Israel kills 55 Palestinians as US opens Jerusalem embassynews.kuwaittimes.net/pdf/2018/may/15/kt.pdf · ISSUE NO: 17532 32 Pages 150 Fils Established 1961 The First Daily in the

ISSUE NO: 17532

32 Pages 150 Fils

www.kuwaittimes.net

Established 1961 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf

SHAABAN 29, 1439 AHTUESDAY, MAY 15, 2018

Max 36ºMin 26º

Amir envoy hands letters to Qatar, Oman, UAE leaders

Sharif ignites firestorm with Mumbai attacks interview93 Al-Safat Investment awarded

world record for Amir decal17 No crisis for Panini stickers as World Cup fever builds15

Israel kills 55 Palestinians as US opens Jerusalem embassy

Kuwait requests UNSC meet • Turkey: US shares blame • Arab League: US move ‘immoral’

JERUSALEM: Israeli forces killed 55Palestinians on the Gaza border in the con-flict’s bloodiest day in years yesterday asclashes and protests coincided with thedeeply controversial opening of the USembassy in Jerusalem. The clashes, whichleft more than 2,700 Palestinians wounded,erupted before a White House delegationand Israeli officials opened the embassy atan inauguration ceremony in Jerusalem andcontinued throughout the day.

It was the bloodiest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since a 2014 Gaza war.The dead included eight children under theage of 16, according to the Palestinianenvoy to the United Nations. The Gazanhealth ministry provided the overall deathand injury toll. Kuwait has requested anemergency meeting of the UN SecurityCouncil today, the country’s mission to theUN said yesterday. “We condemned whathas happened,” Kuwaiti ambassador to the

United Nations Mansour Al-Otaibi toldjournalists. Kuwait is a non-permanentcouncil member.

The White House said yesterday thatGaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas were to blame.“The responsibility for these tragic deathsrests squarely with Hamas,” White Housespokesman Raj Shah told reporters. “Hamasis intentionally and cynically provoking thisresponse,” he said, adding: “Israel has theright to defend itself.” Tens of thousands

had gathered near the border in protestwhile smaller numbers of stone-throwingPalestinians approached the fence andsought to break through, with Israelisnipers positioned on the other side.

The embassy inauguration nonethelesswent on as planned, attended by a Washingtondelegation that included US President DonaldTrump’s daughter Ivanka and her husbandJared Kushner, both White House aides. IvankaTrump helped declare the new embassy open

and a plaque and seal were unveiled before the800 guests at the ceremony. Kushner said itwas possible for both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to gain more than give inany peace deal. “Jerusalem must remain a citythat brings people of all faiths together,” hesaid in a speech. Trump addressed the cere-mony by video. “Our greatest hope is forpeace,” he said despite the Palestinian angerthe move has provoked.

Continued on Page 11

GAZA: Palestinians run for cover from tear gas during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip east of Jabaliyayesterday. — AFP

JERUSALEM: US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin claps as US President DonaldTrump’s daughter Ivanka unveils an inauguration plaque during the opening of the USembassy yesterday. — AFP

News in brief

Qatar vows support for Somalia

DOHA: Qatar’s Emir held talks yesterday with theSomali president in Doha and pledged support for theEast African country, amid tensions between the twocountries and the UAE. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said that the relationship between Qatar andSomalia was one of “brotherhood and mutualrespect”. “Qatar will continue to support the unity,stability, sovereignty and well-being of the people ofSomalia,” he wrote on Twitter. African countries havefound themselves in the fallout over the bitter Gulfcrisis, with several breaking off ties with Qatar in sup-port for countries which oppose Doha. Somalia hasrefused to take sides, although in recent weeks it hashad its own disagreements with UAE rulers. — AFP

Houthis fail to hit Aramco facility

RIYADH: Yemen’s armed Houthi movement launcheda ballistic missile at a Saudi Aramco facility in SaudiArabia’s southwestern Jizan province yesterday, thegroup’s Al-Masirah TV reported, but a Saudi-ledcoalition said the rocket fell in the open desert. TheHouthis, an Iran-allied group that holds much ofYemen including the capital Sanaa, have fired a seriesof missiles into the kingdom in recent months, part ofa three-year-old conflict in Yemen widely seen as aproxy battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Coalitionspokesman Turki Al-Malki said Saudi air defenseforces had tracked the rocket but that it landed in anuninhabited area, according to a report from the offi-cial Saudi Press Agency. — Reuters

Row over Socotra resolved

ADEN: Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagherannounced yesterday that a dispute over the island ofSocotra sparked after the deployment of UAE troopshas been resolved. “The crisis on the island is over,”Bin Dagher wrote on Facebook, adding that the crisishad “almost divided” the Saudi-led Arab coalitionfighting the Houthi rebels. The announcement came aday after Saudi troops were deployed to the strategicisland following tensions between Yemen’s internation-ally recognized government and the UAE, a key mem-ber of the coalition. Dagher’s comments come after anagreement was signed on Sunday evening with theUAE and Saudi Arabia, according to the Yemeni statenews agency Saba. Under the deal the two countries’troops will withdraw from Socotra. — AFP

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The health ministry hasinstructed its medical centers and hospi-tals that it has not raised medical fees forexpatriates recently, after the increasewhich was implemented in October lastyear. The ministry insisted in a circular tosenior officials that only doctors have theabsolute right of prescribing medicinesand their quantities to expatriatepatients and that no changes had beenmade to these rules. The circular alsoinsisted that the ministry had notincreased the prices of drugs for expa-

triates or the charges at hospitals andmedical centers.

The health ministry last Octoberintroduced major fee hikes for medicalservices offered to expatriates, but keptthe services free for nationals. Theincreases included big hikes in severalkey medical services that include radiol-ogy, visits to hospitals and medical cen-ters and admissions in public hospitals.All expatriates in the country are alsorequired to pay a medical insurance feewhen they stamp their residence permitsor renew them.


No new medical fees for expats;conflicting reports on levying VAT

KUWAIT: The GCC Secretary General and finance ministers pose for a group photo aheadof their meeting yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

BAGHDAD: Nationalist cleric MoqtadaAl-Sadr, a long-time adversary of theUnited States, led in Iraq’s parliamen-tary election with more than half thevotes counted yesterday, the electoralcommission said, in a surprise turn offortune for the Shiite leader. In the firstelection since Islamic State was defeat-ed in the country, Shiite militia chiefHadi Al-Ameri’s bloc, which is backedby Iran, was in second place, whilePrime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, onceseen as the frontrunner, trailed inthird position.

The preliminary results were basedon a count of more than 95 percent ofthe votes cast in 10 of Iraq’s 18provinces. Unlike Abadi, a rare ally ofboth the United States and Iran, Sadris an opponent of both of the coun-tries which have wielded influence inIraq since a US-led invasion toppledSunni dictator Saddam Hussein in2003 and ushered the Shiite majorityto power. Sadr has led two uprisingsagainst US forces in Iraq and is one of

the few Shiite leaders to distance him-self from Iran.

Despite the election setback, Abadimight still be granted a second term inoffice by parliament and yesterday hecalled on all political blocs to respectthe results, suggesting he was willingto work with Sadr to form a govern-ment. “We are ready to work andcooperate in forming the strongestgovernment for Iraq, free of corrup-tion,” Abadi said in a live televisedaddress. Corruption has been the topof Sadr’s agenda for several years.Projecting himself as a Iraqi nationalist,Sadr has a zealous following amongthe young, poor and dispossessed, buthe had been sidelined by influentialIranian-backed figures.

He cannot become prime minister ashe did not run in the election, thoughhis apparent victory puts him in aposition to pick someone for the job.But even then his bloc might not nec-essarily form the next government


Comeback cleric Sadrset to win Iraq elections

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities saidyesterday at least 86 people have beenkilled and over 100 injured in a freshwave of violent sandstorms and thunder-storms that battered vast swathes of thecountry. Winds of over 100 km per hour

struck parts of north, east and southernIndia late Sunday, uprooting trees, elec-tricity pylons and damaging houses, offi-cials from federal and state disastermanagement agencies said.

The fatalities came just 10 days aftera sandstorm left more than 134 dead -most of them in Agra, the city of the TajMahal. Hail, wind and thunderstormsbrought down walls, trees and power


Violent storms in India kill 86

AJMER: Commuters drive along a road during a heavy dust storm in this city in theIndian state of Rajasthan yesterday. — AFP

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

2L o c a l

Established 1961

CAIRO: Kuwait has expressed appreciation of the Arab League’s hon-oring of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. “We are deeply grateful to the Arab League for sponsoring andhosting the honoring of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah,” Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the ArabLeague Ambassador and Representative of His Highness the Amir,Ahmad Al-Bakr, said in his speech at the Arab function to honor HisHighness the Amir.

The Arab honoring to His Highness was held Sunday in Cairo underthe rubric, ‘Honoring of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ... Man of Peace ... Humanitarian Leader,’ inthe presence of Arab, Kuwaiti, regional and international figures.

The event featured a documentary and a seminar on the experienceof Kuwait and His Highness the Amir in supporting world peace. Thisevent “aims to shed light on the march of an Arab leader works relent-lessly and sincerely to raise the standing of his country and defend Araband Muslim interests and causes,” Ambassador Bakr said.

He noted that His Highness the Amir “has engaged with the world in awise and balanced policy that focused on spreading values of dialogue,peace, moderation and humanitarian action until he was deservedlyproclaimed a ‘Man of Peace’ and a ‘Humanitarian leader’.” He describedKuwait’s diplomacy as moderate and balanced throughout history.“This approach had been instilled by His Highness the Amir since hewas the foreign minister of Kuwait and the dean of diplomacy in theworld,” he said. He went on to say that His Highness the Amir has basedthe foreign policy of Kuwait on solid foundations, mainly balanced rela-tions with all parties which paved the way for Kuwait to has an influen-tial role on the world stage, thanks to the wisdom of His Highness andworld’s respect of him.

Bakr stressed Kuwait’s keenness on cementing joint Arab action.Kuwait under His Highness the Amir deeply believed that strengtheningArab unity is the best guarantor of the stability of the Arab region in aturbulent world, he said.

“This belief was translated into an unlimited political and financialsupport to the Arab League and effective contribution to empowering itto have its aspired standing in the world stage,” he argued. He boastedthat Kuwait stands in support of its Arab brethren and defending theirfair Arab in all international and regional forums.

Kuwait through its non-permanent membership in the SecurityCouncil is doing all in power to defend Arab issues, mainly thePalestinian cause as the unrest in Syria, Libya, Yemen and other areas ofconflicts and tension, he pointed out. He added that Kuwait had alsobeen champion of dialogue to iron out Arab differences. Kuwait beliefsthat a transparent and constructive dialogue is the best way to resolvethese differences and avoid any undesired escalations, he said.Ambassador Bakr noted that Kuwait sought to spread the culture ofdialogue and peace and creating relations based on mutual respect forsovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs and common interests.

“Kuwait had made several attempts to persuade some Arab neigh-bors to adopt these principles in their relations with other Arab coun-tries,” he said. He suggested that humanitarian action under the leader-ship of His Highness the Amir had become a main character of Kuwait’sforeign policy. “Kuwait has been trying to guarantee a decent life forthose affected by crises,” he said, adding that Kuwait had dealt withmany of the Arab crises through this particular angle.

“Through this approach, Kuwait has been able to build an interna-tional reputation which resulted in the UN proclamation of His Highnessthe Amir as Humanitarian Leader and the State of Kuwait as aHumanitarian Center,” he explained. The ambassador recalled Kuwait’scontinuing support to Arab economies and development aspirations“through its development and economic arms, as well as the adoptionby His Highness the Amir of the idea of holding a specialized Arab sum-mit to boost economic, developmental and social cooperation amongArab countries.” The Arab Summit in Kuwait in 2009 was the first tofocus on social and economic development issues away from politicalones, he argued. —KUNA

Crown Prince, Premier meet ministerstaking part in GCC economic meeting

Kuwait appreciatesArab League’sAmir honoring

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and CrownPrince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahreceived yesterday at Sief Palace First Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Sabah, as well as Minister of Oil andMinister of Electricity and Water Bakheet Al-Rashidi.His Highness also receivedMinister of Finance Dr NayefAl-Hajraf accompanied by GulfCooperation Council (GCC)ministers of finance and econo-my, who are taking part in the107th meeting of the GCCFinancial and EconomicCooperation Committee, held inKuwait . His Highness alsoreceived newly-appointedAmbassador of Saudi Arabia toKuwait Sultan Bin Saad BinKhaled Al Saud, as well asChief of the National Security Apparatus Sheikh ThamerAli Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.

Meanwhile, His Highness the Prime Minister SheikhJaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received the vis-iting GCC ministers of finance and economy, as well asthe newly-appointed Ambassador of Saudi Arabia toKuwait. Furthermore, he met with the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Leonardo-Finmeccanica Company AlessandroProfumo, who is in an official visit to the country.

Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser also received Profumo,and he affirmed the strong bilateral ties between the twofriendly countries, and mutual willingness to strengthenand reinforce them, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense saidin a press statement. In addition, Kuwait’s Army Chief ofGeneral Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Al-Khuder

received Profumo, and thetwo sides discussed impor-tant and common matters,especially promoting and fur-ther developing bilateral rela-tions, said the DefenseMinistry in a statement. Themeeting was attended by sev-eral high-ranking Kuwaitiarmy officers, along with theItalian Military Attache.

In other news, HisHighness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-

Sabah sent yesterday a cable of condolences to thePresident of Indonesia Joko Widodo. His Highness theAmir expressed sincere condolences and sorrow to theIndonesian President and people over victims of theterrorist blasts that targeted three churches in the cityof Surabaya, and led to killing and wounding scores ofpeople. His Highness affirmed Kuwait’s strong condem-nation and denouncement of such terrorist acts thattarget innocent lives and contradict all humanitarian

doctrines and values. He also affirmed Kuwait’s sup-port to all measures taken by the Indonesian authoritiesto face terrorist acts and preserve the country’s securi-ty and stability.

His Highness the Amir prayed mercy for the victims

and wished a speedy recovery for the wounded. He alsoprayed for patience and solace for the victims’ families.His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness thePrime Minister also sent similar cables to the Indonesianpresident. —KUNA

Amir offers condolences to Indonesian president

Crown Princemeets new

Saudi envoy

KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Minister of Finance Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf and GulfCooperation Council (GCC) ministers of finance and economy. — KUNA photos

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with First DeputyPrime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah meets with Kuwaiti Minister of Finance DrNayef Al-Hajraf, accompanied by GCC ministers of finance.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with thenewly-appointed Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Sultan Bin Saad Bin Khaled Al Saud.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah meets withnewly-appointed Saudi Ambassador to the country Sultan Bin Saad Bin Khaled Al Saud.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-MubarakAl-Hamad Al-Sabah meets with Chief Executive Officer ofLeonardo-Finmeccanica Company Alessandro Profumo.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabahmeets with Chief Executive Officer of Leonardo-Finmeccanica Company Alessandro Profumo.

Army Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Al-Khuder meets with ChiefExecutive Officer of Leonardo-Finmeccanica Company Alessandro Profumo.

L o c a l Tuesday, May 15, 2018

3Established 1961

Amir’s envoy hands letters to QatariEmir, Omani Sultan, UAE President

Latest regional and international developments discussed

KUWAIT: Envoy of His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of Foreign Affairs SheikhSabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah handed a letterfrom His Highness to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim BinHamad Al Thani. The letter concerned strong bilater-

al relations and latest regional and internationaldevelopments.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled headed afterwards toOman where he handed a similar letter from HisHighness to Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed, received byDeputy Prime Minister for Relations and

International Cooperation Affairs Sayyid Asa’ad binTariq Al Said.

After that, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled headed to theUAE where he handed another letter from HisHighness the Amir to President Khalifa Bin Zayed AlNahyan, received by UAE Vice President and Prime

Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. SheikhSabah Al-Khaled had headed to Saudi Arabia andBahrain on Sunday where he handed similar lettersfrom His Highness the Amir to King Salman binAbdulaziz and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa,respectively. — KUNA

DOHA: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah hands a letter from His Highness the Amir to Qatari Emir SheikhTamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. — KUNA photos

MUSCAT: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign AffairsSheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah hands a letter from HisHighness the Amir to Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed, received byDeputy Prime Minister for Relations and InternationalCooperation Affairs Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said.

ABU DHABI: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs SheikhSabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah speaks with UAE Vice President and PrimeMinister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum after he handed him a letterfrom His Highness the Amir to UAE President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) and Ministry ofInterior (MoI) signed an agreement to enable using the e-signature for verifi-cation in issuing driver’s licenses online for citizens and expatriates. The sign-ing of the agreement, which took place during a press conference yesterday,comes as part of MoI’s steps to issue driver’s licenses online, similar to civilIDs, in the near future. — KUNA

PACI, MoI sign onlinelicenses agreement

Govt appointssix MunicipalCouncil membersKUWAIT: The government of Kuwaitappointed yesterday six members in theMunicipal Council following the election of10 members last Saturday. The Cabinet, in itsweekly session chaired by His Highness thePrime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, approved appointment ofOsama Al-Otaibi, Humoud Al-Enezi,Abdulsalam Al-Randi, Abdulwahhab Burusly,Mishal Al-Hamdhan and Maha Al-Baghli. TheCabinet approved the appointment decreeand referred it to His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,Deputy Premier and Minister of State forCabinet Anas Al-Saleh said in a statement.

The Cabinet commended judges, and offi-cials in ministries of interior, education, infor-mation and health as well as Kuwait FireServices Directorate and KuwaitMunicipality for their efforts throughout the

election, said Al-Saleh. Municipal electionswere held two days ago and 10 memberswere elected, representing 10 constituencies.

Hassan Kamal won 2,099 votes out of17,997 eligible voters in the first constituen-cy. Abdullah Al-Mehri won 3,550 votes outof 24,537 eligible voters in the second con-stituency. Abdulaziz Al-Mejel won 1,985votes out of 30,651 eligible voters in the thirdconstituency. Hamad Al-Medlej got 4,108votes out of 75,560 eligible voters in thefourth constituency. Abdullah Al-Roumi won5,336 votes out of 36,722 eligible voters inthe fifth constituency. Fheid Al-Rashidi won7,329 votes out of 50,247 eligible voters inthe sixth constituency. Mohammad Al-Mutairi won 8,480 votes out of 58,479 eligi-ble voters in the seventh constituency.Ahmad Al-Enezi won 8,109 votes out of77,614 eligible voters in the eighth con-stituency. Ali Al-Azmi won 8,702 votes out of70,277 eligible voters in the ninth con-stituency. Hamdi Al-Azmi got 10,755 votesout of 78,552 eligible voters in the 10th con-stituency. A total of 73 candidates, includingone female, stood for the elections that ransmoothly and orderly at 102 polling stationscountrywide. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The US Embassy’s ConsularSection and the Foreign CommercialService held a seminar for travel agents onMay 9, 2018, at the Radisson Blu Hotelentitled, ‘Helping Your Clients Apply for aUS Visa The Right Way.’ The objective ofthe workshop was to raise awareness fortravel agency staff who work directly withclients on how to apply for US visas. Thehighlights of the presentation were practi-cal tips on how to fill out the US visa appli-cation form properly, to avoid commonmistakes that can delay applications.Embassy tips include:

• Forms must be completed correctlyand in full, including all travel to othercountries in the past five years and all priorUS travel.

• Forms must list the visa applicant’spersonal phone number, e-mail address,and current home address, not the contactinformation of the travel agency.

• Agencies must indicate that a thirdparty helped the applicant to complete the

form and list the individual’s name andorganization.

The Deputy Consular Chief, RobinBusse, noted: “Many Kuwaitis and expa-triates use travel agencies to scheduletheir visa appointment as part of theirdecision to visit the United States. Giventhe prominent role of travel agencies inthe visa application process, the ConsularSection and Foreign Commercial Serviceconsider travel agents important multipli-ers in providing accurate information onUS visas.”

The event included a presentation bythe Foreign Commercial Service on theservices it offers to promote the UnitedStates as a tourist destination. Some fiftytravel agents in attendance participated ina lively question-and-answer session afterthe presentation. US Embassy staff dis-pelled myths about the visa process andadvised attendees on a range of practicalissues to improve the visa applicationexperience for travelers.

US Embassy advises travelagencies for better visa experience


4L o c a l

Established 1961

Photo of the Day

KUWAIT: Lanterns in many shapes and colors are displayed at a market in Kuwait in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan. — KUNA photo

BRUSSELS: Kuwait underlined yesterday its full belief inthe importance of joint international efforts in protectingminorities and ensuring their security around the globe.Kuwait’s hosting of the International Conference for theReconstruction of Iraq (KICRI) last February, in addition toan international donors conference for the Rohingya inOctober 2017, is a reflection of its various efforts andimportant contributions towards ensuring protection forminorities around the world,Kuwaiti Ambassador toBelgium, EU, and NATOJasem Al-Budaiwi said. TheKuwaiti diplomat made hisremarks on the sidelines ofthe third InternationalConference on the Victims ofEthnic and Religious Violencein the Middle East, which washeld in Brussels yesterday.

The Belgian Conferenceis an extension of the ParisConference, held inSeptember 2015, and the Madrid Conference in 2017, henoted, adding both conferences were significant and cameout with needed recommendations to help those minori-ties. “Ethnic and religious diversity represent the trueidentity of the Middle East region, and preserving it isessential for ensuring a future where peace, stability, andfreedom prevail in the region,” he said.

During the post-conflict reconstruction phase, specialprotection should be provided to religious and ethnicminorities and necessary measures should be taken toensure a safe and lasting return that preserves the dignityof the displaced, said Budaiwi. The international communi-ty’s efforts must be combined to ensure the protection ofminorities and bring those who commit crimes againstthem to international justice, he said.

Yesterday’s conference was aimed to address the steps

taken and the urgent steps to be taken within the frame-work of the Paris Executive Plan, adopted in this regardon September 8, 2015, added Budaiwi. The one-day con-ference was co-chaired by Belgian Minister of ForeignAffairs Didier Reynders and his Lebanese counterpartGebran Bassil.

In his opening address, Reynders said the conferencewas aimed at safeguarding the cultural, religious, and eth-

nic heritage in the Middle East,particularly in Iraq and Syria,adding priority must be givento stabilization efforts. Heunderlined the importance ofworking towards reconciliationand harmonious coexistencebetween different communi-ties in order to rebuild aresilient society based on sol-id foundations. It is alsoimportant to fight impunityand bring to justice thoseresponsible of the atrocities

that have been perpetrated against minorities around theworld, Reynders said. The Belgian minister also saidwork is currently in progress to bring the perpetratorsof the atrocities to justice in Iraq or in the InternationalCriminal Court at The Hague.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Foreign Minister Bassil stressedthe importance of restoring stability in the region in orderfor refugees and displaced people to be able to return totheir homes. Bassil urged the international community toexert further efforts toward dealing with extremism andfanaticism in the Middle East region, noting his countryhosts a large number of Syrian refugees that make up nownearly half of Lebanon’s population.

Jan Kubis, Special Representative of the UN SecretaryGeneral for Iraq, meanwhile praised Kuwait for its recon-ciliation efforts in the region. “I would like to join our

keynote speakers to express our admiration and gratitudeto the Sate of Kuwait for facilitating a very important recon-struction and rehabilitation conference and for the countriesof the region that pledged massive support,” said the UNofficial in his speech. He said the UN has created special

investigating team to deal with the horrendous crimes com-mitted by the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. A largenumber of ministers, heads of international organizations,and representatives of a number of ethnic and religiouscommunities took part in the conference. — KUNA

Kuwait affirms commitment tominorities’ protection worldwide

Kuwait participates in conference on victims of violence in the Middle East

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunica-tions company in Kuwait, announced itsPlatinum Partnership of Nurture and EducateStudents Today (NEST)’s educational cam-paign, entitled #Rock_Paper_Pen held at theAvenues mall from 10 - 24 May in partner-ship with the Kuwait Red Crescent Society(KRCS) and Direct Aid. The campaign’slaunch event witnessed the attendance ofZain Kuwait Chief Executive Officer EamanAl-Roudhan.

Zain’s Platinum Partnership to this cam-paign came as part of its CorporateSustainability and Social ResponsiblyStrategy that closely focuses on supportinghumanitarian and educational initiatives andaims at continuingly developing the educa-tion sector and further contributing toresolve the challenges it faces locally andglobally. Zain considers supporting educationa top priority, as it plays a crucial role inbuilding the future.

NEST’s #Rock_Paper_Pen campaignmainly aims at raising donations for the ben-

efit of building three new schools set to serve820 students in the Republic of Chad. Thecampaign’s idea centers around usingadvanced technology solutions to attract andaware potential donors in the campaign’sbooth at the Avenues mall.

The booth was designed to mimic theharsh living environment that faces Chad’schildren, where potential donors can wearVirtual Reality (VR) headsets and see up-close the hardships children face to get edu-cation, which adds a human value andencourages visitors to donate and contributeto building a better future for those who arein need of help.

Zain is proud of its long list of programsand contributions that serve noble causesthrough strategically partnering with entitiesthat adopt humanitarian work, includingNurture and Educate Students Today(NEST) and the Kuwait Red CrescentSociety (KRCS), as well as other non-profitorganizations, governmental institutions, andglobal entities. One of Zain’s latest humani-

tarian contributions was its StrategicSponsorship of “One Roof” campaign toraise awareness on domestic workers andemployers rights in partnership with theHuman Line Organization and the SocialWork Society in partnership with theMinistry of Interior. The company’s supportcame as part of its Corporate Sustainabilityand Social Responsibility Strategy, throughwhich it aims at supporting such humanitari-an initiatives that achieve equality betweenall members of the society. Zain will alwaysstay committed to building a better futurefor everyone.

Nurture and Educate Students Today(NEST) is a non-profit group dedicatedto helping underprivileged students inter-nationally and locally. It aims to provideproper educative resources for those whocannot provide for themselves. Foundedin 2013 , NEST is a rap id ly growingorganization with many goals and impas-sioned volunteers. It is a diverse group ofstudents, teachers, doctors, and other

active members of society based in Kuwaitall unified by the singular desire to bringproper education and resources to schools

all over the world. NEST proudly worksunder the patronage of the Kuwait RedCrescent Society.

Zain Platinum Partner of NEST’s educational campaign

Ethnic, religious

diversity areregion’s true

identity

BRUSSELS: Kuwait participates in third International Conference on the Victims of Ethnic and Religious Violence in theMiddle East in Brussels, Belgium. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Zain Kuwait Chief Executive Officer Eaman Al-Roudhan is seen with NEST’s offi-cials and the campaign’s partners.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: As part of preventive measures to preventfires in buildings currently under construction duringthe summer, Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KSFD)Director Lt Gen Khaled Al-Mekrad yesterday inspect-ed two major projects along with his deputy for pre-vention affairs Maj Gen Khaled Abdullah Fahd, KFSDpublic relations and media manager Col Khalil Al-Amir,Capital prevention department manager Solafa Al-Yaseen and Mubarak Al-Kabeer acting preventiondepartment manager Lt Col Abdul Aziz Al-Bannai.

Speaking to reporters during the tour, Mekradstressed that KSFD measures and plans to preventpossible fires at buildings under-construction includesthree main elements and that the plan was launched inSeptember. Mekrad stressed that the first element ofthe plan involves cooperation with contracting compa-nies and major consultancy houses operating at variousproject sites to make sure KFSD safety and securitymeasures are followed.

The second element involves cooperation with vari-ous state bodies like Kuwait Municipality, the Ministryof Public Works (MPW) and other relevant bodies towork on preventing any violation as one team. Mekradsaid the third and most important element involves 24/7inspection tours at all construction sites to make sureno violations are committed. Finally, Mekrad urged allcontracting companies to accordingly cooperate withKFSD to avoid suspending any project and the lossesand delays this might lead to.

L o c a l Tuesday, May 15, 2018

5Established 1961

By Attorney Fajer Ahmed

Legalese

Ramadan Mubarak everyone! The Muslim holy monthof fasting is coming upon us this week. Ramadan issupposed to be a time of discipline, family bonds

and forgiveness. It is also a time for us to reflect personallyand also hopefully to reflect as a society together on howwe can connect with each other in a more positive environ-ment. I just wanted to wish you all a happy Ramadan, andhere are a couple of common questions by my readers:

Working hours in RamadanQuestion: Is it true that working hours are reduced in

Ramadan, and if so by how many hours? Also, are thereduced hours and employment benefits only for Muslimsunder Kuwaiti law?

Fajer: Yes, the hours are reduced to six hours accordingto the Kuwait labor law article 64, which states: “It is for-bidden to allow workers to work for more than 48 hoursper week or eight hours a day, except in such events as arespecified in this law. Working hours during the month ofRamadan shall be equal to 36 hours per week” for employ-ees working six days a week, ie six hours per day. This is forboth Muslim and non-Muslim workers.

Laws to follow in RamadanQuestion: I am confused on whether I can eat in public

or not, and I am not sure what the punishment is. Is it only afine or do I go to jail until Eid? Also, can I get deported?

Fajer: Law no 44 of 1968 dictates punishments underthe law for eating or drinking in public in Ramadan. The lawstates the following punishment:

Punishment up to KD100 and/or jail for up to onemonth

i) for anyone that eats/drinks in public in during daytimein Ramadan

ii) for anyone that assists anyone to eat/drink in daytimeduring Ramadan

The punishment is up to one month in jail. So theoreti-cally speaking, someone may be punished on the first dayof Ramadan until Eid, but I would think that from a realisticpoint of view, for first-time offenders, only a fine will beimposed.

As to answer your question on whether or not you canget deported for eating or drinking in public, under Kuwaitilaw, you can get deported for committing any criminaloffense - eating in public during daytime in Ramadan is acriminal offense.

As for commercial businesses that are caught servingfood/beverages to the public during daytime in Ramadan,they will be punished by having their business sites shutdown for two months.

If you have a concern, please email us at [email protected]

Ramadan

By Meshaal Al-Enezi and A Saleh

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) domestichelpers’ department stopped processing all domesticlabor-related procedures as well as receiving relatedcomplaints and grievances, in implementation of theCabinet’s decision number 614/2018 pertaining withtransferring its liabilities to the Public Authority forManpower. Such measures will be the first stepstowards completing the transfer process, although noofficial statements have been made so far, said informedsources, noting that Minister of Social Affairs andLabor and Minister of State for Economic DevelopmentHind Al-Sabeeh had mentioned that the transferprocess would need some time.

Doctors’ concernsHealth Minister Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah yester-

day received Kuwait Medical Association’s (KMA)board of directors to discuss doctors’ concerns andproblems and possible solutions. KMA Chairman DrAhmed Thuwaini Al-Enezi stressed that KMA is ready

to cooperate with the Ministry of Health (MoH) withregards to doctors’ benefit, provide a healthy workingenvironment in the medical sector as well as developmedical services provided to patients. “KMA will notbe lenient in achieving doctors’ demands, especiallyafter detecting generaldespair and frustrationamongst them,” he under-lined. Enezi said KMA dis-cussed giving new qualifieddoctors opportunities tohead various departments inhospitals.

KMA Secretary General DrSalem Al-Kandari said the dis-cussion included problemsrelated to the Afia project andthat the company sometimesrejects cases referred by doctors to undergo certaindiagnostic radiology tests without mentioning the caus-es. KMA Treasurer Dr Mohammed Al-Obaidan said doc-tors’ allowances were also discussed with the minister.

In other news, Chairman of the Kuwait NursingAssociation (KNA) Bandar Nashmi Al-Enezi said thatin collaboration with relevant bodies, KNA has set atimetable to put an end to nursing-related problems,namely financial matters. He added that KNA will con-

tinue working on gettingnurses’ rights despite someattempts to stop such effortsusing ‘fake excuses.’Speaking on the sidelines ofcelebrating the InternationalNursing Day at the IslamicMedical Center, during which95 nurses were honored,Enezi stressed that nursingrequires many sacrifices thatnurses are willing to give.

KD 820,000 annual costWell-informed sources said the total number of

expatriate legal and financial advisors working forKuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and its subsidiary

companies is 20, and that each of them is paid an aver-age of KD 4,000 monthly, plus other incentives such asfree annual tickets for the employee and their familymembers, life insurance, tuition allowances for up tofour children, free vehicle and free fuel cards.

The sources added that these 20 employees annuallycost KD 820,000, elaborating that six of them work forKPC for a total of KD 22,000 a month, five work forKuwait Oil Company (KOC) and receive KD 16,200, fourwork for Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC)and receive KD 10,500, one works for Kuwait Oil TankerCompany (KOTC) and receives KD 5,200, and four workfor Kuwait Petroleum International Company (KPI) andreceives a total of KD 14,900 per month.

Control centerThe cost of connecting the Ministry of Electricity

and Water’s (MEW) control centers to the nationalcontrol center might reach KD 368,000, said informedsources, noting that MEW had contacted the financeministry requesting its approval and that of other moni-toring bodies to offer the project for bidding.

Domestic helpers’ department haltsprocedures in preparation for transfer

Health Ministry, Kuwait Medical Association to address doctors’ concerns

Oil advisorsreceive

KD 820,000annually

Jahra murder suspectdenies chargesKUWAIT: A bedoon man accused of killing amiddle-aged Kuwaiti national in Jahra andattempting to kill his son denied any connectionwith the murder and told the public prosecutionhe did not kill his friend’s father. He said he wasafraid of detectives during questioning followinghis arrest on Saturday, and told them that hecommitted the murder. The suspect confessed toattempting to kill the son due to previous dis-putes, Al-Anbaa daily reported. A securitysource said the denial was expected, adding thatefforts are ongoing to find the knife used in thefather’s killing, which the suspect said he threwin the sea off Anjafa beach. Records show thesuspect had been in jail and was released inApril, and was charged with beating his parents.He admitted to using drugs, including shabu(methamphetamine).

KFSD officials inspect projects’construction sites

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The interior ministry’s relations and securi-ty media department announced that drugs controldetectives arrested three Asians with 171 cartons ofvarious brands of alcohol. Case details indicate thatDCGD’s enforcement department was tipped off aboutan expat trafficking in alcohol. An undercover agentwas assigned to purchase 171 cartons from the suspect,who was arrested red-handed along with two otheraccomplices. A case was filed and further investiga-tions are in progress.

Bootleggers held with 171 alcohol cartons

InternationalPakistan’s Ex-PM ignites firestorm

Page 9‘The clock is ticking’, EU tells Brexit UK Page 8


Established 1961

SURABAYA: Photo shows police at the site of a blast outside the Gereja Pantekosta Pusat Surabaya (Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church) in Surabaya. —AFP

SURABAYA: A family of five, including a child, carriedout the suicide bombing of a police headquarters inIndonesia’s second city Surabaya yesterday, police said, aday after a deadly wave of attacks on churches staged byanother family. The spate of bombings has rockedIndonesia, with the Islamic State group claiming thechurch attacks and raising fears about its influence inSoutheast Asia as its dreams of a Middle Easterncaliphate fade.

Indonesia, which is set to host the Asian Games in justthree months, has long struggled with Islamist militancy,including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200people-mostly foreign tourists-in the country’s worst-everterror attack. Security forces have arrested hundreds ofmilitants during a sustained crackdown that smashed somenetworks, and most recent attacks have been low-leveland targeted domestic security forces. But that changedSunday as a family of six-including girls aged nine and 12 -staged suicide bombings of three churches during morningservices in Surabaya, killing 18 including the bombers.

Yesterday members of another family blew themselvesup at a police station in the city, wounding 10. “There werefive people on two motorbikes. One of them was a littlekid,” national police chief Tito Karnavian said. “This is onefamily.” An eight-year-old girl from the family survived the

attack and was taken to hospital, while her mother, fatherand two brothers died in the blast, he said. The childrenwere likely led to their deaths without a full awareness oftheir fate, said Ade Banani, of the University of Indonesia’sresearch centre of police science and terrorism studies. Ifa family believed in traditionalroles, the father “has the power,so everyone has to obey”,Banani said.

“The children probably don’tknow what’s going on or don’tunderstand.” The father of thechurch suicide bombers was alocal leader in extremist net-work Jamaah Ansharut Daulah(JAD) which supports IS, andthe second family was alsolinked to JAD. “It ordered andgave instructions for its cells to make a move,” Karnaviansaid of the Islamic State’s role in the church attacks. Headded that the bombings may have also been motivated bythe arrest of JAD leaders, including jailed radical AmanAbdurrahman, and were linked to a deadly prison riotstaged by Islamist prisoners at a high-security jail nearJakarta last week.

Abdurrahman has been connected to several deadlyincidents, including a 2016 gun and suicide attack in thecapital Jakarta that left four attackers and four civiliansdead. Despite their apparent allegiance to IS, the church-bombing family were not returnees from Syria, police

said yesterday, correcting theirearlier statements. However,hundreds of Indonesians haveflocked in recent years to fightalongside IS there. Its ambi-tions have been reined in afterlosing most of the land it onceoccupied in Iraq and Syria,and there are concerns thatjihadists will now turn theirfocus on establishing a base inSoutheast Asia.

‘Increasingly proficient’ On Sunday evening, just hours after the church bomb-

ings, a further three people in another family were killedand two wounded when another bomb exploded at anapartment complex about 30 kilometers from Surabaya.That explosion appeared to have been an accidental deto-nation that killed a mother and her 17-year-old child who

was not identified. The woman’s husband-a confidante ofthe husband behind the church bombings, Dita Oepriyanto-was badly injured in the explosion. Police said they arrivedafter the explosion and shot dead the injured man, AntonFebrianto, as he held a bomb detonator in his hand.

“When we searched the flat we found pipe bombs,similar to pipe bombs we found near the churches,” saidKarnavian. Police said they also shot dead four suspects,including the second-ranking member of the JAD cell inSurabaya, in raids on houses and offices yesterday whilenine others were arrested. Indonesian police have foilednumerous terror plots, but the coordinated nature ofSunday’s church bombings and the subsequent blastspoint to more sophisticated planning than in the past,analysts said.

“There is definitely a growing technical proficiency,”said Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asian security expert atthe National War College in Washington. “To pull offthree near-simultaneous bombings is the hallmark of agroup that is thinking.” Abuza questioned the police sug-gestion that the attacks were ordered by the IS leader-ship abroad, but said it would likely boost its presence inSoutheast Asia as it fades elsewhere. “(They’re) going tocontinue to benefit from operating transnationally inSoutheast Asia,” he said. —AFP

Two families stage suicide bombingsSpate of bombings rock Indonesia

Indonesia ‘terror families’ behind attacks,bombings SURABAYA: Their middle-class life, with talkof holidays and a love of pets, held no clues tothe dark plan Dita Oepriyanto and his wifeput in motion as they led their four children totheir deaths. Oepriyanto, 48, spouse PujiKuswati and the kids - including two girlsaged nine and 12 - all died on Sunday in coor-dinated strikes on churches in the country’ssecond-biggest city Surabaya. To neighbors,the family was devoutly religious with anupstanding father who sold herbal medicine.

“He was once the head of the neighbor-hood unit. I met him almost everyday at amosque near his house,” Taufik Gani, 60, toldnewspaper Koran Tempo. Online photosbearing 43-year-old Kuswati’s name showwhat appears to be the family smiling back atthe camera, the two youngest girls in matchingred hijab head scarves and holding flowers.

Kuswati had over 250 friends on aFacebook account packed with pictures ofnature, river rafting and the family cats. Shealso said she was a fan of a local heavy metalband. Her last Facebook post was made in2014. Kuswati is now Indonesia’s first knownfemale suicide bomber. Two other familiesconnected to the family and a local extremistnetwork have been implicated in another

series of explosions, that left most of themdead. Taken together they reveal a shockingnew terror modus operandi in the world’sbiggest Muslim-majority country: suicidebombing parents who take their own chil-dren’s lives in an attack.

‘Tactical benefits’That is a shift from when radical group

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) - behind attacks includ-ing the 2002 Bali bombing that killed over200 - was synonymous with terrorism inIndonesia. “The involvement of women is new,especially with children,” said NavaNuraniyah, an analyst at the Jakarta-basedInstitute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.“During the JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) era it wasforbidden to use women” in attacks. IS bycontrast has welcomed female fighters into itsfold, and the attraction of using women,including young girls, in attacks is obvious,Nuraniyah added. “Women are always seenas peaceful, so security guards are also morerelaxed towards women as well,” she said.

‘There are tactical benefits’On Sunday morning, Kuswati and her two

daughters, who were wearing niqab faceveils and had bombs strapped to their waists,walked onto the grounds of the KristenIndonesia Diponegoro Church, where theirexplosives were detonated. They had beendropped off by Oepriyanto who then drovea bomb-laden car into the Surabaya CentrePentecostal Church. Indonesian authoritieshave named Oepriyanto as the local cellleader of extremist network JamaahAnsharut Daulah (JAD), which has pledgedallegiance to IS. —AFP

Jamaah AnsharutDaulah: Networkbehind bombingsJAKARTA: A wave of deadly suicide bombings that haverocked Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya are linkedto local extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD),which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group(IS). Here are some questions and answers about JAD:

What is JAD? Formed in 2015, JAD gained notoriety in January 2016

for a gun and suicide attack in the capital Jakarta that leftfour attackers and four civilians dead. It is made up ofalmost two dozen Indonesian extremist groups that havepledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi,according to the US State Department, which last yeardesignated it as an extremist network. The group’s spiritu-al leader is Aman Abdurrahman, a jailed Indonesian radicalwho authorized the Jakarta attack and is considered thede facto leader of all IS supporters in Indonesia.

