CELEBS 16 @newsofbahrain OP-ED ‘Legally Blonde 3’...Affairs, Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and UNIC Director Samir Imtair Aldarabi, leading businessman Mohammed Dadabhai,

Miss America ends swimsuit competition New York

For the first time in nearly a century, Miss America contestants will not strut onstage in swimsuits this

year, the organizers announced yester-day, as the pageant tries to redefine its role in an era of female empowerment and gender equality.

Miss America and swimsuits have been synonymous since its first contest in 1921 on the Atlantic City boardwalk. But what started as contestants wearing one-piece bathing suits, conservative by today’s standards, became women in re-vealing bikinis and high heels parading around for a leering television audience.

Now under mostly female leadership, the Miss America Organisation said yes-terday that it was scrapping the swimsuit

competition, starting at the national contest in September, in a sweeping change that will also reshape local and

state contests.“I’ve talked to tonnes

of young people who’ve said to me, ‘I’d love to be a part of that program, but I don’t want to pa-rade around in a swim-suit,’” Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News an-chor who is now the or-ganization’s chairwom-an, was quoted by The New York Times.

The organisation, confronting its own harassment scandal and search-ing for its place in the #MeToo era, had worked on the new format for several months. The nine members of the board of directors — seven are now women — unanimously approved the change

in March. It was kept a secret until two days ago, when state directors and former Miss Americas were informed.

Ms. Carlson, who as-sumed a prominent voice for women’s rights in the workplace after filing a lawsuit in 2016 against the former Fox chairman Roger Ailes, said the com-

petition would focus more on the con-testants’ talents, intelligence and ideas.

“We are not going to judge you on your outward appearance,” Ms. Carlson, who was Miss America in 1989, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday. “We are moving it forward and evolving it in this cultural revolution.”

03Profits from non-profit

04Environment Day marked in style

05House rejects new pensions law

16

Saudi says Qataris welcome for Umrah 12WORLD

OP-EDC E L E B S

‘Legally Blonde 3’ officially in worksThe third instalment of the “Legally Blonde” franchise starring Reese Witherspoon is officially in the works. In final talks to return for the project are original screen-writers Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah reports ew.com. P17

WEDNESDAYJUNE 2018

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Iran back to square one Tehran puts pressure on European powers trying to save nuke deal

• The 2015 agreement allows Iran to continue 3.67 per cent uranium enrichment, far below the roughly 90pc threshold of weapons-grade.

Beirut

Iran has begun preparations to boost its uranium enrich-ment capacity, its nuclear

chief said yesterday, adding to pressure on European powers trying to save a nuclear accord with Tehran in peril after a US withdrawal.

France, Britain and Germany want to salvage the 2015 deal’s core bargain of sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on Tehran’s atomic activities. Wash-ington has reimposed sanctions against Tehran since quitting

the deal last month, arguing Iran posed a security threat.

Iran has set out conditions to stay in the nuclear deal, includ-ing steps to safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian oil sales. But it has also said it could resume its 20 per cent uranium enrichment, which is banned under the deal.

Iran was developing infra-structure for building advanced centrifuges at its Natanz facili-ty, Ali Akbar Salehi, director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisa-tion said in a news conference broadcast on state television.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday he had ordered preparations

for Iran to have greater enrich-ment capacity if the deal falls apart. Iran’s nuclear agency said it would inform the UN nuclear watchdog yesterday the process to increase capacity had begun.

Salehi said this did not vio-late the nuclear deal but that it marked an increase in the pace of the nuclear programme.

“If we were progressing nor-mally, it would have taken six or seven years, but this will now be ready in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Iran has also developed the capacity to produce electricity at Natanz, Salehi said, a site which lies around 300 km (186 miles) south of Tehran.

The 2015 agreement allows Iran to continue 3.67 per cent uranium enrichment, far below the roughly 90pc threshold of weapons-grade. Before the deal was reached, Tehran enriched uranium to up to 20pc purity.

Salehi’s comments yesterday appeared to be a warning to the remaining signatories of pos-sible consequences if the deal were to collapse. European pow-ers still back the deal but have concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its in-fluence in the Middle East. Iran says the two issues are non-ne-gotiable.

Iran has set out conditions to stay

in the nuclear deal, including steps to

safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee

Iranian oil sales.

KNOW

DID

Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely designed to meet its energy needs.

1921is the year in which

Miss America contest began.

Minister vows better services for sickle cell patients • Tribune reported on the problems faced by women sickle cell patients while undergoing treatment at SMC.

TDT|Manama

Health Minister Faeqa Al Saleh yesterday received Bahrain Society for Sickle

Cell Anaemia Patient Care Chair-man Zakareya Al Kadhem and his accompanying delegation, in the presence of Assistant Under-secretary for Hospital Affairs Dr Mohammed Amine Al Awadhi.

They discussed ways of op-

timising services for the sickle cell anaemia patients to allevi-ate their suffering and reduce the risks of the disease. They

also discussed issues related to improving the level of health ser-vices provided to female patients suffering from the disease.

This includes solving some of the major difficulties faced by patients in the emergency de-partment at Salmaniya Medical

Complex, providing advanced treatments for patients apart from offering necessary thera-peutic equipment.

The Health Minister stressed keenness of the ministry to pro-vide the needed care for the pa-tients, in line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Sal-man Al Khalifa.

Mr Al Kadhem thanked the Health Ministry staff for their constant cooperation and efforts to overcome all challenges and ensure the sickle cell patients have access to the needed spe-cialised health care.

Tribune reported on the prob-lems faced by women sickle cell patients while undergoing treat-ment at SMC.

Ms Al Saleh holding discussion with Mr Al Kadhem and his accompanying delegation.

Shaikh Abdulla mourned

Manama

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince

Khalifa bin Salman Al Khal-ifa and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Com-mander and First Deputy Premier, yesterday per-formed the funeral prayer for late Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa, the Su-preme Council for Islamic Affairs President.

HRH the Premier and HRH the Crown Prince also attended the burial of late Shaikh Abdulla, in the pres-ence of members of the roy-al family, senior officials and citizens. They paid homage to the deceased, lauding his contribution to serving Bah-rain and the Islamic nation.

HRH the Premier stressed that the contributions of late Shaikh Abdulla will remain carved in the memory of the nation, lauding his efforts in developing Bahrain’s ju-diciary, serving Islam and backing the government’s efforts.

He described late Shai-kh Abdulla as a national, Arab and Islamic icon who spared no effort in serving his homeland and nation. He also pointed out the strong relation he had with late Shaikh Abdulla, prais-ing his constant readiness to serving Bahrain.

WEDNESDAY, June 6, 2018

03

big story

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2018

Profits from non-profit

Many charitable societies are pocketing huge bucks in the name of Ramadan charity

Charity work is not a business. And it is quite unfortunate that many

of these charity societies are turning into business

organisations maintaining a profit margin between

20 and 30 per cent.BU MOHAMMED

• Mr Al Sahaf said these charities were openly charging 100 fils in administrative fees.

TDT|Manama Thamer Tayfoor

Many charitable societies in the Kingdom are allegedly gener-ating huge profits in the name

of Ramadan charity. They offer fast-breaking coupons,

charity cards and other things for various prices to generous individuals, who ob-serve the holy month in its true essence.

Although the lion’s share of these charity funds goes towards providing Ramadan meals to deserving individu-als, sources say charitable organisations are reaping profits, in fact, thousands of dinars.

Speaking to Tribune, Nasser Al Sahaf, an official leading the Al Hadd Charity Fund, said, “Our fund distributes about 800 meals a day to five mosques, while there are many small charity societies distributing up to 350 meals a day each at various locations.

“The average number of meals dis-tributed daily by these charity funds will be in the neighborhood of 36,000 and that would cost them nearly BD21,000. If they are taking one Bah-

raini dinar from generous individu-als to provide one meal, they must be

gaining at least BD15,000 every day,” he explained.

Mr Al Sahaf said these charities were openly charging 100 fils in administra-tive fees.

Bu Mohammed, a citizen who vol-unteers for many charity programmes during the holy month, said the trend is highly condemnable. “Charity work is not a business. And it is quite unfortu-nate that many of these charity societies are turning into business organisations maintaining a profit margin between 20 and 30 per cent.”

Yassin, who is a member of a char-ity organisation, said these days prof-it-making remains the sole mantra be-hind every act of charity. “I was working

as a volunteer at a Quran memorisation centre and was getting BD100 a month for my services, while an official there earned BD1,000 a month. The centre was charging BD30 from each child apart from donations it received.”

A woman citizen, who doesn’t want to be identified, said she had to leave a charity organisation after realising that they were cheating the public. “The organisation would receive huge donations and I was shocked that these amounts were being transferred into personal bank accounts.”

“You won’t believe, there were some volunteers in that charity organisation, who were receiving salaries as high as BD1,500 a month.”

Many societies offer BD1 Ramadan charity coupons

04WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2018

TDT|Manama OP Sreesadan

Senior Government functionaries, represent-atives of UN offices and members of Indian community attended a special event held

by the Indian Embassy to mark the World Envi-

ronment Day yesterday. The event saw saplings being planted in the embassy premises in Seef.

Indian Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha, Direc-tor and Regional Representative of the United Nations Environment Programme for West Asia (UNEP) Sami Dimassi, Undersecretary for In-ternational Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and UNIC Director Samir Imtair Aldarabi, leading businessman Mohammed Dadabhai, Bahrain Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry Second Vice-Chairman Mohammed Abduljab-bar Alkooheji and LuLu Hypermarket

director Juzer Rupawala attended the event.

“As India is the global host of 2018 World Environment Day and given the close friendly relations shared between India and Bah-rain, the embassy is happy to be associated with various events be-ing organised by Indian schools in Bahrain to spread awareness among children about the theme of this year’s World Environment Day,” said an embassy statement.

Speaking to Tribune on the sidelines of the event, Dr Shai-kh Abdulla praised the role of the United Nations and countries like India in playing supportive role in combating the challenges of global warming.

“As India is the global host of 2018 World Environment Day and given the close friendly relations shared between India and Bahrain, the Kingdom will be looking for close associations with various events being organised by UN environment agencies. Bahrain will face environ-mental challenges with the cooper-ation of UN partners and friendly and brotherly countries like India,” he said.

Many schools in the Kingdom too observed World Environment Day with various events. The Indian School Bahrain (ISB) celebrated the day with the theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. ISB Riffa campus held a ‘tree planting’ event under the patronage of the Indian Embassy to instill environment awareness among the primary school students.

Indian Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha inaugurated the programme. ISB Chairman Prince S Natarajan, Member Academics Khursheed Alam, Member Health and Envi-ronment Ajayakrishnan, Member Facilities and Maintenance Premlatha NS, Member Finance Adv Binu Varughese, Principal V R Palaniswamy, Principal - Riffa Campus Pamela Xavier, Staff Representative Johnson Devassy, Head Teachers, Coordinators, teach-ers, non-teaching staff and students were in attendance.

The Asian School celebrated the World Environment Day with lots of enthusiasm and eagerness. Indian Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha visited the campus and highlighted the importance of the day. Saplings were planted in the campus by students along with the Am-

bassador. Chairman of the school Joseph Thomas was present on the occasion.

The weeklong celebrations marking World Environment Day at Ibn Al Hytham Islamic School began with the planting of saplings. The celebrations will include events such as model making (Best out of waste), poster making and collage making.

Better environment, better tomorrow, Go Green and many more slogans resounded Bahrain Indian School campus as the students carried out a campaign yesterday to celebrate World En-vironment Day. Students celebrated this day by performing various activities. Students planted saplings in the campus, made banners sharing the message of ‘Go Green’, ‘Don’t use plastic’ etc.They made hanging pots for plants using the waste scrap and conducted a survey on examining the percentage of trash contents in the waste bins in the classrooms.

Mr Sinha, Dr Shaikh Abdulla, Mr Dimassi, Mr Aldarabi, leading businessman Mohammed Dadabhai, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry Second Vice-Chairman Mohammed Abduljabbar Alkooheji, LuLu Hypermarket director Juzer Rupawala along with other officials and members of Indian community at the event.

Environment Day marked in style

A sapling being planted at the Indian Embassy premises. We express our deepest condolences to

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa,

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa,

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa,

the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and the First Deputy Prime Minister,

His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa,

the Deputy Prime Minister

and all members of the Ruling Family over the sad demise of

His Highness Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa,

President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs

May God rest his soul in eternal peace

Chairman, Board of Directors, CEO and the Management

Students mark the day at ISB Riffa Campus.

As India is the global host of

2018 World Environment Day

and given the close friendly

relations shared between India

and Bahrain, the Kingdom will be

looking for close associations

DR SHAIKH ABDULLA

Indian culture has always been rooted

with the concept of co-existence

with nature. Based on this

India is seeking to galvanise

greater action to tackle global environmental

crisis MR SINHA


• The jurisdictions include determining pension percentages, retirement age, pension increment, combining the pensions that MPs receive from the council and from their previous jobs, and other authorities.

Manama|TDTMuhannad Mansour

The Council of Representatives yesterday re-jected a controversial proposed law which will bestow a government authority the

right to control citizens’ pensions. The move re-ceived a nationwide criticism as it is believed to jeopardise social security.

Unlike the previous session, the majority of MPs (38 out of 40) attended the “historic” session. As reported last week, only 20 MPs attended last Tuesday’s session, forcing the Speaker to suspend it due to lack of quorum. Thirty-seven MPs vot-ed against the bill yesterday following a heated debate.

The proposed law gives absolute jurisdictions that are related to the pensions of the employees of both the military and public sectors, in addition to members of the Legislative Authority (Shura Council and the House of Representatives), to the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO).

The jurisdictions include determining pensions’ percentages, retirement age, pensions’ increment, combining the pensions that MPs receive from the council and from their previous jobs, and other authorities.

The bill was initially rejected by members of the council’s services committee on Monday. Com-mittee members insisted that the bill consists of constitutional errors, mentioning that “it deprives MPs and Shura Council members of their powers, which are granted to them by the Kingdom’s Con-stitution, to legislate and supervise”. They claimed that if the bill is implemented, SIO would have the

absolute power to amend the existing retirement law without consulting the Legislative Authority.

MPs opinions in yesterday’s session were sim-ilar to the committee’s view, with many of them underlining that it’s against the Constitution and the reform project of HM the King. They said that it’s against the concept of separating the jurisdic-tions and preserving the independency of each of the Kingdom’s judicial, executive and legislative authorities.

Several MPs accused the government of “seeking solutions to the deficit caused by the insufficient strategies of SIO by passing this bill and controlling the re-tirement fund”.

MP Mohammed Al Ahmad said, “The government continues to solve the finan-cial deficit on the account of citizens. I demand that this bill be withdrawn and be reconsidered by the government.”

Speaking on the unconstitutionality of bill, the council’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee Head Majed Al Ma-jed commented, “We must have laws to protect the constitution and the rights of retirees and pensioners. This bill must

be withdrawn and other alternatives should be sought after.”

As for Dr Ali Bufarsen, he said that “the bill has a negative impact on citizens livelihoods as it jeop-ardises their financial stability”. Dr Bufarsen also remarked that “the legislation isn’t consistent with the government’s work plan, which was previously approved by the Legislative Authority”.

MP Mohammed Al Maarifi shared an emotional opinion and pleaded for HM the King’s interfer-

ence, saying, “Today, I convey the message of the people of Bahrain to HM the King to interfere and immediately solve this problem.” The upset MP added, “We are ashamed of ourselves as people’s representatives to discuss such a legislation. The administration of SIO was unable to manage the organisation and is now demanding to take-over all of the jurisdictions of the Legislative Authority. This is unacceptable and unconstitutional.”

As reported by Tribune on Sunday, the bill will be now referred to the second chamber of the Legislative Authority, Shura Council, which is scheduled to review and vote on the legislation in its upcoming weekly session on Sunday.

If Shura Council members take a decision that is opposing to the Parliament’s and approve the bill, the National Assembly, consisting of the total of 40 members in each council, will convene as per a Royal Order to discuss the matter again and collectively vote on it.

Other proposals, bills and legislations debated during yesterday’s session include allowing pris-oners to attend funerals and burial ceremonies of their second degree relatives, scrapping the pen-alty of compulsory deportation against convicted expats and compelling them to bear the expenses of their deportation, in addition to granting daily paid breaks to employees taking care of relatives with disabilities.

