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THULQADA 7, 1440 AH WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2019 28 Pages Max 47º Min 29º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17878 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Sierra Leone Embassy marks 10 years in Protesters unmoved as HK leader France to impose green PSG get tough with Neymar 5 Kuwait; envoy woos investors, lauds ties 6 says China extradition bill ‘dead’ 12 tax on airplane tickets 26 after pre-season no-show US puts Hezbollah lawmakers on sanctions blacklist for first time Don’t ruin summer, Lebanon tourism minister pleads after shootout WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: The US encouraging “terror” attacks. told journalists. “To any member of ident in a meeting that the summer fore- Treasury placed two Hezbollah members However, officials stopped short of a Hezbollah considering running for office, cast would take a hit if political tensions Trump slams May’s of Lebanon’s parliament on its sanctions threatened sanctions action against know that you will not be able to hide persisted. “I told him, in case this inci- blacklist yesterday - the first time Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad beneath the cover of political office,” the dent cannot be contained, there are ‘foolish policies,’ Washington has taken aim at the Iran- Javad Zarif. On June 24, Treasury official said. fears. There are many questions from allied group’s elected politicians. The Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Zarif Raad, 64, is the head of the parlia- people planning to come,” the minister Treasury named MPs Amin Sherri and would be added to the sanctions list “lat- mentary bloc of the party and an MP told a press conference at the presiden- ‘pompous’ envoy Muhammad Hasan Raad to a terror- er this week”, amid rising tensions in the since 1992. Sherri, 62, is a 17-year tial palace. related blacklist, saying that Hezbollah Gulf. A senior administration official who Hezbollah veteran of parliament repre- He added that there were no big can- WASHINGTON: US uses its parliamentary power to advance insisted on anonymity would not confirm senting Beirut. Safa, the Treasury said, cellations so far. “His excellency President Donald its alleged violent activities. Also placed that plan. “We are obviously exploring ... maintains the group’s ties to financiers (President Michel Aoun) assured me that Trump assailed on the blacklist was Wafiq Safa, a top various avenues for additional sanctions and allegedly helps arrange the smug- things are on the right track. God willing, Britain’s US ambassa- Hezbollah official close to Hezbollah on Tehran. Obviously Foreign Minister gling of weapons and drugs. The newest soon, we will have really overcome this.” dor as a “pompous Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Zarif is a figure of key interest,” she said. sanctions brought to 50 the number of The government has vowed to restore fool” and slammed “Hezbollah uses its operatives in It was the first time the US Treasury Hezbollah individuals and entities black- security after the shootout on July 1 killed outgoing premier Lebanon’s parliament to manipulate had placed Hezbollah lawmakers on its listed by the Treasury since 2017. two aides of a minister in the Chouf Theresa May’s “fool- institutions in support of the terrorist blacklist, which forbid US individuals and Meanwhile, Lebanon’s tourism minis- mountains, one of the bloodiest theatres of ish” policies in a sec- Kim Darroch group’s financial and security interests, businesses with a US branch - including ter urged politicians yesterday not to Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. The tourism ond straight day of and to bolster Iran’s malign activities,” leading international banks - from doing wreck the country’s best tourist season industry, once a mainstay of Lebanon’s virulent attacks triggered by the leak of unflatter- said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary business with those sanctioned. “It is in years, after a deadly shooting in a now-battered economy, has been in the ing diplomatic cables. The missives threaten to of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial time we believe for other nations around popular mountain region stirred fears of doldrums since 2011 - the year conflict plunge Washington and London into an unprece- Intelligence. The move came as the US the world to recognize that there is no strife. Avedis Guidanian said more erupted in neighboring Syria. dented diplomatic crisis with uncertain outcome, steps up pressure on Iran and its alleged distinction between Hezbollah’s political tourists came to Lebanon in the first half Political paralysis in Lebanon and travel and have landed their author, British Ambassador “proxies” in the Middle East, including and military wing,” a senior administra- of this year than in the same period any warnings from Gulf Arab states also Continued