs war meant a culture of impunitywas prevailing. “It is starting to become likethat,” Ramos said. He said he felt hesitantto call it a culture of impunity because hebelieved it was not too late to change, butthat the onus was on Duterte. “Based onthe guidance from the very top, therecould be positive change (in) the way we

do things in this country,” Ramos said.Police operations were suspended on Jan31 after a South Korean businessman wasmurdered by rogue drugs squad officers.

The Philippine Drug EnforcementAgency (PDEA) has since taken over thelead role and Duterte wants the militaryto join raids. Ramos, president from1992-1998, disagrees with that becausehe said troops and police were traineddifferently. “Police work, which is a littledifferent from military operations, doesfollow its basic rule of engagement,which is you shoot to disable, but not tokill,” he said. The senior statesman isamong the few Filipinos able to criticizeDuterte without incurring his trademarkwrath. He previously said Duterte’s drugsobsession distracted him from pressingissues and expressed bemusement at hishostility to ally the United States. Ramosalso said on Sunday Duterte was not talk-ing to his Cabinet on issues such as tieswith China and the United States, andpeace talks with Muslim insurgents andcommunist rebels. — Reuters

SEOUL: The UN Security Council is to hold anurgent meeting later yesterday after NorthKorea announced it had successfully tested anew ballistic missile, a launch seen as a chal-lenge to President Donald Trump. The North’sleader Kim Jong-Un “expressed great satisfac-tion over the possession of another powerfulnuclear attack means which adds to the tremen-

dous might of the country”, state news agencyKCNA said.

Permanent Security Council members Chinaand Russia joined a chorus of international criti-cism of Sunday’s launch by the nuclear-armednation from near the western city of Kusong.The council met around 2200 GMT yesterdayfollowing a request by the United States, Japanand South Korea. North Korea is barred underUN resolutions from carrying out ballistic mis-sile launches or nuclear weapons tests. But lastyear it conducted two nuclear tests and numer-ous missile launches in its quest to develop anuclear weapons system capable of hitting theUS mainland.

The latest missile-said by Pyongyang to beable to carry a nuclear warhead-flew east forabout 500 kilometers before falling into the Seaof Japan (East Sea), South Korea’s defense min-istry has said. Footage on the North’s state tele-vision showed the missile being moved on anewly-developed mobile erector launcher. Itwas launched at a near-vertical angle, igniting

in mid-air after lift-off and switching directionwhile in flight. Photos released by KCNA showedthe missile blasting into the sky with a smilingKim watching from the command centre, andstanding on the launch field surrounded bydozens of cheering soldiers and scientists.

It said Kim “personally guided” preparationsfor Sunday’s test of what it described as a sur-face -to-sur face “medium long range”Pukguksong-2, a “Korean-style new type strate-gic weapon system”. KCNA said the missile waspowered by a solid-fuel engine-which needs afar shorter refueling time than conventional liq-uid fuel-powered missiles, according to YunDuk-Min of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and

Security in Seoul. “They leave little warning timeand therefore pose a greater threat to oppo-nents,” he said, adding that such missiles areharder to detect by satellite before launch.

The North has previously made claims for itsweapons capabilities that analysts considerunconvincing. But Seoul’s military confirmedthe North’s claim on the solid-fuel engine.Pyongyang’s latest announcement was the firsttime a Pukguksong-2 has been mentioned,although last August it test-fired what it saidwas a submarine-launched ballistic missile(SLBM) marked as a Pukguksong-1, a namewhich translates as “North Star”. Kim said at thetime that the missile put the US mainland andthe Pacific within striking range.

An official with South Korea’s Joint Chiefs ofStaff told reporters the Pukguksong-2 appearedto have been fired based on the same “coldlaunch” technology used in last year’s SLBM test.The method-in which a missile is initially pro-pelled by compressed gas before its engineignites mid-air-is considered safer. It is also easi-er to hide the launch location. North Koreaclaims it has developed an intercontinental bal-listic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the USmainland but has not tested one as yet.

Armed provocationThe South has said that Sunday’s launch was

intended as a test for Trump, who responded bypledging “100 percent” support forWashington’s key regional ally Japan. Trump haspressed China, the north’s sole major ally andkey trade partner, to play a bigger role inrestraining its wayward neighbor. In TokyoJapan’s top government spokesman YoshihideSuga said yesterday China plays an “extremelyimportant” role and called on Beijing to take“constructive action”. China’s foreign ministryspokesman Geng Shuang said it opposes NorthKorean missile launches that violate UN resolu-tions. Russia’s foreign ministry called the launch“a demonstration of contempt for UN SecurityCouncil resolutions”. But Joel Wit, a senior fellowat the US-Korea Institute at Johns HopkinsUniversity, said more provocations were likely inresponse to upcoming US-South Korean mili-tary exercises.—AFP

UN to meet after North Korea

claims successful missile test

NK barred under UN to carry nuclear tests

SEOUL: This photo released yesterday shows the launch of a surface-to-surface medium long-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2 at an undisclosed location. —AFP

SURABAYA: Girls from a local boarding school shout during an anti-Valentine’s Dayrally in Surabaya, East Java province yesterday.—AFP

SURABAYA, Indonesia: Indonesian Muslimschool students staged a protest againstValentine’s Day yesterday, denouncingwhat they said was a Western celebrationthat encourages casual sex. Whileteenagers in many countries treat the dayas an occasion to declare love for theirclassmates, in the Indonesian city ofSurabaya it was a different story as stu-dents from one school held a noisy demon-stration. “Say no to Valentine!” chanted thestudents, who were aged between 13 and15 and included many girls wearing head-scarves.

It was the latest expression of anger atValentine’s Day in the world’s most popu-lous Muslim-majority country, whereIslamic clerics and some pious Muslims typ-ically use the occasion to target what theysee as Western decadence. “This protestwas organized as we have seen on televi-sion that Valentine’s Day tends to be associ-ated with free sex,” said Pandu Satria,organizer of the demonstration that wasattended by scores of students. “ Thatmakes us afraid.”

Ida Indahwati Waliulu, headmaster ofthe school which is run by an Islamicorganization, added: “There is a certainpride about this positive action carried outby the students.” Several cities across thecountry also banned people from celebrat-ing the occasion. In neighboring Malaysia,which is also a Muslim-majority country, agroup called The National Muslim YouthAssociation urged females to avoid usingemoticons and an excessive amount of fra-grance in a pre-Valentine’s Day message.

The group also set out guidelines abouthow people could reject the annual cele-bration of romance by making anti-Valentine posters and not wearingValentine-themed outfits. Despite someobjections, many in Indonesia and Malaysiamark the occasion, particularly in majorcities where cards and chocolates are wide-ly available.

In 2015, Indonesia’s Islamic clerical bodythreatened to issue a fatwa against the saleof condoms following reports they werebeing sold together with chocolate to markValentine’s Day.—AFP

Indonesian school students

protest Valentine’s Day

JAKARTA: Jakarta’s Christian governor will fightto cling on to his job at polls this week despitestanding trial for blasphemy, in a saga that hasfuelled concerns about religious intolerance inthe Muslim-majority nation. Basuki TjahajaPurnama will tomorrow face two prominentMuslim candidates in the race to lead theIndonesian capital, a megacity of 10 million, aslocal elections take place across the country. Butthe Jakarta ballot has become about much morethan whether the city’s first non-Muslim gover-nor for half a century, and its first ever ethnicChinese leader, will continue in his job.

The run-up has been overshadowed by angerat claims Purnama insulted the Koran, thatsparked huge protests by Islamic hardliners andled to the governor being put on trial in a casecriticized as unfair and politically motivated.Purnama has not been barred from running buthis lead in opinion polls has shrunk, and the voteis now seen as a test of whether much vauntedpluralism and a tolerant brand of Islam in theworld’s most populous Muslim-majority countryare being eroded.

“ This is going to be a litmus test ofIndonesian Islam-are we tolerant or intolerant?”said Tobias Basuki, a political analyst fromJakarta think-tank the Centre for Strategic andInternational Studies. Although Muslims domi-nate Indonesian politics, Christian and ethnicChinese politicians have risen to become gov-ernment ministers, but very few have been bothChinese and Christian, like Purnama. Religiousand ethnic tensions have made for a dirty racewith “fake news” flooding social media, and27,000 security forces will be deployed in Jakartaon election day.

The “fake news” has mainly targetedPurnama, and included claims that a free vacci-nation program he backed was a bid to makegirls infertile and reduce the population. Hissupporters have hit back online, defending hisrecord in office. Tensions were still running highdays before the vote, with tens of thousandsdescending on Jakarta’s national mosque onSaturday to urge voters to back a Muslim. “I amhere driven by my faith, because I also felt insult-ed when Ahok insulted my religion,” 25-year-oldMochamad Ramzie said, referring to Purnama byhis nickname.

Popular leader The governor ’s opponents are Agus

Yudhoyono, the son of a former president, andex-education minister Anies Baswedan, backed

by former general Prabowo Subianto who headsa powerful political party and ran againstPresident Joko Widodo in 2014. About 100 otherlocal elections will take place on Wednesday butthe stakes are highest in the capital, with the topjob in Jakarta seen as a stepping stone to victoryin the 2019 presidential polls. Purnama’s trou-bles began in September when he said in aspeech that his rivals were tricking people intovoting against him using a Koranic verse, whichsome interpret as meaning Muslims should onlychoose Muslim leaders.

An edited video of his comments went viralonline, sparking widespread public anger. Thecontroversy is a high-profile example of thereligious intolerance that has become morecommon in Indonesia in recent years, with asurge of attacks on minorities as hardliners bat-tle for influence. About 90 percent ofIndonesia’s 255 million inhabitants are Muslimbut most practice a moderate form of Islam andhave lived largely harmoniously alongsideChristian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.Purnama won popularity in Jakarta for making

serious efforts to improve the overcrowded andchaotic city. The leader has cleaned up theonce-filthy rivers, demolished red-light dis-tricts, and created more green spaces, althoughhe has sparked some opposition with contro-versial slum clearances. His support slippedafter the blasphemy controversy erupted buthas bounced back and most recent polls showhim in the lead, although if the vote goes to arun-off in April he is seen as likely to lose.

If he does win the vote and is convicted ofblasphemy, which could see him sentenced toup to five years in prison, he would not auto-matically be barred from holding office andcould avoid jail for a long time by filing succes-sive appeals, analysts say. His tr ial is notexpected to finish until at least April. Despitethe challenges facing him, many of Jakarta’s7.1 million voters-most of them Muslims-seePurnama as the only hope for the city. “There’sa very simple reason why I’m voting Ahok,”Eleonora Natasya, a 21-year-old engineeringstudent, said. “I actually see something chang-ing when he is in charge.”—AFP

TOKYO: The prime minister of the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile saidyesterday that he has high expectations forPresident Donald Trump to support dia-logue between the Tibetans and Beijing, asTrump’s predecessors have. LobsangSangay told foreign journalists in Tokyothat “it matters” what the United Statesdoes and says,” and that Tibetans should“remain hopeful” that the US can serve asan intermediary.

Previous US administrations haveacknowledged the “one China” policy butsupported dialogue between the exiledTibetans and Beijing under the Dalai Lama’s“middle way” approach, which calls forseeking regional autonomy under Chineserule. China doesn’t recognize the Tibetangovernment-in-exile, and hasn’t held anydialogue with the representatives of theDalai Lama, the Tibetans’ spiritual leader,since 2010. The Dalai Lama and his follow-ers have been living in exile in Dharamsala,India, since they fled Tibet after a failed1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

China maintains that Tibet has been partof its territory for more than seven cen-turies, while many Tibetans say they were

effectively an independent country formost of that time.

Lobsang Sangay, in Tokyo for meetingswith Japanese officials, also urgedJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toshare his insights about how to establishgood relations with Trump. Abe was dueback from the US yesterday evening afterholding talks and playing golf with Trumpover the weekend. Abe is the only globalleader to have met with Trump twice sincehe was elected.—AP

Muslim Indonesia’s capital

to vote in tolerance test

JAKARTA: This picture shows Jakarta’s governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and his running mateDjarot Saiful Hidayat as they greet supporters during their final campaign rally in Jakarta.—AFP

TOKYO: Tibetan government-in-exilePrime Minister Lobsang Sangay speaksduring a press conference in Tokyo, yes-terday. —AP

Exiled Tibetan leader hopes Trump

to support China dialogue

Ex-Philippine leader Ramos

concerned about impunity

N E W STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

DUBAI: Tesla CEO Elon Musk sits next to Mohammad Al-Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Future, dur-ing a panel discussion at the World Government Summit 2017 in Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah yesterday. —AFP

DUBAI: Dubai has tested a Chinese prototype of a self-drivinghover-taxi, its transport authority said yesterday, with the aimof introducing the aerial vehicle in the emirate by July. Thetest of the one-man electric vehicle comes as the city-state inthe United Arab Emirates seeks to ensure a quarter of itsmeans of transport are self-driving by 2030. The EHang 184can travel on a programmed course at 100 km an hour at analtitude of 300 m, the authority said in a statement.

A passenger simply needs to select a destination for theautonomous taxi to take off, fly the route and touch down inthe chosen spot monitored by a ground control center, it said.The vehicle, made by Chinese drone manufacturer EHang, canrecharge in two hours and make trips of up to 30 minutes. “Theautonomous aerial vehicle exhibited at the World GovernmentSummit is not just a model,” authority head Mattar Al-Tayersaid yesterday. “We have already experimented (with) the vehi-cle in a flight in (the) Dubai sky,” he said in English.

The authority was “making every effort to start the opera-tion of the autonomous aerial vehicle in July 2017” to helpreduce traffic congestion, Tayer said. The quadcopter is pow-ered by eight propellers, the authority said. It has highly accu-rate sensors and can resist extreme temperatures, it said. Theemirate is known for its scorching summers. In November,Dubai agreed a deal with US startup Hyperloop One to studythe construction of a near-supersonic transport link to theEmirati capital Abu Dhabi. Home to Burj Khalifa, the world’stallest tower, Dubai is a leading tourist destination in the Gulf,attracting a record 14.9 million visitors in 2016.

Meanwhile, electric carmaker Tesla announced the open-ing of a new Gulf headquarters yesterday in Dubai, aiming toconquer an oil-rich region better known for gas-guzzlers thanenvironmentally friendly motoring. Elon Musk, the co-founderand chief executive of the American firm seeking to revolu-

tionize the electric car market, was in Dubai to oversee thelaunch of the Gulf sales push. “The time seems to be good toreally make a significant debut in this region starting fromDubai,” Musk told the World Government Summit.

Dubai’s official Media Office said that Musk met UAEPrime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum,who welcomed Tesla’s decision to set up its regional head-quarters in the city-state. Sheikh Mohammed, who is alsothe ruler of Dubai, instructed local authorities to provideTesla “with the services and logistic support” it needs, saidthe Media Office. Dubai is one of seven emirates that makeup the United Arab Emirates.

Once a sleepy fishing town, it has evolved into a regionalbusiness hub and a tourist magnet, thanks to huge invest-ments in luxury resorts and shopping malls. The emirate, seenas the most diversified in the Gulf, has a population of 2.5 mil-lion people, most of them expatriates. Despite a state-of-theart metro, many people in Dubai and across the energy-richGulf region prefer to get around in SUVs or other luxury carsknown to burn a lot of petrol.

Official figures released by Dubai’s Roads and TransportAuthority in 2015 showed that the number of vehicles inDubai had doubled over the past eight years, leaving theGulf emirate with more cars per person than New York orLondon. If that trend continues, the number of vehiclesregistered could reach 2.2 million by 2020, when the emi-rate is due to host the Expo international trade fair. Teslaannounced last year plans to build self-driving technologyinto all its electric cars. “My guess is probably that in 10years it will be very unusual for cars to be built that are notfully autonomous,” Musk told the Dubai summit yesterday.“I think almost all cars built will be capable of full autono-my in about 10 years.” — AFP

Dubai to launch hover-taxis by mid-year to reduce jams

Tesla takes on Gulf gas guzzlers

RIYADH: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganarrived for talks in Saudi Arabia yesterday to furtherstrengthen ties as part of a Gulf tour. The two Sunnipowers have become increasingly close over the pastyear, sharing in particular a backing for the oppositionin Syria’s war. Before beginning his Gulf trip in Bahrainon Sunday, Erdogan said Turkish troops and their Syrianrebel allies had entered the center of Al-Bab, the IslamicState group’s last stronghold in the northern Syrianprovince of Aleppo.

In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia’s island neighbor and closeally, Erdogan met King Hamad and other officials. SinceSaudi King Salman ascended the throne in 2015, Riyadhand Ankara have repaired ties strained over the 2013ousting of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood presidentMohamed Morsi, a Turkish ally. Saudi Arabia has beenone of the main supporters of Egypt’s current PresidentAbdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who as army chief overthrew Morsi.

In April last year Salman visited Erdogan, who award-ed him a rare honor, the Order of State. Turkey thenbegan hosting Saudi warplanes at its Incirlik air base aspart of the US-led coalition against IS militants, who areamong an array of factions fighting in Syria. Ankara hastaken on an increasingly important role with Moscowand Iran as a powerbroker in the Syria conflict.

Analysts say the capture late last year by Syria’s armyof the country’s second city Aleppo, backed by Russianair strikes, was a setback for Saudi Arabia and Qatar. TheGulf states have supported rebels whose struggle to

oust President Bashar Al-Assad seems increasingly fruit-less. In January Turkey, along with Assad allies Russiaand Iran, sponsored talks in Kazakhstan between Syrianrebels and government officials.

There was no breakthrough, but Kazakhstan hasproposed another round in Astana this Wednesdayand Thursday, before United Nations-sponsored peacetalks resume in Geneva on Feb 23. Yesterday inManama, Erdogan called for a “safe zone” in northernSyria where people displaced by the war could go. Thepositions of Saudi Arabia and Turkey are “absolutelyidentical” on Syria, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said last week in Ankara. He attended the firstmeeting of a coordination council to enhance tiesbetween the two countries.

Both Riyadh and Ankara are hoping for better rela-tions with Washington under President Donald Trump.For Turkey, ties were strained under Barack Obamabecause of Washington’s support for Syrian Kurdish mili-tia, which Ankara views as “terrorist” groups. SaudiArabia felt Obama was reluctant to get involved in thecivil war in Syria and was tilting towards its Shiite-domi-nated regional rival Iran.

From Riyadh, Erdogan today will journey to Qatar,with which Turkey has maintained strong ties for years.Qatar also hosts a Turkish military base. While bothstates are united in their backing for rebels fightingAssad’s regime, they also shared support for Egypt’sMuslim Brotherhood. — AFP

Erdogan visits Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his arrivalyesterday. — AFP

A N A L Y S I STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

THE LEADING INDEPENDENTDAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN

Editor-in-ChiefABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN

EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432ADVERTISING : 24835616/7FAX : 24835620/1CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163ACCOUNTS : 24835619COMMERCIAL : 24835618

P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.netWebsite: www.kuwaittimes.net

All articles appearing on these pages arethe personal opinion of the writers. KuwaitTimes takes no responsibility for viewsexpressed therein. Kuwait Times invitesreaders to voice their opinions. Please sendsubmissions via email to: opinion@kuwait-times.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the rightto edit any submission as necessary.

Focus

When Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte sum-moned his security chiefs to an urgent meetingone Sunday night last month, his mind was

already made up. His military and law enforcement headshad no idea what was coming: a suspension of the policeforce’s leading role in his signature campaign, a mercilesswar on illegal drugs. There was only one reason for the U-turn, three people who attended the Jan. 29 meetingtold Reuters. Duterte was furious that drugs-squad copshad not only kidnapped and murdered a South Koreanbusinessman, they had strangled him to death in theheadquarters of the Philippines National Police itself.

“He was straight to the point - ‘I am ordering you to dis-band your anti-drug units, all units’,” said DefenceSecretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was at the meeting inthe presidential palace. Duterte decided that the muchsmaller Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)would take over the drugs crackdown, with support fromthe military. It was a stunning turnaround by Duterte, whohad until then stood unswervingly behind his police forcethrough months of allegations that its officers were guiltyof extra-judicial killings and colluding with hit men in acampaign that has claimed the lives of more than 7,600people, mostly drug pushers and users, in seven months.

The blunt-spoken president had repeatedly defiedcalls from United Nations, the United States and theEuropean Union to rein in his war on drugs, calling themstupid and ‘sons of bitches’. Duterte’s aides were used tohis mercurial style, but they were taken aback that thekilling of one foreigner would be enough to stop him inhis tracks. One explanation is that relations with SouthKorea are of huge importance to the Philippines for

development aid, tourism, overseas employment andmilitary hardware.

But security officials said it was the audacity of thekilling of Jee Ick-joo and the attempt to use the war ondrugs as a cover for kidnap and ransom that triggered hisdecision. “It’s all about the Korean. That it happened at all,it’s really that (which) pissed him off,” Lorenzana toldReuters. PDEA Director General Isidro Lapena, who wasalso at the meeting, hadn’t seen it coming either. He said inan interview that the president had lambasted the policeforce and told them that the “deactivation” and purge of itsanti-drugs unit was now as important as the drugs waritself. Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa told Reutersthat Duterte had been “really mad” about the incident and,after the meeting, the president publicly denounced thepolice force as “corrupt to the core”.

‘So obvious’The president’s legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, said

the president, a former prosecutor, makes decisionsstrictly on the basis of the letter of the law. Activists’ alle-gations of summary executions had no supporting evi-dence, he said, yet to Duterte, Jee’s killing was irrefutable,audacious and embarrassing. “The committing of thatcrime was so obvious,” he said.

Worried that the incident would dent the Philippines’image in South Korea, Duterte sent Panelo to Seoul toapologize to acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn. Seoul isManila’s biggest supplier of military hardware, donatingor selling fighter jets, patrol boats, frigates and trucks.About 1.4 million South Koreans visited the Philippines inthe first 10 months of 2016 - a quarter of all tourists

arrivals - lured by beaches, golf and the sex industry.Korean tourists spend an average $180-$200 daily, andtheir overall spending is triple that of US visitors.

South Korea is the Philippines’ fifth-largest source ofdevelopment aid and in 2015 invested $520 million inareas like power, tourism and electronics manufacturing.About 55,000 Filipinos work in South Korea and thePhilippines attracts Koreans studying English, over 3,700of them last year. A South Korean diplomat in Manila saidthere were no threats or pressure on the Philippine gov-ernment over the killing of the businessman, but Seoulwanted a guarantee of safety for its citizens and a secureinvestment climate.

Hoik Lee, president of the Korean Chamber ofCommerce in the Philippines, said South Koreans feltincreasingly unsafe in the country. The chamber’s mem-bership has grown from 20 firms in 1995 to 500 compa-nies now, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics , Hanjinand LG, but Lee estimated that the Korean communityhas shrunk by about a third to 100,000 people since 2013despite the bright economic outlook in the Philippines.“Police should protect us not kill us,” Lee said. “That is whywe are very upset and very shocked.”

The number of Koreans murdered in the Philippinesaverages about 10 each year, accounting for a third of allKorean nationals killed overseas, according to Seoul’s for-eign ministry. However, South Koreans are perpetrators ofcrime as much as they are its victims in the Philippines,says the police Criminal Investigation and DetectionGroup, which has a Korean desk handling cases of kidnap-pings, murder, robbery, theft, extortion and fraud, mostlyin Korean communities, where mafias operate. —Reuters

How Philippines drugs war was slowed

The Gambia’s former president Yahya Jammeh wieldeda potent mix of brute force and mysticism to keep citi-zens in a permanent state of fear, a legacy that lingers.

Whether a poor farmer or government minister, nobodycould feel safe during Jammeh’s 22-year rule. Now, weeksafter the paranoid autocrat was chased from power in thetiny nation almost entirely surrounded by Senegal, voicesare being raised to demand justice, but the hurdles aremany. They include pervasive superstition - including beliefsthat Jammeh had supernatural powers - which for many citi-zens has blurred the lines between truth and fiction.Jammeh’s aura “made people scared of him, so people didexactly what he told them to do,” said Fabakary Ceesay, ajournalist who went into exile after reporting on forced dis-appearances and rights abuses.

Poisoned for ‘witchcraft’ Wild stories abounded during Jammeh’s tenure. Back in

2009, AFP spoke to victims of the poisoning of a thousandvillagers with a herbal concoction so powerful that severaldied, after Jammeh alleged they had used witchcraft againsthis aunt. Some of them reported being raped. “People die incustody or during interrogations, it’s really common,”Jammeh told the magazine Jeune Afrique in May 2016 afterthe death of an opposition activist, Solo Sandeng, whomsome allege was fed to his crocodiles.

Jammeh faced down several coup attempts after heseized power in 1994. They fuelled his paranoia and byextension that of his people. As a result, in the later years ofhis rule he came to rely ever more on a close circle of fanati-cally violent supporters. His death squad, known as theJunglers, and the secret police of the National IntelligenceAgency (NIA) who reported directly to him, helped sow fear.The Junglers carried out “arbitrary arrests, detention, torture,enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings,” the UNspecial rapporteur on torture wrote in a 2015 report.

Buba Sanyang, a prominent supporter of Jammeh’sAlliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC)party, was among those arrested. “The last time I set my eyeson him was in April 2006 before I left the village,” his sonMusa Sanyang said. Relatives at Serrekunda in Greater Banjultold Sanyang his father had been picked up by army officersand no reason was given for his detention. “We havesearched for him everywhere, but the government contin-ued insisting that he is not in their custody,” he said, callingon the new administration to deliver the answers his familyhas wanted for so long.

Arm of superstition But Jammeh also harnessed centuries-old beliefs, sur-

rounding himself with “marabouts” - respected religious fig-ures who combine Islam with spiritualist practices. Afterwhipping up rallies into a frenzy, Jammeh would sometimes“heal” a young woman who had fainted nearby. In 2007, hedeclared he could cure HIV with herbal mixtures, lateradding infertility and asthma to his list. Critics also blamedhis alleged powers when terrible things happened. InJanuary, the young son of newly elected president AdamaBarrow died of dog bites, shortly after Barrow fled the coun-try for his own safety while Jammeh reversed his acceptanceof defeat at the polls.

The dog was finally put down, but by then the suspicionof involvement by Jammeh or powerful Guinean witchdoc-tors he frequented had sent Banjul’s rumor mill into a frenzy.Before leaving for exile in Equatorial Guinea, Jammeh had awitchdoctor visit the presidential palace, Senegalese mediareported. Rumours brewed that poisonous gas cylinderswere left in vents. Though these have been quashed, Barrowis still running the country from a luxury hotel, hisspokesman has confirmed. Bill Roberts, a US-based professorof anthropology, said that whatever people truly believed,fear led to a credulous public reaction. “I think there was a lotof scepticism among educated Gambians about Jammeh’sclaims to heal people, but that scepticism could not bevoiced publicly,” Roberts told AFP by email. “Other peoplebelieved him I think in part out of desperation for a ‘cure’ ifthey were afflicted, or fear of death from a disease they didnot understand,” he added.

Truth and reconciliation Real or imagined, Jammeh’s abuses have fuelled desire for

him to be held accountable. Barrow has promised to establish aTruth and Reconciliation Commission, but also said The Gambiawill rejoin the International Criminal Court after Jammeh pulledthe country out last year. Some were angry when the UN andAfrican political bodies stated that Jammeh would be treatedwith respect, allowed to return to The Gambia at any time andto keep “lawfully acquired” possessions.

Since then, General Bora Colley, the head of a Gambianmilitary commando unit, has been arrested in Senegal, andexperts believe the government still has plenty of leeway toprosecute crimes such as torture, for which there is noamnesty in international law. “Jammeh could be prosecutedin Gambia, in another country or before an internationalcourt,” said Reed Brody, a lawyer instrumental in the prosecu-tion of Chadian dictator Hissene Habre. —AFP

Real and imagined crimes of Jammeh

Bloody protests in Baghdad over the weekend byfollowers of influential cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr sig-nal the resumption of a power struggle between

Iraq’s Shiite leaders which had been put on hold tofocus on the war against Islamic State. With Iraqi forcesall but certain to defeat Islamic State in Mosul this year,Sadr has begun mobilizing his supporters ahead of twoelections, for provincial councils in September and thecrucial parliamentary vote, by April 2018.

His main rival is former Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki,a pro-Iranian politician who started positioning himselflast year as a possible kingmaker or even for a return tothe premiership itself. The political tussle played out onthe streets of central Baghdad on Saturday when fivedemonstrators and a policeman were killed in clashesbetween security forces and Sadr followers demandingan overhaul of the state election commission, which thecleric believes favors Maliki.

A return to power for Maliki would bolster Iranianinfluence in Baghdad, giving Tehran leverage in anyconflict with US President Donald Trump’s administra-tion, which put new sanctions on the Islamic Republicfollowing its missile test last month. Although Sadr isopenly hostile to Washington’s policies in the MiddleEast and has spent considerable time in Iran, he wouldbe a less dependable ally for Tehran in Baghdad. He hasa troubled relationship with Iraqi political groups alliedwith Iran, and portrays himself as an Iraqi nationalist.

Maliki’s eight-year rule ended in 2014, when the Iraqiarmy collapsed in the face of an Islamic State offensive,forcing him to hand over power to current PrimeMinister Haider Al-Abadi. Both men are members of theShiite Dawa party. He now holds the ceremonial posi-tion of vice president but still wields considerable influ-ence, chairing the Dawa party which controls thelargest bloc in parliament.

Iran wants ‘loyal ally’Abadi, a moderate Shiite politician, was better able

to work with the Americans who helped rebuild thearmy and provided critical air and ground support totroops battling militants after they seized a third of Iraqin 2014. Iraqi forces have completed the first phase ofthe campaign to retake Mosul, the biggest city underIslamic State control, removing the militants from theeastern side of the city.

Abadi has overseen the two-year fightback, but lacksa political powerbase to match Sadr or Maliki. “Abadicame as a compromise between the Americans and theIranians,” said Wathiq Al-Hashimi, chairman of theBaghdad-based Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies think

tank. “Given the escalation with the Trump administra-tion, Iran would for sure seek to have a strong, loyal allyin Baghdad” to take over after the parliamentary elec-tions next year, he said.

The new American president says he has put Iran “onnotice” after it test-fired a medium-range ballistic mis-sile in January. Some Western powers say that anylaunch of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles would vio-late a UN Security Council which enshrined a dealwhich curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for aneasing of international sanctions. Iran says its missilelaunches do not breach the deal.

The escalation, and the Trump administration’s haltto immigrants from seven mainly Muslim nations,placed Abadi in a dilema. He resistedcalls from influential pro-IranianShiite politicians to retaliateagainst the ban, citing Iraq’sneed for US military support.Commenting on his phonecall on Thursday withTrump, he said Baghdadwill steer clear of US-Irantension.

Calls to end corruptionSadr’s followers held

several demonstrationslast year to press for anti-corruption reforms, andstormed the Green Zone, aheavily protected cluster ofgovernment and foreigndiplomatic buildings, afterclashes with security forces.Oil-rich Iraq ranks 161st out of168 nations in TransparencyInternational’s CorruptionIndex. Fourteen years afterthe US-led invasion that top-pled Saddam Hussein, thecountry still suffers a short-age of electricity, water,schools and hospitals, whileexisting facilities and infra-structure suffer widespreadneglect.

Street mobi l izat ion isimportant for Sadr as he cannotrely on a regional backer to sus-tain his popularity. Reacting to

the killing of his followers on Saturday evening, Sadrsaid he was suspending protests for the time being,but added: “Their blood won’t have been shed invain.” Hashimi said Saturday’s violence was unlikelyto herald a dramatic shift in the balance of power,but the protesters had served notice that Sadr can-not be ignored. The protests enabled him “to mobi-lize his base under patriotic slogans and reassert hisleadership,” he said.

Sadr is the heir to a clerical dynasty which sufferedunder Saddam Hussein. While the Sadr family remainedin Iraq, his main Shiite rivals, including Maliki, fledSaddam’s persecution and returned to Iraq only after

the invasion. Iran has trained and armed Shiitemilitias collectively known as

Popular Mobilization forces tocounter Islamic State. Most of

their leaders have close linkswith Maliki.

Malik i ’s Dawa partyaccuses Sadr ofobstructing the war onIslamic State, sayinghis street protestsincrease the burdenon the armed forcesat the time when theyare about to dislodgethe militants from

Mosul, their last citystronghold in Iraq. A

lawmaker close to Maliki,Ahmed Al-Badri, alsoaccuses the Sadrists of“being part of the cor-ruption problem”.

“The elections arearound the corner andeverybody wants to win the

street, and everybody,including the Sadrists, are part

of the corruption problem throughtheir participation in different govern-ments,” he told Reuters. Sadr’s follow-ers reject the accusations of obstruct-ing the war effort. “It’s their corrup-tion that facilitate the entry ofDaesh,” said Ali Abu Mahdi, a 42 year-old state employee who marched inSaturday’s demonstration. “Both arein the same bag.” —Reuters

Protests mark resumption of power struggle

MANILA: Manny Pacquiao yesterday asked his legions of Twitter followers tochoose his opponent after announcing his next world title defence will be inthe United Arab Emirates. “See you in UAE for my next fight. #TeamPacquiao”the WBO world welterweight champion tweeted, appearing to scupperreports that he would next fight Australia’s Jeff Horn in Brisbane in April.Pacquiao then posted a poll on his official Twitter feed asking his 108,000 fol-lowers to choose either Horn, Terence Crawford, Amir Khan or KellBrook as his next opponent in the UAE. The poll hadreceived more than 10,000 votes by yesterday morning. Aspokesman for Pacquiao told AFP he was due to meethis manager Michael Koncz later Monday and a state-ment about his next fight would be issued. Pacquiao’spromoter Bob Arum had been widely quoted lastmonth in international media as saying that theboxing icon would be getting into the ringwith the unbeaten Australian Horn inApril and the Queensland tourismminister said they were in negotia-tions to host the bout. —AFP

S P O RT STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

HONG KONG: A 52-year-old woman runner who took part inthe Hong Kong marathon died yesterday, a day after collaps-ing on the finish line of the 10-kilometre race. The amateurathlete had been in a critical condition after the event Sunday,which saw 74,000 competitors pound the streets. Hospitalauthorities said yesterday the woman had died after shebecame unconscious and was taken into intensive care, butgave no further details. She had participated in the race withher husband, who accompanied her to hospital, local televi-sion reported. Sunday’s marathon took place under blue skiesbut pollution levels were deemed “unhealthy for sensitivegroups” with the Air Quality Index at 126. Of the runners whotook part, 11 were taken to hospital on Sunday, including thewoman who died. Two of them were also in a serious condi-tion, according to local media. Authorities yesterday said sixpeople were still in hospital and all were stable. Ethiopia’sBizuneh Melaku Belachew smashed his personal best to winthe main 42km race in a new course record of two hours, 10minutes and 31 seconds. —AFP

Woman dies after Hong Kong marathon collapse

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo trained apart from the team yesterday just twodays ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League last 16 home

leg against Napoli. The Portuguese goal machine with arecord 96 Champions League strikes to his name suffered aheavy tackle in a 3-1 win over Osasuna at the weekend. And

as the rest of the Real Madrid squad trained on ball skillsyesterday “Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrno trainedinside the facilities’ the Real website reported. Ronaldo suf-

fered a knock to his right leg, according to press reports,adding he was expected to shake off the injury in time to

play tomorrow. On a happier note for the 10 timesEuropean champions Welsh forward Gareth Bale

took full part in training yesterday, lookingfresh, sharp and upbeat after three monthsout with a heel injury. Bale will take no part intomorrow’s game but could well be back inthe starting line up for the February 22return leg in Naples.—AFP

Ronaldo injury scare for Napoli clash

Pick my opponent, Pacquiao asks fans

TENNIS

LAHAINA: CoCo Vandeweghe flexes her muscles while celebrating with USA Fed Cup teammates Alison Riske, right, and Shelby Rogers after her singles win clinched the team victory over Germany at the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranchin Lahaina, Hawaii on Sunday. — AP

LOS ANGELES: CoCo Vandeweghe defeatedAndrea Petkovic Sunday to deliver the killingblow in a nightmare Fed Cup tie for Germanythat had kicked off with a first-day nationalanthem gaffe. Petkovic and her teammates wereangered Saturday when an American soloistsang an old version of the German anthem thatbegins with a stanza considered overtly nation-alist-”Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles”-areference to German supremacy.

Singing that version is unwelcome inGermany because of its strong links to the Naziera, with only the third stanza of the old anthemnow used. “I have never felt so disrespected inmy life,” Petkovic said Saturday. “It was anabsolute effrontery and insolence of the veryworst kind. Things would get no better forGermany on the court in Maui, Hawaii. Petkovic,a 12-time Fed Cup singles winner, lost to AlisonRiske 7-6 (12/10), 6-2 in Saturday’s only complet-ed match. The US women took a 2-0 lead in thebest-of-five tie when Julia Georges, who was intears after the anthem error, retired Sunday witha knee injury in a rain-disrupted match withVandeweghe leading 6-3, 3-1. Georges was hurt

slipping on a rain-slicked baseline on the lastpoint played Saturday.

Petkovic was up again on Sunday with the tieon the line, taking on shock Australian Opensemi-finalist Vandeweghe. Petkovic brokeVandeweghe in three of her first four servicegames to take the first set 6-3, and was up 4-2 inthe second when the American took a medicaltimeout for heat illness.

From there it was all Vandeweghe-she wonthe next 10 games to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-0and put the United States into a semi-final tie inApril with defending champions the CzechRepublic, who beat Spain 3-2. Petkovic, irked byan extended break allotted to Vandeweghe atthe end of the second set, couldn’t regain herfocus. She finished with 11 double faults, includ-ing two in the final game of the match. She wasthen left to stand and watch as Vandeweghe cel-ebrated with her teammates before belatedlyshaking hands with her foe. Even a meaninglessdoubles rubber played after the tie was decidedwas a disaster for Germany, as Laura Siegemundand Carina Witthoeft retired while trailingBethanie Mattek-Sands and Shelby Rogers 4-1

because of Siegemund’s left arm injury.“Honestly, it’s been a really tough week for

us,” said Petkovic, who took to Twitter on Sundayto elaborate on her feelings about the anthemmix-up. “We were mainly (stunned) and did notknow how we react. We feared the whole thingcould fall back on us,” Petkovic said. “It is not theworst thing which happened to me in life. But itis the worst thing which happened to me in myFed Cup life ever.”