House rejects new pensions law

37 MPs voted

against the bill

following a heated

debateTE

RMS A

ND C

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The bill should be withdrawn and reconsidered by the government.

MR AL AHMAD

We are ashamed of ourselves as MPs to discuss

such a legislation.MR AL MAARIFI

We must have laws to protect the rights of retirees and pensioners.

MR AL MAJED

The bill will jeopardise the

financial stability of citizens.

DR BUFARSEN

Accident victim jailed for forging medical certificate TDT|Manama

An accident victim who forged a medical report to claim his insurance amount without waiting for the original one, was

jailed by the High Criminal Court yesterday. According to court files, the Bahraini, aged

30, who was in a hurry, approached the insur-ance company with a forged medical report while it took the authorities concerned 13 days to hand over the original one.

“When we contacted the Health Ministry, it was learnt that they haven’t issued any report following the accident,” the insurance compa-ny official told prosecutors.

“I got involved in a road accident and was admitted to Salmaniya Medical Complex. A medical committee was reviewing my case and in between I came across a 50-year-old man who promised to offer me a fake report within few days and after some days he gave me the report,” the convict told prosecutors,

putting the blame on second defendant. The fake document said the victim suffered

40 per cent disabilities, while the original showed 35pc disabilities.

Both the man and his co-defendant (50-year-old) were jailed for three years by the court.

I got involved in a road accident and was admitted to Salmaniya

Medical Complex. A medical committee was reviewing my case

and in between I came across a 50-year-old man who promised to offer me a fake report within few days and after some days he gave

me the reportCONVICT


• Situated in the Adhari Park food court, World Cup City houses two massive (seven by four meter) HD screens to allow viewers to capture every second of the game in all its glory.

TDT|Manama Mehr Jan

Residents of Bahrain are all set to experience the world’s most excit-ing sports event in an unforgetta-

ble manner! Set to screen the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018 for free, Bahrain’s first-ever indoor football screening ven-

ue ‘World Cup City’ will be unveiled to the public on June10, 2018.

A milestone in Bahrain’s entertain-ment spectrum, it has been achieved through the unique vision of Mahmood Aljamal of Leyan Events Management. The inspiration for the project struck him during his travels to Barcelona and despite receiving negative reactions in Bahrain, his commitment to accomplish-ing his vision fueled him to score this ultimate goal.

“It was something I had been build-ing towards for quite a while now, and where everyone insisted it was impossi-ble to get this done, I managed to do so with the support of my well-wishers.”

After nearly three months of rigorous planning, the ‘World Cup City’ has mate-rialized and aims to welcome the biggest

football game as a family-oriented event. “For many, football has always been pre-sented as a game for men generally, and is shown at clubs, shisha joints and hotels. I want to present the concept of it being a family game that every member should enjoy and this arena will welcome that vision, with food, games and shopping stalls, making it fun for everyone,” Alja-mal pointed out.

With an array of stalls, a bounteous play area and stadium inspired seating, the indoor carnival is dedicated to the enjoyment of the matches while taking into consideration the comfort of all fam-ily members. “Football isn’t necessarily male-oriented, it can be enjoyed by the whole family. Anyone can find anything they like in our air-conditioned indoor carnival,” revealed Aljamal.

Situated in the Adhari Park food court, World Cup City houses two mas-sive (seven by four meter) HD screens to allow viewers to capture every sec-ond of the game in all its glory. The BD50,000 project took an astonishing one week to complete under the su-pervision and guidance of Mohammed Aljamal.

“I did this for Bahrain, for Bahrai-nis and non-Bahrainis alike,” he pro-claimed. ‘World Cup City’ is capable of seating a multitude of 3,000 individuals and will be hosted with an assortment of 10 giveaways for each match, to se-lected fanatics who predict the winning team.

With free entry ‘World Cup City’ in-vites families across Bahrain to indulge in the most awaited global event of the year.

World Cup City unveils in Bahrain

Football isn’t necessarily

male-oriented, it can be enjoyed

by the whole family. Anyone

can find anything they like in our air-conditioned indoor carnival.

MAHMOOD ALJAMAL

Revamp of traffic signals to begin next week

• The Ministry of Works confirmed that the works will start with modifications to traffic signals at the Nabih Saleh and Sitra Shopping Mall intersections.

TDT|Manama

The Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, in

partnership with the Ministry of Interior’s General Directo-rate of Traffic, has announced that phase one of development works to improve traffic signals on Shaikh Jabir Al Ahmad Al Sabah Highway will commence next week.

The works are in line with directives by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister to de-velop urgent solutions to ease traffic flow across the Kingdom, and form part of a package of urgent improvement works de-signed to alleviate traffic in vital areas. 130,000 vehicles use the Shaikh Jabir Al Ahmad Al Sabah Highway each day, and 10,000 vehicles per hour during peak times.

The Ministry of Works con-firmed that the works will start

with modifications to traffic sig-nals at the Nabih Saleh and Sitra Shopping Mall intersections.

During the course of the works, the traffic signals at Nabih Saleh intersection will be modified from five to three stages. The intersection will be closed to incoming traffic trav-eling from Manama up to Sitra walkway, and the exit lane will be closed to traffic traveling to-wards Sitra. The works are an-ticipated to reduce waiting times at the Nabih Saleh intersection by 45 per cent, and increase the capacity of the intersection by 20 per cent.

During the course of the works, the traffic signals at Si-tra Shopping Mall Intersection will also be modified from five to four stages. Outbound traf-fic traveling from Sitra Mall to-wards Manama will be merged with outbound traffic traveling from Salman Ahmed Al Fateh Highway (Industrial Area), in-creasing capacity by 10 per cent and reducing waiting times by 37 per cent.

Alternative routes will be available for road users trave-ling through both intersections. Incoming traffic traveling from Manama towards Sitra Shop-ping Mall should take the u-turn at the signal and return to the Sitra walkway entrance. Those exiting from Sitra walkway towards Sitra should make a u-turn at Um Al Hassam signal.

Bahrain Polytechnic has constituted its new student council. The distributions of positions are as follows: Yusuf Khaled Alisa (President), Maryam Hesham Engineer (Vice President), Ola Sari Mashal (Secretary), Mohamed Nayef Janahi (Financial Treasurer), Noor Ali Alsaeed (Art & Culture Committee Chair), Yusuf Ahmed Hasan (Student Services Committee Chair), Abdulrahman Ebrahim Abdulkarim (Sports Committee Chair), and Abdulla Yusuf Almannaei (Social Committee Chair). Bahrain Polytechnic’s CEO Dr Jeff Zabudsky congratulated the new student council members, affirming that this electoral experience shapes students’ personalities and enables them to present their opinions and ideas in a structured manner.

Man wins daughter’s custody battle

TDT|Manama Ali Taraif

The Fourth Court of Al Jafariyah has handed over the

custody of a seven-year-old girl child to her father after he approached the court seeking her custody.

Lawyer Huda Saad said her client successfully proved his claim in front of the court. All allega-tions against him put forward by his wife and her family members were rejected.

The mother of the child had initially informed the court that the claimant was not eligible for the custody of the child be-cause he lives in another Gulf country.

The man, however, proved the court that he was working in Bahrain, although he intermittently travels to other Gulf coun-tries.

The court observed that the girl exceeded seven years of age and her fa-ther can now take care of her, ruling in favour of the claimant.

Fulbright honour for Bahraini doctor

Nabeel Rajab’s appeal rejected

• The defendant was earlier sentenced to five years in prison for his crime.

TDT|Manama

The High Criminal Appeals Court has rejected the appeal

submitted by Nabeel Ra-jab against his conviction for promoting false infor-mation.

The defendant was earlier sentenced to five years in prison for his crime.

Rajab’s case was re-ferred to the High Crimi-nal Court after publishing on his Twitter account images that purported to show corpses of people killed in Yemen. Howev-er, after the images were examined, they turned out to be for people killed in Syria.

He tweeted the images on March 26, 2015, say-ing they were new, while in fact , those images emerged for the first time on September 23, 2014. On March 31, 2015, the de-fendant also released on his Twitter account im-ages purportedly killed people in Yemen, while in fact they were taken in Gaza.

Moreover, the defend-ant is reported to have defamed the Ministry of Interior and the Gener-al Directorate of Reforma-tion and Rehabilitation on his Twitter account.

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bah-rain) Nursing Lecturer, Dr Maryam Alara-

di, has been awarded a development grant for an ongoing body of research through the renowned US-based Fulbright Programme.

The grant will provide partial-funding for Dr Alaradi to travel to the University of Louisville next month to conduct further interviews and research alongside colleagues from USA, with whom she has been working since April 2017 on

a study into the perceptions of Arab Muslims of perinatal loss psychosocial care in the US.

Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world, the Fulbright Program is a merit-based programme for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists.

Speaking after receiving the award, Dr Alaradi said it was great opportunity for both herself and RCSI Bahrain to gain recognition for their work.

Dr Maryam

A view of the ‘World Cup City’.

07

business


KNOW WHAT

KFH to open up real estate investment avenues to clients• A full range of wealth management solutions will be provided to various accountholders of the bank

TDT|Manama

KFH-Baharin will launch a slew of real estate in-vestment products to its

customers this year, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

“KFH-Bahrain will be launch-ing real estate investment op-portunities for its clients and will maintain its focus to grow-ing the wealth of its customer base and opening up the door to new investment opportunities to support their financial objec-tives,” the bank said.

“We are the first Islamic bank in Bahrain to have a dedicat-ed wealth management team of highly experienced profession-als who are able to advise and meet the individual demands and financial goals of our client base,” said Abdul Razak Jawa-

hery, Executive Manager at KFH-Bahrain.

“Since we launched our Wealth Management Depart-ment over 2 years ago, we have been very successful in benefit-ting our clients by fulfilling their objectives. We have developed a suite of products and services which are flexible and suit their individual investment needs,” he said. KFH-Bahrain’s Wealth Management Department has witnessed consistent growth

with a surging customer appe-tite for their innovative wealth management solutions and ser-vices since it was launched.

“Throughout 2016 and un-til today, our expert Wealth Management team managed to capitalize on the regional op-portunities and shifts in capi-tal markets as well as devised niche strategies to manage our clients’ wealth and to provide them with lucrative returns. We are also proud to announce

that our wealth management strategies have generated very fruitful results in the regional

equity market and are in line with the clients’ investment ex-pectations,” added Jawahery.

KFH recently appointed of Rashid Khalid Alkhan as the Head of Wealth Management department.

Alkhan comes with 15 years of experience with the Bank, where he extensively worked on various alternative investments including real estate develop-ments and international private equity transactions.

A full range of wealth manage-ment solutions will be provided inclusive of Current Accounts, Savings Accounts, Mudharaba Unrestricted Accounts, Wakala Accounts, International Mu-rabaha Accounts, Equity and Sukuk that are flexible, diverse and can complement the vary-ing customer requirements and meet their end objectives. The bank is committed to pioneering the development of local Islamic finance sector with specialised products and services provided through its Islamic Wealth Man-agement Department.

Abdul Razak Jawahery Rashid Alkhan

This year, KFH-Bahrain will be launching real

estate investment opportunities for

its clients and will maintain its focus to growing

the wealth of its customer

base, opening up the door to

new investment opportunities

to support their financial

objectivesABDUL RAZAK JAWAHERY,

EXECUTIVE MANAGER

Samuel Varghese Arig Acting CEO

TDT|Manama

The board of Directors of Arab Insurance Group

(Arig) has decided to end the service contract of Yas-sir Al Bahrna, CEO. Samuel Varghese Deputy General Manger, Finance and Ad-ministration, has been ap-pointed temporarily as Act-ing CEO. Chairman Saeed Mohammed Al Bahar ex-pressed the board’s appre-ciation for Yassir’s contri-bution to the company over the past thirty years and to the insurance industry.

BCCI meeting on CR fee impact today

TDT|Manama

The second vice-chair-man of the Bahrain

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Moham-med Abduljabbar Al Koo-heji has urged its members and all concerned to attend a meeting on the impact of CR fees at the Al Majlis Hall of Bait Al Tijjar at 9 pm today. The parking area in the basement will be made available to all BCCI guests.

Children during the annual Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) drawing competition organised by Banagas. The event, held under the patronage of Khalid Ahmed A. Karim, General Manager Production, consisted of several programmes including the celebration of gergaoon night and distribution of gifts to all employees’ children. At the end of the ceremony, the best drawings were selected and the winners of each category were presented with prizes. Khalid Ebrahim Al- Thawadi, Manager Maintenance, Dr Ahmed Ali Al Kaabi, Manager Administration, Trade Union members and a large number of employees attended the event

SADAD announces winners of ‘Study Hard, Save BIG’ offerTDT| Manama

SADAD Bahrain, the King-dom’s payment channel,

recently hosted a major pro-motion for students of the Uni-versity of Bahrain (UoB). The offer encouraged students to use SADAD payment channels to pay their university fees and phone bills, granting them op-portunities of great benefit.

Following eager participa-tion, 20 UoB students, who paid their semester fees using SADAD entitled themselves to have their next semester fees or 3 months of their mobile bills fully paid by the company.

The two lucky grand prize winners were: Rehab Jawad Ali Fardan and Amna Ebrahim Mohsen Hasan, while other winners included Ebrahim Al Qaidoom, Aafrin Khalifa, Zahid Shah, Shatha Saadalla, Abdulla Nabhan, Hawra Ala-wi, Ruqaiah Al Shaibah, Huda Marzooq, Ahmed Al Askafi, Zahra Hasan, Hawra Saroori, Fadhel Al Wasati, Murtadah Abu Abbood, Alaa Al Dain, Ahmed Ebrahim, Abbad Alab-drabulridha, Husain Alasfoor, Lina Al Shameri.

There will be many more winners as the offer goes on. In addition, SADAD holds con-tests each month that present its users with various prizes. In February, a lucky custom-er received a year-long sub-scription to the Entertainer. Meanwhile, in honour of the Mother’s day in March, one

winner received a $ 50 Ama-zon gift card. These besides other offers, discounts, gift cards and cinema tickets that could be won.

“We are on an ongoing mission to provide the best possible offers with frequent chances to win valuable prizes, simultaneously with offering hassle-free and easy payment options to our customers,” said Noel Silveira, Business Development Director of SA-DAD Bahrain, congratulating the winners.

SADAD provides a state-of-the-art self-service kiosks at 800 prime locations across Bahrain, enabling the most secured and easy payment fa-cility to Bahrain’s population and other people visiting in the Kingdom.

Gulf Air Bahraini pilots earn their stripes TDT|Manama

Gulf Air has announced the successful graduation of

14 Bahraini senior first officers who successfully earned their fourth stripe after qualifying to become Gulf Air captains.

Captain Mohamed Yagoob Yagoobi, Captain Omar Fuad Al Binfalah, Captain Abdulrazaq Hasan Ali Yusuf, Captain Saqer Bader Sultan Al Hammadi, Cap-tain Mahdi Mahmood Abbas Farhadi, Captain Ahmed Yousif Ismaeel, Captain Muath Ishaq AlKooheji, Captain Ebrahim Abduljalil AlKooheji, Captain Hadi AlSarraf, Captain Ali Naji, Captain Khaled Mohamed Almoawda, Captain Abdulla Sameer AlKhan, Captain Yusuf AlBanna and Captain Ali Mo-hammed Najaf accumulated the required flying hours, complet-ed the necessary training and went on to pass extensive and rigorous checks, successfully earning their Captain ranking.

“These gentlemen’s accom-

plishment today is a reflection of their hard work, exceptional skill and tireless determination. The Gulf Air family is proud to see these Bahraini Captains graduate from our ranks and we look forward to their con-tributions in bringing Gulf Air even closer to achieving our goals,” said Captain Waleed Ab-dulhameed Al Alawi, Gulf Air Deputy Chief Executive Officer, during a ceremony held at Gulf Air’s Muharraq headquarters to

celebrate the achievement. “We received the best train-

ing available in the industry, which is proof of Gulf Air’s lead-ing position in the international market, and the significance of its legacy as one of the best air-line’s in the region today,” said Captain Saqer Bader Sultan Al Hammadi. With 66 per cent of the airline’s pilots being Bah-raini, Gulf Air leads the way amongst its regional competi-tors in terms of nationalization.