Attacks they carried outApart from the 2016 Jakarta attack-the first claimed by

IS in Southeast Asia-JAD carried out suicide attacks thefollowing year which killed three policemen and injured adozen others at a busy bus station in Jakarta. IS said it wasalso responsible for ordering that attack. JAD has beenlinked to a series of other plots in Indonesia, including afirebomb attack on a church that killed a toddler and aplan to launch a Christmas-time suicide bombing. This wasfoiled when the militants planning the attack were killed.

How was JAD involved?Indonesia is reeling from a series of deadly blasts that

have rocked the city of Surabaya and the surroundingregion in the past two days, killing 25 people includingbombers and injuring scores more. The explosions which

targeted churches, a police headquarters and a low-costapartment complex were the deadliest in years. The sixchurch bombers-a mother and father, their two daughters,aged nine and 12, and two teenage sons-have been linkedby police to JAD. In addition to themselves, 12 people died.The father of the church suicide bombers was a localleader in the network, police have said. Another family offive including a child, which carried out the suicide bomb-ing of a police headquarters yesterday, were also part ofthe group. Four of the bombers died. Police say a thirdfamily, three of whom were killed in the apartment explo-sion outside the city, were also JAD members. That explo-sion may have been a premature detonation of a bomb.

What is the connection to IS?IS has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks

in Indonesia, most of which have been carried out by JAD.Although considered Indonesia’s largest pro-IS coalition,JAD’s structure and links to the international terror net-work are murky. The Institute for Policy Analysis ofConflict has said JAD is “in fact a generic term used for

any supporter of ISIS” and functions more as an umbrellaorganization than a coherent group. Abdurrahman, how-ever, has recruited militants to join IS, is thought to havebeen in communication with leaders of the jihadist group,and is the main translator for IS propaganda in Indonesia,according to analysts and authorities.

Groups behind previous attacks For years, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was synonymous

with terrorism in Indonesia. The group was responsiblefor the country’s worst-ever attack, the 2002 Bali bomb-ings that killed 202 people. In subsequent years thegroup carried out a string of deadly attacks, including a2003 car bombing at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakartathat killed a dozen and a suicide car bomb the followingyear outside the Australian embassy that killed 10.Attacks in 2005 at tourist spots in Bali killed 20. A splin-ter group, led by Malaysian Noordin Top, was responsi-ble for blasts in 2009 at the Ritz-Carlton and JWMarriott hotels in Jakarta, which killed nine and injuredmore than 40. —AFP

SURABAYA: Police take a man (2nd right) in for questioning as they patrol around the Surabaya police head-quarters following a suicide attack in Surabaya yesterday. —AFP

IS eyes Indonesiaas its dreams of a

Middle Eastern caliphate fade

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Tuesday, May 15, 2018

7

Jews and Muslims celebrate an unusual coexistence in Djerba

Jewish population in Tunisia dwindled due to fear, poverty

Established 1961

DJERBA: Cyrine Ben Said, a Tunisian Muslim, carried can-dles and wrote her hopes for the future on an egg in reli-gious ceremony at a synagogue on the southern island ofDjerba. She wanted to share the rituals with her Jewishfriends because, for her, Tunisia is a country of tolerance,coexistence and freedom of belief. “I’m here to share ritu-als with my Jewish friends in new Tunisia of tolerance,coexistence and freedom of belief ... Every one has hisreligion, but we have many common points; the flag, loveand peace,” Ben Said said.

Tunisia is home to one of North Africa’s largest Jewishcommunities. Jews have lived in Tunisia since Roman times,and the community once numbered 100,000. But fear,poverty and discrimination prompted several waves ofemigration after the creation of Israel in 1948. Many leftafter the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, most going to France orIsrael. They now number about 2,000, with more than1,200 in Djerba. Ben Said is one of dozens of Muslims whoparticipated in the Jewish religious ceremonies in the old-est synagogue in Africa, Ghriba, during an annual celebra-tion held this month. The eggs, covered in people’s ambi-tions for love and prosperity, are stored in a cellar.

The event is a powerful sign of mutual tolerance inDjerba, where the two communities have long coexisted.“The Jews and the Muslims of Djerba are all Tunisian citi-zens, so there is no difference between us,” said Perez

Trabelsi, a Jewish community leader. He added that despitetheir small number Jewish people have a strong presencein economic life, including tourism, restaurants and thejewelry trade.

‘No difference’Each year, Muslim religious leaders and politicians from

the Mufti to the head of the government take the chance togo to Ghriba to promote the message of interreligious tol-erance. “This is a peaceful island that embraces its Jewsand Muslims in harmony, giving a message to the worldthat we must abandon hatred and hostility,” said TunisianImam Hassen Chalghoumi, as he shook hands with one ofthe rabbis. Ghriba synagogue was hit by an al Qaeda truckbombing in 2002 that killed 21 people, most of themGerman visitors.

At the entrance to the synagogue, a young Muslim,Makrem Gaagaa, welcomes visitors with a broad smile andpresents headscarves to those who need one. “It’s my joband my livelihood,” he said. “My relationship with every-one who visits this place is good, they have their religionand I have my religion,” added the guard, who has workedin the synagogue since seven years.

Most Jews in Djerba live in Hara Kbira neighborhood,their homes next to Muslim homes, where they exchangevisits and gifts at religious events and weddings. “Here,there is no difference between Jews and a Muslims,” says

Jewish resident Georgina, who gave only her first name.“We are good neighbors, some of them we visit all thetime. They offer us food, and we give them food, too.”Despite the peaceful atmosphere, security is still tight.This year, during protests against government austeritymeasures in January, assailants threw petrol bombs at asmall synagogue in Djerba, causing shock but no casual-ties. In Djerba’s old medina, Jewish tailor Mgissis Chabehhas worked for four decades sewing “jebba”, a traditionalMuslim dress.

“All my customers are Muslims and they love my work,”70-year-old Chabeh said from behind his sewing machine,in between jokes with a Muslim gold trader friend. The oldmedina in Djerba is full of jewelry shops, most of which arerun by Jews who have controlled the trade in Djerba fordecades. Nearby, a popular Jewish restaurant has a signwritten in Arabic and Hebrew. “In the old city there aremany Jews,” said Jewish chef Gabriel Yahich. “We cookmeals for them that are compatible with the Jewish reli-gion, but we also offer traditional meals accepted by theMuslims.” “For me the important thing is that trade is good,the rest is details.” — Reuters

Muslims, Jewsjoin in annualcelebration in

the synagogue

KUALA LUMPUR: The net tightened on toppledMalaysian prime minister Najib Razak as the new gov-ernment yesterday placed on leave a controversial fig-ure seen as his protectorin a multi-billion-dollargraft scandal. Najib’sBarisan Nasional (BN)coalition last week suf-fered a shock defeat to analliance of parties headedby the elderly MahathirMohamad, ending the cor-ruption-mired regime’s sixdecades in power. Votersturned out en masse tooust Najib, angered at ris-ing living costs, divisive racial politics in the Muslim-majority country and allegations of endemic graftamong the country’s ruling elite. The 92-year-oldMahathir—who ruled Malaysia for two decades until2003, and came out of retirement to take on Najib—isnow the world’s oldest state leader.

He officially got down to work as prime ministerMonday, holding meetings with top civil servants andreceiving his first official visitor, Brunei’s SultanHassanal Bolkiah. Najib became a hugely unpopularfigure over his alleged involvement in plundering hugesums from Malaysian sovereign fund 1MDB in asophisticated fraud that is now being investigated inseveral countries. The US State Department allegesthat at least $4.5 billion dollars were looted from thefund, and funneled to the United States where it wasused to buy everything from artwork to high-end realestate and a luxury yacht. Both Najib and 1MDB denyany wrongdoing.

A total of $681 million also mysteriously appearedin Najib’s personal bank accounts in 2013 just aheadof a hotly-contested election. He was later cleared byAttorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, who said themoney was a personal donation from the Saudi royalfamily, and ordered the closure of domestic probesinto the scandal. Mahathir, however, said in a pressconference that the attorney-general was takingleave. “There have been lots of complaints against theattorney-general. On that basis we gave him a holi-day,” he said. “When he is on leave, the solicitor-gen-eral will cover his job as the attorney general.” Headded that once an investigation had been carriedout, Apandi could be suspended and banned fromleaving the country.

Markets shrug off resultApandi-who has ties to the United Malays National

Organization (UMNO), the main party in the BNcoalition-came to office after Najib sacked the previ-ous attorney general, who was believed to be aggres-sively investigating the matter. Mahathir has vowedthat “heads must fall” in government bodies suspectedof colluding in corruption, and on Monday the head ofthe Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission-whichhad targeted critics of Najib-resigned. A former intel-ligence and investigations director from the commis-sion also lodged a report with the body, accusingNajib of seeking to prevent investigations into 1MDB.Markets opened yesterday for the first time since lastweek’s polls but did not fall as heavily as had beenanticipated after Mahathir sought in a weekendspeech to calm investors. Stocks initially lost 2.7 per-cent but quickly won back ground and closed 0.2 per-cent higher. Local currency the ringgit was steadyagainst the dollar.

Travel banBut it has not been all smooth sailing since the his-

toric win, with concerns over the slow formation of thecabinet as different parties in the winning alliance jos-tle for positions. Mahathir appointed three ministers atthe weekend despite previously having said he wouldname 10 cabinet members. Jailed politician AnwarIbrahim, Mahathir’s nemesis-turned-ally, issued astatement Sunday insisting his People’s Justice Party(PKR) still supported the new premier after a seniorfigure from the group said the cabinet appointmentswere made without their consultation. Anwar, in jail onsodomy charges his supporters say are trumped up,had been widely expected to be freed today, pavingthe way for him to eventually become premier. But hisparty said that the prime minister’s office had informedthem an official committee that issues pardons-andwould sign off on his release-would now be meetingtomorrow, without explaining why. —AFP

Net closes on toppled Malaysia’sPM Najib

US not the first nor the last embassy to open in JerusalemJERUSALEM: The United States opened its embassy inJerusalem yesterday in a most high-profile diplomaticinauguration in the holy city, but not the first nor the last.Several countries, mainly African and Latin American, havepreviously had their ambassadors based in Jerusalem andsome are expected to return. After the 1973 Yom Kippurwar, Ivory Coast, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic ofCongo) and Kenya severed relations with Israel in protestand closed the doors of their embassies in Jerusalem.

They later renewed relations but moved their mis-sions to Tel Aviv. In 1980 Israel enacted a law declaringJerusalem, including the mainly Palestinian eastern zone,its “complete and united” capital. The United NationsSecurity Council branded the move illegal and adopteda resolution calling on “those states that have estab-lished diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdrawsuch missions”.

The Netherlands, Haiti and several Latin Americancountries complied. Costa Rica and El Salvador returnedto Jerusalem in 1984, but left again in 2006. In the wake ofTrump’s announcement on December 6, some at least areheading back-and Israel is hoping for more. GuatemalanPresident Jimmy Morales has said his country’s embassywill move to Jerusalem on May 16, and Paraguay’s foreignministry said on Wednesday it would follow suit. TheIsraeli foreign ministry said in a statement that ParaguayanPresident Horacio Cartes would attend the opening cere-mony, which would take place “by the end of the month”.

East Europe weighs move Romania’s government, supported by the speaker of its

parliament, has adopted a draft proposal to move itsembassy, which would make it the first European Unionmember to do so. But Romanian President Klaus Iohannis,who has frequently clashed with the government, opposesthe move in the absence of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement,

and has called for Prime Minister Viorica Dancila’s resigna-tion. On a visit to Jerusalem last month, Dancila acknowl-edged that at this stage she did not have “support of all par-ties as we would wish” to carry out the embassy move.

Czech President Milos Zeman has said he too would liketo see his country’s embassy transferred to Jerusalem. Hedid not reveal any firm plan, however, and the governmenthas only announced the reopening of its honorary con-sulate in Jerusalem and the establishment of a Czech cultur-al centre in the city.On the other side of coin, JapanesePrime Minister Shinzo Abe told Palestinian presidentMahmud Abbas his country would not move its Tel Avivembassy to Jerusalem, official Palestinian media reported.

The EU is sticking firmly to the international community’sdecades-long position that sovereignty in Jerusalem canonly be decided by negotiations between Israel and thePalestinians. Shortly after the Trump announcement, IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Brusselsfor talks with EU foreign ministers. “I believe that all ormost of the European countries will move their embassiesto Jerusalem,” he told them, earning a chilly response fromthe bloc’s foreign policy head Federica Mogherini. “He cankeep his expectations for others, because from theEuropean Union member states’ side this move will notcome,” she said.— AFP

New US embassy in Jerusalem - humble but high-profile JERUSALEM: Washington’s contentious new embassy inJerusalem is high-profile, but it’s no gleaming new buildingchanging the ancient city’s skyline. Instead, AmbassadorDavid Friedman will set up shop in existing consularoffices in the leafy middle-class Arnona neighborhood onthe city’s southern edge for the near to mid-term.Eventually, a purpose-designed embassy will be plannedand built, according to the US State Department. “Initially,the interim embassy in Arnona will contain office space forthe ambassador and a small staff,” a US official said,declining to give further details.

“The ambassador will continue to divide his timebetween Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the initial phases ofthe embassy move, as this is a multi-year process.”So fararound $400,000 has been spent on upgrades to thebuilding, a US embassy spokeswoman said. US PresidentDonald Trump will not attend the inaugural event, butWashington will be represented by Deputy Secretary of

State John Sullivan, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin,Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, senior WhiteHouse aide Jared Kushner.

The foreign diplomatic corps has not been invited asthe event is considered a bilateral one, the embassyspokeswoman said. Trump’s unilateral decision delightedIsraelis and enraged Palestinians, who want to make theeastern, mainly Palestinian, part of the city the capital oftheir future state and say that Trump’s decision ignorestheir demands. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat says the citywill name a small roundabout adjacent to the embassy as“Trump Square”. “Naming this square in honor of thepresident is our way of showing our love and respect forthe president and the American people,” he said in a state-ment. The question of Jerusalem is one of the thorniestissues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat has called fordiplomats, “civil society organizations, and religiousauthorities to boycott the inauguration.” “Those whoattend the ceremony will be sending an ominous message,a message that they encourage flagrant violations of inter-national law and (of) the inalienable rights of thePalestinian people,” he said. The building, which opened tothe public in 2010, houses consular operations includingAmerican citizen and visa services. Those functions “willcontinue at the Arnona facility without interruption, as partof the embassy,” the US official said. —AFP

North Korea will never fully give up nukes: Top defectorSEOUL: North Korea will never completely give upits nuclear weapons, a top defector said ahead ofleader Kim Jong Un’s landmark summit with USPresident Donald Trump next month. The currentwhirlwind of diplomacy and negotiations will not endwith “a sincere and complete disarmament” but with“a reduced North Korean nuclear threat”, said ThaeYong-ho, who fled his post as the North’s deputyambassador to Britain in August 2016.

“In the end, North Korea will remain ‘a nuclearpower packaged as a non-nuclear state’,” Thae toldthe South’s Newsis news agency. His remarks comeahead of an unprecedented summit between Kim andTrump in Singapore on June 12, at which NorthKorea’s nuclear and missile programs are expected todominate the agenda. North and South Koreaaffirmed their commitment to the goal of denu-clearization of the peninsula at a summit last month,and Pyongyang announced at the weekend it woulddestroy its only known nuclear test site next week.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterdaywelcomed the announcement, calling it an “initial stepin the complete denuclearization of North Korea”. ButNorth Korea has not made public what concessions itis offering, and the South’s JoongAng Ilbo daily point-ed out that it had only invited journalists to witnessthe operation at the Punggye-ri site. “It is regrettablethat North Korea did not invite nuclear experts to thedestruction of the test site,” it said in an editorial. “IfNorth Korea has really decided to denuclearize, it hasno reason not to invite them.”

Pyongyang has said it does not need nuclearweapons if the security of its regime is guaranteed.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has metKim twice, said he was “convinced” the North Koreanleader shared US goals, and promised security assur-ances and bountiful American investment in the isolat-ed nation. “Those are the kind of things that, if we getwhat it is the President has demanded-the complete,verifiable, irreversible denuclearization (CVID) ofNorth Korea-that the American people will offer inspades,” Pompeo said on Fox News Sunday. But veri-fication will be key. And Thae, one of the highest-ranking officials to have defected in recent years, said:“North Korea will argue that the process of nucleardisarmament will lead to the collapse of North Koreaand oppose CVID.” —AFP

GAZA: A Palestinian woman holding her national flag looks at clashes with Israeli forces near the borderbetween the Gaza strip and Israel yesterday, as Palestinians protest over the inauguration of the US embassyfollowing its controversial move to Jerusalem. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Demonstrators take part in a protest outside of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC,against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem yesterday. — AFP

Former Malaysian primeminister Najib Razak


8I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Established 1961

Britons lose EU citizenship, right to jobs

Jumping ship: Brexit-hit EU staff ditch UK’s passports

BRUSSELS: About one in 10 British civil servants at theEuropean Commission has taken another EU nationalitysince the Brexit vote, but are nonetheless resigned toscant prospects of future promotion. Figures fromEuropean Union data provided to Reuters and inter-views reflect a pessimistic view of the future in Brusselsfor nearly 900 remaining British staff on the EU execu-tive once Britain leaves the bloc in March next year fol-lowing its June 2016 referendum. They also highlight therole of nationality in EU career advancement despite aformal taboo on discrimination according to passport-as some Britons have already found to their cost.

“As Brits, our careers here are already finished,” saidone mid-ranking official with over 20 years service atthe Commission who, like many of those switching, hasnow acquired an Irish passport through descent. “Butno one will see me as Irish. This is basically just aninsurance policy for now.” President Jean-ClaudeJuncker gave British staff a formal undertaking in lateMarch that the Commissionwould not exercise its right todismiss them after March 29,2019, when they lose the EUcitizenship that is a normalrequirement for employment.

But despite such sympathyat the top for their plight,Britons have already beenvoting with their feet. Publicdata shows that on Jan. 1 thisyear there were 894Commission employees whoseofficially recorded first nationality was British. That wasdown 135, or 13 percent, from a year earlier and 240, or21 percent, fewer than at the start of 2016. Internal datacited by an EU official showed that since May 2016“slightly above 150” Britons retired, resigned or left atthe end of the kind of temporary contract given to aquarter of the Commission’s 32,000 staff; some 65British citizens were hired, but all but four of these wereon short-term contracts.

New passportsStrikingly, compared to that net decline of 85,

“slightly above 100” more Britons also switched their“first nationality” to another of the 27 EU states,notably to Ireland, where many millions of British peo-

ple have roots, as well as to France. In a tweet sent onthe day after the Brexit vote devastated his colleagues,one British EU official with dual nationality posted aphoto of a bottle of Irish whiskey. He wrote: “Time toconnect with my Irishness to numb my woundedBritishness.”

Britain allows dual nationality, so those switching inthe EU are not obliged to renounce their private UKcitizenship. Conversations with EU officials-none wouldspeak on the record about personal choices-showssome Britons already had dual citizenship and havemerely switched to the “first nationality” recorded inCommission records. Some raced to acquire new pass-ports after the referendum. Others also have anothercitizenship but have yet to formally switch to it, whilemany are thinking of or are applying to other countries.

Among these, notably, is Belgium. It has resistedgranting citizenship to some EU officials, despite manyhaving spent decades living in Brussels, on the grounds

they have not been in the localtax system. Juncker appealedpersonally to the Belgian primeminister this month to showthem compassion. The issue ofnationality in EU careers is adelicate one. Formally, officials“leave their passports at thedoor”, though officials alsoexpect teams to reflect thebloc’s diversity. A Commissionspokeswoman told Reuters:“We can’t see how changing

first nationality ... could result in any sort of advantage.Promotions of EU officials are based on merit only.”

Stiff upper lipEven before Brexit, that view is contested by some

who say privately that British colleagues have beenpassed over for expected promotions or removed fromwork that superiors feared could cause a conflict of loy-alties between Brussels and London. Some British EUstaff say that has offended them, arguing that, if any-thing, they feel the Brexit vote has strengthened theircommitment to a project people back home have aban-doned. “It’s been painful,” said one veteran staffer.“Since the referendum, I feel much less British-but theworld sees me as much less European,”

Even those switching passports see little hope-cer-tainly not in senior positions, where national govern-ments are unlikely to lobby for what one Irish officialdescribed as “re-badged Brits”. Like other capitals,Dublin wants jobs for its own. The number ofCommission officials recording Irish first nationalityrose by 37 to 520 in the two years to January. An IrishEU embassy spokesman said the issue of British EUofficials taking Irish nationality was “complex” and thatthe government was “continuing to monitor matters”.Even without Brexit, Euro-Brits have been a vanishingbreed, reflecting what many of them see as long grow-ing indifference to the EU among British voters andsuccessive London governments.

While they once made up closer to the 13 percent ofthe current EU population that Britain accounts for, they

are today just 3 percent of Commission, albeit better rep-resented in the senior ranks, reflecting longer EU mem-bership than most states and more effort to see “nationalbalance” across the top jobs. Some British staffers speakof serving out time till their pension; others are stickingto EU ambitions, knowing that the Commission does hiresome non-EU nationals with special skills.

Rather than linger in roles of diminishing responsibil-ity, some are looking to follow colleagues into the pri-vate sector. A few are tempted to move to a Londoncivil service that may grow thanks to Brexit; others seelittle welcome from a British establishment they feel hasdone little for them. Amid anger, grief and uncertainty,there is deal of British stiff upper lip: “It’s not the end ofthe world,” said one. “No one’s going to be helicopteredoff the embassy roof, Saigon-style.” —Reuters

LONDON: Britain’s Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, ClairePerry, strokes Larry the 10 Downing Street cat in Downing Street in central London. —AFP

News in brief

Explosive device in mosque

JOHANNESBURG: A device discovered in a mosque near theSouth African port city of Durban where worshippers wereattacked by armed men last week has been confirmed as explo-sive, police said yesterday. The device was discovered threedays after the attack at the mosque by three men armed withguns and knives. One person was killed after his throat was slit,and two others were injured. “We had a meeting with the explo-sive unit members who briefed us on the device they had takenaway yesterday. They confirmed that its mechanism is explo-sive,” Simphiwe Mhlongo, a spokesman for the Directorate forPriority Crime Investigation told eNCA television. —Reuters

NZ PM maternity leave

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s (NZ) pregnant Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern yesterday revealed her government’s plans for run-ning the country after she gives birth and takes six weeks materni-ty leave. Ardern, 37, said she will continue working as close as pos-sible to her due date of June 17 and then hand over power to herdeputy Winston Peters. As acting prime minister Peters will lookafter the day-to-day running of government, although Ardern saidshe will be consulted on significant issues. “I’ll still be receivingcabinet papers so I imagine it will be dialogue both ways,” she toldreporters. “I may from time to time call the acting prime ministerand he may at times chose to call me.” —AFP

Bodies of beheaded Christians

MISRATA: Libya will return to Egypt the bodies of 20 EgyptianChristians killed in 2015 by Islamic State in its former Libyan strong-hold of Sirte, a Libyan security official said. The bodies were recov-ered in October after the area where they were buried was recap-tured from the jihadist group. The Coptic Christians were beheadedon a beach in February 2015 wearing orange jumpsuits, according toa video posted by Islamic State. Their bodies will be flown from thewestern city of Misrata to Egypt, a Libyan official said, adding thatthere was an additional victim from Ghana. — Reuters

Indian minister ‘stable’

NEW DELHI: Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was stableyesterday after undergoing a kidney transplant, his hospital saidin a statement. Jaitley, who had largely worked from home overthe past month, was admitted to the All India Institutes ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS) in the Indian capital on Saturday.“The surgery has been successful. Both the recipient and donorare stable and recovering well,” the hospital said. Jaitley could beout of action for about a month following surgery, a finance min-istry official said. Jaitley, 65, is a prominent member of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s government. —Reuters

Hawaii volcanic eruption

PAHOA: A massive new fissure opened on Hawaii’s Kilauea vol-cano, hurling bursts of rock and magma with an ear-piercingscreech on Sunday as it threatened nearby homes and promptedauthorities to order new evacuations. The fissure, a vivid gougeof magma with smoke pouring out both ends, was the 17th toopen on the volcano since it began erupting on May 3. Some 37buildings have been destroyed and nearly 2,000 people orderedto evacuate in the past 10 days. Seen from a helicopter, the crackappeared to be about 1,000 feet long and among the largest ofthose fracturing the side of Kilauea, a 4,000-foot-high volcanowith a lake of lava at its summit. —Reuters

‘The clock is ticking’, EU tells Brexit UKBRUSSELS: The European Union yesterday warned Britaintime was running out to seal a Brexit deal this autumn andensure London does not crash out of the bloc next Marchadding to pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May. But May’sspokesman said the “focus is on getting this right” rather thanmeeting a deadline. Diplomats and officials in Brussels note littleprogress in Brexit negotiations since the EU leaders last met,raising doubt about whether the bloc and London would beable to mark another milestone at the next top-level summit onJune 28-29. “We are concerned that there is no clear stance, noclear position from the British. The clock is ticking,” German EUMinister Michael Roth told his EU peers meeting in Brussels.

“We need now to be making substantial progress, but thatis not happening. What is worrying us in particular is theNorthern Ireland question where we expect a substantialaccommodation from the British side.” At home, May is stuckbetween a rock and a hard place with staunch Brexit sup-porters pushing to sever ties with the EU and others advo-cating keeping close customs cooperation with the bloc toreduce frictions in future trade. May’s spokesman saidLondon was working on two options for post-Brexit customscooperation.

Under a customs partnership, Britain could collect tariffson goods entering the country on the EU’s behalf. Under asecond idea, for a streamlined customs arrangement, traderson an approved list would be able to cross borders freelywith the aid of automated technology. But the EU has saidLondon must come up with a solution for the Irish borderconundrum and highlights that has not happened. Both sidesworry that reinstating a physical border between EU-mem-ber Ireland and Britain’s province of Northern Ireland -including to manage customs - could revive violence there.

Other outstanding issues include guarantees for expatri-ate rights, agreeing on security cooperation and trade rulesafter Brexit, to ensure a deal is in place when Britain leaves inMarch 2019, and an adaptation period ends at the end of

2020. “From the European side, we can say that we havemade clear our position and we hope that the British govern-ment will enter negotiations also in a full way,” said Austria’sGernot Blumel, echoing a long-standing EU complaint thatBritain has not made its position clear in detail on parts ofthe negotiations.

With May’s cabinet, her ruling Conservative party and theBritish split on the matter, that has proven difficult to achieveand the prime minister has come under increasing pressure

at home in recent weeks to make a decision on customs. TheBrexit schedule is tightening, sources said, which helps theEU negotiating strategy to pile pressure on London beforethe June summit but mostly is due to lack of substantialheadway in the talks. Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said itwas too early to discuss an extension of the timeline, butadded: “The aim is now to conclude a deal in the time sched-ule that has been agreed on ... I very much hope we willagree but there are no guarantees, unfortunately.” —Reuters

Brussels : Polish European Affairs Minister Konrad Szymanski (left) and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok(center) listen to Chief EU negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier prior to a General Affairs council on article 50 at theEuropean Council in Brussels yesterday. —AFP

New Armenian PM seeks closer ties with Russia SOCHI: Armenia’s new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whocame to power last week after a peaceful revolution, toldPresident Vladimir Putin yesterday he favored closer political andmilitary ties with Russia. The meeting, in the Black Sea resort ofSochi, was the first time the two men had met and followedPashinyan’s election last week after weeks of street protests.

Some Western media had questioned whether Pashinyan, aformer journalist who won power by channeling public discon-tent over perceived political cronyism, would keep his country, alandlocked ex-Soviet state, closely aligned with Russia, whichhas a military base in Armenia and a long history of selling itweapons. Pashinyan, who had previously reassured Russiandiplomats he did not plan to break with Moscow, was unequivo-cal yesterday, telling Putin he wanted the two countries toremain firm allies, for Armenia to buy more Russian weaponsand for them to forge closer political and trade ties. “We havethings to discuss, but there are also things that do not need anydiscussion,” said Pashinyan.

“That is the strategic relationship of allies between Armeniaand Russia. ... I can assure you that in Armenia there is a con-sensus and nobody has ever doubted the importance of the

strategic nature of Armenian-Russian relations.” Pashinyan saidhe wanted to inject new energy into developing already closeties between Moscow and Yerevan and thanked Putin for theway the Russian leader had handled the Armenian streetprotests. Russia did not intervene militarily, but was in closecontact with Armenian politicians during the protests. “...Wereally appreciate the balanced position which Russia adoptedduring our domestic crisis,” said Pashinyan. “I think it was a veryconstructive position.” —Reuters

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan: Armenian Prime Minister NikolPashinyan kisses a girl as he meets with locals inStepanakert, the capital of Azerbaijan’s breakaway NagornyKarabakh region. — AFP

Ireland, other states, wary of

‘re-badged Brits’

Royal Wedding: Will raucous US in-laws out-sparkle Markle?LOS ANGELES: As Meghan Markle’s gown undergoes finaladjustments for her wedding to Prince Harry, her gaffe-proneAmerican family has been sending royal courtiers into a spin byairing its dirty laundry in public. The bride-to-be remains closewith divorced parents Tom Markle and Doria Ragland but otherrelatives have been barred from the May 19 nuptials amid unwel-come stories of bust-ups, heavy drinking-and even an arrest.Markle, who grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of WoodlandHills, will be walked up the aisle by Tom, 73, an Emmy-winningHollywood lighting director of Dutch-Irish descent who is enjoy-ing retired life in Mexico.

Around the turn of the century, the future Duchess of Sussexwas filmed as an aspiring teen actress by childhood friend NinakiPriddy discussing her relationship with her father as they droveacross LA.”We aren’t going to go there,” she says on the video-posted to YouTube last year-as they near Tom’s Los Angeleshome, before adding: “We aren’t on the best of terms.” There hasbeen a detente in the intervening years, however, with Marklepublicly expressing her love for her father in an Instagram mes-sage in 2016 and declaring, “Your hugs are still the very best inthe whole wide world.” —AFP

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Tuesday, May 15, 2018

9Established 1961

Indian college cuts off women’s sleeves to prevent cheatingNEW DELHI: An Indian college has been bannedfrom conducting examinations after it cut off thesleeves of women candidates for nursing tests to pre-vent cheating, officials said yesterday. Video shownon Indian TV showed staff at the school using scis-sors and razor blades to slash the women’s sleevesbefore allowing them into the exam building onSunday. Many of the women can be seen carrying theripped-off sleeves into the exam hall as dozens ofpolice stand guard outside in the Muzaffarpur dis-trict of Bihar state.

The act sparked protests outside other exam centersand a torrent of complaints on social media. Districteducation officer Lalan Prasad Singh said the sleeveswere cut to protect the candidates but added that aprobe has been launched to find who was responsible.“The school has been barred from holding exams,” hetold reporters when confronted over the outcry. Theeastern state is notorious for exam trickery and reportsof mass cheating regularly make headlines. Nearly1,000 students were expelled by the Bihar state gov-ernment in February for cheating in school exams. InFebruary 2016 army candidates sat in their underwearto take a written exam during a recruitment day inMuzaffarpur.

Authorities have already barred students fromwearing shoes in exams, to make it more difficult tosmuggle in paper. In the past hundreds of parentshave been arrested for helping their offspring. Someused ladders to pass notes with answers to questionsinto exam halls. In 2016 three top high school studentswere arrested after they failed on television to answersimple questions in a subject which they had alreadypassed. An investigation found they had paid bribes tocheat in the exams. Other states also have a problem.One woman candidate for a medical college exam inKerala claimed last year she was forced to take off herbra before entering an exam hall. —AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top civil and military leadersyesterday condemned a suggestion by ousted PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif that Islamist militants whokilled 166 people in India in 2008 had crossed theborder from Pakistan. The comments - in which Sharifimplied he was removed from office by the SupremeCourt last year for trying to end military support foranti-India militants - led to an uproar in Pakistan,where criticizing the military is increasingly consid-ered a “red line” that cannot be crossed.

The National Security Council (NSC), in a specialmeeting yesterday called by the military, rejectedSharif ’s comments in an interview with Pakistan’sDawn newspaper as “incorrect and misleading”, theprime minister’s officesaid in a statement. “Theparticipants unanimouslyrejected the allegationsand condemned the falla-cious assertions,” theoffice said, referring tomilitary and civilian lead-ers. “(NSC) observedthat it was very unfortu-nate that the opinionarising out of either mis-conceptions or griev-ances was being presented in disregard of concretefacts and realities.”

The statement was a rare rebuke of Sharif by agovernment run by his own party, highlighting politi-cal tension in the run-up to a general election expect-ed in July. Sharif’s criticism of the military has causeddivisions within his party, analysts say, with somemembers unhappy about his confrontationalapproach. The Supreme Court disqualified three-timeprime minister Sharif from office in July last year over

unreported sources of monthly income of less than$3,000 from a United Arab Emirates company, asalary he denied ever receiving.

The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about halfits history, denies any interference in civilian politics.India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the 2008 attack on the city ofMumbai. Ten gunmen spent three days spraying bulletsand throwing grenades around landmarks. India said thegunmen were Pakistani and had arrived on the Mumbaiwaterfront by rubber boat after crossing the Arabian seafrom the Pakistani city of Karachi in a trawler.

India blamed Pakistan for failing to act againstthose behind the raids. Pakistan admitted the attacks

were planned on its soi l butdenied any official involvement,and did not confirm the gunmenhad set sail from Karachi. SomeWestern powers and India haveaccused the military of support-ing Islamist groups for use astools in achieving foreign policyobjectives, but the mil i tarydenies that.

‘Explain it’Sharif, in the Dawn interview,

obliquely criticized the military by denouncing “paral-lel governments”. He said there should only be oneconstitutional government. The United States alsoblames LeT for the Mumbai attacks and has offered$10 million for information leading to the arrest andconviction of Hafiz Saeed, who heads Muslim charityJamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which Washington says is afront for LeT. Efforts by Pakistan to put on trial thoseIndia says are responsible for the Mumbai attack havestalled, while Saeed operates largely freely in Pakistan.

Sharif, asked about his ouster, brought up issues ofsecurity and foreign policy - which the military con-trols. “Militant organizations are active. Call themnon-state actors, should we allow them to cross theborder and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it tome. Why can’t we complete the trial?,” Sharif said,according to Dawn. “We have isolated ourselves.

Despite giving sacrifices, our narrative is not beingaccepted,” Sharif said. Sharif yesterday morning toldreporters that he stood by his comments, accordingto Daily Pakistan and Geo TV. But after the NSCmeeting, Prime Minister Abbasi said he had metSharif and the former leader told him he was “mis-quoted”. —Reuters

Pakistan’s top civil and military leaders blast Sharif

Pakistan ex-PM ignites firestorm with Mumbai attacks interview

ISLAMABAD: Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gestures prior to a press conference inIslamabad. Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court over graft allegations last year. —AFP

Peace talks igniteland buying frenzyalong South Korea’sfortified borderSEOUL: Forget Seoul’s posh Gangnam district. With North Koreapledging to reduce tensions and renew ties with its southernneighbor, South Korea’s hottest property market is now along theheavily fortified border between the two countries. Demand forproperty in small towns and sparsely populated rural areasaround the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is surging on expectationsof an influx of people and investment. Kang Sung-wook, a 37-year old dentist in the South Korean border city of Paju, hasbought eight separate lots of land in and around the DMZ sincemid-March.

Five were purchased without ever setting foot on them, usingonly Google Earth satellite photos and maps, as areas inside theDMZ cannot not be accessed by the public. Kang said buyinginterest jumped so sharply as relations between the former foesimproved that he needed to move fast. “I was out looking sinceNorth Korea-US summit news was announced in March, and itlooked like all the good ones were gone already,” said Kang. “Irealized then that the market was on fire.” His investment alongthe border now totals 3 billion won ($2.8 million) for 49 acres (20hectares) of land.

Razor wire and restrictionsFor decades, the DMZ has been a different kind of hot spot,

the scene of sometimes deadly military provocations and daringdefections from the North. The zone, dotted with guard posts andstrung with razor wire, was established after the 1950-1953Korean War. The two Koreas still don’t officially recognize eachother and remain in a technical state of war because the conflictended in a truce, not a peace agreement. Over a million landmineswere laid in border areas including the DMZ and the CivilianControl Zone in the South, said Jeong In-cheol, a landmine expertat National Park Conservation Network. But while public accessis restricted, land within the 2km (1.2 mile) wide South Koreanside of the DMZ and other border areas can still be purchasedand registered.

Land transactions in Paju, gateway to the United Nationstruce village of Panmunjom, more than doubled in March to 4,628from February, government data shows. That far outstripped bet-ter known markets such as trendy Gangnam, where volumes were

up just 9 percent. In the settlement of Jangdan-myun, home toDorasan Station - the last railway stop south of the border -transaction volumes surged four-fold from a year earlier. Landprices there rose 17 percent over the same period. Kim Yoon-sik,a realtor with 25 years experience in Paju, says owners of the landin the DMZ include those who inherited farmland from ancestorsin pre-Korean war days and some long term investors. “With bidsoutnumbering offers, I often see sellers cancelling on preliminarycontracts, it’s that hot,” Kim said.

Railways and construction The surge of activity along the border is not limited to South

Korea or just real estate. In the northeastern Chinese border cityof Dandong, property investors are pushing up prices and evenspurring buying interest inside North Korea. At last month’s his-toric inter-Korean summit at Panmunjom, North Korean leaderKim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledgedto reconnect railways and roads along the border, and transformthe DMZ into a “peace zone”. China and South Korea have alsoagreed that if North Korea undertakes complete denucleariza-tion, it should be guaranteed economic aid. That could start withrailway projects connecting China and South Korea throughNorth Korea. Shares of South Korea’s construction and railway

firms such as Hyundai Rotem and Seoam Machinery Industry Cohave soared on hopes of such projects.

False dawn?But South Korea has seen this kind of excitement before.

Border property prices spiked when former President Roh Moo-hyun met with North Korea’s Kim Jong Il in 2007. Prices thenplummeted as ties deteriorated when the right-wing governmentof Lee Myung-bak took power a year later. “For the past sevendecades, the two Koreas have taken radically different paths,”said Jhe Seong-ho, a law school professor at Seoul’s Chung AngUniversity. “Deregulating of the border zones won’t be a quickand smooth process even if there is an economic opening up ofNorth Korea.”

Much of the land within the DMZ is likely to remain restrictedfrom any development for conservation purposes, a huge risk forinvestors, he added. Hopes are high, however, with Kim set tomeet US President Donald Trump in Singapore next month afterhis recent summit with Moon and two trips to China to meetPresident Xi Jinping. “I have a firm belief that this time NorthKorea would pursue an open economy like Vietnam,” Kang said.“Kim Jong Un wouldn’t go everywhere and visit China twice if hewas bluffing.” —Reuters

Hong Kong student leader draws fury in China over anthemHONG KONG: A Hong Kong student leader hasbeen declared an “enemy of the people” byChinese state media for speaking out over a newlaw against disrespecting the national anthem, inwhat critics say is another attack on freedom ofspeech in the city. The vilification of the 21-year-old comes as concern grows there is no longerroom for open political debate in Hong Kongunder pressure from Beijing.

Alice Cheung, head of the Hong KongFederation of Students, was surrounded bysecurity officers during a meeting at the city’slegislative council last week seeking citizens’views on the controversial new law, which oppo-nents say could pave the way for political prose-cutions. Cheung told the committee meeting shewanted “to vomit” every time she heard thenational anthem. Hong Kong does not have itsown anthem so China’s is played to represent itat events. “It is proof that this murderous regimestill exists and holds power,” she added. Sincethen she has felt the full force of Chinese state

and social media, which have labeled her anindependence activist.

“My family are worried about me,” she said. “Ifeel under pressure”. The city is obliged to intro-duce its own version of the mainland’s anthem lawwhich was fine-tuned last year and upped punish-ment to three years’ imprisonment. Football fanshave regularly booed and turned their backswhen it is played at Hong Kong team matches.After Cheung’s original comments she was latertold by the pro-Beijing committee chairman thatshe could not speak again, but did so anywaysaying others had been given more time to puttheir views forward. She was surrounded bysecurity and voluntarily left the room with thechairman accusing her of causing “chaos”.

‘Enemy of Chinese people’ Her comments were widely shared on the

mainland. A commentator on the website of statebroadcaster CCTV said such acts must be metwith a “resolute crackdown”. “The separatismadvocated by the ‘Hong Kong independencecamp’ is unpopular and they will certainlybecome the enemy of the Chinese people andthe laughing stock of history,” the article read.

Cheung told AFP she had received dozens ofhostile messages on Facebook in the last fewdays. “A few randomly asked me: ‘Do you know

everyone in China hates you?’ Or, ‘Do you knowpeople in the mainland all want to attack you?’she recounted. “(A public hearing) shouldn’t bea high-pressure venue where after you’ve spo-ken you will be framed as the enemy of the peo-ple,” she added. —AFP

HONG KONG: This undated handout photo showsAlice Cheung, head of the Hong Kong Federation ofStudents, posing in Hong Kong. —AFP

A rare rebuke of Sharif by a govt run by his party

DALIAN: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves to Chinese officials from the airplane before departingthe Chinese city of Dalian. —AFP

India police charge billionaire jeweler over bank fraudMUMBAI: Indian investigators filed thefirst charges yesterday in a huge fraudcase involving billionaire jeweler NiravModi and the state-run Punjab NationalBank, officials and reports said. Aspokesman for the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) confirmed to AFPthat a charge sheet had been filed in aMumbai court over the alleged $1.8 bil-lion scam, which has shaken India’s cor-porate world. Charges were laid againstModi and several senior bank officialsover the alleged fraud, according toofficials cited by the Press Trust ofIndia (PTI).