SPECIAL MOMENT RUINED Germany captain Barbara Rittner said she had

even pondered snatching the microphone fromthe singer.

“I could have cried, because it is always a spe-cial moment, which gives you goosebumps,when you hear the anthem being played,” Rittnersaid. The president of the US Tennis Association,Katrina Adams, immediately apologized to Rittnerin person and promised to investigate. “The USTAextends a sincere apology to the German Fed Cupteam & fans 4 the outdated National Anthem,” theUS Tennis Association tweeted. “This mistake willnot occur again.” —AFP

US beat Germany in Fed Cuptie marred by anthem gaffe By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: President of Kuwait TennisFederation Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announcedthat registration for the 8th KuwaitOpen Tennis Tournament 2017 sched-uled to start March 2 has begun.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber, chairman ofthe Higher Organizing Committee saidthat due to the popularity of KOTT eachyear because it is the largest tourna-ment organized by the federation dur-ing the entire sports season and attractsa large number of participants ofKuwaiti and expats players.

He said 450 male and female playersare expected to participate.

The tournament includes under 11years, under 13 years, under 17 years,pioneers above 45 years, pioneers over55, pioneers doubles above 45 years,men singles, men doubles, women sin-gles under 18, women singles and diplo-mats singles.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah saidHOC prepared several financial prizes forthe winners in addition to other prizes.

He asked all those who play thegame in Kuwait to participate in thetournament and register before 6 pm,Monday Feb 27, which is the deadline, atKTF premise at Yarmouk Sports Club inMishref.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-AbdallahAl-Jaber Al-Sabah

8th Kuwait OpenTennis Tournament

KUWAIT: Ooredoo, Kuwait’s fastest network, sponsored the HalaFebrayer 2017 equestrian tournament held on the 10th and 11th ofFebruary, in collaboration with the Kuwait Riding Centre. The sponsor-ship comes as part of Ooredoo Kuwait’s sponsorship for Hala Febrayeractivities for the second consecutive year.

The event was attended by Ooredoo Kuwait representatives, headedby CEO and General Manager Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah AlThani, Senior Director of Corporate Communications Mijbil Alayoub,and Senior Manager of Social Media, Sponsorships and CSR Yousef Al-Shallal. The winners of the tournament were handed their trophies byOoredoo Kuwait’s CEO: coming in first place was Ali Al-Khrafi, who wona KIA 2017; second place was Rakan Al-Hasawi; and third place YousefAl-Sabah.

The tournament was organized by Kuwait Riding Centre, where par-ticipants had the chance to compete in 3 different categories, based ontheir level of experience and skills. The two-day program included inter-mediate tournament, horse dancing shows, beginners’ tournaments,advanced tournaments, in addition to raffle draws for the audience.

Commenting on this sponsorship, Ooredoo Kuwait expressed itspride in cooperating with the organizing committee of Hala Febrayerfor the second consecutive year. Ooredoo’s sponsorship of the eventstems from its belief in the importance of effectively taking part innational events and activities that bring the people of Kuwait together,and spreading the festive spirit. The company said in statement that itsdeep-rooted belief in supporting youth comes in tandem with its corevalues of caring, connecting, and challenging, reiterating that youthhave a major part in Ooredoo’s corporate social responsibility agendathroughout the year.

The tournament is one of the key activities under Hala FebrayerFestival 2017 with Ooredoo, which included various activities that inter-est nationals and expats, locals and visitors of all age groups. Ooredoo’syear-round CSR agenda includes partnerships with a number of keypartners in both the private and public sector, to support youth andenrich their experiences.

Ooredoo sponsors Hala Febrayer equestrian tournament

S P O RT STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 , 2017

ADELAIDE: Lydia Ko says it was just acoincidence that saw her change hercoach, caddie and clubs all at the sametime last year. Ko will start the newseason at the Austral ian Open inAdelaide on Thursday surrounded by avery different team from the one sheended 2016.

She had since parted ways withcoach David Leadbetter, hiring SouthAfrican Gary Gilchrist and replaced her

long-time caddie Jason Hamilton withanother South African, Gary Matthews.The LPGA’s top-ranked player, Ko hasalso changed her clubs.

The changes followed the first minorslump in Ko’s career. The 19-year-oldNew Zealander won 14 LPGA titlesbetween 2012 and 2016 but hasn’t wona tournament since July last year, astretch of nine LPGA tournaments.

But Ko told reporters in Adelaide yes-

terday“it was a coincidence that it allhappened at the same time.” “I obviouslywasn’t planning to say ‘hey I want tochange everything up’,” Ko said. “I feltlike I needed some change.

“Even though I might be the No.1ranked player in the world, I still feel likethere’s a lot of aspects of my game that Ican improve on. And I think no matterwhat ranking you are, you have got tohave that mindset because there is

always a position for you to get better.”Ko said she was excited about the

upcoming season. “A lot of things havechanged but it’s a really exciting time,”she said. “I’m confident in the team that Ihave changed, equipment-wise too.

“I think it’s more the excitement fac-tor rather than worrying about ‘hey, isthis going to work out or not’.” Ko saidshe is still using the same ball but felther new clubs have given her a little

more distance off the tee.“With Gary my caddie, this will be

my third week working with him,” shesaid. “We’re still in the process of get-ting to know each other and I think therelationship will hopefully get better aswe go on. “But coach-wise I just wantedto simplify things. I got complimentsfrom other players with the new swingso I think we’re going down the rightdirection.” —AP

Lydia Ko happy with coach, caddie, club changes

ALPINE SKIING

GOLFST MOITZ: Gold medalist Luca Aerni of Switzerland arrives on the podium during the flower ceremony after the men’s combined competition atthe 2017 Alpine Skiing World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland, yesterday. —AP

ST MORITZ: Unheralded Swiss racer Luca Aerniproduced a remarkable slalom run to edgedefending champion Marcel Hirscher for animprobable gold in the men’s alpine combinedat the World Ski Championships yesterday.

Aerni, 23, had scraped into the slalom afterfinishing 30th in the opening downhill-six-hun-dredths of a second slower, equating to 1.68metres, and he would have missed the cut alto-gether. But his barnstorming slalom down a rap-idly deteriorating course under a fierce sun sawhim clock a combined time of 2min 26.33sec,making up a deficit of 2.61sec on the downhill.

Aerni finished just 0.01sec ahead of AustrianHirscher, who was 28th after the downhill. Themedal hunt of the host nation, dealt an initialblow when women’s standard bearer Lara Gutwas ruled out with injury, continued as MauroCaviezel took bronze, a further five-hundredthsadrift. “I was really nervous in the last 45 minuteswaiting for everyone to finish,” said Aerni, whowas only named to the combined team lateSunday, beating out Niels Hintermann, winner oflast month’s Wengen combined. “I could onlywatch and hope as the others came down. Iknew my slalom run was good, but with thecombined you never know what will happen. Itwas definitely a long wait until I realised I hadthe gold medal! “If I’d started 31st, I would havehad no chance.” Aerni was the least favoured of aSwiss quartet that also included Carlo Janka andJustin Murisier, the latter seemingly best placedafter the downhill at just 1.18sec.

But Aerni, who has not even made a podiumin four seasons on the World Cup circuit, bene-fited from being first out of the gate for a sim-ply set slalom course with the snow meltingunder bright sun on the Suvretta slope.Murisier eventually finished sixth, one placeahead of Janka as the Swiss quartet packed intothe top seven in another impressive day of ski-ing for the host nation.

HIRSCHER SILVER, ‘PINTU’ 10TH Hirscher, seeking a sixth consecutive World

Cup overall title, finished the opening downhill2.30sec behind teammate Romed Baumann’swinning time of 1min 39.25sec, but importantly0.84sec off France’s Alexis Pinturault, the manseen as most likely to snatch his world crown.

“After two days lying in bed I’m impressedthat I made the podium in the combined. The sil-ver medal is not too bad,” said Hirscher, who hadbeen suffering ‘flu-like symptoms.

“The downhill was a very big challenge forslalom skiers, but it’s fun to do the jumps and tolearn a bit about yourself.

“I knew conditions would play to our hand asthe snow was already very soft for us. The slopeis south-facing and there’s pure sunshine onthese conditions and it’s not easy.”

Hirscher, whose victory in 2015 mirrored thatof Aerni’s in that he too finished 30th in thedownhill, added: “It was just the same as inVail/Beaver Creek. It was a good decision to startfirst!” “Pintu”, the winner of four World Cup com-bined crystal globes, had 1.46sec to make up onBaumann, but botched his slalom, petulantlydubbing conditions “a joke”, and eventually end-ed up 10th, 0.86sec off the pace to leave Francestill without a medal in St Moritz.

Aerni’s gold, however, was Switzerland’s thirdof the world champs after Wendy Holdener(women’s combined) and Beat Feuz (men’sdownhill). He becomes the sixth Swiss winner ofthe combined after Daniel Albrecht (2007),Pirmin Zurbriggen (1985), Rudolf Rominger

(1936), David Zogg (1934) and Otto Furrer(1932). Flu-hit super-G silver medallist KjetilJansrud, flying the flag for Norway in theabsence through injury of Aksel Lund Svindal-atwo-time world combined winner in 2009 and

2011 — finished sixth in the downhill but failedto start the slalom. Jansrud’s teammateAleksander Aamodt Kilde finished joint fourthwith Italian Dominik Paris, 0.34sec off a podiumplace. — AFP

Aerni edges Hirscher for combined gold

PEBBLE BEACH: Jordan Spieth soaked upevery step of scenery on the 18th hole atPebble Beach, one of the prettiest places ingolf and even more spectacular on aSunday when the only work left is to hoistthe crystal trophy.

All that was missing from the AT&TPebble Beach Pro-Am were the highlights.That’s just how Spieth wanted it. Staked toa six-shot lead, Spieth never gave anyonemuch of a chance by putting for birdie

on all but one hole. The lone highlightwas his 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th holewith the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop, andby then it was already over.

“Played a lot of boring golf today,”Spieth said, “which was exactly what weneeded.” He closed with a 2-under 70 for afour-shot victory over former US Amateurchampion Kelly Kraft, a close friend fromDallas who couldn’t get a putt to fall thatmight have put a little pressure on Spieth.

As easy and clinical as Spieth made itlook, it was no less special. “This is a bucket-list place to win - here, Augusta National,St. Andrews, there’s only a few in the world.It feels really special. It was amazing walk-ing up the 18th green knowing that wewere going to win. It’s just such a uniqueposition. I tried to soak in.”

It was his first 54-hole lead on the PGATour since the Masters, where he lost a five-shot lead on the back nine. On this day,Spieth thought back to the 2000 US Openat Pebble Beach and the way Tiger Woodsclosed out his record 15-shot victory by try-ing not to drop a shot in the final round.Woods didn’t make a bogey over the final26 holes in severe conditions. On a coursesaturated by rain, Spieth played the final 28holes without a bogey. His longest par puttSunday was 5 feet.

“That’s a dream round when you’re lead-ing by a bunch,” Spieth said. The 23-year-old Texan won for the ninth time in his PGATour and became the first player sinceWoods with that many victories beforeturning 24. Woods won 15 times. Equallyimpressive is that Spieth won for the fifthtime by at least three shots.

“He didn’t have his best stuff, but he didexactly what he was supposed to do andplayed a great round of golf,” said BrandtSnedeker, a two-time Pebble winner whoplayed in the final group with Spieth andshot 70 to finish fourth. “Sometimes those

are the hardest rounds of golf, when youhave the lead that he had. It was fun towatch him do his thing out there.”

Kraft, who closed with a 67, settled for acouple of consolation prizes. The $777,600for second place was nearly double hisearnings from his rookie season last year.He also earned a spot at Riviera next weekin the Genesis Open.

US Open champion Dustin Johnsonclosed with a 68 to finish alone in third,enough to have a chance to reach No. 1next week if he were to win. Spieth’s onlyother birdie was on the par-5 second whenhe two-putted from 12 feet. One day afterhe took only 23 putts on the bumpy greensof Pebble Beach, he didn’t make hard any-thing, and didn’t look to be trying to makethem from above the hole to avoid puttinghimself in a position to drop shots.

No one could put any pressure on himover the opening seven holes, which iswhere rallies begin at Pebble Beach. If therewas a key shot for Spieth, it came on theeighth hole. He tugged his tee shot into thewet rough to the left, facing a 210-yardshot over the ocean and into the breeze toone of the toughest greens at Pebble. Itcame out perfectly, 20 feet from the cup foranother routine par.

“I was very, very excited once that balllanded on the green,” Spieth said. “That wasreally avoiding a big number there. Thatcould have been a double or triple very,very easily, if that doesn’t come out theright way. So that was the shot of the dayfor me.” Spieth became the seventh straightPGA Tour winner in his 20s, and he got backinto the hunt for No. 1. He had fallen farenough behind that even by beating astrong field at Pebble Beach, it will notmove him from No. 6. Jason Day, the worldNo. 1, bounced back from his 75 onSaturday with a 67 to tie for fifth with GaryWoodland (65) and Torrey Pines winner JonRahm (68).

Spieth has four top 10s in his four startsthis year and already appears to be peakingas the Masters gets closer. He has shotunder par in all 16 rounds he has playedthis year, 17 in a row dating to the TourChampionship last fall. The only disap-pointment for Spieth was not winning thepro-am with country singer Jake Owen.They tied for third, four shots behind KenDuke and Carson Daly. —AP

Jordan Spieth breezes to big win at Pebble Beach

SAINT-DENIS: France needed two late penal-ties from flyhalf Camille Lopez to beatScotland 22-16 in a hard-fought Six Nationsmatch on Sunday, after the Scots had clawedback to draw level heading into the last 10minutes. Scotland won its opening game lastweekend against Ireland but still has not wonin France since 1999.

Lopez held his nerve to give France amuch-needed win after last weekend’s closedefeat against England, where the Frenchwere beaten by a late try in a 19-16 loss.

“We’re frustrated in terms of how weplayed but not with the result,” France coachGuy Noves said. “Last time we lost because ofa lack of character but this time the last quar-ter of an hour went in our favor.”

Scotland’s tries came from star fullbackStuart Hogg in the first half - his third of thetournament - and lock Tim Swinson’s effortafter the break. Neither was converted, withflyhalf Finn Russell failing to kick the extrasfrom in front of the posts after Swinson’s try.

Center Gael Fickou finished off a goodFrench move in the first half and his convert-ed try opened up a 13-5 lead.

But sloppy mistakes that allowed theScots back into the game. However, followingLopez’s two penalties, a converted try in thelast four minutes proved too much a task forScotland. Vern Cotter ’s side picked up adefensive bonus point, moving it level on fivepoints with France. France is in fourth place,

Scotland is fifth, and Italy is last. Englandleads after its two opening victories.

PRESSURE“It was a bit of a stop-start affair at times,

we couldn’t get rhythm into our attack,”Cotter said. “Credit to the French, they cameat us and created pressure. The rucks werefiercely contested.”

Lopez slotted a penalty from nearly 40meters out for an early French lead.

Scotland hit back through Hogg, whoscored two tries in a 27-22 win over the Irishat Murrayfield last weekend, and expertlytook his opportunity after a gritty opening 15minutes. Following a long spell of pressure,Hogg collected a short pass from center HuwJones and then stood up scrumhalf BaptisteSerin for a try in the right corner. ScrumhalfGreig Laidlaw’s conversion attempt from thetouchline hit the bar. Soon after, Lopez’spenalty made it 6-5. Then, Scotland’s chanceswere dealt a blow when Laidlaw went offwith a knock to his ankle after 25 minutesand was replaced by Ali Price. “(It’s difficult)when you lose your captain and playmaker,”Cotter said. “We’ll see how bad it is.”

After Laidlaw hobbled off, France movedfurther ahead. The French drove forwardrelentlessly, stretching the Scottish line, andafter several phases the ball was moved wideto Fickou, who darted into the right cornerfor a converted try.—AP

France edges Scotland in hard-fought 6 Nations match

CALIFORNIA: Jordan Spieth poses with his trophy on the 18th green of the PebbleBeach Golf Links after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tourna-ment Sunday, in Pebble Beach, Calif. —AP

RUGBY

By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The shooting tournament of thePublic Authority for Sports, organized byKuwait Shooting Sport Club will startThursday and will continue for three daysin the skeet, trap and double trap events.Shooters from the club, National Guard andSaad Al-Abdallah Olympic ShootingAcademy will participate.

Secretary General of Kuwait and ArabShooting Federations lauded the interest ofPAS, let by Director General Sheikh AhmadMansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in the shoot-ing sport, and affording all the support theclub needs to guarantee success, andencourage shooters to continue theirachievements locally, regionally and inter-nationally.

Al-Osaimi said the KSSC board of direc-tors works hard to create the necessaryenvironment for good competition in orderto reach the outstanding technical levels.

The closing ceremony will be heldSunday 19/2 at Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadOlympic Shooting Complex at 7 pm.

Kuwait shooting tourneybegins on Thursday

Obeid Al-Osaimi

SAINT-DENIS: Scotland’s Tim Swinson scores a try as France’s Camille Lopez looks on dur-ing the Six Nations international rugby match between France and Scotland at the Stadede France stadium in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Sunday. — AP

S P O RT STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

WELLINGTON: South Africa havearrived in New Zealand full of confi-dence after replacing Australia at thetop of the one-day cricket rankings butthe Proteas will have mixed feelingsabout their return to Eden Park thisweek. The three-test tour kicks off witha Twenty20 international on Friday atthe Auckland venue where South Africalost the 2015 World Cup semi-final tothe hosts when Grant Elliott smashed asix off paceman Dale Steyn on the sec-ond-last ball. South Africa had been

fancied to shed their reputation asWorld Cup ‘chokers’ and reach a maidenfinal in the global showpiece and thedefeat left several players in tears. Itwas later described by as shatteredcaptain AB De Villiers’ “greatest disap-pointment”.

Test and T20 captain Faf du Plessis,who top-scored for his team in thesemi-final with 82, said yesterday he stillcarried scars from the match.

“It was a great game, but it ’ll bemixed feelings getting back there,” Du

Plessis told local media in Auckland.“Honestly, something like that youalways carry it with you. As a team,we’ve definitely put it behind us, butthe emotions of the day will always bewith us. “ That ’s not a bad thing.Although we were on the wrong side ofwinning the game, it was a great gameof cricket and something that willalways be with us.”

After the one-off T20 match, theteams play five ODI’s before the open-ing match of the test series in Dunedin

next month. The Proteas will look tostretch their golden summer intoautumn, having swept both Australiaand Sri Lanka 5-0 in one-day series athome. South Africa also beat SteveSmith’s Australia 2-1 away in their testseries and returned home to sweep theSri Lankans 3-0 but face a New Zealandteam unbeaten at home this summeracross all formats.

Du Plessis said the tour would begood preparation for the ICCChampions Trophy in England and

Wales in June, a tournament the Proteashave underperformed in since winningthe inaugural edition in 1998.

“We are putting a huge amount ofemphasis on one-day cricket,” addedthe 32-year- old. “ We haven’t per-formed the way we’d like in ICC tour-naments. “ The bui ldup we have islooking good. “New Zealand have agreat energy in their team and theyare very competitive, especially in thefielding department, so you alwaysfeel their presence.” —Reuters

South Africa face up to their Eden Park demons

HYDERABAD: India issued a battle cry toAustralia yesterday after wrapping up a compre-hensive 208-run victory over Bangladesh with adevastating display of spin bowling byRavichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Chasing 459 for victory on the final day oftheir first Test on Indian soil, Bangladesh werebowled out for 250 in an extended afternoonsession after stubborn resistance from their low-er order. Ashwin and Jadeja shared eight secondinnings wickets to help India extend their recordunbeaten run to 19 Tests, leaving them in primeform for a series against arch rivals Australia laterthis month.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli, man of the matchfor his 204 in the first innings, paid tribute toBangladesh for their fighting performance butmade clear that thoughts had already turned toAustralia. “Everyone’s minds and hearts are onthat series and we are keen to start the first Test,”said Kohli after seeing off Bangladesh inHyderabad. “Everyone is raring to go ... It’s a verybig series for us.” Australia, currently number twoin the Test rankings, land in Mumbai on Mondayfor a four-Test series against Kohli’s top-rankedteam. Despite the comprehensive nature of theresult, Bangladesh emerged with some credit fortaking the one-off contest into the afternoon ofthe final day and Kohli said India would need tobe more ruthless in future. “Closing off games isvery important. Especially in Test cricket youdon’t want to give oppositions any chance to getinto the game and that’s something we need tokeep repeating,” Kohli told reporters. Kohli, sec-ond only to Australian skipper Steve Smith in thebatting rankings, will go into the series in red-hot form after hitting his fourth double centurysince July.

The Indian skipper said he had been makingsure that he does “not get ahead of myself” andsaid the team’s recent run was about more thanjust his batting. “I don’t think it’s because of me... We are playing as a team and that’s been thedifference in this side,” he said.

DAUNTING TOTAL Yesterday’s result had appeared in little doubt

after Bangladesh had been set such a massivetotal in their second innings and the touristsbegan the final day on 103-3.

Mahmudullah (64) shrugged off poor form toregister his 13th Test 50 while young spinnerMehedi Hasan made a gutsy 61-ball 23 to delaythe inevitable against the world’s number Testside. But the match ended when Ashwin, who inhis 45th Test had become the fastest bowler toclaim 250 Test wickets on Sunday, trapped TaskinAhmed lbw to finish with figures of four for 73.

There was some drama after the umpire origi-nally turned down his appeal but had to changehis mind after the decision was reviewed by theIndian team. Ashwin also dismissed first inningscenturion Mushfiqur Rahim (23) in the morningsession to scupper Bangladesh’s only real hopeof saving the match, while Jadeja accounted forstar batsman Shakib Al Hasan (22).Mahmudullah then put on fighting partnershipswith their captain Rahim and Sabbir Rahman toresist the Indian attack on what still seemed tobe a decent batting track.

India had bowled out Bangladesh for 388 intheir second innings and decided to build ontheir 299-run lead after not enforcing the follow-on. Ninth-ranked Bangladesh were always leftplaying catch-up after the hosts posted a mam-moth 687-6 declared in their first innings. Rahim

said he was “really proud” of his side and hopedthat “we can learn from this”.

“Our bowlers need to learn how to bowl inpartnerships and that can create chances. But itgives us a lot of belief after playing the numberone Test side,” he said.

The result meant India maintained theirunbeaten record against the minnows and nowhave seven wins and two draws in nine encoun-ters. The Australia series begins on February 23,with the first Test in Pune followed by matches inBangalore, Ranchi and Dharamsala. — AFP

India thrash Bangladesh in warning to Aussies

CRICKET

HYDERABAD: Members of Indian team pose with the winning trophy after their win over Bangladesh in their one-off cricket test match inHyderabad, India, yesterday. India won the match by 208 runs. —AP

Joe Root named new England Test captain

LONDON: Joe Root has been named as thenew Test captain of England, the Englandand Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announcedyesterday. Yorkshire batsman Root, previ-ously England’s vice-captain, had been theoverwhelming favourite to take over fromAlastair Cook, who resigned as Test skipperlast week after a national record 59 match-es in charge. Root, who made his Englanddebut under Cook, is now widely regardedas England’s leading batsman.

“It is a huge honour to be given theEngland Test captaincy,” the 26-year-oldRoot said in an ECB statement. “I feel privi-leged, humbled and very excited.”

The ECB added all-rounder Ben Stokeswould succeed Root as vice-captain of theTest side.

Cook, England’s all-time leading Testrun-scorer, is set to continue his Englandcareer, with Root also able to call upon theexperience of senior fast bowlers JamesAnderson and Stuart Broad, as well ascoach Trevor Bayliss. “We have a very goodgroup of players, and I’m looking forwardto leading them out in the summer-build-ing on Alastair’s achievements and makingthe most of our talents in the years ahead,”said Root. “The senior guys in the changingroom play a very influential role-and whilethere’s a natural progression for me, it’s ahuge support to know that they are thereto help and advise.”

ECB director of England cricket AndrewStrauss, himself a former England captain,added: “Joe is the right man to be our nextTest captain and I’m thrilled that he hasaccepted the role.”

Root will have several months to pre-pare for his first match as captain givenEngland’s next Test does not start until July6, when they face South Africa at Lord’s.

England will be looking to bounce backafter a difficult 2016 in Test cricket, withCook resigning following a 4-0 series defeatin India at the end of last year.

Prior to the South Africa series,

England’s programme will consist solely oflimited overs fixtures, including June’sChampions Trophy one-day tournament onhome soil.

Last week, Strauss made it clear hewanted Eoin Morgan to remain asEngland’s one-day international andTwenty20 captain.

‘ADMIRABLE QUALITIES’ Root has an impressive Test average of

nearly 53 in 53 matches. He scored the firstof his 11 Test hundreds at Headingley, hisYorkshire home ground, in May 2013 andcurrently has a total of 4,594 Test runs, plac-ing him third in the International CricketCouncil rankings for Test batsmen. He hasalso become a mainstay of the Englandside in all three international formats andconcerns had been expressed about hisworkload even before his appointment asTest captain.

But Strauss was in no doubt Root, whomhe said had accepted “immediately” afterhe was asked to be England captain lastweek, was the right man for the job.

“Joe has shown a number of admirablequalities in his Test career so far,” saidStrauss.

“Making his debut in 2012 at the age of21 and going on to establish himself as oneof the premier batsmen in all forms of thegame in such a short period of timedemonstrates his drive, determination,cricketing intelligence and an ability tolearn that will serve him well in his newrole. “He is universally respected by histeam mates, passionate about driving theTest team forward and extremely excitedabout the prospect of leading his country.”

Root became a father for the first timelast month but flew out days after the birthof his son Alfred to join England on theirODI tour of India.

He is due to travel again next weekwhen England head to the West Indies for athree-match ODI series. —AFP

India, 1st Innings 687-6 dec.Bangladesh, 1st Innings 388India, 2nd Innings: 159-4 dec.Bangladesh, 2nd Innings:(Overnight 103-3)

Tamim Iqbal c Kohli b Ashwin 3Soumya Sarkar c Rahane b Jadeja 42Mominul Haque c Rahane b Ashwin 27Mahmudullah c Kumar b Sharma 64Shakib Al Hasan c Pujara b Jadeja 22Mushfiqur Rahim c Jadeja b Ashwin 23Sabbir Rahman lbw b Sharma 22

Mehedi Hasan Miraz c Saha b Jadeja 23Kamrul Islam Rabbi not out 3Taijul Islam c Rahul b Jadeja 6Taskin Ahmed lbw b Ashwin 1Extras: (4b, 7lb, 3nb) 14Total: (all out) 250Overs: 100.3.Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-71, 3-75, 4-106, 5-162, 6-213, 7-225, 8-242, 9-249, 10-250.Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 8-4-15-0, RavichandranAshwin 30.3-10-73-4, Ishant Sharma 13-3-40-2 (3nb),Umesh Yadav 12-2-33-0, Ravindra Jadeja 37-15-78-4.

SCOREBOARD HYDERABAD, India: Scoreboard yesterday at the end of the one-off test between India and Bangladesh at RajivGandhi International Stadium:

CHENNAI: This is a Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016 file photo of England’s Joe Root duringthe second day of the fifth cricket Test match against India in Chennai, India, Dec. 17,2016. Joe Root was been appointed England test cricket captain yesterday. —AP

Coach Langer backs Shaun Marsh to bat at six in IndiaMELBOURNE: Shaun Marsh has valuableexperience in the subcontinent and shouldslot into the vacant number six spot inAustralia’s batting order for the upcomingtour of India, his state coach Justin Langerhas said. Marsh has not played since break-ing a finger as an opening batsman in thefirst test against South Africa in Novemberbut the 33-year-old was named in the 16-man squad for the four-test series againstIndia, which starts in Pune on Feb. 23.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh, Shaun’syounger brother, played at number six inthe same match against the Proteas butwas dropped for the second test in favourof a specialist batsman and then over-looked for the rest of the home summer.The spot has become something of aheadache for selectors, who churnedthrough Callum Ferguson, Nic Maddinsonand all-rounder Hilton Cartwright duringseries against South Africa and Pakistan,with none of the three able to cement theirplace. With rookie Matt Renshaw likely tobe retained as opening batsman afterimpressing in his four tests over the sum-mer, Shaun Marsh is in a battle with hisbrother and hard-hitting all-rounder GlennMaxwell for the middle order position. “Itdepends on which balance they go for,how Australia wants to line up,” WesternAustralia coach Langer told Australian

Associated Press. “If they go the traditionalXI you’d pick Shaun because of his record innot only the subcontinent but for Australia.“He deserves to play, Shaun deserves toplay in the test match. Even before hisinjury, he deserved to play.” Shaun Marsh,who has an average of 40.15 from 19 testsin a career blighted by injury, has nevertoured India with the test side but hasscored two centuries in Sri Lanka, includinghis 130 in the third test in Colombo inAugust. Langer, seen as heir apparent tohead coach Darren Lehmann, will coachAustralia’s Twenty20 team in a three-matchseries against Sri Lanka starting inMelbourne on Friday. The T20 squad iswithout several first-choice players includ-ing captain Steve Smith, batsman DavidWarner and paceman Mitchell Starc, whoare all in camp preparing for India. That hasallowed a fairytale selection for 36-year-oldWestern Australia batsman Michael Klinger,who has grafted at state level for nearlytwo decades and is in line for his first inter-national cap after an outstanding tourna-ment for the Perth Scorchers in the domes-tic T20 ‘Big Bash’. “I’d be amazed if he is notin the first XI,” Langer said of Klinger.

“If you look at his numbers, the systemwe use in Western Australia, he and AaronFinch are easily the two leading players inAustralian T20 in that squad.” — Reuters

HONG KONG: A burgeoning Twenty20 tour-nament and growing interest from abroad isturning Hong Kong into one of Asia’s fastest-rising cricketing destinations-and could helpthe sport make inroads into mainland China.

Hong Kong’s T20 Blitz is approaching onlyits second edition but already it is attracting anumber of well-known players, includingPakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq and hard-hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

The densely populated city has also beenproposed as a possible venue for Australia’ssuccessful Big Bash League, which boastsbumper crowds and TV ratings.

It is a surprising scenario for Hong Kong,given that it has few cricket grounds, only 795registered senior male players and scant inter-est in the sport among its ethnic Chinesemajority population.

But the former British colony could nowmake itself a centre in East Asia for Twenty20cricket, which has already spawned the popu-lar Big Bash, Indian Premier League and similarcompetitions elsewhere.

Tim Cutler, Cricket Hong Kong’s 34-year-oldCEO, takes inspiration from rugby’s HongKong Sevens, whose success helped the sportreturn to the Olympics last year.

“Look at the Hong Kong Sevens,” Cutler toldAFP. “Hong Kong is not known for its sportingprowess but it can run international events. It’san easy place to get things done. Outside,people are thinking, ‘How can we be part ofthat?’” Former Australia captain Michael Clarkecame out of retirement to be the sole starplayer at last year’s inaugural T20 Blitz, but heseems to have blazed a trail for Misbah, Afridiand others.

The next edition from March 8-12 will alsofeature the West Indies’ two-time WorldTwenty20-winning captain Darren Sammy, SriLanka legends Kumar Sangakkara andTillakeratne Dilshan, India’s Yusuf Pathan,

England’s Tymal Mills and New Zealand bats-man Jesse Ryder.

“To have that talent playing alongside localplayers, you can’t buy that kind of experience,”said Cutler. “We’re the only associate (second-tier ICC member) to launch a franchise-basedT20. There are lots of envious cricket federa-tions around the world.”

SWINGING INTO CHINA Despite their lack of resources, Hong Kong

have cricketing pedigree, after rising as highas 10th in the T20 rankings and beatingBangladesh in Chittagong at the 2014 WorldTwenty20. Last year, Hong Kong also agreedwith China, South Korea and Japan to hold abiennial East Asia Cup, with the first editionplayed in November.

“It’s about carving a niche for us in EastAsia,” Cutler said. The big prize for Hong Kong,and the International Cricket Council, lies inmainland China, whose only cricket groundsits not far across the border in the sprawlingcity of Guangzhou. The ICC describes theAsian giant as a “strategic priority” and says itis working with the China Cricket Associationon ways to “achieve sustainable growth in oneof the most complex and competitive sportsmarkets in the world”.

China has 52 teams, according to the AsianCricket Council, and the ICC puts current par-ticipation figures at 80,285, including 36,000women and girls.

Asian Cricket Council chief executive SyedAshraful Haque has said global revenues forthe sport could increase by 30-40 percent ifChina became an established cricketingnation. Cutler said: “If China were to take upcricket, if it picked up by just one percent,you’re talking about a potentially huge mar-ket. “The T20 gives us the potential of growingour audience in China and beyond, expandinginto China and acting as a go-between.”—AFP

T20 blitz puts Hong Kong on the map

S P O RT STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

1- Golden State Warriors (46 - 8) Lastweek: 1 - It was a great week for theWarriors. Kevin Durant had a successfulreturn to Oklahoma City on Saturday, andDraymond Green became the only playerin NBA history to record a triple-doublewith fewer than 10 points scored, finish-ing with four points, 12 rebounds, 10assists, 10 steals and five blocks inFriday’s win over the Grizzlies.

2- Cleveland Cavaliers (37 - 16) Lastweek: 2 - This past week saw LeBronJames pass Lenny Wilkens for 13th on theall-time assists list, and former No. 2 draftpick Derrick Williams making an impres-sive debut with the Cavs, going with 12points in 22 minutes in Thursday’s loss tothe Thunder.

3- Houston Rockets (40 - 17) Last week:6 - Patrick Beverley, a natural point guard,has transitioned into the shooting guardposition when paired with James Hardenin the starting lineup, but slides back topoint guard when playing with the sec-ond unit. He’s averaged 13.6 points andshot 48.1 percent from the field in his lastfive games.

4- San Antonio Spurs (41 - 13) Lastweek: 2 - Back-to-back NBA DefensivePlayer of the Year Kawhi Leonard is show-ing what he can do on offense this yearas well. He entered yesterday averaging25.8 points per game, which is ninthhighest in the NBA this season.

5- Boston Celtics (35 - 19) Last week: 4 -All-Star Isaiah Thomas is finally gettingthe help he needs: playing against theJazz on Saturday with virtually threestarters sidelined, the bench scored 50points - the second highest productionfrom the reserves by any team this sea-son (via ESPN).

6- Washington Wizards (32 - 21) Lastweek: 5 - The Wizards have won nine oftheir last ten games, with their only losscoming in a close 140-135 overtimedefeat against the Cavs. During thatstretch of games, Washington rankedfourth in the league in offensive rating,third in defensive rating and second innet rating.

7- Memphis Grizzlies (33 - 23) Lastweek: 8 - Forty-year-old Vince Carter hadfour blocks (including an emphatic swatof a lay-in attempt by LaMarcus Aldridge)and played key defense that helpedMemphis beat the Spurs last Monday.

8- Utah Jazz (34 - 21) Last week: 7 -George Hill missed Thursday’s gameagainst the Mavs, which resulted in a lossfor Utah that snapped a four-game win-ning streak. The Jazz are 22-8 when Hillplays and 12-13 when he does not thisseason.

9- Miami Heat (24 - 31) Last week: 10 -Before their loss that snapped their 13-game winning streak on Saturday, theHeat became one of two NBA teams inhistory to have a double-digit win streakswithout having an All-Star. Meanwhile,Hassan Whiteside scored 90 points,grabbed 67 rebounds and made 40-56shots from the field over his last fourgames prior to Saturday.

10- Los Angeles Clippers (33 - 21) Lastweek: 13 - Blake Griffin is returning toform, and the Clippers have respondedwith wins in their last two games againstthe Knicks and Hornets following a three-game losing streak.

11- Atlanta Hawks (31 - 23) Last week:11 - The Hawks led by as much as 22points at one stage during their matchagainst the Kings on Friday, but eventual-ly allowed Sacramento to come frombehind and steal the victory. They do nothave problems starting games strong,but often struggle to hold off teams asthe match progresses.

12- Oklahoma City Thunder (31 - 24)Last week: 12 - Russell Westbrook had agame-high 47 points and grabbed 11rebounds in Saturday ’s showdownagainst the Warriors, but also conceded11 turnovers that resulted in 15 points forGolden State; who eventually won thegame by 16 points.

13- Indiana Pacers (29 - 25) Last week: 9- The Pacers conceded three straightgames after a seven-game winning streak.Before that they had lost three straightgames as well, which virtually renders thatsuccessful stretch of games useless.

14- Toronto Raptors (32 - 23) Lastweek: 14 - Sunday’s loss to the Pistons -which was the Raptors’ 10th in their last14 games - showed a trend that Torontohas demonstrated all season long: baddefense combined with lack of offensiveplays that capitalize on the team’s versa-tile options on that end of the floor.

15- Detroit Pistons (26 - 29) Last week:19 - Since his rookie season in 2012-13,Andre Drummond has 216 double-dou-bles, most in the NBA over that span.Meanwhile, the Pistons - who won threeof their five games - entered Monday inthe eighth place in the EasternConference standings, and hope to con-

tinue winning and keep their playoffhopes alive.

16- Dallas Mavericks (22 - 32) Lastweek: 17 - The Mavs have won seven oftheir last ten matches, and are only twogames behind Denver for the eighth spotin the Western Conference standings asof Monday. Coach Rick Carlisle has theanswer for how his team managed toturn their season around: “we play betterwhen Dirk is healthy and feeling good.”

17- Denver Nuggets (24 - 30) Lastweek: 16 - Trading away Jusuf Nurkicserved as the final chapter in the big-manlogjam story that betted him againstNikola Jokic for the starting center’s jobin Denver. Cannot blame the Nuggetswhen Jokic has just exploded for acareer-high 40 points that helped thembeat the Knicks on Friday.

18- Portland Trail Blazers (23 - 31) Lastweek: 15 - Speaking of which, Portlandhas definitely ‘cashed-in’ with the afore-mentioned trade, landing Nurkic who isstill young (22 years) and has shown lastyear and early this season how solid hecan be. Meanwhile, the trade also landedPortland another first-round pick, whichmeans that they now possess three suchpicks in this summer’s talent-rich draft.

19- Sacramento Kings (23 - 32) Lastweek: 22 - The Kings beat the Celtics onWednesday and snapped their seven-game winning streak, all while playingwithout suspended star DeMarcusCousins. The win seems to have inspiredthem as they have since won their follow-ing two games against the Hawks andPelicans.