We received the best training

available in the industry, which is proof of Gulf Air’s leading position in the international

market CAPTAIN SAQER BADER SULTAN

The newly graduated captains with Gulf Air officialsSADAD provides a state-of-the-art self-service kiosks at 800

prime locations across Bahrain


Aramco hires new finance head as it prepares for IPOKhalid al-Dabbagh was named acting service line head for finance, strategy and development Reuters | Dubai

Saudi Aramco has named at least five new heads of departments including its

finance unit after a government reshuffle last week saw several executives at the oil giant mov-ing to other state posts, industry sources familiar with the matter said.

Khal id a l -Dabbagh was named acting service line head for finance, strategy and devel-opment at the world’s largest oil producer, taking over on an interim basis from Abdallah al-Saadan, who was senior vice president of the department, the sources told Reuters.

In his post, Saadan was ef-fectively chief financial officer of Aramco, overseeing prepa-rations for its initial public of-fering (IPO), which is expected to take place in 2019 and be the world’s biggest.

Aramco also appointed Mot-assim al-Maashouq, who is vice president of IPO development, to

the additional post of vice pres-ident of treasury, the sources said.Aramco declined to com-ment on the new appointments.

In the government reshuffle announced on Saturday under royal orders from King Salman, Saadan was named chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, a government body

formed to manage and oversee the development of those two cities. Saudi Arabia also named a prominent businessman as la-bour minister and several new deputies to the Energy, Industry and Minerals Ministry.

The Aramco appointments also include Mohammed Sham-mary, who becomes vice presi-

dent for procurement and sup-ply chain management, replac-ing Abdulaziz al-Abdulkarim, the sources said.

Abdulkarim was appointed on Saturday to the post of dep-uty energy minister for indus-try affairs. Nabeel al-Jama’ was named vice president for cor-porate affairs, replacing Nasser

al-Nafisi, who was appointed to the position of assistant energy minister, while Nabil al-Dabal now heads the human resources department, the sources said.

Aramco employees walk towards an Aramco private flight at Aramco private airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia

State-owned oil giant Aramco sits on crude oil reserves of 261.1 billion barrels, 10

times more than US conglomerate Exx-onMobil. It employs 51,653 Saudis and 10,254 expatriates from 77 countries,

including at subsidi-aries and affiliates

KNOW WHAT

Dana gets huge support for sukuk restructuringReuters | Dubai

United Arab Emirates’ energy producer Dana

Gas said yesterday a large majority of holders of its outstanding $700 million sukuk had consented to a proposed restructuring of the notes.

The company, which last year refused to redeem the Islamic bonds because it claimed they were no longer sharia-compliant, last month reached a re-structuring agreement.

Dana said last month that as part of its restructuring deal, creditors who want to exit the instruments can do so in a tender at 90.5 cents on the dollar.

The company launched tender and exchange of-fers on May 22 to consider approval of the terms and conditions of the proposed restructuring.

As of June 1, the company had received consent from 90.93 percent of the holders of its ordinary sukuk and from 96.45 percent of the holders of its exchangeable sukuk, exceeding the min-imum required 75 percent approval threshold, Dana said.

Qatar Airways could face second straight annual loss, says CEO• The carrier made a “substantial loss” in 2017, CEO Akbar al-Baker said in April, without disclosing the figure.

• Qatar Airways is in the process of filing for a licence to set up a new airline in India

Sydney

Qatar Airways could face a second straight year of

losses in 2018 amid a regional dispute that has banned the air-line from four Arab countries, the airline’s CEO said yesterday.

Qatar Airways has been blocked from flying to 18 cit-ies in Saudi Arabia, the Unit-ed Arab Emirates, Bahrain and

Egypt since June 2017 when those countries cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. The carrier made a “substantial loss” in 2017, CEO

Akbar al-Baker said in April, without disclosing the figure.

When asked about the outlook for 2018 in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, al-Baker

said: “Yes, there is a possibility it could be a second year of losses, but we have mitigated our losses in a big way.”

The airline has a healthy cash balance and does not need gov-ernment aid at this time, he said on the sidelines of an industry conference.

“We don’t think we would need it (government aid) in the foreseeable future. But if this blockade continues indefinitely there will be a time where we have to approach our sharehold-er to inject equity into the com-pany.”He said Qatar Airways was open to strategic invest-ment in other airlines.

Qatar Airways is in the pro-cess of filing for a licence to set up a new airline in India, al-Bak-er said, but he warned the regu-latory requirements were tough.

“It may not come to fruition but we will do all in our endeav-ours to fulfil this wish,” he said.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker poses in front of an Airbus A350-1000 at the Eurasia Airshow in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkey

FB admin has privacy responsibilities: Court• The case stems from a dispute between a German fan page which stored cookies on visitors’ hard drives to collect data about them

Reuters | Luxembourg

The operator of a fan page on Facebook is also responsible

for protecting visitors’ personal data and cannot hide behind the social network, the European Union’s highest court ruled on Tuesday.

The case stems from a dispute

between a German fan page on Facebook which used the social network to store cookies on vis-itors’ hard drives to collect data about them.

When a German data pro-tection authority ordered the operator of the fan page, an ed-ucation company, to deactivate it because visitors were not in-formed about the collection of their personal data, the compa-ny argued it was not responsible for the processing of person-al data by Facebook and that any action should be brought against the social network.

“According to the court, the fact that an administrator of a fan page uses the platform

provided by Facebook in order to benefit from the associated services cannot exempt it from compliance with its obligations concerning the protection of personal data,” the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) said in a statement about the ruling.

The administrator takes part in deciding what data to col-lect and how to process it, for example by defining a target audience and asking for demo-graphic data or information on the lifestyles and interests of visitors to the page, the ECJ said.

The Luxembourg-based court also reaffirmed an opinion given by a legal adviser in October

which said the German data protection authority had the power to take action against Facebook even though its Eu-ropean headquarters are in Ireland. Facebook had argued only the Irish regulator had ju-risdiction over its activities, but several other EU regulators have taken action against the com-pany for allegedly breaching privacy legislation.

The ECJ said a regulator was entitled to exercise its powers against a company even if the responsibility for the collection and processing of data belonged to that company’s establishment in another member state - in this case Facebook Ireland.

ADNOC may sell more stake in distribution biz

• The potential sale was discussed with investors during recent international non-deal roadshows

Reuters | Dubai/Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is considering

selling another 10 per cent stake in its fuel distribution business, which listed in an initial public offering last year, but the timing is uncertain, three sources familiar with the matter said.

ADNOC listed 10pc of ADNOC Distribution in December last year, but the sale of another 10pc would help ADNOC in its aim of joining the MSCI Emerg-ing Markets Index and attract more international investors, two of the sources said.

ADNOC Distribution, the largest operator of retail fuel service stations and conveni-ence stores in the United Arab Emirates, is seeking a mini-mum free float of 15pc to im-prove its chances of joining the index, one of the sources said.

An ADNOC spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on market rumours or specula-tion.”

“Adnoc Distribution is cur-rently focused on delivering its business plan and objec-tives to maximize value for its shareholders,” the spokesper-son said.

The potential sale was dis-cussed with investors during recent international non-deal roadshows, the three sources said.

If the company received suf-ficient foreign investor inter-est, it would consider pushing ahead with the listing this year, the same sources said.

Cars are seen an ADNOC petrol station in Abu Dhabi

Oil was first discov-ered in UAE in 1958, at the Murban Bab Oil Field, following

an extensive 30-year search. The well,

known as Murban-3, was completed in

May 1960, and began producing crude oil

at a rate of 3,674 barrels per day.

KNOW WHAT

Gulf stocks climb higher • Saudi index is the best performing market in the Gulf region, up 16pc so far this year.

• Egypt is expected to make deep cuts to fuel and electricity subsidies

• MSCI said last month it would raise the weightings of top Qatari companies

Reuters | Dubai

Gulf stocks climbed higher yesterday driven by gains in the Saudi market amid

optimism index compiler MSCI will upgrade Riyadh to emerg-ing market status and contin-ued fund flows into Qatari blue-chips after MSCI recently raised their weightings.

The Saudi index rose 0.9 per cent, led by financial stocks. Ri-yad Bank surged 5.4pc and Sam-ba Financial Group rose 4pc.

The market has become bull-ish after the appointment of a prominent businessman as la-bour minister and as it awaits a possible MSCI upgrade to emerging markets status this

month.The Saudi Arabian index is

the best performing market in the Gulf region, up 16pc so far this year.

Egyptian stocks fell 2.3pc, with analysts attributing the drop to uncertainty over the public response to imminent energy subsidy cuts in light of protests in Jordan.

Orascom Telecom slumped 2.6pc and EFG Hermes dropped 1.5pc.

Egypt is expected to make deep cuts to fuel and electricity subsidies in the financial year starting in July, part of reforms tied to a three-year $12 billion IMF loan programme the coun-try hopes will draw back in-vestors that fled after its 2011 uprising.

Analysts said ongoing demon-strations in Jordan over IMF-backed price increases had raised fears over the public re-sponse to similar measures in Egypt.

In Dubai, Emaar Properties extended gains to trade 1.8pc higher, while DAMAC Properties

rose 1.7pc, lifting the benchmark index by 0.3pc.

The Abu Dhabi index climbed 0.9pc, helped by a 1.7pc rise by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) on the back of strong oil prices. TAQA’s shares have doubled this year.

Qatari stocks climbed 2 per cent, with market heavyweight Industries Qatar rising 2pc, Qa-tar Insurance surging 6.2pc, and Qatar Gas Transport gaining 5.7pc.

“We have noticed over the past few days since the MSCI rebalance that a lot of the re-sidual buying from a lot of the active portfolios was still taking place,” said a portfolio manager in Doha.

MSCI said last month it would raise the weightings of top Qa-tari companies after they in-creased their foreign ownership ceilings to 49pc from 25pc.

The power of governance in family business For the new generation, and business generation

Family businesses, tradition-ally have been built on a

strong foundation of trust, tra-ditions, relationship dynamics and overall expectations within the community. However, there is an accelerated level of change that we observe within these factors with a generational transition. This makes it critical for businesses to establish and manage a framework that man-ages the rules of engagement for sustainable growth.

One of the things I have ob-served as a trusted advisor in the market is that, for the busi-ness strategies and the fami-ly’s expectations to be achieved over the long term, it is vital to establish a robust govern-ance framework as is the case for any enterprise. While the governance framework should essentially protect the busi-ness and the normal and pre-dictable challenges that family involvement brings; it should also provide clarity and direc-tion on formalizing ownership structures, authority and pro-cesses, succession plans, and even external influence on the business via executive hires and independent boards.

I personally believe that, the benefits that a strong govern-ance framework brings to the future of an organization, far outweighs the challenges of developing and managing it. I have worked extensively with the future generations with-in family businesses who are

keen on taking on the reins of their family businesses, whereby I have noticed the significant difference in the expectations, vision and strategies, making it al-most mission critical for the business to establish their governance structures.

Governance at its most ba-sic is about awareness, educa-tion and set of pre-established rules about how things will be managed, implemented and monitored. We believe that this should be a core part of the business strategy, and should be applied consistently across the business and be made applicable to all the stakeholders of the en-terprise, right from the directors to shareholders, managers and employees.

In the case of family busi-nesses, organizations should typically consider two sets of separate but clearly interlinked rules, where we reflect on how the family will:

1. Behave and relate to the business, i.e. a Family Con-stitution

2. Behave and relate in the business – the Corporate Governance Framework which typically covers the Articles of Association, Board and Board Committee Charters and an ef-fective Authority Matrix.

In my experience, I have come across a lot of family business owners who believe that their organization is built on a level of trust and informality by the founding member(s), and feel that they do not require a for-mal structure of governance like normal enterprises. However, if the business needs to grow, and employ more people, including other family members, they will need to consider a level of struc-ture to help the business ‘scale

up’, and also deal with internal family dynamics effectively.

Governance structures can help ensure there are clear rules around the different ways fami-ly can participate and be recog-nized as members of the family and the business.

To be completely transparent, while governance structures minimize the potential for dis-putes between owners, they can-not guarantee a conflict-free en-

vironment. So, it makes it more important for the governance framework to pre-determine and include structured mech-anisms for voicing grievance and more importantly resolving them without the need to drag the family members and their reputation through lengthy le-gal battles in the future of the business.

I believe that, an effective base governance plan should at least cover four categories – management, income, control and equity – with each fami-ly considering the significant breakdown and structures that focus on each of these areas.

Family governance is a real area of concern with the new

generation of leaders transi-tioning into their roles. In the latest GCC Family Business sur-vey conducted, almost 20% of the respondents said that they were either ‘not confident’ or ‘concerned’ with their busi-nesses’ prospects over the next 12 months. With over a fifth of respondents stating that they will be transferring ownership of the business in the next 12 months, it is essential that good governance and effective suc-cession plans are developed and implemented. By having confi-dence in how the business will be managed in the future, the current leadership can focus on creating a sustainable business with a long-term outlook.

The importance of govern-ance is further reinforced by the recent issuance of the new Corporate Governance guide-lines by the Ministry of Indus-try, Commerce and Tourism (MOICT) which encourages all shareholding companies (non CBB licensees), including family businesses to apply the guide-lines to the extent possible. The new guidelines operates on the comply or explain principle.

I am fortunate to be one of the few individuals working with a professional service firm cele-brating its 50th year in the mar-ket, and lucky to have quite a few clients who were originally small family businesses, who have grown with our firm to become key market players in the Kingdom. In a region where the business market is domi-nated by Family Businesses, it is great to witness that strong business and family governance has been a critical success factor to some of these major family businesses.

(The author is partner, KPMG Fakhro)


Demonstrations in Jordan over

IMF-backed price increases

had raised fears over response to similar measures

in Egypt

Closing BellSAUDI 0.9% » 8,407 points.

DUBAI 0.3% » 3,045 points.

ABU DHABI 0.9% » 4,617 points.

QATAR 2.1% » 9,311 points.

KUWAIT 0.1% » 4,725 points.

BAHRAIN 0.2% » 1,268 points.

OMAN 0.1% » 4,592 points.

EGYPT 2.3% » 16,022 points.

Investors speak in front of a screen displaying stock information at the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Oil nears one-month lowsLondon

Oil neared its lowest in a month yesterday follow-

ing a report that the US govern-ment had asked Saudi Arabia and other major exporters to increase oil output.

Brent crude futures lost $1.19 to trade at $74.10 a bar-rel by 1421 GMT, having fallen earlier in the day to $73.81, the lowest since May 8. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 8 cents to $64.67 a barrel.

The US government has asked Saudi Arabia and some other OPEC producers to in-crease oil production by about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), Bloomberg reported on Tues-day, citing people familiar with the matter.

The request comes after US retail gasoline prices surged to their highest in more than three years and President Donald Trump publicly com-

plained about OPEC policy and rising oil prices.

It also follows Washington’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran’s crude exports that had previously displaced about 1 million bpd from global mar-kets, the report said.

“With the mid-term elec-tions coming up, obviously he wants lower gasoline prices, but at the same time, he’s al-ienating himself from the rest of the world ... so is anybody, apart from Saudi Arabia, may-be going to listen, or comply or cooperate?” PVM Oil Associates strategist Tamas Varga said.

“This seems to be an inter-vention in OPEC’s supply policy ...(the US) walks away from the Iran (nuclear) deal, which pushes up oilprices and less than a month later, demands producers raise production ... this story is Trump-esque.”

The Organization of the Pe-troleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna on June 22 to decide whether the group and non-OPEC producers, includ-ing Russia, should raise out-put to make up for any supply shortfall from Iran and Vene-zuela. Saudi Arabia and Russia were already discussing raising OPEC and non-OPEC oil output by around 1 million bpd, sourc-es familiar with the matter said on May 25.

Flames emerge from flare stacks at the oil fields in Kirkuk, Iraq

$74.10a barrel was price of Brent crude futures by 1421 GMT

Fresh blow for Airbus as A380s sold for parts Reuters | Sydney

A G e r m a n i n v e s t m e n t company said yesterday

it would strip two unwant-ed Airbus A380 superjumbo passenger jets for parts after failing to find an airline willing to keep them flying following a decision by Singapore Airlines not to keep them in service.

The decision by Dort-mund-based Dr Peters Group deals a fresh blow to the plane-maker’s efforts to maintain market interest in the dou-ble-decker, barely 10 years af-ter it went into service hailed by heads of state as a symbol of European ambition.