The news agency said those chargedincluded Punjab National Bank’s formerchief Usha Ananthasubramanian, who isnow CEO of Allahabad Bank. The CBI isinvestigating allegations that Modi andhis uncle and business partner MehulChoksi, a diamond merchant, defrauded

Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest state-run bank, of 2.8 billionrupees ($43.8 million). This figure is saidto be just a part of the total losses. ThePunjab National Bank (PNB) said inFebruary that Modi and Choksi haddefrauded it by raising credit with inter-national branches of other Indian banks,using illegal guarantees provided byrogue PNB employees.

The federal investigation agency hasarrested 19 people for enabling thedefrauding of the bank with forgeddocuments. Modi and Choksi are still onthe run and believed to be abroad.Modi, the third generation of his familyto go into the diamond trade, is worth$1.73 billion according to Forbes, plac-ing him 85th on India’s rich list. The 47-year-old’s high-end eponymous NiravModi brand has stores in several of theworld’s major cities. India’s governmentis trying to reduce the crippling debtsof the country’s embattled state banks,including the Punjab National Bank. Itrecently announced a $32-bil l ionrecapitalization plan to help them cleanup their books ahead of the generalelection in 2019. —AFP

Iraqi political firebrands, nationalist cleric Moqtada Sadr andpro-Iranian Hadi Al-Ameri, are two former militia chieftainspitching themselves as outsiders ready to fight graft and

boost services. Both look set to play key roles in determining thenext leader of their war-scarred nation after their rival politicalalliances appeared to surge at national polls. Sadr, 44, comesfrom a long line of Shiite holy men, and is well known toWashington after his fighters battled US troops in Iraq followingthe 2003 invasion.

Sidelined for years since his Mahdi Army militiawas officially dismantled, he has reinvented him-self as an anti-corruption crusader - linkingup in an unlikely union with Iraq’s commu-nists. Ameri, 63, heads the rival ConquestAlliance made up of former members ofthe mainly Shiite paramilitary units he ledin the fight against the Islamic Stategroup. How the two men shape up askingmakers is yet to be seen - with bitterfoes the US and Iran sparring for influ-ence as international tensions spiral.Sadr, viewed as a populist and national-ist, has hit out at both Washington andTehran - with his jubilant supporterschanting “Iran out” in videos circulatedonline. In an eye-catching move theblack-robed cleric visited Iran’s fiercerival, Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, lastyear in a bid to bolster ties with Riyadh as itlooks to get more involved in Iraq.

‘Didn’t happen by chance’ Running counter is former transport

minister Ameri, who at one stage fought forIran against Iraq’s ex-dictator Saddam

Hussein in a war in the 1980s. A self-described friend of keyIranian commanders, he has long enjoyed support from Tehranfor his Badr organization. The Badr became the best trainedfighting force in the Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular MobilisationUnits) that emerged to fight IS alongside Iraq’s regular troops.

While he has lambasted Washington in the past, it remainsto be seen how strongly Ameri could push for US forces whohelped topple IS to now get out of Iraq. US firepower ended

up aiding his fighters and the battlefield ententemight have softened his stance. The victory

over the militants - announced five monthsago - came at a bloody price for the

Hashed. But it gave Ameri the prestigeand platform to make a pitch to takethe helm in the country.

Since their weapons fell silentafter the defeat of IS, the group’sresources have been turned tomore constructive ends - mendinginfrastructure and offering basicservices. After 15 violence-wrackedyears of chaos since the fall ofSaddam both Sadr and Ameri havebenefited from widespread discon-tent at an Iraqi elite seen as mired ingraft and sectarianism. While both areveterans well-known to Iraqis, theirpromise of change appeared to res-onate with the 44.5 percent of voters

who bothered to head to the polls. “Thisdidn’t happen by chance, this came for thesake of proving the rejection of the policyof corruption and the corrupt,” said JabraAl-Tai, a candidate for Sadr’s Marchingtowards Reform. —AFP


10A n a l y s i s

Established 1961

Will Mexico’s economy tank if leftist wins vote?

The fiery leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorlooks increasingly hard to beat in Mexico’supcoming presidential election - drawing dire

warnings from some in the business community thathe would wreck Latin America’s second-largesteconomy. The trillion-dollar question facing Mexicansas they prepare to cast their ballots on July 1 is:Would he? The sharp-tongued, silver-haired formerMexico City mayor, who has a double-digit lead inmost recent opinion polls, is locked in an escalatingclash with the business world.

After Lopez Obrador said top tycoons do notwant him to win because they “don’t want to stopstealing” and “think they own Mexico”, two promi-nent business groups took out full-page newspaperads painting the candidate as a divisive autocrat andthreat to the economy. Other detractors warn LopezObrador would turn Mexico into the next Venezuela,whose socialist “revolution” has unravelled into eco-nomic catastrophe.

Lopez Obrador - widely known by his initials,AMLO - is trying hard to downplay such fears. Buthe is also accused of sending mixed messages,depending on who his audience is. The same LopezObrador who fires up crowds with talk of fighting the“mafia of power” and overhauling the country’s eco-nomic model reassuringly tells business leaders hewill respect private investment and run a fiscallyresponsible government.

The two-time presidential runner-up says his eco-nomic policy would be based on Mexico’s economicmodel of the 1950s to 1970s, known as “stabilizingdevelopment”. That strategy coincided with a periodof rapid economic growth often called the “Mexicanmiracle”. But critics say its principles of state-leddevelopment are antiquated and discredited. Not thatthings are going so well for Mexico in its currentfree-market economy.

So far this century, Mexico’s gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) has grown an underwhelming two percentper year, on average. There are some bright spots:since Mexico entered the North American Free TradeAgreement (NAFTA) with the United States andCanada in 1994, the country has become a majorexporter with a thriving manufacturing sector. But theboom has been isolated, and 53.4 million Mexicans -44 percent of the population - live in poverty.

Frustrated at being left behind, and fed up withcrime and corruption scandals under PresidentEnrique Pena Nieto, many Mexicans are looking forchange. In a country governed for the past 89 yearsby the parties of his two main rivals - Ricardo Anayaof the conservative National Action Party (PAN) andJose Antonio Meade of the ruling InstitutionalRevolutionary Party (PRI) - many see Lopez Obradoras the best bet to do things differently.

AMLOnomics Lopez Obrador says he has a simple solution to

kick-start the economy: wipe out the corruptionplaguing Mexico, which he estimates sucks up 500billion pesos (more than $25 billion) a year, and usethat money to fund public investment and social pro-grams. Many economists say it is not so simple. “Evenif you add up everything that’s lost to corruption andembezzlement, you don’t get to 500 billion pesos,”said Marco Oviedo, an economist at British bankBarclays, who puts the real figure closer to 90 billionpesos. “The numbers don’t add up,” he said.

The candidate’s controversial proposals to reviewthe contracts from Pena Nieto’s landmark privatiza-tion of the energy sector and halt public funding for anew $13-billion airport for Mexico City have alsoraised investors’ eyebrows. Raymundo Tenorio, headof the economics department at the MonterreyInstitute of Technology and Higher Education,warned that Lopez Obrador’s policies would lead to“financial disorder” that would hurt Mexico’s credit.“If this guy becomes president, I’m just hoping hewon’t follow through on his promises,” he said.

The respected economist Lopez Obrador hastapped to be his finance minister, Carlos Urzua, dis-misses such doomsayers. He has been repeating asoothing mantra in meetings with investors in NewYork, London and Mexico City: a Lopez Obradorpresidency will be one of macroeconomic stability,central bank autonomy, low inflation, a free-floatingexchange rate and sensible spending. “We maychange some things, but as far as basic economicpolicy we are even more cautious than the other par-ties,” he said at a recent forum.

The business world’s warnings appear to be doinglittle to stop Lopez Obrador in the polls. In fact, forsome voters, they may have the opposite effect.“Proposing a change in direction - that is, to not dothe same things we’ve been doing for the past 30years - is (Lopez Obrador’s) biggest success,” saidCesar Salazar, an economist at the NationalAutonomous University of Mexico. —AFP

Sadr, Ameri set to play key roles

THE LEADING INDEPENDENTDAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN

Editor-in-ChiefABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN

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

P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.E MAIL :[email protected]: www.kuwaittimes.net

Established 1961 The First Daily in The Arabian Gulf

Calif coastline stripped of plants prized in Asia

The tip came from a woman standing in line at a postoffice in a small town in northern California. A customerwas shipping dozens of boxes to China, and the caller

suspected they were filled with abalone, a highly-prized shell-fish listed as an endangered species. But fish and wildlife offi-cers who responded to the call instead uncovered an interna-tional smuggling ring that has been stripping the bluffs alongthe northern California coastline of Dudleya succulent plantsand shipping them to countries in Asia where they are usedfor decoration.

“The poachers literally fly into the US just to get theseplants so they can ship them to Korea, China or Japan,” saidCaptain Patrick Foy, of the California Department of Fish andWildlife. “They are ripping them out of the ground and sellingthem between $40 and $50 dollars apiece.” The plant, whichgrows in bud-like circles and resembles an artichoke, is calledDudleya farinosa and is native to the rugged coastlines ofOregon and northern California.

Foy said several suspects from Asia have been arrestedin recent months in connection with the heists, includingtwo Koreans and one Chinese national who were nabbed onApril 4. The trio had entered the country as tourists andwas detained as they were about to ship 1,334 of the plantsoverseas. An additional 1,000 Dudleya were later found intheir hotel room.

‘They favor remote locations’ The three men - Tae Hun Kim, 52, and Tae Hyun Kim, 46,

both of North Korea, and Liu Fengxia, 37, of China - are sched-uled to appear in a California court on May 16, charged withseveral felony and misdemeanor counts. If convicted, they faceup to nine years in prison and steep fines. At least two othersimilar cases are pending. Foy said he believes poachers in thelast year have quietly been slipping into the country, targetingremote areas along the coast and digging up “thousands andthousands” of Dudleya before stuffing them into boxes withcrumpled up newspaper and putting them in the mail.

“They go in at night or during the day... and seem to favorlocations that are not well traveled - places where you canpark your car and walk half a mile and not be seen by a lot ofpeople,” he added. “These are people who are taking every

plant that they can find and they are shipping them by thehundreds of boxes at a time.”

Authorities said they fear the plant, also known as “bluff let-tuce”, could end up on the endangered species list if thepoaching continues and are warning of the detrimental effecton the environment. “They are ripping the plants out of theirhabitats and they are trampling other plants while they aredoing it,” said botanist Stephen McCabe, emeritus director ofresearch at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum.“It’s just disgusting that they are going into the wild and strip-ping whole cliffs.”

The Dudleya, which can continue to grow for years oncepotted, is said to be highly prized in China because of itsresemblance to the lotus flower. Foy said that while he under-stands the attraction, he was baffled as to why collectors werenot simply buying similar-looking plants. “Why these ones areso much extra special, frankly I have no idea,” he said. “Thereare perfectly other nice succulent plants out there that can bepurchased for five dollars at a nursery.” —AFP

Swansea loses identity, spirals downward

Buried deep in a morose statement fromSwansea City’s American owners before thedust settled on their Premier League relegation

was one damning admission. “Perhaps the club haslost its unique identity, the special essence that madeSwansea City different - better,” wrote StephenKaplan and Jason Levien who took over two yearsago. “In many ways we need to rediscover that iden-tity both on the pitch and off it if we are to make thecommunity proud of this football club again.”

Two points from their last seven matches, includ-ing five straight defeats, condemned Swansea to rel-egation just when it appeared they had gained astay of execution. A 2-1 defeat by Stoke City sealedthe Welsh side’s fate but the rot set in several yearsago when they lost the blueprint that made them amodel club. Promoted under manager BrendanRodgers in 2011, Swansea finished 11th in their firstseason back in the top flight. The passing gameinstalled by Roberto Martinez remained and thescouting network kept finding gems.

Rogers moved to Liverpool but Swansea hiredMichael Laudrup and the Danish great took theminto Europe after they won the 2012-13 League Cup.When things went sour for Laudrup and he wassacked early in 2014, club stalwart Garry Monk tookover, first as caretaker manager, then on a full-timebasis. Monk steered Swansea away from trouble in2013-14 and the season after took them to eighthplace - their highest finish in the Premier League.Then, the wheels fell off.

Revolving doorMonk was sacked just before Christmas in 2015

with Swansea 15th in the table and while FrancescoGuidolin kept Swansea safe the revolving door wasspinning out of control. The Italian was fired aftera poor start to the following season and replacedby American Bob Bradley who lasted 85 days. PaulClement turned the ship around and delivered aseventh successive top-flight campaign but wasreplaced by Carlos Carvalhal in December lastyear with the club bottom.

Fans groups are so disenchanted they havecalled on long-standing chairman Huw Jenkins toresign - blaming him for his part in the 2016takeover and a botched recruitment policy. Therewere protests during the game on Sunday. “As afootball club we have lost our footballing way andour footballing identity, making poor, usually reac-tionary, decisions time and time again,” a statementfrom the Swansea Supporters trust said last week.“The Swansea Way, for so long a source of consid-erable pride, has not existed for some time.”

Compared to the dire straits the club was in in2003 when they retained their Football Leaguestatus in the last game of the season, Swansea arestill in good shape. They have a modern stadium,and the f inancia l b low of re legat ion wi l l besoothed by Premier League parachute paymentstotalling around £100 million ($136 million) overthree seasons.

The problem is that unless they f ind theinstruction manual on running a club that seems tohave been thrown out with the dirty laundry, theycould find themselves in the sort of downward spi-ral that has swallowed up the likes of Sunderland.“We know this club has not been truly unified offthe pitch for a while even though the supporterswho come to the matches home and away havebeen magnificent,” the owners said. “There havecertainly been mistakes along the way and it isdown to the owners to shoulder much of theresponsibility.” Carvalhal is expected to leave asthe club begin the process of rediscovering theirlost identity. —Reuters

In this photo, two unidentified men stand beside a load ofdudleya succulent plants, allegedly stolen by internationalpoachers from remote cliffside locations along the northernCalifornia coast. —AFP

Tuesday, May 15, 2018N e w s

Established 1961 11

Continued from Page 1

“The United States remains fully committed to facili-tating a lasting peace agreement.” Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump in his addressthat “by recognizing history you have made history”,Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, in a state-ment yesterday, accused the United States of “blatantviolations of international law”. “Choosing a tragic dayin Palestinian history (to open the Jerusalem embassy)shows great insensibility and disrespect for the coreprinciples of the peace process,” Hamdallah wrote.

Along the Gaza border, crowds built throughout theday in the Palestinian enclave less than 100 km awayfrom Jerusalem and sealed off from Israel by a block-ade. Israel’s military said 40,000 Palestinians had takenpart in the protests and clashes. “The rioters are hurlingfirebombs and explosive devices at the security fenceand at (Israeli) troops and are burning tyres, throwingrocks and launching flaming objects with the intentionof igniting fires in Israeli territory and harming (Israeli)troops.” The military also said one of its fighter jets hadstruck five targets at a Hamas training facility in Gaza.Earlier, a military plane and tank targeted two otherHamas posts in response to what it said was fire towardits forces by Hamas.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas accusedIsrael of “massacres”, while Amnesty Internationalcalled the violence an “abhorrent violation” of humanrights. Human Rights Watch denounced a “bloodbath”.EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said “weexpect all to act with utmost restraint to avoid furtherloss of life,” while British Prime Minister Theresa May’sspokesman urged “calm and restraint”. Netanyahu

defended the use of force, saying “every country hasthe obligation to defend its borders.” Israeli militaryspokesman Jonathan Conricus alleged “we have seenthree different squads, fully equipped terrorist squadswith weapons, trying to plant IEDs at the technicalfence in three different locations”.

A senior Hamas leader, Khalil Al-Hayya, said at a bor-der encampment that yesterday’s protest was timed tocoincide with the “deplorable crime of moving the USEmbassy to Jerusalem”. He said: “Our people went outtoday to respond to this new Zionist-American aggres-sion, and to draw by their blood the map of their return.”

The inauguration followed Trump’s Dec 6 recogni-tion of the disputed city as Israel’s capital. The ceremo-ny took place at what until now had been a US con-sulate building in Jerusalem. Abbas said the newembassy was tantamount to “a new American settleroutpost” in Jerusalem and that the United States “is nolonger a mediator in the Middle East”. Police and theIsraeli military deployed massively. Around 1,000police officers were positioned around the embassy,while Israel’s army said it almost doubled the number oftroops surrounding Gaza and in the occupied WestBank. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman saidin a message to Gazans “we will protect our civilianswith all our means and not enable the fence to becrossed”.

Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move neverrecognized by the international community. Beyond thedisputed nature of Jerusalem, the date of the embassymove was also key. May 14 marks the 70th anniversaryof the founding of Israel. Today, Palestinians mark the“Nakba”, or catastrophe, commemorating the more

than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelledfrom their homes in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’screation. Palestinian protests are also planned for today.

The US has lost its role as mediator in the MiddleEast by moving its embassy, Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan said in London yesterday. “With itslatest step, America has chosen to be a part of theproblem, not a solution, and lost its mediator role in theMiddle East peace process,” Erdogan told theChatham House international affairs think-tank.Moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was“very, very unfortunate”, he said, warning it would“increase tensions and ignite an even greater firebetween communities”.

Erdogan urged the international community to “takeswift action to put an end to Israel’s increasing aggres-sion”, denouncing the embassy move as violating inter-national law and United Nations resolutions. “Theestablishment of an independent Palestinian state withJerusalem as its capital is the only way for lasting peaceand stability,” the Turkish leader said.

“The United States, unfortunately, took its placewithout complaint alongside the Israeli government inthis massacre of civilians and became a party to thiscrime against humanity,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirimtold reporters in Ankara. “This is a vile massacre andwe condemn it strongly,” he added. Yildirim said theevents were “incompatible” with the US acting as amediator or protector of world peace.

Thousands of protesters in Istanbul marched downIstiklal Street shouting slogans including “Israel’s capi-tal is the White House”, responding to a call to protestfrom pro-government aid group IHH. Others yelled“Down with America, down with Israel” and some

urged Turkey to close Israeli missions in the country,yelling: “Shut down the Zionist embassy.” “The world’sMuslims are up in arms against Israel’s actions whichare backed by the Americans,” said Istanbul protesterSidika Aydin. Omer Faruk, a pensioner, added: “Wewant the Turkish government to cancel and suspend allthe agreements with Israel. We also expect the govern-ment to be more careful in its future ties with Israel.”

The head of the Arab League said yesterdayPalestinian deaths associated with the US moving itsembassy to Jerusalem should be a warning to othersconsidering a similar move. The Arab League will holdan extraordinary meeting to discuss the “illegal”embassy move, Egypt’s news agency MENA reportedearlier yesterday, citing an Arab diplomat. Arab LeagueChief Ahmed Aboul Gheit called the move a “clear vio-lation of international law”, MENA said. “The fall ofPalestinian martyrs by the bullets of the Israeli occupa-tion must ring an alarm ... bell to any state that does notfind anything wrong with the immoral and illegal stancethat we are watching,” he said.

“It is shameful to see countries participating with theUS and Israel in celebrating the former’s embassy moveto occupied Jerusalem in a clear and grave violation ofinternational law and (UN) Security Council resolu-tions,” said Aboul Gheit. “The opening of the Americanembassy in occupied Jerusalem represents a step ofutmost gravity which I do not think the US administra-tion realizes its real consequences in both the short andlong term,” he added. The Arab league is expected tohold a meeting tomorrow at the level of permanent rep-resentatives “to counter the illegal decision taken bythe United States of America to transfer its embassy toJerusalem”, MENA reported. — Agencies

Israel kills 55 Palestinians as...


In a related development, head of theNational Assembly committee for thereplacement of expatriates MP Khalil Al-Saleh yesterday said that reducing thenumber of expatriates in the country,who have topped three million, hasbecome a “popular and governmentdemand”. He said that this goal should befulfilled by dismissing expatriate workerswho are not qualified, especially those ingovernment jobs, because they constitutea burden on the country.

Saleh however said the panel does notsupport sacking highly-skilled expatriateworkers and those with long experiences,especially in fields where there are notsufficient Kuwaitis. The lawmaker saidany decision on foreign workers shouldexclude people with rare expertise evenif they reach the age of 65. The commit-tee was set up by the Assembly to pressthe government to speed up measures toreplace expatriate employees in the gov-ernment with Kuwaiti graduates.

In another development, conflictingreports emerged yesterday over plans toimpose value added tax (VAT) decidedby the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),which has asked the six member states toapply the five-percent tax any time thisyear. Saudi Arabia and UAE alreadybegan imposing it from January. FinanceMinister Nayef Al-Hajraf told reportersthat he expects the Assembly to approvethe VAT draft law at the start of the nextterm in October. The minister said thatalthough the draft law was sent to theAssembly with urgency, he said he doesnot believe it will be approved in thisterm, which ends next month.

But head of the Assembly budgets

committee MP Adnan Abdulsamad saidyesterday that the panel was informed bythe finance ministry that it has delayedplans to impose VAT till 2021. He howev-er said the ministry called for speedingup plans to impose selective excise dutyon cigarettes and power and soft drinks,whose prices were raised by 50 to 100percent by GCC states. The lawmakersaid the ministry believes that introduc-ing these selective taxes will earn statecoffers some KD 200 million a year.

Abdusamad said that the ministry’sprojections for taxes and charges in thebudget of 2018/2019 are KD 551 million,an increase of 11 percent from the previ-ous year. He said total revenues are pro-jected at KD 15 billion including KD 13billion in oil revenues, adding thatalthough oil prices have rebounded, thereare fears they may drop again.

Hajraf also said it is important forGCC countries to keep abreast of swiftglobal economic development throughuniform economic visions. Addressing aone-day meeting of the GCC Financialand Economic Cooperation Committeeheld in Kuwait yesterday, Hajraf calledon GCC countries to harness all capabil-ities and potentials to fulfill the objec-tives of GCC leaders by creating astrong economic bloc able to vie withother global economic groups. Thismeeting is considered a means and toolfor attaining Gulf economic cooperationand translating GCC directives intoaction programs and turning ambitionsinto tangible reality, he said.

GCC Secretary General AbdullatifAl-Zayani lauded Kuwait’s sincereefforts to cement and consolidate Gulfintegration and cooperation amongGCC member states in various fields. Hepointed out the never-ending and fruit-ful efforts of the GCC ministers offinance in line with the GCC leaders’directives, with a view to promotinginter-Gulf cooperation and establishingthe basics of the Gulf economy.

No new medicalfees for expats...


since whoever wins the most seats mustnegotiate a coalition government in order tohave a majority in parliament. The govern-ment should be formed within 90 days of theofficial results.

Saturday’s election is the first since the defeatof Islamic State, with the capture of its de factocapital Mosul, last year. The group overran athird of Iraq in 2014. Turnout was 44.52 percentwith 92 percent of votes counted, theIndependent High Electoral Commission said -that was significantly lower than in previouselections. Full results were due to be officiallyannounced later yesterday.

Sadr and Ameri both came in first in four ofthe 10 provinces where votes were counted,but the cleric’s bloc won significantly morevotes in the capital, Baghdad, which has thehighest number of seats. A document providedto Reuters by a candidate in Baghdad that wasalso circulating among journalists and analystsshowed results from all 18 provinces. Reuterscould not independently verify the document’sauthenticity but the results in it showed Sadrhad won the nationwide popular vote withmore than 1.3 million votes and gained 54 ofparliament’s 329 seats.

He was followed by Ameri with more than 1.2

million votes, translating into 47 seats, andAbadi with more than 1 million votes and 42seats, according to calculations made byReuters based on the document. Ex-PrimeMinister Nouri Al-Maliki, a close ally of Iran likeAmeri, came in fourth with 25 seats. Winning thelargest number of seats does not automaticallyguarantee that Sadr will be able to hand-pick aprime minister. The other winning blocs wouldhave to agree on the nomination.

In a 2010 election, Vice President AyadAllawi’s group won the largest number of seats,albeit with a narrow margin, but he wasblocked from becoming prime minister forwhich he blamed Tehran. And a similar fatecould befall Sadr. Iran has publicly stated itwould not allow his bloc to govern and may tryto form a governing coalition between its allies,Ameri and Maliki. “We will not allow liberalsand communists to govern in Iraq,” Ali AkbarVelayati, top adviser to the Islamic Republic’sSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saidin February.

His statement, which sparked criticism byIraqi figures, was referring to the electoralalliance between Sadr, the Iraqi CommunistParty and other secular groups who joinedprotests organized by Sadr in 2016 to press thegovernment to see through a move to stemendemic corruption. Iraqi Communist PartySecretary General Raed Fahmy told Reuters thevote in favor of the Sadrist list, backed by hisgroup, “is a clear message that we must havebalanced relations with all (foreign countries)based on non-interference in Iraq’s internal

affairs”. “Everybody is welcome to provide sup-port to Iraq, but not at the expense of its sover-eignty and independence,” he added.

During the campaign, frustrated Iraqis of allshades complained about their political elite’ssystematic patronage, bad governance andcorruption, saying they didn’t receive any ben-efits of their country’s oil wealth. “The impor-tance of this vote is that it is a clear messagethat the people wants to change the system ofgovernance which has produced corruptionand weakened state institutions,” said Fahmy.“It is a message to provide services to thepeople, health and education, and to reducesocial disparities.”

Iraq has been ranked among the world’s mostcorrupt countries, with high unemployment, rifepoverty, weak public institutions and bad servicesdespite high oil revenues for many years. Endemiccorruption has eaten at the government’s financialresources. Fahmy told his party’s website thatAbadi was “closer” to Sadr’s bloc than the othermain contenders. Sadr derives much of his author-ity from his family. Sadr’s father, highly respectedGrand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Al-Sadr, wasmurdered in 1999 for defying Saddam Hussein.His father’s cousin, Mohammed Baqir, was killedby Saddam in 1980.

Celebrations erupted on the streets ofBaghdad after the commission’s announce-ment, with thousands of Sadr’s supporterssinging, chanting, dancing and setting off fire-works while carrying his picture and wavingIraqi flags. Many of his supporters chanted“Iran out”. — Reuters

Comeback cleric Sadr set to win...


pylons in Uttar Pradesh state, killing 48people, T P Gupta of the state disaster man-agement department told AFP. Eight peoplealso drowned in the state’s Barabanki districtafter their boat capsized in a river due to

strong winds. Gupta said 80 people wereinjured by the gusts that flattened nearly 40houses across India’s most populous state.

The country has been gripped by a freakweather system since the beginning of May,with many parts of the country experienc-ing extreme conditions. Similar storms hitthe region every year but this year has beenthe deadliest in decades. In the easternstate of West Bengal 14 people were killedSunday after lightning struck a house in thestate capital Kolkata, including four chil-

dren as thunderstorms separately ravagedseveral localities.

Lightning bolts killed 12 people in thesouthern state of Andhra Pradesh, while twopeople died in both Bihar state and theIndian capital New Delhi. Indira GandhiInternational Airport was closed for morethan two hours because of the winds, with70 flights diverted. Andhra Pradesh had alsobeen hit by more than 40,000 lightningbolts on May 1, killing 14 people in a matterof hours. — AFP

Violent storms in India kill 86...

Hamilton ‘close’ to MercedescontractBARCELONA: Lewis Hamilton says heis close to signing a new Mercedes con-tract after winning Sunday’s SpanishGrand Prix watched by several membersof the all-conquering German construc-tor’s board.

In the aftermath of his dominant tri-umph ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottasthe defending four-time world championindicated he will soon be inking a long-awaited new deal with the champions. Anannouncement before or during theMonaco Grand Prix later this month isnow expected.

“All the bosses have been here and ldon’t think there is anyone in the hierar-chy who has any concerns,” saidHamilton. “We do talk about it and we arenot far away from finishing things. It willhappen - hopefully in the near future.”The 33-year-old Englishman was sothrilled by both his own personal returnto form and the team’s work on improvinghis car’s performance at the Circuit deCatalunya that he suggested, after therace, that he may sign a long-term deal.

It had been rumoured that he wasreluctant to sign a new contract becausehe feared losing enjoyment of the racingand had reservations about the sport’sfuture direction under new Americanowners Liberty Media.

But after securing his 64th career winin majestic fashion in a crushingMercedes one-two that hoisted both

driver and team clear at the top of theirrespective championships, he said: “If Ikeep this feeling then I’m going to beracing for a long time!”

Team boss Toto Wolff was also morepositive - not only about their perform-ance, but also securing Hamilton for thelong-term future. “It’s almost all sort-ed,” he said. “We don’t want to lose himand l don’t think he wants to go any-where else... Everything is going fine.We have had other priorities in the lastfew weeks.

“We weren’t happy with the per-formance of the cars and we needed tosort things out. Finalising a contracttakes time and we both decided to parkit.” Hamilton, like team-mate Bottas, hasless than year remaining on his currentcontract and has been elusive on mak-ing any firm commitments to bothMercedes and Formula One at varioustimes in recent months.

But his emphatic win on Sunday,when he and Mercedes appeared tohave rediscovered the form of past tri-umphant seasons, may be seen as amajor turning point for all concerned.While Ferrari faltered, with four-timeformer champion Sebastian Vettel finish-ing fourth and Kimi Raikkonen retiringwith power problems, Hamilton did notput a wheel wrong on his way to confi-dence-boosting victory.

‘HIGH NOTE’ “I would like to hope that this race

could be part of a turning point,” saidHamilton. “I said that I wanted to comehere and win the way that I won andwhen I came across the line I was justhappy that I did as I planned.

“The team have been working veryhard to understand the tyres and how the

car works so I think it all came togetherthis weekend. “We definitely go toMonaco on a high note, but we know thatwe still have a lot of work to do. Thatsaid, I will sleep like a baby tonight.”

Hamilton will hope also that Ferrarifail to repeat the form that brought thema one-two finish in the Mediterraneanprincipality last year where Vettel won.On Sunday, the German admitted: “Noexcuses - they were faster than us andbeat us fair and square this time, but wecan bounce back.”

Wolff added that Hamilton’s triumphwould repair some of the damage doneby his recent loss of form and confi-dence. “The best ones are very sensitiveand fragile and that is something weknow and he knows,” he explained.

“He was solidly in the lead inMelbourne and suddenly he was behindthe Ferrari. It is difficult to cope with andin the following races we struggled. “Buthaving such a good weekend here andwinning by a solid margin is very impor-tant for his confidence.” — AFP

NEW YORK: Nick Williams hit a go-ahead three-run,pinch-hit homer in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon asthe Philadelphia Phillies came back to defeat the visit-ing New York Mets 4-2. The Phillies won for the fifthtime in six games to earn a split of the series shortenedto two games by rain. The Mets have lost 17 of 25 sincean 11-1 start. Yoenis Cespedes homered in the top ofthe sixth to put the Mets in position to overcome anabbreviated start by Jacob deGrom, who was liftedafter throwing 45 pitches in a scoreless first tinning.The New York ace as a precaution due to the pitchcount in his first outing back from the disabled list. Inthe bottom of the sixth, Mets reliever Paul Sewald (0-3)gave up a leadoff double to Carlos Santana and issueda one-out walk to Scott Kingery. With two outs,Williams stepped to the plate for starting pitcher AaronNola (6-1) and crushed a 2-1 pitch deep into the rightfield seats for his second career pinch-hit homer.

ANGELS 2, TWINS 1Zack Cozart’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning

scored Chris Young from second base to lift LosAngeles past visiting Minnesota in Anaheim, Calif.Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani had anotherimpressive performance on the mound despite a no-decision. Ohtani gave up just one run on three hits andtwo walks in 6 1/3 innings, striking out 11. Twins relieverZach Duke (2-2) hit Young with a pitch to start the ninthinning. Martin Maldonado followed with a sacrificebunt, moving the runner to second and bringing upCozart, who swung at Duke’s first pitch and lined it intoleft field, Young scoring without a throw.

WHITE SOX 5, CUBS 3Matt Davidson homered and knocked in two runs,

including the tiebreaker, asthe visiting Chicago WhiteSox avoided a series sweep atthe hands of their cross-townrival. Lucas Giolito (2-4) sur-vived seven walks and fivestolen bases in his 5 2/3innings to pick up the win.Giolito allowed only two hitsand three runs, recordingthree strikeouts. Three reliev-ers notched the last 10 outs,with Bruce Rondon workingthe ninth inning for his first save. Kyle Hendricks (3-3)was tagged with the loss for the Cubs, yielding six hitsand four runs, three earned, over six innings. The Cubs’five-game winning streak ended.

YANKEES 6, A’S 2Giancarlo Stanton homered and had four hits as

host New York beat Oakland following a rain delay oftwo hours, 45 minutes. Stanton helped the Yankeeswin for the 19th time in 22 games by producing hissecond four-hit game of the season, with the firstthree hits off left-hander Brett Anderson (0-2). Afterhis big day, Stanton is batting .429 (15-for-35) withseven homers and 15 RBIs off left-handed pitching.Luis Severino (6-1) allowed one run and five hits in sixinnings. He struck out seven, won his fourth straightdecision and allowed one run or none for the 21st timesince the start of last season.

NATIONALS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4Mark Reynolds hit two homers in his season debut,

and Bryce Harper and Trea Turner also homered asWashington completed a four-game sweep of Arizonain Phoenix. Reynolds hit a solo shot in the sixth inning

and added a tiebreaking, two-run homer with one outin the eighth off Archie Bradley (0-1). He also singled inhis first game since his contract was purchased fromTriple-A Syracuse on Saturday when Ryan Zimmermanwas placed on the disabled list. The Nationals won forthe 13th time in 15 games. A.J. Pollock and Ketel Martehad two hits, Jarrod Dyson had a two-run single, andDavid Peralta and Daniel Descalso knocked in runs forthe Diamondbacks. Arizona has lost a season-high fivein a row and eight of 11.

TIGERS 5, MARINERS 4Jose Iglesias smacked a game-winning single, Niko

Goodrum homered and scored twice, and Detroitedged visiting Seattle. The Mariners lost second base-man Robinson Cano for an indefinite period with afractured fifth metacarpal on his right hand after beinghit by a pitch in the third inning. Mariners left-handerJames Paxton got a no-decision in his first start sincehis no-hitter at Toronto on Tuesday. He gave up threeruns on six hits with four strikeouts in six innings.JaCoby Jones led off the ninth against Juan Nicasio (1-2) with an infield single. Goodrum advanced him tothird with another single, and Iglesias then slapped anopposite-field single against the drawn-in infield.

RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 3J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer and added an

RBI single as visiting Boston defeated Toronto in therubber match of a three-game series. The win went toreliever Hector Velazquez (5-0), who allowed two hitsand struck out two in two innings. Joe Kelly pitched aperfect ninth to earn his second save of the season.Toronto’s Joe Biagini (0-2), recalled from Triple-ABuffalo for the start, allowed four runs, four hits and

three walks in 4 2/3 innings.The right-hander struck outthree.

BREWERS 7, ROCKIES 3Freddy Peralta struck out

13 in his major league debutas Milwaukee beat Coloradoto win three of four in aweekend series at Denver.Peralta (1-0), whose parentswatched him pitch as a pro-fessional for the first time,

took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing aone-out single to David Dahl. He then struck outCharlie Blackmon and left after throwing 98 pitches.Travis Shaw and Jesus Aguilar homered and DomingoSantana had three hits for Milwaukee. Dahl and TonyWolters homered, and Jon Gray (4-5) allowed six runson 10 hits and fanned 10 for the Rockies.

ASTROS 6, RANGERS 1Dallas Keuchel worked seven shutout innings while

Evan Gattis and Carlos Correa both homered for asecond consecutive game as Houston claimed therubber match of its three-game series against visitingTexas. Keuchel (3-5) continued what has been abounce-back month of May, allowing just three hitsand one walk while recording a season-high eightstrikeouts. After surrendering six earned runs in hisfinal start of April, Keuchel has allowed four runs on14 hits and three walks with 17 strikeouts over 22innings this month, posting back-to-back wins for thefirst time this season. Carlos Perez smacked a solohome run, his first, off Hector Rondon to get theRangers on the board in the eighth inning. Texastotaled three runs in the series. Rangers third base-

man Adrian Beltre aggravated a left hamstring injuryin the seventh.

REDS 5, DODGERS 3Luis Castillo pitched effectively into the seventh

inning, and Eugenio Suarez and Joey Votto supportedhim with two-run home runs, helping visiting Cincinnaticomplete a stunning four-game sweep of Los Angeles.The Reds, who began the series with the worst recordin the National League, limited the Dodgers to nineruns in four games, extending their winning streak tosix straight. Castillo (3-4) allowed solo home runs toYasiel Puig in the third inning and Yasmani Grandal inthe seventh but otherwise limited the Dodgers to justtwo other hits and one unearned run in six-plus innings.He struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

BRAVES 4, MARLINS 3Sean Newcomb pitched six scoreless innings, and

Ender Inciarte slugged a two-run homer as Atlantaheld on to win at Miami. Miami had just one hit-a dou-ble by Brian Anderson-entering the ninth. However,after singles by Starlin Castro and J.B. Shuck, JustinBour hit his third pinch-hit homer of the season. Bravesreliever Jesse Biddle allowed the two singles beforemaking way for Arodys Vizcaino, who gave up theupper-deck homer by Bour. Vizcaino recovered toretire Miami’s final three batters to pick up his seventhsave of the season.

PADRES 5, CARDINALS 3Clayton Richard yielded two runs on five hits over

eight innings, and San Diego ruined Adam Wainwright’sreturn from the disabled list, holding on to gain a split ofthe four-game series against visiting St. Louis. Richard(2-5) picked up the win to snap a four-decision losingstreak. He walked one while equaling his career high of10 strikeouts. Wainwright, 36, came off the disabled listto make his first start since April 23. He had missed fourstarts due to inflammation in his right elbow. He allowedtwo runs on three hits and issued a career-high sixwalks with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.

INDIANS 11, ROYALS 2Jose Ramirez, Yan Gomes and Michael Brantley

hit home runs to back the strong pitching of CoreyKluber, lifting the Cleveland to a victory over visit-ing Kansas City. The Indians took two of three in theseries. Staked to a 5-0 lead in the second inning,Kluber (6-2) became the American League’s firstsix-game winner, allowing just two runs, both ofwhich were unearned, in seven innings. He gave upeight hits and did not walk a batter, striking out four.The Indians took advantage of the Royals’ inabilityto turn a double play on either of two fielder’schoice ground balls to score five times in the secondinning, with Ramirez capping the uprising with athree-run homer off Kansas City starter DannyDuffy (1-5).

GIANTS 5, PIRATES 0Derek Holland pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and

San Francisco scored five runs in the sixth, includingtwo homers, to break a season-worst, six-game losingstreak with a win at Pittsburgh. Holland (1-3) collectedhis first road win since last May 21, going 0-9 in 12outings away from home in the interim. He allowedfour hits, struck out seven and walked five. RelieversReyes Moronta, Will Smith and Hunter Strickland pre-served the shutout and Gorkys Hernandez and NickHundley hit homers in the sixth-inning outburst.Pittsburgh had its five-game winning streak haltedand missed a chance to sweep the series.

ORIOLES 17, RAYS 1Joey Rickard made his return to the major leagues

in style, hitting two homers and driving in five runsas Baltimore ripped Tampa Bay to win for the fifthtime in six games. Rickard hit a solo homer in thesecond inning and got the big hit in a seven-runfourth inning, a three-run blast to give Baltimore an11-0 lead. Danny Valencia and Rickard hit back-to-back homers off starter Blake Snell (4-3) in the sec-ond for a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Trey Mancinibanged a third solo homer. — Reuters

Tuesday, May 15, 2018S p o r t s

Established 1961 12

Nick Williams blast lifts Phillies past NY Mets 4-2

Phillies win for the fifth time in six games

Host New York beat

Oakland

PHILADELPHIA: Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the New York Mets hits an RBI double against the Philadelphia Philliesin the seventh inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. — AFP

BARCELONA: Mercedes’ British driver and first place winner Lewis Hamilton (L)celebrates on the podium with Mercedes’ second-placed Finnish driver ValtteriBottas (R) and engineer Peter Bonnington after the Spanish Formula One GrandPrix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo in the outskirts of Barcelona onSunday. -—AFP

eSailing can helpconquer high seasLONDON: Chinese Olympic gold medallist XuLijia says eSailing can sharpen decision-makingon the water and open up the sport to a new audi-ence as gamers battle it out to be the first worldchampion.

Virtual Regatta’s free Inshore game offers mil-lions of armchair sailors the opportunity to pittheir wits against the forces of nature-all withoutthe need to get wet. The inaugural eSailing WorldChampionship, which comprises a series of week-ly challenges and playoffs, with the boat types andvenues changing on a regular basis, runs fromMay until October.

The playoffs, involving 1,000 competitors, willbe an online regatta and will last up to 14 days inSeptember. The top four ranked women and topfour men from the playoffs will qualify for theeSailing World Championship Final in Florida.

Xu, who won gold at London 2012 in the LaserRadial class, is in no doubt the online game canhelp professionals hone their skills. “Because it isso fast-changing it can help us become faster inreactions and decision-making and we can applythat on the water,” she said at last week’s worldchampionship launch in London.

