SHAABAN 6, 1440 AH THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019

28 Pages Max 28º Min 19º 150 Fils Established 1961

ISSUE NO: 17804 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net

Pregnant woman beaten by Coalition air strikes hit How Libya strongman Haftar Magic Johnson steps down 5 husband, locked in a hotel 6 Sanaa as violence flares 10 blindsided the world powers 28 as Los Angeles Lakers chief

India on high alert ahead of poll as blast heightens fears India bans Modi film until after mega-election

NEW DELHI: India went on high security alert yester- day ahead of the start of its marathon election, after a campaign dominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership that has focused on keeping the country safe from attack. A bomb blast Tuesday blamed on Maoist rebels killed five people, including a lawmaker campaign- ing for Modi, heightened fears of election bloodshed. Some 80,000 troops, police and paramilitaries will be deployed in troubled Chhattisgarh state-where the attack was carried out-when voting starts Thursday, state police chief D M Awasthi said. Maoist rebels are behind many of the long-simmering insurgencies in at least nine Indian states. But the Election Commission, which organizes the world’s biggest democratic election with 900 million eli- gible voters choosing 543 MPs, insisted the attack would not change its schedule. Seats in 20 states will be decided on the first of seven days of voting spread over six weeks. Modi’s right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seek- KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ing a second term, defending a landslide win over the returned to Kuwait yesterday after a private visit to Salzburg, Austria. His opposition Congress party in 2014. The result is predict- Highness the Amir was received at the airport by His Highness the Crown Prince ed to be close however. Chhattisgarh is among sensitive Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq states where polling is staggered over several weeks so GUWAHATI: Indian election officials carry Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and security and administrative staff can be moved around. Ali Al-Ghanem and Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser other election material, followed by paramilitary personnel, along the bank of the The killing of a local leader of a Hindu nationalist group in Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and other senior State officials. —KUNA Brahmaputra river in the northeastern state of Assam yesterday. — AFP Continued on Page 24

News in brief MP: Labor law Ministry to cut unpaid lines needs balance KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications urged By B Izzak all landline subscribers to pay their phone bills and warned that automated service cutting would start KUWAIT: Head of the National Assembly Priorities this month for those who fail to pay overdue bills. Committee MP Ahmad Al-Fadhl said yesterday that the The Ministry said in a statement that it would follow amendments in the labor law in the private sector which the same standard procedures by sending a first calls to raise annual leave to 35 days has some prob- warning message next Sunday, a second one on April lems and is not likely to be debated in the coming 21 and finally cut the service on April 28 for those Assembly session next week. Fadhl said that the pro- who do not comply. It added that the maximum limit posed amendments, which were passed by the after which the service would be cut is KD 50 for Assembly last month in the first reading, needs to cre- house landlines and KD 100 for commercial ones. ate a balance between giving more benefits to Kuwaitis The ministry announced that subscribers could pay employed in the private sector and not adding new bur- their bills online at www.moc.kw and the e-govern- dens on Kuwaiti businessmen. ment gate at www.e.gov.kw and that they could also He said that there is a problem in the retroactive inquire about their bills by calling 123. — KUNA effect attached to the amendment, adding that “we want to expand benefits for Kuwaiti employees by increasing the leave to 35 days but we do not want to add any Iran tied to Al-Qaeda: US A handout photo provided by the European Southern Observatory yesterday shows the first photograph of a burden on Kuwaiti businessmen”. The government had black hole and its fiery halo. — AFP voted in favor of the first reading of the law but later WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike retracted and rejected the amendment saying that rais- Pompeo yesterday accused Iran of ties to Al-Qaeda Einstein more than a century ago. ing the annual leave from 30 days to 35 days adds a lot and declined to say whether the Trump administration ‘Seeing the unseeable’: Black holes are monstrous celestial entities exerting of burden on Kuwaiti businesses. had legal authority to invade the country. Testifying gravitational fields so vicious that no matter or light can The amendments were proposed in a bid to make before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, escape. The somewhat fuzzy photo of the black hole at working in the private sector more attractive to Pompeo hedged on whether the authorization of Black hole revealed the center of Messier 87, or M87, a massive galaxy Kuwaiti citizens, the overwhelming majority of whom force by the US Congress days after the September WASHINGTON: Using a global network of telescopes residing in the center of the relatively nearby Virgo prefers government jobs which provide much easier 11, 2001 attacks would allow the United States to to see “the unseeable,” an international scientific team galaxy cluster, shows a glowing ring of red, yellow and conditions and higher pay and benefits. The problem strike Iran. “I would prefer just to leave that to yesterday announced a milestone in astrophysics - the white surrounding a dark center. The research was con- also is that only under 100,000 Kuwaitis are employed lawyers,” Pompeo told Senator Rand Paul, a first-ever photo of a black hole - in an achievement that ducted by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in the private sector against over 1.5 million expatriates Republican who is critical of US foreign interventions. validated a pillar of science put forward by Albert Continued on Page 24 Continued on Page 24 “The factual question with respect to Iran’s connec- tions to Al-Qaeda is very real. They have hosted Al- Qaeda, they have permitted Al-Qaeda to transit their country,” he said. “There is no doubt there is a con- Netanyahu wins re-election nection between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Al- JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister next coalition government. Qaeda. Period, full stop,” he said. —AFP Benjamin Netanyahu secured a clear It would be his record fifth term as path to re-election yesterday, with premier. President Reuven Rivlin said religious-rightist parties set to hand on Twitter he would begin meeting Driver’s licenses seized him a parliamentary majority despite a next week with political parties that close contest against his main centrist won parliamentary seats to hear who Well-informed security sources said that KUWAIT: challenger, a vote tally showed. With they support for prime minister. At the thousands of driver’s licenses have been recently more than 97 percent of votes count- sessions, which Rivlin said would be withdrawn from expatriates who had changed their ed, Netanyahu’s conservative Likud broadcast live “to ensure transparen- profession or managed to get them through illegal party looked likely to muster enough cy”, he will then pick a party leader to means. The sources added that more licenses will be support to control 65 of the Knesset’s try to form a coalition, giving withdrawn for the same reasons and that an investi- 120 seats and be named to head the Continued on Page 24 gation showed that some Ministry of Interior’s employees who are involved in the corrupt practices will be referred to Public Prosecution. — By A Saleh AYN ZARAH, Libya: A Libyan fighter loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) fires an assault rifle during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli’s suburb yesterday. — AFP Khashoggi children deny report (LNA) forces of eastern commander RIYADH: The children of murdered Saudi journalist Thousands flee Khalifa Haftar held positions in the sub- Jamal Khashoggi denied yesterday discussing any urbs about 11 km south of the centre. sort of settlement over his killing by Saudi agents Steel containers and pickups with after a report of compensation awards. “Currently Tripoli homes mounted machine-guns blocked their the trial is taking place and no settlement has been way into the city. discussed or is being discussed,” said the statement, as battle rages Residents reported LNA planes published on Twitter by Khashoggi’s elder son buzzing Tripoli as anti-aircraft guns fired Salah. The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a TRIPOLI: Eastern forces and troops at them. On the ground, Haftar’s forces columnist, reported last week his children were giv- loyal to the Tripoli government battled were fighting Prime Minister Fayez Al- en million-dollar houses and monthly five-figure on the outskirts of Libya’s capital yester- Serraj’s soldiers at the former interna- TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks before supporters at payments as compensation. — AFP day as thousands of residents fled from tional airport, witnesses said. his Likud Party headquarters in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv yesterday. — AFP the fighting. The Libyan National Army Continued on Page 24 2 Local Thursday, April 11, 2019 Audiences of Crown Prince

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives acting Prime Minister and Defense HH the Deputy Amir receives Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HH the Deputy Amir receives Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Minister Sheikh Naser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. — KUNA photos Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy day received at Bayan Palace the act- Ahmad Al-Sabah. His Highness also Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Deputy Prime Minister and State Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf ing Prime Minister and Defense received Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister and Interior Minister Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yester- Minister Sheikh Naser Sabah Al- Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al- Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah and Khaled Al-Saleh. — KUNA

Kuwaiti MP: IPU dealt with Kuwait’s parliamentary positions many issues of concern in line with foreign policy: Amb

DOHA: Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Parliamentary caucus MP Rakan Al- Nisf said yesterday that the 140th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) con- ference discussed several topics and issues of concern to various peoples and countries of the world. In a press statement on the sidelines of the con- ference, which concluded in the capi- tal Doha yesterday, Al-Nisf said that discussing various issues in the General Assembly and the main com- mittees and sub-committees as well as the adoption of decisions is in the interest of all parliaments. He praised Qatar’s hosting of the 140th session of MP Rakan Al-Nisf DOHA: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Qatar Hafeeth Al-Ajmi with Kuwaiti Parliament Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanem. — KUNA the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the organization efforts, saying it DOHA: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Qatar addressing all the issues and crises faced by Parliamentary Division participated and is a historic precedent for an Arab nation by the Arab Group for mem- Hafeeth Al-Ajmi said that Kuwaiti parlia- humanity. presented working papers explaining the country to host the IPU conference. bership of the forum of young parlia- mentary positions in international forums He pointed out Al-Ghanem’s speech, views of the National Assembly on the He congratulated MP Omar Al- mentarians in the Union for the sec- are consistent with Kuwait foreign policy which condemned all forms of terrorism in issues discussed-notably education, human Tabtabae on the occasion of his nomi- ond time. — KUNA under the directives of His Highness the the world, “Zionist entity’s” practices rights, promotion of international peace and Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- against the Palestinian people, and rejected security and women empowerment. He also Sabah. Al-Ajmi made his remarks to KUNA the recent unilateral American declaration referred to the results of the meetings held yesterday at the conclusion of the 140th to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the by the National Assembly delegation with IPU conference, adding that the active par- occupied Golan. Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Kuwait exerted great effort ticipation of Kuwaiti Parliament Speaker He stressed on the importance of the who discussed the historic brotherly rela- Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanem shed light on the results of the committees’ meetings at the tions between the two countries, and the to achieve development goals importance of the world parliaments in conference, in which the members of the latest developments in the region. — KUNA

BEIRUT: Assistant Secretary-General sectors, he said, adding that such is of the Supreme Council for Planning part of Kuwait’s efforts to implement Kuwait stresses need for full, and Development in Kuwait Bader Al- the fifth goal of sustainable develop- Rifai yesterday stressed Kuwait’s ment on the empowerment of women. unimpeded access to refugees keenness to implement the goals of “Kuwait has also launched the sustainable development 2030 goals Sustainable Development Award under and made intensive efforts to do so. the patronage of His Highness the NEW YORK: Kuwait has stressed the impor- World War II, with 40 million internally dis- Al-Rifai, who heads Kuwait’s dele- Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al- tance of full and unimpeded access to refugees placed persons, 25.4 million refugees and 3.1 gation to the Arab Forum for Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, who is in need of humanitarian assistance and basic million asylum seekers worldwide, according Sustainable Development, said in a keen to implement the 2030 agenda services, including health care, education and to UNHCR statistics,” he said. “As members of speech during the forum that Kuwait and fulfill international commitments,” psychosocial support, as well as allowing the the Security Council, and besides being formed the Higher National Committee Al-Rifai said. “The government’s work United Nations and other humanitarian organ- responsible of maintaining international peace to follow up the implementation of program for the 15th legislative term is izations to carry out their work. This came in and security, we are also responsible to hold NEW YORK: Kuwait’s Ambassador to the United sustainable development goals, which closely related to the translation of Kuwait’s speech delivered by its Ambassador accountable those who do not respect interna- Nations, Mansour Al-Otaibi, delivers his includes a selection of representatives many sustainable development goals, to the United Nations, Mansour Al-Otaibi, at a tional law and those who fuel conflicts that speech at the Security Council session on from various stakeholders in govern- taking into account the different Security Council session on refugees. cause most of the displacement in our world refugees. — KUNA ment, the private sector and civil soci- national realities, the level of develop- Al-Otaibi called on the international com- today,” he said. ety and has issues numerous recom- ment and respect for national policies munity to continue its support for the efforts of “If the number of conflicts and the number mendations in this regard. The and priorities,” he noted. the United Nations High Commissioner for of people in need around the world are a ing the root causes of them, the need for National Observatory for Sustainable “Kuwait is one of the first countries Refugees, stressing the role of institutions, civil measure of our performance, it will be clear international and regional cooperation and Development and Future Prospecting to commit to the implementation of the society and non-governmental organizations that the Security Council has not been able to the strengthening of humanitarian efforts. has been established to ensure that 17th sustainable development goals working tirelessly to provide a decent life for deal with, prevent or contain many conflicts, The inability to prevent the outbreak of sustainable development objectives when His Highness the Amir signed all those in need in all areas of conflict to be which would increase the burden on the these conflicts in their initial stages and to are aligned with strategic plans and with the world leaders in September followed by rehabilitation. UNHCR and other actors in the field of address their roots automatically leads to development plans, he added. 2015 to be committed to achieving “Our meeting today comes at a time when Humanitarian aid”, he noted. the influx of large numbers of refugees, Kuwait’s International Women’s these goals,” Al-Rifai told KUNA. He the number of people forcibly displaced He stressed the importance of preventing which entail considerable material and polit- Award, under the patronage of His said that Kuwait was a pioneer when worldwide has reached its highest level since conflicts in their initial stages and address- ical costs, he added. — KUNA Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- its development plans included devel- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, is a high- opment pillars that confirm the level international award aimed at progress towards achieving the goals building an interactive competitive of sustainable development by its uni- FAO to join Kuwait’s Al-Sumait Prize’s Board of Trustees platform that highlights excellence in versal adoption and commitment to the public, private and civil society implement them. — KUNA ROME: Charge d’Affaires of the For his part, Al-Zamanan Kuwait Embassy in Rome praised the FAO’s unique expert- Advisor Salem Al-Zamanan has ise and major role regarding handed over an official invitation agricultural development and from Minister of Amiri Diwan food security sectors, stressing Affairs Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al- that being a member of Al- Sabah to Deputy Director- Sumait Prize’s Board of Trustees General of FAO to join the Board will enhance its international of Trustees of Al-Sumait Prize objectives and status. “It is a for African Development. Deputy world-class scientific forum that Director-General of the Food includes experts, scientists and and Agriculture Organization of specialists in various fields with a the United Nations (FAO) Daniel huge research and scientific Gustavson welcomed the Kuwaiti archives due to cooperation with initiative as being a pioneer distinguished universities and country in the field of humanitar- scientific institutions”, Al- ian work. Zamanam described the UN Gustavson praised the initia- organization. tive as an international value Al-Zamanan expressed his that stimulates scientific pride in welcoming FAO to par- research to serve the goals of ticipate in this initiative since its sustainable development to help launch during the third Arab- poor African communities and African summit, hosted by enable them to improve their Kuwait in 2013 by His Highness living conditions. He said that the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad being a board member will help Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He referred to to expand the development the “great symbolic value” of the partnership with Kuwait, espe- late Kuwaiti philanthropist Dr cially the food security, which is Abdulrahman Al-Sumait’s Prize the main task of FAO and one of for his life was dedicated to help- BEIRUT: Assistant Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Planning and the priorities of the World ing the poor of Africa, “confirm- ROME: Charge d’Affaires of the Kuwait Embassy in Rome Advisor Development in Kuwait Bader Al-Rifai with the Council’s delegation to the Arab Agenda for Sustainable ing the profound human traits of Salem Al-Zamanan meets with Deputy Director-General of (FAO) Forum for Sustainable Development. —KUNA Development 2030. Kuwait’s people.” — KUNA Daniel Gustavson. — KUNA 3 Local Thursday, April 11, 2019 Kuwait acting premier hosts investment authority chief

KUWAIT: Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Defense receives Justice Husam Bahbahani.—KUNA photos KUWAIT: Sheikh Nasser receives Kuwait’s Investment Authority Director Farouq Bastaki.

KUWAIT: Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the received the Director of Kuwait’s Investment Authority two sides discussed a host of issues. Sheikh Nasser also tion committee charged with examining the ministry’s final Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, yesterday Farouq Bastaki at Bayan Palace. During the meeting, the received Justice Husam Bahbahani, head of the investiga- account and contracts related to armament. — KUNA

Education among the most important Kuwaiti Health Min praises pillars of ‘Kuwait Vision 2035’ quality of health services

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Minister of Health Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah said yesterday that the Federation of Private Hospitals in Kuwait and the joint effort between the public and private sectors to achieve healthy development in the country are achieving positive results on the quality of health services. This came in a speech on the occasion of sponsoring the 21st annual forum for the development of Arab health care for the Federation of Arab Hospitals, hosted by the country for two days. Sheikh Basel said that the importance Health Minister Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah KUWAIT: The participants in the National Workshop on the Foundations and Approaches to Integrate Pre-School Education into the Official System of of this forum lies in studying the health Education. — KUNA photos conditions in Arab countries and come achieve health renaissance and inter- up with recommendations that con- nal coordination between them to KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti National (ISESCO) and the Arab Center tribute to the development and activate their role in implementing Committee for Education, for Educational Research of GCC upgrading of health services. the ambitious vision of the state for Science and Culture (UNESCO) states. The workshop aims to dis- He pointed out that the forum will the health sector. He pointed out that stressed the importance of build- cuss the reality of pre-school discuss the productive issues in the the Federation of Private Hospitals ing and supporting national education and the extent of its health sector, good governance, Companies in Kuwait has been capacities in the field of educa- system’s relation to the formal enhancing accountability and pro- announced as a positive step tion, which is one of the priorities educational system, she added. ductivity of the administration and towards coordination and seeking to of Kuwait’s 2035 vision. She pointed out that it also other important topics, pointing to organize joint efforts among private This came in a speech by the aims to identify the foundations the awareness of hospitals in the pri- hospitals in a way that enhances the Secretary-General of the and approaches to the integration vate sector in Kuwait with the sup- quality of health services provided Organization Nadia Al-Wazzan of pre-school education in the port of the Ministry of Health to to the public. — KUNA during the opening of the formal educational system and to National Workshop on the clarify ways to develop the con- Nadia Al-Wazzan Abdulaziz Al-Duaij Foundations and Approaches to tent, objectives and methods of Integrate Pre-School Education teaching educational materials in into the Official System of pre-school education to facilitate General of the Arab Center for between the center and other Finance Min Education in cooperation with its integration into the formal Educational Research for the educational and cultural organi- the Islamic Educational, Scientific educational system. On his part, GCC states Abdulaziz Al-Duaij zations which eventually serves participates in and Cultural Organization representative of the Director hailed the fruitful cooperation Kuwait’s interests. — KUNA annual WB, IMF meeting

Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf WASHINGTON: Kuwaiti Minister of Finance Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf will attend the annual Spring Meetings of the number of meetings with a group of World Bank Group and the International international financial institutions to Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, become acquainted with the latest eco- DC, to discuss issues of global concern, nomic developments in the world. It including global economic prospects, added that the minister will also meet poverty eradication and economic with officials tasked with reviewing development. The Ministry of Finance Kuwait Program at the World Bank to PARIS: Kuwaiti National Assembly’s foreign affairs committee mem- said in a press statement Tuesday get to know about the latest develop- bers meet with the Head of the French Senate friendship group PARIS: Kuwaiti National Assembly’s foreign affairs committee mem- evening that the minister is scheduled to ments of studies the bank is conducting Jean-Marie Bockel. —KUNA bers meet with the lawmakers of France’s Senate. hold on the sidelines of the gatherings a on Kuwait. — KUNA

the French officials that included Kuwaitis’ French Senate friendship group Jean-Marie Kuwait, France affairs living in France and facilitations pro- Bockel, director of international relations Kuwaiti and British officials vided to them, he said. and protocols of the Senate Philippe Adnot Some other topics pertaining to the and Foreign Relations and head of defense eying closer region were covered between the two sides, and armed forces committee of the Senate discuss enhancing cooperation he noted, stressing that the Kuwaiti parlia- Christian Cambon. parliamentary ties ment supports firmly His Highness the Amir During the meetings, Kuwaiti MPs KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Interior Ministry where a number of topics were dis- Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- stressed the depth of relations between the Undersecretary Lieutenant General cussed. The statement noted that new Sabah’s policy aiming to “heal the Gulf rift.” two countries, mainly the parliament. The Essam Al-Naham on Tuesday discussed mechanisms have been discussed to PARIS: The Kuwaiti National Assembly’s The Kuwaiti parliament has a pivotal role in Kuwaiti lawmakers have several international with UK’s Defense Advisor for the consolidate cooperation in the fields of foreign affairs committee members dis- unifying efforts on GCC parliaments levels, dossiers, which concern French like issues of Middle East, Sir John Lorimer, methods exchanging visits, information and expe- cussed on Tuesday bilateral ties and means as this needs support of some international refugees, climate and environment as well as of enhancing cooperation between the riences. For his part, Sir Lorimer lauded of promoting them with some lawmakers of parliaments like the French legislature, he humanitarian. The delegation includes Al- two countries. In a statement, the min- the importance of the issues discussed, France’s Senate. In a statement to KUNA, pointed out. Kandari, Abdulwahab Al-Babtain and istry said Al-Naham stressed during the which would lead to more cooperation Abdulkarim Al-Kandari, the committee’s During the three-day visit, the delegation Abdullah Al-Enezi. They look forward that the meeting the depth of the historical rela- and coordination between the two head, said the Kuwaiti parliamentary visit will hold meetings with Senate’s foreign upcoming visit of Senate’s chairman to Kuwait tions between Kuwait and the UK, countries. — KUNA to France comes in response to an invitation affairs and some French MPs in the would help promote cooperation with the two by the French Senate and parliament to European Parliament, Al-Kandari said. Some sides. They said the trade exchange between deepen relations between the two coun- topics of common concern were discussed Kuwait and France hit USD 700 million, hop- tries. The delegation discussed files with by the Kuwaiti delegation, and head of the ing for increasing this number. — KUNA

KEA, KPI ink memo to preserve environment

KUWAIT: The Environment Public statement that such cooperation “emanates climatic change. On fish deaths and the red Authority (EPA) yesterday inked a memo- from our sense of challenges facing nature.” tide recurrence, he said that the relevant randum of understanding with Kuwait He called for cooperation among all state national panel met on Tuesday and worked Petroleum International (KPI) to achieve the sectors to protect the environment and out plans to tackle these problems. Sheikh mutual goal; safeguarding the Kuwaiti envi- achieve sustainable development, endorsed Abdullah has called for the speedy collec- ronment and biodiversity. EPA Director by the United Nations General Assembly, tion of the dead fish still in the waters and General and Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Al- envisaging 17 objectives, partly related to tackle the dirty water problem in sewers Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said in a tackling environmental deterioration and reaching the sea. — KUNA KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Interior Ministry Undersecretary Lieutenant General Essam Al-Naham meets with UK’s Defense Advisor for the Middle East, Sir John Lorimer. —KUNA 4 Thursday, April 11, 2019 Local

Photo of the Day

KUWAIT: A birds-eye view of Souq Sharq’s bridge. — KUNA/Hassan Bushihri Burgan Bank hosts 2nd ‘Job Shadow’ program in collaboration with INJAZ KUWAIT: As a sought-after career destination that seeks to develop the skills and expertise of future leaders in the market, Burgan Bank recently hosted the 2nd “Job Shadow” program in collaboration with INJAZ-Kuwait. GBK empowering Through the latest skills-building program, Burgan Bank aims to create a highly educated generation of ambitious youth to own their and driven professionals. The “Job Shadow” Program offers school students the opportunity to explore different business sectors through a series of workshops and field economic success visits that are presented by the respective heads, profes- sionals, and business owners. KUWAIT: Title spon- INJAZ-Kuwait is a private sector driven, non-profit sors of INJAZ Kuwait’s organization that works on developing and building busi- 2019 edition of ness and entrepreneurial skills of private middle school, ‘Company Program high school and university students, with the help of quali- Competition’, Gulf Bank fied and dedicated volunteers from the private sector. This is sponsoring the award initiative falls under the KIPCO Group’s commitment to train 1,000 students over the next two years, until June for ‘Best Company’. 2020. KIPCO first partnered with INJAZ-Kuwait in 2016 Held under the patron- with volunteers hailing from within the company and its age of His Highness the subsidiaries, including Burgan Bank. Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Through the aid of the bank’s Human Resources& Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Development Department and their coordination with oth- Sabah, the two-day er internal departments, 15 students, all majoring in event is set to take place Ahmad Al-Amir Economics Major from the Australian College of Kuwait Operations Office, Corporate Banking, Economist- Burgan Bank has a long-standing commitment to enhance at Salwa Sabah Al- explored individual sectors, departments and the overall Economy Research Unit, and investor Relations, the stu- the potential of the Kuwaiti youth through innovative edu- Ahmad Hall, Marina Hotel from April 12th to 13th, banking realm. Attended by the representatives of the dents were further inducted on the banks corporate cul- cational and skills-building platforms, enabling human 2019, and will see Gulf Bank’s Tareq Al Saleh, Learning and Development Center, International ture, organizational objectives, and goals through an inter- development and career progression for the benefit of the Assistant General Manager, Consumer active session of Q&A’s to benefit each academically. present and future generations. Investments join the competition’s judging panel. Over the course of the two days, the compe- Al Turki praised the department’s efforts to social mission to support events tition will see 250 students compete, where NBK continues to support elderly in need and stressed that NBK KIB concludes and activities that have a positive they will be assessed by their donor and finan- believes that the private sector should play a impact on the local community. At cial reports, presentations, panel interviews support Elderly major role in supporting the government’s policy sponsorship of KIB, we believe in the importance and booths. The winning students will then be towards social aid, in order to maintain the coun- of cultivating a culture of accept- invited to attend the Regional INJAZ company try’s approach towards a sustainable future and ance and support for people with competition the following academic year. Gulf Care Department guarantee better methods to adopt advanced Ideal Mother disabilities. For this reason, we Bank will also be hosting competing students systems and ways to care for those in need. continue to support this award, as for a workshop session under the theme of NBK’s sponsorship and support comes in line it recognizes the efforts of par- KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) con- Award public speaking, to help prep participants for with the bank’s customary and ongoing spirit of ents of children with disabilities, the presentation phase of the competition. tinues its support to the Elderly Care Department corporate citizenship as well as the vital role it particularly mothers who sacrifice at the Ministry of Social Affairs to support home Sponsorship of the competition falls under the plays in supporting all social causes. KUWAIT: For the fifth consecu- a lot as well as provide limitless mobility for elderly for more than 10 years. NBK’s bank’s corporate social responsibility, through During the past years, NBK has promoted a tive year, Kuwait International love and care.” support included maintenance of the mobility which the bank supports and empowers the range of philanthropic missions and social welfare Bank (KIB) sponsored the 7th Najia added that KIB’s leading service that the bank provided, as part of its development of Kuwait’s youth and their entre- programs as part of the humanitarian dimension Ideal Mother Award honoring social responsibility program fea- commitment towards aiding the elderly and con- preneurial spirit. of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). NBK mothers of disabled children. The tures a wide range of initiatives tinuance of maintaining the donation to help in Speaking of the competition, Ahmad Al-Amir, continues to be a leader in CSR, standing as a award is organized annually by that serve people with disabilities. overcoming all obstacles. NBK Public Relations Assistant General Manager for External model in serving all aspects of Kuwait’s commu- Al-Kharafi Activity Kids Center, Additionally, the Bank provides Team Leader, Talal Al Turki and Asmaa Bin Communications, Gulf Bank, said: “Gulf Bank is nity. In addition to health, NBK’s corporate social under the patronage of the easily accessible banking services, Hussain, NBK Public Relations Officer, visited Dr responsibility programs cover a range of educa- proud to support the next generation of Kuwait’s Amani Al Tabtabaei, the Elderly Care Department President of the Kuwait and accordingly redesigned six of tion, environment, philanthropic, social and Foundation for Disabled Children, its branches in order to accommo- entrepreneurs. As a long-time partner and sup- Director, to reassure NBK’s continuous support sports-related initiatives. porter of INJAZ, the bank is committed to to the department. Sabeeka Al-Jasser, to honor the date the needs of customers with hard work and dedication of special needs, including those who Kuwait’s youth and their development, through mothers of children with mental are visually impaired and deaf. training, mentorship and opportunities. We look disabilities across the region. At the end of his statement, forward to this year’s edition of the Company A press conference was recent- Najia lauded the efforts of all Program Competition and wish all those who are ly held on the occasion of organizers of this humanitarian participating the best of luck.” Mother’s Day to announce the award, wishing all parties involved INJAZ Kuwait, part of the global network of winners of this year’s award, with success in their ongoing efforts. He Junior Achievement worldwide, is a non-profit winners from Kuwait, the GCC and also noted that KIB will continue (NPO), non-governmental organization (NGO) the Arab region. The press confer- to be a supporter of their various driven by Kuwait’s private sector. Through strate- ence was attended by the impactful activities and initiatives. gic partnerships with Kuwait’s business and edu- Secretary General and the It is worth noting that KIB believes cation sectors, and with the help of qualified and President of the organizing com- that the health of the community dedicated volunteers, INJAZ delivers both Arabic mittee for the Ideal Mother Award. depends heavily on children of and English language educational programs on On his part, Nawaf Najia, today and their mothers - which entrepreneurial and leadership skills to build suc- Senior Manager of the Corporate are extremely valuable national cessful careers. The Bank continues to sponsor Communications Unit at KIB, assets. Accordingly, the Bank is INJAZ Kuwait as part of its commitment to commended all mothers and con- dedicated to participating in encourage and develop professional business gratulated the winners of the 7th events involving people with dis- skills amongst youth. INJAZ Kuwait is a non- Ideal Mother Award, saying: “We abilities to help them overcome profit organization dedicated to the advancement are proud to take part in this obstacles and assist in effective of young business talent. event for a fifth consecutive year. participation and inclusion, there- Our commitment reflects our by benefiting the entire nation. 5 Local Thursday, April 11, 2019 KRCS distributes aid to affected people in Iran’s Golestan province