“Psychologically it is not good for Airbus, but this is a very large aircraft with a very small second-hand market,” said UK-based aerospace ana-lyst Howard Wheeldon.

Despite strong reviews for its quiet and spacious cabin, demand for the 544-seater has fallen as many airlines drop the industry’s largest four-en-gined aircraft in favour of smaller twin-engined ones that are more efficient, and easier to fill.

“It’s too big. There was a battle for airline fashions and it lost out,” Wheeldon said.

Airbus says the iconic jet will eventually prove itself as

travel demand saturates air-port capacity at major cities.

When it was launched, the A380 boasted highly custom-ised interiors to help airlines promote a luxury feel, but the cost of replacing such bespoke fittings is now seen as a hand-icap.

“The problem is the cost of reconfiguration. It is $40 million or more per plane,” a senior industry source said.

Still, Emirates, the largest A380 customer, is keeping faith with the jet which brings millions of passengers a year through its Dubai hub and is associated with the airline’s global brand.

Throwing the loss-making programme a lifeline for a dec-ade, Emirates recently ordered up to 36 more A380s and set out plans on Tuesday to install 56 Premium Economy seats.

JEYAPRIYA PARTIBAN

Family governance is a real area of concern with the new generation of leaders transitioning into their roles.

An Airbus A380 aircraft is stored at the base of French recycling and storage aerospace company Tarmac Aerosave in Azereix near Tarbes, France

NEXT TO COURAGE, WILLPOWER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN POLITICS. PAUL JOHNSON

QUOTE OF THE DAY


F o r r e c o r d

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Chief Editor Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 17579900, Fax 17256470, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 17579911, Email: [email protected] & circulation: Tel: 38444692/17579877 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

Can Israel-Russian bonhomie contain Iran in Syria?

Through this ruthless demographic engineering,

Assad will perhaps succeed in redefining what it means

to be Syrian, allowing a return to the glory days of farcical elections that re-crowned him as president

BARIA ALAMUDDIN

There are few palatable options for halting the Syrian conflict. Parties

representing the aspirations of Syrians have long since been battered into submission, leav-ing unsavory street fighters like Bashar Assad, Israel, Hezbollah, Russia, Daesh, Turkey, and Iran and its pro-Tehran militants vy-ing for influence over the smok-ing ruins of this shattered state. The best the region can hope for is that those who come out on top don’t make matters infinitely worse.

From such low expectations, how can we assess the latest deal thrashed out between Is-rael and Russia? Months of in-tense diplomacy, including a succession of meetings between Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, culminated in this new understanding, which was finalised during Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s trip to Moscow, while America and Europe sat irrelevantly on the sidelines. Russia’s pledges to

Israel appear straightforward: The removal of all “non-Syrian forces” from southwest Syria. Lieberman categorically af-firmed that this is about pre-venting “Iran and its proxies from becoming entrenched in Syria.”

This deal facilitates the com-mencement of Assad’s oper-ations to crush the rebellion in Syria’s south; a poignant prospect, given Daraa’s central importance in triggering the 2011 uprising. This new phase heralds dire consequences for civilians, many of whom pre-fer permanent displacement to life under a resurgent As-sad regime. This growing focus on the southwest has exacer-bated tensions in the Syria-Is-rael-Lebanon border region. Moscow watched with alarm as Israel stepped up strikes against Iranian assets. Putin wants to draw down his costly military commitments, having achieved his principal goals, including naval facilities and a stronger Russian voice in Middle Eastern affairs. Conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies would jeop-ardise all this.

While Russia and Iran shared a stake in retaining Assad in power, their diverging ideolog-ical and strategic agendas were fated to clash, particularly giv-

en Russia’s warm relationship with Israel. As Moscow’s am-bassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, pointed out to me: “Half of Israel’s population is Russian,” including Lieberman himself. If Tehran is angered by Putin’s pivot towards Netanya-hu, it must simmer in silence because it needs Russia’s help in sabotaging America’s efforts to throw Tehran’s economy back into the deep freeze through renewed sanctions.

How will this new deal be im-plemented? As the Royal United Services Institute’s Jonathan Eyal noted, Moscow has “much less influence over Iran than the Russians would like us to be-lieve.” Putin created a monster by enabling the Islamic Revolu-tionary Guard Corps’ dominant role in Syria for so long. While Russia undoubtedly possesses

the military might to cut Iran down to size, it may lack the political will to do substan-tively more than compelling Iranian forces to adopt a lower profile. Let’s not forget Putin’s hollow promises to enforce the liquidation of Assad’s chemical weapons programme.

With Donald Trump and Israel pondering aggressive measures to counter Iran’s re-gional posturing, Tehran may indeed prefer to temporarily reduce the visibility of its par-

amilitary profile on Syrian soil, while discreetly consolidating its influence via other means, just as it did in Lebanon and Iraq — through funding insti-tutions, cultivating supportive politicians, media and ideolog-ical influences, and wielding a veto over regime policy. Teh-ran’s ayatollahs know how to bide their time awaiting more favourable circumstances, while breathing a sigh of relief at hav-ing avoided seeing their militant assets systematically destroyed by vastly superior Israeli fire-power.

A veteran Western diplomat expressed to me his concerns that Israel would seek to widen its control of the occupied Syri-an Golan region, just as for years Israel maintained its fiefdom in southern Lebanon. Hawkish

Israeli army would argue that such a move safeguards Israel from rocket attacks, while fol-lowing the lead of Turkey, Iran and others in staking out zones of control upon the Syrian car-cass. However, just as Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon provided optimum toxic condi-tions for Hezbollah to expand and flourish, such a move would worsen Syria’s chronic instabili-ty, serving as a rallying cause for pro-Iranian forces.

Assad’s so-called new “Law No. 10” unilaterally dispossess-es a huge proportion of Syri-ans of their property rights by impossibly obliging displaced families to immediately register their residences with the au-

Assad can threaten to kick US forces out

of Syria, but in reality this is a discredited,

bankrupt and impotent regime that

would instantly collapse if abandoned

by its Iranian and Russian benefactors

21st Century socialism awaits disastrous end Venezuela’s economic debacle might impact Cuba and ignite widespread discontent

JORGE G CASTAÑEDA

It is difficult to say whether the Cubana de Aviación airliner’s crash in Havana a few weeks ago

or the mock elections in Venezuela on May 20 are the best illustration of the utter bankruptcy of the 21st century socialism that Hugo Chávez and Raúl Castro have so loudly tout-ed. They are both tragedies that have cost avoidable deaths and car-icatures of what is to come in both countries.

Cuba paid a heavy price for the initial, and perhaps enduring, suc-cesses of its revolution: education, health and dignity. But from the very beginning — with the exception of a few years between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of its subsidies to Cuba in 1992 and the advent of Venezuelan support in 1999 — it always found someone to pay the bills. The next option was meant to be the United States. That no longer seems possible.

Venezuela, for its part, embarked

on a perilous course with the elec-tion of Hugo Chávez in 1998 that was spurred further after a failed nation-al oil workers strike in late 2002 and early 2003: building socialism after the Cold War, with support from Cuba and practically no one else. Cu-ban intelligence and security back-ing for Caracas continues, but high oil prices disappeared in 2014, and so did the Venezuelan government’s generosity to Havana. The glory days have been over for a long time; all that matters today is survival.

Barely months after the beginning of a transfer of power from the Cas-tro era to a different, if not entirely new, arrangement in Havana, the is-land once again faces enormous eco-nomic and social challenges. They stem from three problems with no solutions.

First, is the fall of tourism from the United States and the new tough line on Cuba adopted by the Trump ad-ministration. Through March of this year, the number of visitors from the United States is down more than 40 per cent compared with 2017. This is partly because of travel warnings over safety issued by Washington, partly because of new travel re-strictions put in place by President Trump and because after the initial boom of nostalgic tourism, Cuba is now competing for normal travelers

with the rest of the Caribbean. Its beauty and charm do not easily out-weigh other destinations’ far supe-rior services and infrastructure, and lower prices. Today myriad start-up businesses — always thought to be too small and numerous to survive — that sprang up for United States visitors are failing as a result of fall-ing tourism.

Second, American sanctions and Cuban fear of economic reforms have rendered the push for greater foreign investment somewhat futile. After an initial rush of highly publi-cized announcements, some United States companies have proved reluc-tant to run risks, particularly given Mr. Trump’s hostility towards all things Obama, and his dependence on Florida for re-election.

The economy has stopped grow-ing, scarcities have re-emerged and new opportunities for employment and hard-currency earnings are not appearing. If one adds to this the government’s decision to sus-pend new cuentapropista or private self-employment permits, it is no surprise to discover that economic prospects are dim. Hence the ap-propriateness of the metaphor re-garding the crash outside Havana: like the Cuban economy, the plane was old, poorly maintained, leased by the national airline because it was

the only one it could afford, and the rest of Cubana de Aviación’s domes-tic fleet had already been grounded.

Which brings us to the third source of concern. Venezuela is no longer able to subsidize Cuba’s tran-sition to a Vietnam-style socialist economy the way it did before.

True, reports from Houston last month suggested that Petróleos de Venezuela, known as Pdvsa, the country’s state-owned oil firm, pur-chased $440 million of crude oil on the open market and delivered it to Cuba at below cost and on credit. Cuba consumes roughly 170,000 barrels of oil a day and produces about 50,000. The difference has

been made up by Venezuela, which formerly dispatched enough crude to address all of Cuba’s needs, allow-ing it to re-export some at a profit and pay for it through highly subsi-dised mechanisms. The fact that Pd-vsa had to shop on the open market for Cuba´s oil shows that Venezue-la no longer has that capacity. The country’s hard currency shortfalls, because of collapsing oil production — down 28 per cent over the last 12 months — has also cut its ability to pay top dollar for Cuban doctors, teachers and intelligence personnel.

The alternative for Cuba was thought to reside in normalisation with the United States, which has

$10 million aid to UNWRA

Turkey has transferred 10 mil-lion USD to the United Nations

Relief and Works Agency for Pales-tine Refugees (UNRWA), in addition to its yearly voluntary contribution to the agency.

Our contribution will support the uninterrupted continuation of the agency’s services such as health and education provided to 5.3 mil-lion Palestinian refugees.

In our efforts to alleviate the current financial problems of the Agency, we also continue our con-tributions in other areas. These include the increase of our flour aid to UNRWA to 26,000 tons and a national donation campaign for Palestinians that was launched by the Prime Ministry on 18 May.

Furthermore, following the re-cent incidents at the Gaza Strip, we have decided to grant 1.2 million USD to the World Health Organi-zation for its use in situations re-quiring urgent medical assistance.

Turkey will continue its con-tributions in order to support a dignified and humane life for our Palestinian brothers and sisters, in the period ahead. We will also stand for the Palestinian Cause in all platforms.

Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, Bahrain

1939Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the “Missingest Man in New York”, is declared legally dead.

1971Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Khanh between Australi-an and Vietnamese communist forces begins.

1974A new Instrument of Govern-ment is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary mon-archy.

1993Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

01

As the granddaughter of immigrants, I’m proud

to celebrate the many con-tributions that immigrants make to our culture and heritage each day in Amer-ica. Our shared diversity is what makes the story of our country so special. #IHM2018

@RepJackyRosen

03

No American should have to fear having a

door slammed in their face based on who they are or whom they love. Today’s #SCOTUS ruling only un-derscores the importance of making full equality the law of the land nation-wide. We need to pass the #EqualityAct and move #EqualityForward.

@SenJeffMerkley

The real end game be-gins: Trump asserts the

“absolute” right to pardon himself only because he knows what he did, and he knows he’s going to be in-dicted for it. New strategy is: “Ok, yea I did it, but you can’t get me because I’m president.” The ultimate test of the rule of law.

@tonyschwartz

Terrific new book out by the wonderful Harris

Faulkner, “9 Rules of En-gagement.” Harris shares lessons from a military fam-ily. Enjoy!

@realDonaldTrump

Wide Angle

The rise of online streaming

From renting DVDs to streaming movies on-line, India’s Shear Entertainment Ltd. has come a long way. But, it does not want to be

merely known as an Indian Netflix company. Its dreams are even bigger.

According to Bloomberg.com, “Shemaroo holds the rights to 3,500 movies, mostly older Bollywood films, through which it earns TV licensing fees as well as advertising revenue from nearly 40 You-Tube channels”. (Bloomberg.com, 4 June 2018).

And now, as it launches its streaming services app, in a few months’ time, I have no doubt Shema-roo will take on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Viacom with unique strength.

The big global players had already seen the attractiveness of the Indian market and moved in.

But the prime-mover advantage may not last long for the global giants. They would soon be dealing with a company that understands the pulse of In-dian movie audiences, since 1962.

With a population of about 1.3 bil-lion, India is a country where cinema and cricket are like religion. And with tens of languages in India, the options for various regional-language media content are also many. And that makes India attractive, and lucrative, for any ‘streaming services’ provider.

But that is the truth for all online stream-ing of media content across the world.

We know that listening to music or video on cassette tapes, laser disks, CDs, and even on mp3 files and mp4 files is almost extinct. ‘Online streaming’ is a reality we cannot ignore.

At the touch of a key, on a computer, or on a smartphone, we can access trillions of bits and bytes of data that flows into our devices and apps from hundreds of channels including YouTube, Spotify and even OSN in Arabian Gulf countries.

Storing music and video content on devices is no longer a part of the 21st-century phenomena. On free ser-vices, as well as on paid services, we can access movies, documentaries, music albums and an enormous range of other

content. From Ted Talks to classic-movies, from music concerts to religious discourses, from car-toon clips to news shows, we can watch what we want - whenever we want.

The live-stream of UK royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was viewed on YouTube a shocking 11.2 million times (YouTube reveals royal wedding streaming numbers, Digi-taltveurope.com, 24 May 2018).

Just 15 years ago, nobody would have believed us, if we had said we would be watching live news events from across the globe, on our phones and computers instead of on television!

And shockingly, on Facebook and Twitter, we can today live-stream our own personal events to those who follow us. We can soon forget the faulty landlines and Internet cable connections, as we look at the massive opportunities that exist with completely wireless networks.

Very soon, high-speed data can be accessed on 5G. And streaming will become easier, and cheaper.

Coming back to the Indian story, it must be noted that Indian media and entertainment market is estimated to expand to more than 2 trillion rupees ($30 billion) by 2020 from 1.5 trillion rupees in 2017’, according to a report by Ernst & Young LLP in March 2018.

So, Shemaroo, with its partnerships with major telecom operators and other digital media plat-forms can usher in a growth in streaming services that was hitherto impossible.

Around the world, while video streaming servic-es like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and even OSN, along with music video services like Spotify and Pandora fight and compete with one another, we can be sure of one thing.

The content consumer will emerge as the real winner.

Just 15 years ago, nobody would have believed us, if we had said we would be watching live news events from across the globe, on our phones and computers instead of on television! And shockingly, on Facebook and Twitter, we can today live-stream our own personal events to those who follow us.

JOEL INDRUPATI



thorities. The levelling of entire urban districts gives the regime a clean slate to dole out land to loyalists and divest everyone else of their rights as citizens. Russian diplomats assure me of Moscow’s determination to fol-low through on its pledge that Syrian elections will eventual-ly happen. Through this ruth-less demographic engineering, Assad will perhaps succeed in redefining what it means to be Syrian, allowing a return to the glory days of farcical elections that re-crowned him as pres-ident with 99 per cent of the vote — with anyone who would dare to vote against him auto-matically excluded as “traitors and terrorists.”

Assad can threaten to kick US forces out of Syria, but in reality this is a discredited, bankrupt and impotent regime that would instantly collapse if abandoned by its Iranian and Russian ben-efactors. Assad claws back ter-ritory only because all other sides are comparably exhausted. By disenfranchising the pop-ulation, his regime guarantees renewed phases of conflict once rebels with nothing left to lose regroup and regain strength.

The dispossession and de-struction of the Syrian nation is exponentially greater in scale than the Palestinian issue, which for 70 years has fuelled regional instability. Vindictive “victor’s justice” merely serves to bog

Assad and his allies down in per-petual conflict, ensuring that it may be generations before Syria enjoys peace. Putin may be enjoying his moment of glory as Syrian deal-maker supreme, yet he remembers as well as an-yone how the 1980s Afghan war brought the mighty USSR to its knees. If he insists on retaining his forces in a land where they have no business being, Putin will ultimately find the ground dissolving beneath his feet.

(Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Mid-

dle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has

interviewed numerous heads of state.)

(in collaboration with Arab News.)




stalled following the end of the Obama administration. Venezuela, however, means more to the island country than hard currency and oil. Despite ongoing flirtations with Chi-na and Russia, it is Cuba’s only un-conditional ally in the world, which is why the Venezuelan debacle is so worrisome.

The international community has intensified sanctions against Presi-dent Nicolás Madeira’s dictatorship. But this will produce little effect in Caracas unless Washington imposes oil-related restrictions: expropri-ating Citgo, the Pdvsa-owned oil company, or forbidding oil exports and imports to and from Venezuela. But for this not to play into Mr. Ma-duro’s hands, the Latin Americans and the Europeans would be obliged to support the measures and adopt similar ones.

Herein lies the central question involving Venezuela, and ultimately, Cuba itself. At its annual assembly on June 5, the Organization of Ameri-can States might consider a motion to suspend Venezuela; it will prob-ably fail, but a stand will have been taken by the region’s democracies.

In the ensuing confrontation, an-ything can occur. The international community can decide, cynically but not illogically, that the country’s crisis is too dangerous to be left to

Venezuelans. In this case, the only way to press the Maduro govern-ment to change course seems to be oil-based sanctions, led by but no limited to Washington.

This outcome would hit Cuba especially hard. If the current se-vere economic downturn produces widespread discontent (as in 1994, for example, with the so-called Ma-leconazo), the island regime will face a social crisis lacking the two funda-mental remedies it always enjoyed. First, of course, was the Castros: Miguel Díaz-Canel, the new presi-dent, will have to deal with a major predicament without Fidel or Raúl Castro’s prestige. Second, he cannot count on the safety valve used re-peatedly by the ruling brothers: mi-gration to Miami, because the end of the wet-feet-dry-feet era entails the end of sailing, smuggling or swim-ming to the United States. Cuba has not faced discontent without those factors since the Revolution, in 1959.

It is anybody’s guess how the re-gime will fare if unrest flares. The only certainty is the utter failure of so-called 21st century socialism, in Venezuela as such, in Cuba by another name.

(Jorge Castañeda Gutman Mexican politician and academic who served as

Secretary of Foreign Affairs).

1939Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the “Missingest Man in New York”, is declared legally dead.

1971Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Khanh between Australi-an and Vietnamese communist forces begins.

1974A new Instrument of Govern-ment is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary mon-archy.

1993Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

01

As the granddaughter of immigrants, I’m proud

to celebrate the many con-tributions that immigrants make to our culture and heritage each day in Amer-ica. Our shared diversity is what makes the story of our country so special. #IHM2018

@RepJackyRosen

03

No American should have to fear having a

door slammed in their face based on who they are or whom they love. Today’s #SCOTUS ruling only un-derscores the importance of making full equality the law of the land nation-wide. We need to pass the #EqualityAct and move #EqualityForward.

@SenJeffMerkley

The real end game be-gins: Trump asserts the

“absolute” right to pardon himself only because he knows what he did, and he knows he’s going to be in-dicted for it. New strategy is: “Ok, yea I did it, but you can’t get me because I’m president.” The ultimate test of the rule of law.

@tonyschwartz

Terrific new book out by the wonderful Harris

Faulkner, “9 Rules of En-gagement.” Harris shares lessons from a military fam-ily. Enjoy!

@realDonaldTrump

Wide Angle

The rise of online streaming

From renting DVDs to streaming movies on-line, India’s Shear Entertainment Ltd. has come a long way. But, it does not want to be

merely known as an Indian Netflix company. Its dreams are even bigger.

According to Bloomberg.com, “Shemaroo holds the rights to 3,500 movies, mostly older Bollywood films, through which it earns TV licensing fees as well as advertising revenue from nearly 40 You-Tube channels”. (Bloomberg.com, 4 June 2018).

And now, as it launches its streaming services app, in a few months’ time, I have no doubt Shema-roo will take on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Viacom with unique strength.

The big global players had already seen the attractiveness of the Indian market and moved in.

But the prime-mover advantage may not last long for the global giants. They would soon be dealing with a company that understands the pulse of In-dian movie audiences, since 1962.

With a population of about 1.3 bil-lion, India is a country where cinema and cricket are like religion. And with tens of languages in India, the options for various regional-language media content are also many. And that makes India attractive, and lucrative, for any ‘streaming services’ provider.

But that is the truth for all online stream-ing of media content across the world.

We know that listening to music or video on cassette tapes, laser disks, CDs, and even on mp3 files and mp4 files is almost extinct. ‘Online streaming’ is a reality we cannot ignore.

At the touch of a key, on a computer, or on a smartphone, we can access trillions of bits and bytes of data that flows into our devices and apps from hundreds of channels including YouTube, Spotify and even OSN in Arabian Gulf countries.

Storing music and video content on devices is no longer a part of the 21st-century phenomena. On free ser-vices, as well as on paid services, we can access movies, documentaries, music albums and an enormous range of other

content. From Ted Talks to classic-movies, from music concerts to religious discourses, from car-toon clips to news shows, we can watch what we want - whenever we want.

The live-stream of UK royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was viewed on YouTube a shocking 11.2 million times (YouTube reveals royal wedding streaming numbers, Digi-taltveurope.com, 24 May 2018).

Just 15 years ago, nobody would have believed us, if we had said we would be watching live news events from across the globe, on our phones and computers instead of on television!

And shockingly, on Facebook and Twitter, we can today live-stream our own personal events to those who follow us. We can soon forget the faulty landlines and Internet cable connections, as we look at the massive opportunities that exist with completely wireless networks.

Very soon, high-speed data can be accessed on 5G. And streaming will become easier, and cheaper.

Coming back to the Indian story, it must be noted that Indian media and entertainment market is estimated to expand to more than 2 trillion rupees ($30 billion) by 2020 from 1.5 trillion rupees in 2017’, according to a report by Ernst & Young LLP in March 2018.

So, Shemaroo, with its partnerships with major telecom operators and other digital media plat-forms can usher in a growth in streaming services that was hitherto impossible.

Around the world, while video streaming servic-es like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and even OSN, along with music video services like Spotify and Pandora fight and compete with one another, we can be sure of one thing.

The content consumer will emerge as the real winner.

Just 15 years ago, nobody would have believed us, if we had said we would be watching live news events from across the globe, on our phones and computers instead of on television! And shockingly, on Facebook and Twitter, we can today live-stream our own personal events to those who follow us.

JOEL INDRUPATI



thorities. The levelling of entire urban districts gives the regime a clean slate to dole out land to loyalists and divest everyone else of their rights as citizens. Russian diplomats assure me of Moscow’s determination to fol-low through on its pledge that Syrian elections will eventual-ly happen. Through this ruth-less demographic engineering, Assad will perhaps succeed in redefining what it means to be Syrian, allowing a return to the glory days of farcical elections that re-crowned him as pres-ident with 99 per cent of the vote — with anyone who would dare to vote against him auto-matically excluded as “traitors and terrorists.”

Assad can threaten to kick US forces out of Syria, but in reality this is a discredited, bankrupt and impotent regime that would instantly collapse if abandoned by its Iranian and Russian ben-efactors. Assad claws back ter-ritory only because all other sides are comparably exhausted. By disenfranchising the pop-ulation, his regime guarantees renewed phases of conflict once rebels with nothing left to lose regroup and regain strength.

The dispossession and de-struction of the Syrian nation is exponentially greater in scale than the Palestinian issue, which for 70 years has fuelled regional instability. Vindictive “victor’s justice” merely serves to bog

Assad and his allies down in per-petual conflict, ensuring that it may be generations before Syria enjoys peace. Putin may be enjoying his moment of glory as Syrian deal-maker supreme, yet he remembers as well as an-yone how the 1980s Afghan war brought the mighty USSR to its knees. If he insists on retaining his forces in a land where they have no business being, Putin will ultimately find the ground dissolving beneath his feet.

(Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Mid-

dle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has

interviewed numerous heads of state.)

(in collaboration with Arab News.)




stalled following the end of the Obama administration. Venezuela, however, means more to the island country than hard currency and oil. Despite ongoing flirtations with Chi-na and Russia, it is Cuba’s only un-conditional ally in the world, which is why the Venezuelan debacle is so worrisome.

The international community has intensified sanctions against Presi-dent Nicolás Madeira’s dictatorship. But this will produce little effect in Caracas unless Washington imposes oil-related restrictions: expropri-ating Citgo, the Pdvsa-owned oil company, or forbidding oil exports and imports to and from Venezuela. But for this not to play into Mr. Ma-duro’s hands, the Latin Americans and the Europeans would be obliged to support the measures and adopt similar ones.

Herein lies the central question involving Venezuela, and ultimately, Cuba itself. At its annual assembly on June 5, the Organization of Ameri-can States might consider a motion to suspend Venezuela; it will prob-ably fail, but a stand will have been taken by the region’s democracies.

In the ensuing confrontation, an-ything can occur. The international community can decide, cynically but not illogically, that the country’s crisis is too dangerous to be left to

Venezuelans. In this case, the only way to press the Maduro govern-ment to change course seems to be oil-based sanctions, led by but no limited to Washington.

This outcome would hit Cuba especially hard. If the current se-vere economic downturn produces widespread discontent (as in 1994, for example, with the so-called Ma-leconazo), the island regime will face a social crisis lacking the two funda-mental remedies it always enjoyed. First, of course, was the Castros: Miguel Díaz-Canel, the new presi-dent, will have to deal with a major predicament without Fidel or Raúl Castro’s prestige. Second, he cannot count on the safety valve used re-peatedly by the ruling brothers: mi-gration to Miami, because the end of the wet-feet-dry-feet era entails the end of sailing, smuggling or swim-ming to the United States. Cuba has not faced discontent without those factors since the Revolution, in 1959.

It is anybody’s guess how the re-gime will fare if unrest flares. The only certainty is the utter failure of so-called 21st century socialism, in Venezuela as such, in Cuba by another name.

(Jorge Castañeda Gutman Mexican politician and academic who served as

Secretary of Foreign Affairs).

12

world


Saudi says Qataris welcome for Umrah The ministry added that the citizens and residents in Qatar can come by air through King Abdulaziz International Airport in JeddahAl Arabiya | Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said on Monday that Qataris are

welcome to visit the kingdom to perform Umrah rituals.

A statement from the Saudi Press Agency read: “Based on the negative attitude and intran-sigence of the Qatari authorities to enable citizens and residents of Qatar to perform Hajj and Umrah rituals, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah welcomes the Qatari people to perform Umrah rituals following a completion of registering their legal informa-tion upon arrival at King Abdu-laziz International Airport in Jeddah,” the ministry added.

The statement disclosed that about seven million Muslims coming from all various coun-tries in the world performed Umrah rituals “in ease, comfort, tranquillity and security” last year.

“Upon directives of the Cus-todian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince,

Vice President of the Council of Ministers, and Minister of Defence, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia harnessed all potentials and capabilities in addition to all human qualified resources for the service of all Umrah per-formers during their stay in the Kingdom,” the ministry said in a statement to SPA.

“With regard to expatriates in Qatar who want to perform Umrah rituals, they can through registering their data on the Ministry’s website, and com-pleting electronic contracting procedures with the Saudi au-thorized Umrah companies for selecting the service package,” the Ministry.

The ministry added that the

citizens and residents in Qatar can come by air through King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah via all airlines compa-nies except Qatar Airways dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan of this year.

The Ministry of Hajj and Um-rah also said that “all services and facilities provided by the Saudi government to the pil-grims, Umrah performers and visitors from all different coun-tries of the world embody the Kingdom’s leading role.”

A Saudi policeman stands watch as muslims touch and pray at the door of the Kaaba and touch and kiss the al-Hajr al-Aswad

KNOW WHAT

In the Sharia, Um-rah means to per-form Tawaf round

the Ka‘bah, and Sa’i between Safa and Marwah, both after assuming a

sacred state

Afghan president backs suicide bomb fatwa after 14 killed

Reuters | Kabul

Afghan President Ashraf G h a n i c o n d e m n e d

Monday’s suicide bomb at-tack outside a peace tent gathering of Muslim clerics in Kabul and backed their fatwa against suicide at-tacks, saying they violated the tenets of Islam.

The bomb killed 14 peo-ple, including seven cler-ics, and was the latest in a series of attacks that have underlined the deteriorat-ing security ahead of parlia-mentary and district council elections set for Oct. 20.

“The attack that targeted the large gathering of clerics and religious scholars from across the country was in fact an attack against the heirs of the prophet of Is-lam and the values of Islam,” Ghani said in a video ad-dress, supporting the out-lawing of suicide bombings.

“Unfortunately, the im-posed war in Afghanistan every day takes lives of our innocent children.”

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani

Saudi destroys Houthi missile Al Arabiya | Riyadh

Saudi air defence forc-es destroyed a ballistic

missile yesterday launched from Yemen by the Houthis on the city of Yanbu, west of Saudi Arabia.

The spokesman for the Arab coalition in Yemen, Colonel Turki al-Malki, said that Iran resumes its approach of arming Houthi militias and supplying them with rockets, noting that the joint forces have succeeded in targeting and destroying most of the militias’ ballistic capabilities.

Iron ore mine blast in China’s northeast kills 11 Reuters | Beijing

An explosion at an iron ore mining project in

China’s northeastern prov-ince of Liaoning yesterday has killed 11 people and in-jured nine, state media said.

Another 25 people are trapped after the blast, which happened at around 0810 GMT at the mine, ac-cording to online reports by the People’s Daily and CCTV. The mine is in Liaoning province’s Benxi city and owned by Huamei Group Company.

Ex-Malaysian first lady makes fashion statement• Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia’s former prime minister, faced questions over her involvement in a multi-billion dollar scandal

Reuters | Kuala Lumpur

Malaysians who voted scan-dal-tainted prime minis-

ter Najib Razak out of office last month were treated to the sight of his allegedly high-spending wife Rosmah Mansor submit-ting herself to questioning at the anti-graft agency headquar-ters on Monday.

The former first couple were barred from leaving the country following the May 9 election as investigators launched a probe into how billions of dollars went missing from a state fund founded by Najib.

Whatever awkward ques-tions Rosmah, 66, faced during a three interview with investi-gators, she showed no sign of being discomfited as she left the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission building.

Wearing a bright blue tradi-tional dress, with a red scarf swept over her head, Ros-mah stepped lightly into her

Mercedes and waved to the TV cameras, leaving her lawyers to issue a brief statement.

“The MACC officers have completed recording a state-ment from our client,” her law-yer K.Kumaraendran said after Rosmah left.

“The over three-hour long process went well. Our client will extend further coopera-tion as and when sought by the agency,” he added.

Given her penchant for su-per-expensive handbags, eyes were inevitably drawn to the red bag on her arm when she ar-

rived at the MACC. It appeared to be a Versace, rather than a Hermes Birkin bag, the model that police found scores of dur-ing their searches of properties linked to Najib and Rosmah last month.

The bag was instantly trend-ing on Malaysian social media groups, and some identified it as a Versace Demetra estimated to cost about $2,500 (£1,870).

Rosmah’s opulent lifestyle and shopping sprees have an-gered Malaysians who have struggled to cope with rising living costs over past decade.

Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, arrives to give a statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Putrajaya, Malaysia

Chinese construction workers build stunning waterfall bridges

• Two bridges in China have become popular tourist attractions for their high-tech multi-media shows

Daily Mail | Beijing

Chinese construction work-ers have built many a for-

midable bridges in the most impossible places.

But two bridges have shot to fame in the Far East recently not because of their incredible lengths or heights, but their high-tech multi-media spec-tacles.

The Nanhu Bridge in north-

east China and the Xiaolong-wan Bridge in eastern China have become a traffic show-stopper in their respective city with their rhythmic water waves and artistic neon lights.

The 492ft (150m) long, 84.6ft (25.8m) wide Nanhu Bridge is located in downtown Chang-chun, the provincial capital of Jilin Province.

Equipped with 280 water sprinklers and 560 LED lights on the two sides, it has become a popular tourist attraction since mid-April with throngs of people flocking to enjoy the dramatic digital display dur-ing the weekend, according to Changchun Evening News.