“This is a few minutes and we have to reactquickly, otherwise we get left far behind.” Xu, anOlympic bronze medalist on home waters in 2008,is also confident the game can open up the sportto a whole new audience. “I think almost all kids inChina are brought up with technology,” said the30-year-old. “But I hope they can still go out andenjoy the real sport, see the sun shine, experiencethe fresh air and the water. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: Evgeny Kuznetsov scored off alucky bounce late in the second period as theWashington Capitals seized command of the EasternConference final with a lopsided 6-2 win over theTampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.

Goaltender Andrei Vasi levskiy misplayed aKuznetsov centring pass that deflected into the net atthe end of the second period to make it 4-2, helpingthe Capitals take a two games to none playoff serieslead. “We played hard and we played smart,” saidCapitals forward Alex Ovechkin.

“All four lines did their job. We waited for ouropportunities.” The series now shifts from Florida toWashington tonight where the Capitals will try totake a 3-0 stranglehold.Kuznetsov also had twoassists, Lars Eller finishedwith a goal and two assistsand Braden Holtby made 33saves for the Capitals, whoare in the semi-finals for thefirst time in two decades.

They are playing for aspot in the National HockeyLeague’s Stanley Cup finalsagainst either the Las VegasGolden Knights orWinnipeg. The Jets have a1-0 series lead. Russian forward Kuznetsov said hedoesn’t know how to explain it but he performs betterin road games like Sunday’s contest at Tampa’sAmalie Arena. He loves the idea of sweeping theseries with two wins at home but can’t wait to getback to Florida if the series goes that far.

“I don’t know man. The last couple of years I justbeen dreaming to play all games on the road. I don’tknow why,” Kuznetsov said. “I feel bad for our fans. I

want to play in front of them, but overall I really liketo be on the road.”

The Capitals are also winning without their toptwo-way player Nicklas Backstrom who is out with ahand injury. His place in the lineup has been taken byEller who has stepped out of the shadows to give theCapitals the extra punch they need.

Eller was instrumental on both plays when theturning point came in the final minute of the secondperiod. He scored the eventual winner with 62 sec-onds left and then assisted on Kuznetsov’s powerplaygoal. The Capitals were given a powerplay with 10seconds left after netminder Vasilevskiy trippedWashington’s Andre Burakovsky, sending the Swedish

forward hard into the endboards.

TURNING POINT Vasilevskiy then attempt-

ed to intercept Kuznetsov’scentring pass to Eller butthe puck hit his blocker andwent in just before thebuzzer to give the Capitals atwo-goal lead heading intothe intermission.

Tampa tried to batt leback in the third but the

Capitals did a good job of slowing them down andnot allowing them to utilize their speed and skillaround the net. Holtby also made clutch saves whenhe had to. He had back-to-back stops from in closeon Tampa forward Brayden Point on the powerplayhalfway through the third. Washington forward BrettConnolly scored at 12:57 after taking a pass on hisstick blade and then, like a lacrosse player, whippingthe puck into the upper half of the net to round out

the scoring. Russia’s Ovechkin, with his team-leading 10th

goal of the postseason, Tom Wilson and DevanteSmith-Pelly also scored for the Capitals. Point and

Steven Stamkos scored goals for Tampa, who mayhave dug a hole too deep to climb out of by losingthe first two games on home ice. Vasilevskiy finishedwith 31 saves. — AFP


Established 1961

Road warrior Capitals grab control of Eastern final

Capitals were given a powerplay with 10 seconds left

13

All four lines did their job

MUMBAI: Jos Buttler said he was revelling in his runof form after cracking a fifth consecutive half-centuryto equal Virender Sehwag’s Indian Premier Leaguerecord.

The England wicketkeeper-batsman’s unbeaten 94off 53 balls against the Mumbai Indians kept hisRajasthan Royals the IPL playoff race and matchedSehwag’s mark set in 2012. Butler hit nine fours andfive sixes as the Royals romped home by seven wick-ets in the cash-rich Twenty20 league.

“I’m really enjoying it, found some good form, it’s ado-or-die situation and I’m full of confidence so wantto keep it going,” said Buttler, who cost the Royals$653,840 at auction. “I’m in a good head-space andlooking forward to the next game,” he added afterSunday’s win.

Buttler, 27, will get the chance to break the recordagainst Kolkata Knight Riders today with his 94 com-ing just days after notching his highest Twenty20score of 95 not out against Chennai Super Kings lastweek. That followed knocks of 67 off 26 balls, 51 (off39) and 82 (off 58) and means Buttler has amassed509 runs in 12 games in 2018 at an average of 56.55and a strike-rate of 153.77.

“He has been in great form. He didn’t give us anychances,” conceded Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma.The Royals’ win also ensured a final-four place forthe Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Super Kings, whostand behind table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad inthe eight-team table.

The Royals lies fifth with two matches remainingwith the top four moving into the playoffs. This year’sseven week tournament has $8 million in prize money,including $4m for the team crowned champions at theMay 27 final in Mumbai. —AFP

Buttler smashes fifth IPL 50 to match Sehwag record

TAMPA: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals tends goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Twoof the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on Sunday in Tampa,Florida. — AFP

DUBLIN: Kevin O’Brien became the first Ireland batsmanto score a fifty in men’s Test cricket as the debutantsavoided an innings defeat by Pakistan yesterday. Ireland,made to follow-on, were 212 for six at tea on the fourthday at Malahide - a lead of 32 runs.

O’Brien was 67 not out, having top-scored with 40 inIreland’s meagre first innings 130 all out, with StuartThompson (22 not out) providing good support in anunbroken seventh-wicket stand of 55.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir took his 100th Testwicket and for all O’Brien’s defiance the tourists remainedwell-placed to win this one-off match Ireland started theday on their highly creditable overnight 64 without loss.But they lost four wickets in Monday’s first session, withleft-arm quick Amir-who had both openers dropped dur-ing a brief spell on Sunday before going off with a kneeproblem-enjoying a burst of two wickets for no runs in sixballs. It was a heartening sign for Pakistan ahead of theirupcoming two-Test series in England that will featureback-to-back fixtures at Lord’s (May 24-28) andHeadingley (June 1-5). Amir, however, repeatedly limpedaround the field yesterday when he was not bowling.Ireland resumed with veteran opener Ed Joyce, arguablytheir greatest batsman of all time, 39 not out and captainWilliam Porterfield unbeaten on 23. At that stage theywere still 116 runs behind.

The last thing Ireland needed was to gift Pakistan awicket via a run out and yet that is exactly how an openingstand eventually worth 69 runs ended when Joyce set offfor a needlessly tight single before failing to beat FaheemAshraf’s direct hit from midwicket. The 39-year-old left-hander was out for 43, including six well-struck fours.

Fear that as soon as Ireland lost one wicket, anothermight follow quickly were proved correct as 69 for onebecame 69 for two, with Andrew Balbirnie lbw toMohammad Abbas for nought for the second time in thematch as he completed a pair.

Amir struck with his 29th ball Monday when NiallO’Brien, Kevin’s brother, had his stumps uprooted for awicket greeted with the bowler’s familiar arms out-stretched celebration. And 94 for three became 95 for fourwhen Amir had Porterfield (32) edging to wicket-keeperSarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain.

At lunch, Amir had innings figures of two for 12 in 10.2overs, with Ireland 123 for four-still 57 behind. An inningsdefeat was still a possibility when Amir, given a jail sen-

tence and banned from cricket for five years as a result ofhis involvement in a spot-fixing scandal during the 2010Lord’s Test, took his 100th wicket in 31 matches at this lev-el when Gary Wilson was held in the slips by Haris Sohail.

But Thompson’s single off all-rounder Faheem meantPakistan would have to bat again, while Kevin O’Brien waslooking increasingly assured. Best known for hitting thefastest-ever World Cup hundred, off 50 balls, againstEngland at Bangalore in 2011, Kevin O’Brien reversedthose figures to complete a Test fifty off 100 balls with asingle against Shadab.

Pakistan took the new ball with Ireland 193 for six butKevin O’Brien’s response was to clip Abbas for a legsideboundary. — AFP

O’Brien the hero as Ireland avoid innings defeat in debut Test

Nishikori back winning in Rome, Vinci bows out ROME: Japan’s Kei Nishikori eased into the second roundof the ATP Italian Open in Rome yesterday as Italy’sRoberta Vinci bowed out of her final WTA tournamentwith a first round defeat. Former US Open finalist Vinci fell2-6, 6-0, 6-3 to Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic on thered clay of the Foro Italico.

The 35-year-old reached the US Open final in 2010 andwon ten singles title in her career spanning nearly twodecades. Nishikori-who had lost his two matches on clayin Spain in the previous two weeks-needed 1hr 48min tohand Spaniard Feliciano Lopez his sixth defeat in seventrips to the Italian capital 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

“It wasn’t easy match. It was windy so conditions weretough for both of us,” said 24th-ranked Nishikori, who hit18 winners to counter the seven aces fired down by Lopez.Nishikori arrived in Rome after losing his two matches onclay in Spain-retiring in Barcelona due to a recurring wristinjury problem before losing his opening-round in Madridto Novak Djokovic.

“He used a lot of slice and great serves, but I think Ihandled his slice well,” continued Nishikori who won hislast title in Memphis in February 2016. “The first set couldhave gone both ways, luckily I got it and after that, I wasmore confident and I was playing better tennis.”—AFP

DUBLIN: Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed (R) watches as Ireland’s Niall O’Brien plays a shot during play on day four ofIreland’s inaugural Test match against Pakistan at Malahide cricket club, in Dublin yesterday. —AFP

PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Former US Open championWebb Simpson finished a four-stroke, wire-to-wire tri-umph at the Players Championship on Sunday to end afour-year victory drought. A double-bogey at the finalhole was just a blip for the 32-year-old Simpson, whosigned for a final-round 73 and an 18-under par total of270 at TPC Sawgrass.

“Man, it means everything to me,” Simpson, who wonthe US Open in 2012, said. “I feel like it’s my first win. I feelso similar to how I felt in Greensboro back in 2011. “To wina major championship and a few other Tour events andthen go-I guess it’s over four years without a win, I neverdoubted myself, but at the same time, that’s a long time.”

The North Carolina native was never headed sincesharing the lead on day one and then storming five shotsclear of his rivals on day two in shooting a course record-equalling 63. Simpson took a tournament-record seven-shot lead into the final round and marched to the victoryas would-be challengers, including 14-time major champi-on Tiger Woods fell by the wayside.

Playing partner Danny Lee of New Zealand quickly cutSimpson’s lead to five with birdies at the second and third.Simpson stalled with six straight pars before a first birdieof his round at the par-four seventh that took him to 20-under. Simpson gave the shot straight back in finding agreenside bunker at the par-three eighth, and as he head-ed to his final nine holes his biggest threat wasn’t Lee buttwo-time Players winner Woods. Woods had produced his

best ever round at TPC Sawgrass with a 65 on Saturday,and was 14-under through 12 and sharing second placethanks to six birdies. It would, however, be the highwatermark of Woods’s challenge. He dropped a shot at 14 thentook a double bogey at the 17th where he was in the watersurrounding the famed island green. His three-under 69left him with a share of 11th place on 11-under par.

“I didn’t play particularly well in the first couple days,but I turned it around this weekend and I got it rolling,”Woods said. “I hit the ball well, I controlled it and I madesome putts. I knew my putting was right around the cor-ner, I knew I was close because I hit good putts that justdidn’t go in. “It was just a matter of time, and this weekendwas it.” Joining Woods in the group on 11-under was JustinThomas-whose final-round 66 for 277 was good enoughto dethrone Dustin Johnson atop the world rankings.

Thomas, who came into the week ranked second,becomes the 21st different player to hold the top spot,ending Johnson’s 64-week reign.

‘LITTLE BEACON OF LIGHT’ Simpson finished four shots in front of a trio of players:

South African Charl Schwartzel and Americans JimmyWalker and Xander Schauffele who all fired final-round67s to finish on 14-under 274.

Simpson’s lead was down to four shots when hebogeyed the 10th, but he moved to 20-under for the tour-nament with birdies at the two par-fives on the back nine,the 11th and 16th. Having holed a par putt from the fringeat the treacherous 17th he arrived at the last leading by sixshots-only to find the water with his approach en route toa double-bogey six. The late stumble couldn’t dim his joyin the victory, his fifth on the US PGA Tour and his firstsince 2013. “There’s been some tough moments along theway,” said Simpson, whose father died in November. “It’sbeen a tough few months for my mom, my brothers andsisters. This is a little beacon of light for my mom, to getthis done on Mother’s Day.” —AFP

Simpson marches to four-stroke Players triumph

PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Webb Simpson of the UnitedStates celebrates with his wife Taylor Dowd afterwinning during the final round of THE PLAYERSChampionship on the Stadium Course at TPCSawgrass on Sunday in Vedra Beach, Florida.—AFP


Established 1961 14

SHANGHAI: Guangzhou Evergrande’s seven-yeardomination of Chinese football could be under threatin what is shaping up to be the most fiercely con-tested title race in recent memory. Shanghai SIPGstand top of the Chinese Super League (CSL) ongoal difference from Shandong Luneng after a thirdof the campaign with Beijing Guoan, Jiangsu Suningand Guangzhou Evergrande all lined up closelybehind them.

Just two points separate the top five butGuangzhou Evergrande coach Fabio Cannavaro ispleading for patience from fans who grown used toseeing their side lift the CSL title-they have done itin each of the past seven years. “We respect oursupporters and are very thankful to them, but wealso hope that they can be more understandingsometimes,” said the Italian World Cup-winner aftersome fans made their anger clear in the 2-2 homedraw with mid-table Hebei China Fortune onSaturday.

Cannavaro, who took over from the Braziliancoach Luiz Felipe Scolari in the close season, admit-ted his side were fortunate to get a point against aHebei team containing former Barcelona star JavierMascherano and coached by former ManchesterCity and Real Madrid boss Manuel Pellegrini.Cannavaro’s position will come under scrutiny iftwo-time Asian champions Guangzhou fail to see offfellow Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian, who were man-aged by the Italian last season, in the last 16 of theAFC Champions League on Tuesday.

The tie is poised at 0-0 after last week’s first legin Tianjin. Shandong would have gone top of theCSL with victory at mid-table Tianjin, but insteadthey needed a 96th-minute equaliser from formerSouthampton striker Graziano Pelle to rescue a pointafter Alexandre Pato put the home side in front.

The Guangzhou Daily said top spot appeared tobe “toxic”. “After drawing with Hebei, Guangzhouhave not tasted victory in four matches. Maybe thetop spot is toxic,” the newspaper said. “Shandongalso ‘refused’ the summit with a draw, even thoughthey are level on points with Shanghai.

“For other top teams, Beijing Guoan also ‘aban-doned’ the chance to go top after drawing (2-2 athome) with Guangzhou R&F.”—AFP

Cannavaro on back foot in battle for ‘toxic’ China top spot

PARIS: Egyptian Mohamed Salah broke a record andGhanaian Emmanuel Boateng left Barcelona heartbro-ken as they became the top African performers in theelite European leagues at the weekend. Salah scoredhis 32nd English Premier league goal of the season forLiverpool on the final day to better a record he sharedwith Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.A Boateng hat-trick enabled lowly Levante to stunBarcelona 5-4 and shatter the La Liga championsdream of an unbeaten league season after going 36matches without losing.

ENGLANDMOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

The winger scored a record-breaking 32nd goal ofthe Premier League season as he set a new mark for themost goals in a 38-game campaign. Salah went into thelast day of the season at Anfield sharing the record, butneeded only 26 minutes tomake it his personal propertyas he produced a clinical left-foot finish from inside theBrighton penalty area, settingLiverpool on the way to a 4-0win that secured a ChampionsLeague place next season.Salah, who was voted thePremier League Player of theYear earlier in the day, hasnow scored 44 goals in 51appearances in all competi-tions for Liverpool this season.

WILFRIED ZAHA (Crystal Palace)The Ivory Coast winger netted his ninth goal of the

season as Palace rounded off their campaign with a 2-0 win over relegated West Bromwich Albion. Zahafired home from Patrick van Aanholt’s cross in the 70thminute to put Palace ahead. It was Zaha’s fifth goal inhis last six appearances, capping a superb season.

PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG (Arsenal)The Gabon striker marked Arsene Wenger’s farewell

with the winning goal in the Gunners’ 1-0 victory atHuddersfield. Aubameyang scored in the 38th minutewith a close-range finish at the end of a flowingArsenal attack. Aubameyang’s 10th goal since movingfrom Borussia Dortmund in January provided Wengerwith an uplifting exit as the Arsenal manager stepsdown after 22 years in charge.

SPAINEMMANUEL BOATENG (Levante)

Boateng hit his first professional hat-trick as

Levante stunned Barcelona by ending the La Ligachampions’ hopes of an unbeaten season with a sensa-tional 5-4 victory. Boateng scored twice in the first halfan hour and his third shortly after the interval. He is thefirst player to score a hat-trick against Barcelona in aleague game since Diego Forlan in 2005.

ACHRAF HAKIMI (Real Madrid)The Madrid-born Morocco defender scored the

fourth goal soon after half-time as Champions Leaguefinalists Real Madrid romped to a 6-0 triumph overCelta Vigo in their final home match of the La Ligaseason.

ITALYSIMY (Crotone)

Nigerian Simy pulled relegation-threatenedCrotone level after going behind to an early goal to

Lazio in a 2-2 draw. The tow-ering 26-year-old nodded inafter half an hour in theirhome match in Calabria. Itwas the seventh goal this sea-son for Simy.

FRANCK KESSIE (AC Milan)

Ivorian Kessie was inimpressive form as he gaveAC Milan the lead after anhour in Atalanta only for agoalkeeping error to allow

the Bergamo side to grab a late 1-1 draw. The resultsecured Europa League football for both clubs nextseason.

CHEICK DIABATE (Benevento)On-loan Malian Diabate scored a late winner as

already-relegated Benevento gave their fans a lift witha 1-0 win over Genoa in their final home Serie A match.Goalkeeper Christian Puggioni saved mid-table Genoafrom conceding until four minutes to go when Diabatefinished off a cross.It was his seventh goal in ninegames since switching from Turkish club Osmanlispor.

GERMANYNABY KEITA (RB Leipzig)

The Liverpool-bound Guinea midfielder signed offafter two seasons with Leipzig by helping them rompto a 6-2 win at Hertha Berlin. He combined withGermany striker Timo Werner to set up the secondgoal for England junior international AdemolaLookman, who drilled home a superb shot on 22 min-utes. Keita went off 14 minutes from the final whistle in

Berlin after a blow to the back.

SALOMON KALOU (Hertha Berlin)The Ivory Coast veteran netted his 12th league goal

of the season on the final day when he timed his runinto the box perfectly and powered home a header inHertha’s heavy home defeat to Leipzig. When MarvinPlattenhardt swung in a corner, Kalou sprintedbetween two defenders and drove home his header tomake it 5-2 on 64 minutes.

CHADRAC AKOLO (VfB Stuttgart)Stuttgart picked up their first win at Bayern Munich

at the 17th attempt with a shock 4-1 victory over theBundesliga champions and Democratic Republic of theCongo midfielder Akolo was among their scorers.Stutgart, who repeatedly punished Bayern on thebreak, made it 3-1 on 52 minutes when Emiliano Insuapicked out Akolo perfectly in the centre of the box and

the Congolese headed back across into the corner.

FRANCELEBO MOTHIBA (Lille)

The young South African continued good form byscoring twice in the first half as Lille came from behindat home to defeat Dijon 2-1 and guarantee anotherseason of Ligue 1 football.

STEPHANE BAHOKEN (Strasbourg)Cameroonian Bahoken struck the first goal of the

match as Strasbourg upset third-place Lyon 3-2 toensure they remain in the top flight next season.

JEAN-MICHAEL SERI (Nice)Ivorian Seri netted the last Nice goal as they tri-

umphed 4-1 at home against relegation-threatenedCaen, whose lone goal came from compatriot ChristianKouakou. — AFP

Mohamed Salah breaks record and Boateng leaves Barca heartbroken

Boateng hit his first professional hat-trick

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring during the EnglishPremier League football match between Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield in Liverpool,north west England on Sunday. — AFP

On-loan Diabate scores

a late winner

BARCELONA: Diego Costa’s return to AtleticoMadrid has not been plain sailing, but it rarely iswith the former Chelsea striker who has helped hisSpanish club within reach of their third EuropaLeague trophy.

Since rejoining his former side in September, andafter sitting out three months because of AtleticoMadrid’s ban on registering players, Costa has onlythree league goals in 14 appearances. One of themcame on his return to La Liga action, netting in a 2-0 win against Getafe on Jan. 6 before earning him-self a red card for celebrating too wildly.

However, he also scored in the 1-0 victory in thesecond leg of the Europa League semi-final againstArsenal, earning Atletico a place in Wednesday’sfinal and ending Arsene Wenger’s last hopes ofEuropean glory with the Gunners.

Now the striker is looking to fire Atletico to vic-tory against Olympique de Marseille in Lyon, with apersonal score to settle, too. His previous appear-ance in a European final was abruptly ended byinjury as Atletico lost 4-1 to Real Madrid in the2014 Champions League final.

Costa went into that derby clash in Lisbon car-rying a hamstring injury and even used horse pla-centa as part of his treatment before the game, butit didn’t work and he was substituted after nineminutes.

After helping to eliminate Arsenal, Costa washailed by coach Diego Simeone, who said theseperformances were the reason Atletico shelled out57 million euros ($68.3 million) to bring the com-bative player back from Stamford Bridge.

“Costa came back here for nights like this; to beimportant, to lead from the front,” said Simeone.“This side needs an aggressive striker, a strikerwith anger and that’s exactly what he is.” Eventhough Costa’s form has varied over the past fourmonths, he forms an undeniably dangerous attack-ing partnership with Antoine Griezmann, who setup Costa’s goal against Arsenal.

Costa might be able to return the favour byhelping the Frenchman to win his first major trophyat Atletico before a potential summer move toBarcelona. Rumours have been swirling for sometime that Griezmann will sign for Barca.

“I love working with him and with the team.”said Costa. “He’s thinking about winning the trophy.All the forwards have won something with this clubover the past few seasons and he wants to leave hismark here, too.” — Reuters

MOSCOW: The sniggering kids kept pointing and staringat Margarita Chernomyrdina when she was small becauseshe played football with the boys.

She was the first girl brave enough to try and make thejunior league. Now rapt crowds watch the 22-year-oldlead the women’s national team in its quest to win accept-ance and respect in Vladimir Putin’s socially conservativeRussia. The technically-gifted midfielder with the firmgaze and soft smile knows the men’s World Cup kicking offin Moscow in a month could work miracles for the Russianwomen’s game.

“I think I gave women’s football a certain push,”Chernomyrdina says after a spirited practice with herdomestic side Chertanovo. “Girls saw that they could playfootball, that it was allowed, that nothing was banned, andthat parents should not be afraid,” she says. “Of course Ithink the World Cup will only help.”

SOVIET BAN Chernomyrdina has spent her life breaking taboos set in

the Soviet era and cemented by modern Russia’s rigid-some would say regressive-view of women’s role in theworld. The Communist Party brushed aside its statedequality goal and banned women’s football outright in1972 because it was a “men’s sport”. A brief revival in for-mer Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev’s liberal pere-stroika era stalled under the weight of catastrophic eco-nomic woes. And Putin’s Russia has had a hard timeembracing the progress made by women in other parts ofthe world some generations ago. Many aspiring girl foot-ballers still have to brace themselves against culturalstereotypes if they want to play their chosen sport.

That is why 17-year-old Olga Belousova giggles shyly

and looks away when discussing how others react to herdevotion to the beautiful game.

“Some of my friends say it’s completely normal andothers say no, this is not feminine,” the national junior teamregular says. “I tell people that I like it, that I don’t carewhat the others say. The most important thing is that I likeit and this is mine.” Sports historians have spun varioustheories about why women failed to make an impact onRussian pitches while the sport blossomed in places suchas Germany and the United States.

One popular legend says that great goalkeepers suchas Lev Yashin and Rinat Dasayev were associated in Sovietfolklore with defenders of the former superpower’s sover-eignty. This confluence of masculinity and patriotism madefootball into a tool of political propaganda and left noroom for women in the game. Former national team coachSergei Lavrentyev has little time for such talk as he leadsChertanovo’s afternoon training session.

“In some respects, I think it is more interesting thanmen’s football,” he says after shouting out encouragementand instructions in a gruff but amiable style. “It is moreemotional, more charged up. The girls, they wear theirhearts on their sleeves. I think the girls are even tougher.”

‘EVERYBODY JUST PLAYS’ The Russian team are making some strides. They have

reached three consecutive European Championships andbeat highly fancied Italy for the first time last year.Chernomyrdina hopes to avenge a 6-0 beating by Englandin a 2019 World Cup qualifier last year when the teamsmeet in Russia’s next match on June 8.

But the professional Russian league has shrunk from 15teams in 1992 to just eight. Average club match attendanceis 200. Chertanovo are full of national team talent but stillplay in a stadium with one stand that might seat 100 or so.

Coach Lavrentyev says the main obstacle to growth issimple: society’s apprehension about letting girls kick aball means they have almost no academies in which totrain. “That is why a huge event like the World Cup willhelp. Millions will see it and there will be a large flow ofchildren to football schools,” says Lavrentyev. “It is a real agift, the World Cup.” Viktoria Dubova is not so sure.—AFP

Costa looking for closure in Europa League final

MOSCOW: Moscow’s Chertanovo club female footballers take part in a training session in Moscow.— AFP

Once taboo, Russian women’s football eyes World Cup boost

S p o r t s Tuesday, May 15, 2018

15

ROME: Juventus were crowned Serie A champions forthe seventh year in a row on Sunday maintaining theirdominance in Italian football while European successcontinues to elude the Turin giants. It was a doubleRoman celebration five days after Massimiliano Allegri’sside won the Italian Cup title with a 4-0 win over ACMilan in the Stadio Olimpico.

“Maximo Masterpiece” headlined the Gazzetta delloSport of Allegri who has won the league and Cup dou-ble in all four seasons since he arrived from AC Milan in2014. “Allegri is the prophet ofa team that writes history, theTurin triumph was expected,but it is still impressive, whatelse can one say about theextraordinariness of this Juveepoch and its incredible pro-tagonists? Adjectives are nolonger enough, the numbersspeak for themselves.”

Hundreds of fans gatheredat the Piazza San Carlo inTurin waving flags with thenumber 7 after Sunday’s goalless draw with AS Romasealed another triumph with one game to go after agripping battle with Napoli. “We’re looking forward tocelebrating with our fans on Saturday,” said Allegri ofthe final game against Verona followed by an open-topbus parade through the city.

The trophy will be awarded then and a farewell cer-emony expected to honour retiring skipper GianluigiBuffon. “Four years like these don’t come along often,”said Allegri. “Credit goes to the lads for keeping theircool, taking things one step at a time towards our finalobjective.”

But the Turin giants failed to reach their main goal ofwinning a third Champions League title and first since1996. Allegri had led them to two finals in three seasonsbut this time their challenge ended in the quarter-finalsto Real Madrid.

And despite speculation linking Allegri with thevacant Arsenal manager’s job, club CEO GiuseppeMarotta said he was confident he would remain to tar-get the elusive European title. “There is a lot of opti-mism. I believe that this relationship can continue,” said

Marotta. “The ChampionsLeague is something impon-derable that we always seeclose but never manage tograsp.

“In the Champions Leaguethe difficulties are higher thanthose in the championship,but we have this goal aheadof us and we will definitely gofor it again next season.”Meanwhile, Maurizio Sarri’sNapoli won 2-0 in Sampdoria

to give them the meagre consolation of a new clubrecord of 88 points.

“It goes without saying Juve are more powerful inevery way,” said Sarri, who lamented that Napoliplayed many games after the champions.

Juventus’s last-gasp 3-2 comeback victory overInter Milan two weeks ago delivered the killer blow toNapoli’s bid for a first title since the days of Argentinalegend Diego Maradona back in 1990.

“We needed to go to bed early on that Saturdaynight in Florence,” said Sarri. “The only regret I havethis season is that we lost the Scudetto in the hotel and

not on the pitch. “The team suffered a psychologicalblow and felt it for the timing and the way that resultcame about. “We played after Juve 14 times in the last

16 rounds and seeing as Juve pretty much always win,that badly damaged us. “This sport has become a busi-ness for everyone.” —AFP

Juventus reign in Italy but European success eludes Allegri

Established 1961

Farewell ceremony expected to honour retiring Buffon

MADRID: Philippe Coutinho hit a hat-trick but couldnot save Barcelona’s unbeaten season as the Catalanswere left stunned by an extraordinary 5-4 defeat toLevante on Sunday. Ernesto Valverde rested LionelMessi for his team’s penultimate match of the cam-paign but it was a defensive horror-show that allowedEmmanuel Boateng to score three times and EnisBardhi twice at the City of Valencia Stadium. The LaLiga and Copa del Rey champions trailed 5-1 after anhour and still came within a whisker of a sensationalcomeback as Coutinho’s second and third goals, and aLuis Suarez penalty, set up a grandstand finish. ButLevante held on for a thrilling victory, which endstheir opponents’ hopes of becoming the first ever clubto finish a 38-game La Liga season as invincibles.

After drawing at home to Real Madrid last week-end, despite playing the second half with 10 men, andthrashing Villarreal, Barcelona sat just two gamesaway from the historical feat.

It was 1932 when the last side, Real Madrid, wentunbeaten in the top-flight but even that was acrossonly 18 matches, in a 10-team division. This wasBarcelona’s first league loss since slipping up againstMalaga on April 8 last year and while it has minimalimpact on the table, Valverde will have questions toanswer, not least with regards to leaving out Messi.“We are angry not to have come through this gameand not to have the opportunity to finish unbeaten,”Valverde said.

“But in a season some matches go your way andsome don’t. I think this result was harsh in all respectsbut at other times this season, like in Seville, we couldalso have lost.”

This defensive collapse was reminiscent of theirChampions League meltdown against Roma, whichhas soured an otherwise successful campaign. Theunbeaten record was supposed to help atone for theEuropean failure. “Obviously we wanted to finish theleague undefeated,” Sergio Busquets told beIN Sport.

“But this does not take away everything we havedone otherwise this season - everything we haveachieved in league, the run we managed across twoseasons - but, it is a shame.”

For Levante, this is their eighth win in 10 matchesunder new coach Paco Lopez, who took charge withthe club in danger of relegation but has overseen aremarkable transformation. They move up to 15th.Paco’s players exploded out of the blocks and pulledahead in the ninth minute when Boateng nipped in atthe near post after Jose Luis Morales’ weaving rundown the left. Bardhi hit the woodwork with a liftedfinish over Marc-Andre ter Stegen but Barca failed toheed the warnings and Boateng made it two after halfan hour, latching on to Sasa Lukic’s threaded ballthrough. Coutinho pulled one back with a raspingshot before half-time but three Levante goals in 10minutes after the interval sent the home fans intodelirium.

Bardhi’s blistering shot restored the two-goaladvantage before Boateng completed his hat-trick asBarca’s defence was ripped apart again on the break.Another counter just before the hour ended withanother crisp Bardhi finish, as Barca were now staringat a four-goal deficit. The game looked dead butCoutinho scored twice in six minutes, the first a close-range finish after Ousmane Dembele’s shot spilledloose, the second an instinctive shot from the edge ofthe area. —AFP

Barcelona’sunbeaten seasonended by five-star LevanteMODENA: Between eight and ten million packets a

day, each with five cards, perhaps including the covetedones of Lionel Messi, Neymar or Cristiano Ronaldo-asWorld Cup fever builds the Panini sticker factory inItaly is working flat out.

With Panini, Italy are guaranteed not to miss out onthe World Cup in Russia even if their team will not becompeting. Created in 1960 by the four Panini brothers,the business has an exclusive contract with world foot-ball’s governing body FIFA and its first World Cupalbum dates back to 1970.

Over the past 50 years the principle has neverchanged-you open, stick and exchange cards. “It’s thesimplicity that pays. Panini has never been in crisisbecause it’s a simple game enjoyed by parents and chil-dren,” Simona Spiaggia, head of production at the fac-tory in Modena in central Italy told AFP. Even four-time champions’ Italy’s absence from the World Cup forthe first time in 60 years has not dented booming sales.

“No, it’s marginal,” continues Spiaggia. “We producefor the entire world, apart from a part of LatinAmerican because we have another factory in Brazil.“But for the rest of the world, everything is done here.So Italy represents just a small part.”

Since last January the machines which haveremained unchanged since the 1960s, cut, mix andpackage at a faster rate than normal with the number offactory employees having jumped from 130 to 240 tokeep pace with demand. “We have production peaksevery two years with the European championships andthe World Cup. But that of the World Cup is a littlehigher,” said Spiaggia. And despite other partnershipdeals, notably with Disney, and inroads into cycling andbasketball, football “still represents the largest part ofour business,” she said.

Even competition from internet collections has notyet threatened or diminished the appeal of the tradi-

tional paper album. “We’re going forward with on-line.But it’s a bit like books, some move to e-books, otherswill always prefer paper and that’s the same for our col-lectors.” Fans will be searching avidly for stars includ-ing Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo, stickers which mayseem rarer but which are in fact not. “If they’re rare it’sbecause they are more sought after,” explainedSpiaggia. “There are fewer in circulation becausethey’re not being exchanged, but not at the start.”

In the end it’s all down to chance and the shuffle ofthe machines. That is one thing that has changed fromthe early days when the mix was done with a shovel bythrowing the stickers against the wall. — AFP

No crisis for Panini stickers as World Cup fever builds

ROME: Juventus players celebrate at the end of the Italian Serie A football match AS Roma vs Juventus at theOlympic stadium on Sunday in Rome. Juventus won a seventh straight Serie A title after a goalless drawagainst ten-man Roma. —AFP

Seventh straight

Serie A title

FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Panini sticker collection.

PARIS: Twenty-five years have passed since Marseille’scrowning moment, but the only French club ever to havebeen European champions are finally dreaming of moreglory on the continental stage. After a Europa Leaguecampaign that began in late July, Rudi Garcia’s side nowfind themselves up against Atletico Madrid in tomorrow’sfinal in Lyon, at the home of one of their great rivals.

OM will not be the favourites against Diego Simeone’sformidable team, and indeed anybody brave enough at thestart of the season to tip a French side to go all the way inEurope would probably not have said Marseille. But ParisSaint-Germain again came up short in the ChampionsLeague, despite the world-record signing of Neymar, andLyon failed to reach the Europa League final in their ownstadium, leaving Marseille to fly the flag. They have donethat with distinction before-Basile Boli’s headed winneragainst AC Milan in the 1993 Champions League final inMunich allowed them to become European champions forthe first time. No French side has repeated that feat, withPSG’s victory in the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup in1996 the only other European trophy success for thecountry’s clubs. Marseille have had their moments though-already beaten in the 1991 European Cup final, on penal-ties by Red Star Belgrade, they lost the UEFA Cup finals of1999 to Parma and 2004 to Valencia.

Still France’s best supported side, they are preparingfor their fifth European final altogether, looking to givetheir notoriously passionate fans a night to remember. “It’sfantastic. I’d really love to write history with OM. We havehad a great run and given ourselves this chance,” saidFlorian Thauvin, their outstanding player this season.

Those fans will travel the three hours by road to Lyonin big numbers, relishing the prospect of lifting that trophyin their rivals’ own backyard, even if only around 11,000tickets have been allocated to them. In a Mediterraneancity that lives and breathes for its football team, there havebeen more downs than ups in the last quarter of a century,and fans descended on the Old Port to celebrate in style

after the semi-final win over Salzburg.“When you are a player and you live in Marseille, you

understand right away,” Boli, now 51, said in an interviewwith France Televisions. “You go to the butcher, the baker,you go to pick up your daughter, the city is like that, youdon’t need to be told that you represent somethingextraordinary. You experience it every day.”

MCCOURT’S ‘ROAD TO GLORY’ The 1993 success of Boli’s side ended up closing a

golden period in the club’s history-a match-fixing scandalerupted at the same time, and finished with Marseille beingconsigned to the second division a year later. OM havebeen French champions only once since, under DidierDeschamps in 2010, and since then have seen their great-est enemies, PSG, become one of the richest clubs on the

planet under Qatari ownership. PSG’s budget is aroundfour times that of Marseille, and the capital side have justwon a fifth Ligue 1 crown in six years. But they have con-sistently fallen short in the Champions League.

Marseille will certainly settle for victory in Europe’s lessprestigious competition, as they look to cap their first fullseason since American tycoon Frank McCourt took over atthe Stade Velodrome. Former Los Angeles Dodgers ownerMcCourt bought the club from Margarita Louis-Dreyfusin October 2016 and immediately launched his ‘ChampionsProject’, insisting: “We’re going to put our club back onthe road to glory.”

After spending significant money to bring in experienceand quality in the likes of Dimtri Payet, Luiz Gustavo andAdil Rami, Marseille are well down that road now, and itleads to Lyon this week. — AFP

Resurgent Marseille flying the flag for France again

GUINGAMP: File photo shows Guingamp’s French Clement Grenier (L) vies with Marseille’s Argentinian for-ward Lucas Ocampos (C) and Marseille’s French midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa during the FrenchL1 football match Guingamp against Olympique of Marseille (OM) on May 11, 2018 in Guingamp. — AFP

SportWebb Simpson marches to four-stroke Players triumph

Once taboo, Russian women’s football eyes World Cup boost

Juventus reign in Italy but European success eludes Allegri1513 14

Established 1961

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2018

Celtics humble Cavaliers in NBA openerNEW YORK: Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and AlHorford added 20 to power the Boston Celtics overCleveland 108-83 Sunday, humbling LeBron James andhis Cavaliers teammates in their NBA playoff seriesopener. The Celtics seized the lead in the best-of-sevenEastern Conference finals, with the winner to faceeither season wins leader Houston or defending cham-pion Golden State in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics, who host game two tomorrow, jumpedahead 36-18 after the first quarter and never lookedback, the Cavaliers coming no closer than 14 points inthe second half. “We were great,” Horford said. “Wecame out with a lot of energy. We fed off the crowd andwe kept it going throughout the game. We’re just outhere playing hard and doing the best we can.”

Marcus Morris had 18 points and 11 rebounds forBoston and Jayson Tatum added 16 while Brown hadeight rebounds and Terry Rozier contributed eightpoints and seven assists. James averaged 34 points, 9.4

rebounds and 9.0 assists in the first two rounds of theplayoffs but the superstar playmaker, seeking an eighthconsecutive NBA Finals berth, was shut down by anaggressive, hustling Celtics squad.

“We just have to make it hard for him,” Celtics coachBrad Stevens said of James. “Our guys played withgood aggression. They will have to do that againtomorrow.” James finished with 15 points on 5-of-16shooting with seven rebounds and nine assists. Heblocked two shots but also made seven turnovers.

“They showed two bodies (guarding James) allnight,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “When hethought he had driving lanes, they made him kick it outto other shooters.” The Celtics forced James to workharder defensively and rotated several players on thefour-time NBA Most Valuable Player to contain himoffensively. “We lost,” Lue said. “We didn’t play well.We know we have to play better. They attacked us ear-ly on. We had some great shots we couldn’t make and it

snowballed from there.” Talented 20-something playersTatum, Rozier and Brown have filled the void left byinjured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, com-bining with Horford — who has been eliminated byJames four times in the playoffs-to become a formida-ble force that out-hustled the more experiencedCavaliers and dominated defensively.

CELTICS DOMINATE EARLY “They are just embracing this opportunity,” Horford

said. “We have a great opportunity in front of us andwe’re enjoying it game by game. I try to lead them thebest way I can, lead by example.” Morris, who boastedhe was the best defender to guard James, started andcontained the Cleveland superstar, who has morecareer playoff appearances than the entire Celtics ros-ter combined. “He’s a tough player,” Horford said. “Heknows how to defend. He has a great feel for that.”

Kevin Love led Cleveland with 17 points and eight

rebounds. Tristan Thompson had a game-high 11rebounds off the Cavs’ bench. Boston seized a 63-35lead early in the second half but the Cavs halved theirdeficit, Jeff Green’s jumper at the third-quarter buzzerpulling Cleveland within 78-64 entering the fourth.

Boston answered with a 7-0 run to start the fourth.A Morris dunk, Marcus Smart 3-pointer and Tatumlayup stretched the Celtics’ lead to 85-64 as part of an18-4 run that would put Boston ahead 96-68 and endCleveland’s hopes. Boston surged ahead 61-35 at half-time, paced by Brown’s 18 points and seven reboundsand Horford’s 14 points and five assists. James shot only3-for-8 in the first half and the Cavaliers missed theirfirst 14 3-point attempts of the game.

The Celtics opened an early 29-9 lead and a 25-2run helped carry Boston to a 36-18 edge after the firstquarter. Brown scored 13 points in the first quarterwhile Horford added 11 and the Celtics owned a 14-6rebounding edge. — AFP

PARIS: Neymar was named as France’s player of the yearat an awards ceremony in Paris on Sunday, and laterbrushed away questions over his future. The Paris Saint-Germain superstar took the prize despite missing the lastthree months of the season due to injury.

The world’s most expensive player scored 19 goals injust 20 league games for PSG before suffering a footinjury in February that required surgery in his nativeBrazil. He has not played since, and only returned toFrance from his homeland at the start of this month,fuelling speculation that he could seek to leave the clubafter just one season.