20- Milwaukee Bucks (23 - 30) Lastweek: 20 - Jabari Parker was having acareer year before tearing his ACL; aninjury that will sideline him for 12months. He averaged 20.1 points, 6.2rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.4 blocks pergame this season.

21- Chicago Bulls (26 - 29) Last week:18 - With both Dwayne Wade and JimmyButler injured, the Bulls lost to theTimberwolves by 28 points on Sunday,and finished their road trip with a 2-4record. It goes without saying that theyneed their All-Star players back as soonas possible.

22- Minnesota Timberwolves (21 - 34)Last week: 23 - Sunday’s win overChicago completed a season sweep forcoach Tom Thibodeau against his formerteam. And although he insisted that itwas ‘just another game,’ everyone else,including Chicago’s Taj Gibson think oth-erwise.

23- Philadelphia 76ers (20 - 34) Lastweek: 25 - I t is not likely that JoelEmbiid’s minor injury could prevent theSixers from trading Jahlil Okafor if pre-sented with a good offer before the Feb23 deadline. Meanwhile, the team nowhas five go-ahead field goals in the final10 seconds of regulation or overtime, themost in the NBA (via ESPN Stats and Info).

24- New York Knicks (23 - 33) Last week:24 - The Knicks needed that morale-boosting win over the Spurs on Sunday,which ended a four-game losing streakand came following the drama that sawformer Knick Charles Oakley beingbanned from the Madison Square Gardenafter confronting team owner JamesDolan.

25- Charlotte Hornets (24 - 30) Lastweek: 21 - The Hornets have lost nine oftheir last ten games entered yesterday,and their only win came last Tuesdayagainst the lowly Nets. After hostingPhiladelphia last night, they embark on aseason-high seven game road trip.

26- Los Angeles Lakers (19 - 37) Lastweek: 29 - The Lakers scored an NBA sea-son-high 47 points in the first quarter intheir win over the Bucks on Friday. Incomparison, the Pistons scored 41 pointsin the first half against the Spurs thesame night.

27- New Orleans Pelicans (21 - 34) Lastweek: 26 - The Pelicans want to trade forPhiladelphia’s Jahlil Okafor, but seemreluctant to part ways with Jrue Holiday ora first-round pick, especially that they hadtraded away a first-round pick to acquireHoliday from Philadelphia back in 2013.

28- Phoenix Suns (17 - 38) Last week: 28- Devin Booker became the youngest play-er with 20+ points in 16 straight gamesbefore the age of 21, passing LeBronJames’ previous record of 15 games.

29- Orlando Magic (20 - 36) Last week:27 - We are close to the All-Star break andthe Magic has a worse record than the76ers, something that would have beencrazy to think about at the beginning ofthe season.

30- Brooklyn Nets (9 - 45) Last week:30 - The Brooklyn Nets have lost 13straight home games, a streak that beganon January 2. This is the longest homelosing streak to begin a calendar year inNBA history (via the Elias Sports Bureau).

KUWAIT TIMES NBA POWER RANKINGSBy Ahmad Jabr

KUWAIT: In addition to its usual coverage of the NBA, Kuwait Times introduces a new feature this year:the NBA Power Rankings. It is a weekly list ranking each team based on its performance during the week.Golden State Warriors remain on top this week also and for the fifth straight week. (For any comments orsuggestions, e-mail the writer at: a.jabr@kuwaittimes.net)

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L PCT GB Boston 35 19 .648 - Toronto 32 23 .582 3.5 NY Knicks 23 33 .411 13 Philadelphia 20 34 .370 15 Brooklyn 9 45 .167 26

Central DivisionCleveland 37 16 .698 - Indiana 29 25 .537 8.5 Chicago 26 29 .473 12 Detroit 26 29 .473 12 Milwaukee 23 30 .434 14

Southeast DivisionWashington 32 21 .604 - Atlanta 31 23 .574 1.5 Charlotte 24 30 .444 8.5 Miami 24 31 .436 9 Orlando 20 36 .357 13.5

Western ConferenceNorthwest Division

Utah 34 21 .618 - Oklahoma City 31 24 .564 3 Denver 24 30 .444 9.5 Portland 23 31 .426 10.5 Minnesota 21 34 .382 13

Pacific DivisionGolden State 46 8 .852 - LA Clippers 33 21 .611 13 Sacramento 23 32 .418 23.5 LA Lakers 19 37 .339 28 Phoenix 17 38 .309 29.5

Southwest DivisionSan Antonio 41 13 .759 - Houston 40 17 .702 2.5 Memphis 33 23 .589 9 Dallas 22 32 .407 19 New Orleans 21 34 .382 20.5

NBA results/standingsSacramento 105, New Orleans 99; Detroit 102, Toronto 101; Minnesota 117, Chicago 89; NY Knicks 94, San Antonio 90.

NEW YORK: New York Knicks guard Brandon Jennings (3) chases San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills in the firsthalf of the team’s NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday. — AP

NEW YORK: Carmelo Anthony scored25 points as the New York Knicks sal-vaged the finale of a tumultuous five-game homestand by beating the SanAntonio Spurs 94-90 on Sunday. WithLatrell Sprewell and a number of otherformer Knicks in attendance two daysafter Charles Oakley was banned, thecurrent team pulled out a defensiveperformance from its past, limitingthe Spurs to 36 percent shooting. Thatcame just two nights after the Knicksyielded 131 points in a dismal defen-sive performance against Denver,which came after losses to Clevelandand both Los Angeles teams to startthe homestand. Kawhi Leonard had36 points for the Spurs (41-13), whohad their two-game win streaksnapped and failed in their firstattempt to secure what would havebeen an NBA-record 20th consecutivewinning season. The Knicks didn’t letthe Spurs reach 70 points until fewerthan 8 minutes remained. ThenAnthony provided offense when theyneeded it clinging to a two-point lead,making consecutive baskets to makeit 92-86 with 33 seconds remaining.Anthony’s relationship with PhilJackson and resulting trade rumorswere a constant throughout thehomestand, though the fallout fromOakley’s arrest after an altercationwith security guards last Wednesdaybecame the bigger story.

PISTONS 102, RAPTORS 101Tobias Harris had 24 points off the

bench and Kentavious Caldwell-Popeadded 21, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.2 seconds left, asDetroit overcame a 16-point fourth -quarter deficit to beat Toronto. AndreDrummond had 10 points and 18rebounds for his 36th double-doubleof the season. DeMar DeRozan scored26 points for Toronto and JonasValanciunas had 17 points and ninerebounds, but it wasn’t enough tokeep the Raptors from losing for the10th time in their last 14 games.Caldwell-Pope made it a two-pointgame with a pull-up jumper with 47.9seconds remaining, and put thePistons in front 102-101 with his 3-pointer.

TIMBERWOLVES 117, BULLS 89Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points

and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 tohelp Minnesota beat severely short-handed Chicago. Ricky Rubio had 17points, 11 assists and six rebounds

and Minnesota shot 54 percent tohelp coach Tom Thibodeau sweep theseason series against his former team.Gorgui Dieng added 10 points and 13rebounds. Doug McDermott scored16 points and made four 3-pointersfor the Bulls. They were missing JimmyButler, Dwyane Wade, Nikola Miroticand Paul Zipser with injuries. The Bullsturned the ball over 18 times, wereoutrebounded 46-35 and wereoutscored 56-38 in the paint.

KINGS 105, PELICANS 99DeMarcus Cousins had 28 points,

14 rebounds and seven assists for

the Sacramento Kings, who beat theNew Orleans Pelicans for their thirdstraight victory. The Kings assumedthe lead late in the third quarter andnever relinquished it in winning forthe fourth time in five games. TheKings have won three straightgames only one other time this sea-son. Darren Collison had 20 pointsand eight ass ists for the K ings.Anthony Davis had 32 points and 10rebounds for the Pelicans, but wasl imited to 11 points fol lowing ahuge f irst half. New Orleans hasdropped eight of 10 games and is 7-19 on the road. — AP

Knicks defeat Spurs, Pistons beat Raptors

CALIFORNIA: Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison (7) drives aroundNew Orleans Pelicans defender Dante Cunningham (33) during the secondhalf of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday. The Kingswon 105-99. — AP

S P O RT STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

PREVIEW

SOCCER

MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s forward Fernando Torres (L) runs with the ball as Celta Vigo’s Argentinian defender Facundo Roncaglia falls downduring the Spanish league football match Club Atletico de Madrid vs RC Celta de Vigo at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid onSunday.— AFP

MADRID: Antoine Griezmann sealed a thrillingAtletico Madrid comeback from 2-1 down withfour minutes remaining to beat Celta Vigo 3-2and move into fourth in La Liga.

Sevilla remain four points ahead of Atletico inthird as they moved within three points of lead-ers Real Madrid thanks to substitute JoaquinCorrea’s winner 10 minutes from time in a 1-0win at Las Palmas. Real lead Barcelona by apoint at the top, but also have two games inhand over their title rivals.

“It was a thrilling and emotonal game with alot of errors, but with two teams looking to win,”said Atletico boss Diego Simeone. “The teamwas calm and understood there was the chanceto equalise and, after the equaliser, the crowdpushed us on for the winner.” Atletico’s top fourhopes look set to take a huge blow as they onceagain nearly paid for their profligacy from thepenalty spot. An error from Atletico ‘keeperMiguel Angel Moya handed Gustavo Cabral anearly opener for Celta.

Fernando Torres responded with a sensation-al looping effort into the far corner. However, forthe third straight game, Atletico failed to converta spot-kick when Torres smashed the bar mid-way through the first-half. Celta also hit the postbefore the break through Jozabed in an enter-taining end-to-end encounter played in torren-tial Madrid rain. However, John Guidetti lookedto have delivered the telling blow when he slot-ted home Daniel Wass’s cut-back 12 minutesfrom time. Yet, Atletico responded in style asYannick Carrasco’s crashed home a volley from25 yards to give the hosts hope.

And just two minutes later Kevin Gameiro’scushioned header was swept home byGriezmann for his 16th goal of the season.

“We turned it round because we are a teamthat gives our all in every moment and you sawthat today,” Griezmann told BeIN Sports Spain.Gameiro should even have added a fourth whenhe hit the underside of the bar from Carrasco’scross in stoppage time. Victory takes Atletico apoint clear of Real Sociedad as all of the top fivein La Liga won this weekend.

ROUTE ONE In Las Palmas, the hosts were the better side

for the majority of the 90 minutes, but werecaught out by a simple route one move asCorrea latched onto Vicente Iborra’s flick on toslot home his first La Liga goal. A first homeleague defeat of the season spoiled JeseRodriguez’s home debut after signing for hishome town club on loan from Paris Saint-Germain for the rest of the season.

Jese had the first big chance just seven min-utes in, but placed his weak shot too close toSergio Rico who made a comfortable save. LasPalmas were made to rue a series of missedchances just after the break as Rico parriedDavid Simon’s volley before Alen Halliloviccurled wide. However, for all Las Palmas’ prettyfootball, they were caught out by one simplelong ball as Iborra flicked on Rico’s goal kick andCorrea raced through to finish.

Earlier, Sporting Gijon breathed life into theirbid for survival with a 2-0 win at Leganes tomove to within two points of survival.

Villarreal’s Champions League hopes faded,though, as they were held 1-1 at home toMalaga to slip six points off the top four. —AFP

Griezmann seals Atletico fightback, Sevilla third

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelonain the first leg of their Champions Leaguelast-16 tie today with their Spanish coachUnai Emery desperate to improve his awfulpersonal record against the Catalans.

Emery was brought to the French capitallast year as the successor to Laurent Blancin order to help take PSG to the next levelin Europe after four consecutive quarter-final exits in the Champions League.

But finishing second in their groupbehind Arsenal exposed PSG to a tougherdraw in the first knockout round and nowthey must beat the Spanish champions —the second leg will be at the Camp Nounext month-just to make it to the last eightagain. Emery, the former Sevilla boss, hascome up against Barcelona 23 times in hiscoaching career and won just once, in LaLiga last season.

Paris, meanwhile, have been knockedout of the Champions League by Barcelonatwice in recent campaigns, losing in thequarter-finals in 2013 and again in 2015 toLionel Messi, Neymar and co.

“For me this is a good opportunity,”Emery told reporters at the Parc des Princesyesterday.

“It is an important moment in the sea-son because it is the Champions Leaguewhich is a very clear objective for the cluband it is against Barcelona.

“We want to be playing against the bestteams in Europe and the world. I carry theresponsibility, but we need to be positive,have confidence in the team, and confi-dence in our own ability.”

There is certainly a new-found confi-dence at the Parc des Princes after a finestart to 2017 which has seen them win 10and draw one of their last 11 games in allcompetitions.

They are fresh from a 3-0 victory atBordeaux in Ligue 1 on Friday, in whichEdinson Cavani scored twice to take him to33 goals in all competitions this season.

“Every time we play Barcelona we goout believing we can win, but things don’talways go the way we want them to go.What is for sure is that we are working hardand we are convinced we will have our partto play,” said Cavani, who turns 30 on theday of the game.

The French champions have beatenBarcelona in the recent past, claiming a 3-2win in the group stage in September 2014.

They are also a formidable propositionat the Parc des Princes, having lost justonce there in Europe in the last decade,albeit that was against Barcelona two yearsago. Emery will be unable to utilise veteranmidfielder Thiago Motta, the ex-Barcelonaplayer, due to suspension. Meanwhile, onewinger from Angel Di Maria, Lucas Mouraand January signing Julian Draxler will haveto settle for a place on the bench.

VIDAL OUT Barcelona travel to France buoyed by a

crushing 6-0 win at Alaves in La Liga at theweekend in which Luis Suarez scored twice.

That result means Luis Enrique’s sidehave now lost just once in 22 gamesalthough it was overshadowed by an awfulankle injury suffered by right-back AleixVidal which rules him out for the rest of theseason. Javier Mascherano and Arda Turanare sidelined too, although one man whocould feature is Rafinha, who was named inthe squad but will need a mask to protect abroken nose.

Barcelona are still fighting on threefronts, keeping alive the prospect of anoth-er La Liga, Copa del Rey and ChampionsLeague treble to match those achieved in2009 and 2015.

“It’s not really something we talk aboutamongst ourselves but all the players haveit in mind,” the club’s former PSG defenderLucas Digne told AFP. “As long as we are stillin every competition, it is very important.This club is born to win trophies.” —AFP

Emery, PSG look to get oneover Barcelona at last

PARIS: PSG’s head coach Unai Emery, left, and Edinson Cavani attend a press confer-ence at the eve of the Champions League soccer match between Paris Saint Germainand Barcelona at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, yesterday. — AP

PARIS: Nice’s fading Ligue 1 title aspira-tions suffered a costly setback as they fellfive points behind leaders Monaco despiterallying from two goals down in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Rennes. First-half strikes fromMorgan Amalfitano and Giovanni Sio leftRennes on course for a first win in ninematches, but Valentin Eysseric set upAnastasios Dosis to pull one back on thehour mark.

Eysseric then raced clear as Nice caughtRennes on the counter-attack to equalisenine minutes from time with the visitorssalvaging a point in the absence of anunwell Mario Balotelli.

However, Lucien Favre’s side, whotopped the table at the start of the year,have won just twice in their last sevenmatches to leave aspirations of upstagingMonaco and Paris Saint-Germain lookingincreasingly remote. “I think it’s a goodpoint. We were squeezed like lemons, andthey did it very well,” Favre said of the homeside’s suffocating tactics. “Psychologicallyit’s important to come back from 2-0 downto 2-2. At the end we could have even donemore but they also had chances on thecounter... if you concede a third, it’s all over.”

Later, strugglers Nantes upset Marseille3-2. Goals from Diego Carlos and MariuszStepinski in the first 20 minutes put Nantesin control.

Bafetimbi Gomis halved the deficit threeminutes after the restart, his shot helpedpast Nantes keeper Remy Riou by a deflec-tion off the right post. Marseille’s chancesof getting something out of the matchwere made that much harder two minuteslater when Adrien Thomasson foiledYohanne Pele at close range.

The south coast club’s defensive frailtieswere exposed again when Lucas Lima firedin a free-kick which hit the post, Sala get-ting the rebound in the back of the net butthe effort was disallowed for a foul byCarlos on Pele. On the hour MorganSanson crossed to Gomis who headed in togive the visitors renewed hope. Gomis hadto come off shortly after with an injuredknee. Marseille, who remain in sixth place,bossed the closing stages but Nantes, onepoint off the relegation zone before kick-off, held on to jump five places to 12th.

On Saturday, Kylian Mbappe netted ahat-trick while Radamel Falcao struck twiceas Monaco thrashed Metz 5-0 at home tostay three points clear of reigning champi-ons PSG.

The capital club cruised to a 3-0 victoryat Bordeaux on Friday with Edinson Cavani-now up to 25 league goals this season-scoring either side of an Angel Di Mariaeffort. —AFP

Nice lose ground, Marseille beaten

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Paris Saint v Barcelona 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Benfica v Dortmund 22:45

beIN SPORTS

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE

Aston Villa v Barnsley 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Norwich City v Newcastle 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Preston North v Birmingham 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Leeds United v Bristol 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Sheffield v Blackburn Rovers 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Wolverhampton v Wigan 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Derby County v Cardiff 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Fulham v Nottingham 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Brighton & Albion v Ipswich 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Rotherham v Huddersfield 22:45

beIN SPORTS

Reading v Brentford 23:00

beIN SPORTS

LISBON: Borussia Dortmund coach ThomasTuchel hopes the return of the ChampionsLeague will provide the jolt his inconsistentside need ahead of today’s visit to Benfica inthe first leg of their last-16 tie.

The Germans tormented opposingdefences and finished above European cham-pions Real Madrid in Group F after setting anew group-stage goals record, but they havefailed to reproduce their best form domesti-cally. Dortmund, who won their loneChampions League title in 1997, fell an alarm-ing 15 points behind Bundesliga leadersBayern Munich following Saturday’s shock 2-1loss at bottom side Darmstadt.

“I never got the feeling we really got going,”Tuchel said after Dortmund saw their nine-match unbeaten run snapped, albeit a seriesthat included just three victories.

“We were simply a long way below our lim-it and we have to admit they (Darmstadt)deserved to win.”

Dortmund fielded three teenagers atDarmstadt, with 18-year-old Dzenis Burnicmaking his German league debut in theabsence of injured defensive duo MarcelSchmelzer and Lukasz Piszczek.

But Tuchel predicted Tuesday’s clash inLisbon would elicit a strong response from hisplayers, with Ousmane Dembele, AndreSchuerrle and Shinji Kagawa all in contentionto return to the starting line-up after comingoff the bench at the weekend.

“In all honesty, we come into our ownwhen it ’s a 50-50 game,” said Tuchel, histhoughts echoed by goalkeeper RomanBuerki. “Today, we play against a differentopponent with a different way of playing,” theSwiss international added.

JONAS, JIMENEZ FIT AGAIN Greece striker Kostas Mitroglou scored

twice as Benfica eased past Arouca 3-0 onFriday to remain one point clear of Porto atthe top of the Portuguese league.

Today’s fixture at the Estadio da Luz will bethe first meeting between Benfica andDortmund since the first round of the 1963/64European Cup, a tie the German club won 6-2on aggregate. Benfica, European championsin 1961 and 1962, advanced with the fewestpoints (eight) of any team to this season’sknockout phase and are looking to reach thequarter-finals for the third time in six years.

Dortmund’s record-breaking 21-goal haul

in the group stage was founded largely onthumping 6-0 and 8-4 wins over Poland’sLegia Warsaw, while they triumphed 2-1 overSporting in Lisbon in October.

Veteran Brazilian forward Jonas, whoscored 32 times in Portugal last season, willmake his first appearance in Europe this sea-son after missing the group stage with anankle injury. The 32-year-old has netted eightgoals in all competitions since his return froma four-month lay-off in mid-December.

Mexico international Raul Jimenez madehis first appearance of the new year last week-end, coming off the bench against Arouca fol-lowing injury, and warned of the challengefacing the hosts.

“It is going to be difficult as any ChampionsLeague match. We have to be at our best,” saidJimenez, while Peru international AndreCarrillo was confident Benfica’s home supportwould provide a considerable boost to RuiVitoria’s side. The second leg in Germany isscheduled for March 8. —AFP

Dortmund strive for Benfica remedy

Angry Ranieri hints at dropping underperformersLONDON: Leicester City’s beleaguered managerClaudio Ranieri suggested he is ready to dropsome of the players who won them the PremierLeague title as the Italian seeks to stave off rele-gation just one season later.

The champions have yet to win-or evenscore-in six league matches in 2017 and werebeaten 2-0 by fellow relegation strugglersSwansea City on Sunday. The latest setbackleaves them just one point above the relegationzone with the club seemingly free-falling intothe Championship.

When asked by reporters if he had been tooloyal to the players from last season, Ranieri said:“I could be. Of course it is difficult when youachieve something so good, you want to givethem one chance, two chances or three chances.Maybe now, it is too much.

“Of course I must change something becauseit’s not possible to continue in this way. We have

two problems - we concede and we don’t score.Everybody tries to say something positive tohelp each other. But after, we go back (to losinggames). “I always question myself but then Ialways say ‘come on, together we can do some-thing good’.” Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, wholast year both signed new contracts reported inthe British media to be worth 110,000 pounds($137,368.00) per week, have underperformedthis season and could find their places underthreat, along with another of last season’s lead-ing lights, Danny Drinkwater.

Leicester’s astonishing decline could seethem become the first English champions to berelegated from the top flight since ManchesterCity in 1938. On Sunday Ranieri suggested therelegation fight will take priority over theChampions League and FA Cup, both of whichcompetitions they remain involved in.

On Saturday they face an FA Cup fifth-round

tie at Millwall, followed by the first leg of theirChampions League round of 16 against Sevilla.

“Now there are a few matches in front of usso we have to find a solution very, very soon,” hesaid. “There are two matches in front of us, onein the FA Cup and one in the Champions Leaguebut our mind is on the Premier League.

“It is important to be strong. Now it is 10hours without scoring a goal and we have tofind a solution because it is not possible (that)everything is wrong this season.

“The machine is not broken but when youdon’t play at a maximum level it is a difficult bat-tle. We stick together. I’m confident with myplayers because it only takes one moment for itto turn.” Last week the Italian received a vote ofconfidence from the club, who said he had their“unwavering support” but British bookmakershave him at short odds to be the next PremierLeague manager to be sacked. -—Reuters

WARSAW: This file photo taken onSeptember 14, 2016 shows Dortmund’sPortuguese defender Raphael Guerreiroduring the UEFA Champions League groupF football match Legia Warsaw v BorussiaDortmund at the Legia stadium in Warsaw.Dortmund’s Portuguese defender RaphaelGuerreiro will take part in the ChampionsLeague match Benfica vs BorussiaDortmund today. —AFP

ST PAUL: Zach Parise and the Minnesota Wildhave beaten teams a lot of ways this season. OnSunday, the Detroit Red Wings gave one of theleague’s best power plays too many chances.Parise scored twice and Devan Dubnyk made30 saves to help the Western Conference-lead-ing Wild beat the Red Wings 6-3.

The Wild scored three power-play goals infour chances, including two in the first periodas they jumped to a 2-0 lead. Minnesota’s pow-er play is tops in the NHL at home, converting30.1 percent of its opportunities at Xcel EnergyCenter.

“We were in the box a little bit too muchtoday,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterbergsaid. “I thought they made some fine darnplays on the power play and it’s hard to bedown like that.”

Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiterscored with the man advantage in the firstperiod. Parise then capped the scoring with apower-play goal in the third. The three power-play goals, he noted, led to a deceiving finalscore.

“It was a tough game,” Parise said. “Theydo a good job in the D-zone. They’re in yourface a lot and they make it pretty tough. Butwe got the power-play goals and that wasthe difference.”

Charlie Coyle added a goal and an assist forthe Wild, who have points in five straight

games. They lead second-place Chicago by fivepoints and have played two fewer games thanthe Blackhawks.

Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assistfor Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg and AndreasAthanasiou also scored, and Jared Coreaumade 23 saves. The Red Wings have lost fourstraight and have the worst record in theEastern Conference.

“It’s hard to win when you give up two onthe (penalty kill) in the first like that,” Detroitcoach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought 5-on-5 wedid tons of good stuff.”

BRUINS 4, CANADIENS 0Tuukka Rask made 25 saves for the first

home regular-season win of his career againstMontreal, as Boston recorded the win at TDGarden. Rask, who came in 0-9-3 at homeagainst the rival Canadiens, pitched his sixthshutout of the season and the 36th of hiscareer as his team beat Montreal in Boston forthe first time since Jan. 12, 2012. Peter Cehlarikhanded out two assists, and Adam McQuaid,Zdeno Chara (short-handed), David Krejci andFrank Vatrano scored goals for the Bruins. Krejciadded an assist.

CANUCKS 4, SABRES 2Michael Chaput scored twice to lead

Vancouver over Buffalo. Bo Horvat and

Alexandre Burrows also scored for the Canucks.Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves. Tyler Ennisand Kyle Okposo scored for the Sabres andRobin Lehner made 27 saves.

SHARKS 4, DEVILS 1Determined to end their four-game road

trip on a positive note, the San Jose Sharksdid just that Sunday afternoon, skating to a4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. TheSharks (34-18-5) were 0-2-1 in the first threegames of their trip out East, but Brent Burnsscored twice, Joe Thornton added a goal andan assist, and Martin Jones made 21 saves tohelp guarantee a happy flight home. TheDevils, playing for the first time coming offtheir bye week, have just one victory in theirlast nine home games (1-6-2).

PREDATORS 5, STARS 3About to head into a five-day break with a

pair of poorly played home losses, theNashville Predators stormed back from athree-goal deficit to hand the Dallas Stars apotentially crushing loss. Scoring three unan-swered goals in the first 6:02 of the third peri-od, Nashville bagged a 5-3 win. Filip Forsberggave the Predators (27-21-8) the lead forgood with a short-handed goal on a break-away, his 16th of the season. Dallas (22-25-10) lost for the fifth time in six games.

ISLANDERS 5, AVALANCHE 1Anders Lee scored twice in the third peri-

od Sunday night as the New York Islanderspulled away from the Colorado Avalanche fora 5-1 win. The Islanders (25-19-10) won for

the third time in four games (3-1-0) and theninth time in 13 (9-2-2). Joe Colborne scoredfor the NHL-worst Avalanche (15-36-2), whohave lost three straight (0-3-0) and 17 of 20(3-16-1) since the holiday break. — Agencies

15US beat Germanyin Fed Cup tiemarred byanthem gaffe

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

17India thrash Bangladesh in warning to Aussies

Griezmann seals Atletico fightback, Sevilla third Page 19

Western Conference

Central Division

W L OTL GF GA PTS

Minnesota 37 12 6 187 129 80 Chicago 35 17 5 166 147 75 St. Louis 29 22 5 161 165 63 Nashville 27 21 8 158 151 62 Dallas 22 25 10 158 182 54 Winnipeg 25 29 4 166 185 54 Colorado 15 36 2 107 181 32

Pacific Division

San Jose 34 18 5 156 135 73 Anaheim 29 18 10 151 147 68 Edmonton 29 19 8 157 146 66 Los Angeles28 23 4 138 136 60 Calgary 28 25 3 149 159 59 Vancouver 25 25 6 135 160 56 Arizona 18 28 7 124 169 43

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Montreal 31 19 8 165 150 70 Ottawa 29 18 6 143 143 64 Boston 29 23 6 157 155 64 Toronto 25 18 11 165 161 61 Florida 24 20 10 134 153 58 Tampa Bay 25 24 7 154 160 57 Buffalo 23 23 10 138 159 56 Detroit 22 24 10 141 169 54

Metropolitan Division

Washington39 11 6 192 121 84 Columbus 35 14 5 175 133 75 Pittsburgh 34 13 7 193 155 75 NY Rangers 36 18 1 189 145 73 Philadelphia27 22 7 147 168 61 NY Islanders25 19 10 161 158 60 New Jersey 23 22 10 128 157 56 Carolina 24 22 7 140 156 55

NHL results/standingsBoston 4, Montreal 0; Vancouver 4, Buffalo 2; Nashville 5, Dallas 3; NY Islanders 5, Colorado 1; Minnesota 6,Detroit 3; San Jose 4, New Jersey 1.

BOSTON: David Pastrnak #88 of the Boston Bruins makes a pass to Peter Cehlarik #83 during the first period against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts. — AFP

Parise scores twice, Wild beat Red Wings

CAGLIARI: Juventus’ Swiss defender StephanLichtsteiner (top) fights for the ball with Cagliari’sItalian defender Nicola Murru during the Italian SerieA football match between Cagliari and Juventus atSant’Elia Stadium in Cagliari, on Sunday. — AFP

ROME: It seemed appropriate that Gonzalo Higuain andGianluigi Buffon stood out on a night for legends. AfterItaly’s all-time leading scorer Luigi Riva was honoredbefore kickoff with the country’s highest sports honor,Higuain scored twice and Buffon preserved a cleansheet with a spectacular save as Serie A leader Juventuswon 2-0 at 10-man Cagliari on Sunday.

Buffon shared a long embrace with the 72-year-oldRiva in the pre-match ceremony for the golden collaraward. The pair developed a lasting friendship duringRiva’s long tenure working as an adviser to Italy’snational team, which was interrupted in 2013 whenRiva began to have health problems.

“You’re an emblematic athlete who made an entirepopulation and all of Italy proud,” Italian OlympicCommittee president Giovanni told the crowd inSardinia, where Riva led Cagliari to its only title in 1970.

Once the match started, Higuain took the spotlightwith goals either side of halftime. The Argentina inter-national beat the offside trap and used one touch tochip in an angled effort over the goalkeeper. He thenconcluded a counterattack that he had started in Juve’sown end from nearly the same position as his first goal -this time using two touches.

With 18 goals, Higuain joined Edin Dzeko atop theleague’s scoring chart. With 14 matches still to play,Higuain is halfway to the 36 he scored with Napoli lastseason to break a 66-year-old Serie A record.Dzekoscored in Roma’s 2-0 win at relegation-threatened

Crotone earlier after missing a first half penalty.Juventus remained seven points ahead of second-

place Roma as it seeks a record sixth straight title.Cagliari’s Nicolo Barella picked up his second yellowcard midway through the second half and then Buffonstretched out to tip wide a powerful, curving shot fromFabio Pisacane.

CROTONE 0, ROMA 2Edin Dzeko finally found the target after missing a

penalty and hitting the crossbar for Roma. RadjaNainggolan opened the scoring in the 40th and Dzekofinished from close range in the 77th. Roma movedback into second, two points ahead of Napoli, whichbeat Genoa 2-0 on Friday. It was only the sixth win in 13away matches for Roma, which has won all 11 of itshome fixtures.

Shortly after the quarter-hour mark, Mohamed Salahwas pushed down inside the area to set up Dzeko’spenalty. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international hesi-tated to see which way goalkeeper Alex Cordaz wentbut then kicked a low shot wide of the goal in the samedirection. It was Dzeko’s second miss from the penaltyspot this season - most in Serie A.

“It happens. It’s nothing serious but I won’t be takingthe next one,” Dzeko said. Still, Roma controlled through-out against a Calabrian squad playing in the top flight forthe first time in its 107-year history.

The Giallorossi went ahead when Nainggolan scored

with a low, angled shot across the area into the far corner.In the 53rd, Nainggolan set up Dzeko, whose shot wasslightly deflected off the bar. A minute later, Roma wast-ed another chance when a header from defenderFederico Fazio hit the post following a corner with Cordazbeaten. Dzeko finally hit the target after a nice setupfrom Salah left him with plenty of room to find the target.

INTER MILAN 2, EMPOLI 0Even with captain Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic sus-

pended, Inter had little trouble with relegation-threat-ened Empoli at the San Siro.

Italy internationals Eder and Antonio Candreva com-bined on both goals for the Nerazzurri. Eder used hischest to redirect a cross from Candreva and put Interahead in the 14th, then Candreva redirected a long,accurate cross from Eder to score by the far post in the54th. Inter moved up to fourth, six points behindNapoli and the Champions League places.

OTHER MATCHESAtalanta remained level on points with Inter after a

3-1 win at Palermo, getting goals from Andrea Conti,Alejandro “Papu” Gomez and Bryan Cristante. AndreaBelotti scored twice in Torino’s 5-3 win over last-placedPescara to raise his season tally to 17, one below Dzekoand Higuain. Also, Chievo Verona beat 10-man Sassuolo3-1 and Sampdoria came back from a goal down todefeat Bologna 3-1. — AP

Juve win as Higuain, Buffon stand out

BusinessTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Oil markets await verification of OPEC output cuts

Page 22

Le Pen’s plan to ditch euro ‘to cost France 30 bn a year’

Page 23

Stocks rise as ‘Trump trades’ bounce back

Page 24

EU forecasts British economic slowdown during Brexit talks

Page 23

NEW DELHI: This file photograph taken on July 23, 2016, shows Indian security personnel as they travel in a classic Indian Ambassador car during the flag-off of the three-day Bus Yatra, ‘27 Saal UP Behaal’(27 years of UP in ruins) inthe run-up to the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, in New Delhi. India’s Hindustan Motors has sold its Ambassador car to France’s Peugeot for just USD12 million, capping a spectacular downfall for a vehicle once emblematicof the country’s political class. — AFP

PARIS: Renewed drilling by US oil producers iskeeping a ceiling on a global crude pricerecovery, cutting into the impact of deepreductions by other major producers, OPECsaid yesterday. In its latest oil market report,the Organization of the Petroleum ExportingCountries said its members last monthreduced output by 890,000 barrels per dayaccording to secondary sources.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) saidlast week that the initial rate of compliancewith a landmark deal to reduce the global oilglut was 90 percent.

The deal, agreed last year and in effectsince January, called for the OPEC cartel andsome non-OPEC countries to reduce output byabout 1.8 million barrels per day (mb/d). Theoil price gained 73 cents in January fromDecember to $52.40, according to the OPEC’s

reference basket, but would have risen more ifthe oil price recovery had not attracted high-cost American producers back to the market,the cartel said.

“Production adjustments by OPEC andsome non-OPEC producers supported themarket, although gains were capped byincreased drilling activity in the US,” it said.Analysts have put the breakeven level for USshale oil producers at around $50 per barrel,which means pumping oil is profitable againat current price levels. Among OPEC members,crude output decreased the most in SaudiArabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates,while Nigeria, Libya and Iran increased pro-duction. The world’s total oil supply fell by 1.29mb/d in January, OPEC said citing preliminarydata. OPEC’s share in total production stood at33.5 percent.

Compliance ‘excellent’ Meanwhile, OPEC revised upwards world

oil demand growth for 2016, saying it was nowestimated at 1.32 mb/d and expected to con-tinue strong this year, at 1.19 mb/d. Thismeans the world’s oil markets will continue torebalance, OPEC predicted. “In 2017, oildemand growth is assumed to remain healthywith potential growth estimated at 1.2 mb/d,well above the ten-year average of 1.0 mb/d,”the organisation said.

Main factors supporting the scenario arestrong global economic growth, solid demandfrom the road transport sector, and expecta-tions for high vehicle sales in the US, Europe,China and India.

Dampening demand will be progress madein fuel efficiency, potential reduction in subsi-dies for oil purchases and switches to other

fuels, OPEC said. Investors greeted OPEC’sreport as a confirmation of the IEA’s estimateof high output cut compliance.

Earlier yesterday, the Kuwaiti oil ministercalled OPEC’s compliance “excellent”, addingthat non-OPEC producers had made good onabout half their pledged cuts so far. “OPECcompliance with the output cuts is excellent ...Compliance has reached 92 percent,” said theminister, Essam al-Marzouk, who chairs a com-mittee tasked with monitoring the agreement.Marzouk attributed the relatively low non-OPEC implementation rate to previouslyagreed export commitments. “We understandthat the compliance of non-OPEC producerswill be gradual through the months of Apriland May,” Marzouk said. “We hope for full com-pliance from all producers.”

But Craig Erlam, an analyst at Oanda, said

that the oil market may need more reductionsbefore supply and demand can even out.“While this level of compliance is unusuallystrong, many still believe the agreement to cut1.8 million barrels per day until June will stillnot be enough to bring the market back intobalance,” Erlam said.

The oil price fell Monday, with US bench-mark West Texas Intermediate down 74 centson the day $53.12 a barrel while Brent NorthSea slipped 96 cents to $55.74. Dealers attrib-uted the fall to worries about signs of rising USproduction which they said may require deep-er OPEC cuts to keep the oil price recoveryalive. “The direction of crude is largely goingto be dictated by which comes first: A sharprise in US production, or an extension/increaseto current cut levels,” said Joshua Mahony atbrokers IG. — AFP

US drilling capping oil price: OPECLevel for US shale oil producers at around $50 per barrel

Uber drivers in Qatar on strike

DOHA: Hundreds of drivers with ride-hailing serviceUber in Qatar went on strike yesterday for the secondtime in a year to protest against fare cuts. The US-based company, which started operations in Doha in2014, has in recent months cut fares by 15-20 percentfor passengers amid growing competition from localfirms. Uber drivers in Doha stayed home yesterday toprotest the cuts and an “upfront” service launched byUber in November that allows passengers to view thetotal fare before their journey.

“The upfront isn’t fair. If you get stuck in traffic orthe passenger makes extra stops during the journey,we receive nothing for that,” said John, an Ethiopiandriver who declined to give his second name. “If theydon’t raise fares and treat drivers better we have manyother platforms we can go to. I have a family to sup-port,” he said.

Uber has tried to drive down taxi fares to win cus-tomers from local rivals in Qatar like Careem which hasa larger market share than Uber in most of the 32 citiesin the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan region inwhich it operates. An Uber spokesman in Dubai saidthe company was “committed to dialogue with partnerdrivers” and had made improving their experience apriority. “We are very proud of the high quality servicethey offer to riders who want to get around Doha witha safe, efficient and affordable ride,” said thespokesman in a statement. Thousands of Ethiopians,Indians and Nepalis work as Uber drivers in wealthyQatar where unions and labor protests are banned andauthorities penalize dissent with jail terms or immedi-ate deportation. Some drivers say they have struggledsince an oil slump in mid-2014 that has squeezed statefinances and last year saw Doha raise the domesticprice of gasoline by 30 percent. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump andCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau willparticipate in a roundtable discussion aboutwomen in the workforce, showing the risingpolicy influence of the first daughter who hasstressed her commitment to issues like childcare. A White House official said the twocountries would launch a new task forcecalled the United States Canada Council forthe Advancement of Women BusinessLeaders-Female Entrepreneurs. The officialsaid Trudeau’s office reached out to discussworking on a joint effort, noting that this wasseen as an area of shared interest betweenboth leaders.