Earlier this month, footage of the Nanhu Bridge show became

trending on Chinese video plat-forms, such as Bili Bili, as view-ers praise the creativity of the bridge engineers.

The recently complete Nan-hu Bridge took four months to construct. It is built on the site of an earlier bridge which was demolished in June.

The old Nanhu Bridge, com-plete in 1978, was blown up in just 3.5 seconds in a controlled explosion on June 11 last year.

The management now runs three shows at night every Sat-urday and Sunday on the new bridge. An observation deck has also been purposely built on each side of the bridge to accommodate the audience.

The Xiaolongwan Bridge in east China stole the show from its northern brother this week as videos of its neon lights flooded the social media.

The Xiaolongwan Bridge in Nanjing puts on beautiful colour after the nightfall lighting up jets of water

SMILE

Pictures and footage of the spectacles

have gone viral on-line as people praise the engineers’ work

of art

Hero canoeist rescues drowning sea turtles trapped in fishing netsDaily Mail | Sao Paulo

A canoeist has become an overnight hero after live

streaming his rescue of three turtles seemingly doomed to die after getting caught up in fishing nets off the coast of Brazil.

Rodrigo Oliveira filmed the moment he came across the frantic animals trapped in nets 300 metres long as his went for an early morning row in the Sao Vicente sea off the coast of Sao Paulo on Saturday.

Angered by what he saw, the 42 year old businessman, stopped paddling and hauled the distressed creatures out of the water. All three were found helplessly snarled up in the un-derwater gear and sinking fur-ther beneath the surface as they fought to break free.

The animals would have most certainly drowned as they be-came increasingly weaker and

unable to rise back up for air.The video, which was over

four minutes long, showed the determined seafarer using his bare hands to untangle and rip away the lines - with some dif-ficulty. The mesh was caught in

the turtles’ beaks, wrapped around their flippers and slic-ing between gaps in their shells.

As he pulled off the netting, the Good Samaritan gently re-assured the sea reptiles telling each one to stay ‘calm’ because

he was there to help them.And he berated the fishermen

calling them ‘cowards’ for their irresponsible and ‘inhumane’ practices that endangered the creatures’ lives. He spent nearly ten minutes freeing all the ex-hausted animals.

‘I was on my way back to land after going for a two hour trip starting around 6 o’clock in the morning when something caught my eye,’ he explained.

‘When I looked, I realised there were three turtles floun-dering underneath the water that were completely twisted up in the nets,’ he said to G1.

‘It was hard to stay balanced while untangling the knotted lines in the middle of the sea. They live in the wild and are not used to being held and they became even more agitated. I wished at that point I’d brought a knife to cut through the mesh quickly.’


SMILE

Canoeist rescues three drowning turtles by using his bare hands

to rip away huge fishing nets snarled around the animals out at sea in Brazil

Guatemala continue search for missingFirefighters are searching for survivors and bodiesReuters | El Rodeo, Guatemala

The death toll from a vol-canic eruption in Guate-mala rose to 69 on Mon-

day as family members desper-ately searched for the missing in makeshift morgues and on streets blanketed with ash.

Guatemala’s national disaster agency, CONRED, increased the death toll as more bodies were pulled from the debris around the village of El Rodeo, which was hard hit by the eruption. Just a fraction of the victims have been identified so far.

At a makeshift morgue in the city of Escuintla, about 30 km (18.6 miles) from the explosion, distraught family members came to search for their rela-tives among the dead.

Francisco Quiche, a 46-year-old welder, gave a blood sam-ple to try to identify his son’s body, though he already knew his son’s fate.

After evacuating the town of El Rodeo with his family, he returned to search for his son and daughter-in-law. Peering through a hole in the wall of his son’s home, Quiche saw the

boy’s body. He fears his daugh-ter-in-law is dead as well.

“We had time to leave, thank God, but I am very sorry for the loss of my son and my daughter in law,” he said through tears. “My son was just 22 years old, the same as my daughter-in-law, who was expecting a baby.”

The eruption of Fuego - Span-ish for “fire” - on Sunday was the biggest in more than four

decades, forcing the closure of Guatemala’s main internation-al airport and dumping ash on thousands of acres (hectares) of coffee farms on the volcano’s slopes.

By Monday evening, the vol-cano’s activity was lessening, and is expected to continue to diminish in the coming days, Eddy Sanchez, director of the seismological, volcanic and meteorological institute In-sivumeh, told reporters.

The task of retrieving bodies on Monday was hindered by another eruption and an ap-parent landslide on the south-ern slopes of Fuego triggered fresh evacuations. Later in the afternoon, heavy rains forced rescuers to abandon the search in El Rodeo until the next morn-ing, a spokesman for CONRED said.

Rains are expected to contin-ue to complicate searches in the coming days, Sanchez said.

Elsewhere, the process of mourning had begun. Local tele-vision footage showed residents of villages walking through the streets, caskets hoisted on their shoulders.

A firefighter shovels ashes while searching for bodies at an area affected by the eruption of the Fuego volcano in the community of San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala

69dead and hundreds

injured as lava surge sweeps through

villages

Mystery dinosaur skeleton sells for $2 million

Reuters | Paris

The 9-metre long (30 ft) skeleton of a unidenti-

fied type of dinosaur, believed to be that of a new species, fetched more than $2.3 million at an auction staged on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Monday.

The fossil, dug up in the western United States in 2013, is known only to belong to a large, carnivorous dinosaur. Scientists who have studied it say there are several differenc-es with known species.

“The buyer is French and he told me before the sale ... ‘if I get it, I would present it to the public’ and this is amazing,” auctioneer Claude Aguttes said.

“Everyone will be able to see it, it will soon be lent to a mu-seum, it will be studied by sci-entists, everything is perfect.”

The buyer and the seller,

identified only as a British businessman, were both un-named.

The sale had been expected to fetch up to $2.1 million.

F re n c h a u c t i o n h o u s e Aguttes, which had previous-ly sold a mammoth skeleton and that of another dinosaur, had said before Monday’s sale that the buyer might be able to name the new species, spark-ing objections from a US scien-tific association.

A dinosaur fossil is on display at the Eiffel tower, in Paris

The footage shows the animals tangled up in plastic net in the water before being scooped up by Oliveira while he was out for an early morning row

Suicide bombers kill 10 in attack on Niger mosque Reuters | Niamey

Th r e e s u i c i d e b o m b -ers killed 10 people at a

mosque in Niger’s southeast-ern city of Diffa who had gath-ered after breaking the Rama-dan fast, an army spokesman said yesterday.

The area around Diffa, close to Lake Chad and the borders with Nigeria, Chad and Cam-eroon, is a stronghold for two factions of militant group Boko Haram, which have been fight-ing to establish an Islamic state in the region.

“It was last night that these three people exploded their charges during a religious ser-vice,” the spokesman said. He later said the three bombers were female.

Southeast Niger has seen sporadic attacks by militants loosely linked to Boko Haram. The Islamist group has grad-ually split into two factions, one of which has pledged al-legiance to Syria-based Islamic State.

Troops from Niger and the United States killed 11 Islamist militants from that Islamic State affiliate in a firefight last December.

Boko Haram sometimes use female suicide bombers in their campaigns against se-curity forces and civilians, in part because they are attract less suspicion.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by the conflict in the Lake Chad region.

A Niger soldier guards with his weapon pointed towards the border with neighbouring Nigeria, near the town of Diffa

One dead as storms sweep across FranceAFP | Paris

A man was found drowned in his car in northern France

yesterday following a fresh round of powerful rainstorms that have damaged homes, de-stroyed vineyards and flooded roads over the last fortnight.

An unusually long bout of warm and humid weather across the country has led to a series of thunderstorms that have dropped record amounts of rain in some areas.

National weather service Me-teo France said it estimated the

number of lightning strikes in May at 182,000 nationwide, al-most double the record figure for the same month previously set in 2009.

The weather office estimated that 60 to 80 mm (two-three inches) of rain fell late Monday in some areas of the Normandy region, where a 37-year-old man was found dead near the village of Piseux.

He is believed to have been in-volved in a road accident which saw his car flip over and land in a flooded area, a statement from the local government said.

A long bout of warm and humid weather across France has led to thunderstorms that have dropped record amounts of rain in some areas

Reptile kills pastor at baptismBBC | Addis Ababa

A crocodile has killed a Prot-estant pastor who was

baptising followers near a lake in southern Ethiopia.

Docho Eshete was conduct-ing the ceremony for about 80 people on Sunday morning at Lake Abaya in Arba Minch town’s Merkeb Tabya district.

Residents and police told BBC Amharic a crocodile leapt from the water during the bap-tism and attacked him.

Pastor Docho died after be-ing bitten on his legs, back and

hands.“He baptised the first person

and he passed on to another one. All of a sudden, a croc-odile jumped out of the lake and grabbed the pastor,” local resident Ketema Kairo told the BBC.

Despite huge efforts, fisher-men and residents could not save pastor Docho, policeman Eiwnetu Kanko said.

They used fishing nets to prevent the crocodile from taking the pastor’s body into the lake.

The crocodile escaped.

Everyone will be able to see it, it will soon be lent to a museum, it

will be studied by scientistsCLAUDE AGUTTES

Reuters | Washington

The US military is in-creasing spending on a secret research effort to use artifi-cial intelligence to

help anticipate the launch of a nuclear-capable missile, as well as track and target mobile launchers in North Korea and elsewhere.

The effort has gone largely unreported, and the few pub-licly available details about it are buried under a layer of near impenetrable jargon in the latest Pentagon budget. But US offi-cials familiar with the research said there are multiple classified programmes now under way to explore how to develop AI-driv-en systems to better protect the United States against a potential nuclear missile strike.

If the research is successful, such computer systems would be able to think for themselves,

scouring huge amounts of data, including satellite imagery, with a speed and accuracy beyond the capability of humans, to look for signs of preparations for a mis-sile launch, according to more than half a dozen sources. The sources included US officials, who spoke on condition of an-onymity because the research is classified.

Forewarned, the US govern-ment would be able to pursue diplomatic options or, in the case of an imminent attack, the mil-itary would have more time to try to destroy the missiles before they were launched, or try to intercept them.

“ We s h o u l d b e d o i n g everything in our power to find that missile before they launch it and make it increasingly harder to get it off (the ground),” one of the officials said.

The Trump administration has proposed more than tripling

funding in next year’s budget to $83 million for just one of the AI-driven missile programmes, according to several US officials and budget documents. The boost in funding has not been previously reported.

While the amount is still rel-atively small, it is one indicator of the growing importance of the research on AI-powered an-ti-missile systems at a time when the United States faces a more militarily assertive Russia and a significant nuclear weapons threat from long-time foe North Korea.

“What AI and machine learn-ing allows you to do is find the needle in the haystack,” said Bob Work, a champion of AI tech-nology who was deputy defence secretary until last July, with-out referring to any individual projects.

One person familiar with the programmes said it includes a pilot project focused on North Korea. Washington is increas-ingly concerned about Pyong-yang’s development of mobile missiles that can be hidden in tunnels, forests and caves.

The existence of a North Ko-rea-focused project has not been previously reported.

Manila ‘trash bin’ waterway choked with plasticA thick layer of garbage lies atop a creek flowing between homes of Manila slumAFP | Manila

The blanket of trash on a creek that flows between the makeshift homes of a Manila slum is

so dense it appears one could walk across it like a paved street.

However, the thick and fetid mosaic of plastic bottles, takea-way containers and plastic bags

is just a porous layer atop the filthy water of Estero de Mag-dalena.

It is one of the tributaries that run into Manila’s most impor-tant and heavily polluted water-ways, the Pasig River.

City officials blame the slum’s residents for using the creek as an open-air dump and have in-stalled massive strainers in the water that keeps the trash from flowing downstream.

“They (residents) are turning the creeks into a trash can,” said Lorenzo Alconera, an official with the city engineering de-partment.

“We want to block it at that point so we can easily collect the garbage. We do not want it to flow into the Pasig River,” he added.

Trash that makes it into the river can then be swept out into the South China Sea or be sucked

back by tides into the Laguna de Bay, the country’s largest lake.

Plastic pollution is a major problem in the Philippines, which along with China, Viet-nam and Indonesia is frequently listed among the world’s worst offenders.

The city says it periodically uses heavy equipment to scoop the rubbish from the water and ends up with five to 10 truck loads of waste to haul away.

14

features


Deep in Pentagon, a secret AI programme to find nukes

The Pentagon is in a race

against China and Russia to

infuse more AI into its

war machine, to create more

sophisticated autonomous systems that

are able to learn by

themselves to carry out

specific tasks

Pentagon has rocket balls also known as kinetic fireball incendiaries made

of rubberised rocket fuel; when ignited, they propel them-selves randomly

at high speed, bouncing off walls, smashing through doors, turning an

entire building into an inferno

City officials blame the residents of the Manila slum for using the creek as an open-air dump

A serviceman walks past anti-aircraft defence mobile missile systems during the Keys to the Sky competition at the International Army Games 2017 at the Ashuluk shooting range outside Astrakhan, Russia

KNOW

BETTER

15

entertainment


C R O S S W O R D

S U D O K U

Across

1- Chip dip; 6- Lady of Spain; 10- Small gull; 14- “Silas Marner” author; 15- Brio; 16- Arrow poison; 17- Ring-shaped island; 18- Midday; 19- Sterile hybrid; 20- Lunatic; 22- Thoroughbred; 24- Hot tub; 26- Ditto!; 27- Seesaws; 31- Whopper; 32- Crockpot concoctions; 33- Backs of feet; 36- “Wheel of Fortune” buy; 39- Woody’s kid; 40- Eccentric; 41- Rent-___; 42- Hi-___ monitor; 43- Pay for; 44- Sleek swimmer; 45- Large body of water; 46- Lacking oxygen; 48- Canal site; 51- Chem. or biol.; 52- Divide; 54- Irish prelate and scholar; 59- Jai ___; 60- Mountain lake;

B E E T L E B A I L E Y

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

How to playPlace a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Y O U R S T A R T O D A Y

AriesFriends in creative fields might join forces with you today to start a new project that makes a difference to all of you. This could be something as mundane as a garden in a park or as exciting as a new rock band.

TaurusThe desire to acquire more knowledge is front and centre today. A lecture or workshop might lead to plans for a vacation of some kind with friends or oth-er members of a group you’re affiliated with. Family members might also show an interest. You could all review the possibilities together and jot ideas.

GeminiEnthusiasm for your own ideas as well as for those of others could catapult you into the spotlight today. You might speak to a group, perhaps on scientific or occult subjects. You’re on an emotional high and looking forward to the future. You’ve got a lot of plans that are not only exciting but also workable.

CancerSocial events could put you in touch with some inter-esting and exciting new people from distant places. You might discuss business, but not boring shoptalk. Rather, you may have some intriguing yet workable ideas for future projects that could make a difference to you and others.

LeoToday you’re likely to be more focused than usual on whatever it is you have to do, whether chores around the house and yard or important projects of your own. Your mind is especially sharp and in tune with your feelings. Dreams and imaginings might prove to be valuable sources of inspiration.

VirgoRomance is centre stage today as social events put you in touch with interesting people of both sexes. If you’re already involved, expect to grow closer to your partner. If you aren’t, don’t be surprised if someone new comes into your life.

LibraThe approaching arrival of visitors, perhaps in relation to a group activity or social event you’re hosting, could necessitate a last-minute cleanup and perhaps even a little redecorating. More than one person is likely to come to your door today, and all who visit are likely to bring interesting news and useful information.

ScorpioRomance intensifies as communication is enhanced by the energy, enthusiasm, and focus of you and your partner. If you aren’t already involved, you might meet someone new and exciting who shares your interests, and perhaps doesn’t live all that far away. Expect to make a lot of short trips in your neighbourhood, per-haps visiting friends or neighbours.

SagittariusAn opportunity to do some extra work might come your way today. Don’t turn it down - it might do you a lot of good. You’ll probably enjoy being at home, whether you’re working or relaxing, as happiness seems to reign in the home at this time.

CapricornContact with others in your neighbourhood brings good news your way. Phone calls, emails, or time spent in the car could result in some kind of financial advancement. You feel especially focused right now, and your intellect and emotions are in accord with what you need to do to accomplish your goals.