“I am very touched and very happy with our season.It is an honour. Without my teammates, I would neverhave received this award,” said the 26-year-old, who col-lected the prize from his illustrious compatriot Ronaldo.Neymar, who joined in PSG’s Ligue 1 title celebrations on

Saturday night, refused to discuss his future after collect-ing his award. “We talk about these things every time thetransfer window comes around. I don’t want to talk aboutanything at the moment,” he said. “Everyone knows whyI came here, what my objectives are. Right now, myobjective is the World Cup, not talking about transfers. “Ispend my whole life, every transfer window, talking aboutit. It’s a bit annoying.”

Neymar beat two of his PSG teammates to the prize,voted for by his fellow players-Edinson Cavani, Ligue 1’sleading scorer this season with 28 goals, and KylianMbappe were also nominees, along with Marseillewinger Florian Thauvin. Neymar was signed fromBarcelona for a world-record 222 million euros ($264million) last August, and helped PSG on their way to aclean sweep of the domestic trophies.

However, his injury appeared to cost Unai Emery’steam dear in their Champions League last-16 tie againstReal Madrid-he was unable to play in the second leg, andPSG lost 5-2 on aggregate. He is hoping to be back tofull fitness in time to lead Brazil at the World Cup inRussia, which starts in a month’s time.

Club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insisted onSaturday that there was no chance Neymar would beleaving. “I am 2000 percent sure he will stay,” Al-Khelaifisaid, rejecting talk of a transfer to Real Madrid.— AFP

Neymar wins French player of the year, rejects transfer talk

‘Our guys played with good aggression’

BOSTON: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics attempts a shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the fourth quarter in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on Sunday in Boston,Massachusetts. — AFP

PARIS: Thomas Tuchel has been appointed as the newcoach of Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal, theFrench champions confirmed yesterday. The 44-year-oldGerman has agreed to succeed Unai Emery, who willleave after the final game of the French season this week-end. “It is with much joy, pride and ambition that I amjoining this big club, Paris Saint-Germain,” said Tuchel inan English-language statement released by PSG.

“I can’t wait to start working with all these great play-ers who are all amongst the best in the world. “ParisSaint-Germain has enormous potential and it is by far themost exciting proposition in football.”

It was an open secret that Tuchel had been lined up asthe next coach of the ambitious club from the French cap-ital. They had been on the look-out for a replacement forEmery ever since being beaten 5-2 on aggregate by RealMadrid in the last 16 of the Champions League in earlyMarch.

That disappointment in Europe, following a humiliatingloss against Barcelona at the same stage a year ago,

meant there was no chance of Emery’s two-year contractbeing renewed at the end of this campaign. Tuchel was afree agent after leaving Borussia Dortmund a year ago,despite leading the team to victory in last season’sGerman Cup. “Thomas is one of the best and most com-petitive European coaches to have emerged over the lastfew seasons,” declared PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.“He abides by very strong principles of playing spectacu-lar and clinical football that has always been the founda-tion of German football, especially on the internationalscene. “His competitive spirit, his preference for attackingfootball and his strong character are in line with what wehave always wanted for Paris Saint-Germain.” —AFP

Thomas Tuchel named new coach of PSG

Thomas Tuchel

ABK wins ‘Bank of the Year’ Award from Arabian Business Magazine 2118 19

WASHINGTON/BEIJING: US President Donald Trumppledged on Sunday to help ZTE Corp “get back into busi-ness, fast” after a US ban crippled the Chinese technologycompany, offering a job-saving concession to Beijingahead of high-stakes trade talks this week.

Trump’s unexpected announcement was a stunningreversal, given Washington’s tough stance on Chinesetrade practices that have put the world’s two largesteconomies on course for a possible trade war. Sourcesbriefed on the matter said Beijing had demanded the ZTEissue be resolved as a prerequisite for broader tradenegotiations.

“Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Departmenthas been instructed to get it done!” Trump wrote onTwitter, saying he and Chinese President Xi Jinping wereworking together on a solution for ZTE. The US CommerceDepartment last month banned American companies fromselling to the firm for seven years as punishment for ZTE

breaking a 2017 agreement after it was caught illegallyshipping US goods to Iran and North Korea, an investiga-tion dating to the Obama administration.

The penalty cut off ZTE’s access to key componentssuch as semiconductors, prompting China’s second-largestmaker of telecommunications equipment to say last weekthat it had suspended its main operations. During tradetalks in Beijing earlier this month, Chinese Vice Premier LiuHe told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that Chinawould not continue talks on broader bilateral trade dis-putes unless Washington agreed to ease the crushing sanc-tions on ZTE, two people briefed on those meetings said.

“The message was, ‘we have to deal with ZTE before wecontinue talks’,” one of the people said. Both sources, whodeclined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter,said China was willing in principle to import more US agri-culture products in return for Washington smoothing outpenalties against ZTE, but they did not offer details.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told aregularly scheduled news briefing yesterday that China“greatly appreciates the positive US position on the ZTEissue”. He said that Liu would travel to Washington fromtoday to Saturday to continue trade talks.

Linked to the trade row Within the Commerce Department, and in US business

circles, the US penalty against ZTE was widely seen asbased on clear evidence of a company knowingly floutingUS regulations - separate from the highly politicized traderow, the sources said. But Trump’s reversal surprised andfrustrated many US officials, who had viewed the penaltyon ZTE as final and not open to appeal, the sources said.

“Everyone has been explicitly saying this is not part ofthe trade conflict. And now the President has overtlylinked it to the trade dispute for better or worse, and thatis not good if you’re trying to maintain credibility,” the

second source told Reuters. ZTE, whose shares remainsuspended, did not have immediate comment. The USCommerce Department and China’s Ministry of Commercedid not have immediate comment. White House spokes-woman Lindsay Walters confirmed that US officials werein contact with Beijing about ZTE. She said Trump’s tweetunderscored the importance of “free, fair, balanced andmutually beneficial” relations between the United Statesand China on issues involving the economy, trade andinvestment.

Trump expects Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “toexercise his independent judgment, consistent with appli-cable laws and regulations, to resolve the regulatoryaction involving ZTE based on its facts,” Walters said.Washington and Beijing have proposed tens of billions ofdollars in tariffs in recent weeks, fanning worries of a full-blown trade war that could hurt global supply chains anddent business investment plans. —Reuters

A job-saving concession to Beijing ahead of high-stakes

Trump will help ZTE ‘get back into business’ SHANGHAI: The ZTE logo on an office building in Shanghai. US President Donald Trump said yesterday he was working with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to prevent telecom giant ZTE from going out of business after it was hit by an Americantechnology sales ban. — AFP

BusinessEstablished 1961


Al-Sayer unveils a new era of technology

NBK, Mastercard make GCC debut of pioneering biometric solutions

KUWAIT: Al-Safat Investment Company broke therecord on Thursday (10th May 2018) for designing andexecuting the world’s ‘Largest Vinyl-Decal Sticker in theWorld’ on Safat Tower in Hawally district. The stickeritself named “Sabah Al-Ezz” translates to “Sabah ofPride” and has His Highness the Amir Sabah Al-AhmedAl-Jaber Al-Sabah’s portrait.

Furthermore, an adjudicator from Guinness WorldRecords visited Kuwait to check the measurements of thesticker, along with an independent team of surveyors andengineers validating the record, thereafter announcingthat Al-Safat Investment Company broke the worldrecord of 830 square meters, as the sticker that Al-Safatput up was 937 square meters, an increase of 107 fromthe previously held record.

It should be noted that Al-Safat Investment createdthe aforementioned sticker in February 2018 to celebratethe National and Liberation days and that His Highnessthe Amir’s portrait was chosen for the occasion to appre-ciate his efforts in all aspects, especially modernizing theeconomy and developing it.

Chairman of the Board of Directors for Al-SafatInvestment Company, Abdullah Hamad Al-Terkait saidthat the company worked diligently for several months todocument this achievement, which is presented to HisHighness the Amir, as part of the company’s corporatesocial responsibility plan to support society in generaland youth particularly.

Al-Terkait highlighted that Al-Safat Investment isworking towards supporting student organizations inhigher education institutions, to raise awareness regard-ing economic development and the importance of invest-ment institutions, as the backbone of the nation’s econo-my as Kuwait is experiencing fast-paced development,originating from His Highness the Amir’s 2035 vision(New Kuwait) that both the private and public sectorpartner together to implement. In terms of youth empow-erment, Al-Terkait said that youth make up more than 70percent of Kuwait’s population and empowering them isthe responsibility of everyone, especially institutions thatdeal with them directly such as the SME Fund, Ministry ofYouth Affairs and the Public Authority for Youth, noting

that he’s happy that there’s a trend of young entrepre-neurs in Kuwait, creating businesses and jobs for them-selves, adding that it’s a sign of high economic awarenessand that it is the private sector’s role to support them.

Al-Terkait added Al-Safat Investment is studying theestablishment of, or participating in an investment fundthat supports young entrepreneurs and captures oppor-tunities in mainly, the “tech field”. He described this par-ticular field as having returns that sync with the compa-ny’s medium-long term investment strategy, saying thatthe group’s subsidiary and affiliate companies can sup-port these opportunities and provide service packagesthat lower their operational costs, thus increasing prof-itability. Referring to the business environment, he addedthat amending regulations to improve the businesssphere, is an urgent matter specifying the law governingthe SME Fund, insolvency and bankruptcy laws, commer-cial registrar and auditors law, pointing to the importanceof supporting the industrial sector and national industries,to compete regionally as that sector is essential for eco-nomic development.

New KuwaitMoreover, Al-Terkait stated that some government

mechanisms relating to business, need to substantially

improve, like using information and communication tech-nologies to make it easier and faster to process applica-tions and provide better services. He added that the ‘NewKuwait 2035’ vision aims to transform Kuwait, into a com-mercial and financial hub to bring foreign investment, tothe country where the private sector would be the eco-nomic leader, assuring that competition between differentsectors would improve productivity in an institutionallygoverned country. Furthermore, Chairman Al-Terkait not-ed that HH the Amir’s efforts to modernize the economy,paved the way for the National Program for Economicsand Financial Sustainability, which leads the way toimprove the business sphere. He also added that increasedcompetition in the private sector will not happen unless,the economy is diversified away from oil. Additionally, Al-Terkait stated that, the program can increase employmentby 70,000-100,000 Kuwaitis by the end of 2021, if com-petent planning and efficient employment is implementedand supplementing it with good governance, in addition tocategorizing jobs to fit the needs of the economy.

Al-Terkait also stressed the need to boost foreigndirect investment, to promote and finance small-mediumbusinesses before motivating public-private partnershipsand finally to set clear deadlines to privatization, restruc-turing and reorganizing production sectors.

Al-Safat Investment awarded ‘Guinness World Record’

KUWAIT: With the emergence and growth of newtechnologies like big data, Artificial Intelligence,machine learning and cloud computing, the demandfor IT and computer science skills has consistentlyrisen and will continue to rise for the foreseeablefuture globally, said Jane Richardson, Senior Director,Oracle Academy, EMEA in an interview. Excerpts:

Kuwait Times: What is the level of skills in IT inthe region, especially in Cloud?

Richardson: A recent report from the WorldEconomic Forum shows that some of the most com-mon high-skilled jobs in the MENA region includecommercial bankers, corporate finance specialists,accountants, schoolteachers, academics, engineers,quality assurance professionals and informationtechnology consultants. The report also states thatthe STEM talent pool is mainly dominated by a spe-cialization in Engineering, Manufacturing andConstruction (29 percent), with a smaller set of pro-fessionals specialized in Information andCommunication Technologies (13 percent), NaturalSciences, Mathematics and Statistics (8 percent).

Therefore with the emergence and growth of newtechnologies like big data, Artificial Intelligence,machine learning and cloud computing, the demandfor IT and computer science skills has consistentlyrisen and will continue to rise for the foreseeablefuture globally.This report also states that across theMENA region, substantial opportunity exists for cre-ating high value, formal jobs in the IT sector.Changing technologies mean that employers areseeking different skills.

This trend is reflected globally. Recent studiesfrom Oracle Academy and Burning GlassTechnologies found that in the US, roughly two-thirdsof the highest-paying and fastest-growing jobs in thefields of design, marketing, engineering and dataanalysis demand computer science skills. In bothSingapore and the US, the studies indicated a trendtowards “hybrid jobs,” or roles that combine skill setsfrom different fields, including computing. An exam-ple of a “hybrid job” would be a mobile app develop-er demanding skills in programming, design, market-ing, and User Interface (UI)/User Experience (UX).

KT: What modules in your curriculum are morepopular? What does that say about the on-demandskills in the region?

Richardson: Oracle, through its flagship OracleAcademy program, advances computer scienceeducation and makes it accessible to students glob-ally to drive knowledge, innovation, skills develop-ment, and diversity in technology fields. OracleAcademy leverages Oracle’s technology leadershipto deliver comprehensive programs to secondaryschools, vocational schools, two- and four-year col-leges, and universities. Oracle Academy partnerswith educational institutions to provide a variety ofresources, including technology, curriculum andcourseware, student virtual conferences, educatortraining, and Oracle industry certification and exampreparation materials.

With Oracle Academy, students develop IT andbusiness skills using software that is used widelyacross hundreds of industries. We see varying inter-ests across the wide range of Oracle Academy cours-es in database design, SQL, PL/SQL, Java program-ming and application development across differentcountries. Interest in cloud computing is howeverubiquitous. Before students can write applications inthe cloud, they have to master foundational comput-ing - including SQL and PL/SQL skills and object-oriented programming. Data is at the core of so manymodern innovations - big data, data science, machinelearning and artificial intelligence among them - sodeveloping SQL and PL/SQL skills are the basis forfuture growth and success.

In fact, the practice environments OracleAcademy offers in its SQL, PL/SQL, and ApplicationDevelopment courses are cloud based. With OracleApplication Express (APEX), users design, developand deploy database-driven applications using onlya web browser. Through full academic curriculum,Oracle Academy students and faculty gain hands-oncloud-based computing experience by using APEX.

KT: How many students and IT professionals doyou target annually? Who is the ideal candidate?

Richardson: Each year, Oracle Academy reachesmore than 3.5 million students in 120 countries. Theprogram is open to accredited, degree and diploma-granting institutions. Once an institution is a member,any of its teachers and students can benefit fromOracle Academy. Additionally, educators, education-al administrators, and students can join OracleAcademy as individual members and gain directaccess to Oracle Academy benefits.

From the MENA region, in the 2016 - 2017 aca-demic year, Oracle Academy has members in theUAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt.

In the UAE specifically, Oracle Academy now hasmembers across 28 Higher Education institutionssupporting over 75 University faculty members and11, 000+ students. We encourage students to con-sider developing foundational programming likethose mentioned in our Oracle Academy and BurningGlass Technologies report, since these skills are muchmore in demand outside of the IT sector itself.

KT: Are there certifications tied to the training?Are they open-based industry certifications or pro-prietary Oracle?

Richardson: Oracle Academy curriculum is devel-oped specifically as academic courseware; our goalis to help provide students with the skills they needto thrive in the modern global economy. Our curricu-lum is modular, making it easy for educators toembed it in entirety or in part in degree and diplomagranting programs.

The curriculum is also aligned to national andinternational standards, like those developed by theComputer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) andthe European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Bothare recognized in the MENA region. Additionally, ourJava courses can be used to prepare the students forthe AP Computer Science A exam. Students whocomplete Oracle Academy exams included with thecurriculum receive certificates of learning.

Additionally, Oracle Academy’s DatabaseFoundations and Java Foundation courses are alignedwith Oracle Junior Certified Associate certifications,offered through Oracle University. Students whoundertake Oracle Academy courses and then suc-cessfully complete these challenging exams candemonstrate their database and Java knowledge andskills with a distinction recognized by IT industryprofessionals. This qualification can help the stu-dents show differentiation; whether they are prepar-ing for college, applying to a graduate program, orcompeting for a first job or internship.

KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) wasnamed ‘Bank of the Year’ by Arabian BusinessMagazine, highlighting the bank’s series of mile-stones and achievements that have been recordedthroughout the past year. Abdullah Al-Sumait -Deputy Chief General Manager of ABK and FawzyAl-Thunayan - General Manager of Board Affairs,received the award onbehalf of the bank duringan awards ceremony heldat Jumeirah MessilahHotel - Kuwait, on 6thMay, 2018.

The ‘Bank of the Year’award recognizes ABK’sseries of achievementsacross various areas inl ine with i ts s implerbanking strategy, grow-ing the Bank’s opera-tions, and demonstrating the Bank’s strengthacross the region. ABK recently launched a newcore banking system; a powerful infrastructureframework that has transformed the Bank’s exist-ing IT infrastructure and operating systemsentirely. This has already been successfully

deployed across its UAE operations and Kuwaitwith Egypt following in the near future.

A number of other products and serviceswere introduced including cardless cash with-drawals, a service that enables customers towithdraw cash from ABK Branch ATMs using theMobile App or Online Banking without the need

of a debit card. TheBank’s salary offeringhas also been enhancedgreatly to better servethe needs of key sectors,particularly Kuwait.

ABK continues to berecognized internation-al ly and local ly andreceived a number ofawards including: ‘BestCommercial Bank byBanker ME 2018‘ ,

‘Employer of the Year 2018 by Naseba’, ‘BestRetail Bank by Asian Banker 2018, Best RetailBank 2018 by the European, as well as beingrecognized by Global Finance as one of the ‘Top10 Safest Banks in the region and 29th inEmerging Markets’.

B u s i n e s s Tuesday, May 15, 2018

18

ABK wins ‘Bank of the Year’ award from Arabian Business Magazine

ABK Group demonstrates strength across the region

Established 1961

Recognitionfor third

consecutiveyear

EXCHANGE RATESAL-MUZAINI EXCHANGE CO.

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.806Indian Rupees 4.630Pakistani Rupees 2.602Srilankan Rupees 1.933Nepali Rupees 2.902Singapore Dollar 230.250Hongkong Dollar 38.311Bangladesh Taka 3.593Philippine Peso 5.793Thai Baht 9.679

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 80.210Qatari Riyal 82.644Omani Riyal 781.445Bahraini Dinar 798.990UAE Dirham 81.946

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 0.000Egyptian Pound - Transfer 17.039Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.208Tunisian Dinar 126.080Jordanian Dinar 423.910Lebanese Lira/for 1000 2.005Syrian Lira 0.000Morocco Dirham 33.227

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 300.700

DOLLARCO EXCHANGE CO. LTD

BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY WLL

Euro 371.670Sterling Pound 426.390Canadian dollar 238.080Turkish lira 74.520Swiss Franc 315.860Australian Dollar 234.090US Dollar Buying 299.500

GOLD20 Gram 260.52010 Gram 133.1805 Gram 67.430

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 302.190Canadian Dollar 233.955Sterling Pound 410.280Euro 359.600Swiss Frank 305.900Bahrain Dinar 803.635UAE Dirhams 82.680Qatari Riyals 83.910Saudi Riyals 81.480Jordanian Dinar 427.500Egyptian Pound 17.133Sri Lankan Rupees 1.918Indian Rupees 4.496Pakistani Rupees 2.611Bangladesh Taka 3.619Philippines Pesso 5.817Cyprus pound 17.985

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.404151 0.411651Czech Korune 0.006180 0.015480Danish Krone 0.044453 0.049453Euro 0. 355774 0.363274Georgian Lari 0.138349 0.138349Hungarian 0.001139 0.001329Norwegian Krone 0.033849 0.039049Romanian Leu 0.064664 0.081514Russian ruble 0.004986 0.004896Slovakia 0.009002 0.019002Swedish Krona 0.031171 0.036171Swiss Franc 0.296751 0.306751

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.219919 0.231919New Zealand Dollar 0.204125 0.213625

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.230938 0.239938US Dollars 0.298200 0.302600US Dollars Mint 0.298700 0.302600

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003004 0.003786Chinese Yuan 0.046165 0.049665Hong Kong Dollar 0.036766 0.039516Indian Rupee 0.003857 0.004584Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023Japanese Yen 0.002682 0.002862Korean Won 0.000273 0.000288Malaysian Ringgit 0.072743 0.078743Nepalese Rupee 0.002726 0.003066Pakistan Rupee 0.001952 0.002722Philippine Peso 0.005636 0.005936Singapore Dollar 0.221528 0.231528Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001616 0.002196Taiwan 0.010372 0.010552Thai Baht 0.009153 0.009703

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.795076 0.803576Egyptian Pound 0.014557 0.020275Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000203 0.000263Jordanian Dinar 0.421764 0.430764Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000155 0.000255Moroccan Dirhams 0.022273 0.046273Omani Riyal 0.778877 0.784557Qatar Riyal 0.078744 0.083684Saudi Riyal 0.079527 0.080827Syrian Pound 0.001281 0.001501Tunisian Dinar 0.117353 0.125353Turkish Lira 0.065332 0.075632UAE Dirhams 0.080860 0.082580Yemeni Riyal 0.000982 0.001062

Japanese Yen 3.755Syrian Pound 1.590Nepalese Rupees 2.809Malaysian Ringgit 76.640Chinese Yuan Renminbi 47.880Thai Bhat 10.410Turkish Lira 70.200

Demand for IT, computer science skills on the rise: Oracle exec

KUWAIT: The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) announced themost recent issues of CBK bonds and related Tawarruq at atotal value of KD 160 million for three months with a rate ofreturn of 2.250 percent.

CBK bonds and related Tawarruq

Jane Richardson

KUWAIT: Boursa Kuwaitwould like to congratulateits customers and clients onthe occasion of the holymonth of Ramadan andinform them that tradinghours during this month willbe from 10:30 am until 1:45pm. Regular hours willresume following the EidAl-Fitr holiday.

Boursa Kuwait announces trading hours for Ramadan


19Established 1961

Al-Sayer unveils a new era of technology

KUWAIT: Mohamed Naser Al-Sayer & Sons EST CO.,a subsidiary of Al-Sayer Holding launched all-new 2018Camry Hybrid Electric Vehicle unveiling a new era oftechnology. The launch event was attended by Al-SayerBoard of Directors Faisal Bader Al-Sayer Chairman,Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer, CEO along with Bengt SchultzCOO, Johan Heislitz Senior Business Director, ScottMcNicol General Manager Toyota Retail, distinguishedguests from partner organizations, valued clients, repre-sentatives of the press and media and employees fromToyota retail and fleet sales.

Speaking about the Camry Heritage Faisal Bader Al-Sayer, “I remember when Camry was introduced twodecades ago in the Middle East. Since then several gen-erations of Camry were launched, undergoing stages oftransformation till the newest 2018 model. But one of thethings has not changed a fraction - our CUSTOMER’STRUST! Business or personal, customers across differ-ent age profile are proud and happy users of Camry.Now Toyota is bringing a Camry powered with new eraof technology to the Middle East - the Hybrid ElectricVehicle. Going forward our focus is aligning with Toyotato keep pace with the fast transformation of automotivetechnology, to drive positive changes and to set newtrends in the region.”

Taking ownership experience to a whole new level,the launch of the all-new Camry Hybrid Electric Vehicle(HEV) in the Middle East, exemplifying its continuouscommitment to providing environmentally friendly vehi-cles, while offering customers the opportunity to experi-ence the power and pleasure of sustainable mobilitythrough cutting-edge technology and an engaging driv-ing experience.

Trend-setterAccording to Scott McNicol “two decades ago

Toyota set a new trend in industry with the introductionof Prius world’s first mass produced hybrid - and sincethen there was no looking back. With several hybridmodels currently available Toyota Hybrid sales has sur-passed 10 million units worldwide. This is a testimonythat customers have started embracing this exceptionaltechnology.”

The all-new Camry HEV provides a comfortable andstable ride with superior handling characteristics, thanksto Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform,which represents an entirely new strategy to the way thecompany designs, engineers, and packages its vehicles.TNGA retains all of Toyota’s traditional values ofsuperlative build quality and safety while injecting a fundriving experience that plays on all the senses.

The class-leading model can be driven entirely byeither electrical power with zero-fuel consumption andcarbon emissions, or with a combination of a petrolengine and two electric motors depending on the vehiclespeed and customer’s driving behavior. The batteries inthe hybrid electric drivetrain are automatically chargedby either the petrol engine or when braking and deceler-ating, eliminating the need to plug in a power cord.Furthermore, the all-new Camry HEV does not require aspecial fuel yet drives like any other conventional car. Inaddition, thanks to its top-class fuel efficiency, visits to

petrol stations will be significantly reduced.

Stirring driving performanceYugo Miyamoto, Chief Representative, Middle East

and North Africa Representative Office, Toyota MotorCorporation, said: “We areexcited to launch the all-new Toyota Camry hybridelectric vehicle to build onthe success the Camryalready enjoys in theregion. With its stirringdriving performance andstate-of-the-art electrifiedtechnology, the all-newCamry HEV creates awhole new value proposi-tion, while ensuring seam-less fun and excitement for driver and passengers alikewithout compromising on its environmental credentials.”

Miyamoto added: “Toyota has been pioneering hybridelectric technology for more than 20 years and deliversnot only great fuel efficiency and low carbon emissionsbut also provides a smooth, comfortable, and engagingdriving experience, leading to higher customer satisfac-

tion rates. We extend our deepestgratitude to our customers in theregion for their continued support,which inspires us to excel anddevelop cars that exceed theirexpectations.”

Toyota continues to play aleading role in constantly innovat-ing and developing technologiesthat protect the environment,which is also a strategic imperativethat forms the cornerstone of thecompany’s business. Electrification

of vehicles has been an indispensable focus for Toyotasince 1997 and the company has launched several hybrid

electric vehicles in the past two decades, leading to asteady rise in the adoption of its environment-friendlycars and pushing its cumulative sales of electrified vehi-cles to 11.47 million. This enormous sales record repre-sents a reduction of more than 90 million tons of CO2compared to the sales of equivalent conventional vehi-cles and underscores the tremendous support receivedfrom customers.

Combined powerCombining two power sources consisting of a petrol

engine and two electric motors, the hybrid electric drive-train on the all-new Toyota Camry HEV produces 176 hpand 118 hp and delivers 22.5 kg-m and 20.6 kg-m oftorque, respectively. The combined power of the twopower sources (petrol engine and two electric motors) is215 hp. The drivetrain is mated to an electronically con-trolled Continuously Variable Transmission (e-CVT) thatexecutes smooth yet quick gear shifts, simulating a six-speed sequential shift transmission to deliver a new levelof driving pleasure.

With an exciting interior featuring a distinctive designand offering convenience and comfort with a layer ofluxury, the new car’s bold cabin is accentuated with arange of advanced features. This includes a wirelesscharging system for smartphones, dual-zone automaticair conditioning system, six-speaker sound system, mul-ti-adjustable power front seats, and 60/40 split andreclining rear seats, among many others.

Further enhancing the driving experience, the all-newCamry HEV model introduces the latest in-vehicle infor-mation technology displays, offering a unique level ofintegrated information with minimal distraction. It relaysinformation through three available interlinked displays;a 10-inch colored head-up display (HUD), a seven-inchmulti-information display within the instrument cluster,and an eight-inch audio/navigation control panel that isseamlessly integrated into the center console in a mod-ern, flush-surface design.

Safety top priorityAs with any other Toyota model, safety remains a top

priority for the all-new Camry HEV and employs the lat-est safety technologies including the brand’s innovativeToyota Safety Sense (TSS) safety package, which fea-tures Pre-Crash Safety (PCS), Dynamic Radar CruiseControl (DRCC), Automatic High Beam (AHB), and LaneDeparture Alert (LDA). In addition, a comprehensivearray of safety features has been added to protect vehi-cle occupants, including six SRS airbags, VehicleStability Control (VSC), Anti-lock Braking System(ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), BrakeAssist (BA), Hill-start Assist Control (HAC), as well as anenhanced body structure and platform structure, amongmany others.

Available in nine distinctive exterior colors, the all-new Camry HEV lets customers express their individual-ity. On the other hand, the interior is available with twotypes of wood ornament. Furthermore, the all-newCamry HEV has been rearmed with a 17-inch alloy wheeland an 18-inch alloy wheel.

Experience the power and driving pleasure with Toyota’s all-new Camry hybrid electric vehicle

Stylish exterior with aggressive character lines


20B u s i n e s s

Established 1961

In DR Congo, home-grown digital entrepreneurs defy odds

KINSHASA: Being a digital entrepreneur in the Democraticrepublic of Congo comes with many challenges, not least thatinternet access is very limited in a vast country of more than 80million people. Overcoming the odds, a small vibrant tech sceneis emerging in the sprawling capital, backed by funding fromthe DRC diaspora.

Dozens of aspiring entrepreneurs and curious investorsrecently gathered in Kinshasa for the launch of “IngeniousCity,” a dual-use meeting and office space with high speedinternet for Congolese start-ups.

WapiMED, an online map where users can book and payfor medical consultations, was founded by two Congolese,Jose Zefu Kimpalou and Steve Nkashama. Their startup is self-financed for now.

“As entrepreneurs, we don’t think about the risks; we thinkabout how we can initiate change and bring about a solutionto a problem,” said company country manager, DaddyKabeyal.

Kabeyal, who studied in Europe before returning toKinshasa, joined the team last year after a career in marketing.Using their online platform, a Congolese living abroad can payfor medical treatment for relatives back home.

Fighting for funding Access to high speed internet is not the only problem-

many investors are wary of the political and security risks inDRC. The banks can provide some funding but entrepreneursfind it difficult to convince themthat they are a safe bet.

“Being an entrepreneur inKinshasa is a bit like being thrownin the middle of a boxing ring andyou have to fight against someonewho is stronger than you”, saidBaya Ciamala, known as Narsixand founder of Baziks, a musicstreaming app. “We need workingcapital. We need to invest inresearch and development for ourprojects, because it’s really a newindustry that requires flexibilityand funds to be able to move forward and operate, and that isreally not easy in Kinshasa”, he added.

There are signs of change however. The country’s nationaltrade union (Federation des Enterprises du Congo) recently

launched a special unit to help young entrepreneurs. “We’regoing to tell the banks-here are those you should give fundsto,” said Serge Nawej, president of the National Commissionfor Young Entrepreneurs (CNJE). “We’ll give our members

legal advice and encourage rev-enue sharing,” said Nawej, whohopes to reach 55,000 membersby 2020. Thomas Strouvens, aBelgian citizen with Congoleseroots, moved to Kinshasa fiveyears ago, deciding to leave hisjob in advertising and launch astart-up last year with his co-founder Jean-Louis Mbaka.

The pair created Youdee, areal-estate website that connectsowners, renters, buyers and sell-ers. Since launching in 2017, they

have been attracting 5,000 views per month. Strouvens andMbaka were able to raise funds and hire eight employees inKinshasa. “We are better organized and have a stronger techcommunity than people think. There’s a real potential here,”

said Strouvens. “Entrepreneurs need a bit more support fromthe state and from the private sector, but we really don’t haveanything to envy from our neighbors.”

‘Useful to my country’ Jonathan Kiloso, who spent several years in France, recent-

ly co-founded an incubator called Start It Congo. His aim is tosupport six Congolese start-ups this year. “I want to be usefulto my country,” he said, “but it’s also a business venture. In amarket that isn’t very competitive, the digital space presentsan opportunity but you have to have an idea”. Kiloso backsBaziks, which aims to promote Congolese and African musi-cians. “Music in the DRC is like football in Brazil”, saidCiamala. “We could have started our company in France but Ithink it’s important to start in the country of origin”. Baziksconnects African musicians with listeners through a system of“followers”. The application offers a pay-by-song service aswell as a premium subscription service. Ciamala’s goal is toreach two percent of the connected population in the DRC.

“It’s a bit philosophical but it’s also to prove that we can dothings here, that we can export internationally, instead of theother way around”. — AFP

Mercedes-Benzto offer complimentary check-ups thisRamadanKUWAIT: With Ramadan around the corner,A R Albisher & Z Alkazemi Company - theauthorized General Distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait - has announced a complimen-tary brake and suspension check-up campaignfor Mercedes-Benz cars owners throughoutthe holy month while highlighting the impor-tance and safety of a well maintained and fine-tuned vehicle all year around. The campaignaims to provide the highest levels of safety andcomfort to Mercedes-Benz cars owners, pre-venting them from any hassle or inconvenienceduring this period of the year.

Valid from the first day of Ramadan, thisspecial offer applies on the full range ofMercedes-Benz sedans, SUVs, cabriolets,roadsters and coupes at all three authorizedMercedes-Benz Service Centers - ShuwaikhService Centre, Al-Rai Service Centre, andAhmadi Service Centre.

The customers can enjoy complimentaryvisual brake and suspension checks of theirMercedes-Benz vehicles and also avail 35 per-cent discount on related genuine Parts for thejobs done at any one of the service centres.

Also, A R Albisher & Z Alkazemi Companywill be offering a special discount of up to 55percent on selected items from Mercedes-Benz boutique and accessory collection. The

items range from cars mats, hub caps, alloywheels, polo shirts, watches, caps, sun glasses,pens, key chains, wallets, model cars andMercedes-Benz perfumes. The generous dis-

counts on these selected items is only avail-able during the month of Ramadan whilestocks last. The items are available at all theboutique and accessory shops in the servicecenters.

Mercedes-Benz customers can sit backand relax, while their car is being checked forbrake and suspensions by trained techniciansusing the latest tools and equipment and alsobrowse through the available lifestyle andaccessory collections.

Ramadan timings for A R Albisher & ZAlkazemi’s Service centers are as follows:

Shuwaikh Service Centre / ExpressService (8:00 am to 2:00 pm); ShuwaikhQuick Lube Centre (8:00 am to 2:00 pm and8:30 pm to 11:30 pm); Ahmadi Service Centre/ Express Service (8:00 am to 2:00 pm); Al-Rai Service Centre (8:00 am to 2:00 pm); &Al-Rai Express Service (8:00 am to 2:00pmand 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm).

NEW YORK: Wall Street indexes rose yesterday,helped by gains in technology stocks afterPresident Donald Trump softened his stance onChinese technology company ZTE Corp, signalingeasing US-China trade tensions.

Trump on Sunday pledged to help ZTE “getback into business, fast” nearly a month after theUS Commerce Department banned American com-panies from selling to the firm for violating anagreement. Trump’s comments came ahead of tradetalks between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and USofficials this week to resolve escalating trade dis-putes and drove big gains in the shares of US sup-pliers to ZTE.

Optical components maker AcaciaCommunications jumped 16.1 percent, while Oclaroand Lumentum Holdings rose 5.8 percent and 3.6percent, respectively. “Some of the headlines pointto signs that Trump might be watering down histough talks on trade,” said Peter Cardillo, chiefmarket economist at Spartan Capital Securities inNew York. Also helping the mood was news that

China had resumed its review of chipmakerQualcomm’s proposed $44 billion takeover of NXPSemiconductors. NXP surged 10.3 percent andQualcomm 3.3 percent. The Philadelphia semicon-ductor index was up 1.9 percent. At 9:55 am ET, theDow Jones Industrial Average was up 120.76points, or 0.49 percent, at 24,951.93, the S&P 500was up 12.45 points, or 0.46 percent, at 2,740.17and the Nasdaq Composite was up 43.40 points, or0.59 percent, at 7,446.28.

The indexes posted solid gains last week,helped by a surge in oil prices, easing inflationfears and Apple’s rally that took the iPhone makerclose to $1 trillion in market capitalization.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage were trading above their 100-day movingaverages, a key technical level that many tradersbelieve is a sign that markets could gain further. “Itlooks like the markets want to move up, and thereseems to be a rosier outlook for geopolitics espe-cially North Korea,” Cardillo said. US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo said on Sunday thatWashington would agree to lift sanctions on NorthKorea if the country agrees to completely disman-tle its nuclear weapons program. Nine of the 11major S&P sectors were higher, with technologyand energy sectors leading the gains.

Exxon rose 1.1 percent after Citigroup raised itsprice target on the stock. The biggest decliner wasXerox, which tumbled 7.9 percent after the USphotocopier giant scrapped a planned $6.1 billiondeal with Fujifilm Holdings. Advancing issues out-

numbered decliners by a 2.39-to-1 ratio on theNYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners bya 2.04-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P indexrecorded 21 new 52-week highs and two new lows,while the Nasdaq recorded 73 new highs and 15new lows. Stocks in Asia were also upbeat. MSCI’sbroadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japanrose 0.5 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei also tackedon 0.5 percent.

Chinese shares came off the day’s highs but stillended in positive territory after Trump’s commentson ZTE Corp ,, which JPMorgan analysts said was“a significant positive”. Shanghai’s SSE Compositeindex rose 0.3 percent while the blue-chip rallied0.9 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed1.4 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Malaysian ringgit recov-ered losses after sliding 1 percent to a four-monthtrough against the dollar in the first onshore tradesince a shock election upset last week. Malaysianstocks sank as much as 2.7 percent at one point butended 0.2 percent higher. Veteran MahathirMohamad, 92, came out of political retirement tolead the opposition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance ofHope) to a stunning victory, defeating prime minis-ter Najib Razak, a former protege whom he hadaccused of corruption.

Some investors were concerned that populistpromises such as repealing an unpopular goodsand services tax and restoring a petrol subsidycould undermine the country’s finances.

But some analysts believe Mahathir’s proposalscould be positive for the economy. “The repeal ofGST, while only marginally negative for the fiscaldeficit, will be a boon for consumers, who havebeen upset that they bear the burden of poor fiscalmanagement and came out to vote against theestablishment,” said Trinh Nguyen, senior econo-mist at Natixis.

Oil and Iran While tensions in the Korean peninsula have

eased, US plans to reintroduce sanctions againstIran have stoked anxiety in the Middle East. Iranpumps about 4 percent of the world’s oil, and thelatest development has sent oil prices to near multi-year highs. Citi analyst Mark Schofield said rising oilprices risk causing ‘stagflation’, which could createa particularly “hostile environment” for risk assets.

Yesterday, US crude traded flat at $70.71 a bar-rel and Brent was up at $77.23, clawing back previ-ous losses after a relentless rise in US drilling activ-ity pointed to increased output. The United Statesthreatened on Sunday to impose sanctions onEuropean companies that do business with Iran, asthe remaining participants in the Iran nuclearaccord stiffened their resolve to keep that agree-ment operational. In currencies, the dollar dipped0.2 percent to 92.33 against a basket of major cur-rencies and was set for its fourth straight day oflosses. — Reuters

Curious investors gather in Kinshasa for launch of ‘Ingenious City’

Internet access very limited in a vast country

of over 80 million

Wall St climbs oneasing US-Chinatrade tensions

US oil output to grow again this year: OPECPARIS: Booming oil output in the UnitedStates-which has threatened to derail otherproducers’ efforts to drive up crude prices-looks set to expand strongly again this year,OPEC said yesterday. But rising inflation andpossible trade restrictions could throw a span-ner in the works for US producers in the longerterm, the Organization of Petroleum ExportingCountries said in a report. The US is not amember of OPEC which accounts for more than40 percent of the global oil market.

But booming output of US shale producers-eager to cash in on a rally in oil prices since latelast year-has proven a headache for combinedefforts by both OPEC members and non-mem-bers to cut back production to combat a globaloil glut. While those efforts have indeed suc-

ceeded in pushing up prices in recent months,rising crude prices have at the same time madeit more attractive for shale producers-whoseoverheads are lower than the oil majors-to rampup output. OPEC has repeatedly warned thatbooming US shale production could jeopardizethe delicate balance that the overall market hasmanaged to reach. In its latest monthly oil mar-ket report, OPEC upgraded its forecast for non-OPEC output and said that the US wouldaccount for the largest share of the projectedincrease. Following a contraction in 2016, “non-OPEC oil supply has seen a recovery in 2017and 2018.. . This has been on the back ofimproving oil market conditions and rising oilprices,” the report said.

Nevertheless, it was “evident that uncertain-ties remain as to the forecast pace of growth ofnon-OPEC supply for the remainder of the year,”the cartel cautioned. The performance of non-OPEC supply in 2018 would depend on manyfactors, it said. “The continued strong develop-ment of the world economy could lead to risinginflation, and, along with potential trade restric-tions, would impact oil production costs.” — AFP

Ramadan deals are shiningbright at HondaAlghanimKUWAIT: On the occasion of the Holy month ofRamadan, Honda Alghanim, the exclusive dis-tributor of Honda cars, motorcycles and marineequipment in Kuwait, is extending its warmwishes to its customers with an unprecedentedoffer that gives them the freedom to choosebetween 0 percent interest, free golden insur-ance or cash back up to KD 800, or free serv-ice up to 3 years along free third party insur-ance and car registration when buying the 2018Civic, Odyssey, Odyssey-J, or Pilot vehicles.

This Ramadan is the perfect time to own oneof Honda’s renowned cars at unmatched prices.Honda Alghanim’s campaign brings exclusiveoffers on latest models, including the all-newCivic, acclaimed as the city’s ideal car, and set-ting new standards with its superior performanceand sporty design. Equipped with a 1.5, 1.6 or 2.0liters engine, the Honda Civic 2018 displaysautomatic side mirrors, a 7-inch touch screen, aswell as a luxurious cabin for maximum comfort.

Customers looking for a family vehicle can

count on the Odyssey or Odyssey-J being thebest in their class in terms of spaciousness,high-performance, and fuel efficiency. Knownas the absolute vehicle for famil ies, theOdyssey series provides safe performance andenjoys state-of-the-art technology owing tothe rear-seat DVD entertainment system.Furthermore, a child safety car seat can be eas-ily placed in the Odyssey and Odyssey-J, mak-ing of it the ultimate car for children’s daily tripto school, housewives’ daily shopping routine,and weekend trips.