on Page 24 Hezbollah, which Washington accuses of tion official who insisted on anonymity year since 2010. But he warned the pres- Continued on Page 24 jets and a lot of money spent in our country and that Trump hails Qatar means a lot of jobs, so we just appreciate everything.” He also shed light on Al Udeid military base in Qatar, saying they built “one of the great military bases, I ties, to sign ‘very would say anywhere in the world.” For his part, Sheikh Tamim said that the US and large transaction’ Qatar “enjoy a very great relationship and we are doing a lot together.” He indicated that the economic WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump yester- partnership has been more than $185 billion and Qatar day praised friendship with the Amir of Qatar Sheikh is “planning to double this number”. He added that Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, saying he is “a highly Qatar has “a lot of investments” in the US, saying “we respected man, a real leader in a large part of the trust the economy here, we do a lot in the infrastruc- world and a very important part of the world.” In ture and we are planning to do more investments.” remarks to reporters alongside Sheikh Tamim at the Sheikh Tamim invited Trump “to see Qatar and visit Al Oval office, Trump said “we have known each other a Udeid base”, to which Trump remarked that the base long time and have been friends for a long time and we “is incredible, it is a great place to have it, in the mid- are doing a lot of work now.” He added that Qatar is dle of the Middle East, so obviously it is a very impor- investing “very heavily” in the US and they are “creat- tant location.” ing a lot of jobs and buying tremendous amounts of Earlier yesterday, US Acting Secretary of Defense military equipment, including planes and buying large Mark Esper met Sheikh Tamim at the Pentagon to numbers of commercial planes from Boeing.” “reaffirm the strategic security partnership” between Trump said that they will be signing “a very large the two countries, the Pentagon said in a statement WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump meets Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in the Oval Office transaction ...that will be purchasing a lot of Boeing yesterday. — KUNA at the White House yesterday. — AFP Instagram, which has more than a billion Instagram rolls out users worldwide, is a platform focused on images, allowing users to post photos and videos, which can then be commented on by Ransomware hits new AI features to other users. The company said it has used artificial intelligence to monitor bullying and counter bullying harmful content for years, and will now use hard; cyber attacks the technology to detect when a user is WASHINGTON: Instagram will introduce about to post something offensive and issue cost $45bn in 2018 new features aimed at curbing online bullying, a warning. the Facebook-owned platform announced “This intervention gives people a chance to WASHINGTON: An estimated two million cyber Monday, as social media giants face increased reflect and undo their comment,” Adam attacks in 2018 resulted in more than $45 billion in scrutiny over the harassment faced by many Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in a state- losses worldwide as local governments struggled to users. There have been growing calls around ment. “From early tests of the feature, we have cope with ransomware and other malicious inci- the world for greater oversight of platforms found that it encourages some people to undo dents, a study showed yesterday. The Internet NANTES, France: In this photo taken on May 2, 2019, logos of US social net- like Facebook and Twitter, amid widespread their comment and share something less hurtful Society’s Online Trust Alliance, compiling data from work Instagram are displayed on the screen of a computer and a smart- criticism over bullying, as well as the spread once they have had a chance to reflect.” the United States and some international sources, phone. — AFP of hate speech and fake news. Continued on Page 24 said other important losses came from fraudulently taking over business email credentials as well as “cyptojacking” or hijacking a computer or network to generate bitcoin or other virtual currency. No other independent or third-party candidate has The report suggested cyber criminals are get- Perot, billionaire won such a large slice of the vote since the Democratic ting more sophisticated in targeting their victims, and Republican parties began dominating presidential but also noted many attacks could have been pre- who sought US politics in the mid-19th century, and he foretold the vented with improved computer security. Various impact that strong, focused third-party campaigns security researchers found as many as 6,515 com- could have on a White House race. His appearance puter breaches and five billion records exposed in presidency, dies alongside Clinton and Bush on the debate stage sharply 2018.