Ivanka Trump, who has been a vocal advo-cate for policies benefiting working women,was involved in recruiting participants andsetting the agenda for the meeting and willattend, the official said. Ivanka Trumpstressed the importance of maternity leaveand child care on the campaign trail, and hasrecently been meeting with business leadersto discuss those issues.

The White House official said that Trump’seconomic agenda will include a “focus onensuring women enter and stay in the workforce and addressing barriers facing femaleentrepreneurs.” The official requestedanonymity to provide details in advance ofthe meeting. Advancing women has been aclear priority for Trudeau. In late 2015, hedrew attention for naming a Cabinet that was50 percent women, saying that he chose agroup that “looks like Canada.” Trump did notpromise to appoint a gender-balancedCabinet and has named a smaller number ofwomen and minorities to top jobs.

‘Natural fit’ “Our team reached out and suggested as it

is an important part of the prime minister’sagenda and of our economic growth plan,” aCanadian official said. “It seemed like a naturalfit given their commitments in their platformas well.” The official requested anonymity todiscuss the meeting in advance. Trump hasoffered a childcare plan and has signaled aninterest in working on those issues.

The business round table will be part of anitinerary that includes a bilateral meeting anda working lunch. The visit is crucial for Canada,which relies heavily on the United States fortrade. Trump has said he wants to discuss hisplan to overhaul the North American FreeTrade Agreement, which involves the UnitedStates, Canada and Mexico. There are fearsCanada could unintentionally be sideswipedas Trump negotiates with Mexico. Female

executives from the United States and Canadaare expected for the round table, includingGeneral Electric Canada CEO Elyse Allan,TransAlta Corp. CEO Dawn Farrell, LinamarCorp. CEO Linda Hasenfratz, T&T SupermarketInc. Tina Lee and Schnitzer Steel IndustriesCEO Tamara Lundgren. Also expected are JulieSweet, CEO-North America for Accenture,NRStor CEO Annette Verschuren, MoniqueLeroux, chair of the board of directors forInvestissement Québec. Carol Stephenson, ofthe board of directors for General Motors Co.will attend in place of the GM CEO.

Additionally, the meeting will include KatieTelford, Trudeau’s chief of staff, CanadianForeign Minister Chrystia Freeland and DinaPowell, assistant to the president and seniorcounselor for economic initiatives. Powell,Telford and Freeland were involved in settingup the council and recruiting the CEOS. Thecouncil includes many of the meeting atten-dees, as well as Mary Barra, General MotorsCEO, GE Vice Chair Beth Comstock andCatalyst CEO Deborah Gillis.

Topics at the event will likely include issueslike providing maternity leave and childcare,how to recruit and retain women and how tobetter support women entrepreneurs. IvankaTrump does not have an official White Houserole. But her husband, Jared Kushner, is a sen-ior adviser to the president and she steppedaway from her executive positions at theTrump Organization and her lifestyle brand tomove her family to Washington. She has beenat several public White House events so farand has been privately sitting down withCEOs and thought leaders as she weighs howto pursue her policy interest. — AP

Trump, Trudeau to discuss women in the workforce

WASHINGTON: In this Feb 1, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump, accompaniedby his daughter Ivanka, waves as they walk to board Marine One on the South Lawnof the White House. — AP

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

DUBAI: In order for the Arab civiliza-tion to regain its past glories, theArab world should begin compre-hending the indicators for thefuture, said Vice President, PrimeMinister and Ruler of Dubai, SheikhMohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

In statements made whileaddressing a panel of the WorldGovernment Summit and carried bythe UAE news agency (WAM), SheikhMohammad referred to a “clear mes-sage’ he made to the Arab govern-ments 12 years ago that “you mustchange, or you will be changed.” “Aswe talk about reviving civilization,we need hope. I am optimisticbecause it is the man who makescivilization, economy and prosperity.If the Arab and Muslim man suc-ceeded in building a civilization inthe past, they are capable of resum-ing it,” he added. He added that theArab world possesses all potential,including human resources, educa-tion, fertile lands and will power.

“The only thing missing is themanagement - the management ofgovernments, economy, resources,infrastructure and even manage-ment of sports. We are 300 million,almost equal to the population ofthe United States, but look howmany medals they win in theOlympic Games. We have failures incertain areas that need to beaddressed.” Sheikh Mohammad saidthe UAE has no recipe for success,but to endeavor, learn, gain expert-ise and importantly, appreciate thevalue of time.

“We do not boast perfection.We still learn every day and wewaste no time because for us, timeis like a running river. The experi-ment of the UAE speaks for itself

for whoever wants to emulate it. AllI can say is that we have advancedqualities in leadership and man-agement,” he said.

He applauded the progress ofthe Gulf Cooperation Council underthe Custodian of the Two HolyMosques King Salman bin AbdulAziz and other leaders. However hecalled to give up on pursuing thedream of ‘Arab Common Market.” “Itis an old dream. The (Arab) com-merce ministers are still dreaming ofthe Arab Common Market. Theworld has changed and become aCommon Global Market. I tell them,it is time to leave that 70s rhetoricbehind you and open to the world.Why should I open to neighbors inthe time of cross-border trade?”

He gave the UAE national carriersas example by saying: “Our planestoday carry passengers to China andBrazil. Other planes serve 260 air-ports around the world. Touristscome from everywhere. Trade isopen. We currently have confirmedplane orders for a total value of AED100 billion. Today, the world is open.We take goods from China andimport them to the Americas andAfrica.” Sheikh Mohammad alsospoke about corruption, saying it isthe root cause for failure of govern-ments and states.

“In some countries, you can feelsee corruption from the momentyou set foot on the airport. It has theorder of the day in those countries,but in the UAE, I promise you, HisHighness Sheikh Mohamed binZayed Al Nahyan and I, will nevertolerate corruption. We are responsi-ble before Allah the Almighty andbefore our people that no mistakewill go unpunished.” — KUNA

EXCHANGE RATES

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.704Indian Rupees 4.582Pakistani Rupees 2.920Srilankan Rupees 2.033Nepali Rupees 2.865Singapore Dollar 216.290Hongkong Dollar 39.442Bangladesh Taka 3.830Philippine Peso 6.136Thai Baht 8.751

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 81.668Qatari Riyal 84.114ani Riyal 795.348Bahraini Dinar 813.210UAE Dirham 83.381

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 20.450Egyptian Pound - Transfer 17.254Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.229Tunisian Dinar 13.500Jordanian Dinar 431.150Lebanese Lira/for 1000 2.040Syrian Lira 2.182Morocco Dirham 30.914

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 306.050Euro 327.930Sterling Pound 384.400Canadian dollar 235.240Turkish lira 83.520

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY WLL

Swiss Franc 307.280Australian Dollar 237.040US Dollar Buying 304.850

GOLD20 Gram 252.57010 Gram 129.2105 Gram 65.450

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 305.450Canadian Dolla 232.505Sterling Pound 383.405Euro 327.735Swiss Frank 306.320Bahrain Dinar 809.725UAE Dirhams 83.555Qatari Riyals 84.775Saudi Riyals 82.380Jordanian Dinar 431.985Egyptian Pound 16.811Sri Lankan Rupees 2.030Indian Rupees 4.540Pakistani Rupees 2.914Bangladesh Taka 3.859Philippines Pesso 6.136Cyprus pound 167.740Japanese Yen 3.720Syrian Pound 2.425Nepalese Rupees 3.835Malaysian Ringgit 69.705

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.376420 0.386420Czech Korune 0.004067 0.016067Danish Krone 0.039822 0.044822Euro 0. 320931 0.329931Norwegian Krone 0.032709 0.037909Romanian Leu 0.084819 0.084819Slovakia 0.009176 0.019176Swedish Krona 0.030334 0.035334Swiss Franc 0.299350 0.310350Turkish Lira 0.076951 0.087251

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.227211 0.239211New Zealand Dollar 0.214615 0.224115

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.228841 0.237841Georgina Lari 0.138230 0.138230US Dollars 0.301950 0.306350US Dollars Mint 0.302450 0.306350

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003622 0.004206Chinese Yuan 0.043212 0.046512Hong Kong Dollar 0.037375 0.040125Indian Rupee 0.002680 0.004903

Indonesian Rupiah 0.000018 0.000024Japanese Yen 0.002626 0.002806Kenyan Shilling 0.003013 0.003013Korean Won 0.000257 0.000272Malaysian Ringgit 0.065084 0.071084Nepalese Rupee 0.003085 0.003255Pakistan Rupee 0.002640 0.002930Philippine Peso 0.006060 0.006360Sierra Leone 0.000068 0.000074Singapore Dollar 0.210430 0.220430South African Rand 0.016960 0.025460Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001681 0.002261Taiwan 0.009671 0.009851Thai Baht 0.008394 0.008944

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.805232 0.813732Egyptian Pound 0.010147 0.019400Iranian Riyal 0.000085 0.000086Iraqi Dinar 0.000187 0.000247Jordanian Dinar 0.426002 0.435002Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000148 0.000248Moroccan Dirhams 0.020142 0.044142Nigerian Naira 0.001269 0.001904Omani Riyal 0.788514 0.794194Qatar Riyal 0.083253 0.084703Saudi Riyal 0.080527 0.081827Syrian Pound 0.001298 0.001518Tunisian Dinar 0.130560 0.138560Turkish Lira 0.076951 0.087251UAE Dirhams 0.081902 0.083602Yemeni Riyal 0.000995 0.001075

Chinese Yuan Renminbi 44.840Thai Bhat 9.710Turkish Lira 82.065

NBK ECONOMIC UPDATE KUWAIT: January saw oil prices range-bound,with international benchmark Brent crude andUS marker West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trad-ing within a narrow band of $55-56 per barrel(bbl) and $52-53/bbl, respectively. By the endof the month, both markers did, in fact, closedown slightly compared to December-Brentby -2.0% to $55.7/bbl and WTI by -2.7% to$52.8/bbl.

This was crude’s first month-on-monthdecline since October, and came despite thenoticeably limited volatility observed duringJanuary while markets awaited the first set ofOPEC crude production figures to verify themembers’ compliance with the 30 Novemberagreement. That data should be available bymid-February, and should confirm that OPEChas made significant headway in bringingaggregate production down to its target levelof 32.5 million barrels per day (mb/d). Indeed,judging by the various ministerial commentsand announcements coming out of the OPEC

camp, notably from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia andthe UAE, there is every possibility that OPECcould overshoot its target altogether.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Khaled Al-Falih, remarked last month that the kingdomhad gone beyond its obligations and reducedoutput to less than 10 mb/d; Saudi Arabia’s tar-get production level is 10.058 mb/d. The min-ister also followed up by suggesting that OPECmight not need to extend the 6-month dealbeyond June, as global supply would be suffi-ciently in tune with global demand. Priceswould then have, presumably, stabilizedaround a new equilibrium that would beacceptable to the oil exporters.

Futures markets are pricing in lower supply during 1H17

Brent futures are currently pricing in suchan eventuality, but the spread between thespot and mid-year futures price was, as of 31January, less than a dollar at $56.5/bbl. After

this peak the futures curve moves from contango into backwardation, with longer-datedfutures priced lower than nearer-term futures-at least until 2020. Lower prices in the secondhalf of this year could be a sign that the mar-ket is expecting sizeable stock draws-or that itbelieves that the OPEC/non-OPEC agreementwill not be extended and non-OPEC supply,especially US light tight oil production (LTO),or shale, as it is commonly known, will re-emerge strongly.

US shale production creeping upIndeed, according to weekly US production

data provided by the US Energy InformationAdministration (EIA), US crude output, withshale at the forefront, is recovering well. Sinceits 2016 low of 8.43 mb/d in July, US produc-tion has surged by 6%, or 487,000 b/d to 8.92mb/d as of 27 January. 30% of that gain hascome in the last 4 weeks, when prices havebeen at their highest in 18 months. Also, US rig

counts were back up to 712 last week asdrillers brought back 78% more of the rigs thatthey had idled during the oil price downturn,at the rate of about 9 rigs a week, since May’srig count low of 404.

In recognition of the robustness of US LTOproduction and the efficiency with which USdrillers have managed to eke out additionaloutput, the International Energy Agency(IEA)has revised its estimate for US productiongrowth this year by 110,000 b/d and in 2018by 300,000 b/d. The agency now expects a“significant” boost in US shale output in ahigher oil price environment.

Moreover, the expectation of higher oilprices in 2017-18 appears to be spurring oilmajors to get back into the game. Capitalspending by oil companies is projected torise this year, by 3%, to $450 billion after twoconsecutive years of declines, according to areport by Wood Mackenzie. Rystad Energy,another consultancy, has estimated that 15

billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in newoffshore production capacity will be sanc-tioned in 2017, compared to only 6 billionboe last year.

With demand growth outpacing supplygrowth in 1H17, the market is expected tomove into a supply deficit of 0.7 mb/d. On thedemand side, the IEA has just revised up itsglobal oil demand forecast for 2016 and 2017.The agency now estimates that growth willcome in 120,000 b/d higher at 1.4 mb/d in2016 and 100,000 b/d higher at 1.3 mb/d thisyear thanks to better-than-expected US crudedemand and revisions to Russian and Chinesecrude data. Taken together, still-relativelybuoyant crude demand growth and curtailingOPEC/non-OPEC supply should see the bal-ance of supply and demand swing into deficitof around 0.7 mb/d during 1Q and 2Q of thisyear. That should bode well for oil prices overthe next 6 months. It is the longer-term out-look that is far from certain.

Oil markets await verification of OPEC

output cuts, but US shale re-emerging

ALLENTOWN: Stormy Patterson makes a distinctionbetween opinion and action as she surveys eachnew call to boycott Company A or support Brand B.It’s “silly” to penalize Under Armour over its CEO’spraise of US President Donald Trump, she says. Farmore important is how a company behaves towardits customers or employees, especially if it has animpact on their rights.

“Hobby Lobby, I won’t patronize them. I won’ttouch them. And I actually used to go there likeonce a week,” said Patterson, who opposes thechain’s refusal to pay for some kinds of birth controlfor its employees. Long before Trump slammedNordstrom for dropping his daughter’s clothing andaccessories line - spurring the president’s supportersto call for a boycott of the department store - politi-cally active consumers have used their purchasingpower strategically. They could punish brands withwhich they disagreed, and reward those whoseviews aligned with theirs.

Polarized Trump era In the polarized Trump era, the simple act of buy-

ing a drink or shoes has never seemed so political.Social media makes it easier than ever for activistsand consumers to target or defend stores andbrands that take a stand or those they see as prox-ies for a politician. As a result, “every shopping bagis a potential political statement,” said AllenAdamson, founder of Brand Simple, a consultingfirm. “It is like carrying a sign in a rally.” Pattersonsaid her political views have “absolutely” influencedher buying decisions.

“I think everybody has their different extremes, orwhat they feel is worth taking a stand for,” saidPatterson, who turns 34 on Monday, as she shoppedwith her husband and 16-month-old daughter at anAllentown mall. The weaponized buying can be aminefield for retailers and brands, many of which arealready struggling as malls fall out of favor and peo-ple buy more online. Some companies deliberatelyenter the political fray, betting that their customerswill support their points of view. Others tread care-

fully, trying to avoid a backlash. With advertisingeverywhere, Americans are used to seeing brandmessages all the time - but not from politicians.Most Americans would prefer brands to not be polit-ical, said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of marketing con-sulting firm WSL Strategic Retail, and she believescompanies should focus on larger messages ratherthan weigh in on specific political issues.

Courtney Taylor, 21, of Center Valley,Pennsylvania, said she believes shopping and poli-tics should remain separate. But she has her limits.Taylor, who voted for Trump because she opposesabortion, said she’d stop shopping at her favoritestore if it were to start donating to an abortion-rights group. Companies “need to know if they’regoing to release a political statement, people aregoing to react,” she said.

Influential politics Monthly surveys have showed that more shop-

pers are citing politics among the top five factorsthat influence their buying decisions, according toMarshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at researchfirm NPD Group Inc. Chalk it up to election divisionsthat have lasted into Trump’s presidency and hisown penchant for mixing politics with commerce.

Trump had used Twitter to chastise retailers likeAmazon and Macy’s before complaining thatNordstrom treated his daughter “so unfairly.”Nordstrom had said the Ivanka Trump brand’s saleswere falling, and ethics experts saw the tweet as animplied threat from the White House to businessesrethinking their Trump ties.

The Ivanka Trump brand says it saw double-digitpercentage sales growth in 2016 from the previousyear as it expanded its categories, distribution andofferings. “In recent days, we’ve seen our brandswept into the political fray, becoming collateraldamage in others’ efforts to advance agendas unre-lated to what we do,” the company said. A socialmedia campaign called “Grab Your Wallet” has urgeda boycott of stores that stock Ivanka Trump orDonald Trump products, which include Dillard’s,

Lord & Taylor and Amazon. Belk Inc. has said it willno longer carry Ivanka Trump items on its website,and QVC said it no longer sells her merchandise.Even seemingly innocuous Super Bowl ads provokesharply divided reactions.

Ads that touched on immigration and diversityfrom advertisers including Budweiser, 84 Lumberand Coca-Cola drew Twitter chatter both pro- andanti-, with some even calling for a boycott ofBudweiser - although nothing substantial material-ized. Other recent campaigns include: A#BoycottStarbucks campaign developed after thecompany responded to Trump’s immigration orderby pledging to hire 10,000 refugees over the nextfive years. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quit Trump’scouncil of business leaders after an outcry from cus-tomers and employees who were upset about thetravel ban, and a social media campaign urged peo-ple to delete the app. Also cereal maker Kellogg Co.was a boycott target in November after it said itwould stop advertising on Breitbart, the conserva-tive news and opinion website formerly run byTrump’s chief strategist.

‘Headlines are fast and furious’For all the noise, it remains to be seen whether

these boycotts will have staying power. Kellogg CEOJohn Bryant said the company saw no “discernible”effect from the boycott calls. And though it initiallydropped after Trump’s tweet, Nordstrom’s stock hasgained more than 5 percent since then. “Headlinesare flying fast and furious. And it will be last week’snews,” said professor Susan Scafidi, academic directorof the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University’slaw school. “The consuming public has a short mem-ory - and they’re forgiving,” she added.

For many shoppers, factors other than politics arejust more important. Blake Wilhelm of Plattsmouth,Nebraska, says mainly he wants something thatworks well, and he tries to balance cost and quality.“I don’t see a reason to boycott some companybecause they have a different viewpoint than I do,”said Wilhelm, 29, at an Omaha mall. — AP

Shoppers weigh boycott calls

as buying gets more political

Future key for reviving Arab

civilization: UAE vice-prez

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

LONDON: Eurozone stock markets rose fur-ther yesterday after Brussels lifted its offi-cial economic growth outlook for theregion, but London gains were temperedby the stronger pound, according to ana-lysts. Benchmark indices in Frankfurt andParis won 0.8 and 1.0 percent respectivelyon news of the forecast upgrades, whileLondon edged up 0.1 percent comparedwith Friday’s close.

Kicking off the day, Asian bourses builton a pre-weekend global rally after anotherrecord close Friday in New York, as traders

welcomed President Donald Trump’s prom-ise of details on US tax reform which camealongside a softer tone over China andJapan. “The eurozone led the way Monday...following news that the EuropeanCommission (EC) had raised its growthforecasts for the region as a whole,” saidSpreadex trader Connor Campbell.

Europe’s economic recovery remains ontrack but vulnerable to the “exceptionalrisks” of Brexit and the new Donald Trumpadministration, the EU said yesterday.Brussels raised its growth forecasts for the

eurozone through to 2018 but warned thatthe European Union as a whole was navi-gating “choppy waters”.

The 19-country eurozone will grow by 1.6percent in 2017 followed by 1.8 percent in2018, the EC said in its winter economic fore-cast. That compared with its autumn predic-tions of 1.5 percent in 2017 and 1.7 percentin 2018. Global shares had soared late lastweek after the new US president finallybroke his silence over fiscal policy, saying hewould unveil a “phenomenal” tax plan withinthree weeks. That was followed by his affir-

mation that he recognizes Beijing’s “OneChina” policy towards Taiwan and that hehad a positive weekend meeting withJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Much-needed relief The developments provided some

much-needed relief for traders who hadgrown increasingly worried about Trump’soutbursts against both countries’ trade poli-cies and his lack of detail on the domesticfront. “This is a big relief for investors giventhat Trump’s previous stance had raised seri-

ous foreign policy concerns, not to mentionthe prospect of severely damaged trade tieswith the region and increased protection-ism,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.

Adding to the positive mood was a fore-cast-busting reading on Chinese trade,which raised hopes a growth slowdown inthe world’s number two economy could bebottoming out. Attention now turns toFederal Reserve boss Janet Yellen’s two-daytestimony to Congress this week, which willbe pored over for clues about the bank’splans for monetary policy. — AFP

Eurozone equities buoyed by region outlook upgrade

BRUSSELS: The European Union expectsBritish economic growth to slow as the coun-try negotiates its exit over the next couple ofyears, but forecasts an improvement for thebloc as a whole despite a range of uncertain-ties. In its Winter Economic Forecast releasedyesterday, the 28-nation EU said it predictsBritish economic growth will slump to 1.5 per-cent this year and 1.2 percent in 2018 from arecent high of 3.1 percent registered in 2014.

The wider EU, on the other hand, is expect-ed to improve steadily, with growth pickingup from 1.6 percent in 2014 to 1.8 percent thisyear and next. “The European economy hasproven resilient to the numerous shocks it hasexperienced over the past year,” said EU finan-cial affairs chief Pierre Moscovici. “Growth isholding up and unemployment and deficitsare heading lower.”

For Britain, though, the report said that“economic growth is projected to moderate in2017 and weaken further in 2018,” largelycoinciding with the period during which thecountry is to negotiate its divorce terms withthe 27 other EU nations. It acknowledgedthat, for this year, the impact of the leave votewas expected to be less severe than originallythought but it kept its 2018 decline intact.

Based on better-than-expected figures forGreece, Moscovici said he had good hopesthat the debt-ridden country and its creditorswould find a way next week to stave offanother crisis. The sides disagree on whethermore austerity reforms should be plannedand how to ease Greece’s debt load.Moscovici said he would be flying to Athenson Wednesday to help iron out the differencesahead of a meeting of eurozone finance min-isters in Brussels next Monday.

‘Growth, investment and confidence’ “After years of crisis, we are building a suc-

cess story, where reforms allow for a return togrowth, investment and confidence,” he said.The EU and the International Monetary Fund,which is also involved in the latest bailout forGreece, have disagreed on the country’s situa-

tion, with the Washington-based fund takinga darker view and saying its debt is unsustain-able under current conditions.

Moscovici insisted it was time to stand byGreece. “We cannot add, just like that, a crisisto a context of recovery in Greece and globaluncertainty. Let’s be reasonable.” Fears arethat, with US President Donald Trump inoffice, help from the IMF for Greece couldbecome more difficult. The US is the IMF’sbiggest donor and Trump has expresseddoubts about Greece’s future in the euro.Beyond difficult trans-Atlantic relations, theEU will also have a host of other uncertaintiesto deal with this year, mainly due to electionsin France, Germany and the Netherlands.“With uncertainty at such high levels, it’s

more important than ever that we use all pol-icy tools to support growth,” said Moscovici.With political upheaval and support for right-wing populists brewing in many memberstates, Moscovici said that “we must ensurethat its benefits are felt in all parts of the euroarea and all segments of society.”

He said a victory of Marine Le Pen and herNational Front in May’s French presidentialelections would be devastating for the econo-my and the EU as a whole. Le Pen has cam-paigned on promises to get France out of theeuro currency and the EU. “It would be atragedy for the eurozone and a catastrophe forFrance. When it comes to departure out of theEU, it would be pure and simple, in a certainway, the end of the European project.” — AP

EU forecasts British economic slowdown during Brexit talks

An improvement for the bloc despite uncertainties

BRUSSELS: European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici speaksduring a presentation of the winter economic forecast at EU headquarters. — AP

ATHENS: A street vendor sells worry beads at a central square of Athens. — AP

BRUSSELS: Top EU economic affairs officialPierre Moscovici heads to Athens for talkswith Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsiprastomorrow in an effort to unblock bailoutnegotiations. Months of failed talks betweenAthens and its eurozone and IMF creditorshave alarmed markets and raised fears of anew debt crisis that could again jeopardizeGreece’s place in the euro.

“Intensive meetings are taking place and Iwill myself visit Athens on Wednesday,”Moscovici told reporters in Brussels yesterday.The former French finance minister said hewould meet with Tsipras as well as FinanceMinister Euclid Tsakalotos during the visit.Moscovici, who is considered an ally of theGreek government, said that all sides shouldavoid any needless instability, calling Greecea potential “success story”.

“We cannot, just like that, bring a crisis tothe recovery in Greece amid global uncertain-ty,” he said. Tsipras on Saturday warned thatthe International Monetary Fund, as well ashardline Germany, should “stop playing withfire”. Talks on Friday between Athens and itscreditors failed to end the stalemate, thoughEurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said sub-

stantial progress had been made. The Greekgovernment faces debt repayments of 7.0 bil-lion euros ($7.44 billion) this summer that itcannot afford without completing the currentreview of its bailout and unblocking new loansfrom the country’s 86 billion euro bailout. Thecentral focus of the row is whether Greece candeliver on budget targets that theInternational Monetary Fund says are based onoverly-optimistic economic forecasts.

The IMF, quietly backed by Germany,insists that more pension cuts and tax hikesare necessary to reach those targets, whichthe Tsipras government bitterly refuses. Thefund has also made a call for substantial debtrelief for Greece, which is a political non-starter in Germany, complicating matterseven further. Moscovici yesterday confirmedthe EU’s positive view of the Greek economy,predicting that it would grow at a healthy clipof 2.7 percent this year. The next meeting ofeurozone ministers on February 20 is seen asan unofficial deadline to resolve all the vari-ous issues. Fears are that a series of knife-edge elections in Europe, beginning in theNetherlands on March 15, will dangerouslydelay a resolution. — AFP

EU’s Moscovici heads toGreece for debt talks

LONDON: British businesses are strugglingto fill in vacancies because of a drop in thesupply of European Union nationals follow-ing the Brexit vote, a new report revealedyesterday. The survey by the CharteredInstitute of Personnel and Development(CIPD) highlighted that the growth of EUnationals in employment halved to just30,000 in the final quarter of 2016.

According to the latest data, there arecurrently about 2.26 million EU nationalsworking in Britain. “The survey data...suggest that a fall in the supply of EUnationals may heighten recruitment diffi-culties in the year ahead,” the CIPD wrotein its Labour Market outlook report. Jobvacancies in the UK economy remain wellabove historical average levels and thereport emphasises that a fall in the sup-ply of EU nationals would hit some spe-cific industries hard.

These include low-skilled sectors suchas wholesale, retail, accommodation and

food services as well as human healthand social work, which employ largenumber of EU workers. More than 1,000employers were polled for the survey.British Prime Minister Theresa May, whois expected to start the divorce proceed-ing with the EU before the end of March,has said she wants to guarantee therights of EU citizens who are already liv-ing in Britain. But uncertainty over whatthat would entail and whether visarestrictions would be enforced is alsoprompting some EU nationals in the UKto consider relocating.

Almost one in three British employerssurveyed by the CIPD say they have evi-dence that the EU nationals they employhave looked to leave their organizationand/or Britain in 2017. The issue of immi-gration was at the heart of the EU refer-endum campaign last year in which 52percent voted for Britain to leave theEuropean Union. — AFP

MADRID: The former head of Spain’s centralbank was charged yesterday for allowing thetroubled Bankia bank to list on the stockexchange in 2011, despite alleged “repeatedwarnings... that the group was unviable.” MiguelAngel Fernandez Ordonez, in charge of the cen-tral bank from 2006 to 2012, was charged over afailed listing that saw small investors lose mil-lions of euros in investment, as was the formerpresident of Spain’s CNMV market regulator JulioSegura, a court order revealed.

Bankia was bailed out in May 2012 less thana year after its listing, and is accused of misrep-resenting its accounts ahead of the flotation.Rodrigo Rato, a former economy minister andex-International Monetary Fund chief whoheaded up Bankia at the time of its listing, hasalso been charged over the scandal. Yesterday,Spain’s top-level National Court said it hadordered the investigating magistrate to chargeFernandez Ordonez, Segura and six other cen-tral bank and CNMV officials at the time-anorder it insisted was final and could not beappealed. But it is as yet unclear exactly whatthe charges are.

The National Court validated conclusionsmade by prosecutors who concluded thatwhen “an unviable entity has been listed on thestock market, its administrators or auditorshould not shoulder all the responsibility.” Theyadded that “the participation of other players,such as officials in the central bank” should alsobe looked into.

‘Serious inaccuracies’ The investigating magistrate had initially

decided not to charge Fernandez Ordonez andSegura, but Spain’s CIC union appealed the deci-sion, leading to yesterday ’s ruling by theNational Court. In its court order, it laid out alle-gations by the plaintiffs who claim that an inves-tigating team at Spain’s central bank had warnedrepeatedly “that the group was unviable andthat... the listing should not be approved.”

Bankia was created in 2010 at the height ofSpain’s severe economic crisis from the mergerof seven troubled regional savings banks. Spain’sSupreme Court said last year that “serious inac-curacies” in the information provided by Bankiafor the listing led investors into error-openingthe way for hundreds of millions of euros incompensation.

Accordingly, the state-rescued lender has hadto pay out millions of euros in compensation tosmall investors. Rato is also on trial in a separatecase related to his time at Bankia, for allegedlymisusing funds when he was head of the group.He denies wrongdoing in both cases. — AFP

Spain central bank ex-chief charged over bank scandal

NICE: French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) partyMarine Le Pen (C) walks on the “Promenade des Anglais” as she visits Nice. — AFP

PARIS: Marine Le Pen’s pledge to ditch theeuro if elected French president would costthe country over 30 billion euros a year inincreased borrowing costs, the country’s cen-tral bank governor warned yesterday. With lessthan three months to go before the first roundof the election Le Pen is polling strongly on anationalist platform of heavily curtailingmigration, relinquishing the euro and organiz-ing a referendum on France’s EU membership.

Banque de France governor FrancoisVilleroy de Galhau said that pulling out of thesingle currency would drive up the cost ofFrance’s borrowing. “If we were alone, wewould be helpless faced with financial marketspeculation... and helpless faced with US pres-sure on the dollar,” he told France Inter radio.“Financing France’s public debt would costover 30 billion euros ($31 billion) a year: that’sthe equivalent of France’s annual defensebudget,” he said.

Villeroy de Galhau did not give a break-down of the calculation but said the interest

on France’s debt had fallen by 1.5 percentsince it adopted the single currency. “That isvery significant for those with home loans, forbusiness investments and all taxpayers,” hesaid. He also credited the euro with keepinginflation down, causing it to fall from nearlyfive percent annually before the 1992Maastricht Treaty that ushered in the euro tounder two percent currently.

Le Pen has argued that France needs totake back control over its monetary policy toboost growth-forecast to come in at 1.3 per-cent in 2017, below a eurozone average of 1.7percent-and rein in unemployment. Villeroy deGalhau acknowledged that the French econo-my needed to be “repaired and refurbished”but rejected the notion that the euro was thecause of its malaise. “Many countries thatshare the euro with us are doing well on theeconomic front,” he said, warning against“tearing down the foundations, our currencythe euro, which forms a very strong basis inuncertain times.” — AFP

Le Pen’s plan to ditch euro ‘to cost France €30bn a year’

UK faces worker shortage as EU nationals stay home

ZURICH: Switzerland faced uncertaintyyesterday after voters rejected a taxreform plan aimed at keeping the countryattractive to foreign businesses but derid-ed by critics as a corporate handout. Thewealthy Alpine nation had come underintensifying pressure from theOrganisation for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) over a taxregime that treats foreign companiesmore favorably than domestic ones.

The OECD has called the Swiss systemharmful and said it fuels market distortions.Bern had promised to resolve the issue by2019. Central to that effort was a govern-ment-backed plan approved by parliamentbut defeated by 60 percent of voters inSunday’s referendum, the latest poll inSwitzerland’s direct democracy system.The proposal would have leveled the taxrate for domestic and foreign firms whilecreating new deductions for innovation aswell as research and development, tailoredto attract global companies.

“ There is now a real danger thatSwitzerland will disappear from the radarof international companies,” FinanceMinister Ueli Maurer was quoted as sayingSunday by the RTS public broadcaster. Healso confirmed that Switzerland will notmeet its pledge to the OECD on reforming

its tax system within two years. Bern isunder pressure to resolve the impassequickly amid fears that companies will startputting money in places where long-termtax stability is assured.

There is even a risk of Switzerland’s“blacklisting” by the OECD and EuropeanUnion, the Zurich-based chief ofPricewaterhouseCoopers, Andreas Staubli,was quoted as saying by the Bloombergnews agency. Swissmem, which representsthe mechanical and electrical engineeringindustry, said in a statement that the gov-ernment should “quickly find a solution fora new reform plan”, warning that Sunday’svote had plunged companies into “a greatdeal of uncertainty.” But opponents of thereform plan were rejoicing.

The leftwing Socialist Party (PS) calledthe government’s plan a “scam” that wouldhave forced ordinary taxpayers to fillinevitable revenue shortfalls. The referen-dum had “shown the red card to arrogance”the party said in a statement, claiming thedays of giving sweetheart deals to power-ful corporations were “no longer tolerated.”The PS however said it was committed toworking with the government in generat-ing a new plan to address both the OECDand EU concerns, while also appealing tovoters. — AFP

Switzerland tax plan rejected

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

LONDON: World stocks and bond yieldsrose yesterday, lifted by a re-emergence ofso-called “Trump trades” as investors betthat the US president’s tax reform plans willboost economic growth and corporateprofits. Following on from Friday’s recordhigh closes on Wall Street, Asian stocks ral-lied to 1-1/2-year peaks and a broad meas-ure of pan-European stocks hit its highestsince late 2015.

The Japanese yen was the biggest under-performer among major currencies, as is typ-ical when riskier assets such as stocks aredoing well. Investors were also comforted bythe two-day US-Japan summit held over the

weekend apparently having ended smoothlywithout US President Donald Trump talkingtough on trade, currency or security issues.

“Trump-based reflation pricing remainsthe major driver in the US stock markets, andthirsty investors are waiting for more detailson Trump’s corporate tax cut plans,” said IpekOzkardeskaya, senior market analyst atLondon Capital Group. The STOXX 600,Europe’s leading index of top 600 shares,rose 0.6 percent to 369.51 points, the high-est in over a year. Mining and basicresources sectors were among the leaders.

Germany’s DAX was up 0.9 percent, led bya 15 percent rise in drug-maker Stada after

the company said it had received two offersfor the acquisition of the company, one ofwhich is private equity group CinvenPartners LLP. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.5 per-cent, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4 percent.

US futures pointed to a higher open onWall Street. The S&P 500, Dow JonesIndustrials and Nasdaq Composite all postedrecord closing highs on Friday.

No fearComments from Trump on Thursday that

he plans to announce what he said would bethe most ambitious tax reform plan since the

Reagan era in the next few weeks rekin-dled hopes for big tax cuts. Economicdata from major economies has alsobeen upbeat, including Friday’s Chinesetrade figures, while US corporate earn-ings have been also sol id so far.Kathleen Brooks, research director atCity Index in London, noted that the VIXmeasure of US stock market volatilityclosed last week below 11 for the thirdweek in a row.

The last time this happened was overa decade ago. “This is another sign that,for now, the Trump trade is still on. Italso suggests that even with the contro-versy Trump has caused since he tookoffice, financial markets are still willingto give him the benefit of the doubt,”Brooks said.

I n t h e we e k e n d m e e t i n g w i t hJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,Trump held off from repeating harshrhetoric that accused Japan of takingadvantage of U.S. security aid, stealingAmerican jobs and “playing moneymarkets”. Nor were currency issuesdiscussed.

Those apparently cordial discussionsdrove the dollar as much as 0.9 percenthigher against the yen to 114.17 yen. Itlast stood at 113.65 yen, up 0.4 percenton the day and extending its reboundfrom a 10-week low of 111.59 yentouched last week.

Figures yesterday showed that

Japan’s economy grew for a four thstra ight quar ter in the f inal threemonths of last year as a weaker yensupported exports, but doubts overthe sustainability of the recovery per-sisted. The euro’s rise of 0.5 percentagainst the yen to 121.00 yen, helpedsteady the European currency againstthe dol lar. The euro was lastunchanged on the day at $1.0640,inching fur ther away from Fr iday ’sthree-week low of $1.0608.

The euro has been dogged by fearsabout a strong showing for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ahead of apresidential election. Ten-year USTreasury yields rose 3 basis points to2.44 percent. In commodities, copperhit its highest levels since May 2015after shipments were shut off from theworld’s two biggest copper mines - dueto a strike in Chile and an export’s banby Indonesia.

It last traded at $6,126 per ton, up 0.6percent on the day. On Friday it jumpedmore than 4 percent, its biggest one-day rise in almost four years. Oil pricesdipped slightly after strong gains onFriday on reports that OPEC membersdelivered more than 90 percent of theoutput cuts they pledged in a landmarkdeal that took effect in Januar y.International benchmark Brent crudefutures fell 0.4 percent to $56.45 perbarrel. — Reuters

Stocks rise as ‘Trump trades’ bounce back

TOKYO: People cross an intersection in the Ginza shopping district. — AFP

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

GANGTOK: Decades after farmers on India’s plainsflocked to the “Green Revolution”, reliant on chemicalfertilizers to drive agricultural growth, the northeastHimalayan state of Sikkim is trying its luck with organicfarming - a pull for young, green-minded entrepre-neurs who could help get the produce to market.

Last year Sikkim was declared 100 percent organicby the Indian government, while across the country,organic farming is growing rapidly. India has theworld’s highest number of organic producers at650,000, or over a quarter of the global total, accordingto the Europe-based Research Institute of OrganicAgriculture.