Ramadan’s offer includes as well the Pilot, thelargest car in Honda’s fleet with seating for asmany as eight persons. Promoting sophisticated

qualities along a unique interior and exteriorfeatures, this four-wheel-drive modern SUV hassold nearly 1.4 million vehicles since firstreleased, making this stylish, practical, and com-fortable car the perfect choice for families look-ing to embark on fun-filled journeys.

Alghanim Motors, the exclusive distributorof Honda automobiles, motorcycles, powerproducts, and marine products in Kuwait, iscommitted to providing customers with flexi-ble payment solutions and efficient and cost-effective services. Customers can take advan-tage of this offer by visiting any of HondaAlghanim showrooms located in Al-Rai,Shuwaikh, and Al-Ahmadi.

KUWAIT: Answering the market’s growingdemand for increased convenience and securityassociated with biometric technology, NationalBank of Kuwait and Mastercard announced twopioneering biometric solutions designed toimprove online and in-store shopping at a pressconference held at NBK headquarters.

Isam J. Al-Sager, Group Chief ExecutiveOfficer, National Bank of Kuwait, andMohammed Al-Othman, General Manager ofConsumer Banking Group, National Bank ofKuwait attended the event. Khalid Elgibali,Division President - Middle East and NorthAfrica represented Mastercard at the eventwhich started with the announcement of thenew biometric solutions and was followed by ashowcase at NBK museum. Journalists wereinvited to test drive the Identity Check onlineauthentication solution along with other inno-vative banking technologies NBK has intro-duced including Video Chat, Quick Pay, AskMe and the advanced Online Banking andMobile Banking app services.

Isam Al-Sager, NBK’s Group ChiefExecutive Officer, said: “Our long-standingpartnership with Mastercard enables us todayto introduce the most advanced and first of itskind service in the Middle East, allowing cus-tomers to use the Selfie Pay service as well asbiometric cards. These new services come inline with NBK’s endeavors to offer the latesttechnologies in the banking sector as demandfor easier and safer banking services continueto increase.”

Al-Sager added: “We continue to focus onbringing innovative and unique services to ourNBK customers through our partnerships withleading and internationally renowned compa-nies such Mastercard. Leading the way withtechnologically advanced services is a strate-gy that falls in line with our long-term strategyto improving mobile services that satisfy theneeds of our customers.”

NBK customers will be the first in theMiddle East and Africa (MEA) region to expe-

rience Mastercard’s Identity Check onlineauthentication solution, while a pilot programfor an innovative biometric card with anembedded fingerprint sensor will be a first forthe GCC.

Mastercard Identity Check is an advancedauthentication solution that uses biometricidentifiers such as fingerprint, facial and voicerecognition to verify users’ identity throughtheir mobile devices when shopping and bank-ing online. The solution works across multipledevices and platforms, simplifying consumers’lives by eliminating the need to enter a pass-word or answer security questions.

Fol lowing the off ic ia l launch, theMastercard and NBK co-branded app,‘Mastercard Identity Check for NBK, ‘ willbe available from the Apple App Store andGoogle Play Store. Consumers can downloadthe application and register their biometrics- whether fingerprint or face - securely onthe smartphone.

Once registered, users will receive a notifi-

cation through the app prompting them toauthenticate their identity using their pre-ferred choice of biometrics to complete thetransaction when making online purchases.

National Bank of Kuwait and MasterCardalso announced theGCC region’s firstpilot program for abiometric card toconveniently andsafely verify thecardholder’s identi-ty for in-store pur-chases. When shop-ping and paying in-store, the biometriccard works like anyother chip card. Thecardholder simply dips the card into a retail-er’s point-of-sale terminal while placing theirfinger on the embedded sensor. The fingerprintis verified against the template stored on thecard and - if the biometrics matches - the

transaction can then be approved with thecard never leaving the consumer’s hand.

The biometric card works with existingEMV card terminals globally, so cardholderscan use it wherever cards are accepted, with-

out any new hard-ware or softwareupgrades requiredfrom merchants.

D i m i t r i o sKokosioulis, Headof IT & OperationsGroup, NationalBank of Kuwaitcommented: “NBKendeavors to deliv-er innovative, pow-erful and distinctive

value propositions to our consumers. Working with Mastercard, we are introduc-

ing solutions in the region for the very firsttime, meaning our customers can experiencethe latest and most advanced authentication

technology available today. The adoption ofthis technology is also fully aligned with our‘mobile-first strategy’, which outlines aroadmap to a more convenient future for ourcustomers.”

“We are excited to build on our long-standing partnership with NBK as we debutgroundbreaking biometric technology in theregion for the very first time. Our jointresearch with the University of Oxford hasproven that 93 percent of consumers preferusing biometrics to remembering passwords.

These next-generation authentication solu-tions are no longer based on what you remem-ber, but who you are - a fundamental differ-ence that brings new levels of convenience toconsumers, while further enhancing security.The development of these innovative solutionsmarks an important step in our ongoing questto fulfill the needs of consumers and drivechange across the region’s constantly evolvingpayments ecosystem,” said Khalid Elgibali,Division President, MENA, Mastercard.


21Established 1961

NBK, Mastercard make GCC debut of pioneering biometric solutions

Identity check offers authentication solution for online transactions

Biometric card features an embedded

fingerprint sensor

Topkap Palace

KUWAIT: Isam J Al-Sager (second left), Mohammed Al-Othman and Khalid Elgibali duringthe press conference

KUWAIT: Officials of National Bank of Kuwait and Mastercard during the launch of twopioneering biometric solutions designed to improve online and in-store shopping.

Enjoy Istanbul with Turkish Airlines and touristanbulDUBAI: Turkish Airlines, flying to more coun-tries and international destinations than anyother airline, offers a free layover service to allinternational transit Turkish Airlines passen-gers who fly through Istanbul with a 6-24hour layover. Since its launch in 2009, touris-tanbul has already benefitted almost a quarterof a million passengers who were able toenjoy a taste of Istanbul.

With its customary Turkish hospitality,Turkish Airlines takes pride in curating adelightfully different experience for its pas-

sengers and going beyond expectations withits array of unique products and services. Thenational flag-carrier offers the complementarytouristanbul service including transfers, accessto historical sights of interest as well as a sam-pling of Turkey’s famed cuisine. Passengerscan catch a glimpse of the varied history andcultural fusion which has made Istanbul such avibrant and charming city.

To enjoy the benefits of touristanbul, pas-sengers must have an international transitflight through Istanbul with Turkish Airlinesand layover of 6-24 hours. Tours depart dailyfrom the Hotel Desk at Istanbul AtaturkAirport, with a daily schedule taking place8:30 to 11:00, from 09:00 to 15:00, from09:00 to 18:00, from 12:00 to 18:00 and from16:00 to 21:00. The tour program includes acombination of some Istanbul’s highlights suchas Topkap Palace, Sultan Ahmet Mosque,Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Galata Tower,Dolmabahce Palace and many more.

Huawei Y7 Prime 2018, an entrylevel phone thatdelivers smoothexperienceKUWAIT: Have ever wished your phone to functionas good as a blockbuster, whether you are playinggames, streaming videos, or taking photos?

Is your handset too old to run a bunch of apps?Is the memory too tiny? Does your phone freeze allthe time? Is the Android version too outdated?Why can’t you enjoy smooth experience? Wherecan you get a good device?

Smooth experience depends on hardware andsoftware. Robust hardware is the key to spectacularexperience. In other words, the more cores thechipset has, the stronger the phone is. The bigger thememory, the faster the phone runs. On the flip side, amature, optimized software system means betterbackend management, CPU allocation, and fragmentmanagement, allowing you to enjoy the device more.Indeed, a growing number of budget phones nowhave octa-core processors, thanks to the fierce com-petition. But not all processors are as good as youthink. On memory, for example, 3G RAM +32G ROMprevails. However, Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) fea-tures 3G RAM+16G ROM. Of course, different hard-ware means different experience.

Software is pivotal. But most entry-level phonesdon’t have the latest Android OS. For example,Samsung Galaxy J7 2017 runs on Android 7.0 whileOPPO A83 on Android 7.1. Some are even worse. Ina word, these hardware and software leave much tobe desired for better user experience.

Huawei is changing that. The company is a lead-ing player in smartphones, and a great success in

high-end market segments owning to its strongR&D and the outstanding experience the phonedelivers. And its mid- and low-end handsets “bor-row” some elements of such experience. TheHUAWEI Y7 Prime (2018) crams in an octa-coreprocessor and 3G RAM +32G ROM, which arestrong engines for the phone. The EMUI 8.0 basedon Android 8.0 takes another step ahead by lever-aging both the hardware and software, deliveringsmooth experience easily.

Stronger chipset Apps are evolving constantly, and their func-

tions are getting more complicated these days.Even if the system stays the same, it requires morefrom chipsets and memory. The fierce competitionhas taken the Android hardware to a new level -Octa-core processors are seen everywhere; memo-ry is getting bigger. These are the foundation fordelightful experience on Android.

The HUAWEI Y7 Prime 2018 is equipped withan energy-saving octa-core chipset calledMSM8937. Combined with leading techniques, itgives users better experience with less energy con-sumption. The phone also features a more common3G RAM +32G ROM, making multitasking possibleand easier. The more robust chipset and more gen-erous memory are the recipe for remarkable expe-rience including streaming music, videos, surfing,and games.

Latest Android 8.0Google usually associates its latest Android OS

with food. Almost all Android systems representsomething delicious. Android 5.0 is called lollipop,6.0 marshmallow, 7.0 Nougat, and 8.0 Oreo.

Huawei adopts Android 8.0 for its budgetphones much faster than Samsung, OPPO. The newarrival HUAWEI Y7 Prime 2017 is no exception. Itrepresents another move ahead to delight cus-tomers. By building on Android 6 and 7, Android8.0 is getting a stronger grip on apps running in thebackend. This prolongs battery life to some extent,because apps go to sleep if not in use and theywake up once called. The idea is to cut back onbackend power consumption without removingapps or changing user behaviors. And the phoneruns faster on Android 8.0.

Optimized EMUI 8.0 Apart from stronger hardware and new version

of OS, another key element for smooth experienceis further optimization of the system. This dependson the phone maker’s R&D. As a key player inAndroid smartphones, Huawei is well positioned toimprove Android systems. As a result, HUAWEIMate 9 and other premium handsets that come afterit are born fast and stay fast, delivering stunningexperience even after 18 months.

Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 is based on Android 8.0. Butit is better after deep customization. It integrateswith an octa-core chipset to bring consumers thebest advantages of software and hardware integra-tion as well as the superior performance of CPU.Furthermore, leveraging machine learning algo-rithms, the device learns users’ behaviors and habitsto ensure better mobile performance. EMUI 8.0features the next generation file enhancement sys-tem to reduce file fragmentation, which means theHUAWEI Y7 Prime 2018 preserves their speed andresponsiveness overtime. With EMUI 8.0, theHUAWEI Y7 Prime 2018 will bring users asmoother and much better experience. Unlike otherphone makers, Huawei has introduced better hard-ware and software to entry-level phones, deliveringpremium experience to wider audience as soon aspossible. When HUAWEI Y7 Prime 2018 comes,smooth experience - games, videos, and webbrowsing - is finally within your reach.

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al-Danah weeklydraw on 13 May 2018 announcing the namesof its winners for the week of 6 - 10 May 2018.From April 15th onwards, the daily draws werereplaced with weekly draws, in which five win-ners will receive KD 1,000 each, every week. The winners this week are: * Perin Ibrahim Al-Hajal* Mohammad Saleh Khalil Al-Temimi* Waleed Hamad Mohammed Al-Sumait* Mohammad Ibraheem Mohammad Al-Khabaz* Hamad Abdullah Saad Al-Maayouf

Gulf Bank Al-Danah’s first quarterly drawfor KD 200,000 prize was held on 28 March,and the second Al-Danah quarterly draw, forthe prize of KD 250,000 will be held on 27June while the 3rd quarterly draw for the prizeof KD 500,000 will be held on 26 September.The final Al-Danah draw for KD 1 million willbe held on 10 January 2019, where the Al-Danah millionaire will be announced.

Gulf Bank encourages you to increase yourchances of winning with Al-Danah by deposit-ing more into your Gulf Bank account using

the new ePay (Self-Pay) service, which isavailable on Gulf Bank’s Online and MobileBanking.

Al-Danah also offers a number of uniqueservices including the Al-Danah Deposit OnlyATM card, which helps account holdersdeposit their money at their convenience, aswell as the Al-Danah calculator to help cus-tomers calculate their chances of becoming anAl-Danah winner.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah account is open toKuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti residents of Kuwait.Customers require a minimum of KD 200 toopen an account and the same amount shouldbe maintained for customers to be eligible forthe upcoming Al-Danah draws. If the cus-tomer’s account balance falls below KD 200 atany given time, a KD 2 fee will be charged totheir account monthly until the minimum bal-ance is met. Customers who open an accountand/ or deposit more will enter the daily drawwithin two days. To take part in the Al-Danah2018 upcoming quarterly and yearly draws,customers must meet the required hold periodfor each draw.

Gulf Bank announces winners ofAl-Danah weekly draw


22 Established 1961

KFH unveils Ramadan program‘increase good deeds in Ramadan 4’

Al-Ruwaieh: Bank CSR achievements key milestone in sustainable development

KUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has unveiledits comprehensive Ramadan program themed “IncreaseGood Deeds in Ramadan 4” that includes various socialand humanitarian events and activities stemming fromthe bank’s endeavors to solidify its commitmenttowards the society, while supporting all social andhumanitarian initiatives.

“Increase Good Deeds in Ramadan 4” program aimsat strengthening KFH’s social role, while reinforcing tieswith various segments of society. This program is thelaunchpad of comprehensive program full of activities,events, visits and voluntary work.

Executive Manager Group Public Relations andMedia at KFH, Yousef Abdullah Al-Ruwaieh said thatKFH will continue its efforts to support all activities ofinterest to the society in line with the bank’s strategyand social responsibility message, especially in the Holymonth of Ramadan.

He added in a press release, that KFH has prepared acomprehensive program in Ramadan that encompassesdifferent activities that encompass all social segments,indicating KFH will distribute over 20000 breakfastmeals at different places including Nayef Palace, Souq

Al Mubarakeya, and Alshamlan mosque. The bank hassigned an agreement with Nahtam voluntary team tolaunch “Ramadan Aman” campaign to distribute100000 meals.

KFH organizes breakfast feasts to workers on dutiesduring Iftar time in recognition of their efforts andresponsibilities. KFH has signed a cooperation agree-ment with ‘Agrivage’; a startup business created by agroup of Kuwaiti students, with the purpose of pre-serving the environment by recycling food waste andconverting it into usable rich soil.

This comes as part of KFH social responsibility and

commitment towards the youth initiatives and theenvironment.

‘Agrivage’ won coveted INJAZ-Kuwait award,INJAZ AlArab award in addition to the honoring by HisHighness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-JaberAl-Sabah.

‘Agrivate’ initiative is considered as highly importantespecially in the holy month of Ramadan. KFH supportto ‘Agrivage’ and the signing of the cooperation agree-ment as the first institution in the private sector con-firms the great interest KFH attaches in the activities ofinterest to the environment in collaboration with the

concerned parties.KFH voluntary team

will be present at differ-ent places to meet thepublic directly and dis-tribute Ramadan pres-ents and confectionaries(Qerqe’an) at Discoverymall, The Kuwait Societyfor the Handicapped,Kuwait Down SyndromeSociety and DasmanDiabetes Institute. KFHwill organize a numberof visits to health cen-ters, hospitals and nursinghomes to congratulate patients on the Holy month ofRamadan while distributing gifts.

Al-Ruwaieh concluded that KFH voluntary team willprovide voluntary services to the public and will assistcivil defense and security men and distribute food andbeverages to worshipers. KFH is keen on reinforcingthe human values among society individuals.

Distributing iftar meals

— Distributing over 20000 iftar meals in Ramadan— Strategic partnership with Ministry of Interior— Daily field visits

Yousef Al-Ruwaieh

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The Quality Source Company held DamonIntroductory and Damon Advance sessions by DrRichard Cure and Dr David Bearn on Thursday at theCrowne Plaza Hotel in Farwaniya. The course was heldfor two days and explored Damon’s philosophy, clinicalpractice and evidence.

Dr Faraj Behbehani, CEO of Quality Source and anorthodontist consultant at Basma Dental Center, toldKuwait Times that the workshop highlights the devel-opment of the Damon System. “I founded QualitySource Medical Services in 2007 before establishingmy clinic in 2009. The company is interested in takinginternational agencies with scientific importance in thefield of dental products. One of the companies that we

have contracted exclusively with is the American‘Ormco’ company.” He added that Ormco is specializedin the materials used in orthodontics. “They have astrategic product that was famous in the world oforthodontics, called Damon system, which has the self-linking feature”.

Behbehani explained “When we move the teeth weslide it in the wire. If the amount of friction betweenorthodontics and the teeth was less, then the movementwill be easier and the pain less. This system has existedfor a long time and has been developed. I used it per-sonally in Kuwait in 2007. The common name for thissystem is the quick orthodontic because it is easierthan the regular one and saves approximately 6 monthsof treatment.” He noted “The sessions will cover thescientific side of Damon system where 85 people were

registered, about 80 percent of whom specialized inorthodontics in Kuwait.”

The first day session was titled ‘UnderstandingDamon: Where Biology meets Mechanics’ and was pre-sented by the two professors from UK. Bearn who is aprofessor of Orthodontics at the University of Dundee,examiner for intercollegiate membership in orthodon-tics and lead researcher on Ormco Clinical Trial.Alongside him was Dr Cure, head of dentistry studies,director of orthodontics at the university of Warwick.

The Damon System is a consumer brandingapproach to help you better connect with patients andcapitalize on their growing demand for faster, aestheti-cally-pleasing orthodontic treatment that deliversremarkable results and a new, beautiful smile.

The system is not just about revolutionary braces

and wires, it’s a whole new way of treating patients.Traditional treatment often requires removal of healthyteeth and the use of palatal expanders to make space.This approach is often uncomfortable, takes longer, andcan leave a narrower arch and a flat profile. Damonsmiles are full, natural 10-tooth smiles achieved withlight biologically-sensible forces, and are specificallydesigned to improve the overall facial result of eachpatient where Damon braces use a slide mechanism tohold the wire, which allows teeth to move more freely,quickly and comfortably. Damon braces are designed tobe discreet, comfortable and easy to keep clean.Without the elastic ties which attract and collectplaque, Damon braces make dental hygiene easy duringtreatment. Plus the Damon System is available in clearbrackets for those image conscious patients.

H e a l t h Tuesday, May 15, 2018

23Established 1961

Workshop and conference held onDamon’s philosophy, clinical practice

The workshop highlights the development of the Damon System

(From left to right) Professor David Bearn, Dr Faraj Behbehani, and Dr Richard Cure.


24W h a t ’ s O n

Established 1961

Fann Way Art holds ‘Al Mashreq’art exhibition at Al Hamra Center

Congratulations!

By Faten Omar

Fann Way Art and Events Co in collabo-ration with Al Hamra Luxury Centerorganized the “Al Mashreq” art exhibi-

tion to display paintings inspired by the spiritof Arab and Islamic civilization yesterday at‘The Gallery’. “The exhibition is a collectiveof 45 artworks created by 29 artists from theState of Kuwait, Middle East and Europe”Nasser Sharaf, founder of Fann Way said.

He added that the Al Mashreq exhibitionintroduces people to art of calligraphy, pat-terns, gilding, portraits, horses and architec-ture where the participating works are domi-nated by plastic creativity in all aspects.Along with this, is the use of constructiveinterdependence with the latest moderntechniques in the concept of formation, usingthem in all classical and modern art styles.

Fann Way was established in 2017 and

focuses on the exhibition of art and formworkfor art lovers and exhibitions in the field ofart. The company is dedicated to take a big-ger role in bridging art and Kuwaiti Societythrough offered services where its mission isto maintain the younger generations love forcreating art. Fann Way is also taking part insocial responsibility through communityservices such as volunteering in culture andsocial activities, arranging charity art exhibi-tion and introducing Kuwaiti art to public.

‘The Gallery’ in Al Hamra Luxury Centerwas officially opened in July 2017. Therehave been more than seven art exhibitionsheld here. Each exhibit ion has variedbetween showcasing international and localartists and also includes space to host artcourses and lectures for those who areinterested in this matter, especially in thefields of portraiture, painting, photography,and calligraphy.

In celebration of the holy month of Ramadan, Marina Hotel will bereviving the traditions of this occasion by offering many cuisines for allguests to share iftar and ghabka meals with families and friends. Facing the beautiful views of the Arabian Sea, the Atlantis restaurant

offers tasty food in a perfect ambiance. The wide variety of the buffetincludes Arabic and International dishes and allows guests to gather withtheir families and friends during the sunset which makes it the perfectplace to break their fast. The Atlantis will serve iftar till 08:30 pm

Kamar Al Marina tent features traditional Arabic decorations and warmcolors to reflect the spiritual meaning of Ramadan. To allow our guests toenjoy this atmosphere, Marina Hotel chefs have prepared a special ghabkabuffet which includes exceptional oriental desserts as well as seasonaldrinks complemented by a selection of tea flavors and Arabic coffee. Thetent is located inside the Six Palms and can accommodate up to 200guests for ghabka and suhour from 21:00 to 02:00 am. It will be spon-sored by KLM Airlines for the entire period of the month.

For private functions and corporate events, Salwa Sabah Al AhmedTheatre and Hall is the perfect venue. This exquisite hall can accommodateup to 500 guests at a time and the staff provides special personalizedattention to all details. It also offers a selection of different menus for iftarand suhour at exclusive prices and is fully equipped to cater for groupsand organizations. Nabil Hammoud, General Manager, said: “As the monthof Ramadan comes, we would like to wish our guests and their families aRamadan Mubarak and invite them to our hotel to enjoy the Arabic hospi-tality and the wide selection of local and international food especiallymade for this occasion.

Apart from the amazing iftar, ghabka and suhour offerings, guests areinvited to avail a special room rate throughout the month for 2 personswhere they can relax and enjoy their stay in the luxurious rooms that arespecially designed and have all the requisite facilities and luxuriousamenities. They can also use the state of the art fitness centre.

Marina Hotel is located right in the heart of one of the most prominentplaces in Kuwait. Guests can visit Marina Mall, which is among the bestshopping malls in Kuwait and is only walking distance from the hotel.They can also go to Marina Crescent which houses a variety of interna-tional restaurants and coffee shops. Make this Ramadan a truly memo-rable one by sharing special moments with family and friends at TheMarina Hotel Kuwait.

Celebrate the HolyMonth of Ramadanwith Marina Hotel

ICSK charityfund a big success

10th May 2018 proved to be anotherblessed day for ICSK (Senior) asjoy gripped the hearts of six special

people. Through the kind hearts of thestudents, staff and able leadership of DrV. Binumon, the Principal, a substantialamount of money was collected duringthe month of March as charity andbirthday funds, in order to providemonetary aid to people who were mostin need of it.

With great privilege and pleasure,ICSK presented the monetary aid to thesix special guests in an assembly con-ducted on May 10, 2018. RagiManemma, Jainaph Shek, Sita MayaGole, Devananda Kumar Kollu, JackelineAbabon, and Leonila Himantog were thelucky ones and each received KD150.000.

As Aristotle once rightfully said, “Togive away money is an easy matter inany man’s power. But to decide to whomto give it, and how large and when, andfor what purpose and how, is neither inevery man’s power nor an easy matter”.The guests received the aid with grati-tude and joy filling their hearts. Each oneof them left the school with a smile fromtheir hearts and in turn the ICSK familyfelt fortunate enough to be able to help.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one amongthe BIG 5 global jewelry retailer cele-brated the International Nurses Day in

association with Al Adan Hospital on 12th May,2018 at the Al Adan Hospital. InternationalNurses Day is celebrated around the world onevery May 12th, which is the anniversary ofFlorence Nightingale’s birth.

Nursing is a profession within the health caresector focused on the care of individuals, families,and communities so they may attain, maintain, orrecover optimal health and quality of life. Nursesmay be differentiated from other health careproviders by their approach to patient care,

training, and scope of practice.Malabar Gold & Diamonds has taken the ini-

tiative to celebrate the International Nurses Dayas a token appreciation to the Nurses for theirselfless contribution. Commenting on the celebra-tion, Mr Lukman Alavi, Deputy Branch Head,Malabar Gold & Diamonds said, ‘We thank AlAdan Hospital for associating with us to celebratethe International Nurses Day. As we celebrate avery special day, the day of the nurses, and weappreciate to all those who serve in nursing’.Malabar Gold & Diamonds has also honored 62Nurses by giving certificate & memento as atoken of appreciation for their service. Cake cut-

ting ceremony along with some fun games hasbeen arranged as a part of the event.

‘We thank Malabar Gold & Diamonds for theirgesture towards us & also celebrating‘International Nurses Day’ with us and it wasindeed a new experience for all of us here’, saidMr Sadiq Abdul Hadi Al Feeli, Nursing Director,Al Adan Hospital said during the event. The eventalso marked the importance of ‘World HygieneDay’ which falls on May 05th. The day isdeclared by the ‘World Health Organization’ andencourages patients and their family members tojoin health workers in their efforts to practicegood hand hygiene.

Congratulations Cia on your graduation and best wishes for your nextadventure! With love and pride from daddy, mommy, Aliya, Sean, familyand friends.

Nasser Sharaf, founder of Fann Way with Sheikh Duaij Al Sabah. — Photosby Joseph Shagra

Malabar Gold & Diamonds celebrated International Nurse’s Day

T V Tuesday, May 15, 2018

25Established 1961

01:05 Blood Circus02:40 Boerning II04:25 The Phantom06:10 A Good Day To Die Hard07:55 A Kind Of Magic09:25 Boerning II11:10 My Stepdaughter12:45 A Good Day To Die Hard14:30 Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV16:30 Virtual Revolution18:10 Point Break20:10 Live Free Or Die Hard22:20 Delta Force II: The ColombianConnection

00:45 Rugged Justice01:40 Bad Dog02:35 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner03:00 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner03:25 Expedition Mungo04:15 Shark Attack File 205:02 Wildest Indochina05:49 Lone Star Law06:36 Swamp Brothers07:00 Swamp Brothers07:25 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner07:50 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner08:15 Rugged Justice09:10 Bad Dog10:05 Wildest Indochina11:00 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner11:28 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner11:55 Expedition Mungo12:50 Shark Attack File 213:45 Bad Dog14:40 Wildest Indochina15:35 Lone Star Law16:30 Rugged Justice17:25 Cute As Fluff18:20 Animal Cribs19:15 Bad Dog20:10 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner20:38 The Wild Life Of Tim Faulkner21:05 Cute As Fluff22:00 Animal Cribs22:55 Wildest Indochina23:50 Lone Star Law

00:25 Cold Feet01:15 Prime Suspect: Tennison02:00 The Level02:50 Death In Paradise03:45 Doctors04:20 Father Brown05:05 New Tricks06:00 Death In Paradise06:55 Father Brown07:45 Doctors08:15 Doctors08:45 Hold The Sunset09:15 Hold The Sunset09:45 Death In Paradise10:40 New Tricks11:35 The Coroner12:25 Hold The Sunset12:55 Hold The Sunset13:25 Death In Paradise14:20 Death In Paradise15:15 New Tricks16:10 The Coroner17:00 Hold The Sunset17:30 Hold The Sunset18:00 Holby City19:00 New Tricks20:00 Prime Suspect: Tennison20:50 The Durrells21:40 New Tricks22:35 Holby City23:30 Prime Suspect: Tennison

00:00 Measuring Evil: Britain’sWorst Killers01:00 It Takes A Killer01:30 It Takes A Killer01:55 Britain’s Darkest Taboos02:50 Crimes That Shook Australia03:45 Measuring Evil: Britain’sWorst Killers04:30 It Takes A Killer04:55 It Takes A Killer05:15 The First 4806:00 Crimes That Shook Australia07:00 It Takes A Killer07:20 Cold Case Files08:05 Homicide Hunter08:50 The First 4809:35 Crimes That Shook Australia10:30 Evil Up Close11:25 Leah Remini: Scientology AndThe Aftermath12:20 Crimes That Shook Britain13:15 Cold Case Files14:10 Homicide Hunter15:05 The First 4816:00 Crimes That Shook Australia17:00 It Takes A Killer17:30 It Takes A Killer18:00 It Takes A Killer18:30 It Takes A Killer19:00 It Takes A Killer19:30 It Takes A Killer20:00 Crimes That Shook Britain21:00 Evil Up Close22:00 When Life Means Life23:00 American Ripper In London

00:05 Important Things WithDemitri Martin00:30 Friends00:55 The Daily Show - GlobalEdition01:20 Martha And Snoop PotluckDinner Party01:45 Comedy Central PresentsComedy 3alwagef02:15 Disaster Date02:37 Important Things WithDemitri Martin03:00 The Daily Show - GlobalEdition03:25 Disorderly Conduct: Video OnPatrol04:15 Catch A Contractor05:05 Coaching Bad05:55 Disaster Date06:20 Comedy Central PresentsComedy 3alwagef06:50 MLE Chowdown: The TurkeyBowl07:40 Catch A Contractor08:30 Disaster Date08:55 Comedy Central PresentsComedy 3alwagef09:20 Impractical Jokers09:45 Impractical Jokers10:10 MLE Chowdown: The TurkeyBowl11:00 Catch A Contractor11:50 Ridiculousness Arabia12:15 Hillbillies For Hire12:40 Friendszone13:05 MLE Chowdown: The TurkeyBowl13:55 Impractical Jokers14:20 Impractical Jokers14:45 Disorderly Conduct: Video OnPatrol15:35 Ridiculousness Arabia

16:00 MLE Chowdown: The TurkeyBowl16:55 Friends17:20 Friends17:45 I Used To Be Fat18:35 Friends19:00 Hillbillies For Hire19:25 Framework20:12 Friends21:00 The Daily Show With TrevorNoah21:30 The Opposition With JordanKlepper22:00 Friends22:25 Hillbillies For Hire22:50 Comedy Central PresentsComedy 3alwagef23:15 Friends23:40 Friends

00:05 Ali-A’s Superchargers00:30 Destroyed In Seconds00:55 Destroyed In Seconds01:20 How It’s Made01:45 How It’s Made02:10 Reign Of The Dinosaurs03:00 Tanked03:50 Ultimate Survival04:40 Finding Bigfoot05:30 Ali-A’s Superchargers05:55 Ali-A’s Superchargers06:20 How It’s Made06:40 How It’s Made07:00 Destroyed In Seconds07:25 Destroyed In Seconds07:50 Reign Of The Dinosaurs08:40 How It’s Made09:05 How It’s Made09:30 Tanked10:20 Ultimate Survival11:10 Destroyed In Seconds11:35 Destroyed In Seconds12:00 How It’s Made12:25 How It’s Made12:50 Cliptastic13:15 Cliptastic13:40 Fail Army14:05 Fail Army14:30 Reign Of The Dinosaurs15:20 How It’s Made15:45 How It’s Made16:10 Ultimate Survival17:00 Reign Of The Dinosaurs17:50 Tanked18:40 Destroyed In Seconds19:05 Destroyed In Seconds19:30 Cliptastic19:55 Cliptastic20:20 Fail Army21:10 How It’s Made21:35 How It’s Made22:00 Ultimate Survival22:50 Cliptastic23:15 Cliptastic23:40 Fail Army

00:45 Village Of The Damned01:40 Bride Killa02:35 Betrayed03:30 An American MurderMystery: The Staircase04:25 Nightmare Next Door05:20 I Almost Got Away With It06:10 Disappeared07:00 Who On Earth Did I Marry?07:25 Murder Chose Me08:15 Nightmare Next Door09:10 Disappeared10:05 Grave Secrets11:00 Guilty Rich11:55 Murder Chose Me12:50 I Almost Got Away With It13:45 Disappeared14:40 Grave Secrets15:35 American Monster16:30 Murder Chose Me17:25 Nightmare Next Door18:20 I Almost Got Away With It19:15 Disappeared20:10 Grave Secrets21:05 Deadline: Crime With TamronHall22:00 An American MurderMystery: The Staircase22:55 Alaskan Temptress: PeopleMagazine Investigates23:50 Betrayed

00:00 Hank Zipzer00:25 Alex & Co.00:45 Disney Mickey Mouse00:50 Evermoor Chronicles01:15 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch01:40 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch02:05 Binny And The Ghost02:30 Binny And The Ghost02:55 Hank Zipzer03:15 Disney Mickey Mouse03:20 Hank Zipzer03:45 Alex & Co.04:10 Alex & Co.04:35 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch05:00 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch05:25 Binny And The Ghost05:45 Disney Mickey Mouse05:50 Rolling With The Ronks06:00 Kitty Is Not A Cat06:25 Hotel Transylvania: The Series06:50 Tsum Tsum Shorts06:55 Tangled: The Series07:20 Stuck In The Middle07:45 K.C. Undercover08:10 Bunk’d08:35 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir09:00 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir09:25 Lolirock09:50 Lolirock10:15 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch10:40 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch11:05 Hank Zipzer11:30 Alex & Co.11:55 Alex & Co.12:20 Lolirock12:45 Lolirock13:10 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir13:35 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir14:00 Hotel Transylvania: The Series14:15 Bunk’d14:40 K.C. Undercover15:05 Disney Mickey Mouse15:10 Kitty Is Not A Cat15:35 Elena Of Avalor16:00 Tangled: The Series16:25 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir16:50 Bizaardvark17:15 Stuck In The Middle17:40 Hotel Transylvania: The Series18:05 K.C. Undercover18:30 Bunk’d18:55 Descendants Wicked World19:00 Raven’s Home19:25 Liv And Maddie19:50 Jessie

20:15 Disney Mickey Mouse20:20 Tangled: The Series20:45 Bizaardvark21:10 Hotel Transylvania: The Series21:35 Stuck In The Middle22:00 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir22:25 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug& Cat Noir22:50 Lolirock23:10 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch23:35 Binny And The Ghost

00:00 Trulli Tales00:30 PJ Masks00:55 Trulli Tales01:20 Henry Hugglemonster01:35 Calimero01:50 Henry Hugglemonster02:05 Art Attack02:30 The Hive02:40 Loopdidoo02:55 Henry Hugglemonster03:10 Art Attack03:35 Loopdidoo03:50 Calimero04:05 Art Attack04:30 Henry Hugglemonster04:45 Henry Hugglemonster05:00 Art Attack05:30 Henry Hugglemonster05:45 Loopdidoo06:00 Henry Hugglemonster06:15 Calimero06:30 PJ Masks07:00 Trulli Tales07:30 Jungle Junction07:50 Handy Manny08:10 PJ Masks08:30 Vampirina09:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse09:30 Mickey And The RoadsterRacers10:00 Trulli Tales10:30 Puppy Dog Pals11:00 Doc McStuffins11:30 The Lion Guard12:00 Sofia The First12:30 Sofia The First13:00 PJ Masks13:30 PJ Masks14:00 Vampirina14:15 Vampirina14:30 Vampirina14:45 Vampirina15:00 Vampirina15:30 Sofia The First16:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse16:30 Trulli Tales17:00 Vampirina17:30 PJ Masks18:00 Sofia The First18:30 Puppy Dog Pals19:00 Mickey And The RoadsterRacers19:30 The Lion Guard20:00 Vampirina20:30 PJ Masks21:00 Trulli Tales21:30 Sofia The First22:00 P-King Duckling22:30 Puppy Dog Pals23:00 Miles From Tomorrow23:30 PJ Masks

00:15 Deadliest Catch01:05 Impossible Engineering01:50 Flipping Ships02:35 What On Earth?03:20 Gear Dogs04:05 Alaskan Bush People04:50 Kindig Customs05:35 Storage Hunters06:00 The Liquidator06:23 Property Wars06:45 Storage Hunters07:10 Storage Wars Canada07:35 Alaskan Bush People08:20 The Liquidator08:45 Property Wars09:10 Kindig Customs09:55 Impossible Engineering10:45 Flipping Ships11:30 What On Earth?12:20 The Liquidator12:43 Property Wars13:05 Storage Hunters13:30 Storage Wars Canada13:55 Kindig Customs14:40 Deadliest Catch15:30 Impossible Engineering16:15 Flipping Ships17:05 What On Earth?17:50 Alaskan Bush People18:40 Kindig Customs19:25 Deadliest Catch20:15 Mosquito21:50 Invisible Killers22:40 Kidnap And Rescue23:30 Alaskan Bush People

06:00 Marvel’s Spider-Man06:25 Lab Rats06:50 Phineas & Ferb07:05 DuckTales07:32 Phineas And Ferb08:00 Milo Murphy’s Law08:25 Disney Mickey Mouse08:30 Phineas And Ferb08:55 Star vs The Forces Of Evil09:20 Star vs The Forces Of Evil09:45 Phineas And Ferb10:00 Kid vs. Kat10:25 Kid vs. Kat10:50 Marvel’s Rocket And Groot10:55 Marvel’s Ant-Man11:00 Counterfeit Cat11:15 Counterfeit Cat11:30 Randy Cunningham: 9thGrade Ninja11:55 Randy Cunningham: 9thGrade Ninja12:20 Gravity Falls12:45 Milo Murphy’s Law13:00 Lab Rats13:25 Lab Rats13:50 Mech-X414:15 Star vs The Forces Of Evil14:40 Milo Murphy’s Law15:05 Supa Strikas15:32 Lab Rats16:00 DuckTales16:25 Disney Mickey Mouse16:32 Big Hero 6 The Series16:55 DuckTales17:00 Milo Murphy’s Law17:25 Big Hero 6 The Series: Shorts17:32 Gravity Falls18:00 Mech-X418:25 Lab Rats Elite Force18:50 Lab Rats Elite Force19:15 Walk The Prank19:40 Phineas And Ferb19:55 Disney Mickey Mouse20:00 DuckTales20:32 Big Hero 6 The Series21:00 Marvel’s Spider-Man21:25 Star Wars Rebels21:50 Disney Mickey Mouse21:55 Two More Eggs22:00 Phineas And Ferb22:25 Phineas And Ferb23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00amKSA

00:05 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian01:00 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian01:55 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian02:50 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills03:40 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills04:35 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills05:30 Celebrity Style Story06:00 Rob & Chyna06:55 E! News Middle East07:10 Rob & Chyna08:10 E! News: Daily Pop09:10 WAGs Atlanta10:05 WAGs Atlanta11:00 The Real Princess Diaries:From Diana To Meghan12:00 E! News Middle East12:15 Hollywood Medium WithTyler Henry13:10 Hollywood Medium WithTyler Henry14:05 Hollywood Medium WithTyler Henry15:00 E! News Middle East15:15 E! News: Daily Pop16:15 Botched19:00 E! News20:00 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian21:00 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian22:00 Revenge Body With KhloeKardashian23:00 E! News Middle East23:15 Keeping Up With TheKardashians

00:10 Broadchurch01:00 Emmerdale01:30 Coronation Street02:00 Coronation Street02:30 The Chase03:25 Britain’s Brightest Family03:55 Britain’s Brightest Family04:20 Shetland05:20 Broadchurch06:15 Guess This House07:10 The Chase08:05 Britain’s Brightest Family08:30 Britain’s Brightest Family09:00 Shetland10:00 Broadchurch11:00 Guess This House11:50 The Chase12:45 Emmerdale13:15 Coronation Street13:45 Coronation Street14:15 Guess This House15:10 The Chase16:00 Murdoch Mysteries16:55 Murdoch Mysteries17:50 Broadchurch18:50 Emmerdale19:15 Coronation Street19:45 Coronation Street20:10 The Chase21:00 Murdoch Mysteries21:55 Murdoch Mysteries22:50 Emmerdale23:15 Coronation Street23:40 Coronation Street

00:00 Cowboys & Outlaws01:00 America’s Book Of Secrets02:00 UFO Hunters02:50 Ancient Aliens03:40 History’s Most Hated04:30 WWII: Lost Films05:20 Your Bleeped Up Brain06:10 Your Bleeped Up Brain07:00 Cowboys & Outlaws08:00 America’s Book Of Secrets09:00 UFO Hunters10:00 Ancient Aliens11:00 History’s Most Hated12:00 WWII: Lost Films13:00 Cowboys & Outlaws14:00 America’s Book Of Secrets15:00 UFO Hunters16:00 Ancient Aliens17:00 History’s Most Hated18:00 Cowboys & Outlaws19:00 America’s Book Of Secrets20:00 UFO Hunters21:00 Ancient Aliens22:00 In Search Of Aliens23:00 WWII: Lost Films

00:20 Milwaukee Blacksmith00:45 Pawn Stars01:10 American Pickers02:00 Swamp People02:50 WW2 Treasure Hunters03:40 James Nesbitt: Disasters ThatChanged Britain04:30 Milwaukee Blacksmith04:55 Pawn Stars05:20 American Pickers06:00 Swamp People06:50 Storage Wars07:15 Pawn Stars07:40 WW2 Treasure Hunters08:30 James Nesbitt: Disasters ThatChanged Britain09:20 Swamp People10:10 Time Team11:00 Storage Wars11:25 Pawn Stars11:50 WW2 Treasure Hunters12:40 James Nesbitt: Disasters ThatChanged Britain13:30 Swamp People14:20 Milwaukee Blacksmith14:45 Pawn Stars15:10 Time Team16:00 American Pickers16:50 WW2 Treasure Hunters17:40 James Nesbitt: Disasters ThatChanged Britain18:30 Swamp People19:20 Storage Wars19:45 Pawn Stars20:10 American Pickers21:00 101 People Who Made The20th Century21:50 Battle 36022:40 Storage Wars23:05 Pawn Stars23:30 Swamp People