Aquarius Today you might hear of opportunities coming from an unusual source and consider taking advantage of them. Values take a more spiritual turn as your material goals are reached. You might make plans to participate more in activities like yoga, meditation, church services, or other groups with a metaphysical focus, and you’re looking forward to it.

PiscesGroup activities might prove especially intellectually and emotionally gratifying at this time. Relationships with old friends grow stronger, and new friends may also come onto the scene. Among them might be peo-ple in your profession. Through them you might learn of new opportunities to advance your career. Expect an inspiring story of some kind to move you to tears. Don’t fight it.

62- Carol start; 63- Blackbird; 64- Dies ___; 65- Water wheel; 66- Teachers’ favorites; 67- Large town; 68- Belle or Bart;

Down1- Tailor’s line; 2- Neighbor of Sask.; 3- Large cat; 4- Arias, usu-ally; 5- Books of maps; 6- Bear lair; 7- Bunches; 8- Native New Zealander; 9- Once every year; 10- Characteristic quality of a sound; 11- Accustom; 12- Noted Civil War biography; 13- Can’t do without; 21- EMT’s skill; 23- Sponsorship; 25- ... who lived in ___; 27- Former Russian ruler; 28- French 101 infinitive; 29- Snakelike fishes; 30- Tango need; 34- JFK posting; 35- Kett and James; 36- Entr’___; 37- Scottish refusals; 38- Makes a boo-boo; 40- Theatrical; 41- City in GA; 43- Drop of water expelled by the eye; 44- Prayers; 45- Slowpokes; 47- Hosp. section; 48- Martinique volcano; 49- “The covers of this book are too far ____” — Bierce; 50- Maker of Pong; 52- Coarsely ground corn; 53- Part of QED; 55- Edinburgh native; 56- Israeli dance; 57- Chieftain, usually in Africa; 58- Backside; 61- Marshal at Waterloo;

W O R D O F T H E D A Y

fustigateplayDefinition:1 : to beat with or as if with a short heavy club : cudgel

2 : to criticize severely

Did You Know?Though it won’t leave a bump on your

head, severe criticism can be a blow to your self-esteem. It’s no wonder that fustigate, when it first appeared in the 17th century, originally meant “to cudgel or beat with a short heavy stick,” a sense that reflects the word’s derivation from the Latin noun

fustis, which means “club” or “staff.” The “criticize” sense is more common these days, but the violent use of fustigate was a hit with earlier writers like George Hud-desford, who in 1801 told of an angry Jove who “cudgell’d all the constellations, ... / Swore he’d eject the man i’ the moon ... / And fustigate him round his orbit.”

16 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2018

JUNE Ramadan Day Imsak Fajr Sunrise Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha6 21 WED 03:02 am 03:12 am 4:45 am 11:36 am 03:02 pm 06:28 pm 07:58 pm

Middle East Hospital Group organised a special Iftar Meal Program as a part of ‘Ramadan For Everyone’ campaign. Iftar food packs were distributed at various places in Bahrain by the hospital staff.

Bahrain – Bosnia & Herzegovina Friendship Ghabga

Manama

Bosnia & Herzegovina Friendship and Business Society held its Ramadan Ghabga Event in Al

Hawaj Gardens . The event was held in the presence of Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa – the Founder Executive Chairman of University Col-lege of Bahrain, Governor of the North-ern Governorate, Ali Abdul Hussain Al-Asfour and Mohammed bin Abdulla

Al Senan – president of Muharraq Municipal Council.

The event was attended by a group of Bahraini businessmen and the Bosnian community residing in Bahrain who is interested in investing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the event, Mr. Jawad Al-Hawaj, the Chairman of Bah-rain – Bosnia & Herzegovina Friend-ship & Business Society , addressed the important role of the BBHS, Which aims to link Bahrain and its openness to all

countries in the world, especially Bos-nia and Herzegovina, which in turn will lead to the development of econom-ic and investment relations between the two friendly countries, which will definitely contribute to strengthening social and brotherhood relations among the people of both countries.

Mrs. Layla Karajica, Second Dep-uty Chairman of Bahrain – Bosnia & Herzegovina Friendship & Business Society, delivered a speech by wel-

coming and thanking the Chairman of Bahrain – Bosnia & Herzegovina Friendship & Business Society, who gave her the opportunity to participate in achieving the goals and aspirations of the said society.

At the end of the event, Bahrain – Bosnia & Herzegovina Friendship & Business Society, represented by Mr. Jawad Al-Hawaj, along with Mr. Ri-yadh Yousuf, 1st Deputy Chairman of the Society, and Mrs. Maida Gav-

ic, the Head of the Public Relations and Events Organizing Committee, honoured the participants for the 9th Sarajevo International Business Forum whereas the Certificates of Apprecia-tion have been issued by the Bahrain – Bosnia & Herzegovina Friendship & Business Society in recognition of their efforts to represent the Kingdom with its economic and business delegation whom were participating there in that forum.

UAE Exchange distributed Iftar kits to its customers and public across branches in Bahrain during the Holy month of Ramadan wishing them Ramadan Mubarak.

As part of its CSR programme for the holy month of Ramadan, Batelco announced that a number of its employees visited the Muharraq Social Welfare Centre to spend time with the elderly residents and distribute gifts.

Members from the Rotary club of Sulmaniya paid a visit to the Oncology Center for children at Sulmaniya Hospital. The members brought gifts and treats for all the children under going treatment. The children enjoyed the visit and appreciated the support of the members.

Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), the operator and managing body of Bahrain International Airport (BIA), hosted the annual Ghabga at the Wyndham Grand Manama for its partners in the private and public sectors, airlines that operate from BIA and the media representatives.

The Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) organized a Ramadan Basketball Tournament at its Club, as part of its approach to promoting a one family spirit. Four teams representing the Company’s different Departments, took part.The event was organized by the Social Activities Committee. GPIC’s Corporate Communications Manager, Social Activities Committee Chairman Mr. Zuhair Tawfiqi, along with GPIC Logistics Services Superintendent and Committee Deputy Chairman Mr. Mohamed Khalfan honoured the winning teams.

Hardrict to star in ‘The Outpost’PTI | Los Angeles

“American Sniper” and “Edge of Tomor-row” actor Cory Hardrict is set to join

Scott Eastwood and Orlando Bloom in the World War II pic “The Outpost.”

Caleb Landry Jones is also set to star with Rod Lurie directing.

The film is based on Jake Tap-per’s book and will chronicle the true story of the 53 U.S. soldiers who battled a force of some 400 enemy insurgents in northeast-ern Afghanistan during Opera-tion Enduring Freedom.

Originally built to engage the locals in community develop-ment projects, Combat Out-post Keating faced a constant threat of being attacked by the Taliban.

17 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2018

VEERE DI WEDDING (HINDI/ACTION/DRAMA/HISTORY)

John Abraham, Boman Irani, Diana Penty

DANA CINEMA 10:45,13:00,15:15,17:30,19:45,22:00,00:15CINECO (20) 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 PM + 12.00 MNSEEF (I) 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 SAAR 9.00 + 11.30 WADI AL SAIL 8.30 + 11.00

PARMANU ( HINDI/ ACTION/ DRAMA/ HISTORY )

John Abraham, Boman Irani, Diana Penty

DANA CINEMA 13:30, 18:30, 23:30CINECO (20) 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 SEEF (II) 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30SAAR8.15 PMWADI AL SAIL 8.30 + 11.00

ARAVINDANTE ( MALAYALAM / DRAMA )

Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan, Nikhila, Urvasi

DANA CINEMA 11:00,16:00,21:00SEEF (I) 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 PM + 12.00

PANCHAVARNA THATHA ( MALAYALAM / COMEDY )

Tovino Thomas, Pia Bajpai, Suhasini, Rohini, Pabhu

DANA CINEMA 10:30,13:15,16:00,18:45,21:30,00:15SEEF (I) 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 AL HAMRA DAILY AT: 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

DEADPOOL 2: 2D (ACTION/ADVENTURE /COMEDY)

Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz

DANA CINEMA 10:45,15:30,20:15 CINECO (20) 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) DAILY AT (IMAX 2D): 1.15 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM DAILY AT (VIP II): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PM DAILY AT (VIP I): 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00SEEF (II) 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 SAAR 8.45 + 11.15

WADI AL SAIL 9.00 + 11.30

SOLO: STAR WARS STORY: 3D (ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY)

Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke

DANA CINEMA 13:00,17:45,22:30CINECO (20) (IMAX 3D): 10.30 AM + 3.45 PM 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 PM + 12.00 MNSEEF (II) 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 SAAR11.00WADI AL SAIL 8.30 + 11.15

DISTORTED ( ACTION / MYSTERY / THRILLER )

Christina Ricci, John Cusack, Brendan Fletcher

DANA CINEMA 10:45,12:30,14:15,16:00,17:45,19:30,21:15,23:00,00:45CINECO (20) 11.45 AM + 1.45 + 3.45 + 5.45 + 7.45 + 9.45 + 11.45SEEF (II) 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 WADI AL SAIL 9.15 + 11.15

SHOW DOGS (ACTION / ADVENTURE / COMEDY)

Alan Cumming, Natasha Lyonne, Will Arnett

DANA CINEMA 11:00,12:45,14:30,16:15,18:00,19:45,21:30,23:15,01:00CINECO (20) 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00SEEF (II) 11.15 AM + 1.15 + 3.15 + 5.15 + 7.15 + 9.15 + 11.15 SAAR9.00 + 11.00 WADI AL SAIL 9.30 + 11.30

ARMED RESPONSE 2D DIGITAL (ACTION/HORROR/THRILLER )

Wesley Snipes, Anne Heche, Dave Annable

DANA CINEMA 11:00,12:45,14:30,16:15,18:00,19:45,21:30,23:15,01:00CINECO (20) 11.30 AM + 1.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 7.30 + 9.30 + 11.30SEEF (II) 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00

ABHIYUDE KATHA ANUVINTEYUM (MALAYALAM/ROMANCE)


DANA CINEMA 10:45,13:00,15:15,17:30,19:

45,22:00,00:15SEEF (I) 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45

BHAVESH JOSHI SUPERHERO (HINDI/ACTION/DRAMA)

Priyanshu Painyuli, Harshvardhan Kapoor, Ashish Verma

DANA CINEMA 11:00,14:00,17:00,20:00,23:00CINECO (20) 1.30 + 4.45 + 8.00 + 11.15SEEF (II) 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00

ABHIYUM ANVUVUM (TAMIL / ROMANCE / COMEDY)


DANA CINEMA 10:30,12:45,15:00,17:15,19:30,21:45,00:00SEEF (I) 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15

AVENGERS: INFINTY WAR (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE)

KAREN GILLAN, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., TOM HOLLAND

CINECO (20) 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00 MNSEEF (II) 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00

RAMPAGE(PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER/SCI-FICTION)

DWAYNE JOHNSON, JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN, WILL YUN LEE

CINECO (20) 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 PM + 12.00

RAAZI (PG-15) (HINDI/THRILLER/DRAMA)

ALIA BHATT, VICKY KAUSHAL, JAIDEEP AHLAWAT

CINECO (20) 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 SEEF (II) 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30

BREAKING IN (PG-15) (THRILLER/CRIME)

GABRIELLE UNION, BILLY BURKE, RICHARD CABRAL

CINECO (20) 11.15 AM + 1.15 + 3.15 + 5.15 + 7.15 + 9.15 + 11.15

LIFE OF THE PARTY

(15+) (COMEDY) MELISSA MCCARTHY, GILLIAN JACOBS,

JULIE BOWEN

CINECO (20) 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30

PETER RABBIT (PG) (ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY)

ROSE BYRNE, DOMHNALL GLEESON, SAM NEILL

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McLean goes country with new song

IANS | Los Angeles

Just two weeks after pop group Backstreet Boys released their first single in five years, “Don’t go breaking my heart”, its member AJ McLean

has officially started his latest solo venture with a new song titled “Back porch bottle service”.

The song, which premiered on Monday, is part of McLean’s first solo project since his 2010 album “Have It All”, which has him singing country songs, reports

billboard.com.McLean was inspired to pursue this

new lane last year after Backstreet Boys teamed up with country duo Florida Georgia Line for “God, your mama and me”.

“’Back porch bottle service’ is all about making time with the one

you love,” McLean said. “Forget the club, let’s just the make

the night about you and me. Let me be your DJ, let me be your bartender, let me be your man.”

‘Legally Blonde 3’ officially in worksIANS | Los Angeles

The third instalment of the “Legally Blonde”

franchise starring Reese Witherspoon is officially in the works. In final talks to return for the project are original screenwriters Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah, who wrote the script for the first film based on the Amanda Brown novel, reports ew.com.

However, McCullah and Smith were not the writ-

ers behind the second film, so it’s not yet known if the third film will incorporate the events of 2003’s “Legal-ly Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde”.

Witherspoon is in early talks to reprise her role, Elle Woods, a wealthy so-rority girl who discovered her own sense of self-worth by attending Harvard Law School and realizing she was far too good for Warner.

She will serve as a pro-ducer on the film.

Reese Witherspoon was named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful

People in 2002

KNOW WHAT

Reese Witherspoon

Cumberbatch insists he’s no heroFemalefirst | Los Angeles

Benedict Cumber-batch insists he’s not

a hero despite recently tackling a mugger in the streets of London.

The 41-year-old actor came to the rescue of a Deliveroo driver, who was being mugged by four thugs near Baker Street in the UK capital - but Benedict has rub-bished suggestions that he’s become a real-life hero. The British star told The Sun newspaper: “I’m no hero. There are real-life heroes out there and I’m not one of them.”

Benedict and his wife Sophie Hunter, 40, were travelling in an Uber when they spotted a De-liveroo cyclist surround-ed by four men and being hit over the hit with a

bottle. The driver quick-ly stopped the car and he and Benedict got out and intervened in the assault, saving the grateful cyclist from further injury.

Following the dramat-ic incident, driver Ma-nuel Dias said: “Benedict was courageous, brave and selfless.”

Benedict Cumberbatch

I’m no hero. There are

real-life heroes out there and I’m not one of

themBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

Fashion designer Kate Spade found dead in NY homeBBC | New York

Fashion designer Kate Spade has been found dead in her New York

apartment. Police are investigating her death as an apparent suicide.

She was found dead in her Park Av-enue apartment in Manhattan at 10:20 local time by her housekeeper, a law enforcement official said.

Spade - who once edited fashion mag-azine Mademoiselle - was well known as a designer of clothes, shoes, and jewellery, but was best known for her accessory line. She co-founded Kate Spade Handbags in 1993 with husband Andy Spade. The company opened its first store in New York in 1996, and now has more than 300 branches worldwide. It is recognisable for its distinctive logo which features the spades playing card symbol, in reference to the designer’s surname.

18

sports


Thiem beats Zverev, enters semi-finalsDominic Thiem needed only 15 minutes to go 4-0 up in the third with Alexander Zverev barely running for wide balls

Reuters | Paris

Austrian Dominic Thiem destroyed a lacklustre and battle-weary Alex-

ander Zverev 6-4 6-2 6-1 yester-day to reach the French Open semi-finals for the third consec-utive year.

Claycourt specialist Thiem’s relentless accuracy from the baseline proved too much for second seed Zverev who looked jaded after a gruelling path to his first Grand Slam quarter-fi-nal. After an even start full of high quality ball-striking, Thi-em broke serve at 3-3 and quick-ly got on top, stretching his op-ponent all over Court Philippe Chatrier.

Second seed Zverev, 21, need-ed his left thigh strapped in the second set and looked discon-solate as Thiem widened his advantage with a clinical display of hitting.

Thiem, seeded seventh, need-ed only 15 minutes to go 4-0 up in the third with Zverev barely

running for wide balls.Zverev began to let rip,

snatching one game back, but the outcome was inevitable and Thiem put him out of his misery

with a routine backhand winner into a wide-open court.

“It was very tough for him today,” Thiem, who fell to eventual winners Djok-

ovic and Rafael Nadal in the last two years, said on court. “He is one of the fittest guys on Tour but to play three five-setters in a row is tough in Grand Slam.

“I love it here and I will do everything to make one more step this year.” Thiem, 24, will play either Djokovic or Italian Marco Cecchinato.