Abhinandan Dhakal, 28, who lives in Sikkim’s statecapital Gangtok, has invested INR 3.4 million ($50,959)over four years, as well as his time and energy in layingthe foundations for an organic business growing andselling Peruvian ground apple, or yacon, a crisp, sweet-tasting tuber. “I have always been passionate aboutrural livelihoods,” said Dhakal, who joined an organiza-tion helping farmers in Tanzania after finishing hisstudies in environmental economics. Two years later,he returned to Sikkim with the ambition of becomingan agricultural entrepreneur.

To capitalize on Sikkim’s organic status and standout from the field, he decided to focus on yacon, ahigh-value product that is often eaten raw or con-sumed for its health benefits in the form of syrup andpowder. He has taught other farmers in east Sikkimhow to cultivate and sell the tuber. “Ground applegrows only in hills and has a great demand in the mar-ket, especially outside India,” Dhakal said, noting itspopularity in the Middle East, Europe, Singapore and

Australia. “It is much sought after by the food industryand health-conscious people as it has a lot of medici-nal value,” he added.

Dhakal’s Shoten Network Group has tied up withmarketing firms in Bangalore and Delhi to sell yacon toretailers and pharmaceuticals companies both insideand outside India. He plans to raise his venture’s cur-rent annual production of 10 tons to 200 tons nextyear, by collaborating with more farmers. DharniSharma, a 33-year-old farmer from Linkey in eastSikkim, said growing Peruvian ground apple had“brought a refreshing change”. It is also productive, hesaid, noting that 1 kg of seed yields 40-50 kg of groundapple, which sells for around INR 45 per kilo.

Renzino Lepcha, chief operating officer of Mevedir,a Sikkim-based company that offers farmers servicessuch as export and processing, said the shift to organicagriculture could lure back young people who had leftfor urban centers to find work in recent years. “Someare returning to farming with big hopes,” he said. Theyinclude Sonam Gyatso of Dzongu in north Sikkim, whopreviously worked for a state security agency. He quithis job after deciding to focus on organic farming onhis four acres of land. “I think I am doing well, as I nowhave a livelihood which I control myself,” he told theThomson Reuters Foundation.

Cut off from marketsBut not all of Sikkim’s farmers are so positive about

the state’s “100 percent organic” label. Some say theyneed more help from the state government to makethe niche business profitable for them - especially toreach markets outside Sikkim where consumers are

more willing to pay higher prices for organic produce.Suraj Pradhan, a farmer of vegetables and spices in

Nemche in south Sikkim, highlighted the need for coldstorage and advice on improving yields using onlyorganic fertilisers. Sonam Lepcha in Dzongu in thenorth of the state, who grows oranges, ginger and car-damom, said farmers in remote rural areas had yet toreap the rewards of Sikkim going fully organic.

“We love organic farming but we don’t have a goodmarket,” he said. “The government has been sayingthat organic products from remote villages will be col-lected by government agencies, but so far we have notseen it happening.” Mevedir’s Lepcha said transportingproduce to market is a major challenge because thetiny, landlocked state has no railway or airport.

“The risk factor is quite high as there are no properfacilities,” he said. Local farmers lack refrigeration, pro-cessing equipment and packaging materials, whileaccess to inputs such as organic pesticides and fertiliz-ers is another obstacle, he added. However, last Marchthe government launched a $62-million, three-yearprogram to develop organic value chains in the coun-try’s northeast, including Sikkim, intended to help theregion become a major supplier of organic commodi-ties for national and international markets, Lepcha not-ed. Anbalagan, executive director of the SikkimOrganic Mission who goes by one name, said effortsare underway to establish cold-storage facilities andimprove connections with the rest of the country,including construction of an airport.

Health-consciousOrganic agriculture is growing rapidly in all of

India’s states. The area under certified organic cultiva-tion grew around 17-fold in the decade to 2013-2014,to 723,000 hectares. Claude Alvares, director of theOrganic Farmers’ Association of India, said the growthis higher than reflected in official records because theyleave out some traditional crops grown without chemi-cals by small-scale farmers. “For instance, the value of asingle organic crop - jackfruit - is more than the valueof the entire certified export of organic food fromIndia,” he said.

With growing awareness about health, changinglifestyles and increased spending capacity in India,experts say the country’s organic food market has abright future. A recent government study predicted itsvalue would reach $1.36 billion per year by 2020. Indianscholar and green activist Vandana Shiva, who runs acampaign to make India’s food supply healthier byregenerating soil, water and biodiversity, believes thewhole country should become 100 percent organic.

That would enable the South Asian nation to saveannual spending of $1.2 trillion on fertilizers and fuel,ward off social and ecological harm, and avoid another$1 trillion in damage to health, Shiva said. According toenvironmental group Greenpeace, over-use of chemi-cal fertilizers and pesticides, fuelled by subsidies, hasbeen a key driver of soil degradation and slowing farmproductivity growth in India - a problem that has alsobeen acknowledged by the government in recentyears. Shiva said organic farming holds the solution toclimate change and water scarcity. “(It) increases cli-mate resilience by putting more organic matter andcarbon in the soil which holds more water, thusaddressing drought,” she explained. — Reuters

Young Indian farmers excite market for organic crops

BEIJING: China’s auto sales shrank in January fol-lowing a sales tax increase, an industry groupreported yesterday. Sales in the world’s biggestauto market declined 1.1 percent from a year earlierto 2.2 million, compared to December’s 9.1 percentexpansion, according to the China Association ofAutomobile Manufacturers. Total vehicle sales,including trucks and buses, rose 0.2 percent from ayear ago to 2.5 million.

China’s auto sales rose 15 percent last year afterBeijing cut in half a 10 percent sales tax on small-engine vehicles. The government restored part ofthat reduction in January, raising the tax from 5 per-cent to 7.5 percent. Demand for SUVs helped to off-set weakness in sedan sales. SUV sales rose 10.5 per-cent in January to 881,000, while sedan sales shrank3 percent to 1.1 million, according to CAAM. Salesof lower-priced Chinese brand SUVs rose 15.2 per-cent to 543,000. China’s trade figures can be distort-ed by the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at dif-ferent times in January and February each year. Thisyear, the two-week holiday began Jan. 27, depress-ing retail activity in January, while last year’s breakdidn’t begin until Feb. 7. “January was an unusualmonth with the earlier timing of the Chinese NewYear holiday and the impact of the reduced taxincentive,” Ford Motor Co.’s vice president for sales,Peter Fleet, said in a statement last week.

General Motors Co reported earlier that Januarysales of GM-brand vehicles by the company and itsChinese partners fell 24 percent to 321,264. Itblamed the Lunar New Year sales lull. Ford Motor Cosaid its sales were off 32 percent at 88,432 vehicles.While Nissan Motor Co, the most popular Japanesebrand in China, said sales declined 6.2 percent froma year earlier to 119,411 vehicles and Toyota MotorCo said its sales rose 8.1 percent to 101,800.

Steel capacity grows despite pledgesIn other news, China increased its steelmaking

capacity last year by more than twice Britain’s annu-al output, a report said Monday, despite repeatedpledges to cut huge excess in the sector. Chinamakes more than half the world’s steel but a slow-down in its economy and sagging global demandhas left the industry with massive excess capacity. Ithas been accused of dumping its production onworld markets, depressing prices and violatinginternational trade agreements. Throughout 2016,

authorities vowed to tackle excess productionthrough consolidation and shutting idle or ineffi-cient factories. But while some steel capacity wascut, this was more than offset by China’s opening ofnew factories or restarting of idle plants, accordingto a report by steel consultancy Custeel andGreenpeace East Asia.

It said China’s operating steelmaking capacityincreased by 36.5 million tons in 2016 — more thantwice as much as the total production capacity ofBritain. Eighty percent of this increase occurred inthree provinces bordering Beijing, causing air pollu-tion to spike in the capital at the end of the yearand early 2017, it added.

Steelmaking is the country’s second largestemitter of air pollution, the report said. Nearlythree-quarters of plants affected by China’s capacitycuts in 2016 were already idle. Instead of shuttingdown firms, local officials maneuvered to “shieldzombie steel mills and minimize the impact of thepolicies” on cutting capacity, said Lauri Myllyvirta,

Greenpeace global coal campaigner.Despite an agreement for Beijing to address

steel overcapacity reached at September’s G20meeting in Hangzhou, China’s trade partners haveaccused it of dumping the metal on markets in vio-lation of trade rules. Earlier this month the USDepartment of Commerce imposed hefty tariffs oncertain Chinese steel imports, with duties rangingfrom 63 percent to 190 percent on Chineseexporters accused of selling their products at belowfair value or of being unfairly subsidized.

In January the European Union unveiled taxes ofbetween 30.7 percent and 64.9 percent on certainChinese steel products as it seeks to protect strug-gling steelmakers in Europe. China must target cutson operating steel factories and not on idle ones,the Custeel report said, noting that more than 20million tonnes of new capacity is already due tocome online. Factories should be demolished andnot sealed up to prevent their reopening in thefuture, it said. — Agencies

Chinese auto sales weaken in January as sales tax rises

Sales in world’s biggest auto market declined 1.1 percent

TOKYO: Japan’s economy expanded at asteadily slowing pace in 2016, though amodest recovery in exports helped offsetsluggish spending by households and busi-nesses, according to data reported yester-day. The 1.0 percent annual pace of expan-sion for the year compared with 1.2 percentgrowth in 2015. For all but one quarter ofthe year, private demand was flat or nega-tive. And quarterly growth slowed to 0.2percent in October-December, down from0.6 percent in January-March. The prelimi-nary data released by the Cabinet officecould be revised upward. But overall thereport showed the challenges Japan’s plan-ners are facing in trying to rekindle growthwithout much help from corporate invest-ment or wage increases.

The good news 2016 was the first year that Japan saw

no quarter-to-quarter contractions in overa decade. Corporate investment rose 3.8percent from a year earlier in the last quar-ter, and the net gain from trade rose 5.4percent. A recent weakening of theJapanese yen against the U.S. dollar, fromabout 100 yen in the summer to about 114yen per dollar now, is helping corporateprofits and exports.

The not so good news Real wages were flat in October-

December, a main period for customarytwice-annual bonuses. Household spend-ing slipped 0.1 percent. For the year, privatedemand rose 0.4 percent, down sharplyfrom 2015. Manufacturers generally havebeen slow to invest or raise wages, and the

consumer demand that drives most busi-ness activity has remained tepid.Meanwhile, a weak yen tends to pushprices for imported food and other itemshigher, further discouraging spending.

The outlookA mild recovery in China has helped

boost demand for shipments of machineryand other industrial inputs from Japan. Theusual boost from increased governmentspending at the beginning of the April-March fiscal year will also likely sustaingrowth in coming months. But withPresident Donald Trump threatening toraise tariffs to rebalance the U.S. tradedeficit, “the increased dependence onexports to keep real GDP growth in positiveterritory is a concern given the growing riskof global trade tensions,” BMI Research saidin a report yesterday. It forecast that growthwould slow to 0.8 percent in 2017.

Japan’s population is shrinking and rap-idly aging, so businesses are opting toexpand in faster growing overseas marketsrather than at home. Meanwhile, real dis-posable incomes have stagnated for thepast three decades, while near-zero interestrates mean Japanese pensioners lose mon-ey on the nest eggs they rely on to surviveretirement. Progress on promised sweep-ing reforms of labor laws and other regula-tions to make the economy more competi-tive has been slow. “The government needsto accelerate reforms, including changes topension and tax systems, as well as laborrules to reduce obstacles to sustainablegrowth,” Harumi Taguchi of IHS GlobalInsight said in a commentary. — AP

Japan logs 1 percent growth in ‘16, private demand stalls

BEIJING: China is investigating the formerhead of a securities industry newspaper forlinks to a tycoon who went missing in HongKong last month, a local media outlet hasreported. Xie Zhenjiang, former president ofthe Securities Daily newspaper and chairmanof its business arm Securities Daily Media Co,has been expelled from the CommunistParty for “serious disciplinary violations”,respected financial magazine Caixin report-ed Saturday, citing anonymous sources.

The term is standard code for graft andthe expulsion is the first step in a processthat often ends in prosecution. Caixin haslinked the turmoil to the investigation intoXiao Jianhua, a tycoon who disappearedfrom his apartment at Hong Kong’s luxuryFour Seasons hotel. Some reports say he wasabducted by mainland Chinese securityagents and brought back to the mainland.

The editorial decisions and business oper-ations of the Securities Daily have beenunder the control of Xiao’s company, theBeijing-based Tomorrow Group, according toCaixin. The financier is reportedly underinvestigation in connection with China’s2015 stocks crash, when the Shanghai indexlost nearly 40 percent of its value over a two-month period.

The Securities Daily, established in 2000by state-owned newspaper Economic Daily,is one of a handful of media outlets author-ized by the China Securities RegulatoryCommission (CSRC) to publish mandatory

public disclosures. The newspaper is under atwo-month “rectification” for various busi-ness problems, Caixin said, without givingfurther details.

Shares in Securities Daily Media, whichis listed on the National Equities andExchange and Quotations, known as theNew Third Board, have been suspendedsince early January. “There is the possibilityof an event that may have a relatively largeinfluence on share transfer prices,” the com-pany said in a statement explaining thesuspension. Caixin said the newspaper wasrequired to publish negative reports aboutrival firms, and was forced to publish posi-tive articles about subsidiaries or affiliatesof Xiao’s Tomorrow Group.

It implied that the paper may have beenused as a tool for market manipulation. It isunclear how Xiao is being linked to the 2015crisis, but mainland investigators have sincetargeted several investment executives onsuspicion of insider trading. In January for-mer star hedge-fund manager Xu Xiang wassentenced to more than five years in prisonfor market manipulation. Last Friday LiuShiyu, chairman of the CSRC, vowed in ameeting to capture financial tycoons andbring them back to the mainland, accordingto Caixin. The market would not allow “bigcrocodiles”-or financial tycoons-to “call thewind and summon the rain”, Liu said, addingthat they would not allow them to “scalpinvestors and suck their blood”. — AFP

China probes media head linked to missing tycoon

SEOUL: Samsung Group leader Lee Jae-yongappeared at the South Korean special prosecutor’soffice for questioning yesterday as part of a widerinvestigation into an influence-peddling scandalthat could topple President Park Geun-hye.

The special prosecutor has focused on SouthKorea’s biggest conglomerate, accusing Lee in hiscapacity as Samsung chief of pledging 43 billionwon ($37.31 million) to a business and organiza-tions backed by Park’s friend, Choi Soon-sil, inexchange for support for a 2015 merger of twoSamsung companies. The funding includedsponsorship for the equestrian career of Choi’sdaughter, who is under arrest in Denmark afterbeing sought by South Korean authorities.

Park, Lee, Choi, and Samsung Group have alldenied bribery accusations. Proving illicit dealingsbetween Park or her confidantes and SamsungGroup is critical for the special prosecutor’s casethat ultimately targets Park, analysts have said.Park was impeached by parliament in Decemberand South Korea’s Constitutional Court will decidewhether to uphold that decision. She has beenstripped of her powers in the meantime. Leearrived at the prosecution office in southernSeoul early yesterday in a black sedan, dressed ina dark blue suit and tie and flanked by SamsungGroup officials and his lawyer. “I will once againtell the truth to the special prosecution,” SamsungGroup’s third-generation leader told reportersbefore entering an elevator. He gave no details.Outside the prosecutor’s office, protesters held upsigns calling for his arrest.

Executives questionedThe special prosecution team said investiga-

tors were questioning two other Samsung exec-utives as suspects. Both are officers of the KoreaEquestrian Federation and have been ques-

tioned previously in the case. One of those two,Samsung Electronics Co Ltd president ParkSang-jin, did not respond to reporters on hisarrival at the special prosecution team’s office.

Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman for the special prose-cution office, told a news briefing the office woulddecide soon whether to make a second arrest war-rant request for the Samsung Group chief. He didnot comment on other details, including what LeeJae-yong, 48, during yesterday’s questioning.Spokesman Lee said prosecutors would also con-sider whether to seek arrest warrants for four oth-er Samsung Group executives identified as sus-pects. The prosecutor’s office had previously said itwould not seek arrests for any Samsung execu-

tives other than Lee Jae-yong.In January, the special prosecution sought a

warrant to arrest Samsung chief Lee after ques-tioning him for more than 22 hours, accusinghim of paying bribes to win the state pensionfund’s support for the controversial merger ofSamsung C&T Corp and Cheil Industries Inc.

However, a Seoul court rejected that request.Chang Choong-ki, deputy head of SamsungGroup’s corporate strategy office, known infor-mally as its “control tower”, was also questionedas a suspect on Sunday and returned homehours later. Shares in Samsung Electronics weredown 0.9 percent by 0600 GMT yesterday, com-pared with a flat wider market. — Reuters

BEIJING: In this Dec 13, 2016 photo, workers buy their lunch outside a construction site at theCentral Business District in Beijing. China’s economic growth accelerated slightly in the final quar-ter of 2016 but its full-year performance still was the weakest in nearly three decades. — AP

Samsung chief appears for second round of questions in graft probe

SEOUL: Lee Jae-yong, center, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives to be questionedas a suspect in a corruption scandal at the office of the independent counsel. — AP

b u s i n e s sTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

By Athoob Al-Shuaibi

KUWAIT: The Public Authority forManpower in Kuwait held a seminar forprivate company owners to increaseawareness around the labor law. Theseminar was held in collaboration withthe Union of Investment Companies(UIC) and the Investment StudiesCenter. The Supervisor of Follow UpDepartment and Investigator and LegalResearcher at The Public Authority forManpower, Naser Al-Hajri presentedsome provisions of the law yesterday atBahra Hall in the Chamber ofCommerce and Industry.

In a quick overview of the history ofKuwait’s labor law, it was observed thatthe first iteration of the law passed in1959 was unfair to workers, and in theinterest of the employer. The secondamendment came in 1969 to addressthese shortcomings and regulate therelationships of both parties. Kuwait iscurrently operating under the umbrellaof the law N 6 of 2010, which includes150 clauses.

It’s worth noting that the labor lawwas passed before the issuance of estab-lishment of the Public Authority forManpower in 2013. This parallels Kuwait’s

international obligations in treatiessigned with the International LaborOrganization and the InternationalOrganization for Migration and HumanRights. It features a law granting moreguarantees that modify the running con-ditions, employment of women, in addi-tion to the rights of the private companyowners.

Al-Hajri stated with respect to mini-mum wages: 60 KD was the minimumwage for workers set by the Kuwaiti lawNo 6 of 2010. But also, the law commit-ted the Social Affair Minister in hiscapacity as responsible for the wage tobe surveyed every five years, and will befor a draft resolution shall be placed bythe National Assembly. In our purposeat the Authority, we review salaries andthe labor market on a regular basis inan effort to further concessions.

There was a great interest from theaudience to ask questions due to thevitality of the subject matter and theirkeenness of maintaining fairness ofemployment, particularly with regard tothe allocation of the end of the service.The Supervisor said that the approxi-mated number of financial benefits forlabor issues has reached 27 thousandcases in courts across the country.

(From left) Naser Al-Hajri, the Supervisor of Follow Up Department at thePublic Authority for Manpower and Fadwa Darwish, the ISC Acting Directorand Director of Technical Support at UIC. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

General audience at the seminar.

Seminar on Kuwait’s labor law

KUWAIT: EQUATE Petrochemical Company, aglobal producer of petrochemicals, and MaerskLine signed a partnership agreement todecrease CO2 emissions in ocean transportation.The agreement, which is the first of its kind inKuwait, is based on EQUATE’s and Maersk Line’sSustainability Strategies that include the sharedvision to protect and safeguard the environmentby decreasing CO2 emissions.

During 2013-2016, the business collaborationwith Maresk Line resulted in decreasing CO2emissions from certain containerized oceantransportation segments by over 35%.Throughout 2016 alone, by using the oceantransportation solutions provided by MaerskLine, CO2 emissions decreased to less than 4,000tons in comparison with the global average ofover 5,000 tons. This was done through usingenvironment friendly ships, voyage optimiza-tion, space utilization, network improvementand other innovative best practices.

Sustainability StrategyEQUATE’s Vice President for Technical Services

Tareq Jafar Al-Kandari said, “As we continuouslyencourage and support our business associatesto have sustainable emission reduction pro-grams, this agreement with Maersk Line is partof our ongoing business partnership. In accor-dance with EQUATE’s Sustainability Strategy, thisagreement is a step in our plan to have a sharedvision for CO2 emission reduction with our con-tractors and cooperate with them to reduceemissions through applying best practices.”

Al-Kandari added, “In line with the company’scontinuous efforts to safeguard the environ-ment, EQUATE constantly thrives to implementbest practices and global standards aiming atCO2 emissions reduction with the collaborationof all its stakeholders. As part of these efforts,

EQUATE has supported establishing Kuwait’s firstCO2 recovery and recycling plant to reduce thecarbon footprint and develop the industrialdownstream sector. Based on our success withMaersk Line and other organizations, EQUATE isaspiring to implement CO2 emission reductionagreements with other contractors and suppli-ers, such as other ocean transportation compa-nies, to ensure overall sustainability.”

On his par t , Maersk L ine’s RegionalManaging Director Mohammad Shihab said,“For Maersk Line jointly signing a Carbon Pacttoday is a milestone in our relationship withEQUATE.We are happy to contr ibute toEQUATE’s plans to reduce the emissions in thevalue chain, as well as to take our businessrelationship further through bringing more

sustainability elements into procurementpractices.”

Shihab added, “With over 35% reduction inCO2 emissions since 2013 on our joint business,we aspire to further reduce 15% by 2020. Withthis we demonstrate that responsible business isgood business.”

The EQUATE Group is a global producer ofpetrochemicals that creates a better world. TheGroup combines EQUATE PetrochemicalCompany (EQUATE), its subsidiaries and TheKuwait Olefins Company (TKOC). The EQUATEGroup is the world’s second largest producer ofEthylene Glycol (EG) with industrial complexes inKuwait, North America and Europe that produceEthylene, EG, Polyethylene (PE) and PolyethyleneTerephthalate (PET).

The products are marketed throughout Asia,the Americas, Europe, the Middle East andAfrica. As a leading global enterprise, theEQUATE Group strongly pursues sustainabilityprinciples and best practices wherever it oper-ates through partnerships with various stake-holders including employees and customers aswell as societies as a whole in f ields thatincludes human development, environment,education, health and public awareness.TheEQUATE Group’s shareholders includePetrochemical Industries Company (PIC), TheDow Chemical Company (Dow), BoubyanPetrochemical Company (BPC) and QurainPetrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). TheGroup provides reliable services and solutionsthat enables global customers and stakehold-ers to grow and attain the success they seek bybeing “Partners in Success.”

Maersk Line, the world’s leading containercarrier with over 100 years of heritage is head-quartered in Denmark (Copenhagen) and oper-ates in over 130 countries worldwide. MaerskLine opened its office in Kuwait in 1992 to offerthe Kuwaiti market global connectivity with thehighest reliability in the container shippingindustry. In Kuwait, Maersk Line operates inboth sea ports Shuwaikh and Shuaiba handlingcontainerized traffic. One of the key goals atMaersk Line is to transform the customer expe-rience in the container shipping industry.Maersk Line customers have access to the mostmodern vessels, the world’s largest and mostsophisticated container pools, as well as world-class information systems. Reliability as a toppriority, Maersk Line is frequently ranked byindependent third parties as the most reliablecarrier. Maersk Line is also a leader inSustainability, which is fast becoming a majordifferentiator in the container shipping indus-try. Maersk Line is considerably more efficientthan the industry average - and this enablesend customers to reduce the environmentalfootprint (including CO2) of their logistics solu-tions and supply chains.

EQUATE & Maersk Line sign partnershipagreement to reduce CO2 emissions

NEW YORK: Etihad Airways co-hosted anexclusive dinner last Thursday at New YorkFashion Week: The Shows with Lauren SantoDomingo, Co-founder of online luxury fash-ion retailer, Moda Operandi. The special

event, whose attendees included distin-guished guests from across the fashionindustry, was held to mark the launch of‘Runway to Runway’, the airline’s uniquerewards program specially designed to sup-

port the fashion community’s internationaltravel requirements.

To commemorate the launch, EtihadAirways awarded each dinner guest top tierGold Status founding membership with

‘Runway to Runway’ and a complimentaryBusiness Class return flight to Abu Dhabi, capi-tal of the United Arab Emirates. The dinneralso celebrated an upcoming partnershipbetween Moda Operandi and Etihad Airways,

which will invite select Moda Operandidesigners to Abu Dhabi to support the design-ers’ business objectives in a key global fashionmarket, and elevate the fashion industry pres-ence in the region.

Etihad Airways invites fashion’s elite to celebrate launch of ‘Runway to Runway’

t e c h n o l o g yTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

PARIS: A long time ago, in a galaxy faraway, a supergiant red star ended its lifein a spectacular explosion known as asupernova. The light from that eventtook 160 million years to reach Earthwhere, in a stroke of luck, robot tele-scopes scanning the night sky happenedupon it on October 6, 2013. Yesterday,astronomers said the chance discoveryallowed them to study the earliest phaseof a supernova yet - just three hoursafter it erupted. “We immediately knewthat what we have in hand is extremelyunique,” Ofer Yaron of the WeizmannInstitute of Science in Israel, lead authorof a study in the journal Nature Physics,told AFP. “We managed to observe thisevent when (it was) very young.”

The supernova was named SN 2013fs.Scientists are keen to study the earlyphases of supernovae, seeking insightsinto the moments just before massivestars expire in such dramatic fashion. Butwithout knowing when and where in thevast Universe a supernova will occur,they are rarely spotted before they arealready several days old and most of thedebris has dispersed. Supernovae arenormally observable over a time scale ofabout a year, but their peak brightnesslasts between several days and severalweeks, said Yaron. Until recently, catch-ing a supernova a week after detonationwas considered early.

Teamwork The light of massive stars and their

explosions can take several millions or

billions of years to reach Earth. In thecase of SN 2013fs, the light’s 160-mil-lion-year trip was snared by an automat-ed scan by the Palomar Observatorynear San Diego, California, which is con-stantly looking for new astrophysicalevents. A human eye spotted the celes-tial anomaly in telescope readings soonafter wards, and aler ted otherastronomers and physicists to train theirinstruments on the event to determineits distance, composition, temperatureand other traits.

Among others, spectroscopic meas-urements of the light intensity wereobtained from the W M KeckObservatory in Hawaii, and UV and X-rayreadings from NASA’s Swift satellite.Yaron and a team assembled the data toreconstruct a picture of the momentsbefore the star’s dazzling demise. Theycaught the event so early, said the scien-tists, they could still observe the pres-ence of material expelled by the dyingstar in its final year of life, forming adense shell around it.

This hinted at instability in the dyingmoments of the star, which they con-cluded had been a red supergiant. Thesupernova it caused was a “regular” type,suggesting that “pre-supernova instabili-ties may be common among explodingmassive stars,” the team wrote. If massivestars are unstable in the months beforethey die, their structure may be differentthan assumed so far - something thathas implications for modelling of theexplosion process, said Yaron. —AFP

Astronomers zoom in on megastar outburst

Dell EMC yesterdat announced the officiallaunch of the integrated Dell EMC PartnerProgram, built from the ground up while pre-serving the best of two world-class legacy pro-grams. The program establishes one extraordi-nary new program that addresses the needs ofpartners today and into the future. Developedin collaboration with partners globally, the pro-gram’s primary tenets are to be simple, pre-dictable and profitable.

“Global business is rapidly changing asmore and more customers prioritize invest-ment in digital transformation. Dell EMC andits partners are uniquely positioned to helpcustomers through this evolution,” said JohnByrne, President, Global Channel, Dell EMC.“Dell EMC provides vast opportunities to ourpartners’ through an industry leading portfo-lio of innovative products, services and solu-tions, and now with the Dell EMC PartnerProgram, provides the support and programsfor partners to excel.”

Michael Collins, Senior Vice President,Channel, Dell EMC EMEA, added, “We’ve dili-gently designed the Dell EMC Partner Programto be the most desirable program in the indus-try. We are truly providing the means and theopportunity along with the recognition andprofitability that our partners want anddeserve. We’re ‘all in’ with our partners andinvested in their success.”

Program Tiers and Special StatusThe new program tiers, developed to ele-

vate Dell EMC Partners over competitors andestablish a clear path to level-up, includeTitanium, Platinum and Gold, as well as a newstatus level within the Titanium Tier, TitaniumBlack. Benefits to solution provider partnersinclude generous rebates focused on profitablebehaviors such as driving new business, servicesales (inclusive of consulting, deployment, sup-port and education services), training participa-tion and selling the full portfolio. As a partnerprogresses their tier, their benefits increase.

The Titanium Black Status is an invitationonly, special designation created to strengthenthe relationship with partners who areextremely aligned with Dell EMC. The unifiedprogram embraces the entire Dell EMC partnerecosystem, inclusive of solution providers,cloud service providers, strategic outsourcers,OEM partners, systems integrators and distribu-tion partners. The program includes uniquetracks with specific advantages and incentivesthat align to a particular partner type andattained tier designation. As part of this fullecosystem strategy, included as well is the

“Powered by Dell EMC” brand program forthose businesses that embed Dell EMC tech-nologies into the marketplace.

Distribution PartnersDistribution is a key component to help our

partners deliver for their customers and DellEMC is investing to grow this business. The dis-tribution program offers a comprehensive setof benefits, which include base rebates paidback to dollar one of sales, growth acceleratorsbased on targeted partners and lines of busi-ness and services rebates. In addition, earnedquarterly market development funds (MDF)can be spent on activities such as enablement,demand generation and headcount.

All distribution partners that are authorizedby Dell EMC will be granted status as anAuthorized Distributor, which each will main-tain by meeting annual minimum revenue,services penetration rates and training compe-tencies requirements. Dell EMC plans to consol-idate the list of distribution partners in the newprogram, and partner more closely with keyglobal distribution partners who are placingbets on the company. Dell EMC will maintain asmaller set of local distribution partners bycountry.

Predictable: Rules of EngagementDell EMC is committed to rewarding part-

ners for driving new business. Through a fullyintegrated and streamlined process, as well as aglobally enforced Partner Code of Conduct, theDeal Registration program helps protect thosepartners who actively promote Dell EMC’sproducts and solutions to their customers.Partners with registered and approved oppor-tunities receive both advantaged pricing aswell as protection from direct sales conflict.Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG)Incumbency for Commercial Accounts DellEMC’s vision is for partners to extend theirreach into new and existing markets as a trueextension of our entire sales force.

As such, Dell EMC is evolving its current Lineof Business (LOB) Incumbency for Storage pro-gram to ISG Incumbency in its Commercial Salessegment, which provides incumbency across allISG lines of business including Server,Networking, Storage, Backup, Converged/Hyperconverged and Solutions on qualifying accounts.ISG incumbency will provide more predictabilitythan ever before to enable partners to aggres-sively grow their business with Dell EMC. ISGIncumbency allows us to mutually play to winwith our partners.

To help partners plan their growth and

protect their investments, Dell EMC launchedthe LOB Incumbency for Storage program inOctober 2016. This program recognizes therelationships partners have established withcustomers based on historical business per-formance with the goal to minimize directconflict and ensure alignment between theDell EMC sales team and the incumbent part-ners.

Now evolving to a more comprehensiveISG Incumbency model where rather thanproviding incumbency for a specific line ofbusiness in an account, qualifyingCommercial accounts will receive incumben-cy across all ISG lines of business includingServer, Networking, Storage, Backup,Converged/Hyper converged and Solutions.ISG Incumbency will protect the entire data-center solution and enable cross-selling ofthe full ISG portfolio. In addition, partners areprovided the opportunity to earn incumben-cy on new customers or new lines of businesson existing customers across the ISG portfo-lio. Operationalising the ISG Incumbency pro-gram is actively being worked with details tofollow.

ServicesPartners can build deeper relationships,

provide greater customer value and increaseprofitability when they supplement their owncapabilities with Dell EMC Services. The newprogram gives partners a choice on how totap into the growth opportunities with servic-es. Partners can resell Dell EMC Services toearn lucrative rebates and contributions totier level requirements or those who obtainService Competencies in consulting, supportand deployment can co-deliver or deliver DellEMC Services themselves.

Simple: Resources and TechnologyEnablement-Unified Partner Portal

To enhance the partner experience, therewill be one portal for the Dell EMC PartnerProgram, streamlined with distinctive viewsfor each partner type and partner track pro-viding a wealth of necessary enabling infor-mation. The single point of entry portal for allpartners is scheduled to go live the week ofFebruary 20, 2017.

Through the portal, Dell EMC partners willhave access to needed tools and resourcesincluding:

Rebate and MDF TrackingSales and Marketing ToolsProgram Guides and Event KitsCountry Specific Benefits& Requirements

FAQsTraining and Competencies Deal Registration Services and Support Resources Quoting and Purchasing Tools

Profitable: Rich Rebates and MDFThe opportunity for profitability is a corner-

stone of the program awarding eligible part-ners with lucrative rebates. Base rebates arepaid back to dollar one and growth rebatesreward partners who successfully grow theirrespective Dell EMC lines of business over time.And partners who attach services to expandinto new lines of business can earn additionalrebates on top of the base and growth rebates.In addition, there is an infusion of $150 millionof incremental investment opportunities toboost back-end rebates and MDF, both earnedand proposal based.

Service Provider Partner InvestmentsAs enterprises accelerate their shift toward

all-digital businesses and cloud delivery mod-els, Dell EMC is increasing its commitmentthrough additional investments in the CloudService Provider track of the new partner pro-gram. These investments start with increasedgo-to-market resources, the instantiation ofservice provider solutions engineering team allbacked up by new revenue-based rebates andaccess to both earned- and proposal-basedbusiness development funds.

Cloud Partner Connect Initiative Dell EMC’s Cloud Partner Connect initiative

facilitates building resale relationships betweenSolution Provider and Cloud Service Providers.It allows Solution Providers to expand theirofferings to include leading cloud services fortheir customers, with minimal investment andpowered by Dell EMC.

OEM Partner CommitmentEvery OEM customer is unique with differ-

ent go-to-market requirements. The OEMPartner track was created to better serve theneeds of Dell EMC OEMs and their customers.Dell EMC OEM partners are hand selectedbased on their resources and capabilities andare dedicated to helping OEM customers bringproducts to market efficiently. These partnerscomplement Dell EMC’s offerings by providingvalue-added services such as custom hardwareand software integration, final assembly andtest, financing options, inventory manage-ment, consolidation and shipping, custom sup-port engagements and supply-chain solutions.

Dell EMC Working Capital SolutionsIn partnership with leading financial institu-

tions, Dell EMC offers extended payment termsand increased credit capacity to enable ourpartners to grow their business faster.

Analyst Quote:“The new Dell EMC Partner Program is archi-

tected for partner growth and profitability,” saidKevin Rhone, Director, Channel Acceleration,Enterprise Strategy Group. “This new integratedprogram brings forward the best aspects of bothprograms and truly goes above and beyondwhat we’ve seen previously in the industry interms of partner support and recognition. Nodoubt this will be highly lucrative to partnersand Dell EMC, and will enable further growththroughout the industry.”

Partner Quotes:“Dell’s new integrated program will provide

Arrow’s global reseller and system-integratorecosystem with opportunities to deliver greatercustomer value and increase profitability,” saidBenjamin Klay, Vice President, InfrastructureSystems Group for Enterprise ComputingSolutions, Arrow Electronics. “Dell EMC is help-ing to differentiate itself with an expansiveportfolio of value-added solutions and ademonstrated commitment to listening to theneeds of its partner community.”

“The Dell EMC partner program is a win-winfor partners and allows us to continue to focuson growing our business” said Sonia St. Charles,CEO, Davenport Group. “The transparency andaccessibility to a host of products and servicesfocused all around the data center allows us toaddress multiple customer challenges andincreases our earning potential with multiplepaths to achieve tier status.”

“Digital transformation is driving our busi-ness and with the breadth of the Dell EMC port-folio we can address complex customerrequirements,” said Bob Murphy, President, andPresidio North. “The new Dell EMC PartnerProgram enables us to provide solutions withmore agility while maintaining the predictabili-ty that’s so important to our business.Combined with the support and enablementin the program, I think our future is bright.”

“The new (Titanium Black) partner status isgoing to create new opportunities for us. I thinkthere are a lot of things we can do collectivelyfrom an innovation perspective.” said JimKavanaugh, CEO, World Wide Technology, Inc.,“Driving accelerated growth around the world -that’s exciting.”

Dell EMC launches historic new integrated partner program

NEW JERSEY: Teachers from elemen-tary school through college areinstructing students on how to deci-pher fact from fiction when it comes toonline news, after an election seasonthat saw made-up stories abound.Some of their lessons:

URL look odd? That “com.co” end-ing on an otherwise authentic-lookingwebsite is a red flag. When in doubt,click on the “contact” and “about” linksto see where they lead. A major newsorganization probably isn’t headquar-tered in a house.

Does it make you mad? Falsereports often target emotions withclaims of outlandish spending orunpatriotic words or deeds. If com-mon sense tells you it can’t be true, itmay not be.

If it’s real, other news sites are likelyreporting it.

How is the writing? Caps lock andmultiple exclamation points don’thave a place in most real newsrooms.

Who are the writers and the peoplein the story? Google names for clues tosee if they are legitimate, or not.

What are fact-checking sites likeSnopes.com and FactCheck.orgfinding?

It might be satire. Sometimes fool-ish stories aren’t really meant to fool.

Think twice before sharing. Today,everyone is a publisher. —AP

Tips on how to distinguishfake news from real news

NEW JERSEY: In this photo, students in a journalism course at Kean University in Union, NewJersey, watch a presentation on fake news.

NEW DELHI: India’s navy is in the hunt for anew foreign fighter jet after rejecting anindigenously made aircraft as too heavy, thelatest sign of the struggle to get Asian mili-taries to buy locally to grow their defenseindustries. The navy last month invited manu-facturers to pitch for 57 planes for its aircraftcarriers, a multi-billion dollar order the govern-ment had hoped would go to the state-runproducers of India’s Tejas, a combat aircraft 33years in the making.