00:15 David Rocco’s Dolce India00:45 A Taste Of South Africa01:10 Poh & Co.01:40 Glamour Puds02:05 Glamour Puds02:35 Restoration Man03:30 David Rocco’s Dolce India03:55 Miguel’s Feasts04:25 Sara’s Australia Unveiled04:50 Eat Street05:20 United Plates Of America05:45 United Plates Of America06:15 George Clarke’s AmazingSpaces07:10 Glamour Puds

07:35 Glamour Puds08:05 Restoration Man09:00 David Rocco’s Dolce India09:25 Miguel’s Feasts09:55 Sara’s Australia Unveiled10:20 Eat Street10:50 United Plates Of America11:45 George Clarke’s AmazingSpaces12:40 David Rocco’s Dolce India13:05 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita13:35 Restoration Man14:30 Glamour Puds14:55 Miguel’s Feasts15:25 Sara’s Australia Unveiled15:50 Chocolate Covered16:20 United Plates Of America17:15 George Clarke’s AmazingSpaces18:10 Street Food Around TheWorld18:35 David Rocco’s Dolce India19:05 Restoration Man20:00 Glamour Puds20:30 Miguel’s Feasts21:00 Sara’s Australia Unveiled21:30 Chocolate Covered22:00 United Plates Of America22:25 United Plates Of America22:55 George Clarke’s AmazingSpaces23:50 Street Food Around TheWorld

00:10 Beast Hunter01:00 Mega Food02:00 Mega Factories03:00 Car SOS04:00 Beast Hunter05:00 Python Hunters06:00 Innovation Nation06:30 Innovation Nation07:00 Genius08:00 Desperate Hours08:30 Desperate Hours09:00 Python Hunters10:00 Yukon Gold11:00 Wicked Tuna12:00 Air Crash Investigation13:00 Innovation Nation13:30 Innovation Nation14:00 Desperate Hours14:30 Desperate Hours15:00 Genius16:00 Yukon Gold17:00 Wicked Tuna18:00 Air Crash Investigation19:00 Genius20:00 Yukon Gold20:50 Wicked Tuna21:40 Air Crash Investigation22:30 Genius23:20 Desperate Hours23:45 Desperate Hours

00:20 Cat Fight01:10 Animal Fight Club02:00 Hyena Coast02:50 Monster Fish03:45 Extreme Animals04:40 Jobs That Bite!05:35 Hyena Coast06:30 Monster Fish07:25 Extreme Animals08:20 Jobs That Bite!09:15 World’s DeadliestCompilations10:10 Savage Kingdom11:05 South Africa12:00 When Sharks Attack12:55 Bizarre Dinos13:50 Monster Fish14:45 Extreme Animals15:40 Jobs That Bite!16:35 World’s DeadliestCompilations17:30 Savage Kingdom: Uprising18:25 South Africa19:20 Extreme Animals20:10 Jobs That Bite!21:00 World’s DeadliestCompilations21:50 Savage Kingdom: Uprising22:40 South Africa23:30 When Sharks Attack

00:12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles00:36 Rabbids Invasion01:00 Rabbids Invasion01:24 Sanjay And Craig01:48 Sanjay And Craig02:12 Winx Club02:36 Winx Club03:00 Harvey Beaks03:24 Harvey Beaks03:48 Rabbids Invasion04:12 Rabbids Invasion04:36 Breadwinners05:00 Breadwinners05:24 The Loud House05:48 SpongeBob SquarePants06:12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles06:36 Harvey Beaks07:00 Breadwinners07:24 Breadwinners07:48 Bunsen Is A Beast08:12 Rabbids Invasion08:36 The Loud House09:00 Regal Academy09:24 Winx Club09:48 Hunter Street10:12 Game Shakers10:36 School Of Rock11:00 Henry Danger11:24 The Thundermans11:48 Rank The Prank12:12 Rank The Prank12:36 Massive Monster Mayhem13:00 Hunter Street13:24 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky And Dawn13:48 Bunsen Is A Beast14:12 Harvey Beaks14:36 Breadwinners15:00 Toon Marty15:12 Toon Marty15:24 Bunsen Is A Beast15:48 SpongeBob SquarePants16:12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles16:36 The Loud House17:00 Toon Marty17:12 Toon Marty17:24 Massive Monster Mayhem17:48 Hunter Street18:12 Henry Danger18:36 Nicky, Ricky, Dicky And Dawn19:00 School Of Rock19:24 Game Shakers19:48 The Thundermans20:12 SpongeBob SquarePants20:36 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles21:00 Harvey Beaks21:24 Breadwinners21:48 Breadwinners22:12 Sanjay And Craig22:36 Rabbids Invasion23:00 The Loud House23:24 Regal Academy23:48 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

00:07 Max & Ruby00:29 Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom00:40 Kiva Can Do!00:51 The Day Henry Met

00:56 Blaze And The MonsterMachines01:19 Blaze And The MonsterMachines01:42 Paw Patrol01:54 Kid-E-Cats01:58 Kid-E-Cats02:04 Shimmer And Shine02:26 Nella The Princess Knight02:38 Paw Patrol03:02 Max & Ruby03:23 Dora The Explorer03:46 Sunny Day04:09 Nella And The PrincessKnight04:20 Nella And The PrincessKnight04:32 Shimmer And Shine04:54 Wallykazam!05:17 Zack & Quack05:28 The Day Henry Met05:32 The Day Henry Met05:38 Blaze And The MonsterMachines06:00 Rusty Rivets06:13 Paw Patrol06:37 Dora The Explorer07:00 Nella The Princess Knight07:22 Kiva Can Do!07:33 Kiva Can Do!07:44 Blaze And The MonsterMachines08:06 Paw Patrol08:29 Shimmer And Shine08:51 Nella And The PrincessKnight09:03 Nella And The PrincessKnight09:15 Paw Patrol09:38 Rusty Rivets10:02 Wallykazam!10:25 The Day Henry Met10:30 Bubble Guppies10:54 Team Umizoomi11:16 Kid-E-Cats11:22 Shimmer And Shine11:46 Sunny Day12:08 Max & Ruby12:31 Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom12:41 Kiva Can Do!12:52 The Day Henry Met12:58 Blaze And The MonsterMachines13:20 Blaze And The MonsterMachines13:43 Paw Patrol13:55 Kid-E-Cats14:00 Kid-E-Cats14:05 Shimmer And Shine14:28 Nella The Princess Knight14:40 Paw Patrol15:04 Max & Ruby15:26 Dora The Explorer15:49 Sunny Day16:11 Nella And The PrincessKnight16:23 Nella And The PrincessKnight16:35 Shimmer And Shine16:58 Wallykazam!17:21 Zack & Quack17:32 The Day Henry Met17:38 Blaze And The MonsterMachines18:00 Rusty Rivets18:13 Paw Patrol18:37 Dora The Explorer19:00 Nella The Princess Knight19:21 Kiva Can Do!19:32 Kiva Can Do!19:43 Blaze And The MonsterMachines20:05 Paw Patrol20:28 Shimmer And Shine20:50 Nella And The PrincessKnight21:02 Nella And The PrincessKnight21:14 Paw Patrol21:38 Rusty Rivets22:01 Wallykazam!22:24 The Day Henry Met22:30 Bubble Guppies22:53 Team Umizoomi23:15 Kid-E-Cats23:21 Shimmer And Shine23:44 Sunny Day

00:15 How I Met Your Mother00:40 How I Met Your Mother01:05 Seinfeld01:30 Seinfeld01:55 Til Death02:20 The Goldbergs02:45 The Goldbergs03:10 Late Night With Seth Meyers04:00 Grown-Ish04:25 LA To Vegas04:50 The Ellen DeGeneres Show05:40 Us And Them06:05 Til Death06:30 The Mick06:55 The Mindy Project07:20 Late Night With Seth Meyers08:10 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 Grown-Ish09:25 LA To Vegas09:50 Brooklyn Nine-Nine10:15 Playing House10:40 Us And Them11:05 Til Death11:30 The Ellen DeGeneres Show12:20 The Mick12:45 The Mindy Project13:10 How I Met Your Mother13:35 How I Met Your Mother14:00 Seinfeld14:25 Seinfeld14:50 Us And Them15:15 Brooklyn Nine-Nine15:40 Playing House16:05 The Ellen DeGeneres Show17:00 The Mick17:30 The Mindy Project18:00 How I Met Your Mother18:30 How I Met Your Mother19:00 Seinfeld19:30 Seinfeld20:00 Alex, Inc.20:30 Great News21:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon22:00 Superstore22:30 Superstore23:00 Alone Together23:25 Late Night With Seth Meyers

01:00 Queen Of Katwe03:15 Snow White And The SevenDwarfs05:00 Muppet Treasure Island07:00 Queen Of Katwe09:15 The Lion King11:15 Muppet Treasure Island13:15 Monsters University15:15 The Little Mermaid17:15 The Lone Ranger20:00 The Muppets22:00 Monsters University

00:00 Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce01:00 Famous In Love01:50 The Good Doctor02:40 The Resident03:30 Beyond04:20 Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce05:20 Falling Water06:10 DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow

07:00 Good Morning America09:00 The View10:00 Beyond11:00 The Good Doctor12:00 DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow13:00 How To Get Away WithMurder14:00 The Resident15:00 The View16:00 Live Good Morning America18:00 DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow19:00 The Good Doctor20:00 How To Get Away WithMurder21:00 The Voice23:00 Star

00:45 Cousins02:45 Big Stone Gap04:30 Bowfinger06:15 Madhouse08:00 Big Stone Gap09:45 Big Momma’s House 211:30 Bowfinger13:15 Madhouse15:00 Big Momma’s House 216:45 All She Wishes18:30 Big Trouble20:15 Without A Paddle22:00 Jeff, Who Lives At Home23:30 K-9

00:55 The Hollars02:35 We Are Many04:30 Coming Through The Rye06:20 Glena08:00 The Hollars09:40 We Are Many11:35 All Things Must Pass13:15 The Dressmaker15:15 The Last King17:05 The Ticket18:50 It Boy20:30 James White22:10 David Lynch: The Art Life23:50 The Ticket

00:45 A Town Called Panic02:10 Victor And The Secret OfCrocodile Mansion03:50 Dinofroz - An Island In TheSky05:15 Moomin And MidsummerMadness06:35 The Wish Fish08:00 Bunny Tales09:20 Ploddy Police Car10:45 Shopkins - Chef Club11:45 Victor And The Secret OfCrocodile Mansion13:25 Dinofroz - An Island In TheSky14:50 Freddy Frogface16:20 Ploddy Police Car17:45 Pacific Pirates19:20 Capture The Flag21:00 Freddy Frogface22:30 Bunny Tales23:50 Shopkins - Chef Club

01:00 Cops And Robbersons02:35 Star Trek Beyond04:45 Kubo And The Two Strings06:35 Take Care08:20 Cops And Robbersons09:55 Star Trek Beyond12:05 Healing14:05 Nim’s Island15:45 Sleepless In Seattle17:30 The Break-Up19:15 Criminal21:10 Dirty Dancing22:55 Wall Street

00:30 How It’s Made00:55 Food Factory USA01:20 Blowing Up History02:10 Mysteries Of The Missing03:00 What Could Possibly GoWrong?03:48 Mythbusters04:36 How It’s Made05:00 Food Factory USA05:24 Blowing Up History06:12 Mysteries Of The Missing07:00 How It’s Made07:26 What Could Possibly GoWrong?08:14 Mythbusters09:02 Mysteries Of The Missing09:50 How It’s Made10:14 Food Factory USA10:38 Blowing Up History11:26 What Could Possibly GoWrong?12:14 Mythbusters13:02 How It’s Made13:26 Food Factory USA13:50 Mysteries Of The Missing14:38 What Could Possibly GoWrong?15:26 Blowing Up History16:14 Mythbusters17:02 Mysteries Of The Missing17:50 What Could Possibly GoWrong?18:40 Mythbusters19:30 American Titans20:20 How It’s Made20:45 Food Factory USA21:10 Secrets Of The Underground22:00 American Titans22:50 What Could Possibly GoWrong?23:40 Mythbusters

00:28 Ready03:00 Ready03:10 Irada05:00 Taarzan: The Wonder Car08:05 Naseeb10:45 Kachche Dhaage13:35 Ishq Vishk16:05 Mr Joe B. Carvalho18:20 Dear Dad20:00 Bang Bang!22:55 David

01:30 The One03:00 All Good Things04:45 The Imitation Game06:45 Sliding Doors08:30 The Blair Witch Project10:00 While We’re Young11:45 That’s What I Am13:30 Crooked Arrows15:15 The One16:45 Face The Music18:30 Dirty Dancing : Havana Nights20:00 The King’s Speech

The week opens with good energy for you. Your performance in an earlymeeting brings confidence and positive attitudes regarding a new project

or plan. You gain support for the suggestions you make regarding new methods of oper-ating. Later in the morning you discover a helpful hint about the working of new softwareor perhaps this is a new security system. The day drags as you long for the end of it tocome; time sometimes drags when we are anxious. Someone turns to you for help con-cerning a very personal situation; think about this as you don’t want to get caught in a lie.The heavens are aligned to bring you insight to what the cause is for this problem. Enjoyyour evening knowing you have come to the aid of someone dear.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

You long to find enjoyment and relief from daily pressure. The fun andentertaining activities in life hold a strong appeal; a chance to get away may present itselffrom a surprising source. This is a good period to share time with loved ones or those whoknow you very well; the outside world can wait for a bit, no worries. Your thoughts areyour own as you review some past activities you’d rather not share with anyone; these areyour cherished memories, and you re entitled to them. Your support system is valuablenow as you realize exactly who’s on your side and who’s not. Tonight an unexpected visi-tor delivers dinner and a movie; you’re due to take some time for yourself and let othersdo for you what you normally do for them.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Your good qualities are well known by many; someone who cares for andrespects you lends a kind ear and agrees with your opinion. You may feel

prickly and not in the mood to be with those who irritate you; remember it s not a badthing to do what s best for you. Working through inner turmoil is called for and positivevibrations are available to help with this. Your good taste and quirky ways are strong andinfluence your ideas. This is a good time to create new ways of doing something mostpeople have to do; a successful invention could be indicated. Being outdoors brings goodenergy. Your evening goes smoothly as you find that you’re ahead of schedule on some-thing important around the house. Relax and be happy this evening.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

The feelings of others take precedence today as your sensitivities are intune with those around you. Communication to large numbers of people is

done with ease and clarity today; many look to you for leadership. Remain honest withyourself as you learn more about cosmic or mystic questions you may have regardingoracles such as tarot cards or rune stones. Just because you have never tried somethingdoesn’t mean it’s not worth taking a look at. Someone could object to your style or opin-ions. Avoid arguments with those who reject change and/or growth; they’re usually afraidof new ways of thinking such as you now actively seek. Your inner workings becomeclearer as you continue educating yourself about new thoughts and theories.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Cleansing is an empowering, positive event you should enjoy and welcome;there could, however, be some parts that are difficult. People who aren’t good for them-selves ask to join you for a celebration; while you have learned a powerful lesson, andchoose to stay away from them, so have they, if they re capable and if they have notlearned, you can send them off to teach someone else! The areas affected by sheddingoutmoded energy are: finances, associations, physical well-being and attitudes. Your focuson a positive future won t be distracted or knocked off-track. Hold tightly to your logic asyou fight the urge to daydream and wish the day away. Friends pull you out of your dazeby insisting on a visit to the theater to take in a newly released movie.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Your mind isn’t on the work of the day, but instead lingers upon your hopesand wishes and if-onlies. Important tasks await your attention and you make progressquickly as you re the best at what you do! You have worked hard to get where you are, butpersonal circumstances threaten to dominate your time and energy. You insist on the sexlife you need and could reconsider your current source if those needs aren’t met; this couldalso indicate an emotional need not being filled. Be mindful your current phase can createan energy of wanting to control things; beware the tendency to become a control freak. Adaring challenge later this evening just might unnerve you and possibly cause a deep riftbetween friends depending on how you handle it.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Your passions run high and demand fulfillment. This energy could be direct-ed at political, religious, social or emotional/sexual matters. Your mental and emotionalconsiderations undergo transformation down to the cellular level; you refuse to deal withhurt feelings or anyone who attempts to make you feel guilty. You choose to address thingsdirectly and honestly for this is the only true path to peace and productivity; the stars arealigned for organization and things being put right on every level. A new customer or clientrepresents a prosperous project or association. Your ability to take care of business in atimely manner is well known and much appreciated. Pay attention to the vibrations of in-born intuition regarding choices.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

The urge to nourish and care for others could lead you to adopt a pet orperhaps even take in a foster child. You desire to share your many blessings

with others. Your ways are not those of tradition, you prefer to work smarter not harder.You might receive criticism from someone older! You re invited to a quick lunch by some-one who respects you. You get your message across perfectly at a meeting you dreadedand receive respect for your input. You figure out what causes a problem betweencoworkers; you know how to repair this without causing any problems. Going with theflow is effortless for you during the new cycle you have entered; you eagerly join in a funhobby with several nice new friends you have become fond of.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Your new attitudes and goals don’t fit with your current work situation. Youmay experience thoughts of changing the field you work in: if you’re in retail

you may want to change to food, for example, but whatever the change is, it s near! Youcould have to use other, primitive methods of communicating. Confrontation with youngerpeople could prove very unpleasant; this is a result of children growing into adulthood.There could be some strong disagreements but remember who’s in charge and who’s not;if this isn’t with children, elders are indicated. Someone comments on your excellent tasteor attitude. Pulling things together in an organized way helps reach your goals of rearrang-ing and creating perfect fung shuai.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

This is not the time for giving advice; you could feel the strong desire tostay near home and hearth sharing time with loved ones. There could be a problem withsomeone you care for; do you feel like a beautiful bird in a gilded cage, longing for free-dom only you can change your circumstances; take a few moments and listen to yourheart. If you need encouragement, accept it from a kind person who has your best inter-ests at heart today. You could realize that someone has been avoiding you, figure out therole you have played in this. Someone could be offended by something new you re trying.You could have a deep conversation with someone you respect. Perhaps a movie or deli-cious dinner out with someone who thinks as you do tonight.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 1909

ACROSS1. A loft for storing hay.4. A flexible pipe for conveying a liquid or

gas.12. Having undesirable or negative quali-

ties.15. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about

2.75 pounds.16. A city in the northern panhandle of

Texas.17. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic

information from DNA to the cyto-plasm.

18. A coenzyme derived from the B vitaminnicotinic acid.

19. Someone who performs magic tricks toamuse an audience.

20. Aromatic bulb used as seasoning.21. An organization of countries formed in

1961 to agree on a common policy forthe sale of petroleum.

23. An informal conversation.25. English theoretical physicist who

applied relativity theory to quantummechanics and predicted the exis-tence of antimatter and the positron(1902-1984).

28. A Chadic language spoken south ofLake Chad.

30. Special design or visual object repre-senting a quality, type, group, etc..

35. A person active in party politics.38. A financial institution that accepts

deposits and channels the money intolending activities.

41. An organic compound that contains ahydroxyl group bonded to a carbonatom which in turn is doubly bondedto another carbon atom.

43. A board with the alphabet on it.44. A person who gives a name or names.45. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked

on a skewer usually with vegetables.46. Unknown god.47. Coarse fabric used for bags or sacks.49. Any culture medium that uses agar as

the gelling agent.50. A member of a Muslim Turkic people

of western Asia (especially inKazakstan).

52. (Sumerian) Water god and god of wis-dom.

53. An aromatic ointment used in antiquity.56. Belonging to or on behalf of a specified

person (especially yourself).57. (used of count nouns) Every one con-

sidered individually.59. Overgrown with ivy.63. Green algae common in freshwater

lakes of limestone districts.67. Marked by or showing unaffected sim-

plicity and lack of guile or worldlyexperience.

71. A river in north central Switzerland thatruns northeast into the Rhine.

72. A mountain peak in centralWashington.

76. An undergarment worn by women tosupport their breasts.

77. Having or showing excessive or com-pulsive concern with something.

79. The rate at which red blood cells settleout in a tube of blood under standard-ized conditions.

80. God of the earth.81. Consisting of or resembling mother-of-

pearl.82. The 17th letter of the Greek alphabet.

DOWN1. French biochemist who (with Francois

Jacob) explained how genes are acti-vated and suggested the existence ofmessenger RNA (1910-1976).

2. Similar to the giraffe but smaller withmuch shorter neck and stripe on thelegs.

3. Any of many long-legged birds thatwade in water in search of food.

4. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).5. A strategically located monarchy on the

southern and eastern coasts of theArabian Peninsula.

6. A shape that sags.7. Any plant of the genus Erica.8. Peruvian shrub with small pink to laven-

der tubular flowers.9. A Greek epic poem (attributed to

Homer) describing the siege of Troy.10. A defeat of the Persian army by the

Greeks in 479 BC.11. The longest division of geological time.12. (informal) Exceptionally good.13. A blue dye obtained from plants or

made synthetically.14. Surrealist Spanish painter (1904-1989).22. A rotating disk shaped to convert cir-

cular into linear motion.24. A feeling of anger caused by being

offended.26. A compartment in front of a motor

vehicle where driver sits.27. (Judaism) An eight-day Jewish holiday

commemorating the rededication ofthe Temple of Jerusalem.

29. The United Nations agency concernedwith the international organization offood and agriculture.

31. The imperial dynasty of China from1368 to 1644.

32. A thin plate or layer (especially of boneor mineral).

33. A member of the people inhabiting anarea of northern Mongolia and easternSiberia.

34. The boundary line or the area immedi-ately inside the boundary.

36. Lake in northwestern Russia near theborder with Finland.

37. Of or relating to or affecting a lobe.39. Deciduous South African tree having

large odd-pinnate leaves and profusefragrant orange-yellow flowers.

40. A small cake leavened with yeast.42. A supply of food especially for a

household.48. A state in northwestern North America.51. Of or relating to or characteristic of

Zaire or its people.54. Date used in reckoning dates before

the supposed year Christ was born.55. A ductile gray metallic element of the

lanthanide series.58. American professional baseball player

who hit more home runs than BabeRuth (born in 1934).

60. Left-hand page.61. That is to say.62. A nucleic acid consisting of large mole-

cules shaped like a double helix.64. Swift timid long-eared mammal larger

than a rabbit having a divided upperlip and long hind legs.

65. An Arabic speaking person who lives inArabia or North Africa.

66. A relative position or degree of value ina graded group.

68. Type genus of the Aceraceae.69. A gonadotropic hormone that is

secreted by the anterior pituitary.70. A card game in which players bet

against the dealer on the cards he willdraw from a dealing box.

73. A loose sleeveless outer garment madefrom aba cloth.

74. A committee in the executive branch ofgovernment that advises the presidenton foreign and military and nationalsecurity.

75. A doctor's degree in dental surgery.78. A bivalent and trivalent metallic ele-

ment of the rare earth group.

Yesterday’s SolutionDaily SuDoku

Wordsearch Puzzle

You are able to influence others with ease. Words flow as you express yourthoughts and ideas to others who are looking for answers. An in-depth

conversation with loved ones relays encouraging news. Something you say could revealyour plans to the wrong person; take care. Some members of your circle disagree with alife choice you make; perhaps they can’t break away from old ways and ideas but they realso worth listening to! An argument you could avoid but choose not to could result inlong lasting emotional wounds. Tread lightly around a sensitive situation at home that youhave instigated and made worse; it’s okay to be wrong once in a while. Take a yen yogaclass this evening for the most optimum sleep you have had in a long time.

Your intuitive side indicates that something worrisome could be on the hori-zon. Tap into this and create positive energy in its place for a more accept-

able outcome. Visually appealing things are available for purchase today; you find one itemyou’ll treasure forever. Congratulations! Time seems to slip away as you rush to complete aproject on deadline; focus and don t allow frustration or panic to rule you. You can over-come whatever restrictions you encounter. Friends need your help on a tricky domesticproject that could end up requiring quite a bit of time but end in total success. You sit backand watch someone. You’re unfulfilled in the romance department; you can definitely dosomething about this if you truly wish.

Yesterday’s Solution


26S t a r s

Established 1961

Yesterday’s Solution

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 15/5/2018Airlines Flt Route TimeTHY 772 Istanbul 00:15JZR 239P Amman 00:40DLH 625 Dammam 00:50KAC 102 London 00:50JZR 539 Cairo 01:00PGT 858 Istanbul 01:15JZR 267 Beirut 01:25RJA 642 Amman 01:35UAE 853 Dubai 01:40KLM 446 Bahrain 01:45KKK 1268 Istanbul 02:00AXB 395 Kozhikode 02:00GFA 211 Bahrain 02:15ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:15QTR 1086 Doha 02:30KAC 414 Bangkok 02:40JZR 553 Alexandria 02:50JZR 607 Kochi 02:55ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:05OMA 643 Muscat 03:05MSR 606 Luxor 03:05KAC 418 Manila 03:05KAC 382 Delhi 03:10MSR 612 Cairo 03:15QTR 1076 Doha 03:30LMU 5510 Cairo 04:00JAI 572 Mumbai 04:00KAC 346 Ahmedabad 04:15KAC 1544 Cairo 04:25KAC 784 Jeddah 04:30JZR 609 Hyderabad 04:30PAL 668 Manila 05:00MSC 403 Asyut 05:00DHX 170 Bahrain 05:10THY 770 Istanbul 05:15JZR 603 Mumbai 05:25KAC 332 Trivandrum 05:40KAC 362 Colombo 06:00BAW 157 London 06:10WAN 338 Alexandria 06:25KAC 284 Dhaka 06:25KAC 204 Lahore 06:30THY 6376 Istanbul 06:30KAC 678 Dubai 06:45KAC 302 Mumbai 07:00JZR 143 Doha 07:20JZR 529 Asyut 07:30KAC 358 Kochi 07:40KAC 354 Bengaluru 07:45KAC 384 Delhi 08:05JZR 561 Sohag 08:20UAE 855 Dubai 08:25WAN 352 Luxor 08:30JZR 605 Ahmedabad 08:45ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 08:55ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00QTR 1070 Doha 09:30IRA 675 Lar 09:40FDB 055 Dubai 09:40SVA 512 Riyadh 10:00SYR 341 Damascus 10:00SAW 703 Damascus 10:30GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40MEA 404 Beirut 10:55QTR 1074 Doha 11:00JZR 165 Dubai 11:45MSC 411 Asyut 12:30SAW 701 Damascus 12:30UAE 871 Dubai 12:45THY 766 Istanbul 12:45WAN 542 KTM 12:50KAC 742 Dammam 12:50ETD 0995 Abu Dhabi/Bahrain 13:00MSR 610 Cairo 13:00AXB 393 Kozhikode 13:10

JZR 779 Jeddah 13:45WAN 312 Asyut 13:45FEG 341 Sohag 13:50KAC 672 Dubai 13:55WAN 134 Doha 14:05QTR 1078 Doha 14:10KNE 233 Riyadh 14:10KAC 618 Doha 14:10GFA 221 Bahrain 14:15KAC 516 Tehran 14:20KAC 286 Dhaka 14:25SVA 500 Jeddah 14:45KAC 788 Jeddah 14:50ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:05KAC 304 Mumbai 15:05KNE 529 Jeddah 15:10OMA 645 Muscat 15:20KAC 562 Amman 15:20ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35KAC 502 Beirut 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45SAW 705 Damascus 16:00JZR 534 Cairo 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:15QTR 8511 Doha 16:15KAC 118 New York 16:20FDB 051 Dubai 16:20FEG 241 Alexandria 16:45JZR 125 Bahrain 16:55KAC 542 Cairo 17:00SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 145 Doha 17:35JZR 777 Jeddah 17:35JZR 177 Dubai 17:40JZR 483 Istanbul 18:20MSR 620 Cairo 18:30RJA 640 Amman 19:00GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05UAE 875 Dubai 19:05ABY 123 Sharjah 19:20NIA 0161 Cairo 19:30KAC 776 Riyadh 19:35KAC 156 Istanbul 19:35KAC 674 Dubai 19:40RBG 555 Alexandria 19:40FDB 057 Dubai 19:50KAC 616 Bahrain 20:00DLH 624 Frankfurt 20:05OMA 647 Muscat 20:05KAC 620 Doha 20:15MEA 402 Beirut 20:15KAC 166 Rome 20:25QTR 1088 Doha 20:40KAC 172 Frankfurt 20:45JZR 553 Alexandria 20:50KLM 445 Amsterdam 21:00UAE 859 Dubai 21:15ALK 229 Colombo 21:15ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:15KAC 168 Paris 21:20KAC 564 Amman 21:50GFA 219 Bahrain 21:50ICV 675 Luxembourg 22:05QTR 1082 Doha 22:05ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:10KAC 786 Jeddah 22:15AIC 987 Chennai/Hyderabad 22:25BBC 043 Dhaka 22:30WAN 136 Doha 22:30PIA 239 Sialkot 22:35JZR 185 Dubai 22:50JAI 574 Mumbai 23:00MSC 501 Alexandria 23:10THY 764 Istanbul 23:15MSR 2614 Cairo 23:30FDB 071 Dubai 23:35JZR 241 Amman 23:40

Departure Flights on Tuesday 15/5/2018Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05JZR 604 Ahmedabad 00:20JAI 573 Mumbai 00:30MSR 2615 Cairo 00:30FDB 072 Dubai 00:30JZR 528 Asyut 01:05KAC 677 Dubai 01:30KAC 417 Manila 01:45THY 773 Istanbul 01:45DLH 625 Frankfurt 01:50KAC 285 Dhaka 01:50JZR 560D Sohag 02:10PGT 859 Istanbul 02:25THY 765 Istanbul 02:50AXB 396 Kozhikode 02:55KKK 1269 Istanbul 02:55ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05KLM 446 Amsterdam 03:10UAE 854 Dubai 03:30JZR 142 Doha 03:45MSR 607 Luxor 04:05OMA 644 Muscat 04:05ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05QTR 1087 Doha 04:15MSR 613 Cairo 04:15LMU 5511 Cairo 05:00JAI 571 Mumbai 05:05QTR 1077 Doha 05:15KAC 303 Mumbai 05:35MSC 404 Asyut 05:55THY 771 Istanbul 06:30GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50RJA 643 Amman 07:00JZR 164 Dubai 07:15KAC 167 Paris 07:20WAN 311 Asyut 07:25KAC 413 Bangkok 07:30PAL 669 Manila 07:40KAC 171 Frankfurt 07:50KAC 501 Beirut 08:00JZR 778 Jeddah 08:00BAW 156 London 08:20KAC 165 Rome 08:25THY 6376 Dubai/Istanbul 08:35KAC 117 New York 09:05KAC 787 Jeddah 09:05KAC 671 Dubai 09:15KAC 561 Amman 09:40ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40KAC 741 Dammam 09:45JZR 535 Cairo 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:50JZR 482 Istanbul 09:55KAC 101 London 10:00ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:00KAC 515 Tehran 10:00KAC 541 Cairo 10:00KAC 617 Doha 10:10WAN 133 Doha 10:15KAC 155 Istanbul 10:25QTR 1071 Doha 10:40FDB 056 Dubai 10:40IRA 674 Lar 10:40SYR 342 Damascus 11:00SVA 513 Riyadh 11:00SAW 704 Damascus 11:30GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35MEA 405 Beirut 11:55JZR 776 Jeddah 12:05QTR 1075 Doha 12:10JZR 176 Dubai 13:10SAW 702 Damascus 13:30MSC 412 Asyut 13:30

THY 767 Istanbul 13:40JZR 144 Doha 13:55MSR 611 Cairo 14:00JZR 124 Bahrain 14:00JZR 552 Alexandria 14:05AXB 394 Kozhikode 14:10UAE 872 Dubai 14:15FEG 342 Sohag 14:50KAC 673 Dubai 15:00ETD 9890 SGN 15:00GFA 222 Bahrain 15:00QTR 1079 Doha 15:15KNE 234 Riyadh 15:30SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45KAC 775 Riyadh 15:55KAC 785 Jeddah 16:00KNE 530 Jeddah 16:00KAC 563 Amman 16:10ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15KAC 619 Doha 16:15ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20OMA 646 Muscat 16:20KAC 615 Bahrain 16:40SAW 706 Damascus 17:00FDB 052 Dubai 17:20QTR 1073 Doha 17:25UAE 858 Dubai 17:40QTR 8512 Doha 17:45FEG 242 Alexandria 17:45KAC 381 Delhi 17:45KAC 331 Trivandrum 17:55KAC 283 Dhaka 18:00KAC 343 Chennai 18:00SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15JZR 184 Dubai 18:20GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 608 Hyderabad 18:25JZR 240 Amman 18:30JZR 266 Beirut 18:30JZR 512 Sharm el-Sheikh 18:30JZR 538 Cairo 18:35WAN 135 Doha 18:40WAN 117 Bahrain 19:30MSR 621 Cairo 19:30GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50RJA 641 Amman 20:00ABY 124 Sharjah 20:00RBG 556 Alexandria 20:20JZR 602 Mumbai 20:30NIA 0162 Cairo 20:30FDB 058 Dubai 20:30UAE 876 Dubai 20:35DLH 624 Dammam 20:50KAC 357 Kochi 21:00OMA 648 Muscat 21:05MEA 403 Beirut 21:15KAC 543 Cairo 21:20KAC 301 Mumbai 21:35QTR 1089 Doha 21:50DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50KAC 205 Islamabad 21:55ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:05KLM 445 Bahrain 22:10ALK 230 Colombo 22:20KAC 383 Delhi 22:25KAC 783 Jeddah 22:25UAE 860 Dubai 22:35GFA 220 Bahrain 22:50ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:00KAC 795 Madinah 23:00KAC 411 Bangkok 23:15QTR 1083 Doha 23:20PIA 240 Sialkot 23:35WAN 337 Alexandria 23:40JZR 560 Sohag 23:45

DAAYY:

the Next 24 foreatherWeExpected

ASTTAATTION

W

4 Hours

4 DAAYYS FORECAST

DAAYY DAATTE WEAATTHERTemper

MAX.

raturesWind Direction Wind SpeedMIN.

PRAAYYER TIMESFajr

SunriseZuhrAsr

SunsetIsha

KUWAYESTERDARECORDED AYY ATT WAAIT AIRPORTMAX. Temp. MIN. Temp. MAX. RH MIN. RH

MAX. WindALLRAINFALOTT TAL FA L IN 24 HR.

°C°C%%km/hmm

ClassifiedsTuesday, May 15, 2018

Airlines

ACCOMODATION

I have changed my namefrom Taher to Taher AliMukkhi, in future be calledand known by new name.(C 5398) 14-5-2018

CHANGE OF NAME

For Filipino ONLYFarwaniya block 1, neargulfmart. Available 25 ofMay, Contact 94418396 or69972330 23-4-2018

Automated enquiryabout the Civil ID

card is1889988

American Airlines 22087425 22087426Kuwait Airways 171Jazeera Airways 177Jet Airways 22924455FlyDubai 22414400Qatar Airways 22423888KLM 22425747Royal Jordanian 22418064/5/6British Airways 22425635Air France 22430224Emirates 22921555Air India 22438184Sri Lanka Airlines 22424444Egypt Air a22421578Swiss Air 22421516Saudia 22426306Middle East Airlines 22423073Lufthansa 22422493PIA 22421044Bangladesh Airlines 22452977/8Indian Airlines 22456700Oman Air 22958787Turkish Airlines 22453820/1

112

L i f e s t y l e Tuesday, May 15, 2018

28 Established 1961 T

M o v i e s

Hepburn and Tracy, Bogart and Bacall, JoelCoen and Frances McDormand: moviemagic often has real-life love stories

behind it, but star couples at Cannes say youmust tread carefully when mixing work andromance. Spanish Oscar winners Penelope Cruzand Javier Bardem, who have replaced AngelinaJolie and Brad Pitt as the smouldering A-listpair on the Cannes red carpet, have alreadyteamed up on nine movies. After the premiereof their new thriller, “Everybody Knows”, whichopened the festival, Cruz said dryly that whileshe enjoyed working with her husband, shewouldn’t want to do it all the time.

“It’s not something that we plan on doingevery two years.” Cruz said she and Bardem,who have two children, were paid equally forthe film and have strict ground rules aboutleaving the push-and-pull of their personalrelationship far from the set. “It would notmake your life better, I think, if you used certainthings from your private life (on a film),” saidCruz. “So the fact that we know each other andtrust each other so much only helps.” Asked bya waggish reporter what was like to be the“only man in the world who likes working withhis wife”, Bardem responded sternly: “That’s aquestion in very poor taste.”

China’s Zhao Tao, who influential moviewebsite IndieWire last week called “one of thegreatest actresses in the world”, has made ahalf dozen films with her spouse, director JiaZhangke, including “Touch of Sin” and“Mountains May Depart”. Their latest is anoth-er Cannes contender, “Ash is Purest White”.She calls her husband “Director Jia” whileshooting, just like the rest of the cast-keepingtheir shop talk and pillow talk sharply separate.“When I come home and we get back to ourown family we have nicknames for each other-but that is something that just belongs to bothof us privately,” she said.

Zhao said their relationship had grownmore “dynamic” and collaborative since theymade their first picture together, “Platform”, in2000. “Back then, if the director thought ascene was good, I tended to think ‘Yeah, it’sgood enough’,” she said. “Now it’s more of a

dialogue about the characters-how I wantfrom a female perspective to make a charactercome alive. I think he’s very responsive to myopinions and suggestions.” Jia, who won theGolden Lion top prize at Venice in 2006 for“Still Life”, told AFP their sometimes hard-fought consensus covered even ostensiblytrivial details like costumes.

He said their shared love of QuentinTarantino’s “Kill Bill” movies led the couple tooccasionally borrow some of the eye-wateringcolors of its costumes. They revived the look in“Ash is Purest White”, whose first chapter set inthe 2000s recalls Tarantino and the Hong Kongaction movies that inspired him with their ultra-stylish violence.

“We were just on the same page,” Jia saidof his wife. Another on-screen, off-screenpartnership that made a splash at Cannes this

year was Spanish director-producer pair Raulde la Fuente and Amaia Ramirez, who present-ed their animated docudrama “Another Day ofLife” after a few cinematic kisses for the cam-eras. Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego alsomanaged to co-direct their crit ical ly-acclaimed Colombian narcodrama, “Birds ofPassage”, despite the recent end of theirromantic relationship.

‘Really terrifying’ It’s often a cinema passion project that

brings lovers together in the first place, as withA.B. Shawky and the producer of his debut fea-ture “Yomeddine”, Dina Emam. “We didn’t startdating until maybe right before production,”Emam told reporters in Cannes. The film, set inan Egyptian leper colony using non-profes-sional actors who were not able to read or

write, proved to be more of a bonding experi-ence than they bargained for. The two surviveda “really terrifying” shakedown by amateursecurity guards, byzantine bureaucracy and thevagaries of crowd funding a complex projectthat surprised everyone-particularly the film-makers themselves-by getting into Cannes’vaunted competition. “It was a grueling shoot, Ican’t sugarcoat it,” said Shawky, at 32 theyoungest director in the Cannes competition.

Emam agreed: “There’s no amount of plan-ning that could have prevented the things thathappened on this shoot-I think maybe we werea little cursed.” But after their baptism of fire,Shawky and Emam decided they were ready totake the next step. “As soon as we were donewith the film we decided ‘I think we’ve gonethrough the hardest thing we’ll ever go throughin our lives-I think marriage will be a piece ofcake’,” she quipped. — AFP

Half a century after the historic trial atwhich Nelson Mandela escaped thegallows, one of his fellow prisoners will

walk Cannes’ red carpet Monday for the pre-miere of a documentary about those whostood with him in the dock. Andrew Mlangeniis one of the last two surviving defendants ofthe 1963-1964 Rivonia trial of Mandela andnine others who faced a death sentence oncharges of plotting guerrilla warfare and car-rying out acts of sabotage against SouthAfrica’s apartheid regime.

Mandela’s impassioned three-houraddress to the court, during which hedeclared that a democratic South Africa wasan ideal “for which I am prepared to die” wasthe most significant of his career, conferringon him a demi-god status that overshadowedthe sacrifices of his co-accused. “The StateAgainst Mandela and the Others”, a French-produced documentary based on the recentlyreleased audio recordings of the proceedings,attempts to redress the balance by givingcenter stage to his fellow travellers.

Using animation, interviews and archivalfootage it shows how the defendants turned atrial aimed at dealing a knockout blow to theanti-apartheid movement into a searingindictment of white supremacist rule. “Wedecided we had to conduct this not as a crimi-nal trial but a political trial,” says AhmedKathrada, one of three former prisoners-oneblack (Mlangeni), one white (Denis Goldberg)and one of Asian origin (Kathrada) — inter-viewed for the feature. Kathrada, who diedlast year, is one of the heroes of the documen-tary by former Radio France Internationalejournalist Nicolas Champeaux and filmmakerGilles Porte, which uses stark black-and-whiteanimation to recreate the courtroom clashes.Born into a family of Indian Muslim immi-grants, he refused, like his comrades, to appealhis sabotage conviction to avoid the indignityof being seen to beg for clemency.

‘It’s life!’ The film also shows how the preening

prosecutor, depicted by Franco-Dutch artistOerd van Cuijlenborg as a vulture figure inflapping black robes, underestimated the

“semi-barbarous blacks” as they weredescribed by the state. Powerful testimonyfrom Mlangeni, who watched his parentswork for whites “for peanuts”, and Mandela’smentor Walter Sisulu, who complained ofconstant harassment of his family by thepolice, moved the world-and the judge. Atthe end of the eight-month trial, which wascondemned by the UN Security Council, thejudge decided to spare the men the noose.