Dominic Thiem reacts after winning the match

KNOW WHAT

Dominic Thiem hopes to become the first Austrian to reach a

Grand Slam final since Thomas Muster in 1995

Keys rallies back to beat Yulia Putintseva • In humid conditions, both players were solid on their serve with no break points in the first six games

Reuters | Paris

Madison Keys reached her maiden French Open

semi-final, rallying from a break down in the opening set to claim a solid 7-6(5) 6-4 victory against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva yesterday.

The American 13th seed,

playing in her third consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, was 5-3 down in the first set when she stepped up a gear to advance without having lost a set.

She will take on either Russian Daria Kasatkina or 10th seed Sloane Stephens, nine months after her compatriot beat her in the U.S. Open final.

“Thank you everyone for coming and supporting me, I did need a lot of support today,” said Keys.

“In the first set, I just needed to focus more and trust my game.

“I’m obviously very happy to win in straight sets again and I look forward to the next match.”

In humid conditions on Court Suzanne Lenglen, both players were solid on their serve with no break points in the first six

games.The unseeded Putintseva, who

played more safely, had the first break opportunity in the sev-

enth game, which she converted when Keys buried a backhand into the net. Keys, however, broke back for 5-5 with a stun-

ning forehand winner down the line and the set would be decid-ed in a tiebreak.

Putintseva, who was hoping to become the first Kazakh player -- female or male -- to qualify for a Grand Slam semi-final, opened up a 2-0 lead, only for the Amer-ican to score four points in a row and take control.

Keys bagged the set at the end of a long rally in which her op-ponent defended ferociously, gradually stepping into the court to end the exchange with a back-hand winner. Keys had the first break chance in the second set and a lightning quick service return gave her the edge.

I’m obviously very happy to win in straight

sets again and I look forward to the next match

MADISON KEYS

Madison Keys celebrates victory

Ramos hits back after Karius concussion claimsEurosport | Madrid

Sergio Ramos has respond-ed to suggestions Liverpool

goalkeeper Loris Karius suf-fered concussion in the Cham-pions League final after a clash with the Real Madrid defender.

Ramos came under criticism following the Spanish side’s 13th Champions League triumph as they beat Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev.

The Spaniard was accused of intentionally trying to injure Mohamed Salah, who was sub-stituted after 30 minutes with a dislocated shoulder.

There have now been claims that goalkeeper Lois Karius - who made two costly errors in

the match - sustained a con-cussion after being elbowed by

Ramos in an off-the-ball inci-dent.

And the Real Madrid captain has been quick to defend him-self.

“Damn, they’ve given this a lot of attention, the Salah thing,” he told Spanish daily AS.

“I didn’t want to speak be-cause everything is magnified. I see the play well, he grabs my arm first and I fell to the other side, the injury happened to the other arm and they said that I gave him a judo hold.

“After the goalkeeper said that I dazed him with a clash. I am only missing Firmino saying that he got a cold because a drop of my sweat landed on him.”

Sergio Ramos

KNOW WHAT

There have now been claims that goalkeeper Lois Karius sustained a concussion after being

elbowed by Sergio Ramos in an off-the-

ball incident

Buffon banned over referee commentsBBC | London

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buf-fon has been banned for

three European matches by Uefa for his comments about referee Michael Oliver after Juventus’ Champions League defeat by Real Madrid.

Buffon was sent off for dis-sent after Oliver awarded Real a penalty late in the quarter-fi-nal second leg in April.

After the match, the Italian said Briton Oliver had “a bag of rubbish” rather than a heart.

Buffon played his last Ju-ventus game in May after 17

years at the club. Buffon also said Oliver should “sit in the stands” and “eat crisps”.

The charges relate to his “di-rect red card” and for breach-ing Uefa’s “general principles of conduct”.

Ju ve ’s Me d h i B e n a t i a brought down Lucas Vazquez, and Ronaldo scored the 97th-minute penalty as Real won 3-1 at the Bernabeu to pro-gress 4-3 on aggregate.

Buffon later told Italian TV: “The content remains and I stand by all of it. I’d say them all again - maybe with a differ-ent type of language.”

Australia’s Steve Smith ‘cried for four days’ after ball-tampering scandalsReuters | Sydney

Former Australia captain Steve Smith says he cried

for four days as he tried to cope with the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March.

Smith and former test vice-captain David Warner were handed 12-month bans by Cricket Australia (CA) af-ter admitting a plan to tamper the ball during the third test against South Africa in Cape Town.

The duo lost their leadership positions and were sent home after the incident with Smith breaking down in tears while

apologising at an emotional press conference at Sydney Airport.

“To be honest, I probably spent four days in tears,” Smith told students at a school ac-cording to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I was really struggling men-tally and I was really lucky that I had some close friends and family members that I could speak to at all hours of the day.

“The people that I had sup-porting me through that whole time made a huge difference to the head space I am in now.”

Smith and Warner are scheduled to return to com-petitive action in the Global T20 Canada, a tournament that starts on June 28.

Junior batsman Cameron Bancroft was banned for nine months for his role in the in-cident.

Steve Smith

I was really struggling

mentally and I was really lucky that I had some

close friends and family

members that I could speak to at all hours of

the day STEVE SMITH


Training with Conor a big asset to my game• Cian Cowley to face Daniel Olejniczak in the preliminary card of Brave CF

• Cowley had been a part of the SBG in multiple events

TDT | Manama

Cian Cowley has stated in his latest interview that he is ready to get back to

the cage after a year of absence. Cowley trains at the SBG Ire-

land under John Kavanagh and has signed with Brave Combat

Federation for the fight night in Belfast.

Cowley will be facing Daniel Olejniczak in the preliminary card of Brave Combat Feder-ation.

Cowley had been a part of the SBG in multiple events hosted by Brave Combat Federation.

However Brave 13: Europe Evolution marks the first time Cowley is fighting in the fight card.

“Training with Conor is a big asset to my game. He is a big asset to the team and the best fighter in the planet. So we just feed off the energy and fight IQ and the way he looks at the fight. His view of fighting is what we agree the most and it is an honour,” said Cian Cowley.Cian Cowley

Kavanagh highlights impact of Brave CF• The promotion had stated that Europe will be among the focal areas for the promotion to host regular events

TDT | Manama

Veteran Coach John Kava-nagh has highlighted the

key impact of Brave Combat Federation in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The promotion had made their entry into Europe with Brave 13: Europe Evolution hosted on 9th June at the SSE Arena in Belfast.

The event features the first ever championship title de-fence in the bantamweight di-vision by Stephen Loman from Team Lakay, Philippines fac-ing 2015 IMMAF gold medalist

Frans Mlambo from SBG Ire-land.

The fight card features multi-ple fights from Ireland and the United Kingdom in the main card and the preliminary card.

The promotion had stated that Europe will be among the focal areas for the promotion to host regular events.

The promotion is found by His Highness Shaikh Khalid

bin Hamad Al Khalifa from the Royal family of Bahrain.

“Brave Combat Federation is one of the worlds biggest organ-isations so its great for Ireland to have them visit,” commented Kavanagh.

John Kavanagh

Mayweather tops sports stars rich list

• There are no women on the list

BBC | London

US boxer Floyd Mayweather has regained his title in the

Forbes rankings of the world’s top 100 earning athletes.

He earned a $275m (£205m) for his boxing match in August against UFC star Conor McGre-gor, who is number four on the US business magazine’s list.

Cristiano Ronaldo - top for the past two years - drops to third, with Lionel Messi edg-ing him out of second place.

There are no women on the list, after the previous sole entrant, Serena Williams, dropped out of the chart.

The top 100 athletes earned a total of $3.8bn, up 23 per cent from last year, Forbes said.

F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is the top Briton at number 12 with $51m.

Mayweather - one of whose nicknames is Money - saw his sports earnings added to by $10m from endorsements.

Floyd Mayweather

MMA: Brave expands broadcast to 110 nations• This marks the largest media coverage ever received for a sports media initiative found and operated in Bahrain

TDT | Manama

Brave Combat Federation has announced that the expan-

sion of the bahrain based global promotion to Europe will facil-itate the broadcast of the event to 110 nations.

Brave 13: Europe Evolution will be broadcasted live from the SSE Arena, Belfast to 110 countries on networks includ-ing Abu Dhabi Sports, Com-bate, Ran Fighting, StarSat and VodaComm in their respective territories, as well as streaming across the official Brave Com-bat Federation website.

This marks the largest media coverage ever received for a sports media initiative found and operated in the Kingdom

of Bahrain. The event will take place at 5

Pm on 9th June at the SSE Arena in Belfast, United Kingdom.

Action from the previous fight

The fight card features multi-ple fights from Ireland and the United Kingdom in the main card and the prelimi-

nary card

KNOW WHAT

Joshua close to Povetkin dealBBC | London

World heavyweight cham-pion Anthony Joshua is

close to a deal to fight Alexan-der Povetkin - either before or after a bout with Deontay Wilder. Joshua, 28, holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, with Povetkin in a mandatory chal-lenger position for the WBA belt. But talks continue for the Briton to face WBC title holder Deontay Wilder with all four titles on the line.

“We have to move because the WBA want to know what’s happening,” said Joshua’s pro-moter Eddie Hearn.

Hearn says he is hoping for clarity on a Joshua-Wilder fight “this week” and the WBA would be likely to sanction the contest as long as Russian Pov-etkin, 38, was able to face the winner.

“We pretty much have a deal in place with Povetkin,” Hearn told Fighthype.com. “At the moment it looks like we are

fighting him but that could change.

“At the moment the two op-tions we have are we either sign for Wilder now to fight him next or we sign for Wilder now but fight him after Pov-etkin. “So what fans need to know is they are getting the fight - it’s just a case of wheth-er it’s September-October or December-February.”

No heavyweight has ever held all four recognised world titles.

Anthony Joshua

Ackermann takes Dauphiné stage 2 • Race leader Kwiatkowski crashed with just over a kilometre remaining

Cyclingweekly | Rhône-Alpes, France

Pascal Ackermann of Bo-ra-Hansgrohe took vic-

tory on one of the few sprint days at the 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné, out-pacing Edvald Boasson Hagen of Dimension Data and stage one winner Daryl Impey of Mitchelton-Scott to the line.

Race leader Michal Kwiat-kowski of Team Sky came down hard in a crash with 1.3km re-maining on the stage, but was able to get up and ride in to the finish by himself. The Pole lost his race lead however after time bonuses on stage one and today move South African Impey into

the overall lead by two seconds over Kwiatkowski.

With a small group of sprint-ers taking part in this year’s Dauphiné, the final sprint saw

Classics man Oliver Naesen of Ag2r La Mondiale try his hand with an early effort, but he quickly saw himself overtak-en by Ackermann and Boasson

Hagen towards the line, with Impey making a later move for third place.

German Ackermann was able to hold his speed though, and Norwegian Boasson Hagen could do nothing to stop him from riding to victory over the line in Belleville en Beaujolais.

Pascal Ackermann celebrates after crossing the finishing line

KNOW WHAT

German Acker-mann was able

to hold his speed though, and Nor-wegian Boasson Hagen could do nothing to stop him from riding

to victory

Tunisia goalkeeper ‘fakes injury’ to break RamadanBBC | Tunis

Tunisia’s World Cup foot-ball team has apparently found an ingenious way

to fight fatigue as they fast for the Muslim holy month of Ram-adan.

In friendly matches against Portugal then Turkey, goalkeep-er Mouez Hassen appeared to feign injury at sundown, when the fast comes to an end.

As he lay on the pitch re-ceiving medical treatment, his teammates rushed to the side-lines to drink water and snack on dates.

And it produced immediate results.

Down 2-1 to European champions Portugal, Tunisia rebounded six minutes after

Hassen’s injury break by scor-ing an equaliser and ended the match 2-2.

Days later against Turkey, Hassen stopped play by lying on his back.

Again, his teammates ate dates and drank water provid-ed to them by waiting coaching staff. That match also ended 2-2.

Pundits in Tunisia were quick to note the timing of the goal-keeper’s injuries in the second half of both matches - in the 58th and 47th minutes of play respectively.

This coincided with the time of sunset, which is when Iftar - the breaking of the fast usually with dates and water - begins for Muslims observing Ram-adan.

The Tunisian football federa-tion has yet to comment on the timing of the two injury breaks.

But goalkeeper Hassen tweeted: “I was hurt, bruv” along with laughing emojis, in response to fellow footballer Chaker Alhadhur’s jokey com-ment: “It’s all right now, we know you were pretending.”


P L A Y E R O F T H E D A Y

Javier Hernandez Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer, Hernandez appeared at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, scoring three times during those two global finals. Nicknamed ‘Chicharito’, the forward won the FIFA Club World Cup title with Real Madrid in 2014.

8 days to go……

Group A: Russia to face Arabic testGROUP A TEAMS:

Russia: FIFA ranking: 66best achievement: 4th place 1966Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov

Saudi Arabia: FIFA ranking: 67Best achievement: Round of 16 1994Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Egypt : FIFA ranking: : 46Best achievement: First stage 1934, 1990Coach: Hector Cuper

Uruguay: FIFA ranking: 17Best achievement: Champion 1930, 1950Coach: Oscar Washington Tabarez

KEY GAME:Russia-Saudi Arabia (14 June 2018, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow)The World Cup Opening Match is an event that football fans the world over eagerly tune-in to, marking the beginning of another exciting global finals. At Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, hosts Russia will take on Saudi Arabia in the eagerly-awaited curtain-raiser on 14 June 2018. The Saudis will be the first Asian team to take part in an Opening Match at the global finals.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:Russia 2018 will mark Egypt’s first World Cup since Italy 1990. Star man Mohamed Salah bagged the goal which sealed qualification to the global finals in dramatic fashion, as he con-verted a 94th-minute penalty against Congo to get the party started in Alexandria.-Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al-Sahlawi netted 16 goals on the road to Russia. The 30-year-old

frontman finished 2018 World Cup qualifying as joint-top scorer, along with Poland’s Robert Lewandowski and UAE’s Ahmed Khalil.-Uruguay are two-time champions of the World Cup. La Celeste were inaugural winners of the tournament in 1930, before winning it a second time, at Brazil 1950.

Egypt’s Mohamed Salah

45 The age that Egypt

goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary will be when the

Pharaohs take to the pitch at Russia 2018. He is the

World Cup’s oldest player.

Highlight of Tunisia v Portugal match

‘Players will help Kane handle England’Reuters | London

The experienced members of England’s World Cup

squad must step up and take some of the pressure off captain Harry Kane to let the striker focus on scoring goals in Russia, defender Gary Cahill has said.

Kane captained England in three of their eight World Cup qualifiers and has been handed the role for Russia where the 24-year-old will also be expect-ed to help fire the side into the knockout stages.

“It’s important the experi-enced members of the squad help him so he can concentrate on finding the net,” Cahill told Standard Sport.

“The message has been clear from the manager that he wants a number of leaders ... He want-

ed that group of leaders to help and share the workload.

“I’m there to help. I’m not there to preach to anyone, but I have experience of playing in big games. If people want to speak to me and likewise me with other people, the group is very tight in that way and

everyone is approachable... “Uncapped goalkeeper Nick

Pope said the closeness of Ga-reth Southgate’s squad was helping him develop.

“We get on really well and we’re pushing each other every day which is what is best for the team,” Pope was quoted as saying by the Burnley Express.

“Training each day is hard but we’re pushing each other and that’s the way it should be.

“It’s been on another level and it doesn’t get any harder than England. To be in and around this level, it’s great for me.”

England have been drawn in Group G along with Belgium, Panama and Tunisia at the fi-nals. The open their campaign against the North Africans on June 18.

Gary Cahill

Serbia slump to 1-0 warm-up loss against ChileReuters | Graz, Austria

World Cup-bound Ser-bia gave their coach

Mladen Krstajic plenty to worry about ahead of the tournament in Russia after a tepid performance in Mon-day’s 1-0 friendly defeat by a second-string Chile side.

Only two astonishing misses by substitute An-gelo Henriquez spared the Serbians from a heavier de-feat, with centre back Guill-ermo Maripan heading in an 89th-winner for Chile who failed to qualify for the 32-nation tournament. Kr-stajic fielded an experimen-tal 4-2-3-1 formation which failed to spark.

Documents

CELEBS 16 @newsofbahrain OP-ED ‘Legally Blonde 3’...Affairs, Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and UNIC Director Samir Imtair Aldarabi, leading businessman Mohammed Dadabhai,