GOLESTAN: Kuwait Red Crescent Society distributes aid to flood-stricken victims in the Iranian province of Golestan. — KUNA photos

TEHRAN: Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) yes- Agency (KUNA) yesterday. Al-Hasawi added that the Societies will continue. On his part, deputy Charge reflected on the ground in the first flood-stricken terday distributed aid to flood-stricken victims in some Kuwaiti team would complete delivery of aid supplies d’Affaires of the Embassy of the State of Kuwait in Iranian province of Golestan. He praised the role of the of the affected areas in the Iranian province of to other affected areas in the coming days. He praised Tehran Falah Al-Hajraf told KUNA that the humanitari- Kuwaiti Red Crescent team in the distribution of food Golestan. “The humanitarian message we are carrying efforts of the Iranian Red Crescent Society to help an initiative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- aid and relief supplies, stressing that the assistance of today reaches the province of Golestan,” KRCS’ those affected by floods, stressing that cooperation Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Humanitarian Leader to the Iranian Red Crescent during these circumstances is deputy President Anwar Al-Hasawi, told Kuwait News between the Kuwaiti and Iranian Red Crescent provide humanitarian aid to all affected people is a humanitarian duty. — KUNA

police station and lodged a complaint. Investigations are Pregnant woman underway. Suspicious behavior beaten by husband, Police responded to claims by a Sri Lankan saying he found his wife was staying with a stranger in a Hawally flat. Both were arrested after a warrant was obtained. The Sri locked in hotel room Lankan had doubts about his wife’s behavior and kept a close eye on her. He began following her outside and after a while he saw her enter a flat unknown to him. He then KUWAIT: Policemen freed a pregnant woman from a hotel asked the haris (custodian) of the building whose flat it was room after her husband locked her inside after forcibly tak- and he told him that another Sri Lankan man lives there ing her from an Eqaila complex. He had beaten her till she alone. The husband called the police and has lodged a was bleeding and threatened to kill her. The woman, a complaint against the two alleged lovers. Kuwaiti, was in an Eqaila mall when she was assaulted by her husband and dragged outside. She screamed for help Cable thief but no one interfered. He then took her to a hotel in A thief stole a 120 meters long cable from a construc- Salmiya where he viciously beat her. The victim called the tion site pertaining to the National Guard. The company’s police from a phone in the room and they helped free her lawyer complained to an Ahmadi police station about the and took her to a nearby hospital. The husband is being theft, which occurred in the site located east of Sabah Al- Municipality sought for questioning. Ahmad city. Detectives are working on the case. Child injured by cupboard Suicide by hanging campaigns in Hawally A Kuwaiti child had a cupboard fall on her at home and The body of an Indian who committed suicide was was rushed to Jahra hospital and is due for surgery. The identified by the coroner. Police received a call about a sui- cide that took place behind a gas station south of the father had brought the girl in a critical condition, and told country, so police responded and found the man had hung doctors a cupboard had fallen on her. Police later lodged a make strides himself. The public prosecution was informed and the body complaint of negligence with a minor against the father. was recovered by the coroner.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun Cheating leads to beating Car blaze kills A Kuwaiti was shocked when she found her husband A Saudi national burned to death when his car caught KUWAIT: The Municipality for Public Relations cheating on her with her best friend at home. She left work fire on Salmy road. A shepherd called the police and told announced the achievements of Hawally governorate early and when she arrived home, she found her husband in them a car collided with the farm he guards - so police, municipality during the month March with field cam- bed with her best friend. She became furious and started to firefighters and paramedics responded and found out the paigns resulting in the removal of 82 encroachments on a house, stealing the car keys and creating a general exchange blows with the friend who eventually fled from car was totally burnt with the driver trapped inside. the house. The husband, unable to control his wife, started state property. Head of the emergency team Ahmad disturbance before escaping in the stolen car. Police Forensics was called in, and they sent the body to the to beat her and left the house. The wife then went to the coroner who identified the victim. — Al-Rai Ramadhan said three shift inspectors issued 53 warn- found the vehicle in the same area, so forensics men ings for the use of state property in addition to the lifted finger prints from both inside the house and car. removal of 82 encroachments. He said that 14 com- They are working on the case. plaints were dealt and 140 violating ads were removed adding that legal action was taken against them. Honoring ceremony An honoring ceremony was held for retired Lt Un-invited house guest General Khalid Yousuf Al-Tarkeet and retired Lt Interior Ministry of Relations and Security General Khalid Al-Zaid at Crown Plaza under the Information said that the Ishbeliya police station patronage of the Kuwait Fire Service Directorate received a call about an unidentified individual storming Director General Lt General Khalid Rakan Al-Mikrad.

tion zone has the highest number of expats in leading Optional retirement positions with 130, followed by Farwaniya with 113, Kuwait City with 111, Jahra with 97, Mubarak Al- Kabeer with 72, Hawally with 70, private education law opens for with 19 and the religious education department with 6,000 Kuwaitis only 18. Specialized officers The interior ministry recently urged its various sec- By A Saleh tors to notify Saad Al-Abdullah Academy for Security Sciences with their needs regarding specialized officers KUWAIT: Social security deputy director, Khaled Al- pending the opening for a new batch of citizens with Fadhalah said that the optional retirement law opened 2019-2020 university degrees in needed majors. for over 6,000 Kuwaitis to retire regardless of the Meanwhile, informed sources said that the total 160 standard age limit of 55 for men and 49 for women. Al- expats were laid off by MoI in 2019-2020 and that Fadhalah added that social security managed to main- most of them had been notified of the termination of tain the minimum pension wage at KD 1,150 and said their contract last January. that the total number of retirees getting those pensions was 145,000 including disabled citizens. Price manipulation Kuwait Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies 630 expats in MOE (KUCCS) recently brought up the issue of item price There are a total of 630 expats in leading positions manipulation on its website to a legal advisor. Informed in the Ministry of Education; that is 0.05 percent of the sources added that union chairman, Khaled Al-Otaibi total number of Kuwaitis in the same or similar posi- had noticed unjustified price increases of some items tions, said informed sources noting that those expats resulting from manipulated data at the pricing depart- are only placed in positions that rarely employ ment adding that the decision was cancelled and an Kuwaitis. The sources elaborated that Ahmadi educa- investigation was conducted to determine the culprits.

and PAAET. The meeting was dedicated to discussing Manpower authority categorizing various professions and linking them to certain qualifications and specialties. The meeting also discussed a study on tests and a special training for pri- holds meeting with vate sector laborers. several departments Online lecture Sabah Hospital’s internal diseases department recently organized a lecture using an online video-con- ference with Professor Alaa Shararah, the head of the By Meshaal Al-Enezi digestive system department at the American University. Speaking on the occasion, head of the KUWAIT: The manpower authority recently held a department, Dr Ghassan Beidi said that the lecture was meeting for its joint work team comprising of members the first of its kind at Al-Sabah hospital and that it facil- from the labor market quality standards department, itates direct contact with international doctors to bene- Kuwait University, ministry of higher education, CSC fit from their knowledge. InternationalTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 Large parts of Venezuela hit N Korea convenes top-level meeting over ‘tense situation’ by massive blackout Page 9 Page 8

SANAA: A general view shows the debris following a reported air strike on a plastic factory in Sanaaís Jeraf district.—AFP Coalition airstrikes hit Yemeni capital Violence flares; airstrikes target Houthi drone-manufacturing plant

SANAA: The Saudi-led coalition fighting in ment in neighboring Yemen since March Yemen’s war has killed tens of thousands Hodeidah largely holds, violence continues and UN Yemen aid coordinator Lise Yemen carried out air strikes against two 2015, after Houthi forces drove Yemeni of people - some of them by coalition air elsewhere and has escalated in recent Grande called for efforts to pinpoint the cir- Houthi targets in the capital Sanaa yester- President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into strikes - and driven 10 million to the brink weeks. A blast hit Sanaa near two schools cumstances “that led to this tragedy”. day, its spokesman said. The coalition said exile. They are fighting to restore Hadi’s of famine. The country is also suffering its on Sunday, the United Nations and Houthi- As well as deaths from conflict, Yemen’s the strikes targeted a Houthi drone-manu- internationally recognized government. third major outbreak of cholera since the run media has said. war has pushed more than 2 million people facturing plant and a warehouse containing The Houthis, who say their revolution is conflict began. “It was almost lunchtime and students from their homes - exacerbating disease, launch pads. Residents said a house was against corruption, control Sanaa and most A peace process that began with a were in class. The blast shattered the win- poverty and hunger. Aid group Medecins also hit, but no casualties were reported. population centers. The strikes hit the al- December agreement has stalled as the dows and unleashed a burst of shrapnel and Sans Frontiers (MSF) said a flare up in Houthi-run Masirah TV said a fire broke out Jeraf neighborhood in north Sanaa. The roof United Nations tries to get the parties to broken glass into the classrooms,” said fighting in the Abs region in recent days has in a plastics factory as a result of air strikes was blasted off a large industrial building pull troops out of Hodeidah, Yemen’s main Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF’s Middle East forced 18,000 from their homes, adding to yesterday. and machinery was damaged, Reuters port, and complete a prisoner exchange. head. Funerals for 12 of the killed pupils, all the tens of thousands already displaced in Saudi Arabia leads a Western-backed footage showed. Bystanders pointed to These confidence-building measures could girls, were held yesterday, their coffins car- that area. “MSF calls on all warring parties alliance of Yemeni and Arab forces that has powder they say would have been turned pave the way for further talks. Although a ried by a crowd through the streets of to ensure the protection of civilians,” it said been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi move- into plastic in the factory. ceasefire agreed in December for Sanaa. It is unclear what caused the blast in a statement. — Reuters

Hunting for Global executions freebies with at lowest level in a India’s election decade: Amnesty flying squad LONDON: Executions fell worldwide by nearly a third last year to their lowest levels in at least a decade, but several countries recorded COIMBATORE: It’s a game of cat and mouse a rise, Amnesty International said yesterday. Use of the death penalty for Naresh and his “flying squad”, stopping dropped in Iran-by an eye-popping 50 percent, following a change to cars, trucks and scooters to hunt for goodies its anti-narcotics laws-Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia, the rights group being handed to voters in India’s mammoth found in its annual review. election starting this week. The illegal doling But it rose in Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and the out of everything from alcohol to kitchen appli- United States, while Thailand resumed executions for the first time in a ances has long been a feature of the vast decade and Sri Lanka threatened to follow suit. “Despite regressive undertaking that is Indian elections. But it’s steps from some, the number of executions carried out by several of getting worse. Naresh (not his real name) is the worst perpetrators has fallen significantly,” said Kumi Naidoo, part of one of 60 “mobile flying squads” in just Amnesty International’s Secretary General. one district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, COIMBATORE, India: An Indian election commission ‘flying squad’ member displays a complaint and He added the “dramatic” drop globally proved that “even the most where political parties are notoriously gener- tracking application on a smartphone in the south Indian city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu state. —AFP unlikely countries are starting to change their ways and realise the ous at election time. death penalty is not the answer”. “This is a hopeful indication that it’s “We never really know how our day will only a matter of time before this cruel punishment is consigned to his- end,” Naresh, a khaki-uniformed policeman, proper supporting documentation. Officials he always rejected any inducements offered by tory, where it belongs,” Naidoo said. In total, death penalty figures fell said as AFP accompanied him and his team of such as police and railway staff are also grant- local candidates. around the world from at least 993 in 2017, to at least 690 last year. officials around the prosperous industrial town ed temporary powers during the campaign to “The parties give us 500 rupees ($6 US) Amnesty’s count excludes China-the world’s top executioner- of Coimbatore in their two SUVs. “There are seize items they believe are being used to each asking us to vote for their party. I tell where the numbers are classified as a state secret. The organization days when we get nothing. But on others, a sway voters. them that I don’t need money to vote and that estimates thousands of people are sentenced to death and executed timely tip-off by rivals or by plain persever- I’d vote for whoever I want to vote,” he told there every year. Iran (253), Saudi Arabia (149), Vietnam (at least 85) ance and luck, we may find cash, a stash of Big spenders AFP. But he’s likely just one side of the coin. and Iraq (at least 52) were the other countries that resorted to the alcohol or other freebies,” he added. Over sev- The phenomenon may not be new but many Another ADR survey found 41 percent of those death penalty most in 2018. Vietnamese authorities’ decision to release eral hours, and in constant touch with a com- observers say that it has only become more polled felt that the distribution of freebies was figures for last year was “unprecedented” for the southeast Asian nation, Amnesty noted. mand centre, they stop dozens of vehicles and acute in recent years, giving a huge advantage an important part of the election process-even Elsewhere Japan, Singapore and South Sudan reported their high- comb through the interiors, even under moped to richer candidates who can always spend though almost 73 percent know it is illegal. est levels of executions in years. Naidoo said these three countries seats, but in vain-this time. more to get elected. A report by the “Many politicians say that voters themselves “now form a dwindling minority” and challenged them “to act boldly The day before another squad impounded a Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a demand freebies and they feel even more pres- and put a stop to this abhorrent punishment”. Amnesty also noted vehicle packed with sarees. Others in the past New Delhi-based non-government entity push- sured if any rival offers them,” said Verma. ing for electoral transparency, says that 32 per- “It is a temptation many can’t resist. One can concern over a sharp spike in the number of death sentences imposed have seized booze, watches, juicers, mixers, or in some countries-particularly Iraq and Egypt-over the course of cent of candidates in the first phase of voting still understand the economically weak doing it just hard cash. And while Tamil Nadu is a 2018. But its annual review found the global trend towards abolition of on Thursday are multi-millionaires. but in some Indian states including Tamil Nadu, hotspot for such practices, it’s a nationwide the death penalty had gathered steam. phenomenon in the country of 1.3 billion people “Our statistics prove that the candidates even the middle classes often take the money with criminal backgrounds and money have a Burkina Faso adopted a new penal code effectively banning execu- voting between April 11 and May 19. and the freebies,” he added. Meanwhile, others tions, while Gambia and Malaysia both declared an official moratori- much better chance of winning,” Anil Verma, In late March authorities said that they had say that while they might take what is offered, um. Meanwhile, courts in the US state of Washington declared the head of ADR’s National Election Watch unit, already seized 1.5 billion rupees, 4.4 million they won’t necessarily fulfill their side of the death penalty unconstitutional there. Amnesty highlighted a December liters of liquor and even precious metals and told AFP. “The unlimited flow of money and its bargain. “Why refuse when they offer us mon- vote by the United Nations General Assembly that saw 121 countries illegal drugs. From the moment the election use to induce voters is increasing and we can ey? We can still go and vote for the candidate support a global moratorium on the death penalty, with only 35 states was announced in mid-March, special laws see it with the nationwide cash seizures by we like,” said Senthil Kumar, a Coimbatore cab opposed. “Slowly but steadily, global consensus is building towards took effect banning Indians from carrying authorities,” he added. Kumar, a Coimbatore driver. “I even tell my family to take the money ending the use of the death penalty,” Naidoo said.—AFP large amounts of money, gold or silver without resident who uses only one name, told AFP that but vote for whoever they want.”—AFP 7 International Thursday, April 11, 2019 Sudan protesters rally for fifth day outside army HQ Bashir loyalists call for support rally for president KHARTOUM: Thousands of Sudanese protesters were machine-guns at the gates of the complex, which also camped outside army headquarters for a fifth day yester- houses Bashir’s residence and the defense ministry. day demanding President Omar al-Bashir step down, after On Tuesday, security agents had to abort bids to disperse the police ordered their forces not to intervene. In what has the crowds when soldiers fired in the air to counter incoming become the biggest challenge yet to Bashir’s three decades volleys of tear gas from security agents. “It seems the police of iron-fisted rule, crowds of demonstrators thronged the too are now with us,” said the protester. “When we were sprawling complex through the night, singing and dancing coming to the army building last night we saw many police- to the tunes of revolutionary songs, witnesses said. men but they did not stop us.” The police on Tuesday Hundreds of mobile phones were held aloft, shining a ordered its officers on Tuesday to avoid intervening against sea of lights on the tide of people massed outside the the demonstrators. “We call on God to preserve the security buildings. “The night passed peacefully without any inci- and calm of our country ... and to unite the Sudanese peo- dent,” said one protester who spent the entire night at the ple... for an agreement which would support the peaceful complex. “We believe that the support from the soldiers on transition of power,” a police spokesman said in a statement. the ground and now the police is definitely growing.” However, Bashir loyalists have called for a support rally for Food, water for protesters the president today, and urged all members of the ruling Yesterday, protesters were raising funds to ensure a party to take part. regular supply of food and water for the crowd. “Many “The National Congress Party’s executive bureau sup- shop owners and businessmen have offered us free sup- ports the national dialogue partners’ initiative to organize plies,” said another demonstrator. Protest organizers a gathering to be seen by all the people today,” the acting launched their latest campaign on Saturday as part of a chief of Bashir’s ruling party, Ahmed Harun, said in a state- months-long movement against Bashir’s 30-year rule. ment. “I call on all members of NCP across the state of Demonstrations first erupted on December 19 in response Khartoum to participate in this rally.” The anti-government to a government decision to triple the price of bread. demonstrators have braved regular volleys of tear gas But they quickly mushroomed into a nationwide cam- from members of the powerful National Intelligence and paign against Bashir’s rule with rallies held across cities, Security Service since they began camping at the army towns and villages. Bashir has remained defiant, and headquarters on April 6, protest organizers say. imposed a slew of tough measures including a nationwide state of emergency, which has led to scores of arrests or Police with us journalists and activists. Officials say 38 people have died KHARTOUM: Sudanese demonstrators rally in front of the military headquarters in the capital Khartoum. — AFP But for the first time overnight Tuesday they did not in protest-related violence so far. On Tuesday, the United face any “threat” from security agents during the night, States, Britain and Norway for the first time threw their said the protester who did not want to be named for secu- weight behind the protesters, calling for a credible political respond and deliver a credible plan for this political transi- tions of the citizens, but it will not allow the country to fall rity reasons. “The soldiers at the complex are also angry transition plan in Sudan. “The time has come for the tion.” Defense Minister General Awad Ibnouf has vowed into chaos,” Ibnouf said on Monday, according to state after the attacks of tear gas and are determined to prevent Sudanese authorities to respond to these popular demands the army would prevent any slide into chaos. media. The umbrella group spearheading the protests has them,” another demonstrator said. Witnesses said the in a serious” way, the so-called troika of Western diplo- “Sudan’s armed forces understand the reasons for the meanwhile appealed to the army for talks on forming a troops had stationed several vehicles loaded with matic players said. “The Sudanese authorities must now demonstrations and is not against the demands and aspira- transitional government. —AFP