Mandela, Kathrada, Mlangeni, Goldbergand four others were sentenced to life inprison, a verdict 85-year-old Goldberggreeted with immense relief. “It’s life! And lifeis wonderful!,” he recalls shouting across thecourtroom to his mother. But Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie was already steeling herself forthe long road ahead, with two young childrenin tow. “That’s when my ‘Amandla’ (Power)started,” she says in one of her last interviewsbefore her death last month, uttering the ral-lying cry of the anti-apartheid movement witha clenched-fist salute.

Poetry in animation For Champeaux, a former South Africa

correspondent who gained access to the 256hours of digitized recordings, the trial had themakings of an epic tale that needed to beshared with an international audience.“There’s the bad guy, the traitor, the love sto-ry, the suspense, the inscrutable judge, thefamilies trembling in the gallery,” he told AFP.But it is also a reminder, he said, “that whenyou are wedded to a cause, those close toyou suffer.” Explaining the decision to use 45minutes of animation-about a third of thefilm-Porte said the drawings allowed a filmbursting with historical information “tobreathe a bit”. “Animation also lends a bit ofpoetry,” the co-director of the award-win-ning 2004 French-Belgian comedy “When theSea Rises” said. Above all, the documentaryshows that South Africa’s tortured path todemocratic elections in 1994, four years afterMandela’s release from prison, was the workof a single-minded, multi-racial group, not asingle superhero. For Porte, it is a reminder“that all great things that happen in this worldare achieved collectively.” — AFP

Beyond Mandela: Comrades take

spotlight in Cannes documentary

(From left) French distributor Raphaelle Delauche, French co-director and screenwriter Gilles Porte,French-Russian producer Nadia Turincev, South African author, political communist activist SylviaNeame, South African anti-Apartheid campaigner and former political prisoner Andrew Mlangeni,French director Nicolas Champeaux, French actress and producer Julie Gayet and French producerWilliam Jehannin pose during a photocall for the film “The State Against Mandela” at the 71st edi-tion of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. — AFP

(From left) French producer David Rosier,German director WimWenders and his wifeDonata Wenders, Swissproducer SamantaGandolfi Branca, Italianproducer Ignazio Olivaand Italian producerStefano Bugliosi poseas they arrive for thescreening of the film“Pope Francis - A Manof His Word” at the71st edition of theCannes Film Festival inCannes, southernFrance.— AFP photos

There is a killer moment in the new film“Pope Francis-A Man of His Word” whenyou realize what he is up against. The

Argentine is dressing down the cardinals andbejeweled princes of the Curia who run theCatholic Church, lacerating them for theirgreed, back-stabbing and lust for power. Thescandal-hit, Italian-dominated body is full ofpeople leading immoral double lives who “pos-sess a heart of stone and a stiff neck”, he tellsthem in German director Wim Wenders’remarkable insight into the leader of the world’s1.2 billion Catholics. “Pay a visit to the cemeter-ies” and look at those “who thought they wereimmortal, immune and indispensable,” Francisurges them in the feature, which premiered lateSunday at the Cannes film festival.

“You see the sharp faces of some of thesecardinals who are rich and ambitious,” saidWenders, who interviewed the reforming pon-tiff over several months for the portrait. “Butyou can also see other archbishops thinking,‘Yes, this is why we elected you.’

As Francis said, you cannot combat the dis-eases of the world without examining yourselffirst.” The picture that emerges of Francis fromWenders’ unprecedented access is of a mandetermined to radically transform the vastwealthy institution into “a poor church for poor

people”. And Wenders, the maker of such clas-sics as “Wings of Desire”, “Paris, Texas” and“The Buena Vista Social Club”, believes thispontiff has the steeliness to do it.

Enemies digging in Many in the Curia “think he is going too fast

and too far,” according to Wenders, and havebeen digging in with traditionalists to resisthim. “But I think the opposite,” said the film-maker. “I think Francis is stepping on the brakesin order to take them all along. “Yet also he isfearless. He knows what has to be done and hewants to push it as far as he can knowing thathe is not young anymore.” For Wenders, alapsed Catholic who rediscovered his faith in a“friendly God” after the death of his doctorfather, the 81-year-old is a revolutionary.“When you look him in the eye you see this is avery loving man who really likes people. He isas honest as a man can be and you see thecourage in his eyes.

“His message-that we are equal and we haveto treat each other as equals is why people sayhe is a communist. We cannot leave peoplebehind in the dust. It is a tough message and hedoesn’t hesitate with it.” Francis is a radical justlike the medieval saint from whom he took hisname, Wenders argued, “who like him wanted

to go back to early Christianity... when thechurch was an organisation of poor people.”

“St Francis of Assisi was also the first ecolo-gist,” said Wenders, who was “amazed” by thedepth of the pope’s understanding of climatechange and his warning that the global “maniafor growth” is threatening mankind. “Thatgrowth is coming at the expense of the poormajority... who are suffering first and worstfrom climate change,” said Wenders. The direc-tor said the Vatican contacted him out of theblue asking whether he would be interested intalking to the pope. — AFP

Spanish actor Javier Bardem (left) and Spanish actress Penelope Cruz pose as they arrive for thescreening of the film “Todos Lo Saben (Everybody Knows)” and the opening ceremony of the 71st edi-tion of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. — AFP photos

Chinese actor Liao Fan (left) and Chinese actressZhao Tao during a photocall for the film “Ash isPurest White (Jiang hu er nv)”.

Egyptian director A.B Shawky (left) and producer Dina Emam pose during a photocall for the film“Yomeddine” at the 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. — AFP

Film shows ‘fearless’ pope taking on church

German director Wim Wenders poses during a photocall for the film “Pope

Francis - A Man of His Word.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas hasrevealed that he was more scared of walk-ing the red carpet at the Cannes film festi-

val than facing Liverpool’s lethal strikerMohamed Salah. The Costa Rican-known as“God’s Goalkeeper” for his strong Christianfaith-said he found showing a film about his lifeat the festival more stressful than a ChampionsLeague final. “It’s a delicate question,” he toldreporters at Cannes Sunday where he wasscreening “Man of Faith”, which recounts his risefrom humble origins to become one of Real’smillionaire galacticos.

“The Champions League final I know. Thered carpet is new... it’s a bit stressful,” he admit-ted. The 31-year-old was part of the all-con-

quering Madrid side that won the European titlein 2016 and 2017, and will face the English teamin two weeks’ time in this year’s decider. A dayafter Madrid beat Celta Vigo 6-0 in La Liga,Navas flew to Cannes to promote the film, whichalso features Real’s legendary trainer ZinedineZidane playing himself and a dressing roomscene involving other members of the side.Navas said the idea of the film was not to grand-stand him but to “show people that with faithand God’s help” you can realize your dreams.

Liverpool’s free-scoring Egyptian marks-man is a devout Muslim whose 44 goals so farthis season have inspired Reds’ fans to chantthat they might consider converting to Islamthemselves. — AFP

A video grab shows Real Madrid’s Costa Ricangoalkeeper Keylor Navas (left) and his wifeAndrea Salas arriving on the red carpet after thescreening of their film “Hombre de fe (Man ofFaith)” at the 71st edition of the Cannes FilmFestival in Cannes, southern France. — AFP

Real’s Navas more scared of Cannes red carpet than Salah

,


29Established 1961 T

G o s s i p

Prince albumto be streamed on TIDAL

TIDAL are releasing a never-heard-before Prince album nextyear. Jay-Z’s streaming service has been given the seal ofapproval of the late ‘Purple Rain’ hitmaker’s estate - putting an

end to their legal battle - to put out the material for 14 days exclusive-ly, before it’s made available in physical form. The ‘Encore’ rapper,who has promised to “honor Prince’s enduring legacy”, said: “Our onlygoal is to share Prince’s music with his fans as he wanted. “Afterthoughtful and honest conversation with him, he chose TIDAL as hispartner for ‘HITnRUN Phase One’ and ‘HITnRUN Phase Two’, and wewill continue to respect and honor Prince’s enduring legacy and wish-es with this new collection.” Troy Carter, the entertainment adviser ofPrince’s estate, added: “I’m very pleased this is resolved, and we getto honor the relationship between Prince and Tidal with this album.We look forward to fans hearing the new music and experiencing thegenius of Prince.” It’s a surprise move, as Prince’s record label suedJay’s Roc Nation in 2016. NPG Records claimed at the time that theJay Z-owned company did not have the rights to the late music leg-end’s digital catalogue and therefore should not have shared his songson paid-for service TIDAL. The ‘Kiss’ singer’s estate agreed to sell hissongwriting rights to Universal - meaning his music could becomemore widely available to stream - but Jay’s company insisted they hadexclusive rights to the work. According to the New York Post news-paper, TIDAL - who put out Prince’s final albums, ‘Hit n Run PhaseOne’ and ‘Hit n Run Phase Two’ - began lobbying a Minnesota courtbefore the Universal deal was struck, claiming the ‘1999’ singer hadgranted them exclusive rights to his catalogue of master recordings.TIDAL submitted a legal letter to probate court Judge Kevin Eide andclaimed they would seek injunctive relief if any deals struck byPrince’s estate - which still has ownership of his songs - violated theagreement they made with the star. According to TIDAL, Prince hadagreed to grant them streaming rights to a ‘Hit n Run’ remix album,another new LP and the rights to his back catalogue. However, asource claimed the streaming service only had a one-year deal tostream Prince’s music and were not entitled to rights in the long term.In 2015, the singer - who died from an overdose in April 2016 - pulledall his music from other streaming apps such as Spotify. An officialrelease date for the record is yet to be announced.

Spielberg reveals The Post came together

‘instantaneously’

Steven Spielberg says ‘The Post’ came together “instantaneously”.The 71-year-old director is a veteran of the movie business, andSpielberg has revealed that the drama film - which focuses on

The Washington Post newspaper’s attempts to publish the PentagonPapers, a report into the US’ military involvement in Vietnam - was theeasiest film to make of his entire career. He shared: “There is only onecategory ‘The Post’ falls into, which is that it happened instantaneous-ly. “A lot of my movies take a long time to develop, I buy books, I doall the scripts, years go by, I make other movies instead. It percolatesand comes back into my life and I finally get around to making them.“In my entire span of 49 years professionally directing, I’ve never hada film come together this quickly.” Spielberg also denied the sugges-tion that Donald Trump’s shock win in the 2016 US election convincedhim to make the movie, which stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Infact, Spielberg claimed he was primarily motivated to tell the story ofKatharine Graham, who led The Washington Post’s coverage of theWatergate scandal. He told The Hollywood News: “I think the issuesare much bigger than one administration. Had the election gone a dif-ferent way, I would have still felt a real urge to tell this story. “The firstthing that attracted me to do ‘The Post’ was Katharine Graham, herstory. Her evolution as a real person of real potential power that didnot really have the facility to exercise that power because she hadn’tquite found her center of gravity, she hadn’t been able to find how touse her own voice.” — Bang Showbiz

Agraphic music video by ChildishGambino has racked up morethan 100 million views in just

over a week on YouTube with its pow-erful takes on gun violence and racism.“This Is America”-by actor and record-ing artist Donald Glover’s edgy alterego-is a raw take on racism, gun vio-lence and consumer society hit thenine-figure-mark in a week, just behindof global hits such as Adele’s “Hello”(four days) and “Wrecking Ball” byMiley Cyrus (in six days). The four-minute video begins with a shirtlessGlover dancing to soothing rhythms inan empty warehouse and singing “Wejust wanna party” and “We just wantthe money.” Glover suddenly pulls out ahandgun from the back of his pants andexecutes a hooded man sitting in achair. A heavier, more foreboding beatdrops, and Glover raps “This isAmerica-don’t catch you slipping up.”“Yeah, this is America,” he says. “Guns

in my area.” Later in the video, Gloverguns down an all-black church choir ina sequence some commentators haveinterpreted as a reference to the 2015murders of nine black churchgoers by awhite supremacist in Charleston, SouthCarolina. At several points, children inschool uniforms join Glover in his hyp-notic dance as violence occurs in thebackground. The video, directed by HiroMurai, ends with a terror-strickenGlover fleeing as from a lynch mob. Oneof the clips producers, Ibra Ake, toldNPR: “there’s a communality there andpeople can relate to a lot of that stuff. Idon’t think we are as cerebral or as cal-culated as people think. Our goal is tonormalize blackness.” Glover’s videofollows an appearance over the week-end on the hit comedy show “SaturdayNight Live.” The 34-year-old actor andmusician is to appear as LandoCalrissian in “Solo” A Star Wars Story”being released on May 25.

Childish Gambino video targeting gun violence gets 100 million hits

Portman set to make an appearance

in Avengers 4?

Natalie Portman could make a surprise appear-ance in the fourth ‘Avengers’ movie. TheAcademy Award-winning actress played the

part of Jane Foster in the ‘Thor’ franchise, and direc-tor Anthony Russo - who is helming the projectalongside his brother Joe - has hinted at Nataliereturning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Askedwhether the character of Jane was still alive, Anthonyand his brother became coy and refused to commit toan answer because it might’ve given fans an insightinto their plans. He told HuffPost: “When we sayspoiler, [we mean] potential spoiler.” Jane lastappeared in a Marvel movie in 2013’s ‘Thor: The DarkWorld’, but Natalie has previously admitted to beingopen to a return to the franchise. The 36-year-oldactress shared: “It is really an incredible thing to getto be part of. As an actor it is like a completely differ-ent scale. “Because when you are making thosemovies, you are working with so much blue screenand so much fantasy. Your imagination has to be somuch larger.” By contrast, Natalie said in 2016 thatshe was “done” with Marvel films. She explained: “Asfar as I know, I’m done. I don’t know if, maybe oneday, they’ll ask for an ‘Avengers 7’ or whatever. I haveno idea! But as far as I know I’m done. But it was agreat thing to be a part of.”

Mike Shinoda paid tribute to his late band-mate Chester Bennington at his first soloconcert since the singer’s death. The

Linkin Park musician performed songs from hisforthcoming EP, ‘Post Traumatic’, at KROQ’s WeenieRoast festival at the StubHub Center in California,on Saturday (12.05.18), where he also played apiano-led version of the band’s seminal songs

‘Hybrid Theory’ and ‘In the End’ in Chester’s honor.‘Place To Start’ on Mike’s three-track EP helpedhim cope with the grief of losing his best friend andbandmate, so it was no doubt an emotional per-formance. Speaking previously about the R&Btrack, he said: “I wanted to put this out as soon aspossible because I’m living it. “And a lot of otherpeople are living it, too.” His set was his first properperformance since the band’s frontman took hisown life last July, aged just 41. Mike, also 41, recent-ly admitted he has no idea what the future holds forthe ‘Numb’ hitmakers. He previously insisted thegroup - completed by Brad Delson, Dave Farrell,Joe Hahn and Rob Bourdon - would continuetogether following the tragic death of Chester, buthe since revealed he doesn’t have an “answer” tofans asking about what comes next. He confessed:“I’m unable to say what will happen with the band.There’s really just no answer, and it’s funny becauseif I even say anything about the band’s future, thatbecomes the headline, which is stupid because theanswer is there is no answer. “Fans think they wantto know what the future is: Believe me, I want toknow what the answer is. But there just isn’t one.”Mike will be performing songs from ‘PostTraumatic’ when he appears at Reading and LeedsFestivals this August in the UK.

Shinoda performs Bennington tribute

Salma Hayek offers a solution to the gender pay gap

Shawn Mendes hadn’t been to manyconcerts before starting a career inmusic. The 19-year-old Canadian

singer/songwriter - who became prominentin 2013, after posting his covers on thevideo-sharing app Vines - has revealed heresorted to watching his favorite acts’ liveperformances on YouTube, and claims tohave watched every live video of Ed Sheeranon the site, because he’s not had the chanceto see his idol yet. He said: “It’s funny I didn’tget to see a lot of shows growing up when Iwas as a kid, and then all of a sudden when Istarted doing music I started watching a lotmore shows. “One in particular, I’vewatched every single Ed Sheeran live videothat is on YouTube, but I’ve never seen himperform live at an actual gig. I’m hoping I

see him one day.” The ‘In My Blood’ hitmak-er - who releases his third self-titled studioLP on May 25 - also revealed that his dreamcollaboration would be Alicia Keys, after hehelped mentor the ‘No One’ hitmaker’s teamon ‘The Voice’ in the US, earlier this year. Hesaid: “My dream music collaboration wouldprobably be Alicia Keys. “I got to do a thingwith her in America, and then when I washanging out with her after already loving herbecause of her music and her style, she alsoon top of that is one of the best people inthe entire world. If I got to collaborate withher it would be a dream.” Shawn Mendeshas teamed up with O2 to offer O2 cus-tomers Priority Tickets to the singer’s 2019UK arena tour, available to purchase fromMay 16 at 10am.

Shawn Mendes hadn’t been to many gigs

before finding fame

Salma Hayek says actorsmust take pay cuts if they’reserious about gender

equality. The 51-year-old actresshas spoken about Hollywood’sgender pay gap during a Womenin Motion talk at the Cannes FilmFestival, where she called on hermale co-stars to take a proactiveapproach towards the problem.Salma - who has been a vocalsupporter of the Time’s Up and#MeToo campaigns - explained:“It is not just the producers. It isactors too. “Time’s up. You had agood run but it is time now to begenerous with the actresses.”The Mexican-born star subse-quently claimed that one way toachieve equality would be foractors to spurn “inflated fees”.She said: “If actors ask suchinflated fees it will leave nothingfor actresses. If the movie’sbudget is $10 million, the (male)actor has to understand that if heis making $9.7 million, it is goingto be hard for equality.“Otherwise they will kill themovie. I will be hated for sayingthis. I hope I can get anotherjob...” Earlier this month,Benedict Cumberbatch called onmale stars to reject work if theirfemale counterparts are beingpaid less than them. He suggest-ed, too, that actors ought to asktheir female co-stars what they’re

being paid in a bid to tackle theinequality. Benedict explained:“Equal pay and a place at thetable are the central tenets of

feminism. Look at your quotas.“Ask what women are paid, andsay, ‘If she’s not paid the same asthe men, I’m not doing it.’”

Tuesday, May 15, 2018L i f e s t y l e Fe a t u r e s

Established 1961 30

These pictures show an Installation view of the exhibition “Marc Camille Chaimowicz: Your Place or Mine..,” at the Jewish Museum in New York. — AP photos

In Belgium, where hot, salty chips smeared with mayon-naise are a national institution, tampering with tradition-al “frites” sounds like a recipe for trouble. But the capital

Brussels is giving a futuristic makeover to some of the offi-cial stalls where the famous potato delicacies are sold toeager locals and tourists. Eight nondescript “fritkots”owned by city authorities will be decked out with dazzlingmirrored facades and special lighting. City planners andoperators alike say the upgrade will make the stalls-whichare due to reopen in late 2019 — as memorably Belgian asthe food they sell.

“Without frites Belgium doesn’t exist,” said fritkot oper-ator Vuistema Kemal, whose stall in central Brussels is oneof those being upgraded. He said that chips “representBelgium around the world”. Brussels planners launched acompetition last year to find a new design for what theycall the “Fritkots of the Future”. “We thought ‘and what ifwe give a model?’-a model that is identifiable just like thetelephone booths of London,” said Marion Lemesre, a sen-ior economic affairs official for the city of Brussels.

‘Part of Belgian culture’ The issue is a serious one in Belgium, whose claim of

inventing “frites” is disputed by its bigger neighbor France.Belgium’s “fritkots” even hit the international headlineswhen German Chancellor Angela Merkel nipped out to onein the middle of an EU summit in Brussels after Brexit talkswent on for too long. The competition was won in Januaryby Studio Moto, an architecture firm based in Ghent, a cityin the northern Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. StudioMoto co-owners Mo Vandenberghe and Thomas Hick saidtheir main goal during the design process was to maintainthe identity of each individual chip shop. “People are a bitparticular about their fritkots,” Hick told AFP.

He said that the fritkot is “part of Belgian culture,Brussels culture, and replacing them is something sensi-tive, so we really had (to keep) in mind we couldn’t putsomething standardized.” While all the stands will havethe mirrored facade and lighting effect, each revampedfritkot is to have two colors unique to the location. Onecolor will be used for the sign on top of the fritkot, andthe other will be for the interior tiling. Brussels has dozensof privately owned and operated fritkots too, but onlylocations owned by the city of Brussels are set for remod-eling, including the fritkot outside the Atomium museum, akey tourist draw, as well as Place de la Chapelle, near thecity’s famed antiques market. The city will also finance thecreation of two new fritkot locations, one of which will be

placed at another popular historic landmark, Mont desArts, in the city center.

Chocolate and chips Along with chocolate, “frites” are a rare unifying factor

in a young country, founded only in 1830, that has through-out its short history been deeply divided between French-and Dutch-speaking communities. They also play intoBelgium’s inferiority complex about France. Belgium claimsfrites were invented in the southern French-speaking cityof Namur. But France of course lays a rival claim to theinvention of what has become known in the United Statesin particular as the French fry. Kemal, who has operated hisstall at Place de la Chapelle for 34 years, said the newly

designed stalls will help put Belgium’s frites on the map.“What is good I think, is to unify all the designs of Belgium,of all fritkots in Brussels,” Kemal said. “So the tourists, theforeigners who come, they can discover it easily.”

The designers said they were working with the indi-vidual operators to make sure they work as well in prac-tice as in theory. “We are not trying to reinvent anythingin particular,” Hick said. “We are trying to go back to thebasics as much as possible.” They will include speciallow-flammability timber and solar panels on the roof toreduce their environmental footprint. “I see this as a pos-itive sign of renewal for the city.”— AFP

Belgium’s new ‘frites’ stands more than just a chip off the old block

The furniture, drapes, wall coverings, ceramics,textiles and other works by London-based artistMarc Camille Chaimowicz are as cross-discipli-

nary as they are distinct. They reflect and draw inspi-ration from the home, but are closer to sculpture orperformance art than home goods. Tending towardmuted pastel pinks, lavenders and greens,Chaimowicz’ pieces are better known in Europe thanin the United States. Until now, that is. “Marc CamilleChaimowicz: Your Place or Mine.,” billed as the firstexhibit in the US devoted solely to him, opened at TheJewish Museum in New York in March and remains onview through Aug 5.

“We gave the show a playful and ambiguous titleto reflect the playfulness and ambiguous nature of thework, and as a nod to the fact that this museum itselfwas once a home,” says associate curator KellyTaxter, who organized the exhibit at the Fifth Avenuemuseum, in a mansion built in 1908. Chaimowiczdoesn’t delineate between fine arts, crafts and design,she says. “His work is very abstract and, at the sametime, it’s utterly approachable. Everyone recognizes achair and understands wallpaper. So there’s an imme-diate understanding, and there are also multiple layersof poetry behind it.”

The show includes works made between 1978 and2018, including some never-before-exhibited piecesand three new commissions. Born in post-war Paris toa Polish Jewish father and a French Catholic mother,Chaimowicz was 8 when his family moved to Britain.He has lived and created in three London apartmentsover the past 40 years, and these apartments servedas both subjects and sources of his work, says Taxter.

The show is arranged thematically into five mainsections: The Entrance, The Library, Here and There.,The Salon and The Public Garden. In The Entrance, arow of coat hooks display jackets and trousers deco-rated with Chaimowicz’ silk-screened patterns, whichresemble wallpaper patterns. It’s a hint of the workthroughout the exhibit that emphasizes decoration.And it’s of course an image of something one mightsee in a home.

‘Artist’s books’The Library features an entire gallery devoted to

decorative “artist’s books” made by Chaimowicz. Thebooks somehow straddle the artistic, poetic and polit-ical realms. This section also features two lampshadesdesigned for this exhibit. Starting in 1975, Chamowiczshifted his focus primarily toward home interiors as aninspiration and starting point for his pieces. “Hisapartment itself was a work of art,” says Taxter.

The small gallery called Here and There features acombination of self-portraiture and staged imagesshowing partial views of interiors, in whichChaimowicz is always looking elsewhere. Enormouspanels covered in patterns made using a roller brush -“much like families in Poland might have painted anapartment,” says Taxter - are propped up as sort ofmovable wall coverings, to be rearranged and over-lapped on a whim. “The beauty of these large panelsis that he could arrange them differently in his apart-

ment without having to repaint the walls each time,”she says. “They allow for a great deal of flexibility.”

Because his work is so site-specific, the exhibitdraws on the building’s ornate interior and views ontoCentral Park. One piece, “A New Curtain for KT”(2018), features sheer woven and embroidered curtainfabric in pale greens and pinks near a soaring gallerywindow overlooking the park. “End Game,” also fromthis year, has a pair of panels of mirrored glass, eachabout the size of a door, inset with diamond shapesand featuring chrome knobs where one might placedoor knobs. The work is set against a wall at the endof the exhibit and is not meant to be opened, but thepanels are so inviting - and so resemble real doors -that some visitors have mistakenly tried to go throughthem, Taxter says. — AP

Is it art or is it decor?A British artist’s playful work

Josiane Devlaeminck prepares Belgian fries at the Atomium ‘fritkot’, the Flemish word for fries stand, in Brussels. — AFPphotos

Josiane Devlaeminck serves Belgian fries to customers atthe Atomium ‘fritkot’, the Flemish word for fries stand, inBrussels.


31Established 1961

Artist Ashley MacLure’s world is filled withfairies, young girls riding giant moths - andanguished, bleeding women. A grimacing

young woman rendered in black and white is curledin a fetal position, splashes of crimson staining herbottom. Here she is again, leaning against a blood-ied wall, her abdomen nothing but a large oval hole.There’s a self-portrait in charcoal pencil - a close-

up of a face pinched by sorrow. In her artist’s mind,this is what miscarriage looks like. And whileMacLure’s story seems destined for a happy end-ing - she and her husband are expecting their firstchild this summer - the high school visual artsteacher hopes her provocative works will help takeaway the enduring stigma of pregnancy loss. “It’smy way of shouting into the void,” she says.

As many as one in four pregnancies ends pre-maturely in miscarriage, the American Society forReproductive Medicine says. With miscarriage socommonplace, women increasingly are pressing forsociety to stop treating it as taboo. Among them isfigure skater Nancy Kerrigan, who revealed last

year during an episode of “Dancing with the Stars”that she had six miscarriages during an eight-yearspan. Now a mother of three, she told ABC’s “GoodMorning America” the losses were rough on hermarriage. “We don’t talk about it as fluidly as weshould,” says Dr Jessica Zucker, a Los Angeles psy-chologist and mother of two who lost a baby andlaunched a social media campaign -

#IHadAMiscarriage - to get people talking openly.“The unfortunate consequences are that a

majority of women are reporting shame, self-blame and guilt,” she says. “Loss is devastating,but the women who live these losses are strong.What they have to share is deeply important.”MacLure, 30, who’s had two miscarriages, saysother women’s stories can make her feel like animpostor. But her grief and pain - both physicaland psychological - are no less real. That’s cap-tured in her art, which is honest and edgy - somemight say brutally so. “One moment, you’re elated.And then it’s just over,” says MacLure, who grewup in North Providence, Rhode Island, and moved

to Milford, Massachusetts, after earning a degreein illustration from Rhode Island School of Design.“It’s very surreal. You’re mentally in a differentspace, starting to think about the future. And then,suddenly, you’re not.”

Make audiences uncomfortableMacLure, who teaches at Blackstone Valley

Technical Regional Vocational High School inUpton, Massachusetts, sought solace in her paintsand brushes. She began somewhat jarringly bypainting diseased ovaries and uteruses - a catharticescape as she battled feelings of failure and fearsthat she might never be a mother. She’s since donea series of paintings on clear glass dinner plates - afragile domestic item that seemed like the perfectmedium for capturing maternal anguish. MacLure’smore whimsical work has been showcased in juriedexhibitions, and some has won critical acclaim. Notthese paintings. Galleries don’t know what to dowith a likeness of her husband holding her as bloodflows beneath them, or a plate depicting her nakedand curled in a fetal position with a bright redblotch on her belly. “They don’t want to make audi-ences uncomfortable,” she says. “People want tosee flowers and sailboats and landscapes and pret-ty things. I’m all about making people uncomfort-able.” Even so, MacLure is gaining a following.Women she’s never met who have experienced thepain of miscarriage have been connecting with her,posting comments and sharing their own stories ofloss and healing. Among them is Lauren Lowen, afellow illustrator who miscarried. Like MacLure,she’s now expecting her firstborn this summer. “Isaw her art flash up on my feed, and I found itpoetic and beautiful,” says Lowen, of Nashville,Tennessee. “Her work really moved me.Miscarriage is a unique form of heartbreak.” Men,too, have sought out MacLure. Cambridge entre-preneur Chris Tolles reached out after his wifetwice miscarried.

The couple now has a 2-year-old daughter, butTolles still feels a “profound connection” to her art.“Suffering is a real thing, and it’s best shared,” hesays. “People talk about miscarriage as though ababy just disappears, but the reality can be reallygory and awful. Her work embodies that attitude of,‘Here’s real life - take it or leave it.’” For MacLure,an only child, fast-approaching motherhood is bit-

tersweet. Six years ago, she lost her own mom. “I’mso grateful that I get to be a mom - to pass on allthe positive things my mom taught me, and teachthe strength and resilience I’ve learned along theway,” she says. “I’m also excited to know this wholenew person.”— AP

Artist Ashley MacLure sitsfor a photo with one of her

paintings at her home inMilford, Mass. — AP photos

Artist Ashley MacLure sits for a photo with a self-portrait she created with ink, charcoal, gesso,wood, and recycled materials, at her home inMilford, Mass.

Artist Ashley MacLure holds her painting ‘TheDream’ created from acrylic paint and color mark-er on a glass plate, at her home in Milford, Mass.

Luc Delafosse, Regional Vice President of JumeirahEurope and General Manager of Jumeirah Carlton Tower.

— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Fe a t u r e s

Shouting into the void’Miscarriages color mom-to-be’s art

Kuwait Times: Tell us more about Jumeirah’soverall operations in Europe.

Delafosse: The operations of Jumeirah inEurope are composed of five properties cur-rently in operation. Three are in London, wherewe have the famous Jumeirah Carlton Tower,Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel and Grosvenor HouseSuites. We operate Jumeirah Frankfurt inGermany, and it has an ideal location in the citycenter. We also have a nice resort in Mallorca inSpain.

KT: How did Jumeirah’s European hotels per-form in 2017? Have you seen any particular sig-nificant movements in terms of source markets?

Delafosse: In the last few years, Jumeirah’sEuropean hotels witnessed a great performance,where we recorded a good growth in the mar-ket. Also, our Jumeirah hotel in Dubai has alwaysenjoyed a very positive performance. We areaiming in 2018 to remain up in summer inEurope.

KT: What trends are you noticing within thetourism industry in Europe? How have thesetrends affected Jumeirah, especially to attractKuwaiti tourists?

Delafosse: Jumeirah is always very active inthe region. For example, we frequently visitKuwait along with our partners. I will stay inKuwait for a week, and I’m visiting 15 to 20travel agencies every day. We have a globalsales management team traveling the worldincluding GCC countries. We have strong tieswith Kuwait and GCC and I’m very pleased tosee Jumeirah is doing extremely good in thesemarkets.

We notice that Kuwaitis are very good trav-elers. Kuwaitis love to travel on weekends; peo-ple are increasing the number of trips they makeyearly. They want to increase the number ofnights that they are staying and they want goodvalue for their money. What I noticed about the

Kuwaiti market is that Jumeirah is maintaining agreat relationship with the people, and this iswhat matters.

KT: In Europe, Jumeirah manages a diverseportfolio. What is Jumeirah’s competitive advan-tage as a luxury operator?

Delafosse: Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts isknown for its luxury portfolio. Our propertiesare all unique and elegant modern businesshotels in the heart of Europe’s financial capitals.

Jumeirah has become an iconic brand in theregion. The focus now is to develop it outsidethe region, and we have strong values for that.Our focus is on services, where we want todevelop them for our guests. Also, we want tohave the best products and would like to berecognized as one of the best hotel companiesfor the food and beverage experience.

KT: What is Jumeirah’s plan to attractKuwaitis and the GCC nationals during Eid andsummer?

Delafosse: Our three properties in Londonhave the best locations. Summer is a low seasonin GCC countries and high season in Europe.Our special offer is to book for five nights andpay for four. We always have special offers forthe summer.

KT: What are your greatest challenges in therole of marketing, particularly in this digital agewhere consumers are constantly changing?

Delafosse: The greatest challenge in the digi-tal age is to be able to communicate. The mar-keting team is working on choosing the rightchannel to reach the right people, and this is noteasy. We are considering digital marketing toreach out.

KT: Are there key markets that offer greateropportunities for expansion, and what are yourplans to introduce new properties?

Delafosse: Next year, we will open the fourthJumeirah’s property in London, and are lookingfor big cities and big hits in Europe to be ourtarget.

The black letters contrast sharply withthe graduation cap’s red fabric. Theyspell: “Vuela tan alto como puedas

sin olvidar de donde vienes.” “Fly as highas you can without forgetting where youcome from.” That’s the message thatBrenda Romero, who crossed the borderfrom Mexico with her mother when shewas 2, wants to spread as she graduatesSaturday from the University of Nevada,Las Vegas. Her decorated mortarboard ispart of an emerging trend in which stu-dents are pushing against the formality ofgraduation ceremonies and choosing tostand out in a sea of monochromatic capsand gowns by expressing joy, angst or,increasingly, political opinions.

Photos shared on social media showmortarboards adorned with expressionsof gratitude toward family members andhope for the future, with phrases like “Thebest is yet to come” and “On to my newdream.” Plenty also highlight the cost ofhigher education. “This hat was $95,990,”one cap reads. Another states: “Game ofLoans. Interest is coming.” And caps pro-claiming that “Nevertheless, she persist-ed” abound. The informal practice, whichis not necessarily encouraged by institu-tions, has been around for years and isused by students to express their individ-uality. But over the past couple of years, ithas taken a more political tone, saidSheila Bock, a folklorist and professor atUNLV.

“That desire of wanting to makeaspects of one’s self visible that are other-wise invisible has always been there,” saidBock, who is researching how and whystudents decorate their mortarboards.“But within the last couple of years, thosetypes of assertions - particularly as theyrelate to citizenship, places of origin, race,ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation -

have taken more significance as theymove into this mode of public display.”Bock has been tracking what students puton their caps through social media posts,as well as by attending commencements,photographing mortarboards and inter-viewing dozens of students.

Romero, who is earning a degree inhuman services, has been shielded fromdeportation and granted a work permitthrough the Deferred Action forChildhood Arrivals program. She was ableto attend community college and laterUNLV because the federal program wasauthorized shortly after she graduatedfrom high school, allowing her to worksometimes up to three jobs to pay por-tions of tuition and fees not covered byscholarships. She said she looked upquotes to put on her cap for about asemester. She chose to also includemarigolds - the flowers used to decoratealtars for the Day of the Dead - to honorher grandfather, who died last year. “Thisquote really resonated with me justbecause of my parents’ struggles andeverything that they had to overcome sothat I could graduate,” said Romero, whonow works at a law firm and plans toapply to law school. “It pays tribute notjust to what I’m doing, but to where Icome from and everything that has mademe who I am.” Previous UNLV cere-monies have featured caps with messageslike “Si Se Puede, Here To Stay” and “1 ex,2 kids, 9 jobs, 1 husband, 1 addiction, 13years, 127 credits, 66K loans = 1 collegegrad!!!” Last May, a student placed aphoto of President Donald Trump next tothe question “What does my political sci-ence degree mean now?” Some studentsleave politics and finances aside, andinstead include Bible verses or show theirlove for each other. —AP

Jumeirah: Most favored

hotels amongst KuwaitisBy Faten Omar

Kuwaiti travelers to Jumeirah Carlton Towers recorded an increase of 8 percent in occupancy rates in Q1 of2018 compared to the same period last year. Room revenues from Kuwaiti travelers doubled in Europeanhotels in general in Q1, including London, Frankfurt and Mallorca, with the increase accounting for 220 per-

cent. The most favored hotels amongst Kuwaitis are Jumeirah Frankfurt and Grosvenor House Suites byJumeirah Living. Kuwait Times spoke to Luc Delafosse, Regional Vice President of Jumeirah Europe andGeneral Manager of Jumeirah Carlton Tower, to learn more about Jumeirah’s operations in Europe.

Decorated graduation capsreflect joy, angst of students

UNLV student Brenda Romero decorates her graduation cap at her home in LasVegas. — AP

By Molly Sprayregen

Idon’t remember the first time I slept in a tent. It feelsthat doing so was always part of me. I remember when Iwas very young, curling up beside my siblings on family

camping trips, falling asleep to the sound of our cracklingcampfire mingling with our dad’s voice telling us stories. Atsummer camp, I would lie in my tent with my best friends,telling jokes, playing games, and huddling together in themiddle when it rained and water seeped through the sides.There was the time when my friend Sally woke me up inthe middle of the night, telling me to peek outside becausethe stars were shining so brightly and she didn’t want meto miss it. When I was a counselor, I would sing mycampers to sleep outside their tents before crawling intomy own, breathing in the crisp, mountain air as I drifted offto the lullaby of a rushing river.

Sleeping in a tent has brought me closer to the people Ilove and to nature. It has taught me I don’t need as muchas I think I do to be happy. It has trained me to be toughand resourceful. There are so many benefits to sleeping ina tent, so many reasons people love it. Grace Brofmangrew up with me at summer camp and went on to becomea wilderness trip leader. As a child, she loved tents’ com-munal aspect. “We’d all cuddle up together and squeezefive people into a four-person tent when it was raining,”she remembers, “and we loved being together.” Now, hertent is her refuge, a place to reflect. “It’s a lot calmer

because you don’t have all of these things blinking aroundyou. You probably don’t have your phone next to you. Youdon’t have a TV. It’s probably one of the only times youcan really be alone with yourself,” Brofman says.

Mountain or glacier or river or valleyAnother camp friend, Ellie Levitt, says that when she

sleeps in a tent, “The promise of tomorrow - the guaran-tee that when you wake up, you have at least a few moremiles to hike, maybe days - always helps me sleep betterat night.” Those who have dedicated their professionallives to the wilderness and to instilling a love of the out-doors in others swear by the tent. “The relationships ourstudents build when they are forced to interact reallyintimately and personally with folks they may not haveotherwise interacted with is really special,” says Bix Firer,director of programs at Big City Mountaineers, aColorado-based organization that guides disadvantagedyouth on wilderness trips. “There’s something so unifyingabout those experiences.”

Marco Johnson has been an instructor with theNational Outdoor Leadership School, known as NOLS,since 1985. “Getting away from the things we focus on intown, be it our job or the responsibilities of family or

schoolwork or bills or even knowing what’s going on in therest of world,” he says, lets us focus “in a much more con-nected way” with the people and world around us.Sleeping in a tent helps his students consider their priori-ties, he says: “They come back from having lived in a tent,realizing, ‘Oh, I can live a lot more simply than I thought Icould.’”

For me, one of the best parts of sleeping in a tent is theplaces it allows me to go. Some of the most beautiful loca-tions in the world are accessible only by hiking trail, onlyto those willing to spend days or weeks trekking to them

and sleeping in a tent along the way. There is nothing likewaking up beside a mountain or glacier or river or valleythat you worked so hard to get to, nothing like the hum-bling feeling of being one tiny point within a vast wilder-ness. “Sure, sleeping in a tent is awesome,” Johnson says.“But open the door and stick your head out. Sleep withyour head out and look around.”— AP


Established 1961

Lifestyle

This photo shows an aerial view of the Yellow Sea National Forest Park in Dongtai, eastern China’s Jiangsu province. — AFP

Martha Stewart’s next three lifestyle bookswill be showcases for “the Martha way.”Houghton Mifflin Harcourt told The

Associated Press yesterday that Stewart’s newseries would feature her take on everything fromentertaining to decorating. The first release, “TheMartha Manual,” is scheduled for January 2019. In astatement issued through her publisher, Stewart saidthe book would be a “go-to resource” for mastering“the Martha way.”

The magazine publisher and television host hasreleased dozens of books, with recent worksincluding “Martha’s Flowers: A Practical Guide toGrowing, Gathering, and Enjoying” and “MarthaStewart’s Newlywed Kitchen: Recipes forWeeknight Dinners and Easy, CasualGatherings.”—AP

Her way: 3 new lifestyle bookscoming from Martha Stewart

Sleeping in a tent: A lifelong love affair

A tent glows in the light of a headlamp as students on aSpring Semester in the Rockies get ready to sleep after along day of ski touring in Wyoming’s Absaroka Mountains.

A National Outdoor Leadership School student spends timerelaxing by their tent in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

National Outdoor Leadership School students’ tents are setup while on a backpacking course in India as a rainbow canbe seen from their tents while they explore India’s Pindari region. — AP photos

Students cook meals in their camp between a glacier andalpine lake in the Pacific Northwest of the US.

In this file photo provided by Molly Sprayregen, Molly, left,and her co-counselor smile beside their favorite tent whileleading a backpacking trip for teens in Mt RobsonProvincial Park in the Canadian Rockies.

Martha Stewart

Documents

Israel kills 55 Palestinians as US opens Jerusalem embassynews.kuwaittimes.net/pdf/2018/may/15/kt.pdf · ISSUE NO: 17532 32 Pages 150 Fils Established 1961 The First Daily in the