India, South Korea, Taiwan and other Asianbuyers are expected to intensify efforts thisyear to develop indigenous warplanes, militaryofficials said, due to anxieties that the UnitedStates may be less engaged in the regionunder US President Donald Trump. But theirhopes of manufacturing state-of-the-art war-planes could still be decades away as countriesneed more time to master the technology,experts said. “It’s been long on ambition shorton success,” Richard A. Bitzinger, senior fellowat Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School ofInternational Studies, said of the drive. “Thesethings are being done because of techno-nationalism. They are done because thesecountries perceive of themselves as rising pow-

ers.” As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s“Make-in-India” campaign, scientists will show-case the Tejas warplane at an air show openingin Bangalore today. But the jet remains a workin progress, with only three in service with theair force. South Korea, supported by Indonesia,has multi-billion dollar plans to develop a twin-engine KF-X fighter jet, while Taiwan said thismonth it plans to build 66 jet trainer aircraftthat could eventually help it manufacture acombat plane.

Chang Yeoung-keun, an adviser on the KF-Xfighter jet project and a professor at KoreaAerospace University, said full development ofthe plane and its technologies will takedecades. “South Korea needs to develop coretechnologies of the jets, not just shells,” he said.“I am skeptical. South Korea may be able todevelop core technology in 30 to 40 years, butthey have to develop them in 10 years, withcurrent fighter jets ageing.”

India’s struggleCleared by the government in 1983, the

Indian plane was meant to be the backbone ofthe air force due for induction in 1994. Instead,it suffered years of delay with scientists trying

to build the world’s most modern light combataircraft from scratch, including the engine. InDecember, the navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba,said the sea version of the plane was “not up tothe mark” and it could not take off from an air-craft carrier once weapons were loaded.

A source in the navy said that the plane foryears has failed flight tests when taking offfrom a 200-metre carrier deck with weaponson board. That prompted the navy to issue arequest last month for information for a foreignfighter to fill the gap, the first stage in a longprocurement process. Boeing Co has pitchedits F-A/18 Hornet that the US navy flies from itscarriers, to the Indian defense ministry, includ-ing an offer to build it locally. Sweden’s Saab ABsaid on Friday it will offer the naval version ofits Gripen fighter to the Indian navy. India’s topdefense scientists said they were disappointedby the navy’s decision and that fighter aircraftdevelopment was a challenge everywhere,including with the US Joint Strike Fighter, theF-35. “Look at the F-35, with all the might of themultinational effort, is still evolving,” said asource in the aeronautical developmentagency which is spearheading the LCA effort.“There are no shortcuts.”—Reuters

Asian nations push for indigenous warplanes

H E A LT H & S C I E NC ETUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

MAYAPUR, India: For Hira Kanjarya, a 17hour day is the norm as she gets up beforedawn to cook for her five children, do thewashing, milk her two buffalos, and also runthe family’s cotton farm. Kanjarya, 36, is oneof a growing number of women beingtrained to take charge of some of the mil-lions of small holder farms across Indiawhere about 70 percent of agricultural workis done by women but with little recogni-tion of their input.

Gender roles in tradition-bound rural Indiaare slowly changing with women having totake control as large numbers of working-agemen migrate to cities for jobs and amid awave of suicides by male farmers battling toprovide for their families. Acknowledging thegrowing role women play in India’s key agri-cultural sector, state governments, farminggroups, and private industry are starting totrain women to lead farms, teaching themabout crops, irrigation, and finance.

Repeated studies show that whenwomen control the family’s finances, theyinvest more in their children, businesses andcommunities, which can be a step out of

poverty. “This is the way forward, women tak-ing over the farms and investing in children’seducation,” Kanjarya, in a bright yellow sari,told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in herfamily’s spotless four-room home in Mayapurin the western state Gujarat.

“From age five I had to work on my fami-ly’s farm but I want to work now so my chil-dren get an education, better jobs and bet-ter husbands. Maybe one day my son willbuy a big car and drive me around,” shesaid, laughing with her four-year-old son.Women like Kanjarya taking the lead onfarms is a major cultural shift in India whereold superstitions often blame women forpoor harvests, drought and disease - withsome punished as witches accused forcausing such disasters.

More women in farmingKanjarya is one of 1,250 women farmers

being trained to grow sustainable cotton andrun her farm as a business in a project bysocial enterprise CottonConnect and India’sSelf Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)funded by British retailer Primark. At a train-

ing session for about 20 women in Mayapur,a village 160 km (100 miles) from state capi-tal Ahmedabad where buffalos and cowswander the dusty streets, the women jokeabout knowing more than their husbandsabout farming and banking.

Aruna Kanjarya, 32, who has two childrenaged 10 and 13, said she had doubled hercotton yields while lowering her costs inthree years - and the extra income changedtheir lives. “Our children are in school and I’vehelped pay to educate my husband who isnow a computer operator for the state gov-ernment,” said Kanjarya who, like mostwomen in Mayapur, had an arranged mar-riage and first met her husband at their wed-ding. A report by the charity Oxfam releasedin January, titled “An Economy for the 99 per-cent”, said more than 40 percent of 400 mil-lion women living in rural India - a third ofIndia’s 1.2 billion population - work in agricul-ture. “However as women are not recognizedas farmers and do not own land, they havelimited access to government schemes andcredit, restricting their agricultural productiv-ity,” it said. According to official data, women

make up more than a third of India’s agricul-ture workforce, yet only about 13 percent offarmland is owned by women. UnitedNations studies have indicated closing thegender gap in agriculture could lift an esti-mated 100 to 150 million people from 800million globally out of the clutches ofhunger. Campaigners hope a set of UnitedNations global goals agreed in 2015 and aim-ing for gender equality by 2030 could helpelevate women’s role in rural India with acommitment to give women equal access todecent work, education, and healthcare.

Domino effectReema Nanavaty, executive director of

India’s Self Employed Women’s Association(SEWA) - the world’s largest organization ofinformal workers with over two millionmembers - said women’s critical role infarming needed to be officially acknowl-edged. For farming accounts for about 16percent of India’s economy and 10 percentof export earnings. “Women have just notbeen recognized as farmers,” she told theThomson Reuters Foundation during an

interview in Ahmedabad. “They farm to feedtheir families but we want them to turn thefarm into an enterprise. If you can trainwomen to do that then you can also talk tothem about health, education and nutritionand it benefits everyone.” The women inMayapur said their husbands were wonover to them taking the lead on the farmswhen they saw the boost in income thatresulted from better farming practices suchas less water and chemical usage and bettertiming of crops.

Kanjarya’s husband Ishwar, 38, said thetraining his wife received had boosted profitsfrom the cotton farm held by his family forgenerations and helped them buy a televi-sion, mobile phone and a motorbike shiningoutside their concrete home. “When we mar-ried we were partners but since joining thisprogram she is the boss. If I don’t work shebosses me about,” he said with a laugh astheir five children shyly looked on. “Therewas no access to education and no moneyfor education when we were children butnow we have money and even savings in ourpocket. We feel very lucky.” — Reuters

Who’s the boss? We are, say India’s women farmers

MUMBAI: Indian doctors put an Egyptianbelieved to be the world’s heaviest woman on aspecial liquid diet yesterday as they prepared herfor an emergency weight-loss operation. EmanAhmed Abd El Aty weighs around 500 kilograms(1,100 pounds) and had not left her house inmore than two decades until arriving in Mumbaiat the weekend for bariatric surgery. Doctors saidthe 37-year-old would be fed only liquid supple-

ments for the next 25 days to help her lose the 50kilograms required before they can begin operat-ing. “Only after all the diseases related to obesityare brought under control and Eman losesweight will we conduct the surgery,” Dr MuffazalLakdawala told reporters, adding the procedurewould take two and a half hours.

The specialist weight-loss surgeon said he andhis team at Mumbai’s Saifee hospital hoped thesurgery would help Abd El Aty shed another 150

kilograms. It would allow her to sit up and feedherself, something not possible in her presentstate. Following the surgery she will spend fivemonths being closely monitored by the Indianspecialists and receiving physiotherapy to exer-cise her muscles before returning to Egypt.

Lakdawala said if the initial treatment was suc-cessful then doctors could use surgery to bringAbd El Aty’s weight down to under 100 kilogramsin a couple of years’ time. The Egyptian, who hailsfrom the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria,was flown to India’s commercial capital in a spe-cially modified Airbus on Saturday for treatment.Abd El Aty’s sister had approached Lakdawala inOctober, saying her sibling needed urgent med-ical attention. Her family told the doctor that as achild she was diagnosed with elephantiasis, acondition that causes the limbs and other body

parts to swell, leaving her almost immobile. AbdEl Aty has suffered a stroke and faced a series ofother serious ailments owing to her weight includ-ing diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertensionand sleep deprivation. Her request for an Indianvisa was initially denied, but she was granted pas-sage after tweeting a plea for help directly toIndia’s foreign minister, who intervened.

Abd El Aty had a long wait as no airlines werewilling to fly her due to her health complications.Bariatric surgery is a stomach-shrinking bypassprocedure carried out on those wanting to loseexcessive weight. It is increasingly common inIndia, which has a growing problem with obesity,particularly in urban areas. India is a major desti-nation for medical tourists seeking quality servic-es and no waiting lists at a fraction of the cost ofwestern countries. — AFP

Indian doctors prepare ‘world’sheaviest woman’ for surgery

MUMBAI, Maharashtra: An image of Egyptian national Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who weighsaround 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), is displayed at a press conference attended by herIndian bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala in Mumbai yesterday. — AFP photos

MUMBAI, Maharashtra: Indian bariatric sur-geon Muffazal Lakdawala attends a pressconference with Egyptian national ShaimaSelim on the case of his patient and Selim’ssister Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who weighsaround 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), inMumbai yesterday.

CHINA: In this Sunday photo, a medical worker monitors a patient infected withH7N9 bird flu at Wuhan Medical Treatment Center in Wuhan in central China’s Hubeiprovince. — AP

OROVILLE, United States: This long exposure photograph shows the Oroville Damdischarging water at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second over a spillway as anemergency measure in Oroville, California yesterday. — AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Almost 200,000 peoplewere under evacuation orders in northernCalifornia yesterday after damage to the over-flow channel of the tallest dam in the UnitedStates raised fears the spillway could collapse.The reservoir of the Oroville Dam, located 75miles (120 kilometers) north of the state capi-tal Sacramento, had been completely full afterseveral weeks of heavy rain. The 770-foot(235-meter) dam itself was not in danger ofcollapse, the California Department of WaterResources said, but there were major fearsover the emergency spillway due to erosiondamage on its concrete top after water beganpouring over it on Saturday.

Authorities were releasing 100,000 cubicfeet (2,830 cubic meters) of water per secondfrom the main spillway, bringing down thelevel of reservoir Sunday so that there was nomore flow into the emergency channel, theSacramento Bee newspaper cited Departmentof Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlsonas saying. Although the immediate threat hadpassed, the evacuation order remained inplace as authorities evaluated the state of notjust the auxillary spillway but also the con-crete-lined main spillway, which was dam-aged as well with a large gash caused byrecent heavy volume.

“Now that there is no more water goingover the emergency spillway, though it bringsstability to the situation, there are still a lot ofunknowns,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honeatold a news conference Sunday night. “We’renot at the point yet where we can make deci-sions about whether or not it is safe to repop-ulate areas.” About 188,000 people in down-stream communities had been ordered to fleeon Sunday afternoon as water was still gush-ing over the top of the wide auxiliary spillway.In a Facebook post ordering the “immediateevacuation” of low-lying areas of the city ofOroville as well as downstream communities,the Butte County Sheriff’s department warnedthat a “hazardous situation is developing withthe Oroville Dam auxiliary spillway.”

“Failure of the auxiliary spillway structurewill result in an uncontrolled release of floodwaters from Lake Oroville,” it said, addingthree times that this was “NOT A Drill.” To thesouth, Yuba County also ordered residents tomove to safety. “Yes, an evacuation has beenordered,” the Yuba County Office ofEmergency Services said in a Facebook post.“All Yuba County on the valley floor. The auxil-iary spillway is close to failing... Take onlyroutes to the east, south, or west. DO NOTTRAVEL NORTH TOWARD OROVILLE!!!!!” — AFP

Mass evacuation as rains strain tallest US dam

KAFANCHAN, Nigeria: When 60-year-old LadiHabila heard gunshots ring around her village inNigeria’s Kaduna state on Christmas Eve, she castaside the meal she had been preparing, and ranfor her life. Habila returned the next day to findher house razed to the ground, and the burntbody of her husband. “My children lost theirschool books and certificates, all our clothes aregone and we are not sure where we will live,”said Habila, whose children have been beggingfor food, and staying with relatives and evenstrangers in nearby towns.

“We lost everything and we cannot even goto the farm, so there is nothing for us to do,” shetold the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a tinyroom in a neighbor’s house, where she and hertwo youngest children sleep on newspapers andold clothes. Habila is among 27,000 people inKaduna who have been forced to flee theirhomes due to violence between Muslim herds-men and largely Christian farmers which haskilled at least 800 people since September,according to church leaders in the region.

For years, the semi-nomadic, cattle-herdingFulani and more settled farming communitieshave clashed over land use as lower rainfall,advancing desertification and overgrazing drivethe herdsmen towards more fertile land in thesouth of Nigeria. But violence has soared inrecent months between the herdsmen andfarmers - due to the ongoing harvest season -and the worst bloodshed the region has wit-nessed in years could worsen unless the stateintervenes, security analysts say.

The national disaster agency NEMA, whichputs the death toll at around 200, said it haddonated food and building materials to some ofthe affected communities in December, whilethe Kaduna state government said it was investi-gating violence. Yet the displaced say they havereceived no compensation from the govern-ment, and insufficient aid, fuelling fears of a spi-raling yet neglected humanitarian crisis in anation already struggling with the Boko Haraminsurgency and the threat of more attacks on oilpipelines by the Niger Delta Avengers militants.

“If the root causes of the violence are not

addressed, if suspected perpetrators are notinvestigated and prosecuted, existing tensionswill simmer and manifest in the form or morereprisal attacks,” said Sola Tayo of think tankChatham House. “This could increase the likeli-hood of internal displacement among affectedcommunities,” the associate fellow added.

Fears over farmingLocal communities say the violence grew out

of festering disputes over land towards the endof last year, then escalated sharply, exacerbatedby north-south, Muslim-Christian tensions. Whilefarmers lay the blame squarely on the herds-men, some experts and locals said the vilifica-tion of the Fulani had seen them also comeunder attack, fuelling a cycle of revenge. Thisviolence has ruined harvests and disrupted thelivelihoods of hundreds of farmers across theregion. Half of people in Nigeria work in agricul-ture, which accounts for around a quarter of itsgross domestic product (GDP), according to theWorld Bank and Central Bank of Nigeria.

Conflict between farmers and herdsmen injust four Nigerian states could cost the countryat least $14 billion annually in lost potential rev-enues, aid agency Mercy Corps said last year.

Ayuba Rasong, a neighbor of Habila, turnedto farming just a few years ago after retiring as aschool principal. But his newfound joy was cutshort when the Fulani attacked in December,destroying the 67-year-old’s farm, crops andequipment. “I don’t know how to raise money toget back to farming or pay my children’s (school)fees,” the father-of-four said. “These herdsmenhave taken my livelihood away from me.”

Other farmers nearby are fearful of raids bythe gun and machete-wielding Fulani, in thisethnically-charged conflict which may haveclaimed more lives in Nigeria than the jihadistgroup Boko Haram over the past year, securityexperts say.

Around 1,300 deaths have been caused bysectarian violence - mainly involving herdsmenand farmers in Kaduna - since January 2016,compared with some 850 inflicted by BokoHaram, according to the Council on Foreign

Relations’ Nigeria Security Tracker. Further vio-lence could have dire consequences for a regionwhich is responsible for a large amount of thebeans and maize produced in Nigeria, saidLagos-based research firm SB Morgen. “Only amajor intervention can prevent acute foodshortage in these communities,” SB Morgen saidin report last month.

Women hit hardestThe escalating violence has left tens of thou-

sands of people relying on their neighbors,wealthy individuals and churches for shelter,enough to eat and ultimately, to survive. Whilesome of the displaced are staying in schoolsused as temporary camps, most people are liv-ing with their relatives.

Clergyman Gideon Agwom said that while hischurch had organized a feeding program to helpmore than 200 people, the demand for food wasrising amid a lack of outside assistance. “Weneed help because in the coming months, therecould be food scarcity even in this recession,” hesaid, referring to Nigeria’s first recession in 25years as oil prices fall. Women and girls havebeen hit hardest by the violence, with some hav-ing suffered rape and others struggling to sur-vive having been orphaned or widowed, localcommunities said.

“My poor wife and child,” said 25-year-oldAudu Gambo as he recalled coming home froma trip to the capital Abuja in September last yearto find the corpse of his eight-months-pregnantwife, who had been shot, disembowelled andburned. Local activists and groups, bemoaninga lack of aid from humanitarian organizationsand the government, are using social media toraise awareness of the plight of the displaced,and appeal for items including blankets, sani-tary pads and food. Young women are having touse makeshift pads and reuse rags during theirperiods, said local human rights activist NdiKato. “Women and children can’t afford sanitarypads,” she said. “Most have to defecate in thebush and newborns are in precarious situationsbecause their parents can no longer affordhealthcare.” — Reuters

Nigeria’s spiralling herdsmen-farmer violence fuels fears of humanitarian crisis

BEIJING: Several Chinese cities have shutdown their poultry markets in the wake ofa bird flu outbreak that has killed at leasttwo dozen people this year across China.Live poultry sales have now been suspend-ed in Changsha, the capital of centralChina’s Hunan province, as well as marketsacross the eastern province of Zhejiang, theofficial Xinhua News Agency reportedSunday, as authorities deal with dozens ofnew cases of H7N9 bird flu.

Nearly 300 markets and slaughterhous-es were shut down in the southwesternChinese city of Suining, where authoritiesare also cracking down on unauthorizedpoultry businesses. Xinhua reported that21 people in Jiangsu province died inJanuary after contracting H7N9. Hunanauthorities have reported at least fivedeaths this year, and an infant girl has diedin southwestern Yunnan province.

A major H7N9 bird flu outbreak inhumans first struck China in March 2013,killing more than 40 people and devastat-ing the poultry industry. H7N9 is consid-ered less virulent than the H5N1 strain,blamed by the World Health Organizationfor hundreds of deaths worldwide over thelast decade. Most people infected withH7N9 are believed to contract it by touch-ing infected poultry or entering contami-nated areas, according to a WHO alert pub-lished last month. Experts do not believethe virus can be spread widely betweenhumans, the WHO said. In Guangzhou,China’s third-largest city, more than 30 per-cent of the live poultry markets were foundto be contaminated with H7N9, state mediareported Saturday. Authorities inGuangzhou have announced temporarythree-day suspensions of the poultry tradeto try to contain the virus. — AP

Some China cities closepoultry markets

amid bird flu fears

H E A LT H & S C I E NC ETUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

SYDNEY: Australia was counting the costto property and livestock yesterday afterfirefighters battled weekend blazes insome of the hottest conditions on record.At least 19 homes were destroyed ineastern Australia as emergency teamswere sent out to assess the damage aftera “catastrophic” weekend saw over 100fire outbreaks, with 2,500 firefightersdeployed and thousands more on stand-by. About 80 fires continued to burn

yesterday, with around a quarter stilluncontained, said New South Wales(NSW ) state Rural Fire ServiceCommissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, asconditions began to cool.

“We know that there are going to behomes lost. We know that there aregoing to be plenty of other buildingsthat have been destroyed. “ There ismachinery that has been destroyed and... we are talking about livestock that has

been destroyed as well,” he toldreporters yesterday, without giving num-bers. While bushfires ravage theAustralian landscape every year, landand sea temperatures have been pushedup due to climate change, increasing theseverity of fire seasons.

A statewide NSW average tempera-ture of 44 degrees Celsius (111 degreesFahrenheit) on Saturday set a newFebruary record, while temperatures

above 47 were recorded across someparts of the state on Sunday. Emergencyservices sent out some 1.5 million phonewarnings to residents on the weekend inan effort to prevent fatalities. “To comeaway with no life lost, or serious injury isjust outstanding,” Fitzsimmons said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbullpraised the work of emergency workers,many of whom are volunteers. “We havehad in New South Wales the worst fire

conditions on record ... and yet, the fireshave been contained, “ he said, addingthat 24 were still raging.

Communities suffered “enormous”loss of proper ty and l ivestock , headded. “(But)it could have been muchworse and were it not for those greatAustralian firefighters, it could havebeen a truly disastrous weekend inNew South Wales with those recordtemperatures.” — AFP

Australia fires ease as damage mounts after record heat

Down’s Syndromemodel debuts labelat NY fashion week

NEW YORK: Madeline Stuart, the 20-year-old Australian modelwith Down’s Syndrome challenging stereotypes in the fashionindustry, returned to New York on Sunday to strut the runwayand debut her own label. Stuart relished her moment on thecatwalk, opening with a happy little jiggle and blowing a kissto the crowd at the end on a rainy, chilly night on the LowerEast Side. For the debut of her “21 Reasons Why” label, shewore a white peplum-style top with blue leggings, her hairfluffed up in a top knot and glittery makeup around her eyes.

It is a range of sports-casual lycra similar to outfits she isphotographed in off the catwalk-leggings, tops and skirts withmottos such as “Fitness Life,” “Supermodel” and “I am FashionWeek.” It “is an inspirational line, it’s for everybody to feel com-fortable, to feel good about themselves,” her mother, RosanneStuart, told AFP. A picture of Madeline dressed in a ballgownfrom her attention-grabbing 2015 New York fashion weekappearance featured on the front and back of a singlet and onblack leggings.

Alessia Cara’s “Scars To Your Beautiful”-an anthem to inclu-sion and acceptance regardless of appearance-played overthe loudspeakers. The brand takes its name from the 21stchromosome, an extra one of which causes Down’s Syndrome,and reflects a desire to make people more diverse, caring andloving, and what Rosanne called everyone’s desire to be 21years old. She said the clothes were completely the work ofherself and Madeline. Madeline will be walking in anotherfashion show in New York yesterday, and also has plans to goto Paris fashion week, model in Los Angeles, show her line ofclothing in Denver and model in London, her mother said.

Madeline recently got a US work visa, “the only person withan intellectual disability” to have got one, according to hermother and the duo are in and out of the States a lot. The labeltook second slot in a triple bill in an arts space on the LowerEast Side, opened by a flamboyant and emotional catwalkshow featuring breast cancer survivors who dared to bare andclosing with women in cocktail frocks accompanied by dogs inpet couture. The 16 cancer survivors modeled lingerie andloungewear from AnaOno, which designs specifically forwomen who have had mastectomies, breast reconstruction orbreast surgery.

Women of all colors and ages took part, the youngest ofwhom was 18 when she was diagnosed, in a bid to raiseawareness of and boost research into stage four breast cancer.They strutted the runway in platform boots and lingerie, someproudly whipping off their bras and covers to display breastreconstruction or double mastectomies to whoops and cheersfrom the supportive crowd. — AFP

PRISTINA: As the coldest winter in adecade swept through the WesternBalkans, air pollution in Pristina causedby ailing power plants rose to unhealthylevels that were sometimes worse thanthose found in Beijing. The air qualityindex measured by the United Statesembassy in Pristina exceeded 300 forseveral days in December, a level identi-fied as hazardous for health. The blacksmog above Pristina is caused by emis-sions from coal-fired power plants onthe outskirts of the city and excessiveuse of coal for heating.

The air quality index measured by theembassy was in the red again yesterday

at 152. “When we wash our whiteclothes and put them outside to drythem, very often we have to clean themagain because of the dust,” BesimSllamniku, who lives near the powerplants, told Reuters. Kosovo, which hasthe world’s fifth largest lignite reserves,relies on coal for power production andmany households use it for heatingbecause it is the cheapest fuel available.But excessive use of coal is taking its toll.

“We see a growing number ofpatients,” Skender Baca, a pulmonologistat the state hospital, told Reuters. A 2013World Bank study showed air pollutionin Kosovo was estimated to cause 852

premature deaths and 318 new cases ofchronic bronchitis each year. The situa-tion is not much better in other states inthe Balkans. According to official figures,poor air quality in Macedonia’s capitalSkopje is blamed for the prematuredeath of 1,300 people each year.

Bosnia is number five on the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) list of thedeadliest countries for air pollution with 92deaths in every 100,000 citizens due to pol-lution. It comes after Ukraine, Bulgaria,Belarus and Russia. Anes Podic, an activistof the Eko akcija organization in Sarajevo,said coal-fired plants and use of coal forheating were the main pollutants in Bosnia.

“(Wooden) stoves are of a bad qualityand have high emissions,” he said,adding that the government should banthe use of coal for heating to reducepollution. The Brussels-based Healthand Environment Alliance(HEAL)showed in a research study lastyear that around 60 percent of emis-sions in the Western Balkans reachEuropean Union member states. “If theEU wants to improve air quality it has totackle the Balkans. It is difficult to haveclean air if another (country) is pollutingyou,” said Vlatka Matkovic Puljic, HEAL’shealth and energy officer for theBalkans region. — Reuters

Air quality in Pristina unhealthy, cold winter bites

MULHOUSE, Haut-Rhin, France : An unnamed polar bear cub is pictured with its mother, Sessi, at the Mulhouse zoo, eastern France. The polar bear was born onNovember 7, 2016. — AFP

NEW YORK: Madeline Stuart, the 20-year-old Australian mod-el with Down’s Syndrome model at New York Fashion week.

W H AT ’ S ONTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Al-Mulla International Exchange and theInstitute of Chartered Accountants ofIndia (ICAI) has jointly held the seminar

on India Budget 2017 recently. Homi Ranina,eminent Chartered Accountant, supremecourt advocate and former Director of ReserveBank of India was the key note speaker at theevent. The Ambassador of India to Kuwait,Sunil Jain graced the event as the Chief Guest.

The event started at sharp 6 pm in HolidayDown Town Hotel in Kuwait City. HormuzdaDavar, Managing Director of Trading,Manufacturing & Financial Services who is also

the Chairman of the Institute of CharteredAccountants commenced the meeting by wel-coming the audience and mentioned that theIndian economy had gone through anupheaval due to the introduction of demone-tization on 8th of November 2016. He alsoconveyed the gratitude of the Indian commu-nity at large to Ranina for coming to Kuwaitcontinuously for the past 5 to 6 years andimpart in very simple terms what the budgetholds for everyone.

Homi Ranina took the audience through thesalient features of the Budget and discussed at

the length regarding the demonetizationefforts initiated by the government. Heexplained that demonetization was necessaryfor India to embrace the digital economy andalso that this would now pave the way to makesure that the GST bill being introduced will bea success. He also mentioned that demonetiza-tion made sure that black money as well asother reprehensible activities are curtailed. Heappreciated the stance taken by theGovernment to push through these measuresthat will benefit the country in the long run. Healso recounted that the tax measures in India is

one of the best and lowest in the world. Homi Phiroze Ranina practices as an

Advocate in the Supreme Court of India, with40 years’ experience in matters related to taxa-tion, finance and corporate management.Ranina has been a Director on the Board of theReserve Bank of India for ten years. HisCorporate Directorships include Dover IndiaLtd., Zenith Computers Ltd., Pennwalt IndiaLimited, and International Travel House Ltd.,among others. Ranina’s academic qualifica-tions include Bachelor of Commerce (Honors),Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants of

India and LL.B. Ranina carries forward the tra-dition of late Nani Palkhivala in analyzing theIndian Budget every year and addressing lec-ture meetings in India and abroad. He is regu-larly interviewed on television channels likeCNBC. Bloomberg, ET Now and NDTV.

The seminar ended with a lively questionand answer session where all the questionswere answered to everyone’s satisfactionand information. The Institute of CharteredAccountants-Kuwait Chapter presentedHomi Ranina a memento as a token of theirappreciation.

Al-Mulla International Exchange, ICAIorganize seminar on Indian budget 2017

A l-Shamali and Waris Company marked its 40thAnniversary recently in Radisson Blu’s AbdulHussain Marafie Grand Ball Room. The celebra-

tion was attended by Chairman Muhammad HassanWaris, and Partners Ali Khaleel Essa Shamali, KhaleelYousuf Al-Shamali, Ambassador of Bangladesh S MAbdul Kalam, as well as manufactures, suppliers, cus-tomers representatives and the executive staff withtheir family members.

The company’s chairman remarked that “It’s a majormilestone we achieved today by celebrating our 40thanniversary with the presence of my esteemed partnerswho always stood by me in every steps of our growthand I am deeply indebted to their remarkable support.

The chairman extended his sincere appreciation and

gratitude for the team Work of every employees of Al-Shamali and Warris. He emphasized that success andgrowth of the company was always supported by thehard work and sincerity of our employees.

The chairman and partners personally thanked eachof the loyal customers who were present in the gather-ing and remarked that “The Quality and Trust in ourproduct and supplies have always been a major successfactors for our customer satisfaction.” The gathering wasalso attended by their major product manufacturers andsuppliers who are spanned around the globe.

The chairman expressed his deep satisfaction to eachof the delegates representing a vast variety of theirproducts. He specially remarked that “Success of Al-Shamali and Waris Company was always supported by

the success and mutual beneficial relationship we main-tained with each of our manufactures and suppliers,whose supplies are undoubtedly stood the time of everycompetition in Kuwait and UAE Market.”

Al-Shamali and Waris Company is a renownedElectrical Trading, Contracting and Metal FabricationCompany spanned across Kuwait operating with 6 largeshowrooms, Head office in Kuwait City and a manufac-turing unit in Shuaiba Industrial Area.

The factory built in the year 2007, is an ISO certifiedmajor industrial fabrication unit in the state of Kuwait.Entire participants and team gathered in the event sin-cerely thanked and appreciated the event managementlead by Ahsan Waris (chief of operations) of Al-Shamaliand Waris Company.

Al-Shamali and Waris Co marks 40th Anniversary

AhmadSharkascele-

brated hisdaughterKenzi’s firstbirthday. Theyreceived wellwishes fromfamily andfriends.

Greetings

Thrissur Association of Kuwait (TRASSK)conducted its annual General Body meet-ing on January 20, 2017 at Ideal

Auditorium, Farwaniya and elected new work-ing committee for the year 2017.

The meeting was presided over by TRASSKoutgoing President Sebastian Vathukadan andJivas P.G, Media Convener, welcomed the gath-ering. Social Welfare Convener, Biju Kadavil,paid tributes to all the members who lost theirlives during the year 2016.

General Secretary, Ajayakumar Pangil pre-sented the annual report for the year 2016,Treasurer, Hari Kulangara, submitted the finan-cial report and Ambika Mukundan, presentedthe Vanithavedi report. Kalikalam Secretary,Master. Joel George felicitated during the occa-sion. Members’ children leaving Kuwait forhigher studies were honored and mementoswere handed during the function.

TRASSK new office bearers for year 2017were elected during the General Body: - Jeeves Erinjeri: President- Shijo Paulose: Vice President- Sijo Sunny: General Secretary- Anto Cherayath: Treasurer- Shanthi Venugopal: Vanithavedi Convener- Shameer: Joint Secretary- Vibin Menon: Joint Secretary- Sundaran: Joint Secretary- Jackson Jose: Joint Treasurer

Nanma KuwaitMalayalee Association

elects new officebearers

Nanma Kuwait MalayaleeAssociation elected its newoffice bearers and Executive

Committee for the period 2017-2018.The office bearers are: Salim M.A -Patron, Kalanjoor RadhaKrishnan -President, Parimanam Manoj - GeneralSecretary, Madhu Appukuttan andJasmin Francis - Vice President, NoushaVytilappally - Treasurer, Girija Vijayan -Jt. Secretary, Vimal Kumar - Jt. Treasurer,Joy Augustine - Welfare Convener,Sherly Sukhu - Welfare Jt. Convener,Shijo Mathukutty - Office Secretary.Committee Members: Ushakumari,Surendran Nair, Vijayan Nair, Noushad,Krishnankutty K.S., Sibichan, Vinod,Sreekala Ramachandran and ShylajaThulasi. Area Coordinators: Abassiya -Byju, Ushakumari and Jose P.C,Farwaniya - Balasubramaniyan P.K., RoseMary and Shino, Salmiya - Abhilash,Jyothi Parwathy and Santhosh. NanmaKuwait Malayalee Association is a chari-table society formed for the welfare ofIndian Emigrants, particularly Keralite ofKuwait.

TRASSK conducts annual general body meeting

W H AT ’ S ONTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

KUWAIT: Gulf University for Science and Technology’s(GUST) Gulf Financial Center (GFC) has signed an agree-ment with the Chartered Institute for Securities andInvestment (CISI) to become the first academic testingcenter and training provider for CISI certifications in theregion. This agreement will see the university embed CISIcertifications into GUST’s finance degrees.

Representatives for CISI, Simon Culhane CharteredFCSI, Chief Executive, and Matthew Cowan CharteredMCSI, Regional Director, visited GUST last week to discusshow the partnership will be implemented in practicalterms. The agreement will incorporate CISI certificationsin GUST’s curricula, which will allow students to experi-ence applied training. This comes as part of the universi-ty’s approach in preparing its students for the job marketand financial industry upon graduation. Following thediscussion, they visited the GFC, which is one of the mostadvanced virtual trading rooms in the Middle East thatallows students to learn through virtual stock tradingand first hand exploration of different financial stockmarket systems.

CISI CEO, Simon Culhane said, “I applaud GUST’s objectiveto ensure their graduates are fully work-ready when theyleave the University. By embedding the CISI’s InternationalIntroduction to Securities and Investment in the degree pro-gram, GUST graduates will not only achieve an academicqualification but have completed the first stage of themandatory exams to enter the capital markets sector.”

Vice President for Academic Affairs at GUST, Dr SalahAl-Sharhan added, “Our target is to provide our studentsand community with something different - an exceptionalquality of education that will establish our graduates inthe market, thereby allowing to have a greater impact.”

Based in the City of London, the Chartered Institute forSecurities and Investment was formed in 1992 by LondonStock Exchange practitioners. CISI is the leading profes-sional body for securities, investments, wealth and finan-cial planning professionals, with a global community ofover 40,000 members in 116 countries.

GFC Director, Dr Sulaiman Al-Abduljader said, “Weare delighted to work with CISI in transforming thefinancial industry in Kuwait. The addition of these CISIhigh caliber certifications will prove valuable to ourfuture graduates and the local financial community.This will allow our students in GUST and all profession-als in the financial community to utilize the GFC plat-form for live hands-on applied training in financial mar-kets and money management.”

GUST currently holds major exclusive training contractswith esteemed organizations in both the public and pri-vate sector. It also operates a subsidiary which is anaccredited testing center for CFA, CMA, CPA and GMATprep courses. These developments bring GUST closer tofulfilling its vision in becoming a versatile knowledge hubthat equips its students with theoretical and practicaltraining, vital for success in the real world.

GUST’s Gulf Financial Center strikes agreement with CISI

Burgan Bank announced yesterday a spe-cial offer for all its Premier customersand Platinum credit cardholders enti-

tling them to enjoy up to 20 percent discountto book a spa treatment or a refreshing mealat Garden Cafe or Olio restaurant at JumeirahMessilah Beach Hotel and Spa. This offercomes in line with the bank’s strategy of pro-viding unwavering offers at luxurious hotelsand international promotions to accommo-

date the bank’s customers’ diverse needs.Burgan Bank is a firm believer of reward-

ing loyal customers for their trust in thebank’s services, as part of its customer-centricstrategy. This offer comes in line with thebank’s efforts to provide optimal customerconvenience with the provision of added val-ue benefits, and will continue to look forinnovative ways to surpass the customers’banking experience.

The School of Engineering at theAustralian College of Kuwait (ACK)has completed the second round of

its Winter Internship Program consisting of55 students and 13 hosting companies.ACK introduced a new internship model in2016 and has seen the volume of studentsdouble due to the enriching experiencesinternships have to offer.

The internship program worked veryclosely with some of Kuwait’s top institu-tions, such as the Kuwait Oil Company,Kuwait National Petroleum Company,Schlumberger, Kuwait Airways, TheMinistry of Electricity and Water, GulfConsult, Al-Argan International Real EstateCompany, Al-Ahlia Contracting Group, Al-Bahar Company, Al-Sanea ChemicalProducts, Kuwait Aviation FuellingCompany, Cargo Transport System andPencil Design.

In this collaborative effort between ACKand industry, a well formulated internshiptraining plan is developed to enable stu-dents to grasp how businesses operate andthe role their profession plays relative tothe workplace.

Commenting on this achievementJoumana Tasse, Internship Coordinator atACK, stated: “Students are rotated betweendepartments giving them exposure to theentire operation. They learn the interconnect-edness of a business and the important roleteamwork plays to ensure efficiency andeffectiveness. They have been given tasksthat require them to problem solve and applytheir learning in a real workplace setting.”

From his end Abdulrahman Al-Obaid,Acting Superintendent from KuwaitAirways stated: “The level of technicalknowledge ACK students obtain is impres-sive. Repeatedly, their questions havedemonstrated their academic training.While in workshops, they listen attentivelyand ask questions that point to their curios-ity with the operations of Kuwait Airways.They demonstrate professionalism bybeing punctual and are committed tolearning. It’s clear that ACK students careabout their future careers.” The School ofEngineering at ACK is committed to grow-ing its internship program to ensure its stu-dents develop the skills and knowledgenecessary for success in their future careers.

ACK internship programcontinues to grow

Burgan Bank reveals special offer at Jumeirah Messilah Hotel

LOYAC Academy of Performing Arts (LAPA) hosted a ceremony recently to celebrate the graduation of students who underwent one-year dancing lessons at the academy.