ogy adviser who now heads the Massachusetts Institute of services such as e-commerce and banking. “More nation- Breaking the Internet: Technology’s project on technology, the economy and states are trying to territorialize information flows and national security. “It would place the UK toward the far assert control of those services,” said Milton Mueller, a end of the internet censorship spectrum.” Georgia Institute of Technology professor and co-founder Nigerian troops New regulations Elsewhere, critics pounced on a bill in Singapore to ban of the Internet Governance Project of analysts. The frag- “fake news,” calling it a thinly veiled attempt at censorship. mentation could have profound consequences both in terms imperil global network “It is not up to the government to arbitrarily determine of economics and human rights, according to Mueller. repel Boko Haram what is and is not true,” said Daniel Bastard of the media “The bypassing of these national boundaries when the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders. “In its cur- internet got started was what was revolutionary and led to attack on Damaturu WASHINGTON: Is the dream of one global internet still rent form, this Orwellian law establishes nothing less than a the expansion of new services,” he said. “There is now an alive? Increasingly, moves by governments to filter and ‘ministry of truth’ that would be free to silence independ- assertion of national sovereignty and national control, restrict content are threatening to fragment the system ent voices and impose the ruling party’s line.” going against globalization and the ability of people to LAGOS: Nigerian troops thwarted a Boko created with the promise of connecting the world with a According to human rights watchdog Freedom House, freely interact with each other.” The “data nationalization” Haram attack on the northeastern city of largely unified body of content. China for years has walled movement gained momentum after the 2013 revelations on at least 17 countries approved or proposed laws to restrict Damaturu, killing several jihadists and seizing off some western services, and the fragmentation may be online media in the name of fighting “fake news” and surveillance from national security contractor Edward weapons, the army said yesterday. Tuesday’s accelerating with regulations being imposed elsewhere, manipulation, and 13 countries prosecuted internet users Snowden. This gave some governments “an excuse to say analysts. This is leading to a “splinternet,” a term circu- for spreading “false” information. impose far greater state control” of their networks, said attempted raid on the capital of Yobe state was lated for a decade or more but gaining more traction in Edelman. Edelman maintained the Snowden revelations the first time since late 2014 that the insurgents recent months. Europe’s response represented a turning point because they “ruptured some had attacked the city, residents told AFP. But “The internet is already fragmented in material ways, Goldman argued that the European Union’s General of the faith in a global consensus” about the internet. army spokesman Njoka Irabor said in a state- but each regulator around the world thinks they know how Protection Data Regulation, aimed at improving online pri- Australia’s efforts to curb content and require access to ment that soldiers had “successfully laid an to fix the internet,” said Eric Goldman, director of the High vacy, “has been a major milestone in splintering the inter- encrypted devices could prompt some firms to think twice ambush which led to the extermination of many Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. “I think we net.” It has led to numerous websites including news sites about doing business there, said Edelman. Boko Haram terrorists”. will see a tsunami of regulations that will lead to a further cut off from Europe, he said. The EU copyright directive “The potential is there for companies to simply exit the “The vigilant troops effectively ambushed the splintering of the internet.” The New Zealand Christchurch approved last month, aimed at protecting creators, could Australian market,” he said. Amy Webb, a New York criminals few meters ahead of Maisandari com- mosques massacre livestreamed online heightened the also result in fragmentation of online information, said University professor and founder of the Future Today munity (on) the outskirts of the city of sense of urgency in some countries, with debates in the US Danny O’Brien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Institute, said the trend toward Balkanization is growing, Damaturu,” he added. Gun trucks and a cache of and EU on curbing incitement to violence. “Whatever internet companies and organizations do to posing challenges for online services. arms and ammunition were recovered, he said. A new Australian law could jail social media executives comply with 27 or more national laws-from dropping links “Compliance is going to become more and more diffi- The attack followed the evacuation of some for failing to take down violent extremist content quickly. cult for companies who do business in more than one to European news sites entirely... will be challenged by one 2,000 people from Jakana village, some 90 kilo- And a proposal unveiled in Britain could make executives rights-holder faction or another,” O’Brien said in a blog location, which could stifle growth and restrict the flow of personally liable for harmful content posted on social plat- meaningful, credible information,” Webb said. Ira meters from Damaturu on the road to Maiduguri, post. The multitude of proposed rules around the world in neighboring Borno state on Tuesday. The forms. Similar ideas have been discussed by lawmakers in raise the prospect of varying versions of the internet Magaziner, a former policy adviser to president Bill National Emergency Management Agency Washington. These moves come as Facebook chief Mark depending on location, with small services potentially Clinton who helped negotiate deals to bring the internet Zuckerberg has called for a “common global framework” blocking out some countries. around the world, said he is optimistic that countries will (NEMA) said troops escorted the residents to of internet rules. But free-speech defenders warn it would find ways to keep the internet from fragmenting.“We are the Bakassi camp for internally displaced people be dangerous to allow governments to regulate online Data nationalism going through a period where there are a lot of questions (IDPs) in Maiduguri “for their own safety”. content, even if social media are struggling. The UK pro- In addition to online content measures, several coun- and a lot of forces for disintegration,” Magaziner said, Boko Haram fighters loyal to the faction head- posal “is a very bad look for a rights-respecting democra- tries including India and Brazil are enforcing “data local- while noting that countries cutting off data will be hurting ed by Abubakar Shekau launched a dawn raid on cy,” said R. David Edelman, a former White House technol- ization” requirements which could limit the availability of themselves. — AFP Damaturu on December 1, 2014. More than 150 people, including 38 police, were killed. Tuesday’s attack was suspected to have been meeting there went by plane, as that would carried out by a separate faction backed by the ‘Flight shame’ have been her second flight within a few Islamist State group. The decade-long insur- weeks. “The only way I could justify going gency has killed more than 27,000 people in the has Swedes there was if I took the train,” she said. northeast with 1.8 million still displaced from their homes. — AFP Train bookings up rethinking The Scandinavian country’s location far north-it is 4,000 kilometers from the air travel northernmost town of Kiruna to France’s Cote d’Azur-as well as its robust standard of living, the popularity of charter trips and STOCKHOLM: Saddled with long dark the rise of low-cost airlines have all con- SW Iran hit winters at home, Swedes have for decades tributed to making Swedes big flyers. been frequent flyers seeking out sunnier Researchers at Chalmers University of by flooding climes, but a growing number are changing Technology in Gothenburg last year found their ways because of air travel’s impact on that Swedes’ per capita emissions from fly- the climate. “Flygskam”, or flight shame, has ing between 1990 and 2017 were five times LONDON: Iran evacuated residents from inundated become a buzz word referring to feeling the global average. Emissions from areas of the southwestern city of Ahvaz yesterday as guilt over the environmental effects of fly- Swedes’ international air travel have the nationwide death toll from the worst flooding in ing, contributing to a trend that has more soared 61 percent since 1990, their study 70 years reached 77, state media reported. The state and more Swedes, mainly young, opting to said. news agency IRNA said more than 200 villages were travel by train to ease their conscience. Swedes’ concerns rely on solid data: the also evacuated in the oil-rich southwestern province Swedish Meteorological Institute said last STOCKHOLM: In this file photo an airplane takes off as the sun sets in Stockholm airport in Spearheading the movement for trains- Sweden. — AFP of Khuzestan, and 46,000 people were housed in over-planes is Sweden’s own Greta week that the average annual temperature emergency shelters provided by the government. was rising twice as fast in the country as Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate school Further districts of Ahvaz were put on flood alert, striker who refuses to fly, travelling by rail the global average. In March, the World shame” trend hasn’t had the same traction easy substitute for flying,” she told AFP. Wildlife Foundation published a survey the provincial governor said, as more torrential rain to the World Economic Forum in Davos among Sweden’s neighbors, although “You can’t go to faraway places without was forecast in coming days. A hospital in the city and the climate summit in Katowice, indicating that nearly one in five Swedes Finland has spawned its own version of the taking the plane.” Back in Sweden, some was evacuated on Monday. Floods described by offi- Poland. A growing number of public fig- had chosen to travel by rail rather than by expression, calling it “lentohapea”. experts say that changing travel patterns ures have vowed to #stayontheground, air in order to minimize their environmental cials as the worst since the 1940s have hit some are not always a direct result of “flight 1,900 cities and villages across Iran after exception- including Swedish television skiing com- impact. The trend was most noticeable Is ‘flight shame’ real? shame”. Frida Hylander, a Swedish psy- ally heavy rain since March 19. Western and south- mentator Bjorn Ferry who said last year he among women and young people, it said. Other parts of the developed world may chologist, said shame, and the fear of being would only travel to competitions by train. Meanwhile, a survey published Tuesday not have a word that’s quite as catchy- shamed, was a powerful motivator, but she western areas of the country are suffering the worst. And 250 people working in the film in Sweden’s leading travel magazine making do with #flyingless or #stopflying- also cautioned against overstating its The disaster has left aid agencies struggling to industry signed a recent article in the coun- Vagabond said 64 percent of those who but average CO2 emissions of 285 grams importance. cope, and the armed forces were deployed to help try’s biggest daily Dagens Nyheter calling for travelled abroad less last year did so per air kilometer, compared with 158 for Other factors were at play, Hylander flood-hit people. Early estimates put flood losses in Swedish film producers to limit shoots because of climate reasons. National rail cars and 14 for trains, have given many said, citing as an example Sweden’s agriculture sector at 47 trillion rials ($350 million). abroad. An anonymous Swedish Instagram operator SJ reported a 21 percent boost in pause. Fausta Gabola, a French-Italian stu- unusually hot summer last year which The government has told citizens, and especially account created in December has been business travel this winter, and the govern- dent in Paris, is no longer sure that she caused massive wildfires and may have flood-affected farmers, that all losses will be com- shaming social media profiles and influencers ment has announced plans to reintroduce should take up an offer to study in sparked wider concerns about climate pensated. The Islamic Republic’s state budget is for promoting trips to far-flung destinations, night trains to major European cities Australia on a scholarship. “It’s my dream change. “You should exercise caution already stretched under U.S. sanctions on energy racking up more than 60,000 followers. before the end of its mandate in 2022. to go there,” she told AFP. “I applied with- when pointing to one single factor,” and banking sectors that have halved Iranian oil “I’m certainly affected by my surround- The number of domestic flight passen- out thinking too much about it and now I Hylander said. A new flight tax introduced exports and restricted access to some revenues ings and (flight shame) has affected how I gers was projected to be down by 3.2 per- have a dilemma. I would feel like a hyp- in April 2018 may also have played a role, abroad. Iranian officials have repeatedly said the view flying,” Viktoria Hellstrom, a 27-year- cent in 2018, the transport authority said in ocrite if I went.” she said, as well as the bankruptcy of massive floods have not affected production and its latest figures from September, though old political science student in Stockholm, French political scientist Mathilde Szuba regional airline NextJet, which led to the development of oilfields, or the flow of crude through the number of passengers on international told AFP. Last summer, she took the train to said any no-fly decision effectively puts closure of a number of domestic flight pipelines to recipient markets. — Reuters Italy, even though the friends she was flights rose four percent. So far the “flight distant countries out of reach. “There is no routes for several months. —AFP 8 Established 1961 International Thursday, April 11, 2019 Large parts of Venezuela hit by massive blackout President Maduro blames US-backed sabotage for blackouts

CARACAS: A new blackout across large parts of cri- hydroelectric power plant, which produces 80 percent sis-hit Venezuela, including the capital Caracas, forced of the country’s energy. many to spend another night in the dark on Tuesday. The opposition blames a failure to maintain critical The electricity shortage-the biggest in a week-hit a infrastructure and Guaido on Saturday launched what large section of the capital, with social media posts he promised will be a “definitive” escalation of pressure from residents across the country suggesting signifi- to force the country’s embattled leftist leader from cant areas in at least 20 of the 23 states of Venezuela office. He called for a huge nationwide turnout on yes- were also affected. An hour after the lights went out, terday, urging his followers to redouble their efforts to some areas of the capital regained power. maintain pressure. “Everyone to the streets, let’s start No reason for the blackout was immediately given the final phase of the end of the usurpation!” He said. by the government or the state electricity company The United States meanwhile has stiffened its eco- Corpoelec. The company set up to confront the crisis nomic sanctions against Maduro, and one top US offi- “is working to reestablish the service”, said state TV cial warned Venezuela’s military that it must protect the channel VTV. Opposition leader Juan Guaido-whose rights of peaceful protesters. Facing intense pressure at claim to be interim president is supported by around home and abroad, the Maduro government has sought 50 nations-had previously called for protests against to weaken Guaido. It has stripped his parliamentary public service failures to be held yesterday. immunity, authorized his prosecution for proclaiming Power cuts have occurred sporadically since the himself acting president, and banned him from holding massive blackout of March 7 left the country in the public office for 15 years. Guaido said last week he dark for five days, with electricity being rationed out- feared he could be abducted by government agents. side of Caracas. Water supplies have also been inter- Washington and its allies view Maduro as illegiti- rupted, along with transport and communications, forc- mate since he took office in January for a second term ing many people to trim their work days to six hours. following elections widely seen as deeply flawed. The government of President Nicolas Maduro has Maduro is supported by the Venezuelan military, China blamed US-backed sabotage for the massive blackouts and Russia, and said yesterday he was inclined to CARACAS: This file photo shows a general view of Francisco Fajardo highway partially illuminated during a power that have deprived millions of power, blaming “electro- accept international aid, following a meeting with the outage in Caracas, Venezuela. — AFP magnetic, cyber and physical” attacks against the Guri International Committee of the Red Cross. — AFP

have a sort of lobby power,” Jerome French MPs Rodrigues, one of the movement’s leaders, Torrential rain in told France Info radio. Praising the lawmakers, he said: “For move to trigger once they did what they are paid for, to Rio de Janeiro listen to, and carry the voice of the people referendum on in French institutions.” A referendum can leaves 10 dead be triggered on proposed legislation with the support of a fifth of members of both RIO DE JANEIRO: Torrential rain left at least privatizations houses of parliament — 185 out of 925 — 10 people dead in Rio de Janeiro, officials said and if one-tenth of the electorate — 4.5 Tuesday, as emergency workers rescued peo- PARIS: French opposition MPs and sena- million voters-sign an online petition in ple trapped by the downpour and clean-up tors claimed a victory for democracy yes- favor. The process is long, however, and efforts gathered pace. The unusually heavy terday after using a little-known constitu- contains several constitutional and parlia- rain began Monday evening and continued tional article to try to trigger a referendum mentary hurdles that have acted as a into Tuesday, triggering widespread flash on the government’s controversial plans to deterrent to lawmakers in the past. flooding that turned some streets into raging privatize Paris’ airports. In a rare display of rivers, toppled trees and swept away cars as non-partisanship, lawmakers straddling RIP to privatizations? the state emergency agency declared a crisis. the spectrum from the far left to the right President Emmanuel Macron, a former The southern zone of the city, which banded together Tuesday to propose a investment banker, wants to invest the includes the tourist hot-spots Copacabana “referendum d’initiative populaire” (RIP) proceeds of the sale in an innovation fund- and Ipanema as well as several impoverished on the privatization of Aeroports de Paris, a key campaign promise — and reduce favela areas, has been hardest hit. Heavy operator of Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le the public debt, which stood at 99 percent runoff from neighboring hills gushed through Bourget airports. of gross domestic product (GDP) in the some apartment buildings and shops, leaving This is the first time ever that opposi- RIO DE JANEIRO: A firefighter of the underwater unit retrieves a license plate from a sub- second quarter. Other companies set for behind mud and debris. The bodies of three merged car at a road tunnel during heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. — AFP tion lawmakers have come together to try privatization include lottery and scratch- people were found in a car buried behind an force a referendum on an issue, using a cards monopoly Francaise des Jeux. upmarket shopping center on Tuesday after- measure introduced by former president Opposition lawmakers have been up in noon, while two women died when a house in their feet to protect themselves from the Rio de Janeiro as the volume of water over- Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 to boost partici- arms, accusing the government of selling a favela collapsed, the Fire Department said polluted water. whelms the city’s creaky infrastructure and patory democracy. Socialist Party off state jewels. The privatization of the in a statement. Beaches normally packed with people sun- brings traffic to a grinding halt. Favelas, which spokesman Boris Vallaud told France 2 airports was expected to be adopted by The other victims included a man who died bathing or playing sports were empty as often lack proper streets and sanitation, are broadcaster on Wednesday that MPs were parliament, thanks to the large majority of after he was electrocuted in a house and brown water flowed into the ocean. “Many spread across hills throughout the city and determined to block a “major strategic Macron’s Republic on the Move party. another who was caught in a torrent of water. houses in Rio are built in areas that are inap- are usually the hardest hit by heavy down- error, because Aeroports de Paris is not But a referendum, the outcome of which The ferocity of the storm stunned some resi- propriate, in places where water flows. It’s a pours. In a scathing editorial on Tuesday, the just a regular company”. would be binding, could throw a spanner dents, who are long used to wild weather bat- tragedy and we have tried to warn these peo- powerful O Globo media group skewered Referendums are rare in France, with in the works. tering their city. “I’ve never seen or witnessed ple,” Rio de Janeiro mayor Marcelo Crivella government authorities for doing “practically the last one dating to 2005 when voters A total of 218 lawmakers from 11 par- anything like this. I’ve seen it happen else- told local media. Schools throughout the city nothing” to prepare for what it described as a rejected a new European constitution. liamentary groups ranging from members where but never here,” Guillerme de Oliveira, suspended classes and power was knocked “predictable phenomenon.” Some of the “yellow vests” protesters of the Communist Party to the centre- 59, told AFP. “I’m really amazed at all of this.” out in some areas as heavy rain complicated “Once again, what we saw was a show of behind five months of weekly rallies over right Republicans signed the referendum Cars and public buses were crushed by rescue and clean-up efforts. Crivella said the incompetence, except for honorable excep- social inequality and what they see as bill on Tuesday, well above the 185 fallen trees, and sections of streets were downpour had been “totally atypical.” tions like firefighters,” the editorial said. France’s failure to give ordinary citizens a required. The far-right National Rally ripped up by the force of the water. Many Rio de Janeiro state governor Wilson “After so many tragedies ... it was hoped that say in law-making hailed the move. “It’s voiced support for the move, without people returning home Monday evening or Witzel expressed sympathy for the “families the city would have learned something.” City thanks to us. Great! At least maybe we adding its signature. — AFP trying to go to work on Tuesday were of the victims” on Twitter. “The whole state is government spending on projects including drenched as they waded through knee-deep helping in what is necessary,” he said. drainage works fell more than 79 percent water in the relentless downpour. Some from 2016 to 2018, economic news site Valor announced the departure of the official in people climbed fences to avoid flooded Incompetence reported. Torrential rain in February killed at Trump won’t charge of fighting illegal immigration- streets, while others tied plastic bags around Heavy rain often causes flash flooding in least six people in Rio de Janeiro. — AFP Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. According to US media reports, Trump’s separate reshuffle could herald even harsher meas- children from ures on the southern border. On US-Mexico Confusion and rhetoric But Trump’s latest comments reflect border, militia migrants,but the confused nature of the White House’s messaging on the sensitive immigration vow to patrol praises tactic issue. Trump claimed that he never want- ed children to be taken away from their WASHINGTON: US President Donald parents when they crossed the border until ‘wall is up’ Trump said Tuesday he won’t resume illegally or sought asylum. Instead he separating children of undocumented SUNLAND PARK: In the southeastern most blamed this on his Democratic predeces- migrants, but insisted the policy does pocket of the US state of New Mexico, with El sor Barack Obama. “Just so you under- prevent people from treating illegal bor- Paso, Texas, to the east and Mexico a stone’s stand, President Obama separated the der crossings like a trip to “Disneyland.” throw south, there is a small camp: a few tents children. Those cages that were shown-I “We’re not looking to do it,” he told and a weathered trailer. It is home to the half think they were very inappropriate-were reporters at the White House. However, dozen or so members of the United Trump said the practice, which ended in by President Obama’s administration, not Constitutional Patriots (UCP) — a small but well- June 2018 under heavy political and legal by Trump. President Obama had child armed militia dipping their toes into the US bor- separation,” Trump said. pressure, had in fact been useful in stem- der vigilante movement. In recent months, thou- SUNLAND PARK: A group of about 30 Brazilian migrants, who had just crossed the border, get ming the flow of illegal immigrants across “You know it. We all know it. I’m the sands of migrants have arrived in Mexico, prima- one who stopped it,” he said. Obama did into a US Border Patrol van, taking them off the property of Jeff Allen, who used to run a brick the US-Mexican border. rily Central Americans fleeing poverty and vio- factory near Mt. Christo Rey on the US-Mexico border in Sunland Park, New Mexico.—AFP “I’ll tell you something: once you don’t crack down on illegal immigration, result- lence at home. have it, that’s why you have many more ing in large numbers of deportations and US President Donald Trump has described people coming,” Trump said of migrants children were detained along with their them as a threat to national security, demanding an enthusiastic social media following. Striker can to “observe and report.” In a statement, the US and asylum seekers. “They are coming parents. However, Trump hugely acceler- billions of dollars from Congress to build a wall be heard fielding calls during lengthy radio Border Patrol said it “does not endorse private like it’s a picnic, like ‘let’s go to ated the tough measures with a so-called on the southern border. The resignation of broadcasts streamed online several times a week. groups or organizations taking enforcement mat- Disneyland,’” Trump said. Just last week zero-tolerance policy. This meant that Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen And if you want to sign up to “uphold and ters into their own hands.” And according to the he referred to the asylum process as a anyone crossing illegally would face Nielsen on Sunday, reportedly over the presi- defend the constitution?” Just give pick up the Anti Defamation League’s Mark Pitcavage, an “hoax.” Trump’s battle to prevent illegal automatic prosecution, leading to jailing dent’s push to restart family separations at the phone. Out in the field-with tactical gear, rifles expert on right-wing extremism, the UCP’s bark immigration and soaring numbers of asy- of adults and immediate separation of border, has underscored his failure to get to grips and even custom patches-the UCP say their is much bigger than its bite. lum seekers has turned into the biggest their children. Before, families with chil- with the issue. And until the wall is built, the UCP duties include watching the border, standing “These guys, even more than some other political fight in the country ahead of next dren were largely allowed to stay togeth- insist they will be there. guard over people who want to hand themselves militia or vigilante groups, seem to be living in a year’s presidential election. er, whether on bail, in custody or being “We’re here to assist the border patrol in to border patrol and pursuing those who don’t. fantasy world of their own,” he told AFP, adding The Republican is pushing hard for deported. By the time Trump’s policy was because they are so short handed,” the group’s that they have been active for around two and a construction of hundreds of miles of new halted, thousands of children had been leader, 70-year-old “Striker,” told AFP. “We have Fantasy world half years. “They have this grandiose vision of border wall and layers of razor wire. He removed and placed in temporary a good work rapport with them,” he said. “Our “It’s kind of no different than if you were to themselves as protecting America from the says that the United States is “full” and accommodation, leading to harrowing goal was to be here until we’re not needed. And have citizen’s arrest powers, if you will,” Jim drug cartels,” he said. However, he added: “It’s cannot take any more migrants or even images and reports of administrative when we’re not needed is when that wall is up.” Benvie, a 43-year-old from Minnesota, told AFP. ironic that the areas where they seem to have people fleeing violence in Central chaos in which parents were later unable Based out of Flora Vista, New Mexico, the Benvie explains that they use the term “surren- chosen to focus ... is a very highly guarded America. On Sunday, Trump abruptly to find their children. —AFP group-made up mostly of older veterans-enjoys der” because border patrol rules only allow them stretch of border.” — AFP Established 1961 9 International Thursday, April 11, 2019 N Korea convenes top-level meeting over ‘tense situation’ Kim Jong Un orders officials to follow Party’s new strategic line

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a meeting could involve a reshuffle of party officials full meeting yesterday of a top committee of the ruling including Kim Yong Chol, the North’s top envoy for Workers’ Party to address what he described as the talks with the US, who has been “blamed the most for “prevailing tense situation”, state media reported. The the failure of the Hanoi summit”, he said. “It would sig- gathering of the Central Committee comes after Kim’s nal a green light if he is replaced with a more flexible Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump broke and practical figure, but if he stays, denuclearization up without agreement in February, and as South talks won’t be easy,” Cheong said. Korean President Moon Jae-in flies to Washington for talks with the US leader. Dark age But the North’s official Korean Central News Trump and Kim held their first landmark summit in Agency (KCNA) appeared to indicate that Kim may be Singapore last June, where the North Korean leader focusing on Pyongyang’s continued push to develop its signed a vaguely-worded deal on the “denuclearization economy. In a meeting with senior officials Tuesday, of the Korean peninsula”. But the failure by the pair to Kim ordered them to display “an attitude befitting the reach agreement at their second summit in Hanoi-which masters of the revolution and construction under the broke up without even a joint statement-has raised prevailing tense situation and thus follow through on questions over the future of the wider process. At the the new strategic line of the Party”, KCNA reported. time the North said it wanted only sanctions affecting Last April Kim declared that the ruling party’s “new livelihoods to be lifted, but the US said Pyongyang was strategic line” would be “socialist economic construc- effectively demanding the bulk of the measures were tion” and its quest for nuclear development was com- relaxed while not being precise about what it was plete. Kim made “a deep analysis of the matters pend- offering in return. ing urgent solution in the party and state”, KCNA said, Both sides expressed willingness to talk further and This picture shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attending a meeting of the Political Bureau of adding that at yesterday’s meeting the central commit- Trump has repeatedly said since that he maintains good the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) at the office building of the Central Committee of tee “decide the new orientation and ways of struggle in relations with his North Korean counterpart, boasting the WPK in Pyongyang. — AFP line with the need of the prevailing revolutionary situa- he had blocked new sanctions planned for Pyongyang. tion”. It comes ahead of the opening of the country’s North Korea has also been careful not to criticize rubber stamp legislature today. Trump personally, while saying last month that sanc- images emerged suggesting increased activity at the pending nuclear talks with the US. In a move that could Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the Sejong tions against it were an “action against humanity to North’s Sohae rocket site, triggering international alarm upset the North, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo- Institute, said it would be difficult for Kim to lay out a destroy modern civilization and turn the society back in that the nuclear-armed state might be preparing a long- who flew four times last year as Trump’s top envoy on new policy direction while Trump continues to express a mediaeval dark age”. range or space launch. A senior Pyongyang diplomat told the denuclearization process-agreed with Senate ques- a willingness to maintain dialogue. Instead yesterday’s But shortly after the Hanoi summit, a series of satellite reporters last month that the North was considering sus- tioners on Tuesday that Kim is a “tyrant”. — AFP

that he could face opposition from the N Zealand Pakistan PM powerful military and the ISI, Pakistan’s main intelligence agency. “Today, we have the total support of lawmakers give says anti-militant the Pakistan army and intelligence services in dismantling them,” Khan said. “What final okay to push vital for use has ISI of them anymore? These groups were created for the Afghan jihad.” tougher gun laws stability Broken promises Pakistan’s critics, including India, have SYDNEY: New Zealand lawmakers have ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s push to curb dismissed Khan’s promises of a crack- almost unanimously passed sweeping gun armed militant groups in the wake of a down, saying similar pledges have been reforms, paving the way for a ban on military- standoff with India that brought the repeatedly made by previous governments style semi-automatic weapons to enter into nuclear-armed neighbors close to war only to be quietly dropped once attention force as soon as Friday. Lawmakers passed reflected an urgent need for stability to shifted. They point to Pakistan’s continued the legislation on final reading, less than a meet growing economic challenges, Prime failure to arrest Masood Azhar, leader of month after a gunman entered two mosques Minister Imran Khan said. Facing a finan- Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group in Christchurch killing 50 people. During the cial crisis and heavy pressure to take on which claimed responsibility for the Feb. debate Wednesday Prime Minister Jacinda militant groups to avoid sanctions from the 14 attack in Pulwama district of Indian- Ardern told parliamentarians she “vividly” Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a controlled Kashmir that killed 40 paramili- recalled the moment after the massacre when global money laundering and terror tary police. Khan said Pakistan was con- she, without consulting widely, decided the finance watchdog, Khan said Pakistan was strained by the need to build a legal case government had to act. acting in its own interests. that would stand up in court but said Ardern, her voice filled with emotion, said it “Everyone now knows that what is CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand: Temel Atacocugu, center, a survivor of the March 15 twin Azhar had been driven underground and was during a briefing with the police commis- happening in Pakistan has never happened mosque massacre, leaves the Christchurch District Court. — AFP was “ineffective” and unwell. “More sioner when she was told about the “nature of (before),” Khan told a group of foreign important than him is the set-up and that the attack”, the weapons used and how they journalists at his office in Islamabad on is being dismantled,” he said. were notified but had been obtained legally. “I The new rules amend permissive 1983 gun breaking the laws. Tuesday, outlining a push to bring the Although Khan insisted that the actions could not fathom how weapons that could laws that had the subject of multiple reform The new laws also prohibit “semi-auto- more than 30,000 madrasas across against militant groups were being under- cause such destruction, and large-scale death attempts. The sole holdout against the legis- matic firearms, magazines, and parts that can Pakistan under government control and taken for Pakistan’s own benefits, his gov- could have been obtained legally in this coun- lation was the ACT Party, which has a single be used to assemble prohibited firearms.” The rehabilitate thousands of former militants. ernment, which came to power last August, try. I could not fathom that,” she told lawmak- seat in the 120 seat parliament. The new rules law will now need royal approval, in practice “We have decided, this country has decid- faces severe economic headwinds that ers. She could not, she said, face the public or are aimed at removing semi-automatic a rubber stamp, which is expected to take ed, for the future of the country - forget have made international support vital. In “the victims that had been left behind from firearms from circulation through a buy-back place on Thursday, paving the way for the outside pressure - we will not allow armed discussions with the International this terror attack and tell them hand-on-heart scheme, prohibition and harsh prison sen- rules to enter into force the next day. The bill militias to operate,” he said. Monetary Fund over what would be its that our system and our laws allow these guns tences. A hand-in amnesty will be in place was first introduced on April 1. Its passage in The comments underline a push by 13th bailout since the 1980s, Pakistan is to be available and that was okay. Because it until 30 September 2019, but perpetrators barely ten days has surprised even the most Pakistan to improve its image after years struggling to stay off the FATF blacklist, was not.” will face between two and ten years in jail for ardent gun control advocates. —AFP of accusations that its security services have exploited militant groups as proxies which would bring heavy economic penal- against neighbors, including India and ties. “We can’t afford to be blacklisted, that Afghanistan. Islamabad has consistently would mean sanctions,” Khan said. Ten die in India denied the accusations and said Pakistan With a currency that has lost more than has suffered more from militant violence a quarter of its value over the past year, a mudslide than any other country, with tens of thou- yawning current account deficit and gal- sands of deaths and billions of dollars in loping inflation running at over nine per- economic damage over recent decades. cent, Pakistan is in desperate need of a NEW DELHI: Ten impoverished women But Khan, a former cricket star, implic- respite to get its economy on track. working as daily wage laborers died after itly accepted the role played by Pakistan in Elected on a platform of tackling the being buried alive yesterday in southern India fostering and steering militant groups that endemic corruption that has helped crip- by a mudslide, police said. The incident took grew out of the US-backed mujahideen ple Pakistan’s economy, Khan said his top place in the Narayanpet district of Telangana fighting Soviet forces in neighboring priority was to take 100 million people, or state, a senior police officer told AFP. “They Afghanistan in the 1980s. “We should nev- around half the population, out of poverty. were daily wage laborers and were working er have allowed them to exist once jihad “You can only do this if there is stability in at a digging site. They went near a hill to have was over,” he said, rejecting suggestions Pakistan.” — Reuters their lunch when the mudslide occurred,” said G. Sridhar, the deputy police superintendent of Narayanpet. troops have been deployed to try to Police and rescue officials used earth Fresh clashes quell the spreading unrest. Three weeks movers to clear the mud and retrieve the bod- ago the fighting reached Mrauk U, the ies. The Press Trust of India news agency ancient capital of the Rakhine kingdom in Myanmar’s and a site popular with intrepid tourists quoted witnesses as saying the women were NARAYANPET: Workers look on as family members mourn near the victims of a mudslide buried under a mound of mud some six to after a wall collapsed in Marikal village, Narayanpet district of Telangana state. —AFP for its array of temples and pagodas. eight feet deep. State Chief Minister K. Rakhine state Mrauk U resident Khin Than told AFP Chandrasekhar Rao asked officials to provide by phone the fighting started about help to the families of the victims who he said ty. Hundreds of people die in floods and land- are more common during the monsoon season 10pm Tuesday night and was worse than “belonged to the poorest strata” of the socie- slides across India each year. The landslides which runs from June to September. — AFP temple town last time. YANGON: Fighting between the “It’s getting serious. People are Tuesday for a doctor’s visit at Max hospital ments have been wary of extending invita- Myanmar army and ethnic Rakhine scared to leave their homes,” she said, Dalai Lama to after he experienced a “light cough.” “The tions to him for fear of angering Beijing. The rebels has escalated in the western describing the ground shaking under the doctor said there’s nothing to worry about. Dalai Lama has sought to pre-empt any state’s temple-studded town of Mrauk roar of jets. AA spokesman Khine It’s not that serious,” said Ngodup Tsering, attempt by Beijing, which has effectively U, sources confirmed yesterday, with Thukha told AFP they re-entered Mrauk leave hospital the Dalai Lama’s representative in the United wiped out any organized opposition to its reports of military jets streaking across U on Tuesday night to retaliate against States. “He’s taking a few days’ rest.” rule in Tibet, to name his reincarnated suc- the sky. Riven by complex ethnic and artillery bombardments. “The Burmese in few days Kangra police superintendent Santosh cessor, even announcing in 2011 that he may religious divides, Rakhine state was the military is dropping bombs from jet Patial told The Indian Express that the Dalai be the last in the lineage. The Tibetan spiritu- epicenter of a brutal military campaign fighters and helicopters,” he said. NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama has been Lama, who is based in Dharamshala and has al leader enjoys wide support across the par- in 2017 that forced some 740,000 Military spokesman Colonel Win Zaw admitted to hospital in New Delhi for treat- been in permanent exile in India for some 60 tisan divide in Washington, where a senator Rohingya Muslims over the border into Oo confirmed clashes were taking place ment but is “doing much better” and should years, took a regular morning flight Tuesday raised the issue of his succession at a hearing Bangladesh. But the army is now locked but did not release further details. be released soon, his close aide said yester- and was not airlifted. A spokeswoman for Tuesday. Senator Cory Gardner, the in deadly battles with the Arakan Army The military has vowed to crush the day. “His Holiness is doing much better, but he Max hospital in Delhi said they would not Republican who heads the Senate Foreign (AA), a group that claims to represent rebel group, which formed exactly 10 is still undergoing treatment at a hospital and comment on the condition of the Dalai Lama’s Relations subcommittee on Asia, said that the the state’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and years ago and enjoys widespread support we hope in few days he will be discharged,” health due to patient confidentiality. United States should follow the Dalai Lama’s is vying for more autonomy. from many ethnic Rakhine. The AA posted Tenzin Taklha, the Dalai Lama’s personal Although the exiled leader remains a lead on how to choose his successor. “Let me The AA has killed at least 22 police on its website Wednesday a message of spokesman, told AFP. hugely popular speaker, he has cut back on be very clear-the United States Congress will officers since fighting ramped up in congratulations for its 10th anniversary Another aide told AFP the 83-year-old his global engagements and has not met a never recognize a Dalai Lama that is selected January. The government says dozens of from an allied rebel group based on the Buddhist monk flew to the Indian capital early world leader since 2016 — while govern- by the Chinese,” Gardner said. —AFP rebels have been killed. Thousands of other side of the country. —AFP 10

Thursday, April 11, 2019 Analysis

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‘Trojan Horse’: Brexiteers plot EU vote mischief

hey call it the Trojan Horse strategy: Brexit supporters furious at their govern- Tment’s failure to leave the EU on time are aiming to undermine the European Parliament following elections next month. The Greek myth about the hollow wooden horse Image obtained from the Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) War Information Division’s Facebook page shows a burning vehicle out- Odysseus used to sneak his men into Troy to side the 4th Brigade camp in Al-Aziziyah, located some 40 kilometers south of the Libyan capital Tripoli. — AFP capture it from within was invoked by Conservative MP Mark Francois ahead of the critical EU summit. “If we were to be held in the EU against our democratically expressed will because some in the EU hope against hope How Libya’s Haftar blindsided world powers that we will change our mind, then they will live to regret it,” Francois told a Brexiteer con- estern diplomats sat down for three hours with envoys who had travelled to Haftar’s base outside the city which had also built up an air base at Al Khadim, allowing ference in the heart of London. Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar in his eastern of Benghazi in the preceding weeks, four separate diplo- the LNA to gain air superiority by 2016, a U.N. report said “We will become a Trojan Horse within the Wstronghold last month to try to dissuade him matic sources said. In a sign of how far the situation in in June 2017. EU and utterly derail all their attempts to pur- from launching an offensive against the internationally rec- Libya - and Haftar - was beyond their control, UN and But on the ground Haftar was struggling to make sue a more federalist project,” he said from a ognized government in Tripoli. They urged him not to Western envoys in daily contact with his camp about the progress in his initial campaign launched in May 2014 lectern bearing a portrait of Margaret Thatcher plunge the country into a civil war and told him he could conference had no idea he was about to launch the offen- against Islamist militants in Benghazi, which he dubbed — a premier whose views on Europe grew become a successful civilian leader if he committed himself sive, the four diplomatic sources said. “Operation Dignity”. His heavy guns and aircraft flattened darker with time. Francois warned EU leaders to pursuing a political settlement, according to two Some even thought the general was bluffing. “These are residential buildings but could not dislodge the foreign meeting in Brussels later to consider the UK sources with knowledge of the meeting outside Benghazi. just psycho games,” one UN official texted Reuters when jihadists holed up in booby-trapped houses. It was at this government’s request for another Brexit delay But Haftar, a military strongman who critics describe as the first LNA troops were spotted south of Tripoli. Some point that France, which has oil assets in eastern Libya and that “they will need to bear all these inconven- the new Muammar Gaddafi, paid them little heed, said the diplomats who had met Haftar many times and lobbied is politically close to the UAE and Egypt, offered assis- ient truths in mind”. sources who spoke on condition the ambassadors were their governments to overlook his hardline comments - tance, according to Libyan and French sources. not identified. He said he was prepared to negotiate with such as that Libya was not ready for democracy - In late 2015, Paris sent military advisers and special the prime minister, but if no power-sharing deal was despaired when it became clear he was committed to tak- forces familiar in urban warfare who camped out at an air ‘As difficult as possible’ reached, he could invade the capital. ing the city by force. “I’ve wasted almost two years on base near Benghazi, the sources said. The French assistance These inconvenient truths were first raised in Two weeks later, on April 4, he sent troops from his Haftar,” said one who met Haftar regularly. “If the national helped turn the tide and allowed him to declare victory in a tweet last Friday by Jacob Rees-Mogg - the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) streaming conference doesn’t happen, it was for nothing.” Benghazi in 2017, they added. Arab countries had recog- leader of a rightwing insurgency tearing at towards Tripoli - just at a time when UN Secretary- nized Haftar as Libya’s official army commander for years Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative General Antonio Guterres was in the city to prepare for a Egypt, UAE, France but France helped him gain further international legitimacy Party. “If a long extension leaves us stuck in the national reconciliation conference this month which Haftar, for his part, has been consistent in speeches and as his campaign progressed. In 2017, French President EU we should be as difficult as possible,” Rees- Guterres’ aides thought Haftar supported. For world pow- statements about his commitment to military force in his Emmanuel Macron received Haftar and the UN-backed Mogg wrote moments after May asked Brussels ers including France, Italy and Britain, the general’s military declared mission to restore order to the north African Libyan prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj, on the outskirts of to push back Britain’s departure to keep it from campaign, the biggest in Libya since the 2011 uprising that country and also dropped hints about ultimately ruling the Paris to try to persuade them to make a deal, which instantly crashing out. EU leaders’ expected approval deposed Gaddafi, represented a major setback. country. When he first announced his intentions in upgraded the general’s diplomatic status. Macron and will put Britain in the paradoxical situation of They had tried for years to co-opt Haftar, 75, into a February 2014 he stood in front of a map of Libya, a Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian see Haftar, much like having to take part in European Parliament political settlement that would stabilise the major oil and somber-looking, grey-haired man wearing an immaculate Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, as a buffer against elections on May 23 - nearly three years after gas producer after almost a decade of conflict that had act- army uniform, and vowed to stage a coup. Western coun- Islamist militants in north Africa, according to French offi- voting to chart its own course. ed as a breeding ground for Islamist militancy. Even the tries left Libya after fighting in Tripoli in 2014, closing cials. Le Drian has been to Libya three times in two years Rees-Mogg said Britain should make best United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which have backed Haftar embassies and ending NATO training programs, before and on his last trip, on March 20, he saw Serraj in Tripoli and use of its predicament by vetoing “any and see him as a bulwark against Islamists in north Africa, returning in 2016. Their period of absence opened the then travelled east to see Haftar to try to broker a detente. increase in the (EU) budget, obstruct the puta- appear to have been surprised by his rapid advance. A door for Arab countries such as Egypt and the UAE, which According to a French diplomatic source, when Haftar asked French diplomatic source said Paris, which has also aided provided training and military assistance, according to him why he hadn’t come for such a long time, Le Drian tive EU army and block (French President the general, had no prior warning of the offensive. reports from UN experts monitoring an arms embargo responded: “We were waiting for your victories.” He was Emmanuel) Macron’s integrationist schemes”. The diplomats’ calls for military restraint in the meeting imposed on Libya in 2011, and diplomats. Haftar’s forces referring to the general’s campaign to take the south of the Francois pointed cheerfully to a response to last month had echoed those from other Western and UN received aircraft as well as military vehicles from the UAE, country earlier this year, the source said. — Reuters Rees-Mogg’s tweet from the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt that also went viral. “For those in Labor is demanding Britain remain in a the EU who may be tempted to further extend Israel election: Brexit scenarios: customs union, angering the rank-and-file the Brexit saga, I can only say, be careful what in May’s Tory party. If they agree a deal, you wish for,” Verhofstadt wrote. “Who am I to Brexit could still happen before Britain put try and put it better than Guy The next step The paths ahead has to take part in European Union elec- Verhofstadt,” Francois chortled. tions on May 23. The withdrawal agree- sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin s British Prime Minister Theresa ment allows for a long transition period ‘Fireworks’ Netanyahu looked set for a fifth term in May scrambles to secure a Brexit and time for trade ties to be negotiated. Rees-Mogg and Francois voted against the office yesterday after nearly complete extension at yesterday’s crucial EU The EU has ruled out any changes to it I A but has said it could speedily rewrite the Brexit deal that May struck with the EU all election results put him and fellow right- summit, where is the whole process head- three times it came up for a vote. They view it wingers on track to form a governing ing? Here is what could happen: political declaration-an accompanying document on future trade ties. In a des- as too EU-friendly. Only 26 of the 314 coalition. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu perate gamble to get the deal over the Conservatives in parliament joined them the last reacts as he shakes hands with someone No-deal Brexit on April 12 What now? after addressing supporters at his Likud May is seeking a Brexit delay until June line, May even told her MPs that she time around — a shrinking group that May would resign before the start of full- hopes will grow even smaller by the time she With Netanyahu’s Likud and other Party headquarters in the Israeli coastal city 30. MPs this week forced through legisla- right-wing parties projected to take of Tel Aviv on election night yesterday. — AFP tion to force the prime minister to always blown trade negotiations with the EU if tries to get her pact through on the fourth they backed it, but it still failed. attempt. Her ability to do this quickly could still around 65 seats in the 120-seat parliament, seek an extension rather than leave the EU he is almost certain to be asked by What is likely to change? without a deal. But the EU appears to be keep Britain from having to actually fill its 73 New plan, long Brexit delay President Reuven Rivlin to form a govern- If the preliminary results are largely more keen on a longer “flextension” of seats when a new European Parliament opens If no deal is agreed in the coming days, ment. After Rivlin canvases all parties he is confirmed, there are unlikely to be any around a year. If no agreement is reached its doors in July. Britain will likely face a delay of up to a expected to invite Netanyahu to hammer major policy shifts. Netanyahu’s outgoing yesterday, the legal default is that Britain Some of the current places have in any case year, which would entail it holding out formal coalition contracts. He will have government is already seen as the most leaves the EU without a deal on Friday. been reassigned. Yet the level of Conservatives’ European Parliament elections. The up to 42 days in which to do it. right-wing in Israeli history, and the make- The EU has already granted one delay- European Commission, the EU’s executive anger with May seems to be rising as the possi- In addition to his natural allies, up of the next one may be similar. The the original deadline was March 29 - and arm, has advised EU leaders that this bility grows of Brexit being pushed further out Netanyahu could invite his main chal- strengthening of the two ultra-Orthodox EU leaders will ask May to explain what longer extension should be at least until of reach. Ninety-seven Conservative MPs voted lenger-centrist Blue and White-to add its parties-to a combined 16 seats from 13 in another postponement would achieve. the end of 2019 and possibly much longer against a measure Tuesday aimed at averting a 35 seats to his coalition, although that is the outgoing parliament-will increase their Economists warn a no-deal Brexit could to allow for a proper change in Brexit no-deal scenario. It prevailed by a 420-110 seen as a less likely scenario. Netanyahu clout in government, particularly in matters generate economic shockwaves on both strategy. Under the “flextension”, Britain margin. Veteran EU foes such as Nigel Farage - faces the prospect of becoming the first of religion and state such as the fierce sides of the Channel and cause severe could leave the EU once it found a plan a poster boy of the pro-Brexit campaign who sitting prime minister to be indicted. The debate over whether ultra-Orthodox Jews delays at border points, despite prepara- commanding domestic support, but a once headed the nationalist UKIP group - hope attorney general has announced he intends should perform mandatory military service. tions to mitigate these risks. the groundswell of discontent will carry his new to indict him for bribery, fraud and breach longer delay would open up options such as holding a general election, a leadership Brexit Party to big gains in Europe. of trust pending a hearing in the coming What about the Palestinians? Leave with changes election to replace May or, perhaps, a sec- weeks. But Netanyahu would be entitled to Netanyahu made a last-minute pledge After failing three times to get her deal “If we have to fight those European election ond referendum. remain in office until his trial and any sub- ahead of the elections to annex settlements through parliament, May is currently on May 23, we’ll fight them because it’s time we A general election would reset parlia- sequent appeal process are over. in the occupied West Bank, a move that locked in talks with the opposition Labor taught them a lesson,” Farage says in a video ment, and a clear outcome with a govern- could end remaining hopes for a two-state Party-who favor keeping closer ties with campaign message. And even those not running ment majority could result in a much What about Gantz? solution if done on a large scale. There is the EU-to try and break the impasse. themselves sound tempted by the idea of Britain stronger administration. — AFP making a nuisance of itself in European halls of With 97 percent of the vote counted no sign he would back off from that Netanyahu’s main rival, ex-military chief power. Asked whether he might consider run- approach after he forms a government. Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White Israel’s politics have moved firmly to the ning in the European elections, veteran alliance, was projected to win the same Conservative MP William Cash told parliament right, with many voters disillusioned by number of seats as the Likud. But the elec- failed peace attempts with the Palestinians. this week: “I must admit that if I were to, there toral collapse of potential partners left it The landmark Oslo accords of the would be quite a lot of fireworks in the incapable of putting together more than 55 1990s were followed by the bloody sec- European Parliament”. — AFP seats with them-not enough to take power. ond Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Labor, in particular, crashed in flames with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has only six seats in the incoming parliament said he hoped that Israel’s elections could compared to the 24 it held previously in help bring peace but senior Palestinian All articles appearing on these pages are alliance with the centrist Hatnuah party. official Hanan Ashrawi said yesterday that Gantz is now set to become leader of the the results showed otherwise. “They have the personal opinion of the writers. opposition in parliament, an official post. chosen an overwhelmingly right-wing, Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for Final results were expected by Thursday xenophobic and anti-Palestinian parlia- views expressed therein. afternoon, adding in the ballots of soldiers ment to represent them,” Ashrawi said in a Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrives ahead of a European Council meeting on and other special categories of voters. statement. — AFP Brexit at The Europa Building at The European Parliament in Brussels yesterday. — AFP Established 1961

THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 Huawei hosts media roundtable, GAC Motor makes debutBusiness at 2019 Zain launches the all-new Huawei 12introduces new flagship products 13 St Petersburg Int’l Motor Show 14 P30/P30 Pro devices in Kuwait

KUWAIT: KIPCO’s Vice Chairman (Executive), Faisal Al-Ayyar (center) speaks during the company’s investors’ forum. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat KIPCO optimistic about 2019 growth Our Q1 2019 performance suggests we have tailwind behind us: Vice Chairman

KUWAIT: At its Annual Shafafiyah the past year, KIPCO continued to enjoy eighth year of operational profitability, with ‘Transparency’ Investors’ Forum, KIPCO - strong investor confidence, as reflected in net profit up 46 percent. It’s subsidiary, the Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) - its KD 100 million five-year bond issuance. KAMCO Investment, issued a KD 40 mil- said that it was guardedly optimistic that the The company maintained its investment lion five-year bond and completed the growth trend achieved in 2018 would con- grade rating, and made a new real estate acquisition of a majority stake in Global tinue through to 2019. At the company’s investment together with partners worth Investment House. investors’ forum, KIPCO presented a review KD 90 million in Khabari in southern KIPCO’s real estate arm, United Real of its activities in 2018 and its outlook for Kuwait. As for KIPCO’s landmark residen- Estate, issued a KD 60 million five-year 2019 to an audience of shareholders, finan- tial and commercial project, Hessah Al- bond, and its gross profit recorded a 6 per- cial analysts and institutional investors. Mubarak District, 80 percent of the plots cent increase. Qurain Petrochemical The forum followed the company’s are now being developed by Group compa- Industries (QPIC), meanwhile, registered a 7 General Assembly meeting where KIPCO’s nies or third parties. percent growth in revenue for the first nine shareholders approved a cash dividend of 12 KIPCO highlighted the performance of months of the financial year, and its dividend percent (12 fils per share). its main operating companies. Burgan Bank yield on portfolio companies increased 11 KIPCO noted the improvement in the registered a 27 percent increase in net percent. SADAFCO, a subsidiary of QPIC, operating environment, with oil prices profit and completed a rights issue to raise acquired a 76 percent stake in the Polish tal transformation during 2019. fully underwritten rights issue of 452.7 mil- expected to stabilize this year, business KD 62.6 million in equity. dairy producer, Mlekoma. In its outlook, KIPCO said that it looked lion shares. In the coming months we will be confidence on the rise in the Middle East, For Gulf Insurance Group, gross written As for OSN, KIPCO noted that it to continue to ride the upward profit trend focusing our efforts on mergers and acquisi- and increased public spending on develop- premiums (GWP) increased 10 percent, appointed Goldman Sachs to evaluate witnessed in the first quarter of 2019. tions, as well as exits from some invest- ment projects in the region. while net profit was up 18 percent. The strategic options for its investment. It added KIPCO’s Vice Chairman (Executive), Faisal ments. With the improved operating envi- As part of its review of 2018, KIPCO company continues to be among the top that the past two years have been difficult Al-Ayyar said: “Our performance in the first ronment and the positive performance of highlighted the 13 percent growth in rev- five insurance companies in the Middle East for the pay-tv company due to increased quarter of 2019 suggests that KIPCO Group our companies, we are guardedly optimistic enue in 2018, as well as the 20 percent in terms of GWPs. competition and piracy. With several digital has got tailwind behind it. We have already that the profit growth trend recorded for increase in net profit compared to 2017. In United Gulf Holding recorded its twenty- platforms underway, OSN will undergo digi- begun the year with a Board approval for a 2018 will continue through 2019.”

Faury will inherit a financially sound, Brussels,” independent aviation analyst Airbus flies highly profitable business with an order Howard Wheeldon told AFP. book of 7,350 passenger planes, which Enders branded the British govern- would be enough to keep factories running ment’s handling of Brexit a “disgrace” in into new era for a decade at current production rates. January and warned that a “no deal” exit Analysts see Airbus as having an opportu- would led to “very harmful decisions” with change nity to profit from the booming airline mar- affecting the production of airline wings in ket, particularly in Asia, and from the global southwest England. The US is another grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX plane after source of worry for the group after US of CEO two recent deadly crashes involving the President Trump lashed out again at the popular new airliner. EU this week, vowing to impose fresh tar- PARIS: Frenchman Guillaume Faury takes “They simply need to use this window of iffs over subsidies to Airbus. over as CEO of European aerospace giant Boeing weakness to hoover up orders in For more than a decade, Washington and Airbus yesterday, looking to benefit from Asia, if they can,” said aerospace analyst Brussels have accused each other of unfair- the current troubles of rival Boeing and lim- Neil Wilson at Markets.com, an online ly subsidising Boeing and Airbus respec- it potential disruption from Brexit and financial trading platform. According to tively and have fought repeated battles at Donald Trump’s trade threats. The 51-year- industry body IATA, Asia will account for the World Trade Organization, which old will replace Tom Enders, who is step- most of growth in the industry over the next polices global trade rules. ping down after five years leading the 20 years, with more than half of the new France-based group whose 129,000 passenger traffic coming from the region. Helicopter specialist BLAGNAC: In this file photo, the president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft Business Guillaume employees manufacture airliners, helicop- Faury will also be wary of multiple inves- Faury speaks during a press conference in Blagnac. Guillaume Faury, 51, succeeded Tom ters and satellites. tigations in France, Britain and the United ‘Harmful’ Brexit? Enders yesterday as the CEO of Airbus. — AFP Enders oversaw further expansion of the But Faury will also have several tricky States into possible bribes paid to win con- group, but his rein was clouded by a recent issues in his inbox, including handling the tracts between 2008 and 2013 that could decision to scrap the loss-making A380 fall-out from Britain’s decision to leave the cause more embarrassment-and lead to contracts for years-which would be a boon In 2009, he left for a four-year stint in super-jumbo range of Airbus planes as well as European Union, which threatens to dis- costly fines or prosecutions. The inquiries for Boeing. Faury, a married father of three, research and development at French car multiple probes into suspect payments. The rupt the company’s long and complicated stem from Airbus’s own disclosure in early will take over after a board meeting in group Peugeot before rejoining Airbus. In German’s retirement package-worth 37 mil- supply chains. “Brexit could well mean a 2016 of undisclosed payments to middle- Amsterdam yesterday. He has spent most of February 2018, he became head of the lion euros ($41 million) including pension and complete rethink of long-term manufactur- men in securing several contracts, in partic- his career in the aerospace industry, spe- civil aviation division, the company’s stocks-has sparked controversy in France and ing strategy for Airbus and brave decisions ular in Asia. cializing in helicopters. He started his biggest and most high-profile, which is a pledge from the government that it will leg- may need to be made unless a satisfactory If convicted in the US, it would effective- career in the French defense ministry before considered the launching pad for the islate to limit huge corporate payoffs. outcome can be agreed by UK and ly be shut out of defense and civil aviation joining Airbus’ helicopter division in 1998. groups’ top job. — AFP 12 Business Thursday, April 11, 2019 Huawei hosts media roundtable, introduces new flagship products The P30 officially arrives in Kuwait

Venezuela reports collapse in oil supply, tightening global market

LONDON: Venezuela’s oil output sank to a new long-term low last month due to US sanctions and blackouts, the country told OPEC, deepening the impact of a global production curb and further tightening supplies. Supply cuts by OPEC and partners led by Russia, plus involuntary reductions in Venezuela and Iran, have helped drive a 32 percent rally in crude prices this year, prompting pressure from US President Donald Trump for the group to ease its market-supporting efforts. In a monthly report released yesterday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Venezuela told the group that it pumped 960,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, a drop of almost 500,000 bpd from February. The figures could add to a debate within the so-called OPEC+ group of producers on whether to maintain oil sup- ply cuts beyond June. A Russian official indicated this week Moscow wanted to pump more, although OPEC has been saying the curbs must remain. OPEC, Russia and other non-member producers are reducing output by 1.2 million bpd from Jan. 1 for six months. The producers are due to meet on June 25-26 to decide whether to extend the pact. One of the key Russian officials to foster the pact with OPEC, Kirill Dmitriev, signalled on Monday that Russia wanted to raise output when it meets OPEC in June because of improving market conditions and falling stockpiles. OPEC+ returned KUWAIT: Jason Jiang, General Manager of the CBG, with media representatives to supply cuts in 2019 out of concern that slowing economic growth and demand would lead to a new KUWAIT: Huawei Consumer Business Group Kuwait phone as The P30 Series’ SuperZoom will surely capture it “We take pride in our strong relationship with key supply glut. OPEC’s report lowered its estimate of (CBG) was delighted to host media representatives at Al- in all its quality. There is more to the P30 Series, as its media members in the State of Kuwait, and we, at Huawei global growth in demand by 30,000 bpd to 1.21 Hamra Business Tower in a Media Roundtable briefing. The SuperCharge will take your phone battery from 0 to 70 Consumer Business Group (CBG) express our thanks to million bpd, citing a slowdown in developed briefing hosted with Jason Jiang, General Manager of the percent in just 30 minutes, maintaining your device’s bat- every single one for supporting us to carry out our mes- economies. CBG, in regard to Huawei’s latest flagship products, pro- tery for more than an entire day of high-intensity work. sages to the consumers and achieve the optimum level of In a development that will ease OPEC concern viding further information on the newest release; The “The Media is quite the essential channel in today’s success.” he added. about a new supply glut, the report also said oil Huawei P30 Series. innovatively globalized world, which truly makes it impor- Huawei’s Media Roundtable discussion happened dur- inventories in developed economies fell in The most recent flagship series of products, The P30 tant to have the media informed on how we seek to estab- ing the briefing will provide the public the chance to be February, after rising in January. Series, is one that rewrites the rules of photography as its lish the fully connected world we aim to build through our meticulously informed by the media on Huawei’s most super sending Leica Quad Camera enables you to capture flagship devices.” Enthused Jason Jiang, General Manager recent flagship products. For more information on the new Output slide the dimmest moments in the brightest fashion. of Huawei Consumer Business Group, expressing his opin- P30 Series, don’t hesitate to visit Huawei’s official website Venezuela’s production figure brings its num- Furthermore, nothing will ever be too far for your smart- ion on the Media Roundtable briefing. or Huawei Experience Store in the Avenues Mall. bers closer to outside estimates, which have been saying the country’s economic collapse has taken a bigger toll on its oil industry. Output in Venezuela, are available in rosy dawn, mid-day sky and aurora once a top-three OPEC producer, has been declin- VIVA launches colors, advanced in-screen fingerprint sensor, an 8MP Shell exits Russian ing for years due to economic collapse. In March, telephoto camera and supercharge for 70 percent supply dropped due to US sanctions on state oil charge in 30 minutes. company PDVSA designed to oust President flagship Huawei LNG joint venture Nicolas Maduro, and power blackouts. Venezuela, plus Iran and Libya, were exempted P30 Pro with with Gazprom from making voluntary curbs under the OPEC+ deal, on the basis that their output would probably MOSCOW: Energy giant Shell yesterday announced that it fall anyway. postpaid plans is leaving the joint project it was developing with Gazprom OPEC’s share of the cut is 800,000 bpd from in Russia, following the Russian gas company’s decision to in most cases October 2018 levels, and other fig- alter its configuration. ures in the report showed producers were KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and most “Following Gazprom’s announcement on March 29 developed telecom operator, launched the new flag- removing far more than agreed. The group uses regarding the final development concept of Baltic LNG, two sets of figures to monitor its output - figures ship Huawei P30 and Huawei P30 Pro devices, with we have decided to stop our involvement in this project,” postpaid plans starting from KD 20 that give cus- provided by each country and by secondary the British-Dutch group said in a statement. Baltic LNG sources that include industry media. This is a tomers 500 local minutes and 50 GB Internet. project involved the construction of an LNG plant with the Abdulrazzaq Bader Al-Essa, Corporate legacy of old disputes over how much countries capacity of 10 million tonnes in the Ust-Luga port of were really pumping. Communications Director at VIVA said: “the ground- Saint-Petersburg. Overall OPEC output fell by a further 534,000 breaking Huawei P30 Series will rewrite the rules of While it was initially a joint project, Gazprom published bpd to 30.022 million bpd, according to the sec- mobile photography and set the pace for the next gen- a press-release on March 29 that no longer mentioned ondary-source figures. This was led not by eration of smartphones by empowering people to cap- Shell’s involvement. In this statement, Gazprom said it Venezuela but by Saudi Arabia, which has been ture the true beauty of the world around them through “made a decision on the final configuration of the project” a device that fits in the palm of their hands.” with a Russian group RusGazDobycha that will process voluntarily cutting supply by more than it agreed The HUAWEI P30 Pro is equipped with a new ethane-containing gas and produce LNG. to support the market. As a result, the 11 OPEC Leica Quad Camera System, including a 40MP main Shell said this means “full integration between LNG and members required to cut output achieved 155 camera with the HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor, a gas processing plant” which affects the partnership with percent compliance in March with pledged curbs, 20MP ultra-wide angle camera, lens with 10x hybrid Shell on the project for solely the LNG factory. “We have a according to a Reuters calculation, up from zoom, an 8MP telephoto camera, a 32MP front camera number of other ongoing projects with Gazprom... which are February. — Reuters that takes selfies to a new level. Both P30 and P30 Pro not impacted by this decision,” Shell said. — AFP