T V PR O G R A M STUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

01:00 The Siege Of Firebase Gloria 03:00 Area 407 05:00 Legendary: Tomb Of The Dragon 07:00 Jurassic Hunters 09:00 Close Range 11:00 The Machine 13:00 Legendary: Tomb Of The Dragon 15:00 Jurassic Hunters 17:00 Code Of Silence 19:00 Dracula Untold 21:00 Hudson Hawk 23:00 Never Back Down: No Surrender

00:00 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet 00:55 Gator Boys 01:50 River Monsters 02:45 Bondi Vet 03:40 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet 04:35 Tanked 05:25 Call Of The Wildman 05:50 Call Of The Wildman 06:15 Gator Boys 07:02 River Monsters 07:49 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet 08:36 Going Ape 09:00 Going Ape 09:25 Groomer Has It 10:15 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet 11:10 Call Of The Wildman 11:35 Call Of The Wildman 12:05 Tanked 13:00 Groomer Has It 13:55 Bondi Vet 14:50 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet 15:45 Gator Boys 16:40 Call Of The Wildman 17:05 Call Of The Wildman 17:35 Tanked 18:30 River Monsters 19:25 Rugged Justice 20:20 Catching Monsters 21:15 Tanked 22:10 Call Of The Wildman 22:35 Call Of The Wildman 23:05 Rugged Justice

00:45 Casualty 01:40 Undercover 02:40 In Plain Sight 03:30 Ripper Street

04:25 Orphan Black 05:10 Casualty 06:05 New Tricks 07:00 Casualty 08:00 Casualty 08:55 Death In Paradise 09:50 Stella 10:35 New Tricks 11:30 Casualty 12:30 Death In Paradise 13:25 Stella 14:20 New Tricks 15:15 Casualty 16:15 Death In Paradise 17:10 Stella 18:05 New Tricks 19:00 Doctors 19:30 Doctors 20:05 Death In Paradise 21:00 Call The Midwife 22:00 Silent Witness 23:05 Silent Witness

00:00 Homicide Hunter 01:00 Britain's Darkest Taboos 02:00 Killers: Behind The Myth 03:00 When Life Means Life 04:00 Homicide Hunter 05:00 Britain's Darkest Taboos 06:00 Killers: Behind The Myth 07:00 When Life Means Life 08:00 Evil Up Close 09:00 Evil Up Close 10:00 Crimes That Shook Britain 11:00 It Takes A Killer 11:30 It Takes A Killer 12:00 Britain's Biggest Heists 13:00 Britain's Biggest Heists 14:00 Britain's Biggest Heists 15:00 Britain's Biggest Heists 16:00 Evil Up Close 17:00 Crimes That Shook Britain 18:00 It Takes A Killer 18:30 It Takes A Killer 19:00 Nightmare In Suburbia 20:00 The First 48 21:00 The First 48 22:00 Crimes That Shook Britain 23:00 Evil Up Close

00:05 Tosh.0 00:30 The Daily Show With Trevor Noah 01:00 The Half Hour 01:25 South Park 01:50 South Park 02:15 Tosh.0 02:40 Inside Amy Schumer 03:05 South Park 03:30 South Park 04:00 The Daily Show With Trevor Noah 04:25 Catch A Contractor 05:15 Lip Sync Battle 05:40 Ridiculousness 06:05 Ridiculousness 06:30 Gym Rescue 07:20 Catch A Contractor

08:15 Catch A Contractor 09:05 Disaster Date 09:30 Ridiculousness 09:55 Ridiculousness 10:20 Key And Peele 10:45 Disaster Date 11:10 Ridiculousness 11:35 The It Crowd 12:00 Gym Rescue 12:50 I Live With Models 13:15 Lip Sync Battle 13:40 The It Crowd 14:05 Catch A Contractor 14:55 Ridiculousness 15:20 Bondi Ink. 16:10 Impractical Jokers 16:35 Ridiculousness 17:00 Ridiculousness 17:30 Disaster Date 17:55 Lip Sync Battle 18:25 Key And Peele 18:50 Disaster Date 19:15 Disaster Date 19:39 Disaster Date 20:03 Disaster Date 20:27 Disaster Date 20:50 Disaster Date 21:13 Disaster Date 21:37 Disaster Date 22:00 The Daily Show With Trevor Noah 22:30 Idiotsitter 22:54 The Jim Gaffigan Show 23:18 South Park 23:42 South Park

00:15 Destroyed In Seconds 00:40 Ultimate Survival 01:30 Science Of The Movies 02:20 Baby Animals 02:45 Baby Animals 03:10 Pick A Puppy 03:35 Pick A Puppy 04:00 Destroyed In Seconds 04:25 Destroyed In Seconds 04:50 Ultimate Survival 05:40 How It's Made 06:05 How It's Made 06:30 Dirty Jobs 07:20 Mythbusters 08:00 Kids vs Film 08:25 Bear Grylls Survival School 08:50 Too Cute! Pint-Sized 09:40 How It's Made 10:05 How It's Made 10:30 Science Of The Movies 11:20 Mythbusters 12:10 Too Cute! Pint-Sized 13:00 Ultimate Survival

13:50 How It's Made 14:15 How It's Made 14:40 Dirty Jobs 15:30 Kids vs Film 15:55 Bear Grylls Survival School 16:20 Mythbusters 17:10 Science Of The Movies 18:00 Guinness World Records SmashedNew Zealand 18:25 Guinness World Records SmashedNew Zealand 18:50 Guinness World Records SmashedUK 19:40 Destroyed In Seconds 20:05 Destroyed In Seconds 20:30 How It's Made 20:55 How It's Made 21:20 Mythbusters 22:10 Australia Smashes Guinness WorldRecords 22:35 Australia Smashes Guinness WorldRecords 23:00 Guinness World Records SmashedUK 23:50 Destroyed In Seconds

00:00 Kirby Buckets 00:25 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 00:50 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 01:10 Hank Zipzer 01:35 Binny And The Ghost 02:00 Violetta 02:45 The Hive 02:50 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 03:15 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 03:40 Hank Zipzer 04:05 Binny And The Ghost 04:30 Violetta 05:15 The Hive 05:20 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 05:45 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 06:10 Hank Zipzer 06:35 Binny And The Ghost 07:00 Violetta 07:45 The Hive 07:50 The 7D 08:00 Jessie 08:25 Jessie 08:50 Rolling To The Ronks 09:15 Tsum Tsum Shorts 09:20 Elena Of Avalor 09:45 Bunk'd 10:10 Stuck In The Middle 10:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 11:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 11:25 A.N.T. Farm 11:50 A.N.T. Farm 12:15 Good Luck Charlie 12:40 Good Luck Charlie 13:05 Shake It Up 13:30 Shake It Up 13:55 Disney Mickey Mouse 14:00 Welcome To The Ronks

14:15 Gravity Falls 14:40 Hank Zipzer 15:05 Star Darlings 15:10 Austin & Ally 15:35 Jessie 16:00 Bunk'd 16:25 Kirby Buckets 16:50 Rolling To The Ronks 17:15 Sunny Bunnies 17:20 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug AndCat Noir 17:45 Elena Of Avalor 18:10 Stuck In The Middle 18:35 Descendants Wicked World 18:40 Girl Meets World 19:05 Bizaardvark 19:30 Bunk'd 19:55 Best Friends Whenever 20:20 Disney Mickey Mouse 20:25 The Next Step 20:50 Austin & Ally 21:15 Star Darlings 21:20 Shake It Up 21:45 Backstage 22:10 Liv And Maddie 22:35 Cracke 22:40 The Next Step 23:05 Best Friends Whenever 23:30 Jessie 23:55 Tsum Tsum Shorts

00:00 Sofia The First 00:30 Sofia The First 00:55 PJ Masks 01:20 Henry Hugglemonster 01:35 The Hive 01:45 Loopdidoo 02:00 Henry Hugglemonster 02:15 Calimero 02:30 Art Attack 02:55 Zou 03:05 Loopdidoo 03:20 Henry Hugglemonster 03:35 Calimero 03:50 Zou 04:05 Art Attack 04:30 The Hive 04:40 Loopdidoo 04:55 Henry Hugglemonster 05:10 Art Attack 05:35 Loopdidoo 05:50 Calimero 06:05 Art Attack 06:30 Henry Hugglemonster 06:45 Zou 07:00 Art Attack 07:30 Henry Hugglemonster 07:45 Loopdidoo 08:00 Zou

08:15 Calimero 08:30 Loopdidoo 08:45 Henry Hugglemonster 09:00 Minnie's Bow-Toons 09:05 Sheriff Callie's Wild West 09:15 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 09:30 Miles From Tomorrow 09:45 Goldie & Bear 09:55 The Lion Guard 10:20 PJ Masks 10:35 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 10:50 Doc McStuffins 11:00 Goldie & Bear 11:15 PJ Masks 11:30 Minnie's Bow-Toons 11:35 The Lion Guard 12:00 Sofia The First 12:30 Doc McStuffins 12:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:20 My Friends Tigger & Pooh 13:50 Sheriff Callie's Wild West 14:15 Gummi Bears 14:40 Sofia The First 15:10 Little Mermaid 15:35 PJ Masks 16:00 My Friends Tigger & Pooh 16:30 The Lion Guard 16:55 Unbungalievable 17:00 Miles From Tomorrow 17:30 Jake And The Never Land Pirates 17:55 The Lion Guard 18:20 Goldie & Bear 18:50 PJ Masks 19:15 Sofia The First 19:40 Doc McStuffins 20:05 Jake And The Never Land Pirates 20:30 Little Mermaid 21:00 Sofia The First 21:30 Sofia The First 22:00 Unbungalievable 22:05 Goldie & Bear 22:35 Miles From Tomorrow 23:00 My Friends Tigger & Pooh 23:25 Gummi Bears 23:55 Minnie's Bow-Toons

00:30 Fast N' Loud 01:20 Misfit Garage 02:10 Gold Rush 03:00 Everest Rescue 03:50 Killing Fields 04:40 Fast N' Loud 05:30 Auction Hunters 06:00 How Do They Do It? 06:30 How Do They Do It? 07:00 Deadliest Catch 07:50 Misfit Garage 08:40 Fast N' Loud 09:30 Running Wild With Bear Grylls 10:20 Auction Hunters 10:45 How Do They Do It? 11:10 How Do They Do It? 11:35 Gold Rush 12:25 Everest Rescue 13:15 Guy Martin: Fastest Man On TwoWheels 14:05 How Do They Do It? 14:30 Auction Hunters 14:55 Auction Hunters 15:20 Alaska: The Last Frontier

16:10 Running Wild With Bear Grylls 17:00 Deadliest Catch 17:50 Fast N' Loud 18:40 Misfit Garage 19:30 How Do They Do It? 19:55 How Do They Do It? 20:20 Running Wild With Bear Grylls 21:10 Auction Hunters 21:35 Auction Hunters 22:00 The Island With Bear Grylls 22:50 Bear Grylls: Mission Survive 23:40 Ed Stafford: Into The Unknown

00:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA 07:00 Danger Mouse 07:25 Gravity Falls 07:50 Atomic Puppet 08:15 Star vs The Forces Of Evil 08:25 Counterfeit Cat 08:40 Supa Strikas 09:10 K.C. Undercover 09:35 Star Wars Freemaker Adventures 10:00 Lab Rats: Bionic Island 10:25 Lab Rats: Bionic Island 10:50 Danger Mouse 11:20 Supa Strikas 11:45 Supa Strikas 12:10 Counterfeit Cat 12:35 Pair Of Kings 13:00 Pair Of Kings 13:30 Future-Worm! 13:55 Lab Rats 14:20 Lab Rats 14:45 Atomic Puppet 15:10 Disney Mickey Mouse 15:15 Marvel's Avengers: UltronRevolution 15:40 Supa Strikas 16:05 Lab Rats 16:30 Gamer's Guide To Pretty MuchEverything 16:55 Danger Mouse 17:25 K.C. Undercover 17:50 Future-Worm! 18:15 Gravity Falls 18:40 Lab Rats: Bionic Island 19:05 Disney Mickey Mouse 19:10 Supa Strikas 19:35 Star vs The Forces Of Evil 20:00 Atomic Puppet 20:25 Gamer's Guide To Pretty MuchEverything 20:55 K.C. Undercover 21:20 Counterfeit Cat 21:45 Mighty Med 22:10 Pickle And Peanut 22:40 Disney Mickey Mouse 22:45 Marvel's Avengers: UltronRevolution 23:10 Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors 23:35 Boyster

00:00 E! News 00:15 Live From The Red Carpet 02:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 02:55 LA Clippers Dance Squad 03:55 LA Clippers Dance Squad 04:50 LA Clippers Dance Squad 05:40 LA Clippers Dance Squad 06:30 Botched 07:00 Hollywood Medium With TylerHenry 07:55 E! News 08:10 Hollywood Medium With TylerHenry 09:10 E! News 10:10 Rob & Chyna 11:10 Rob & Chyna 12:05 Rob & Chyna 13:00 E! News 13:15 Fashion Bloggers 13:40 Fashion Bloggers 14:10 Fashion Bloggers 14:35 Fashion Bloggers 15:05 So Cosmo 16:00 E! News 16:15 WAGs 17:15 Live From The Red Carpet 19:05 WAGs 20:00 E! News 21:00 Celebrity Style Story 21:30 Celebrity Style Story 22:00 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian 23:00 Fashion Police

00:00 Restaurant Stakeout 01:00 Mystery Diners 01:30 Mystery Diners 02:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 02:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 03:00 Man Fire Food 03:30 Man Fire Food 04:00 Chopped 05:00 Guy's Grocery Games 06:00 Barefoot Contessa: Back To Basics 06:30 Barefoot Contessa: Back To Basics 07:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes

08:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 09:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 10:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 11:00 The Kitchen 12:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 13:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 14:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 15:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 16:00 The Kitchen 17:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 18:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes 19:00 Guy's Grocery Games 20:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 20:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 21:00 Man Fire Food 21:30 Man Fire Food 22:00 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 22:30 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 23:00 Iron Chef America

00:15 Coronation Street 00:40 Coronation Street 01:10 The Chase 02:00 Emmerdale 02:30 Coronation Street 03:00 Coronation Street 03:30 Couples Come Dine With Me 04:25 Vera 06:15 Grantchester 07:10 The Chase 08:05 Couples Come Dine With Me 09:00 Vera 10:30 Callie-Anne Cooks Into The Wild 11:00 Grantchester 11:55 The Chase 12:50 Couples Come Dine With Me 13:45 Emmerdale 14:15 Coronation Street 14:45 Coronation Street 15:15 The Chase 16:10 Couples Come Dine With Me 17:00 Murdoch Mysteries 17:50 Together 18:20 Together 18:50 Grantchester 19:45 Emmerdale 20:15 Coronation Street 20:45 Coronation Street 21:10 Couples Come Dine With Me 22:00 Murdoch Mysteries 22:50 Together 23:20 Together 23:50 Emmerdale

00:00 True Monsters 01:00 The Universe 02:00 Warriors 03:00 Ancient Discoveries 04:00 Brad Meltzer's Decoded 04:50 Ancient Aliens 05:40 True Monsters 06:30 The Universe 07:20 America: The Story Of The U.S. 08:10 The Universe 09:00 Ancient Discoveries 10:00 Brad Meltzer's Decoded 11:00 Ancient Aliens 12:00 Ultimate Guide To The Presidents 13:00 The Universe 14:00 America: The Story Of The U.S. 15:00 Ancient Discoveries 16:00 Brad Meltzer's Decoded 17:00 Ancient Aliens 18:00 Ultimate Guide To The Presidents 19:00 The Universe 20:00 America: The Story Of The U.S. 21:00 Ancient Discoveries 22:00 Brad Meltzer's Decoded 23:00 Ancient Aliens

00:30 American Pickers 01:20 Time Team 02:10 The Curse Of Oak Island 03:00 Hunting Hitler 03:50 Hunting Hitler 04:40 Storage Wars 05:05 American Pickers 06:00 Mountain Men 07:00 Ice Road Truckers 07:50 Shipping Wars 08:15 Shipping Wars 08:40 Counting Cars 09:05 Counting Cars 09:30 Pawn Stars 09:55 Pawn Stars 10:20 Storage Wars 10:45 Storage Wars 11:10 American Pickers 12:00 Gold Hunters: Legend Of TheSuperstition... 12:50 Time Team 13:40 Swamp People 14:30 Ax Men 15:20 Mountain Men 16:10 Shipping Wars 16:35 Shipping Wars 17:00 Counting Cars 17:25 Counting Cars

17:50 Hunting Hitler 18:40 Hunting Hitler 19:30 The Curse Of Oak Island 20:20 Ax Men 21:10 American Pickers 22:00 Mountain Men 22:50 Leepu And Pitbull 23:40 Swamp People

00:20 Carnival Eats 00:45 Carnival Eats 01:10 Chocolate Covered 01:35 Glamour Puds 02:00 Food Lover's Guide To The Planet 02:25 Cesar's Recruit: Asia 02:50 The Shelbourne 03:15 Chocolate Covered 03:40 The Food Files 04:05 Great Escapes 04:30 Miguel's Feasts 04:55 A Is For Apple 05:20 A Is For Apple 05:45 Ariana's Persian Kitchen 06:10 Sara's Australia Unveiled 06:35 Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia 07:00 Chocolate Covered 07:25 The Food Files 07:50 Food Lover's Guide To The Planet 08:15 Cesar's Recruit: Asia 08:40 The Shelbourne 09:05 Chocolate Covered 09:30 The Food Files 09:55 Great Escapes 10:20 Miguel's Feasts 10:45 A Is For Apple 11:10 A Is For Apple 11:35 Ariana's Persian Kitchen 12:00 Sara's Australia Unveiled 12:25 Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia 12:50 Chocolate Covered 13:15 The Food Files 13:40 Food Lover's Guide To The Planet 14:05 Cesar's Recruit: Asia 14:35 The Shelbourne 15:00 Chocolate Covered 15:30 Poh & Co 15:55 Great Escapes 16:25 Miguel's Feasts 16:50 A Is For Apple 17:20 A Is For Apple 17:45 Ariana's Persian Kitchen 18:15 Sara's Australia Unveiled 18:40 Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia 19:10 Chocolate Covered 19:35 Poh & Co 20:05 Great Escapes 20:30 Miguel's Feasts 21:00 A Is For Apple 21:25 A Is For Apple 21:50 Ariana's Persian Kitchen 22:15 Sara's Australia Unveiled 22:40 Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia 23:05 Chocolate Covered 23:30 Poh & Co 23:55 Food Lover's Guide To The Planet

00:20 Megacities 01:10 The Border 02:00 Highway Thru Hell 03:00 Dirty Rotten Survival 03:55 Mega Factories: Supercars 04:50 The Border 05:45 World's Toughest Fixes 06:40 Access 360 World Heritage 07:35 Live Free Or Die 08:30 Highway Thru Hell 09:25 Bad Trip 10:20 World's Toughest Fixes 11:15 Monster Fish 12:10 Wicked Tuna 13:05 Air Crash Investigation 14:00 Bad Trip 15:00 Highway Thru Hell 16:00 Live Free Or Die 17:00 Monster Fish 18:00 Wicked Tuna 19:00 Air Crash Investigation 20:00 Live Free Or Die 21:00 Monster Fish 21:50 Wicked Tuna 22:40 Air Crash Investigation 23:30 Live Free Or Die

00:30 Wild Caribbean's DeadlyUnderworld 01:20 Thunder Beasts 02:10 Maneater Manhunt 03:00 Big Cats: An Amazing AnimalFamily 03:50 South Africa 04:45 Raptor Force 05:40 Wild Case Files 06:35 Big Cats: An Amazing AnimalFamily 07:30 South Africa 08:25 Raptor Force 09:20 Wild Case Files 10:15 Wild 24

11:10 Monster Fish 12:05 Natural Born Monsters 13:00 Alpine Lakes 13:55 Big Cats: An Amazing AnimalFamily 14:50 South Africa 15:45 Soul Of The Cat 16:40 Hidden Worlds 17:35 Wild 24 18:30 Dead Or Alive 19:25 Soul Of The Cat 20:20 Hidden Worlds 21:10 Hidden Worlds 22:00 Wild 24 22:50 Dead Or Alive 23:40 Soul Of The Cat

00:00 Loitering With Intent 02:00 Haunting In Hollow Creek 04:00 Rudderless 06:00 Life Of A King 08:00 The Beat Beneath My Feet 10:00 The Better Angels 12:00 Life Of A King 14:00 Stolen From Suburbia 16:00 Cas & Dylan 18:00 The Better Angels 20:00 Posthumous 22:00 Serena

00:00 The Incredibles 02:00 Inspector Gadget 04:00 Clockstoppers 06:00 The Secret Of The Magic Gourd 08:00 Santa Claws 10:00 The Incredibles 12:00 The Secret Of The Magic Gourd 14:00 The Tale Of Despereaux 16:00 Ratatouille 18:00 Race To Witch Mountain 20:00 Storm Rider 22:00 Tom And Huck

00:00 By The Sea 02:00 Pawn Sacrifice 04:00 Woodlawn 06:00 Run All Night 08:00 Barbershop: The Next Cut 10:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: TheRoad Chip 12:00 Big Stone Gap 14:00 Miss You Already 16:00 The Dressmaker 18:00 The Age Of Adaline 20:00 The Best Of Me 22:00 Paper Towns

01:00 Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser 03:00 Two-Bit Waltz 05:00 A Madea Christmas 07:00 National Security 09:00 Two-Bit Waltz 11:00 A Madea Christmas 13:00 National Security 15:00 Caveman 17:00 Accidental Love 19:00 How Do You Know 21:00 Valentine's Day 23:15 Forgetting Sarah Marshall

01:30 Closer 03:15 Days Of Heaven 05:00 Brooklyn 07:00 Steve Jobs 09:00 Beyond The Edge 10:30 Days Of Heaven 12:15 Brooklyn 14:15 Steve Jobs 16:30 Finding Forrester 19:00 Quiz Show 21:15 Hail, Caesar! 23:00 Boyhood

00:15 The Olsen Gang In Deep Trouble 01:45 Robosapien: Rebooted 03:30 Ghatothkach - Master Of Magic 05:30 Mamma Moo And Crow 07:00 The Nutcracker Sweet 08:30 Blackie And Kanuto 10:00 Jock The Hero Dog 11:30 Robosapien: Rebooted 13:15 Ghatothkach - Master Of Magic 15:00 Cher Ami 17:00 Jock The Hero Dog 19:00 Thumbelina 20:45 Blue Elephant 2 22:30 Cher Ami MISS YOU ALREADY ON OSN MOVIES HD

ACCIDENTAL LOVE ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD

CLOSE RANGE ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

ClassifiedsTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY(09/02/2017 TO 15/02/2017)

SHARQIA-1RINGS 12:45 PMRAEES- HINDI 3:15 PMKAABIL- HINDI 6:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 8:45 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 10:45 PMSPLIT 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2SPLIT 12:15 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 2:45 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 5:00 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 7:15 PMKUNG-FU YOGA 9:30 PMSPLIT 11:45 PM

SHARQIA-3JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:15 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 2:45 PMRINGS 5:15 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 7:30 PMRINGS 10:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-1RINGS 11:45 AMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 2:00 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 4:15 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 6:30 PMRINGS 8:45 PMRINGS 10:45 PMRINGS 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-2SPLIT 1:30 PMRAEES- HINDI 3:45 PMKAABIL- HINDI 6:45 PMSPLIT 9:45 PMSPLIT 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-3JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 2:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 5:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 7:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 10:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:30 AM

FANAR-1SPLIT 12:00 PMSPLIT 2:30 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film)5:00 PMKUNG-FU YOGA 7:00 PMSPLIT 9:15 PMSPLIT 11:45 PM

FANAR-2RINGS 11:30 AMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 1:30 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 3:45 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 6:00 PMRINGS 8:15 PMRINGS 10:30 PMRINGS 12:45 AM

FANAR-3KAABIL- HINDI 12:30 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 1:30 PMDANGAL -Hindi 3:30 PMKAABIL- HINDI 6:45 PMJOLLY LLB 2 -Hindi 9:30 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 12:15 AM

FANAR-4JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 11:30 AMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 2:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 4:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 7:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 9:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:05 AM

FANAR-5THE SPACE BETWEEN US 11:45 AMTHE SPACE BETWEEN US 2:00 PMHEARTBEATS 4:15 PMTHE SPACE BETWEEN US 6:30 PMRAEES- HINDI 8:45 PMHEARTBEATS 11:30 PM

MARINA-1RINGS 11:30 AMSPLIT 1:30 PMRINGS 3:45 PMRINGS 6:00 PMKUNG-FU YOGA 8:15 PMSPLIT 10:30 PMSPLIT 12:45 AM

MARINA-2RINGS 1:00 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 1:00 PMSAT+MONTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 3:15 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 5:30 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 7:45 PMRINGS 10:00 PMRINGS 12:15 AM

MARINA-3JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 2:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 5:00 PM

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 7:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 10:00 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 12:30 AM

AVENUES-1DANGAL -Hindi 12:45 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 2:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 4:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 6:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film)8:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 10:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 12:05 AM

AVENUES-2THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE -3D -4DX 1:00 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE -3D -4DX 3:15 PMTHE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE -3D -4DX 5:30 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 -2D -4DX 7:45 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 -2D -4DX 10:15 PMJOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 -2D -4DX 12:45 AM

AVENUES-3SPLIT 11:30 AMSPLIT 1:45 PMSINGAM III -Tamil 4:00 PMSINGAM III -Tamil 7:00 PMSINGAM III -Tamil 10:00 PMSPLIT 1:00 AM

360º- 1RINGS 12:15 PMRINGS 2:30 PMRINGS 4:45 PMRINGS 7:00 PMRINGS 9:15 PMRINGS 11:30 PM

360º 2KAABIL- HINDI 1:15 PMKAABIL- HINDI 1:30 PMFRIDANGAL -Hindi 4:30 PMKAABIL- HINDI 7:45 PMDANGAL -Hindi 11:00 PM

360º 3RINGS 1:00 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 3:15 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 5:15 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 7:15 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 9:15 PMAL MOKHAYAM (Kuwaiti Film) 11:15 PMRINGS 1:15 AM

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 14/2/2017Airlines Flt Route TimeMSC 405 Sohag 00:05KAC 776 Riyadh 00:20KLM 411 Amsterdam/Dammam 00:20JZR 267 Beirut 00:30JZR 539 Cairo 00:40THY 772 Istanbul 00:55MSC 411 Asyut 01:00QTR 1086 Doha 01:15KAC 102 London 01:25THY 764 Istanbul 01:50DLH 635 Doha 01:55PGT 858 Istanbul 02:00AXB 395 Kozhikode 02:00ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:05GFA 211 Bahrain 02:30UAE 853 Dubai 02:30KAC 412 Bangkok 02:50OMA 643 Muscat 02:55KKK 6506 Istanbul 02:55FDB 069 Dubai 03:05RJA 644 Amman 03:05ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:10MSR 612 Cairo 03:10KAC 358 Kochi 03:30QTR 1076 Doha 03:30LMU 5510 Cairo 04:00KAC 1544 Cairo 04:10KAC 418 Manila 04:25THY 6376 Istanbul 05:05JZR 529 Asyut 05:15KAC 354 BLR 05:20DHX 170 Bahrain 05:20KAC 344 Chennai 05:35KAC 332 Trivandrum 05:45THY 770 Istanbul 05:55KAC 384 Delhi 06:05KAC 364 Colombo 06:05KAC 206 Islamabad 06:20KAC 346 Ahmedabad 06:25BAW 157 London 06:40PAL 668 Manila/Dubai 07:00FDB 5061 Dubai 07:15FDB 053 Dubai 07:50KAC 302 Mumbai 08:20UAE 855 Dubai 08:40KAC 882 Delhi 08:45ABY 125 Sharjah 09:05ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:05QTR 1070 Doha 09:30FDB 055 Dubai 09:40SVA 512 Riyadh 10:00AVV 651 Asyut 10:10GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40IRA 675 Lar 10:40MSC 403 Asyut 11:15JZR 165 Dubai 11:30MEA 404 Beirut 11:55QTR 8511 Doha 12:00MSC 401 Alexandria 12:30JZR 561 Sohag 12:40FDB 075 Dubai 12:50UAE 871 Dubai 12:50KAC 680 Dubai 12:55MSR 610 Cairo 13:00BA 831 Najaf 13:05

AXB 393 Kozhikode 13:10KAC 564 Amman 13:40KAC 788 Madinah 13:50QTR 1078 Doha 14:10FDB 059 Dubai 14:20KAC 692 Muscat 14:30SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30GFA 221 Bahrain 14:40KAC 542 Cairo 14:45KAC 672 Dubai 14:50KNE 529 Jeddah 14:55KAC 618 Doha 15:00ETD 303 Dhabi 15:15KAC 286 Dhaka 15:20OMA 645 Muscat 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45ABY 127 Sharjah 15:50KAC 154 Istanbul 15:55QTR 1072 Doha 16:10FDB 051 Dubai 16:25CLX 784 Luxembourg 16:30KAC 662 Abu Dhabi 16:35RJA 640 Amman 16:55KAC 118 New York 17:00SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 777 Jeddah 17:45JZR 325 Al Najaf 17:50NIA 251 Alexandria 17:55UAE 875 Dubai 18:00FDB 063 Dubai 18:10JZR 177 Dubai 18:20MSR 620 Cairo 18:30QTR 1080 Doha 18:50KAC 746 Dammam 19:10ABY 123 Sharjah 19:25KAC 502 Beirut 19:30GFA 217 ahrain 19:30KAC 778 Riyadh 19:35KAC 674 Dubai 19:45FDB 057 Dubai 19:50KAC 514 Tehran 19:50KAC 168 Paris 19:55MSR 618 Alexandria 20:05OMA 647 Muscat 20:10QTR 1088 Doha 20:35KAC 562 Amman 20:40DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:45KAC 616 Bahrain 20:50FDB 5053 Dubai 20:50KAC 786 Jeddah 21:15ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:20MEA 402 Beirut 21:20ALK 229 Colombo 21:25KAC 172 Frankfurt 21:35UAE 859 Dubai 21:40GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45QTR 1082 Doha 22:00JZR 125 Bahrain 22:05KLM 415 Amsterdam 22:10NIA 151 Cairo 22:10ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15AIC 987 Chennai/Hyderabad 22:25PIA 239 Sialkot 22:35JZR 241 Amman 22:45JAI 574 Mumbai 23:00JZR 185 Dubai 23:15FDB 071 Dubai 23:45

Departure Flights on Tuesday 14/2/2017Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05JAI 573 Mumbai 00:30FDB 072 Dubai 00:40ETD 920 Abu Dhabi 00:45MSC 406 Sohag 01:00BBC 144 Dhaka 01:30KLM 411 Amsterdam 01:35MSC 412 Asyut 01:55KAC 417 Manila 02:00THY 773 Istanbul 02:25KAC 285 Dhaka 02:25DLH 635 Frankfurt 02:55AXB 396 Kozhikode 02:55ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05PGT 859 Istanbul 03:35UAE 854 Dubai 03:45KKK 505 Istanbul 03:55OMA 644 Muscat 03:55THY 765 Istanbul 04:00MSR 613 Cairo 04:10ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:10KAC 167 Paris 04:25QTR 1077 Doha 04:40LMU 5511 Cairo 05:00QTR 1087 Doha 05:50JZR 560 Sohag 06:05FDB 070 Dubai 06:30THY 6376 Dubai/Istanbul 06:35THY 771 Istanbul 06:50KAC 153 Ataturk, Istanbul 06:50JZR 164 Dubai 06:55RJA 645 Amman 07:05GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15KAC 541 Cairo 07:15KAC 787 Jeddah 07:45FDB 062 Dubai 07:55KAC 171 Frankfurt 07:55KAC 563 Amman 08:00KAC 679 Dubai 08:10BAW 156 London 08:40FDB 054 Dubai 08:55KAC 791 Madinah 09:00KAC 691 Muscat 09:00KAC 117 New York 09:00KAC 101 London 09:35ABY 126 Sharjah 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:55KAC 671 Dubai 10:05ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:10FDB 056 Dubai 10:35QTR 1071 Doha 10:40SVA 513 Riyadh 11:00AVV 652 Sohag 11:10KAC 617 Doha 11:10GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25IRA 674 Lar 11:40KAC 501 Beirut 11:55KAC 661 Abu Dhabi 12:05JZR 776 Jeddah 12:05MSC 404 Asyut 12:15MEA 405 Beirut 12:55QTR 8512 Doha 13:30MSC 402 Alexandria 13:30JZR 176 Dubai 13:45MSR 611 Cairo 14:00

FDB 076 Dubai 14:05FBA 832 Al Najaf 14:05AXB 394 Kozhikode 14:10UAE 872 Dubai 14:15JZR 324 Al Najaf 14:25KAC 673 Dubai 15:00KAC 561 Amman 15:00FDB 060 Dubai 15:10KAC 785 Jeddah 15:15PAL 669 Manila 15:20GFA 222 Bahrain 15:25KAC 513 Tehran 15:25QTR 1079 Doha 15:40SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45KNE 530 Jeddah 15:55KAC 777 Riyadh 16:00KAC 745 Dammam 16:00ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20KAC 357 Kochi 16:20ABY 128 Sharjah 16:30OMA 646 Muscat 16:35JZR 266 Beirut 17:05JZR 240 Amman 17:15FDB 052 Dubai 17:25KAC 615 Bahrain 17:35QTR 1073 Doha 17:40KAC 343 Chennai 17:40UAE 858 Dubai 17:45JZR 538 Cairo 17:45RJA 641 Amman 17:55KAC 331 Trivandrum 18:00SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20CLX 713 NBO 18:30JZR 184 Dubai 18:40NIA 252 Alexandria 18:55FDB 064 Dubai 19:05JZR 124 Bahrain 19:15UAE 876 Dubai 19:30MSR 621 Cairo 19:30QTR 1081 Doha 19:50ABY 124 Sharjah 20:05GFA 218 Bahrain 20:15FDB 058 Dubai 20:35KAC 361 Colombo 20:35KAC 1543 Cairo 21:00MSR 607 Luxor 21:05OMA 648 Muscat 21:10KAC 205 Islamabad 21:25KAC 345 Ahmedabad 21:30QTR 1089 Doha 21:35DLH 634 Doha 21:35DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50FDB 5054 Dubai 21:50KAC 351 Kochi 22:00ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15KAC 413 Bangkok 22:15KAC 203 Lahore 22:15MEA 403 Beirut 22:20ALK 230 Colombo 22:25GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30KAC 381 Delhi 22:45KAC 301 Mumbai 22:45UAE 860 Dubai 22:55ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05NIA 152 Cairo 23:10QTR 1083 Doha 23:20KLM 415 Dammam/Amsterdam 23:20PIA 240 Sialkot 23:35

PRAYER TIMINGS

Fajr: 05:08

Shorook: 06:28

Duhr: 12:02

Asr: 15:12

Maghrib: 17:36

Isha: 18:54

ACCOMMODATION

2 big rooms with balcony +central AC, Jabriya B-10. St9, near Indian School &Farah Jamiya, start fromFebruary. Mobile:55706900, 55983570.(C 5272)14-2-2017

CHANGE OF NAME

I, NR Rockie Rodgers S/oNoel Rodgers, holder ofIndian Passport No.K4263817 & Civil ID No.274112305085 haschanged my name toJahangir hereinafter in allmy dealings and docu-ments I will be known byname of Jahangir. (C 5271)14-2-2017

FOR SALE

For sale 2008 model GMCENVOY, good condition, fulloption, no accident, 186000km. Contact: 97470947. (C 5270)12-2-2017

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Improvements in your financial life and your self-image are obvious to any-one that knows you. You have recently been able to place funds in a special

account for next year as well as an emergency fund. Your investments are showing a goodreturn. You could find yourself giving generously to those in need. It seems as though themore you spend, the more you make. Banking, investments, foreign trade and the traveland publishing industries may be your specialty. A greater appreciation for things of valueand the idea of value itself is in order. This could be a period of great material gain; it is cer-tainly a time when material things have a great deal of importance. If you are single youmay find a special relationship close to home.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

Ideas and interaction with an older person may be in the picture today.Good advice from a guide or older person may be of great importance now. Workingwith-rather than against-the flow should be easy to do. This is a very lucky day for makingplans or decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may discov-er. You feel successful and able to solve problems. A formal approach to a group meetingwill help you to achieve more than you had hoped was possible. This is a good day. In par-ticular, you will do well in activities that include children, young people and your homeand surroundings this evening. You could feel real support and harmony at this time forcircumstances and those around you.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You may find someone you meet today is too secretive for your taste. Yourthoughts and ideas go against their secretive, power-oriented manner; keep moving for-ward. Ambitious schemes and the pursuit of success and status take on a high priority.This brings a focus on the practical, the successful, the pragmatic-whatever it takes to getyou ahead. The meek may inherit the earth, but the shrewd will collect the rent. The costof living seems to be going up and although your income will improve a great deal overthe duration of this year, it will not improve overnight. You may decide to call a familymeeting this evening. Make some adjustments in the budget-perhaps a family memberhas good ideas that you can use.