EXCHANGE RATES

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.226 Thai Bhat 10.550 Hong Kong Dollar 0.036828 0.039576 Tunisian Dinar 105.240 Turkish Lira 54.575 Indian Rupee 0.003788 0.004560 Jordanian Dinar 431.200 Singapore dollars 225.511 Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES Lebanese Lira/for 1000 0.204 Japanese Yen 0.002656 0.002836 Euro 344.110 Syrian Lira 0.000 Korean Won 0.000257 0.000272 Sterling Pound 402.710 Morocco Dirham 32.434 Malaysian Ringgit 0.070730 0.076730 Canadian dollar 229.730 Bahrain Exchange Company Nepalese Rupee 0.002682 0.003022 Turkish lira 54.990 Pakistan Rupee 0.001526 0.002296 Swiss Franc 307.200 Philippine Peso 0.005815 0.006115 CURRENCY BUY SELL US Dollar Buying 297.800 Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Singapore Dollar 0.219714 0.229714 Europe Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001401 0.001981 British Pound 0.391024 0.404924 ASIAN COUNTRIES Taiwan 0.009756 0.009936 Rate for Transfer Selling Rate Czech Korune 0.005362 0.014662 Japanese Yen 2.740 Thai Baht 0.009242 0.009792 US Dollar 304.840 Danish Krone 0.041881 0.046881 Indian Rupees 4.400 Vietnamese Dong 0.00013 0.00013 Canadian Dollar 228.350 Euro 0. 335564 0.349264 Pakistani Rupees 2.199 Sterling Pound 95.450 Georgian Lari 0.112732 0.112732 Srilankan Rupees 1.742 Arab Euro 344.725 Hungarian 0.000973 0.001163 Bahraini Dinar 0.794050 0.810550 Nepali Rupees 2.742 Swiss Frank 307.490 Norwegian Krone 0.031515 0.036715 Egyptian Pound 0.017754 0.020354 Singapore Dollar 225.990 Romanian Leu 0.055112 0.071962 Bahrain Dinar 810.685 Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000086 Hongkong Dollar 38.881 Russian ruble 0.004683 0.004683 UAE Dirhams 83.400 Iraqi Dinar 0.000210 0.000270 Bangladesh Taka 3.606 Slovakia 0.009120 0.019120 Qatari Riyals 84.640 Jordanian Dinar 0.425068 0.434068 Philippine Peso 5.862 Swedish Krona 0.028834 0.033834 Saudi Riyals 82.185 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000 Thai Baht 9.592 Swiss Franc 0.298104 0.309104 Jordanian Dinar 431.245 Lebanese Pound 0.000152 0.000252 Malaysian ringgit 78.056 Egyptian Pound 17.628 Moroccan Dirhams 0.021423 0.045423 Australasia Omani Riyal 0.785500 0.791180 Sri Lankan Rupees 1.744 GCC COUNTRIES Australian Dollar 0.209194 0.221194 Qatar Riyal 0.079445 0.084385 Indian Rupees 4.412 Saudi Riyal 81.441 New Zealand Dollar 0.199316 0.208816 Saudi Riyal 0.080207 0.081507 Pakistani Rupees 2.160 Qatari Riyal 83.881 Syrian Pound 0.001293 0.001513 Bangladesh Taka 3.618 America Omani Riyal 793.242 Tunisian Dinar 0.097407 0.105407 Philippines Pesso 5.851 Canadian Dollar 0.223152 0.232152 Bahraini Dinar 810.950 Turkish Lira 0.047313 0.058813 Cyprus pound 18.135 US Dollars 0.300750 0.306050 UAE Dirham 83.149 UAE Dirhams 0.081575 0.083275 Japanese Yen 3.725 US Dollars Mint 0.301250 0.306050 Yemeni Riyal 0.000991 0.001071 Syrian Pound 1.595 ARAB COUNTRIES Nepalese Rupees 2.758 Asia Egyptian Pound - Cash 20.700 Malaysian Ringgit 75.435 Bangladesh Taka 0.003058 0.003859 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 17.594 Chinese Yuan Renminbi 45.805 Chinese Yuan 0.043896 0.047396 Established 1961 13 Business Thursday, April 11, 2019

ST PETERSBURG: Feng Xingya, President of GAC Group (third from left), Alexsandr Kovrigin, Vice President of the Organizing Committee of St. PIMS (third from right), Luo Xin, Commercial Consul of Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in St. Petersburg (second from left), Lou Jiahong, Consul of Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in St. Petersburg (second from right), Chen Hanjun, Vice President of GAC Group (first from left), Yu Jun, President of GAC Motor (first from right) at a press conference. GS8 SUV at the 2019 St Petersburg International Motor Show GAC Motor makes debut at 2019 St Petersburg Int’l Motor Show Leading Chinese automaker launches new Journey in Russian market: Mutawa Alkazi

KUWAIT: Leading Chinese automaker GAC Motor has made its debut at the 2019 St. Petersburg International Motor Show (“the Motor Show”) with nine of the brand’s star models including SUVs, MPVs, sedans and a new energy vehicle. The automaker also revealed an update to its plan to enter the Russian market in 2019 with its top- selling product. “Russia’s automobile market has main- tained double-digit growth over the past two years. We believe the surging demand for cars needs to be satisfied with diversi- fied products and services. That is why we are here; GAC Motor is committed to cre- ating better products of higher quality that President of GAC Motor Yu Jun GAC Group President Feng Xingya offer a pleasant mobile lifestyle for global consumers. We hope that Russian people enjoy the fine design and good quality of brand building, driven by high standards Motor Show, including the new energy GAC Motor’s products,” noted Yu Jun, and defined by high quality”, and has been SUV GE3 version 530, the GM8 and GM6 President of GAC Motor. ranked No 1 in J.D. Power Asia Pacific’s MPVs, GA4 and GA8 sedans, as well as GAC Motor is steadily laying out its China Initial Quality Study (IQS) for six four SUVs - the GS8, GS5, GS4 and GS3. strategic plan for the Russian market. The years in a row. With a world-class car The GM6 and GS5 were shown to the Russia that offers an all-terrain driving • The GS5, a trendy SUV with an automaker first announced that it would design and manufacturing system, GAC Russian audience for the first time. mode, smart safety configurations, a state- advanced engine and exclusive function enter Russia during its debut at the Motor’s stand-out designs, convenient driv- GAC Motor will introduce the GS8 this of-the-art all-wheel-drive system, fully- which achieves the perfect balance between Moscow International Automobile Salon ing experience and cutting-edge technolo- year, and other star models in the near independent suspension system and high- stability and comfort (MIAS) in August 2018. Its overseas sub- gies were highly praised by Russian dealers future, which are now being evaluated and performance chassis shock filters After 4 days at the Motor Show, GAC sidiary in Russia, GAC Motor RUS, is now and consumers. During the Motor Show, certified by relevant Russian government • The GM8, GAC Motor’s first MPV Motor will also join the Russian Association in operation to prepare for product releases GAC Motor signed cooperation intention departments: product that showcases GAC Motor’s of Auto Dealers (ROAD) annual meeting and the opening of new stores. agreements with several Russian dealers. • The GS8, the flagship luxury 7-seat industry-leading technologies in its spec- and host brand promotion events on April Ever since its establishment, GAC Motor GAC Motor exhibited the brand’s com- SUV, and the first model to the Russian tacular design, luxurious VIP seating, smart 10 to welcome and communicate with more has been adopting a path that is “led by prehensive vehicle product lineup at the market, will have a special edition for features and worry-free safety guarantees interested dealers.

which shook global financial markets - was set Turkey to inject off by strained US-Turkey ties and concerns Lebanese textiles factory shuts over central bank independence. Jittery interna- $4.9bn into state tional investors have been waiting for the gov- ernment to signal an unambiguous break from its doors in dire economy the credit-fuelled growth strategy under banks in economy President Tayyip Erdogan. They had called for BEIRUT: The Mzannar family’s percent since the conflict erupted more ambitious long-term commitments to shore 300-year-old textile business sur- in neighboring Syria in 2011, after reform package up banks, relieve debt-laden companies, increase vived Lebanon’s civil war by mak- averaging 8-9 percent growth in exports and free up the central bank. ing uniforms for militiamen. But its the years before that. ISTANBUL: Turkey pledged yesterday to boost business savvy was no match for “There is a deterioration. There the capital level of banks and relieve bad debts in Capital expenditure years of economic malaise that is a rise in companies closing down a sector left reeling by last year’s currency crisis, Cristian Maggio, head of emerging markets followed and it has now shut its and in unemployment. For sure, as the country moved to revive an economy strategy at TD Securities in London, said the factory. they come together,” said former plagued by inflation and recession. Relief for message of government support and fiscal disci- The head of Lebanon’s chamber economy minister Raed Khoury. banks is the first step in the government’s long- pline was contradictory. “The market will be very of commerce chief said last year “There are small and medium awaited reform package, which also included sensitive to any deterioration of the budget, nearly 2,200 businesses had closed, companies suffering a lot.” promises to boost valuable export sectors and ISTANBUL: Turkish Treasury and Finance because that is one of the few anchors that warning that more would collapse. Daily state power and water cuts adjust taxes. Minister Berat Albayrak addresses a press con- Turkey still has,” he said. And while there is dispute over leave industrialists relying on pri- The lira, which plunged nearly 30 percent last ference to announce his new economic policy In October Turkey pledged to reduce capital those numbers, Lebanese mostly vate supplies that push up costs. year and was volatile in recent weeks, softened and reforms in Istanbul yesterday. — AFP expenditure by 20 percent in 2019. Initial results agree the economy is in dire shape. Taxes have gone up, but neither as analysts weighed the benefits for banks from local March 31 elections showed Erdogan’s For Naji Mzannar, who started infrastructure nor public services against the risk of higher deficits and potential which added that two funds focusing on energy AK Party losing control of Ankara and Istanbul, working at the fabric factory in the have improved. overreach by a government prone to stop-gap and real estate would be created. “This change stoking investor worries that Turkey would con- 70s before running it, an array of For some firms, Syria’s war measures. Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said and reform process will continue decisively for tinue to lean on short-term stimulus measures challenges drove the decline of his blocked access to neighboring mar- Turkey will deliver 28 billion lira ($4.9 billion) to the next four years,” Albayrak said. that failed to tackle deeper weaknesses in the business and its inability to com- kets and added security measures recapitalize state banks and that private banks Turkey’s economy suffered its worst quarterly economy. But Albayrak, Erdogan’s son in law, pete with cheaper goods from congesting the roads. With a risky could increase their capital if needed. contraction in nearly a decade after the currency said in his Istanbul presentation: “We did not abroad. political climate and a currency Dividend and bonus payments would be limit- crisis, which sent inflation soaring as high as 25 give up on fiscal discipline before the election “It was a build-up. Everything pegged to the dollar, Lebanon has ed as the economy rebalances, and some prob- percent and left its companies and banks saddled and we will not give up on it after the election.” became losses, losses,” he said. high interest rates that keep lem loans would be transferred to off balance with foreign-currency debt. The government loans would prioritize “How long are you supposed to deposits flowing into its banks. But sheet funds of local banks and international At its nadir last year, the Turkish lira lost near- strategic sectors, exports and local production, keep suffering?” these rates also discourage bor- investors, according to Albayrak’s presentation, ly half its value against the dollar. The crisis - he said. — Reuters Built in 1946 and spread over rowing - which producers such as three storeys, the factory made tex- Mzannar need to invest in new tiles for clothing and household use machinery. In the 12 months through March, the CPI despite tightening labor market conditions. In a such as curtains or towels. Mzannar The policies that have kept the Rising gasoline, increased 1.9 percent. The CPI gained 1.5 percent statement accompanying last month’s interest rate fought to keep it afloat until pro- Lebanese pound stable through in February, which was the smallest rise since decision, the central bank described inflation as duction came to a halt in 2018. turmoil at the same time failed to September 2016. Economists polled by Reuters having “declined” on an annual basis “as a result In interviews with Reuters, busi- protect or boost local production, rents boost US had forecast the CPI climbing 0.3 percent in of lower energy prices.” ness owners such as Mzannar, Mzannar and others said. March and accelerating 1.8 percent year-on-year. employees, and experts blamed the The number of his employees consumer Excluding the volatile food and energy compo- Food more expensive slowdown on problems including went from a peak of 75 to 40 in nents, the CPI nudged up 0.1 percent, matching The Fed also noted that survey-based meas- regional turmoil, lousy infrastruc- about 2010, and eventually only 10 prices in March February’s gain. In the 12 months through March, ures of longer-term inflation expectations were ture, government waste or corrup- people were left. They still work for the core CPI increased 2.0 percent, the smallest little changed. Minutes of the March 19-20 policy tion, and high interest rates. him, but at a shop near the factory WASHINGTON: US consumer prices increased advance since February 2018. The core CPI rose meeting are due to be published later on Whether the new government selling bales of cloth it had pro- by the most in 14 months in March, but underlying 2.1 percent year-on-year in February. Wednesday and will be scrutinized for more tries to improve conditions, as it duced, as well as imported textiles inflation remained benign against the backdrop of The Fed, which has a 2 percent inflation target, details on policymakers’ views on inflation. The vows urgently to do, the effects of from Europe. slowing domestic and global economic growth. tracks a different measure, the core personal con- February and March PCE price data will be years of political sclerosis and stalled While his shop fares much better The tame inflation environment and moderat- sumption expenditures (PCE) price index, for released on April 29. The February data was reforms are already inescapable: than the factory, he, like many oth- ing economic activity support the Federal monetary policy. delayed by a 35-day partial shutdown of the fed- more companies going out of busi- ers, fears people have less to spend. Reserve’s decision last month to suspend its The core PCE price index increased 1.8 per- eral government that ended on Jan. 25. ness and workers losing jobs. “We felt this the most in 2018.” three-year campaign to raise interest rates. The cent on a year-on-year basis in January after a Energy prices jumped 3.5 percent in March, The government publishes few Sales halved last year and traders US central bank dropped projections for any rate rising 2.0 percent in December. It hit the Fed’s 2 accounting for about 60 percent of the increase in reliable economic statistics, and he had worked with for many years hikes this year after lifting borrowing costs four percent inflation target in March last year for the the CPI last month, after gaining 0.4 percent in gives no regular unemployment went bankrupt. times in 2018. first time since April 2012. February. Gasoline prices surged 6.5 percent, the numbers, but last year Prime The remaining, old machines, The Labor Department said yesterday its The dollar was little changed against a basket biggest gain since September 2017, after rising 1.5 Minister Saad al-Hariri said it stood stopped spinning a few months ago. Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent, boosted of currencies after the CPI data, while US percent in February. Food prices gained 0.3 per- at about 30 percent. Mzannar remembers playing in the by increases in the costs of food, gasoline and Treasury prices rose slightly. US stock index cent after accelerating 0.4 percent in February. With pillars such as tourism and factory when he was a young boy, rents. That was the biggest advance since January futures were trading higher. Inflation has remained Food consumed at home increased 0.4 percent. real estate in the doldrums, eco- but his own three children have all 2018 and followed a 0.2 percent gain in February. muted, with wage growth increasing moderately Consumers also paid more for rent. — Reuters nomic growth has averaged 1-2 gone to work abroad. — Reuters 14

Thursday, April 11, 2019 Business Zain launches the all-new Huawei P30/P30 Pro devices in Kuwait Plans for postpaid customers start at KD 29 monthly KUWAIT: Zain, the leading digital service The new Huawei P30 Pro features an provider in Kuwait, announced the launch unmatched super camera system with a of the all-new Huawei P30/P30 Pro Superzoom lens, a 40 MP super Sensing devices, Huawei’s latest flagship smart- Camera, a 20 MP Ultra wide angle lens, Michelin rolls out phones. The new devices, featuring an and a Huawei TOF Camera, giving users iconic innovative design and offering the freedom to capture the most incredible two new high breakthroughs in technology, are available moments. Huawei has rewritten the color with a number of unique postpaid plans on sensing rules by using RYYB technology Zain’s most advanced network. for more light in images. The Huawei P30 performance tires Zain offers the new generation of Pro also features an intelligent 32 MP front Huawei’s flagship devices knowing the pas- camera, and a double 3D curved glass in Africa, Mideast sion its customer base - the biggest in design with a 6.47” Dewdrop display. Kuwait - has for the latest and most The Huawei P30 features a Super advanced products in the world of technol- Camera system with a 40 MP super KUWAIT: Innovation has always been central to the ogy. The all-new Huawei P30/P30 Pro Sensing Camera, a 16 MP Ultra wide angle Michelin Group when it comes to developing tyres devices meet customers’ needs and aspira- lens, and an 8 MP telephoto lens, giving and services to improve driving and mobility. This tions, whether on the personal or profes- users the freedom to capture the treasures innovative spirit has helped create the new additions sional levels, and Zain trusts that the new and beauty of the world. The device also to the Pilot Sport range which Michelin has recently devices will offer them an unmatchable features the RYYB technology for more introduced in the Africa and Middle East region. The telecommunications experience on its light in images, as well as a 6.1” Dewdrop new MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup2 R and MICHELIN largest network in Kuwait. display designed to provide a broader and Pilot Sport4 SUV are adapted to every driving con- Zain’s postpaid customers can now better viewing experience. dition with superior grip, which is designed to last get the new Huawei P30 or Huawei P30 Zain always aspires to new levels of longer. Pro with a variety of new plans starting excellence in all services it offers to its From SUV’s to high performance sedans, MICHE- at KD 29 monthly only, including 100 customers. Through the launch of these LIN Pilot Sport tyres are used by some of the best GBs of 4G LTE Internet and 2500 local new devices, Zain affirms its continuous competitive sports car makers in the world, on over 200 performance vehicles. This range also holds sev- minutes. The company is keen on offer- efforts in meeting its customers’ needs The introduction of Huawei P30/P30 est announcement, Zain strengthens its eral circuit records and has been developed jointly ing the most flexible and competitive and aspirations, and deliver its promise Pro highlights Zain’s eagerness in keeping leading position in providing special serv- with customers and partner car manufacturers to plans to suit customers’ unique personal to offering the best services and latest pace with the ongoing changes of needs ices and offerings designed for technolo- achieve the highest performance levels. and professional needs. technologies. and wants of its customers. With this lat- gy enthusiasts. Marc Pasquet, President, Africa, India and Middle East region, Michelin, said: “In the region, we are again raising the bar for performance tyres with the companies. We provide business with in-person support, introduction of the new tyres from the MICHELIN Faith Capital and guidance and a tailored-made software which engages Pilot Sport family. This new range of tyres is meant customers and manages the complex transactions typical for the auto enthusiast, who wants optimum driving Breaking the of this industry. Both our approach and our software is pleasure, without compromising on performance, 500 Startups supportive, simple and growth-focused. We understand safety and longevity. We are delighted that the the needs of this industry and have built our business to range is made available in the region immediately digital deadlock join CaptainPanel help yours - regardless of size,” says Abdullah Shalabi, the after its launch in Geneva Motor Show this year, Co-Founder and CEO, of CaptainPanel. signifying the importance that Michelin Group “FishFishMe and CaptainPanel are quickly becoming By Wassim Seliman $1.2m seed round attaches to the region.” indispensable software platforms for anyone operating a igital transformation watersports business in the Western United States and may be called the KUWAIT: Faith Capital alongside 500 Startups Mexico. As the tourism and hospitality sector continue to buzzword of the hour, announced yesterday their recent participation in the adopt technical solutions to age-old problems, small busi- D ness owners reliant on the vibrancy of this sector will no however, I believe it is now a $1.2m seed round of CaptainPanel, SaaS provider to oper- necessity, in other words, a ators of fishing charters, boat rentals, diving centers, and longer fear the loss of value and opportunity caused by a matter of existence. Every water sports activity organizers. The company also oper- lack of innovation in this space,” says Abdulaziz Al country and every sector in ates FishFishMe, an international marketplace for fishing Loughani, Managing Partner at Faith Capital. the Middle East now have charters and watersport activities. Both 500 Startups and Commenting on the announcement Hasan Haider, digital transformation at the Faith Capital will continue to aid MENA entrepreneurs in Partner, 500 Startups said: “We aim to invest in great heart of their aspirations, their international expansionist ambitions. founders, that are passionate and strive to achieve great with some already seeing Abdullah Shalabi is the original Founder of FishFishMe, results, and so we’re happy to be investing in great success in incorporat- a watersports activity marketplace that operates around CaptainPanel and supporting Abdullah on his path to ing it into their operations. the world. Having listened to the needs of the business success. CaptainPanel has been shown to be greatly According to participants on the marketplace, FishFishMe created needed globally, not just in the MENA region and is International Data CaptainPanel, a SaaS product intended to help water- helping boat captains and owners to more efficiently Corporation (IDC), it is expected that, by 2022, more sports business owners transition from pen and paper manage their businesses.” than 60 percent of the global economy will be digitized. business and booking management, to a fully automated “We are committed to back MENA founders as they Global IT-related spending on digital transformation is digital management tool. Captains no longer need to worry endeavor to create lasting value in the technology space also expected to reach $7.5 trillion. As highlighted in about unused capacity on their vessels, in their class- across the world and especially in the MENA region,” IDC’s CIO Survey 2018, 53 percent of large enterprises rooms, or elsewhere in their business, as the combination said Mohammed Jaffar, Deputy Chairman and CEO of in the Gulf countries, excluding Saudi Arabia, are cur- of marketplace and SaaS tools allows for both complete Faith Capital. “We look forward to continuously provid- rently undergoing digital transformation, while 19 per- utilization and total oversight. ing support to our founders via our expansive team of The Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV cent are about to commence, and another 25 percent are “CaptainPanel is a growth partner for water sports professionals”. The new MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4 SUV replaces planning their digital transformation. the MICHELIN Latitude Sport 3 and can be used for Regionally and locally, the public sector organizations the full range of SUVs - 4X4, compact, medium, pre- are leading the way, driven by federal and state-level mium and sports, the latter being a sector with strong transformation strategies. The Kuwaiti government has growth in the Middle East region. This new tyre ben- taken major steps to position the country as a regional efits from the powerful innovation capacities of the ICT hub, and as a result, Kuwait’s private and public sec- Michelin Group and the latest technologies of the tors have made positive strides and grown their techno- MICHELIN Pilot Sport range, with an emphasis on logical capacities. IoT is at the center of the New Kuwait control and stability at high speed while guarantee- 2035 economic diversification vision, and the government ing safety and a long tyre life. The safe and versatile has ambitious plans to drive the country’s digital innova- high-performance tyre, delivers exceptional comfort tion market to nearly KWD 300 million. Technologies like and the pleasure of driving sporty SUVs, in safe con- Artificial Intelligence (AI), and cloud (Hybrid and Public) ditions on dry and wet roads alike, while having a will prove to be crucial in reaching Kuwait’s aspirations. longer tyre life compared to its competitors. Diverse industries in the country must embrace the wave With this new tyre, Michelin has managed to com- of digital transformation globally in order to keep pace. bine all these features by using motorsport tyre tech- At GBM, we recently collaborated with IDC to release nologies in addition to innovations taken from the lat- a study highlighting the need for organizations to over- est Formula E tyres. come significant organizational and technological barriers as they strive to break out of the “digital deadlock” and The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 R accelerate their digital transformation. The whitepaper The MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup2 R is a bespoke titled ‘Breaking the Deadlock and Accelerating Digital high performance tyre developed in conjunction with Transformation’ indicates that nearly 60 percent of organizations globally are trapped in a digital deadlock. the most prestigious car manufacturers, such as Over the years, I have observed that, while many organi- Porsche and Ferrari. This model of tyres from the zations are able to execute relatively smaller digital proj- MICHELIN Pilot Sport range has been developed to ects within departmental or functional silos, a large pro- they are using botnets to tar- meet the needs of experienced drivers in ultra-high portion of them are unable to move beyond these ad hoc Cybercriminals get an organization’s cloud performance cars looking for the ultimate perform- digital projects and scale transformation across the platforms. In some instances, it ance during track days. organization. This requires the acceleration of the devel- attack Cloud Server may be a human attacker, but Specifically designed for use on the track, the opment of an agile, scalable and secure technology infra- regardless, companies need a MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup2 R tyre maximises grip structure, build a robust information architecture, and re- security strategy to protect on dry circuits and delivers optimum and secure han- design and efficiently automate business processes. Honeypot within what they are putting into the dling levels, making it possible for drivers to attack However, I have come to realize that the hardest part cloud,” said Matthew Boddy, corners at high speeds. Tests carried out on a circuit for many of our clients is taking the first step in executing 52 seconds: Report security specialist, Sophos. by Michelin with different vehicle manufacturers a digital transformation strategy. A digital transformation “The issue of visibility and highlighted an average increase of 0.5 sec/km using can seem overwhelming, both practically and monetarily, security in cloud platforms is a the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup2 R. The new MICHE- which is why many organizations postpone it. This high- DUBAI: Sophos , a global leader in network and endpoint big business challenge, and LIN Pilot Sport range tyres will be available from lights the need for an experienced technology partner security, yesterday announced the findings of its report, Ross McKerchar with increased migration to the April 2019 at all Michelin authorised dealership, that can help steer companies in the right direction while Exposed: Cyberattacks on Cloud Honeypots, which cloud, we see this continuing.” including the TYREPLUS network in the region. keeping in mind the business objectives. reveals that cybercriminals attacked one of the cloud I believe it is crucial for organizations to identify and server honeypots in the study within 52 seconds of the Visibility into weaknesses work with technology partners that, not only possess suit- honeypot going live in Sao Paulo, Brazil. On average, the Continuous visibility of public cloud infrastructure is able technology capabilities and skills, but also have suffi- cloud servers were hit by 13 attempted attacks per vital for businesses to ensure compliance and to know cient understanding of their industry and business. The minute, per honeypot. The honeypots were set up in 10 of what to protect. However, multiple development teams partner should also be able to engage with them over the the most popular Amazon Web Services (AWS) data cen- within an organization and an ever-changing, auto-scaling longer-term through the digital transformation journey. At ters in the world, including California, Frankfurt, Ireland, environment make this difficult for IT security. GBM, our goal as a digital transformation partner would London, Mumbai, Ohio, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore, and Sophos is addressing security weaknesses in public be to enable organizations to achieve greater agility, Sydney over a 30-day period. A honeypot is a system clouds with the launch of Sophos Cloud Optix, which improved efficiencies, transformed customer experiences intended to mimic likely targets of cyberattackers, so that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to highlight and miti- and opportunities for new revenue generation. It is no security researchers can monitor cybercriminal behaviors. gate threat exposure in cloud infrastructures. Sophos secret that there is a strong value and necessity for com- In the study, more than 5 million attacks were attempt- Cloud Optix is an agentless solution that provides intel- panies to invest in accelerating processes and competen- ed on the global network of honeypots in the 30-day ligent cloud visibility, automatic compliance regulation cies as well as leveraging digital technologies in order to period, demonstrating how cybercriminals are automati- detection and threat response across multiple cloud strategically prepare themselves for today’s market cally scanning for weak open cloud buckets. If attackers environments. demands and the future. And this is one of the main rea- are successful at gaining entry, organizations could be “Instead of inundating security teams with a massive sons I encourage organizations not just to develop a com- vulnerable to data breaches. Cybercriminals also use number of undifferentiated alerts, Sophos Cloud Optix pany-wide digital transformation strategy and set goals to breached cloud servers as pivot points to gain access significantly minimizes alert fatigue by identifying what is achieve it, but also, to immediately start the execution of onto other servers or networks. truly meaningful and actionable,” said Ross McKerchar, this strategy. Before embarking on the journey. With a sol- “The Sophos report, Exposed: Cyberattacks on Cloud CISO, Sophos. “In addition, with visibility into cloud id approach and the right partner, I am confident organi- Honeypots, identifies the threats organizations migrating assets and workloads, IT security can have a far more zations in Kuwait can overcome the digital deadlock and to hybrid and all-cloud platforms face. The aggressive accurate picture of their security posture that allows them enjoy the journey of their own digital transformation. speed and scale of attacks on the honeypots shows how to prioritize and proactively remediate the issues flagged — Wassim Seliman is General Manager of GBM Kuwait. relentlessly persistent cybercriminals are and indicates in Sophos Cloud Optix.” Established 1961 15 What’s On Thursday, April 11, 2019 Sadeem joins forces with social media influencers to combat cyber bullying

he jury members of Sadeem, the digital competi- ond season with the aim to empower ordinary people to tion and series offer tips to overcome cyber bully- share their stories and to encourage content creators to Ting and promote the value of positive messaging take a stand against cyber bullying. on social media. Some of the well-known and respected As part of Sadeem season 2, well-known influencers on social media influencers in the MENA region are leading the jury of the competition, including Ascia from Kuwait a campaign against cyber bullying, to shed light on this and DZ Joker Chemsou from Algeria, are taking a lead to important issue and to encourage kindness on social try and help young audiences in particular overcome the media platforms. This campaign is being led by the jury challenges of cyber-bullying. Each of the jury members is members of Sadeem, the largest digital competition and supporting the campaign by speaking out about their series in the Arab world focused on digital content cre- deeply moving experiences of cyber bullying and offering ators and influencers. advice on how to deal with such issues. Ascia, who is a highly influential fashion blogger and designer with over 2 million followers on Instagram, said, she fell prey to a lot of bullying about her appearance while she was pregnant with her son Adam. She says: “The worst part is that I wasn’t used to people’s criti- cism on my appearance, I know that my work relies on style and the way I look, but my work does not include The most sought-after digital program - Sadeem - aims me changing myself for someone else. The most impor- careers and personal lives, which can be quite depressing. respect others feelings and reciprocate in a matter, which to find the best young content creators in the Arab world tant thing in life, is to be at peace with yourself and not Having said that, we as an industry need to unite, stand doesn’t hurt them. Be kind to people and use digital media to drive change in the way people use digital media with people.” On the rampant increase in cyber bullying, against cyber bullying and control the scenario to provide for a positive message rather than the other way around.” responsibly. Taking one step ahead, Sadeem has adopted DZ Joker Chemsou, said: a better future for the next generations. But as they say, The campaign against cyber bullying will continue in vari- the theme of cyber bullying as a content pillar for its sec- “We all have been a witness to cyber bullying in our change starts at home and first within yourself. You must ous formats during the show.

tance of human resources role in corporate. Also, KFH KFH participates explored the need to determine the career path and the employer, as well the local job market requirements. In line with the relevant parties, KFH pays attention to in ACK Job Fair strengthen its role and efforts to attract and develop the local skills as per the international standards. Thanks to uwait Finance House (KFH) participated in the the growth opportunity and its large market share, KFH Australian College of Kuwait ACK’s Job Fair in continues employing and developing the Kuwaiti youth to Kefforts to attract, train and qualify distinguished achieve the desired success in all areas. national recruits. A specialized team from the Human KFH has recently participated as a platinum sponsor in Resources department at KFH provided information about the exhibition “Because You Deserve 2” which was hosted employment and the relevant conditions and terms, impor- by the Manpower and Government Restructuring Program, with the aim of providing jobs for Kuwaiti youth in the private sector, specifically in banks and financial institutions. Also, the Bank participated in the 24th Kuwait University Job Fair, which was organized by the College of Business Administration. KFH has also participated in various job exhibitions organized in Kuwait, either by official bodies or by public or private universities. Additionally, KFH is the only bank to launch the “Forsah” program for young outstanding Kuwaiti graduates to develop their skills and equip them with the highest standards to enter the job market. KFH has recently organized the largest Kuwaiti youth recruit- ment event (Mega Assessment Day) where it hired 80 young Kuwaitis out of a total of 150 job applications. This confirms its leadership in attracting and qualifying national youth cadres and reflects its localization efforts and the comprehensive strategy it follows to develop and provide talents with training. CBK sponsors TIES classes Tarsheed Campaign ou are cordially invited to another session of our series about some prophets and messen- Ygers of Allah (SWT) today, April 11th at 7:00 pm, in which we will continue to learn more about Prophets Musa (Moses) and Haroun (Aaron). In this class, we will learn more about the seven destructive major sins, focusing on the ones committed by ithin its social responsibility activities and Pharaoh, see why Pharaoh detained Musa and cooperation with various governorates, the Haroun (AS) in his palace, and explore his advisors’ Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) recently suggestion on dealing with both Musa and Haroun W sponsored Ministry of Electricity and Water’s 3rd (AS). We will also discuss the incentives Pharaoh Tarsheed (Conservation) Campaign 2019 organized by gave his sorcerers to challenge the alleged magic of Ahmadi governorate at Abdul Rahman Al-Duaji inter- Musa, their response, and examine their private mediate school in Subahiya. Speaking on the occasion, counsel before challenging the alleged magic of Ahamdi governor, Sheikh Fawwaz Al-Khaled hailed the Musa (AS). Finally, we will examine what Musa (AS) In conclusion to its third Arab Youth Festival activities organized with Al-Shaheed Park, LOYAC’s role played by CBK in boosting public awareness con- did before demonstrating his miracles to the sorcer- Academy for Performance Arts (LAPA) recently organized a concert for the Algerian singer, Soad cerning power and water conservation. On her part, ers and the masses, his admonition to Pharaoh’s sor- Massi. Massi is an Algerian singer, guitarist and lyrics composer who was born in the Algerian CBK’s deputy director for corporal communication, capital in 1972. She started her career in the late 1980s. She also holds a BSC in engineering. She cerers, and their response. Amani Al-Wer’a stressed CBK’s keenness on taking decided to settle down in France by the late 1990s where she made a number of her most suc- part in various activities. cessful albums. GUST Math Foundation Unit first to receive international accreditation ulf University for Science and Technology announced advancement our students, faculty, and community.” NADE is this week that it has received its sixth international a well renowned US-based institution that focuses on the aca- Gaccreditation, this time for its Math Foundation Unit demic success of students by providing professional develop- (MFU) from the National Association for Developmental ment for faculty, supporting student learning, disseminating Education (NADE) accreditation, based in the United States. exemplary models of practice, coordinating efforts with other With that, GUST has become the first university outside the organizations, and facilitating communication among develop- US to receive the NADE. mental education professionals. The accreditation process took over two years to com- At the conference where the accreditation was awarded, plete and involved all faculty and staff members in the MFU. Foundation Program Unit Director Dr Ilene Winokur, along This intensive process examined personal teaching styles, with instructors Heba Elhadary and Kelle Hutchinson, gave pedagogy, theory, and best practices. The accreditation not three presentations to attendees entitled: Data Driven any classical dance form. Several students learn dance for a only solidifies GUST’s commitment to excellence, but also Analysis as a Trajectory for Effective Program Review, Altered Sampoornam: few years and keep it aside as they get busy in studies and confirms the strength of the program, and distinguishes GUST Mindsets and Program Review: How the Accreditation move into different walks of life. After several years, when as a respected, leading institution in the region and beyond. In Process Changed a Developmental Math Program, and they realize their inner calling to get back into art, they are lost addition, the accreditation process itself provides very con- Improve Math Learning and Grades: Integrate Math Study A complete guide and don’t know where to start. This guide will be the best way structive guidance on how units can improve for students, fac- Skills into Math and Student Success Courses. FPU Director, they can start off even after a long gap. Knowing the adavus ulty, the university, and for higher education in Kuwait. Dr Ilene Winokur, said: “With the awarding of the NADE to Indian classical can help the students and teachers enter the world of chore- GUST President, Professor Walid Bouhamra, said, accreditation for the Math Foundation program’s faculty and ography. Freedom must be used in art forms and the knowl- “Accreditation is an indication of the stringent standards at staff has received NADE’s acknowledgement of its excellence edge of the basics is essential in order for us to exploit the which any institution operates. As a university, our aim is to in all areas including program, curriculum, teaching and stu- dance ‘adavus’ myriad aspects of classical dance, she explained. continue to improve and develop our programs for the dent achievement.” “This compilation will consist of around 70 adavus and a rishti School of Classical Dance, Kuwait has initiated a few choreographed korvais that are traditionally used in new project beneficial for Bharatanatyam dancers - Bharatanatyam dance numbers. This is not a tutorial or a S‘Sampoornam- A complete guide to Bharatanatyam learning tool as we believe that learning must be strictly done adavus’ that aims to compile all the Bharatanatyam adavus in a under the guidance of a teacher. This is strictly for reference sequential order with high quality audio and videography only. The audio for practice will also be uploaded on the inter- which will be made available “online” free of cost. net. This can be used by the dance teachers also thereby Bharatanatyam is a form of Indian classical dance. Vinitha bringing a sense of compulsion of practicing the adavus,” Pratish, Artistic Director, said, “This is to encourage the stu- Vinitha told a press conference. Practicing the adavus keeps dents, teachers and parents to realize the importance of the mind focused and instills a balance between the mind and knowing the basics and will serve as a reference guide of the body. The students of Srishti School of Classical Dance who adavus. One must essentially know the adavus in order to have been a part of this project are Kaavya Vaidyanathan, understand this dance form,” she said. Dheera Ragesh, Anjali Nair and Anandika Dilip. The first Just like how alphabets are important to form words and episode is being released on Youtube on April 11th 2019 in phrases, adavus are very important and form the foundation of the channel Vinitha Srishti, she added. 16 Health & Science Thursday, April 11, 2019 Siren sounds on nuclear fallout embedded in melting glaciers Scientist warn of a potentially hazardous time-bomb VIENNA: Radioactive fallout from nuclear meltdowns contain more than 10 times the safe levels of Caesium. and weapons testing is nestled in glaciers across the world, scientists said yesterday, warning of a potentially ‘A mark we’ve left’ hazardous time bomb as rising temperatures melt the icy Clason said her team had detected some fallout from residue. For the first time, an international team of scien- the Fukushima meltdown in 2011, but stressed that much of tists has studied the presence of nuclear fallout in ice sur- the particles from that particular disaster had yet to collect face sediments on glaciers across the Arctic, Iceland the on the ice sediment. As well as disasters, radioactive mate- Alps, Caucasus mountains, British Columbia and rial produced from weapons testing was also detected at Antarctica. several research sites. It found manmade radioactive material at all 17 survey “We’re talking about weapons testing from the 1950s sites, often at concentrations at least 10 times higher than and 1960s onwards, going right back in the development levels elsewhere. “They are some of the highest levels you of the bomb,” she said. “If we take a sediment core you see in the environment outside nuclear exclusion zones,” can see a clear spike where Chernobyl was, but you can said Caroline Clason, a lecturer in Physical Geography at also see quite a defined spike in around 1963 when there the University of Plymouth. was a period of quite heavy weapons testing.” When radioactive material is released into the atmos- One of the most potentially hazardous residues of phere, it falls to earth as acid rain, some of which is human nuclear activity is Americium, which is produced absorbed by plants and soil. But when it falls as snow and when Plutonium decays. Whereas Plutonium has a half- settles in the ice, it forms heavier sediment which collects life of 14 years, Americium lasts 400. in glaciers, concentrating the levels of nuclear residue. “Americium is more soluble in the environment and it is The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 — by far the most dev- a stronger alpha (radiation) emitter. Both of those things astating nuclear accident to date-released vast clouds of are bad in terms of uptake into the food chain,” said radioactive material including Caesium into the atmos- Clason. phere, causing widespread contamination and acid rain While there is little data available on how these materi- across northern Europe for weeks afterwards. als can be passed down the food chain-even potentially to “Radioactive particles are very light so when they are humans-Clason said there was no doubt that Americium is taken up into the atmosphere they can be transported a “particularly dangerous”. very long way,” she said. “When it falls as rain, like after As geologists look for markers of the epoch when An international team of scientists has studied the presence of nuclear fallout in ice surface sediments on gla- Chernobyl, it washes away and it’s sort of a one-off event. mankind directly impacted the health of the planet-known ciers across the Arctic, Iceland the Alps, Caucasus mountains, British Columbia and Antarctica. But as snow, it stays in the ice for decades and as it melts as the Anthropocene-Clason and her team believe that in response to the climate it’s then washed downstream.” radioactive particles in ice, soil and sediment could be an The environmental impact of this has been shown in important indicator. “These materials are a product of that our nuclear legacy hasn’t disappeared yet, it’s still because ultimately it’s a mark of what we have left in the recent years, as wild boar meat in Sweden was found to what we have put into the atmosphere. This is just showing there,” Clason said. “And it’s important to study that environment.” —AFP

Mercy Corps, because they are trying to bring their questions. In a pilot project, the teams NASA turns its solutions to bear anywhere in the world there looked at groundwater levels in Niger, where is stress, and arguably we are looking at the most people live off subsistence farming and focus to earth entire world at any given time.” NASA and droughts can destroy livelihoods. Mercy Corps signed a three-year agreement NASA was able to provide data on changes on March 29 that will see them work closely to to underground water levels and find reserves with aid see how NASA’s vast data and analysis using a satellite that senses them through tiny resources could be applied to help vulnerable changes in gravity. partnership people around the world. The information helped to show where They say the data can help them predict could support more farming and where was at future events, from changes in grazing land to high drought risk. They are working to share LONDON: NASA is using its satellites to solve the likely path of flooding, meaning Mercy Corps humanitarian challenges in some of the most NASA data with local decision-makers can plan ahead to protect communities at risk. around the world, from national governments fragile places on earth under a landmark part- “In order to build resilience you have to nership with aid agency Mercy Corps. to local farmers. understand the higher-level stresses on a sys- “If you can empower people with the right The US National Aeronautics and Space tem,” said David Nicholson, senior director of information they can make the smart decision,” Administration will use its wealth of data to help environment, energy and climate at Mercy Corps. said Nicholson. The two organizations could communities at risk from climate change and “We so often work in information-scarce also collaborate during large-scale disasters natural disaster predict the dangers and build environments, trying to make decisions on how their resilience. best to deploy resources without the benefit of such as the recent floods in Mozambique and “There is nothing a NASA person likes better information.” Zimbabwe to help target immediate relief. “It’s than answering a really good question,” NASA’s Much of the data that NASA holds is already still very much in the experimental phase, COLORADO SPRINGS: A model of the SLS rocket on display during the 35th Space disasters program director David Green told the publicly available, but may not be used because there’s just such a deep well of possibility,” said Thomson Reuters Foundation. Nicholson. “I think there is an endless opportu- Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 9, 2019. NASA is decision-makers are not aware of its existence preparing to use the SLS rocket to send US astronauts to the moon in 2024. — AFP “That is the excitement of working with or because it is not in a format that addresses nity here.” — Reuters 17

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Thursday, April 11, 2019 Stars

CROSSWORD 2180 STAR TRACK

Aries (March 21-April 19) Libra (September 23-October 22)

Aries, now is the time to list what you want in life whether material or in Libra, because you have needs you sense the needs of others and are the love department. Analyze in a practical manner, just as you would on work or any Johnny-on-the-spot to help. Emotional security plays hard around the fringes of your other job, what you consider you need and how to get it. Once you have a list, write on mind. You work towards getting your desires, which seem to be many at this time. a piece of paper your desires. Then list everything in a positive manner as to how to Having someone to understand what’s happening with you is like being given a very achieve your wish. Do the same for love but don’t leave anything out there, Aries. From good gift. Being able to make common sense of your situation and express it to others sex to everyday life, be thorough, something you may skim over otherwise. Then know is the same kind of gift. You’re thankful, Libra, that you’re able to have those kinds of you’re going to get everything you ask for now. Celebrate your good fortune tonight friends in your life now. That helps. with friends and family.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Taurus, today your usual don’t-change self is back. You want to put down Scorpio, you feel like you want different in your life and you’re even seen roots. You’ve kept the work environment open but you’ve had a little issue with love by friends as, “Being different,” which you admire in yourself. That means you’re trying lately. Keeping it together may be what you want. If that’s so, then go to your lover and new ideas and making them work. Plus, you must be doing something right. Novel discuss your feelings. Emotional insecurity will play havoc on other parts of your life. approaches to anything in your life but especially work gives you instant insight into Make sure of what you want in life before you commit to your lover now. Know that whether those methods work or not. Then you can adapt them to other parts of your any change you make causes a life’s undertaking that could leave you having to deal life with surety of work, Scorpio. The only problem you have is finding someone who with more than you please, Taurus. Think, make sure and then act. thinks like you to share your life with in peace. Keep looking.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Gemini, finally, your day is better. Quick answers and quick wit drive you Sagittarius, now is the time to work. Moreover, it’s a time of making plans ACROSS 83. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit towards completing something you want to create. This is a great time to communi- for yourself and your future with security in mind. If this isn’t the job to cate with originality and clarity. You look strong in your work place making high- make more money then you may want to consider thinking about what type job you 1. Not in operation or operational. juice. erups smile. Breakthroughs are easily made and make you feel better about yourself. 4. Type genus of the Gavialidae. 84. Resembling or characteristic of or can endure and enjoy that’ll make you the money you need. It’s also a time for finding You want someone to love, Gemini, and not really just someone to love. You want that love if you don’t have it now. Make a list with only the pros of what you’re looking for 12. The residue that remains when some- appropriate to an elegy. love to last a life time where you and your lover can help and encourage each other. thing is burned. 85. A river in north central Switzerland that in love, Sagittarius. Allowing the cons can only confuse the situation and perhaps bring You dream big now but you feel great responsibility with that someone to make the in something that you won’t want for the long run. 15. Electronic equipment that provides runs northeast into the Rhine. security in your love life you need. visual images of varying electrical quantities. DOWN 16. A fan of racing who watches races from 1. United States biochemist (born in Spain) the outer rail of the track. who studied the biological synthesis of 17. Mature female of mammals of which Capricorn (December 22-January 19) nucleic acids (born in 1905). Cancer (June 21-July 22) the male is called `buck'. 2. Not stale or old. 18. German philosopher (1776-1841). Capricorn, right now you need to know you’re on the right track in busi- 3. A unit that is part of some military serv- Cancer, you’re learning it’s okay to have needs. Family and home means 20. The administration of a strong electric ice. ness. You need someone smart enough to know what you need and how to guide you current that passes through the brain so much more now. Being able to discuss your feelings and problems make room for a towards getting it. That person needs to be willing to give you the loving, maternal or 4. The father of your father or mother. larger place in your heart for those who reciprocate. You want emotional roots along to induce convulsions and coma. 5. A river in north central Switzerland that paternal push you need with all the love connected to it. You don’t push well but a per- 22. An Oscan-speaking member of an with family home roots to run deep but you’re also thinking about changing homes son to whom you’ll listen has the ability to give you that little shove without arousing runs northeast into the Rhine. now. At least you may decide to redecorate or fix something, like plumbing, that isn’t ancient people of Campania. 6. The type genus of the family Vitaceae. your ire, Capricorn. You want roots and you need the people around you that helps you quite right at this time. You’re beginning to settle into the area of your soul you need fertilize and grow those roots. 23. Of or relating to Iraq or its people or 7. Being nine more than forty. for a healthy, happy life even if it means staying put, Cancer. culture. 8. At right angles to the length of a ship or 25. Toward the mouth or oral region. airplane. 26. Having the leading position or higher 9. An unsuccessful ending. score in a contest. 10. An Asian river. 27. Japanese stringed instrument resem- 11. A state in north central United States. Leo (July 23-August 22) Aquarius (January 20- February 18) bling a banjo with a long neck and a 12. The sixth month of the civil year. fretted fingerboard and a rectangular 13. An upholstered seat for more than one Aquarius, people in authority in your industry have been watching you. It’s soundbox. person. Leo, you want an intimate connection with your work and in your love life that will span the sands of time. You crave the opportunity to grow with your love now paying off. You’re seen as conservative in your planning and motivation at work. 28. A white soft metallic element that tar- 14. (of persons) Highest in rank or authori- Can you believe that from one who relies on their gut a lot? You’re seen as keeping to a nishes readily. and with your job. Nurturing your work like a baby will increase the results you’re ty or office. looking for and give you the outcome you desire. Be wary of someone who crosses safe, responsible path which makes money. These people are thinking about how to 29. A state in New England. 19. Any of numerous local fertility and reward you with security. You go Aquarius. You feel good because this is exactly what 30. Little known Kamarupan languages. you on the job now. Staying calm and showing an authoritative side gets you more in nature deities worshipped by ancient work related items than flying off the handle. You’ve got this and look good, Leo. you need at this time. You want to feel as if you’re safe and have provided for your and 34. Select as an alternative. Semitic peoples. your family’s future. Don’t rest on your laurels now. Keep up the good work. 37. A person forced to flee from home or 21. A nation's ruler or head of state usually country. by hereditary right. 39. A label made of cardboard or plastic or 24. Follower of Rastafarianism. Virgo (August 23-September 22) metal. 31. A trivalent metalloid element. 42. Providing sophisticated amusement by 32. Belief in a kind of sorcery that originat- virtue of having artificially (and vul- Pisces (February 19-March 20) ed in Africa and is practiced in the Virgo, this is a good day for decisions. You’re also feeling that since garly) mannered or banal or sentimen- West Indies. tal qualities. you’re in this place now, the only way is up for both at work and personally. You’re Pisces, acting on instinct is where you’re at now. Do be careful that you 33. Recovery or preservation from loss or right. Make sure that you take care of yourself first. You can’t starve enough to feed 44. A woman hired to suckle a child of don’t have to amend some of the actions you’ve taken by gut later. The stars are giv- danger. others and make them strong. You first, Virgo. Being needed is what you woke up to ing you the go ahead to tread in that direction since you’ll probably win at anything someone else. 35. A fractional monetary unit in this morning. That’s a strong motivation to be better than you ever were before. Don’t 46. Cricket frogs. which you set your mind to doing. The only problem with this is you could be a little Bangladesh and India and Nepal and be surprised if you get told today that a certain person knew you’d be back on top tense, Pisces, and anyone that steps on that last nerve could be in for a rude awak- 47. Perennial having hollow cylindrical Pakistan. soon. Listen for those compliments. Take them to heart, Virgo. You need to stand leaves used for seasoning. ening. Just saying. Patience isn’t your virtue nor do you want to learn it. Knowing 36. The widely studied plant virus that straighter and keep your values high. what you know, you’re sure you don’t want to ask for that useless quality. 48. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of causes tobacco mosaic. the alkali metal group. 38. Fudge made with brown sugar and 49. Not having or producing echoes. butter and milk and nuts. 52. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms. 40. According to the Old Testament he Wordsearch Puzzle Yesterday’s Solution 53. Any of a class of alcohols having 2 was a pagan king of Israel and hus- hydroxyl groups in each molecule. band of Jezebel (9th century BC). 54. German organist and contrapuntist 41. An ancient board game resembling (1685-1750). backgammon. 55. Inflammation of the urethra of 43. A tricycle (usually propelled by ped- unknown cause. alling). 56. (New Testament) The sages who visit- 45. The arch of bone beneath the eye that ed Jesus and Mary and Joseph shortly forms the prominence of the cheek. after Jesus was born. 50. Kamarupan languages spoken in 58. A compartment in front of a motor northeastern India and western vehicle where driver sits. Burma. 60. Marked by lack of intellectual depth. 51. Selecting what seems best of various 62. A state in New England. styles or ideas n. 63. A hormone produced by the anterior 57. In great numbers. pituitary gland that stimulates the 59. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or adrenal cortex. BB gun. 65. Greek author of fables (circa 620-560 61. Ruffed grouse. BC). 64. 100 thebe equal 1 pula. 67. (Arthurian legend) The most virtuous 66. Type genus of the Percidae. knight of the Round Table. 68. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind. 71. A medium (art or business) that dis- 69. Small European freshwater fish with a seminates moving pictures. slender bluish-green body. 74. The clay from which adobe bricks are 70. Large sweet juicy hybrid between tan- made. gerine and grapefruit having a thick 75. A characteristic language of a particu- wrinkled skin. lar group (as among thieves). 72. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that 78. An Arabic speaking person who lives in was formed by an explosion. Arabia or North Africa. 73. A French abbot. 79. A room or establishment where alco- 76. Gear (including necessary machinery) holic drinks are served over a counter. for a particular enterprise. 80. Aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing 77. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot bacterium. palm used in India for writing paper. 82. Someone who works (or provides 81. A silvery ductile metallic element found workers) during a strike. primarily in bauxite.