You may have to sidestep emotional issues that seem to be going nowhere.Listen attentively to what loved ones are saying and then decide on how you fit into thepicture. Compromise can end disagreements, thus allowing family, home, relatives andreal estate to play a bigger part in your life. A tolerance for differences and an understand-ing of human frailties are goals you strive to accomplish. There is insight into a difficult sit-uation now. You want to belong on a private, intimate and personal level, to be neededand to feel it's okay to have needs. Everything seems to be working together this eveningto bring about a new understanding and an opportunity for play and togetherness.Goodhearted laughter is a strong healing tool.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Taking care of business is a major theme today. You crave organizationand practicality and you want to get things accomplished. Some rather convincing gossipmay tempt you but the further you distance yourself from the gossip, the better. Wait awhile longer and the facts will be revealed. You enjoy time to yourself and you usuallyprize those times that are shared with a loved one in comfortable, friendly type settings.Set aside some time to tell your loved one how much he or she is appreciated. You mayalso be able to discuss your plans and decisions regarding some life dream. Plan one thinga week that you can do together like photography or antique hunting. Build on your rela-tionship in this way and you will have a strong foundation.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

It may be difficult to get a message across to someone today but youmanage to teach, portray or coach. You have lots of enthusiasm and more patience thanusual-you express yourself well. Your timing should be perfect and those around youshould find your charm persuasive. You are in a good place mentally to assuage any nega-tivity. Broadening your intellectual and spiritual horizons takes on a high priority now.Perhaps this afternoon is a time to think and study-you have a real appreciation for ideasand thoughts. You may find yourself enjoying long conversations, writing a letter, or mak-ing a special phone call. The time is right for renewing friendships and group affiliations.Careful-love is most likely to blossom in a career setting.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

This is the type of day that can be much like a day after a big party or per-formance. Because your work has brought you many opportunities to achieve and showoff your talents, it may have also been full of exhausting energy lately. You know thingsneed to be done for today, but getting there may become a huge effort. Allow your mindand body to have intermittent rest periods by deep breathing a minute and then exhalingand picturing your body relaxed; follow the flow of the day. You will benefit from takingan inward direction, turning away from the outward world a bit and allowing new infor-mation to filter through. Young people are a welcomed distraction this afternoon. Arelaxed evening can be enjoyed, perhaps a movie.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

There are no easy outs from the work chores today so keep your head downwith determination and take one step at a time. You will see results soon and be proud ofyour accomplishments. Because you are good in the art of conversation, you could findwork in the many areas of communication. Television, radio, writing, sales or a number ofother endeavors could bring about a great deal of profit for you. Good luck is with youwhen you use your intuition. Stay objective and keep that sense of humor active. You willbe making great strides in all you do, especially if you can keep a mental effort going tobalance logic and emotions. Romance and other things that tug at the heartstrings comeyour way this evening.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

This is not a time to push new ideas or be involved in seeking new projects.This is a better time to buckle down and tend to matters at hand. Perhaps

today is the day you finally clear away old business. You might like to ignore responsibili-ties and do some socializing, but realities will demand that you tend to business for now.This evening you can work on plans for a getaway vacation. If you have already set plansin motion, you can sit back and let them firm up for now. Fishing, golf, shopping, bowling,scuba diving, you name it. Planning time away from some of your stresses of late willbring you some physical and mental relief. Someone understands how you feel and issympathetic. Make every effort to show your sweetheart your appreciation.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Concentrate on closing your projects or business and consolidate your prof-its in order to get the most benefit out of them. It is time to go forward with plans. An easymanner will make conversations and interactions go well. You have a knack for knowinghow to put people, ideas and things together profitably. Respect, status and achievementare central goals for you as a new phase begins in your life. The good life, and all that is fineand luxuriant, may be what you value just now. You could enjoy making your own wayand finding solutions to whatever problems you have. You will be pleased when peopleask for your advice and counsel. You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity

to the needs of others and make a good mentor.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Before breakfast, you may receive good news from an unexpected source.Your intuition is heightened and you will profit from your instincts. Sorting

things out and keeping them running in a reasonable manner will keep you busy in theworkplace. Over the long term, your life is getting better and better. The short-term diffi-culties are frustrating but are the perfect challenge to building your capable expertise;take frequent breaks. Remember, the operative word here is-short term. An end to an oldproblem is a relief and new possibilities are on the horizon. There is also a new and positiverelationship building. What you want may not be what will make you happy; keep yourself

open to the blessings. Instead of giving answers . . . Ask questions.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Work moves along quickly and you get a lot accomplished-there is a lot onyour work docket today. You are often magically inspired and may find people come toyou before they seek any other advice. You often find that you are giving advice. Keeptrack of these questions and it will help you with your request for a raise or a job upgradesoon; higher-ups may not realize how helpful you are with customers, clients or employ-ees. You have a good reference list for sales opportunities. Your intimate relationships arestrong and nurturing. You encourage happy and cozy, so much so that when family mem-bers are away, they only think of the next time they can return. Of course, tonight is a goodtime for family and pictures. Happy birthday!

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 1521

ACROSS1. A federal agency established to coordinate

programs aimed at reducing pollution andprotecting the environment.

4. A unit of apothecary weight equal to aneighth of an ounce or to 60 grains.

11. According to the Old Testament he was apagan king of Israel and husband ofJezebel (9th century BC).

15. A flexible container with a single opening.16. A republic in northeastern South America

on the Atlantic.17. The battle in 202 BC in which Scipio deci-

sively defeated Hannibal at the end of thesecond Punic War.

18. An accidental hole that allows something(fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.

20. (British) Informal term for information.21. Being connected or associated.23. A state in midwestern United States.24. Fruit of the oak tree.25. A city in central Texas.26. A silvery malleable metallic element that

resists corrosion.27. A view of the sea.30. The cry made by sheep.31. Out of fashion.35. At or near or toward the stern of a ship or

tail of an airplane.39. Adult female chicken.40. Cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal

vessel.41. A colorless and odorless inert gas.45. A syntactic string that forms a part of some

larger syntactic unit.48. (of pain or sorrow) Made easier to bear.49. A member of the Iroquoian people former-

ly living between Lake Chaplain and theSaint Lawrence River.

50. A wooden pin pushed or driven into a sur-face.

53. Before noon.54. Any plant of the genus Reseda.57. Devoid of warmth and cordiality.60. American novelist (1909-1955).61. Plant with an elongated head of broad

stalked leaves resembling celery.66. One of the five major classes of

immunoglobulins.69. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which

the pilot is talked down by ground controlusing precision approach radar.

70. A label made of cardboard or plastic ormetal.

71. Of or relating to or exhibiting isomerism.72. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or

water or to keep out the sea.73. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square

meters.74. A long slender cigar.75. A loose sleeveless outer garment made

from aba cloth.

DOWN1. The principal evil jinni in Islamic mythology.2. A formal expression of praise.3. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in

Turkey).

4. An honorary degree in science.5. (botany) Of leaves.6. Large west African tree having large

palmately lobed leaves and axillarycymose panicles of small white flowersand one-winged seeds.

7. Of a vivid red to reddish-orange color.8. A colorless explosive liquid that is volatile

and poisonous and foul-smelling.9. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair

of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usuallyheld between the thumb and fingers) thatare made to click together (as by Spanishdancers) in rhythm with the dance.

10. Naked freshwater or marine or parasiticprotozoa that form temporarypseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

11. Any of numerous ornamental shrubsgrown for their showy flowers of variouscolors.

12. The emotion of hate.13. A primeval personification of air and

breath.14. A Chadic language spoken in northern

Nigeria.19. Valuable fiber plant of East Indies now

widespread in cultivation.22. United States journalist (1889-1974).28. An enclosed space.29. A public announcement (in church) of a

proposed marriage.32. (Judaism) A period of seven days of mourn-

ing after the death of close relative.33. Dried root of two plants of the genus

Polygala containing an irritating saponin.34. A postulated biochemical change (presum-

ably in neural tissue) that represents amemory.

36. Common Indian weaverbird.37. (of securities) Bought and sold on a stock

exchange.38. Young sheep.42. Abounding with sunlight.43. A slow pace of running.44. Expletives used informally as intensifiers.46. A native American tent.47. Small toucan.51. God of wisdom or prophesy.52. A tumor consisting of fatty tissue.55. Moth having nonfunctional mouthparts as

adults.56. Grasslike or rushlike plant growing in wet

places having solid stems, narrowgrasslike leaves and spikelets of inconspic-uous flowers.

58. An indehiscent fruit derived from a singleovary having one or many seeds within afleshy wall or pericarp.

59. (Irish) Chief god of the Tuatha De Danann.62. A primeval personification of air and

breath.63. The lower house of the parliament of the

Republic of Ireland.64. Someone who works (or provides workers)

during a strike.65. God of love and erotic desire.67. A depression in an otherwise level surface.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Word Search

34s ta rs

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

F E A T U R E

l if e s t y l e

Brandishing a gun, his face contorted with rage, theshocking image of an off-duty Turkish policeman assas-sinating the Russian envoy to Turkey yesterday won the

prestigious World Press Photo Award. Judges praised the brav-ery of Burhan Ozbilici, a photographer for the AssociatedPress, who stood his ground as 22-year-old policeman MevlutMert Altintas pumped nine bullets into ambassador AndreiKarlov at the opening of an Ankara exhibition. Altintas shout-ed "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") and "Don't forgetAleppo" as he opened fire, vowing those responsible forevents in Syria would be held accountable.

"From the moment I heard the shots I knew this was a his-toric moment, very serious," Ozbilici told AFP. "I knew I had todo my job. As a journalist, I couldn't just run away to save myskin." The powerful photo went viral and has been viewedsome 18 million times. Judges from the World Press PhotoFoundation in Amsterdam acknowledged it had been toughto choose the 2017 winner from over 80,400 images by 5,034photographers from 125 countries.

"It was a very, very difficult decision, but in the end we feltthat the picture of the year was an explosive image that reallyspoke to the hatred of our times," said jury member MaryCalvert. Agence France-Presse also scooped three awards.Manila-based photographer Noel Celis took third place in theGeneral News category for his photo of inmates trying tosleep in an over-populated prison in the city. Syrian snappersAbd Doumany and Ameer Alhalbi won second prize in theSpot News category for pictures of children caught up in thebombardments of Aleppo and Douma near Damascus. It isthe second year in the row that Doumany's work has beenhonored by the World Press Photo foundation.

'Morally problematic' But the winning photo sparked dissensions on the jury,

with president Stuart Franklin, a British photographer, saying:"I voted against. Sorry Burhan." "It's a photograph of a murder,the killer and the slain, both seen in the same picture, andmorally as problematic to publish as a terrorist beheading," hewrote in the British daily The Guardian.

He argued that "placing the photograph on this highpedestal is an invitation to those contemplating such stagedspectaculars." Ozbilici, who covered the failed coup bid inTurkey and been sent on mission to Syria, Libya and Egypt,said he always tried to be ready for difficult tests, "to have thecourage to confront a world which has been made rotten by

the dishonest and corrupt, in order to try to do some good."He said he was sorry for the death of the envoy, whom hedescribed as a "natural, kind, sincere man" whose death was adirect consequence of the "Syrian catastrophe." "This photomarked an important moment in the history of Turkey, espe-cially in its relations with Russia," said Ozbilici, who has workedfor AP since 1989.

'Edge of abyss' Jury members agreed his photo captured an important

moment in time. "Right now I see the world marching towardsthe edge of an abyss," said jury member Joao Silva, referring toAltintas as a man who had "clearly reached a breaking point.""This image to me talks" of everything that is happeningacross the world. "It is the face of hatred." A total of 45 photog-

raphers won awards across eight categories, touching on avast array of subjects-from racial tensions in Louisiana to wallsbuilt around the world to thwart migrants. Jury member TanyaHabjouqa said the choice of the 2017 winners was "bold". "Ithink the selection is definitely going to push forward adebate and I think it is a debate that is essential to have," shesaid. The competition itself was directly affected by the travelmeasures brought in by US President Donald Trump, whenone of the nine jury members, Palestinian Eman Mohammed,cancelled her trip to Amsterdam. Amid the chaos unleashedby the ban, she decided it was too risky to leave her youngchildren in the US where she lives, fearing she might not beallowed back in again. — AFP

Winner of the World Press Photo 2016 photographer Burhan Ozbilici and ManagingDirector of the World Press Photo Foundation Lars Boering, speak on stage during theannouncement of the World Press Photo prizes in Amsterdam yesterday. — AFP

In this Monday, Dec 19, 2016 file photo Mevlut MertAltintas shouts after shooting Andrei Karlov, right, theRussian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara,Turkey. — AP photos

In this image released yesterday, by World Press Photo titled "Copacabana Palace" byphotographer Peter Bauza, which won third prize in the Contemporary Issues, Stories,category of the World Press Photo contest shows squatting of abandoned and emptybuildings which is often the only solution for many of the homeless who cannot affordrent, Copacabana Palace, Brazil.

In this image released yesterday, by World Press Photo titled"Adaptive Athlete" by photographer Darren Calabrese,which won third prize in the Sports, Series, category of theWorld Press Photo contest shows Lindsay Hilton, born with-out hands or feet, wrapping around a competitor's leg tomake a tackle during a rugby club tournament in Halifax,Nova Scotia, Canada on July 23, 2016. It was at a rugby tour-nament that Lindsay was introduced to CrossFit by winning afree gym membership. "Rugby has fully changed my life",Lindsay admits. "Rugby has so shaped who I am that I can'timagine what I would be doing if I didn't play rugby.

In this image released yesterday by World Press Phototitled "Pandas Gone Wild" by photographer Amy Vitale, forNational Geographic Magazine, which won second prize inthe Nature, Stories, category of the World Press Photo con-test shows Seven-year-old giant panda Min Min had ababy girl at Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and ResearchCenter in Sichuan Province, China.

In this image released yesterday by World Press Phototitled "Out Of The Way" by photographer Elena Anosova,which won second prize in the Daily Life, Stories, categoryof the World Press Photo contest shows all people arehereditary hunters in this small settlement nearNizhnyaya, Tunguska River, Russia. It is intricately woveninto the local way of life.

Image of 'hatred of our times' wins World Press Photo

In this image released yesterday by World Press Phototitled "Fidelity" by photographer Kristina Kormilitsyna,Kommersant Newspaper, which won third prize in thePeople, Singles, category of the World Press Photo contestshows a woman stroking a girl's head as she rests on herlap whilst sitting on a sofa in a police station in Camaguey,Cuba, on Feb. 12, 2016, with a portrait of Fidel Castrohanging above them.

In this image released yesterday by World Press Phototitled "Now You See Me" by photographer Bence Matewhich won third prize in the Nature, Stories, category ofthe World Press Photo contest shows an African Elephantunder the starry sky.

In this image released yesterday by World Press Photo titled "An IranianJourney" by photographer Hossein Fatemi, Panos Pictures, which won secondprize in the Long-Term Projects category of the World Press Photo contestshows a Muslim taxi driver praying on the sidewalk while Tara and Soroush,two Iranian students who live downtown, celebrate their wedding day inTehran, Iran.

In this image released yesterday by World Press Photo titled "MediterraneanMigration" by photographer Mathieu Willcocks, which won third prize in theSpot News, Stories, category of the World Press Photo contest shows Libyanfishermen throwing a lifejacket at a rubber boat full of migrants. Migrants arevery often not given any life jackets or means of communication by their smug-glers. More often than not they only have some water, food and not enoughfuel to make it to Italy.

In this image released yesterday by World Press Photo titled "MediterraneanMigration" by photographer Mathieu Willcocks, which won third prize in theSpot News, Stories, category of the World Press Photo contest shows two menpanicking and struggling in the water during their rescue. Their rubber boatwas in distress and deflating quickly on one side, tipping many migrants in thewater. They were quickly reached by rescue swimmers and brought to safety.

In this image yesterday by World Press Photo titled "Standing Rock" by photographer Amber Bracken which won firstprize in the Contemporary Issues, Stories, category of the World Press Photo contest shows Jesse Jaso, 12, as he entersthe Unity Teepee, at the Sacred Stone Camp. The teepee is signed by camp supporters from all over North America andaround the world.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

l if e s t y l e

A W A R D S

Glamour was shot through with grit at the BritishAcademy Film Awards on Sunday. Frothy musi-cal "La La Land" took five prizes including best

picture, but major awards also went to tough welfare-state drama "I, Daniel Blake" and fractured-family sto-ries "Lion" and "Manchester by the Sea." In keepingwith an awards season that has coincided with awrenching change of government in the United States,even "La La Land's" prizes came with a political tinge.Accepting the best-actress trophy for playing a baristawho dreams of Hollywood stardom, Emma Stone saidthat "this country and the US, and the world seems tobe going through a bit of a time."

She said that in a divided world, it was vital to cele-brate "the positive gift of creativity and how it can tran-scend borders and how it help people to feel a littleless alone." The UK awards, known as BAFTAs, are oftenseen as an indicator of who will win at Hollywood'sAcademy Awards, held two weeks later. "La La Land"already is a dominant force at the Oscars, with 14 nomi-nations. It also has won seven Golden Globes.

"La La Land" had 11 nominations for the Britishawards and won prizes for Stone, director DamienChazelle, music and cinematography as well as bestpicture. But while the luscious musical was an acade-my favorite, voters also rewarded less escapist fare.Stone's co-star, Ryan Gosling, lost out on the best-actor prize to Casey Affleck, who played a grievinghandyman in "Manchester by the Sea." Affleck, who isalso Oscar-nominated for the role, thanked writer-director Kenneth Lonergan for creating a film that"dignifies everyday lives and their struggles withgreat compassion."

Conservative governmentThe wintry New England drama also won Lonergan

the prize for best original screenplay. British actor DevPatel pulled off an upset, beating favorite MahershalaAli, from "Moonlight," to the best supporting actor tro-phy for "Lion," about a young man who goes searchingfor the Indian family from which he was separated as achild. The London-born Patel expressed shock at beinga winner at a ceremony he used to watch on TV withhis family. He said "Lion," which co-stars Nicole Kidmanis "a film, about family, about a love that transcendsborders, race, color, anything."

The "Slumdog Millionaire" star thanked his "amaz-ing team, who had the insane task of trying to get thisIndian dude, this noodle with wonky teeth and a lazyeye and floppy hair, work in this industry." "Lion" alsotook the BAFTA for best adapted screenplay. KenLoach's "I, Daniel Blake" was named best British film.The 80-year-old director used his acceptance speech tolambast the country's Conservative government.

Loach said his docudrama about a carpenter tryingto get welfare after a heart attack shows that "the mostvulnerable and the poorest people are treated by thisgovernment with a callous brutality that is disgraceful."Loach apologized for making a political speech, buttold reporters backstage that "you can't do a film likethis and then talk showbiz." Loach was cheered by anaudience at London's Royal Albert Hall that includedPrince William, his wife, Kate, and nominees includingMeryl Streep, Affleck, Stone and Kidman.

African-AmericanBoth William and Kate wore black and white - he a

tuxedo, she an off-the-shoulder Alexander McQueengown and glittering chandelier earrings. Viola Daviswon the supporting actress BAFTA for "Fences," DenzelWashington's adaptation of August Wilson's stage dra-ma about an African-American family. A visibly movedDavis praised Wilson's play for showing "that our livesmattered as African Americans."

"The horse groomer, the sanitation worker, the peo-ple who grew up under the heavy boot of Jim Crow,"she said. "The people who did not make it into historybooks, but they have a story - and those storiesdeserve to be told." Ava DuVernay's film about massincarceration in America, "The 13th," was named bestdocumentary, and Laszlo Nemes' unbearably powerfulHolocaust drama "Son of Saul" took the trophy for bestforeign-language film. The stars brought a dose ofglamour to gray, wintry London, as hundreds of fanslined the red carpet outside the domed concert hallbeside London's Hyde Park.

Many said they were unsurprised politics made aguest appearance at the ceremony, as it has so oftenthis awards season. Streep is among the stars whohave used the awards stage to criticize PresidentDonald Trump. Master of ceremonies Stephen Fryjoked about Trump's dismissal of Streep as overrated,declaring from the stage: "I look down on row afterrow of the most overrated people on the planet."Prince William, who serves as president of Britain's filmacademy, presented the academy's lifetime-achieve-ment honor to veteran comedian Mel Brooks at theend of Sunday's ceremony. The 90-year-old entertainersaid he would treasure the trophy. "This is one of theawards you will not see on eBay," he said. — AP

'La La Land' takes 5 prizes at British academy awards

Actress Emma Stone poses with her BAFTAaward for Best Actress for her role in ‘La LaLand’. — AP/AFP photos

Cinematographer Linus Sandgren poseswith his BAFTA award for BestCinematography for the film “La La Land”.

Actor Casey Affleck with his BAFTA award for Best Actor forthe film "Manchester By The Sea”.

Actor Tom Holland poses with his BAFTA award forRising Star.

Animator Travis Knight holds his BAFTA award for BestAnimated Film for “Kubo And The Two Strings”.

Actor Dev Patel poses for photographers with his BAFTA award for BestSupporting Actor for his role in the film “Lion”.

Screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan with his BAFTA award for Best Screenplayfor the film “Manchester By The Sea”.

Actress Viola Davis poses with the BAFTA award for Best SupportingActress for her role in the film 'Fences'.

Director Ken Loach holds the BAFTAaward for Outstanding British Film for ‘I,Daniel Blake’.

Director Damien Chazelle with his BAF-TA award for Best Director for the film"La La Land'.

Mel Brooks poses for photographers with his BAFTA Fellowship award.

Winners Film - "La La Land"British Film - "I, Daniel Blake"Director - Damien ChazelleActor - Casey AffleckActress - Emma StoneSupporting Actor - Dev PatelSupporting Actress - Viola DavisRising Star - Tom HollandBritish Debut - "Under the Shadow"Original Screenplay - Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester by the Sea"Adapted Screenplay - Luke Davies, "Lion"Film Not in the English Language - "Son of Saul"Music - Justin Hurwitz, "La La Land"Cinematography - Linus Sandgren, "La La Land"Editing - John Gilbert, "Hacksaw Ridge"Production Design - Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock, "Fantastic Beastsand Where to Find Them"Costume Design - Madeleine Fontaine, "Jackie"Sound - Claude La Haye, Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Sylvain Bellemare,"Arrival"Visual Effects - "The Jungle Book"Makeup and Hair - J. Roy Helland and Daniel Phillips, "Florence FosterJenkins"Animated Feature - "Kubo and the Two Strings"Short Film - "Home"Short Animation - "A Love Story"Documentary - "13th"Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema - CurzonAcademy Fellowship - Mel Brooks. — AP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

F A S H I O N

l if e s t y l e

The music world's hottest stars strutted their best stuffdown the Grammys red carpet at the Staples Center inLos Angeles on Sunday. Here are the top moments from

the A-list fashion parade:

Ladies in red Nothing makes a statement like fire-engine red. Beyonce

avoided the red carpet spotlight but later sat in the audiencein a sleek, form-fitting red sequined gown that clung to all hercurves, including her baby bump. A chunky diamond necklacefilled her ample decolletage. Country singer CarrieUnderwood earned rave reviews for her beaded high-neckedElie Madi gown with a huge diamond cutout that revealed aton of cleavage. Fellow country crooner Faith Hill also baredquite a bit in a red keyhole gown from Zuhair Murad. AndBritain's Charli XCX stunned in a sultry strapless VivienneWestwood gown with a deep sweetheart neckline.

Hello from the red carpet Adele, the night's big winner with five Grammys including

Album, Record and Song of the Year, turned to Givenchy forher red carpet look-a pleated olive green gown with a chasteneckline, a criss-cross bodice and a fitted waist. Her hair wasswept up, and her signature cat eye makeup was in place. TheBritish balladeer later sang her megahit "Hello" in a differentGivenchy gown, featuring a glittering bodice with hints of redthat resembled panes of stained glass and a crystal-studdedblack full-length pleated skirt. And for her tribute to GeorgeMichael, she wore all black-and cross earrings similar to thosethe late pop singer wore.

And they wear pants too After actress Evan Rachel Wood's much-adored tux at the

Golden Globes, and her pledge to ditch dresses for all ofawards season, the ladies of the music world embraced jump-suits and pantsuits on Grammys night. But these pantsuitswere sassy, with cutouts galore. Paris Jackson-yes, the daugh-ter of the King of Pop is now 18 -- earned plaudits for heryouthful sleeveless multi-colored Balmain jumpsuit, the legsslit high and the bodice snipped out at the waist. Her blondehair was cropped and shaggy.

Country music singer-songwriter Brandy Clark rocked anall-black pantsuit with flared trousers. And R&B singer Myalooked sultry in a red pantsuit with a pussy bow blouse thatwas anything but innocent, with a naughty revealing bodice.

Make America Great Again A pro-Trump statement at the Grammys? It seemed unlike-

ly, and yet, there it was. Singer Joy Villa arrived in a whitecape... which she took off to reveal a tight red, white and bluegown with "Make America Great Again" emblazoned on thefront... and a glittering silver "TRUMP" across the bottom ofthe train. On her Instagram feed, Villa-known more for her redcarpet statements than her singing-said: "My whole artisticplatform is about LOVE!" The ensemble earned immediatescorn on Twitter and Instagram.

A few misses Jennifer Lopez may have rocked the Grammys red carpet

once upon a time with her plunging barely-there greenVersace gown, but on Sunday, she missed the mark in a frothy

lilac Ralph & Russo halter gown open down to there and witha slit up to there. Katy Perry turned to celeb designer TomFord, but the pale pink floor-length feather skirt topped with asomewhat ill-fitting metallic long-sleeve top didn't reallywork. Her message about "purposeful pop"-far better.

"That's what we need more than ever... to listen to oneanother," the newly blonde Perry told E! Network on the redcarpet. The underboob award goes to Lady Gaga, who wasready for her performance with Metallica in leather hot pantsand a cropped jacket-that revealed quite a lot of her breasts.Fishnets and thigh-high boots completed the look. And onthe men's side, Cee-Lo Green looked like a cross between "StarWars" droid C-3PO and a gilded samurai warrior. — AFP

Grammys red carpet: Red, cutouts, pantsuits and... Trump?

Carrie Underwood Faith Hill Charli XCX Paris Jackson

Celine Dion

Katy Perry

CeeLo Green

Chrissy Teigen Rihanna

Joy VillaKelsea Ballerini

Jennifer Lopez

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

l if e s t y l e

A W A R D S

Adele accepts the award for album of the year for ‘25’.

Adele performs a tribute to George Michael at the 59th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. — AP/AFP photos

Adele poses in the press room with the awards for albumof the year for "25", song of the year for "Hello", record ofthe year for "Hello", best pop solo performance for "Hello",and best pop vocal album for "25" at the 59th annualGrammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday.

Adele on Sunday triumphed once again at theGrammys with five awards for her latest blockbusteralbum of ballads, but she paid glowing tribute to her

rival Beyonce, calling her an idol. The English balladeerswept up the top prizes of the night at the music industry'sbiggest night-Album, Record and Song of the Year. Beyoncewalked away with two trophies. And in a sentimental hom-age to late rock icon David Bowie, his final album"Blackstar" earned five awards, including four posthumousprizes for the singer. Adele, who has stood by her winningstyle of heart-wrenching ballads, became the first act everto sweep the three key categories in two different years.

She won Record of the Year, which recognizes overallsong, and Song of the Year, which looks at songwriting, forher ubiquitous hit "Hello" and Album of the Year for "25."Adele made a similar sweep in 2012 with her last album"21"-which remains the only album to have outsold "25" inthe past decade. Fighting back tears, Adele took the podi-um and paid tribute to Beyonce, who had led the night'snominations with nine for her politically edgy "Lemonade.""My idol is Queen Bey and I adore you. You move my soulevery day," Adele said as she looked at Beyonce, who wasmaking her first public appearance since announcing shewas pregnant with twins.

It was a happy ending to a night that included a majorembarrassment as Adele-using an expletive that was cutfrom the television broadcast-insisted on starting over hertribute to late pop icon George Michael. It was the secondstraight year of hiccups for Adele after a microphone fell onthe piano during her Grammy performance a year ago.Shortly afterward on Sunday, Metallica frontman JamesHetfield discovered that his microphone was off as theband played with Lady Gaga-who transformed into a met-alhead, dancing ferociously before stage-diving.

Beyonce's call for inclusive world Beyonce won only for Best Urban Contemporary Album

for "Lemonade" and Best Music Video for "Formation." Thevideo marked the most political statement of Beyonce'scareer as she rallied behind the Black Lives Matter move-ment with imagery of police officers surrendering as ifunder arrest. Reflecting her increasingly experimental side,Beyonce's Grammy performance was a New Age-inspiredcelebration of motherhood. She showed her exposed bellyunderneath a bra on a projection on stage-before the real-life 35-year-old singer took the stage with a golden crownand cape. With hints of India and ancient Egypt, Beyoncesang two new songs as dozens of female dancers surround-ed her with flowers and a spoken word incantation laudedthe power of women.

Accepting one of her awards, Beyonce said"Lemonade" and the accompanying film were meant "tocreate a body of work that will give a voice to our pain,our struggles, our darkness and our history-to confrontissues that make us uncomfortable." "It's important to meto show images to my children that reflect their beauty sothey can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror-first through their own families, as well as the news, theSuper Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and theGrammys-and see themselves," Beyonce said, in one of thenight's more subtle political comments.

The evening saw its most forceful statement as rapperBusta Rhymes took the stage with hip-hop pioneers ATribe Called Quest and emerging artist Anderson .Paak.Denouncing US President Donald Trump for his efforts tocurtail immigration, Busta Rhymes mocked "PresidentAgent Orange" and shouted, "We come together! We thepeople!" as performers knocked through a wall. ParisJackson, the 18-year-old daughter of King of Pop MichaelJackson, voiced hope when she saw the enthusiasticcrowd in the Staples Center in Los Angeles-the sceneeight years earlier of her father's memorial service. "Wecan really use this kind of excitement at a pipeline protest,guys," she said to cheers.

Posthumous honors for Bowie "Blackstar"-the final album of Bowie, who always

enjoyed more recognition in his native Britain-won in allfive categories for which it was nominated, including BestRock Song and Best Alternative Music Album. Bowie hadwon only one Grammy in his lifetime before Sunday. And"Blackstar," which he released two days before his death lastyear from an undisclosed battle with cancer, was controver-sially passed over for Album of the Year honors.

Bowie showed himself innovative to the end by collabo-rating with the avant-garde jazz saxophonist DonnyMcCaslin. While not predicting how Bowie would have felt,McCaslin told reporters: "When the press was hearing thealbum before it came out, I could see it meant a lot to him."Chance the Rapper, 23, picked up three prizes including theclosely watched Best New Artist award for his gospel-infused hip-hop. The Chicago artist benefited from updatedrules that now consider streaming exclusives.

Bruno Mars electrified the crowd with a tribute to Prince,uncannily channeling the late pop icon by donning a pur-ple jacket and playing a guitar solo to "Let's Go Crazy." Theperformance marked a new commercial effort by the estateof Prince-who famously rejected music industry conven-tions-with his classic albums on Sunday returning to majorstreaming sites. — AFP

Adele wins big at Grammys with five awards

Chance The Rapper accepts the award for bestnew artist.

Chance The Rapper accepts the awardfor best rap album for ‘Coloring Book’.

Chance The Rapper performs onstage. Singer Beyonce, winner of Best UrbanContemporary Album for “Lemonade”and Best Music Video for “Formation,”poses in the press room.

Matthan Minster, from left, Daniel Tichenor, Matthew Shultz, Jared Champion, NickBockrath, and Brad Shult, of the musical group Cage the Elephant, pose in the press roomwith the award for best rock album for “Tell Me I’m Pretty” at the 59th annual GrammyAwards at the Staples Center on Sunday.

(Above & below ) Recording artist Beyonce performs onstage.

Beyonce accepts the awardfor best urban contempo-

rary album for ‘Lemonade’.

Sturgill Simpson acceptsthe award for best countryalbum for “A Sailor’s GuideTo Earth”.

Winners in key categoriesat the Grammy Awards

Album of the year: Adele, "25"Record of the year (for best overall song): Adele, "Hello"Song of the year (for songwriting): Adele and Greg Kurstin, "Hello"Best Pop Vocal Album: Adele, "25"Best Pop Solo Performance: Adele, "Hello"Best New Artist: Chance the RapperBest Rap Album: Chance the Rapper, "Coloring Book"Best Rap Performance: Chance the Rapper featuring Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz, "No Problem"Best Rap Song: Drake, "Hotline Bling"Best Rock Album: Cage the Elephant, "Tell Me I'm Pretty"Best Rock Song: David Bowie, "Blackstar"Best Rock Performance: David Bowie, "Blackstar"Best Alternative Rock Album: David Bowie, "Blackstar"Best Urban Contemporary Album: Beyonce, "Lemonade"Best Music Video: Beyonce, "Formation"Best Country Album: Sturgill Simpson, "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". — AFP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

l if e s t y l e

A W A R D S

Bruno Mars performs ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ during a tribute toPrince.

Lady Gaga performs with Metallica onstage. Jimi Westbrook, from left, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, and Philip Sweet of ‘Little Big Town’,Demi Lovato, Andra Day and Tori Kelly perform a tribute to the Bee Gees.

Katy Perry per forms ‘Chained to theRhythm’ on stage.

Solange poses in the press room with theaward for best R&B per formance for‘Cranes in the Sky’.

Anderson.Paak (second left) performs onstage. Ali Shaheed Muhammad, left, and Jarobi White, from A Tribe Called Quest, perform onstage.

Recording artists Tim McGraw (left) and Faith Hill speak onstage.

Cynthia Erivo, right, and John Legend perform ‘God Only Knows’.

Sturgill Simpson performs ‘All Around You’ on stage. Host James Corden raps at the 59th annual GrammyAwards.

Tamela Mann poses in the press room after winning BestGospel Performance/Song for ‘God Provides’.

Rory Lee Feek, of Joey + Rory, poses in the press roomwith the award for best roots gospel album.

Hillary Scott (second left) and the Scott family pose in the press room with their tro-phies for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (‘Thy Will’), andBest Contemporary Christian Music Album (‘Love Remains’),

Andra Day performs a tribute to the Bee Gees.

Hillary Scott poses in the press room withher trophies for Best ContemporaryChristian Music Performance/Song (‘ThyWill’), and Best Contemporary ChristianMusic Album (‘Love Remains’).

Ziggy Marley, left, accepts the award for best reggaealbum for ‘Ziggy Marley’.

James Hetfield of ‘Metallica’ performs‘Moth Into Flame’.

Alicia Keys performs ‘Once’ on stage.

Singer Maren Morris holds the BestCountry Solo Performance Grammy for ‘MyChurch.’

38TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Adele wins big at Grammyswith five awards

An Iraqi Kurdish man spray-paints hearts in anticipation for Valentine’s Day, in a street in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, on February 12, 2017. — AFP

Shopping for jewelry for a loved one ahead ofValentine's Day can be stressful. But learningsome tricks should help anyone have an easi-

er time finding the perfect gift. That means under-standing a partner's tastes, shopping at reputablejewelry stores and learning what the wordingmeans in terms of how gemstones are graded. Andthere's plenty of opportunity to haggle for the bestprice. "It is a big time to buy jewelry," says AmandaGizzi, a spokeswoman at the Jewelers of America, atrade association with more than 8,000 retail mem-bers. "There are some wonderful sales to be had.Look for the best pieces for your budget, but don'tbe dazzled by the discounts."

Above all, start researching with time to spare,figure out how much you want to spend, and shopto take advantage of post-holiday sales or limited-time Valentine's Day deals. The median price for apiece of jewelry is $350, excluding engagementrings and wedding bands, the trade group says. Butthere's a wide range of jewelry sellers from Targetto Tiffany. At Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, which says itsjewelry is priced at a 25 to 40 percent discount overother jewelry retailers, Valentine's deals run fromJan 25 to the holiday. Macy's jewelry sale, whichincludes 60 percent off 14-carat and 18-carat goldjewelry, starts Jan 29 and ends Feb 9. "You really doneed to shop early if you are budget-minded," saidBenjamin Glaser, features editor at DealNews.com,an online deal comparison site.

Here are some tips:

Know your loved one's tasteLook at what your partner is wearing and what's

in the jewelry box. If your special someone likes

small earrings, don't get big hoops. And if that per-son is active, don't buy rings with high settings,says Gizzi. Among the trends this year: updatedclassics like hoop earrings with diamond chips, orlayering rings or bracelets. If you plan to buy dia-monds, see if there's a way - subtly! - to find out ifyour partner would rather sacrifice size over qualityor vice versa.

Do research and learn the lingoCheck out sites like Jewelers of America and

online retail sites like Blue Nile for help under-standing key terms like what clarity means whenyou are talking about diamonds, or want to knowmore about how gemstones are graded.Bluenile.com, which has also begun opening in-person showrooms, offers tools to compare pricesfrom 150,000 independently graded diamonds.

Take precautions against fraudFirst, be cautious about a store always offering

discounts of more than 50 percent. Consumersmay find the discount price is actually the averageretail price elsewhere, says the Jewelers of America.Buy from a trusted retailer. Ask friends for recom-mendations, or go to websites like the AmericanGem Society, which lets you search for reputablejewelry stores by ZIP code.

As for diamonds, consumers should insist astone be accompanied by an independent gradingreport from a respected lab like the GemologicalInstitute of America, says Josh Holland, Blue Nile'sdirector of brand experience. Also, check out thereturn policy and find out whether you'd get yourmoney back or would have to exchange an item for

credit. And haggle - it's a common practice in thejewelry business, Glaser says.

Consider synthetic diamondsIf you want something sparkly but want to

avoid gems from conflict zones, synthetic or man-made diamonds are about 20 percent to 40 per-cent less expensive, according to DealNews.Produced in a laboratory, they are chemically thesame as mined diamonds, as opposed to simulateddiamonds, which are usually cubic zirconia ormoissanite. Pure Grown Diamonds, the world'slargest distributor of them, has a directory on itswebsite of stores by zip code that offer lab-growndiamonds. While a gemologist wouldn't be able totell the difference between mined and syntheticdiamonds, a jeweler needs to tell buyers the origin.

Be creativeNot interested in spending a lot but still want

good quality? Consider estate sales. Or if you thinkyour partner would want to try out pieces for awhile, there's a rental jewelry subscription servicecalled Rocksbox.com. It allows shoppers to getthree items per month based on their tastes, deliv-ered to their doors. Rocksbox.com offers member-ships of three months, six months and 12 monthswith a gift card that can be applied to a purchase.For example, a three-month gift membership plusa $10 gift card is $49. The retail price on the jewelryranges from $50 to $150 and includes such design-ers as Kate Spade and Rebecca Minkoff. — AP

Tired of the usual box of chocolates?Try a bug cocktail or a caramelcreepy crawly for Valentine's Day. A

Tokyo bar on Sunday offered coura-geous couples and curious gourmets aspecial menu of desserts and drinksmade with insects ahead of Tuesday'sholiday. "They are crispy like the skin ofwalnuts and go pretty well with choco-late," Sayumi Makino, 20, told ReutersTelevision at the Duranbar in centralTokyo. The menu ranged from a cranber-ry and water bug cocktail to caramelizedworms with almonds and cashews. Thewhipped cream on some dessertsincluded the internal fluids of giant Thaiwater bugs, known for their sweet taste.

While insects can be found in someregional cuisines, bugs are not a com-mon menu item across Japan. YutaShinohara, a university student who

organized the bug cocktail night, said hewanted to promote an alternative foodculture. "I love insects and I think it's real-ly fun to eat them," he said, adding theywere a sustainable food source too.Insects can be a rich source of fat, pro-tein, vitamins, fibre and minerals, accord-ing to the UN. Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO).

The composition of unsaturatedomega-3 and six fatty acids in meal-worms is comparable to that in fish andhigher than in beef and pork, it says.Globally, at least 2 billion people eatinsects and more than 1,900 specieshave been used for food, according tothe FAO, which said entomophagy couldplay a key role in food security and envi-ronmental protection. — Reuters

Japanese celebrate Valentine's

Day with insect sweets

5 tips for buying jewelry for Valentine's Day

This photo provided by Rocksbox shows aRocksbox jewelry gift set.

This photo provided by Blue Nile shows a BlueNile Studio French Pave Asscher-Cut diamondeternity ring in platinum with a Bella Vaughanfor Blue Nile Grandeur Cushion Halo diamondengagement ring in platinum. — AP photos

A Pakistani vendor carries heart-shaped bouquets for sale ahead of Valentine’s Dayalong a street in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP

This photo provided by Blue Nile shows twoBlue Nile diamond heart pendants, one in 14-carat white gold, one in 14-carat rose gold, and aBlue Nile love necklace in 14-carat rose gold.