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily Sudoku Yesterday’s Solution Established 1961 Lifestyle THURSDAY, APRIL 11 , 2019

Visitors view “Brazilian Stone Scape”, a composition of multiple levels of Botanique coffee tables by Brazilian architect Vivian Coser promoted exhibited at the Milan University (L’Universit degli Studi di Milano) during the Fuorisalone 2019 design week in Milan. — AFP

As Vegas eyes millennials, concert residency industry booms

ix months ago, Sahar Mohammadrabie up and moved to it’s flourishing. “I don’t gamble and I’m completely sober; I Las Vegas, the city synonymous with sin, but she could- came for the entertainment,” the Kansas City native Sn’t care less about gambling or parties: the Mohammadrabie told AFP as she eagerly sought a glimpse Midwesterner is here for the music. The 25-year-old is of superstar Cardi B at the opening weekend of Kaos, a club emblematic of a new generation uninspired by the lure of branding itself as the desert city’s hot young thing. vice but seeking a wealth of entertainment-and giving the Kaos manager Jon Gray said Mohammadrabie resembles Vegas concert residency, once considered an artist pit stop the key demographic his team aims to reach: “A lot of Gen Y before the pearly gates, a cultural relevancy it hasn’t seen in consumers coming to Las Vegas now are here for experi- decades. ences, and gaming has not been a part of their culture.” The residency-a series of shows performed in a single Gray, 35, noted that millennials came of age during the In this file photo Celine Dion performs at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace as she resumes her residency in Las Vegas, Nevada. location-has long been a staple of the Las Vegas Strip, pio- recession when “discretionary spending was pulled back.” neered by pianist Liberace in the forties, Frank Sinatra a “They grew up in an era where the dollar was a little more “The staying power that she’s had-I think that gave a lot up also featured hip hop star Travis Scott and DJ Skrillex, decade later and Elvis in the seventies. But after taking the valuable to the individual,” he said. “I think gambling it or of other people confidence as well that they could fill a who performed one night prior at the luxury club, which can backseat to slot machines, strip clubs and production shows risking it was something that they hadn’t thought of.” showroom for x number of dates.” Now the city has seen host up to 8,000 guests. Kaos boasts a sprawling 73,000 like Cirque du Soleil, the concept is back with a facelift-and Gray estimates that gaming makes up only about 40 per- megastars like Elton John, Cher, Mariah Carey and Britney square foot outdoor space connected to 29,000 square feet cent of revenue, a flip from some two decades ago when Spears set up shop, exchanging the touring grind for lucra- indoors, complete with cabanas and pools that revolve gambling raked in some 70 to 80 percent of earnings. But he tive comfort. In the wake of their success the concept has around large-scale commissioned Damien Hirst sculptures. hopes eventually club-goers-who pay anywhere from $40 seduced music’s contemporary royalty, including Cardi B, “It brings a different type of audience into Vegas-there’s to $2000 to enter-will wander to the gambling room adja- Drake and Latin trap superstar Bad Bunny. different residencies every weekend,” said Tony Suarez, who cent to Kaos that’s encircled by trendy restaurants and The new venue Kaos-part of the Palms Casino Resort doesn’t gamble but came hoping to catch a glimpse of upscale cocktail lounges. “I think that’ll lend itself to making renovation, touted as the most expensive in Vegas history, Balvin. “We use concerts as an excuse to come over here,” people curious in trying out playing blackjack, or going to a with managers saying the cost is nearing the billion dollar the 28-year-old from Los Angeles said. Gray called the craps game,” the manager said. mark-prioritized showcasing musicians. “Sprinkling that live Vegas residency a “natural relationship,” saying entertainers performance into the nightlife space has really kind of pio- love the vibe of Vegas while guests “come to let themselves Focus on performance neered more of the younger and up-and-coming acts to go a little bit.” He called the resulting energy “electric.” The Vegas powers-that-be credit French-Canadian want to focus on residencies in Las Vegas,” Gray told AFP. Rap queen Cardi B, sporting a wide-brimmed mint green megastar Celine Dion with reviving the residency form at the Venue staff have kept the performance fees under wraps-but hat paired with a matching feathered gown, had guests In this file photo Colombian turn of the century, as theaters struggled to book top-tier have said those costs aren’t included in the restoration fees. dancing well past dawn to close out the night. “Let’s get it singer J Balvin performs talent. Dion, 51, found enormous success after launching her poppin’!” the Bronx rapper shouted to deafening cheers. onstage during the 19th first residency in 2003, raking in a reported $385 million in ‘Natural relationship’ “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”— AFP Annual Latin Grammy Awards ticket sales. Her current residency, set to wrap later this year, But if the opening weekend is any indication, the invest- in Las Vegas, Nevada. has scored at least $245.5 million. “You have to give her a ment is paying off: lines snaked around the block to get into — AFP photos ton of credit,” Gray said of Dion, who performs at the regu- the club as fans clamored to see high-octane performers larly sold-out Colosseum of Caesars Palace, making an esti- including Cardi, Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin and rap- mated $500,000 per show. per G-Eazy launch their residencies there. The stacked line- Tourist traffic from the GCC countries to Turkey continues to rise due to high demand

he number of Kuwaiti nationals visiting Turkey countries. In February 2019, around 1,670 million interna- the GCC countries to Turkey continues to grow and I am recorded 22.66 percent growth in the first two tional tourists visited Turkey, which is 9.38 percent more happy to see the growth trend continues this year, despite Tmonths of 2019, to 49,701 according to the latest compared to the same period in 2018. Kuwaiti nationals headwinds in the global economy. data released by the Turkish Consulate General Cultural remain the largest number visitors from the GCC countries “Turkey remains an oasis of peace and tranquility and and Tourism Office in Dubai. Turkey is one of the largest to Turkey. In 2018 as many as 298,620 Kuwaiti nationals offers a large number of tourism attractions. It offers a outbound tourism markets for people living in the Gulf visited Turkey on holidays and business. greater value for money when compared to other popular Tourist flow from GCC to Turkey continues to rise, due tourism destinations across the world. “Turkey and the to a number of factors that include increased number of Gulf countries share centuries old social, cultural and eco- attractions and relaxation in the visa formalities. However, nomic ties. The repeated visits of the friendly visitors from “Kuwaiti nationals visiting this is a fraction of the total number of visitors from the GCC countries help fuel the growth of our economy.” Kuwait, when expatriate residents are included. Tourism Turkey welcomed just over 46 million visitors in 2018, Turkey recorded 22.66 revenues increased 12.3 percent reaching US$29.5 billion including 39.49 million foreigners and 6.62 million Turkish in 2018, in comparison with US$26.2 billion the revenues citizens from abroad. Nearly six million foreigners coming collected in 2017. to Turkey in 2018 were from Russia-an increase of 26.49 percent growth in the Official data revealed that 81.8 percent of the income percent compared with 2017 — and 4.5 million visitors came from foreign visitors and 18.2 percent from Turkish were from Germany, up by 25.88 percent from the previ- first two months of 2019” citizens living abroad. Salih Ozer, Attache of Culture and ous year, according to the ministry’s statement. Information, Turkey to the UAE, said, “Tourist flow from 20 Established 1961 Lifestyle Features Thursday, April 11, 2019 Camila Cabello to star TV lets it all hang in remake of ‘Cinderella’ out in naked attack uban-American singer Camila Cabello will try on on bad body image the glass slipper when she takes on the lead role in eality television shows like “Big Brother” and “Love Ca remake of “Cinderella,” a source close to the Island” have been blamed for helping create the project said Tuesday. The decision to cast a Hispanic RInstagram aesthetic of perfect, bronzed hairless bod- woman is a significant break from a long tradition of ies. But a new show is trying to repair the damage unreal- white and usually blonde Cinderellas. Cabello, a multi- istic standards are doing to people’s body image. “Naked platinum selling and Grammy-nominated singer/song- Beach” is one of the hottest properties at MIPTV, the writer, will also help write the film’s songs. The project world’s top television market taking place in Cannes on the grew out of an original idea from late-night television French Riviera. The show takes three people who hate host James Corden, the source told AFP. The remake was their bodies and flies them to a Greek beach where with first reported by the entertainment magazine The the help of experts and therapists they learn to love them- Hollywood Reporter. selves again. Corden-best known for “The Late Late Show” and Having embraced their lumps and bumps they strip off his “Carpool Karaoke” series-will co-produce the film and go nude on the beach in a feelgood finale. The body- through the company Fulwell 73, of which he is a partner. positive format has been snapped up by broadcasters “Pomme de New York” by the French sculptor Claude At the helm will be director Kay Cannon, who is no across Europe even before it went out for the first time on Lalanne. — AFP stranger to breaking the Hollywood mold with female- Britain’s Channel 4 on Thursday. Co-devised by University driven narratives. Cannon wrote the box office hit “Pitch of London psychologist Dr Keon West, mental health cam- Perfect” franchise, which tells the story of female friend- paigner Natasha Devon also oversees the show. She said ships through a humorous take on competitive college a Claude Lalanne, that Britain-one of the global powerhouses of reality TV- capella. She made her directorial debut in 2018 with the also “has some of the lowest body image scores in the critically acclaimed comedy “Blockers,” which flipped the world”. typically male-oriented teen coming-of-age script and French sculptor Andrea Jackson, of distributors Magnify Media, said grossed over $93 million worldwide. the genius of the show is that “it’s a makeover format that The iconic princess role is the latest chapter in doesn’t seek to change the way we look but how we think with playful touch, Cabello’s own Cinderella story: she gained recognition at about ourselves.” She said it proved that “intelligent age 16 as part of the girl group Fifth Harmony. She left development can produce brilliant entertainment to the group in 2016 to pursue a solo career and became a address some of the biggest social issues of our time.” dies at 93 global household name in August the following year when her hit song “Havana” soared to the top of the pop radio ‘Your Money or My Life’ chart. Cabello released her self-titled album in January he French artist Claude Lalanne, part of the Lalanne “Naked Beach” is part of a new wave of shows about to 2018, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 sculptor couple whose surreal but functional works hit the small screen that take their social responsibilities chart. Tare highly prized by collectors, died early very seriously, analysts say. Virginia Mouseler of The Wit Now 22, Cabello is the latest actress to take on the Wednesday aged 93, her agent told AFP. For decades database said there is a “new appetite for shows that can role of Cinderella. The film, which will be made by Sony Lalanne formed an artistic duo with her fellow sculptor make a difference to people’s lives”. She said the new affiliate Columbia, is on the fast track for production. The and husband Francois-Xavier Lalanne, creating works French reality show “Hire Me If You Can” tries to give to a two best-known previous versions of the fairy tale are whose fans included fashion giant Yves Saint Laurent and In this file photo US-Cuban singer Camila Cabello attends the new start to people who “normally would not get as far as Disney’s 1950 cartoon and the studio’s 2015 live-action the iconoclastic French singer Serge Gainsbourg. She 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 91st Academy a job interview” because of their past or their age. Tears version starring Lily James.—AFP had been taken to a hospital in Fontainebleau, south of Awards at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing are shed as “they audition for a week so employers can Paris, after suffering a stroke. Arts in Beverly Hills. — AFP see them for who they are before they hear about their “Claude Lalanne had the simplicity of artists who backgrounds.” work with their hands to build their own poetic world, The emotional volume is cranked up to a new level in without worrying about anything else,” the gallery owner the heartbreaking “Your Money Or My Life”, a show in out there was a hackathon, I said, ‘Wow, I’m going to Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand, a nephew of former French which people with terminal conditions plead for cash to be able to show what I can do’,” she said. Patrice de president Francois Mitterrand, said. The artist, who was Benin pay for treatment that might prolong their lives. Already a eyes Souza likened himself to a “compulsive teenage gamer”. still working in her studio in the village of Ury last week, sensation in the Netherlands, money poured in to the He has already created a game based on a Beninese studied architecture at Paris’s renowned Beaux Arts crowd funding campaigns to save the contestants, folk tale, which has been downloaded some 10,000 school before turning to art. Mouseler said. Another Dutch format, “Been There, Done times. “It’s the chance to produce games about Africa, “Les Lalanne,” as the couple were known-she met her video gaming in That”, has celebrities who have come through tough times which go beyond the cliches and stereotypes we see in husband, who died in 2008, at a gallery in 1952 — creat- mentoring young people to overcome similar challenges, Western productions,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ed baroque works large and small, with whimsical from transitioning to anorexia to addiction and depression. things to say!” added the 25 year old. imagery often fused with intensely realistic renditions of play for jobs and “Secret Teacher”-which will screen in the UK later this leaves, vegetables and animals. They intended their year-has successful business people going undercover in On the job works to be functional-last week she was working on a tough schools as teaching assistants to help bring out The hackathon jury seemed to have the Beninese staircase for the American architect and designer Peter development teenagers’ talents. Each mentor will also make “a life- identity in mind. Winners included a race across the Marino. In an interview in 2013, Claude remembered how changing offer” to one lucky student to help launch their country involving Dahomey Amazons, the female war- “the critics completely ignored us” when she and her est Africa lags behind the northern hemi- business career. riors of the ancient kingdom in modern-day Benin that husband first showed their work. Wsphere when it comes to software develop- “For them, making sculptures which had a use was a ment but moves are afoot to tap into a grow- lasted until the end of the 19th century. Others included Non-PC questions a game with the ubiquitous “zemidjans”: motorbike- complete nonsense,” she was quoted by Christie’s auc- ing interest in the region and across the continent. At a Mouseler said a plethora of therapy-based shows are taxis that are found on every street corner. Games were tion house as saying on its website. One of her best- large hotel in Cotonou, Benin held its first “hackathon” popping up on schedules across the world, with the awarded prizes for the quality of the story, creativity known sculptures was “L’Homme a la Tete de Chou” where participants were given just 24 hours to try to Belgian show “Therapy” breaking new ground by explor- and possible future development. (Man with the Cabbage Head), a 1968 work which Serge create a fun and educational video game for mobile ing the intimate relationship between a patient and their Talent may have been unearthed but exploiting it is Gainsbourg chose for the cover of his 1976 concept phones. “Socially, gaming is seen only as a distraction shrink. While patients’ faces remain hidden, some of the the next challenge. “It’s with these young people that album of the same name. She designed objects for the when it’s a sector of the future,” said organizer Tania country’s top psychologists opened their consulting room we’re looking for the way to develop this sector,” said home as well, including intricate candlesticks or benches- Okanla, of the country’s Digital Development Agency. to the cameras. A new Israeli show, “The Conflict”, uses the head of the Digital Development Agency, Serge one had two crawling crocodiles as the backrest. In 2018, the video games market was bigger than drama therapy to try to heal broken families and friend- Adjovi. His colleague, Okanla, said the gaming revolu- music and cinema, generating $138 billion (123 billion ships, employing actors to re-enact clashes in the hope of Park Avenue ‘Pomme’ tion in Benin will take place on mobile telephones. euros) worldwide, according to Newzoo, which spe- “finding a way through” for both sides. “Anyone can have one: 90 percent of Beninese have In the late 1960s, Lalanne began several collabora- cializes in data on the sector. But Africa is estimated to However, an Australian show called “You Can’t Ask got a mobile and it doesn’t need very advanced tech- tions with Saint Laurent on jewelry as well as two robes, represent just one percent of that market, making it an That” proves that taking the bull by the horns is often the nology, unlike games on a console or a PC,” she added. one with a sculpted copper waist, the other with a cop- area ripe for development and job creation. best way to avoid misunderstandings. Billed as “the show For developers, it’s the private sector that is the most per breastplate. At the massive sale of Saint Laurent’s Accountants PwC said in 2017 the value of Africa’s that asks politically incorrect questions”, it is one of the promising source of funding. “At the moment, there’s a collected artwork in 2009, a set of 15 Lalanne mirrors video game industry would more than double to $642 most successful factual formats in the world this year. lack of investment to fund digital content in West went for 1.8 million euros ($2 million at current rates), a million by 2021. Each episode involves “awkward, inappropriate or Africa,” said Robert Aouad, a hackathon partner and record for the artist. That year she and her husband were uncomfortable questions you’ve always wanted to know head of major internet service provider ISOCEL. the subject of an outdoor showing in New York of several ‘Beyond the cliches’ but were too afraid to ask” being put to misunderstood, “We’re all learning on our own,” said web developer works along Park Avenue, including a shiny golden Sidick Bakayoko, president of the Benin Game Jam minority and marginalized groups including Muslims, Steve Dakpogan, 31. “Some of us run IT classes but we “Pomme” (Apple). jury and organizer of the Electronic and Video Game transgender and people of short stature. If the embarrass- get our video gaming skills on the job.” “Claude Lalanne’s personality functioned as a fortress Festival of Abidjan, wants to shine the spotlight on ment of asking cringe-worthy questions is too much to live A branch of a French IT school called Epitech against bad taste and pretentiousness,” Mitterrand said. African talent. “A few years ago, we were happy when with, there is always the new Belgium show “The opened in Cotonou in February and the Nantes School Despite their success, Claude Lalanne was unable to stop we had 10 enthusiasts at a video game conference,” he Weekend”. In it a group of people who have had to face of Design also aims to set up in the city. All of which the city of Paris from razing a few years later their fantas- said. This year, there were more than 70 at the some of life’s toughest challenges find support from a could help Benin prepare for entry into a very competi- tical sculpted park for children in the Les Halles district in hackathon, including three women. Those involved diverse group of new friends “they would not normally tive sector. Bakayoko is optimistic. “There’s jobs galore the heart of the city. Inaugurated in 1986, the “Lalanne billed themselves as game designers, programmers and meet in real life”. They might include the contestants of a and huge opportunities in video gaming. Africa has a Garden” was a mischievous oasis tucked a stone’s throw graphic artists. new big-budget French survival show called “District Z”, part to play,” he said. — AFP away from the hulking Les Halles shopping centre and Laurenda Agbo, 25, started playing on a console at a fronted by film star Jean Reno, who have to fight off zom- transport hub. Even after a spirited resistance by locals video club run by her father for just 25 CFA francs (4 bie attacks in order to win bars of gold. — AFP and fellow artists, many of whom urged the city to move US cents, 3 euro cents) a game. Now she develops the gardens if they could not be saved, the garden was websites and games for mobile phones. “When I found destroyed as part of a huge renovation project. — AFP The Fuorisalone 2019 design week

Furniture made with recycled cardboard designed by Giorgio Furnitures by Tecno and Zanotta design are on display in XXV Caporaso stand on display at the Reborn ideas stand in the April square with the arch of porta garibaldi stand on display Fabricca del Vapore cultural and artistique area. during the Fuorisalone 2019 design week yesterday in Milan.

An installation called “Crochet” in collaboration with People stand near an installation called “Urban Freedom” Melissa and Brasilian designers, Campana brothers stand by designer Elena Ghisellini, part of the Land Rover “Live Furniture by Tecno and Zanotta design are on display in XXV April square with the arch of porta garibaldi stand on dis- on display in the Brera design district. for the City” project, in the Brera design district. play during the Fuorisalone 2019 design week. — AFP photos Established 1961 21 Lifestyle Features Thursday, April 11, 2019

Cinema vs streaming: The battle over when and where you can see movies

hile superheroes, monsters and aliens Wbattle on the big screen, a real-life fight is raging behind the scenes that will determine what moviegoers will see at their local cinemas. The off-screen skirmish centers around the theatrical “window,” the time a movie plays exclusively in US theaters before it can be released on DVD or digital. That period averages 90 days, but upheaval across the media business is fueling debate on whether A worker removes a cashew nut’s almond with a knife at the Fludor plant in Zogbodomey, some 110km north of Cotonou. — AFP photos that should shrink. At stake is the future of movie theaters and small-screen entertainment as new technology giants upend decades of Hollywood tradition. Netflix Inc has streamed original movies at the same time, or just a few weeks after, their debut in cinemas. Competitor Amazon Studios Cashew waste strikes gold: Benin has said it would like some of its films to play for only two to eight weeks in theaters before hitting the Amazon Prime Video streaming serv- ice. Many theater owners object, citing poten- tial damage to their business. The group that awards the Oscars is weighing whether to looks to cashews for growth respond, and A-list celebrities are taking sides. Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC he back and forth of lorries and pick-up trucks Entertainment Holdings , the world’s largest the- covered with tarpaulin never stops at the Fludor ater operator, said his company would “consid- factory in Zogbodomey, two hours drive from er any and all alternatives” but any changes to TBenin’s commercial hub, Cotonou. Cashew season the current industry standard “would have to be started in earnest in March and tons of the distinctive red- beneficial to us or neutral to us.” Even the king yellow apples containing the popular kidney-shaped nut of the multiplex - Walt Disney Co - is getting arrive in hessian sacks. A competitive global cashew mar- into streaming, and is set to unveil details on ket is dominated by India (a quarter of the 2.2 million tons Thursday of its strategy. That has stoked con- of world production), yet the tiny West African country of cern that it, too, might want movies in living Benin is one of the main producers on the continent with rooms sooner. 100,000 ton harvested over the past two seasons. Disney executives insist they remain rock- But like the rest of Africa’s cashew producers (Ivory solid behind existing windows for big event Coast, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau), Benin exports the vast films. Disney’s franchise fare such as “Black majority of nuts in raw form to India, leading to consider- Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” generat- able loss. When processed the value soars from $5,300 ed a total $7.3 billion at global box offices in per ton to about $9,000, according to the agricultural sta- 2018. At a recent CinemaCon convention for A worker collects cashew oil, or cashew nut shell liquid tistics firm Planetoscope. A Fludor factory worker removes a cashew nut’s almond with theater owners in Las Vegas, Disney and other (CNSL), extracted from the nuts’ crushed shells at the President Patrice Talon, elected in 2016, has made a knife at the Fludor plant. studios stressed the special experience of Fludor plant. watching a film in a darkened theater. know how to get rid of,” says Roland Riboux, who heads “A lot more people have had their first kiss in the Beninese subsidiary of the Nigerian group TGI. “Either a movie theater than their parents’ living room,” you bury it, which isn’t good for the soil or the water table, said Toby Emmerich, a senior executive at or you burn it.” Yet now the product has commercial value. Warner Bros., part of AT&T Inc’s According to the Cashew Export Promotion Council of WarnerMedia, which also plans a streaming India, the oil-made by crushing the shell-can be used in push. Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren was industrial products including brake linings, paint and lac- more forthright. “I love Netflix, but fuck quer. As such it is seen as a more natural alternative to Netflix!” she said to cheers and applause. chemicals. “There’s nothing like sitting in the cinema and TGI’s CNSL manufacturing unit takes up a small part of the lights go down.” its 15,000-square-metre (161,500-square-foot) factory Netflix is in talks to buy the Egyptian where rumbling machines turn at full speed. A pile of Theatre, a historic movie house in the heart of brown cashew shells are stacked high, waiting to be Hollywood, a source with knowledge of the processed while about 600 locally recruited women shell, matter said. Netflix would host premieres and sort and remove the film around the almond. The complex other industry events at the theater, which machines imported from India are manned by staff super- opened in 1922, the source said. Amazon vised by Vinod Kumar, an Indian engineer specialized in Studios boss Jennifer Salke, meanwhile, CSNL, brought in to oversee the operations since it start- declared the company “committed to the the- ed last year. atrical experience.” In June, it is slated to release comedy “Late Night” in theaters, with a Growth area traditional window. Kumar said the future looks bright. “At first, we started Shorter windows would keep some cus- with three tons of oil a day. We’re now at 10 tons from 30- tomers at home, said Greg Marcus, chief execu- 40 tons of shells,” he says. “Our aim is produce a maxi- tive of The Marcus Corporation, owner of the mum capacity if 15 tons.” If CSNL seems like a niche fourth-largest U.S. theater chain. “If you dam- product compared with the sale of cashew nuts, growing age the business and take away 10 percent of our customers, we won’t be able to reinvest in Picture shows Cashew nuts at the drying area of the Fludor plant. global demand is proving otherwise. The Benin oil is exported to India, Japan and China, which has developed the theatrical experience,” Marcus said. “That boosting the agricultural sector, and particularly cashew industries using it as a raw material. “This is an additional would ultimately hurt content providers.” production, an economic priority. Growing local produc- way to keep the added value at home,” says Roland Others said consumers are happy with the tion is now seen as the path to allowing the country to Riboux. current system. Ticket sales in 2018 reached a profit even further. The plant intends to generalize this multi-transforma- record $41 billion globally and $12 billion in the The edible almond represents only 22 percent of the tion of the agricultural product. But to do so, you have to United States and Canada, even as Netflix nut, with the rest typically thrown away. But things are change mentalities to the first level of the chain. Since this released about 90 movies for streaming. “We’re now starting to change. A dozen local companies in north- year, she has been sourcing directly from cooperatives in not talking about something that’s broken,” Vue ern and central Benin already use cashew apples, a fleshy Atacora and Donga, two cashew producing departments International cinemas CEO Tim Richards said in peduncle just above the nuts, turning them into fruit juices. in the north of the country, and not just through intermedi- an interview. aries who go around the small producers. “Producers are Technology starting to realize that it’s not just the nuts that people Oscar showdown What had long been an informal trade is now a formal- want,” says Barbara Macon, head of the sustainability pro- “Windowing” is expected to be on the agen- ized production, manufactured for the past two years by gram at Fludor. “It’s important to show them what it can be da this month at a meeting about rules govern- American NGO Technoserve, boosting manufacturing made into,” Kumar adds. “With this unit, we will be able to ing the Academy Awards. Some members of the Roland Riboux, Fludor Benin’s General Director, checks the from 30,000 bottles in 2017 to 200,000 last year. The transform all the shells of Benin.”— AFP Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, quality of the cashew nuts’ almonds in the big processing Fludor factory, a subsidiary of the Nigerian food giant TGI the group that awards the Oscars, have been hall at the Fludor plant. (Tropical General Investments Group), wants to go even debating whether films must play in theaters for further by manufacturing Cashew Nut Shell Liquid a specific length of time to be eligible. Director (CNSL) made from a by-product of the hard outer layer. Steven Spielberg told Britain’s ITV News last “It (the shell) contains an acidic liquid that we didn’t year that movies seen primarily via streaming should compete for Emmys, not Oscars. A rep- resentative declined to comment on whether the director will urge the Academy to address the issue. In February, Netflix won three Oscars for “Roma,” which streamed three weeks after a limited theatrical debut. Netflix tweeted that it “loved cinema” but also supported access for people who cannot afford, or do not live close to, theaters. The Justice Department has waded in, warning the Academy that some eligibility limits could be anti-competitive. Workers process the cashew nuts’ almonds before bag- An Academy spokesperson said any changes ging at the Fludor plant. would be weighed at the April 23 meeting. The issue could flare up later this year when Netflix releases “The Irishman,” a mob drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Filmmakers hope “The Irishman” will play broadly in theaters, De Niro said in an interview, though they realize Netflix’s chief audience is its streaming cus- tomers. “They’re not going to cut their noses to spite their face,” De Niro said. “We get it. This kind of movie has to be presented that way.” But he added: “We’re working it out so we can have as much theatrical as possible.” — Reuters

Nicaise Degla, cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) supervisor, Workers prepare cashew nuts for shipment to other departments for almond and balm extraction at the Fludor plant. collects cashew balm in a plastic bucket in at the Fludor plant. Established 1961 22 T Thursday, April 11, 2019 L i f e s t y l e Fe a t u r e

Beekeepers collect honeycombs at an apiary in Navajas, Matanzas province, Cuba.

A beekeeper works at an apiary in Navajas, Matanzas province, Cuba. — AFP photos Beekeepers process honeycombs at an apiary in Navajas, Matanzas province, Cuba. Cuba’s worker bees boost thriving honey business n the floral valleys of Cuba’s Matanzas province, old counted fuel and equipment. fashioned farming means bees can swarm without the It pays up to $1,000 per ton to beekeepers and sells Ithreat of pesticides that have decimated populations honey at different prices depending on the country, across the world. Life is sweet for Cuba’s winged won- which is not disclosed. Based on the most recent figures, ders, and Europe’s honey-lovers are catching on. “The from 2017, Cuba received an average of $2,655 per ton bee is made neither for urban areas nor rural areas. It is for its honey abroad. And the quality is excellent, accord- made for the mountains,” says Rogelio Marcelo Fundora, ing to Adolfo Perez, head of the Apicultural Research surveying a lush mountain valley east of Havana where Center. “Because of the tendency to use very little chem- his bees are thriving. Fundora, 51, is a mechanical engi- icals, we can say that the honey of Cuba is almost all neer by trade. His 54-year-old brother Santiago Esteban organic honey,” says Perez. is a teacher. But both have become Cuba’s best-known beekeepers by passion, owning 600 hives in the valley. In this idyllic valley a few hours drive from the capital, “last year we produced 80 tonnes of honey,” said Santiago, his face covered by a black net to avoid stings while bees swarmed in agitation as he manipulated a hive. Shrinking bee populations around the world have caused scientists and conservationists to sound the alarm over the effects of intensive agriculture, disease and pesti- A beekeeper collects honeycombs from a frame at an apiary in Navajas. cides. But not in Cuba, a Communist-run island nation that has become a kind of apicultural paradise, thanks to the purity of its countryside. That environmental integrity dates back to Cuba’s crippling economic crisis of the 1990s, following the col- lapse of the Soviet Union, which once provided the island with thousands of tons of pesticides, fertilizers and herbi- cides. Deprived of that support, Cuba had no choice but to develop natural alternatives. In the process, it reduced to almost zero the use of chemicals, so harmful to bee populations and the quality of their honey. Average pro- A beekeeper pours honey duction is 51 kilograms (112 pounds) of honey per hive, a In the Cuban countryside,‘Very good health’bees are exposed to no into a metal container at an level considered high. great natural risk or human threat and enjoy year-long apiary. However, the Fundora brothers, considered the summer temperatures with enough humidity to ensure a nation’s beekeeper kings, show yields of up to 160 kilo- permanent supply of flowers. “The bees are in very good grams of honey per hive-triple the national average. health,” said Santiago. “We don’t use any chemicals when “There’s no miracle, just a lot of work,” said Santiago. fumigating apiaries or weeding,” and “no antibiotics”- “It’s endless work to change out the queen, select the products that are anyhow hard to come by because of bees,” he said, his face tanned by many hours working the US trade embargo in place since 1962. under the sun. From their 21 apiaries on the flank of a hill That’s not to say they don’t have to use a certain inge- near the village of Navajas, east of Havana, the two nuity to keep pests at bay, particularly the potentially brothers extract a honey they say is absolutely “clean”- devastating Varroa mite-a tiny red parasite that sucks the Beekeepers work at an apiary. meaning chemical free. blood from the bees. The Fundoras use a “nest trap” technique that attracts the parasite and diverts it from the rest of the hive. The beekeepers’Sweet success export means figures organic honey has On harvest day, the two brothers head up the hill in an joined rum and cigars as one of Cuba’s quality exports. old truck they call Frankenstein, accompanied by eight The island produced 8,834 tons of honey in 2018, 1,500 young workers. They pay them 80 dollars a month, 50 tons more than the target set by Apicuba, the Cuban dollars above the national average. Nearly all of them are Beekeeping Company. There’s still some way to go to in military uniform, because the material is resistant and catch Argentina, however. Latin America’s leading pro- the camouflage pattern doesn’t excite the bees. Under a ducer brought 76,000 tons to the market in 2017, crushing sun, they will spend the day collecting honey- according to UN Food and Agriculture Organization fig- combs and put them in a mechanical centrifuge that sep- ures. Of the total, around 1,900 tons of Cuba’s honey arates the wax from the honey. Here, the downside of have been certified as organic honey, a “national record” Cuba’s years of isolation is apparent. Rogelio complains said Dayron Alvarez, the director of technology and about the equipment, which he says is “a little archaic.” development at Apicuba. “We need an efficient centrifuge to extract the honey, Almost every drop is exported, with Germany, France, and the truck is very old.” — AFP Spain, Britain and Switzerland the main markets worth $18 million in 2017. And there’s likely more to come: “We are working on entering the Chinese and Saudi markets,” said Alvarez. Apicuba has a monopoly on exports-bee- keepers with more than five hives must sell it their honey. Beekeepers load bee hives onto a truck at an apiary. In exchange, the organization provides them with dis-

A beekeeper gets into his truck at an apiary. Beekeepers put their protective gear on at an apiary. Beekeepers collect honeycombs at an apiary. ClassifiedsThursday, April 11, 2019

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Arrival Flights on Thursday 11/4/2019 KAC 774 Riyadh 13:35 Departure Flights on Thursday 11/4/2019 JZR 115 Doha 13:25 Airlines Flt Route Time KAC 672 Dubai 14:00 Airlines Flt Route Time THY 767 Istanbul 14:00 IGO 1757 Kochi 00:10 KAC 662 Abu Dhabi 14:00 AIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05 MSR 611 Cairo 14:00 THY 772 Istanbul 00:20 JZR 212 Jeddah 14:05 MSC 406 Sohag 00:15 IRA 600 Tehran 14:00 KAC 102 London 00:50 KNE 231 Riyadh 14:10 MSR 615 Cairo 00:30 AXB 394 Kozhikode 14:10 DLH 625 Dammam 00:50 QTR 1078 Doha 14:10 FDB 072 Dubai 00:30 UAE 872 Dubai 14:15 KAC 504 Beirut 01:00 GFA 221 Bahrain 14:15 IGO 1758 Kochi 01:10 JZR 123 Dubai 14:35 JZR 254 Amman 01:05 SVA 500 Jeddah 14:15 THY 773 Istanbul 01:50 KNE 382 Taif 15:00 JZR 722 Alexandria 01:10 FDB 059 Dubai 14:20 DLH 625 Frankfurt 01:50 GFA 222 Bahrain 15:00 RJA 642 Amman 01:20 KAC 792 Madinah 14:40 KAC 677 Dubai 01:50 KAC 673 Dubai 15:00 JZR 734 Cairo 01:35 KAC 304 Mumbai 14:45 KAC 417 Manila 02:00 FDB 060 Dubai 15:05 UAE 853 Dubai 01:40 JZR 222 Riyadh 14:45 JZR 409 Delhi 02:00 KLM 446 Bahrain 01:45 KAC 618 Doha 14:50 QTR 1079 Doha 15:15 JZR 111 Doha 02:25 SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45 KKK 1268 Istanbul 01:55 KAC 562 Amman 14:50 JZR 713 Sohag 02:25 PGT 828 Istanbul 02:00 KAC 788 Jeddah 14:55 JZR 125 Dubai 15:50 THY 765 Istanbul 02:50 KNE 530 Jeddah 15:55 ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:15 KAC 118 New York 15:00 KKK 1269 Istanbul 02:55 GFA 211 Bahrain 02:15 KNE 529 Jeddah 15:05 KAC 563 Amman 16:00 PGT 829 Istanbul 02:59 KAC 743 Dammam 16:05 QTR 1086 Doha 02:30 KAC 412 Bangkok 15:10 ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05 KAC 156 Istanbul 02:35 ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:15 KAC 775 Riyadh 16:05 KLM 446 Amsterdam 03:10 KAC 615 Bahrain 16:10 PGT 860 Istanbul 02:50 OMA 645 Muscat 15:20 UAE 854 Dubai 03:30 ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35 ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15 JZR 406 Kochi 03:05 JZR 701 Asyut 03:50 OMA 643 Muscat 03:05 UAE 857 Dubai 15:45 ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20 ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:00 ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:05 KAC 546 Cairo 15:50 OMA 646 Muscat 16:20 OMA 644 Muscat 04:05 MSR 612 Cairo 03:15 KNE 531 Jeddah 16:05 KAC 785 Jeddah 16:20 KAC 418 Manila 03:20 FDB 051 Dubai 16:10 QTR 1087 Doha 04:15 MSR 613 Cairo 04:15 KAC 619 Doha 16:25 QTR 1076 Doha 03:30 JZR 732 Cairo 16:10 KNE 532 Jeddah 16:55 LMU 510 Cairo 04:00 QTR 1072 Doha 16:15 PGT 861 Istanbul 04:20 PIA 206 Lahore 05:00 KAC 675 Dubai 17:00 PIA 205 Lahore 04:00 KAC 502 Beirut 16:15 JZR 103 Bahrain 17:00 KAC 382 Delhi 04:05 FEG 241 Alexandria 16:45 LMU 511 Cairo 05:00 IGO 1752 Chennai 05:10 FDB 052 Dubai 17:10 IGO 1751 Chennai 04:10 SAW 705 Damascus 17:00 QTR 1073 Doha 17:25 KAC 784 Jeddah 04:25 JZR 116 Doha 17:05 QTR 1077 Doha 05:15 KAC 303 Mumbai 05:15 KAC 151 Istanbul 17:35 MSR 0516 Cairo 04:25 SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15 UAE 858 Dubai 17:40 JZR 404 Hyderabad 04:30 GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30 MSR 0517 Mumbai 05:25 KAC 503 Beirut 17:40 DHX 170 Bahrain 05:05 JZR 214 Jeddah 17:35 FDB 070 Dubai 06:00 FDB 069 Dubai 05:05 QTR 1080 Doha 18:10 THY 771 Istanbul 06:30 KAC 283 Dhaka 17:40 THY 770 Istanbul 05:20 JZR 302 Istanbul 18:20 GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50 FEG 242 Alexandria 17:45 KAC 344 Chennai 05:30 MSR 620 Cairo 18:30 RJA 643 Amman 07:00 KAC 343 Chennai 17:50 KAC 1544 Cairo 05:45 JZR 612 Tbilisi 18:30 JZR 251 Amman 07:10 KAC 381 Delhi 17:55 KAC 362 Colombo 06:05 UAE 875 Dubai 19:05 KAC 167 Paris 07:15 SAW 706 Damascus 18:00 JZR 112 Doha 06:05 RJA 640 Amman 19:05 JZR 121 Dubai 07:15 SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15 BAW 157 London 06:10 GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05 BAW 156 London 07:40 GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20 KAC 284 Dhaka 06:15 JZR 124 Dubai 19:05 KAC 413 Bangkok 07:45 JZR 403 Hyderabad 18:25 KAC 106 London 06:40 FDB 063 Dubai 19:10 KAC 173 Munich 07:45 JZR 721 Alexandria 18:25 KAC 678 Dubai 06:40 ABY 123 Sharjah 19:20 IGO 1756 CNN 08:10 JZR 733 Cairo 19:10 KAC 206 Islamabad 06:50 KAC 744 Dammam 19:25 KAC 163 MXP 08:35 JZR 127 Dubai 19:20 KAC 302 Mumbai 07:00 NIA 161 Cairo 19:30 FDB 054 Dubai 08:35 QTR 1081 Doha 19:20 IGO 1755 CNN 07:10 KAC 616 Bahrain 19:40 KAC 545 Cairo 08:50 MSR 621 Cairo 19:30 FDB 053 Dubai 07:50 KAC 674 Dubai 19:45 KAC 501 Beirut 08:50 KAC 691 Muscat 19:35 KAC 354 Bengaluru 08:00 KAC 776 Riyadh 19:45 KAC 561 Amman 08:55 GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50 KAC 352 Kochi 08:05 FDB 057 Dubai 19:50 JZR 211 Jeddah 08:55 FDB 064 Dubai 19:50 KAC 332 Trivandrum 08:05 JZR 104 Bahrain 19:55 KAC 613 Bahrain 09:00 JZR 253 Amman 19:55 JZR 408 Ahmedabad 08:05 KNE 381 Taif 20:00 KAC 117 New York 09:05 ABY 124 Sharjah 20:00 KAC 384 Delhi 08:10 OMA 647 Muscat 20:05 IRA 666 Esfahan 09:10 RJA 641 Amman 20:05 IRA 601 Tehran 08:10 DLH 624 Frankfurt 20:10 KAC 791 Madinah 09:10 KAC 357 Kochi 20:05 JZR 402 Mumbai 08:15 MEA 402 Beirut 20:15 KAC 671 Dubai 09:15 NIA 162 Cairo 20:30 UAE 855 Dubai 08:25 JZR 126 Dubai 20:20 KAC 787 Jeddah 09:15 FDB 058 Dubai 20:30 JZR 714 Sohag 08:35 RBG 213 Sohag 20:30 KAC 661 Abu Dhabi 09:25 QTR 8511 Doha 08:45 KAC 174 Munich 20:30 UAE 876 Dubai 20:35 ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40 JZR 401 Mumbai 20:45 ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 08:50 KAC 620 Doha 20:30 KAC 773 Riyadh 09:40 OMA 641 Muscat 09:00 QTR 1088 Doha 20:40 KNE 232 Riyadh 20:50 JZR 731 Cairo 09:45 KAC 353 Bengaluru 20:50 ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00 KLM 445 Amsterdam 21:00 UAE 856 Dubai 09:50 QTR 1070 Doha 09:30 ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:10 DLH 624 Dammam 20:55 ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 09:55 OMA 648 Muscat 21:05 FDB 055 Dubai 09:40 UAE 859 Dubai 21:15 JZR 301 Istanbul 09:55 IGO 1753 Ahmedabad 09:40 ALK 229 Colombo 21:15 KAC 333 Trivandrum 21:05 OMA 642 Muscat 10:00 IRA 675 Lar 09:55 KAC 168 Paris 21:20 RBG 214 Sohag 21:10 KAC 101 London 10:05 SVA 512 Riyadh 10:00 THY 764 Istanbul 21:30 MEA 403 Beirut 21:15 QTR 1071 Doha 10:40 IAW 157A Al Najaf 10:00 KAC 676 Dubai 21:40 KAC 301 Mumbai 21:25 IGO 1754 Ahmedabad 10:40 JZR 702 Asyut 10:15 KAC 164 MXP 21:40 DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50 FDB 056 Dubai 10:40 JZR 410 Delhi 10:40 GFA 219 Bahrain 21:50 QTR 1089 Doha 21:50 KAC 617 Doha 10:40 GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40 KAC 564 Amman 21:55 KAC 203 Lahore 22:00 MEA 404 Beirut 10:55 QTR 1082 Doha 22:05 QTR 8512 Doha 10:45 IRA 668 Mashhad 10:55 KLM 445 Bahrain 22:10 QTR 1074 Doha 11:00 ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15 ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15 SYR 341 Damascus 11:00 KAC 786 Jeddah 22:20 IAW 158A Al Najaf 11:00 SVA 513 Riyadh 11:00 ALK 230 Colombo 22:20 JZR 122 Dubai 11:45 AIC 981 Chennai/Ahmedabad 22:25 UAE 860 Dubai 22:35 IAW 157 Al Najaf 12:00 RBG 555 Alexandria 22:30 JZR 221 Riyadh 11:20 GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35 KAC 383 Delhi 22:35 JZR 252 Amman 12:20 GEC 8456 Frankfurt 22:55 GFA 220 Bahrain 22:50 KAC 614 Bahrain 12:30 BBC 043 Dhaka 23:00 MEA 405 Beirut 11:55 KAC 783 Jeddah 22:55 THY 766 Istanbul 12:30 ETH 3717 LGG 23:00 SYR 342 Damascus 12:00 UAE 871 Dubai 12:45 MSC 501 Alexandria 23:10 JZR 213 Jeddah 12:05 KAC 1543 Cairo 23:00 IRA 667 Esfahan 13:00 MSC 415 Sohag 23:15 QTR 1075 Doha 12:10 ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05 MSR 610 Cairo 13:00 MSR 614 Cairo 23:30 JZR 611 Tbilisi 12:35 RBG 556 Alexandria 23:10 AXB 393 Kozhikode 13:10 JZR 128 Dubai 23:50 IAW 158 Al Najaf 13:00 QTR 1083 Doha 23:20 24 Established 1961 News Thursday, April 11, 2019 Mapping Armaggedon: The looming tsunamis and mega-earthquakes VIENNA: As villagers along the Sunda Strait were fin- second or third waves the highest. ishing their meals on the evening of 22 December last Tappin said that there was currently no system to year, they had no idea of the cataclysmic event that warn civilians of events like the Anak Krakatoa land- awaited them. After bubbling on and off for months, the slide. “Warning systems in all the world’s oceans are active volcano of Anak Krakatoa erupted, triggering a predicated on large earthquakes,” he said. “Volcanoes 0.3-kilometre-cubed sized chunk of rock to plunge into are still little understood. Anak Krakatoa is really impor- the unusually deep waters off the coast of Indonesia’s tant because suddenly we have an event we can study.” west Java and South Sumatra regions. The website of the United State Geological Survey The resulting tsunami, which hit the coast just min- states confidently that mega-quakes, those of magnitude utes after the landslide, killed 437 people and injured 10 or more “cannot happen”. Indeed, the strongest quake 30,000 more. The killer wave was the most recent of a on record measured 9.6 on the richter scale and there geological phenomenon that has led to around a quar- have only been five quakes stronger than 9 in the last 100 ter of a million deaths in the last two decades alone. years. It was long assumed that the tectonic make-up of And it won’t be the last. According to David Tappin, a Earth made magnitude 10 earthquakes planetarily impos- marine geologist at the British Geological Society who sible: the plates upon which lands and ocean lie aren’t big has spent years examining the causes of tsunamis, there enough to provoke such a mega-quake. are at least 40 active volcanoes next to oceans around But a new analysis based on cutting-edge data sug- the world that “could be potential Anak Krakatoas”. gests otherwise. Alvaro Gonzalez, a researcher of the “One of the aspects of events such as Anak Center for Mathematical Research in Barcelona, Spain, Krakatoa is that we are now aware of a hazard hovering found that so-called subduction zones-parts of the in the background and there are millions of people who Earth where one tectonic plate gets pushed deeper live adjacent to volcanoes,” he told AFP on the sidelines towards the mantle by another-could trigger a 10.4 of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna this magnitude quake. And they happen on average every PALU, Indonesia: Photo shows the floating mosque which was hit by the earthquake and tsunami in Palu. — AFP week. “But I don’t think anyone has actually looked at 2,000 years. “Such events would produce especially the particular hazard those people have except from large tsunamis and long lasting shaking which would “impact shaking events”. impact and on the antipodes”-the corresponding point eruptions. Suddenly, we are aware of this (threat of effect distant locations,” Gonzalez said. By analyzing existing asteroid telemetry data, he on the other side of the globe. tsunamis) and hopefully we will do something about it.” There is another way to cause a mega-quake on calculated that shaking events larger than 10.5 magni- Both Tappin and Gonzalez said existing tsunami ‘Volcanoes still little understood’ Earth, of course. Sixty-six million years ago, a space tude from an impact happen once every 10 million warning systems didn’t offer sufficient protection for Tappin and his team have for the first time modeled rock up to 80 kilometers across slammed into what is years on average. “There are only very few people who waves triggered by potential eruptions and mega- in minute detail what happens when a volcanic land- modern-day Mexico, triggering tsunamis, planetary have tried to simulate something like that,” he said. “For quakes. Referring to the Anak Krakatoa event, slide triggers a tsunami. When the rock slipped from shaking and volcanic eruptions that killed off the really, really large earthquakes — 10.5 or larger-those Tappin said “it demonstrates yet again the lack of Anak Krakatoa, it fell into a submarine trough of dinosaurs and rendered three quarters of all species on are global events. The (Mexico) impact simulations preparedness of countries threatened by tsunamis unusual depth, around 220 meters. This triggered multi- Earth extinct. Gonzalez said that several more recent- show that there were several metres of amplitude of and highlights the urgent need for better mitigation ple, large waves that hit coastlines quickly, with the albeit much smaller-asteroid impacts had provoked ground motion worldwide and especially near the and warning.”— AFP

UN peace plan, and encourage Islamist militants to July, overtaking the country’s founding father, David Thousands flee exploit the chaos. Netanyahu wins Ben-Gurion. That could be scuppered if criminal Islamic State killed three people in a remote desert charges are filed and force his removal. town under LNA control two days ago. In Tripoli, near- An indictment decision would follow a review hearing Tripoli homes... ly 50 people have died, mainly combatants but also re-election... where Netanyahu can be expected to argue he should some civilians including two doctors, according to lat- Continued from Page 1 be spared in the national interest. Some analysts predict Continued from Page 1 est UN casualty estimates. The toll is expected to rise. he may try to pass a law granting himself immunity, as a Several thousand migrants, detained after trying to use the candidate 28 days to do so, with a two-week sitting leader, from trial. During the campaign, the rival A Reuters reporter in downtown Tripoli could hear Libya as a staging point for crossing the Mediterranean extension if needed. The close and often vitriolic contest parties accused each other of corruption, fostering big- the gunfire. The United Nations said at least 4,500 to Europe, have also been caught up in the crisis. was widely seen in Israel as a referendum on otry and being soft on security. Tripoli residents had been displaced, most moving UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday it had Netanyahu’s character and record in the face of corrup- Netanyahu highlighted his close relationship with US away from homes in conflict areas to safer districts. relocated more than 150 of them - among several thou- tion allegations. He faces possible indictment in three President Donald Trump, who delighted Israelis and Many more were trapped, it said. sand in total - from one detention centre in south graft cases, and has denied wrongdoing in all of them. angered Palestinians by recognizing Jerusalem as The LNA forces moved out of their stronghold in Tripoli to a facility of its own in a safe zone. One official Despite that, Netanyahu gained four seats compared to Israel’s capital in 2017 and moving the US Embassy to east Libya to take the sparsely-populated but oil-rich at that detention centre said he flung open the doors his outgoing coalition government, according to a the holy city last May. Two weeks before the election, south earlier this year, before heading a week ago yesterday and released another 150 migrants for their spreadsheet published by the Central Elections Trump signed a proclamation, with Netanyahu at his towards Tripoli, where the internationally-recognized own safety due to the proximity of clashes. The United Committee of parties that garnered enough votes to side at the White House, recognizing Israeli sovereignty government sits. Libya has been divided and anarchic Nations, United States, European Union and G7 bloc enter the next parliament. over the occupied Golan Heights captured from Syria in since the 2011 toppling of then-strongman Muammar have appealed for a ceasefire, a return to the UN peace “It is a night of colossal victory,” the 69-year-old the 1967 Middle East war. Gaddafi. He ruled for more than four decades before plan, and a halt to Haftar’s push. Netanyahu told cheering supporters in a late-night In a rare turn during the race towards the Israeli- falling in a Western-backed revolt. But instead of that, he was moving men and equip- speech at Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv after Palestinian conflict, Netanyahu further alarmed Since then, political and armed factions have vied for ment from southern and eastern Libya to a forward Tuesday’s vote. “He’s a magician!” the crowd chanted as Palestinians by pledging to annex Jewish settlements in power and control of Libya’s oil wealth, and the country base at Gharyan, a town south of Tripoli, according to a fireworks flared and Netanyahu kissed his wife Sara. Tel the occupied West Bank if re-elected. Palestinians seek split into rival eastern and western administrations linked foreign diplomatic source observing the deployments. Aviv Stock Exchange main indexes were up nearly 1 a state there and in the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This pre-election promise from Netanyahu to shifting military alliances after a battle for Tripoli in Opponents cast Haftar as a would-be dictator in the percent in late trading yesterday, displaying confidence was widely seen as an attempt to draw right-wing votes 2014. The United Nations wants to bring both sides mould of Gaddafi, though he projects himself as a in a veteran prime minister who has overseen a hum- rather than a change of policy. But with Trump’s moves together to plan an election and way out of the chaos. champion against extremism striving to restore order to ming economy and blunted various security threats, on Jerusalem and the Golan, the prime minister may feel On its Facebook page, Haftar’s forces published a Libya. Haftar was among the officers who helped including from Syria. emboldened to advocate annexation. video purporting to show their seizure of a government Gaddafi rise to power in 1969 but fell out with him dur- His challenger, the new Blue and White party of ex- army chief Benny Gantz, claimed a more modest victory Commenting on the election, Palestinian chief nego- base in the Aziziya district of southern Tripoli. The ing a war with Chad in the 1980s. after winning a 35-seat tie with Likud. Unless he revers- tiator Saeb Erekat said: “Israelis have voted to pre- images, which could not be verified, showed a vehicle He was taken prisoner by the Chadians, rescued by es on campaign pledges to shun Netanyahu, and joins serve the status quo. They have said no to peace and on fire and soldiers firing in the air, shouting “Allahu the CIA, and lived for about 20 years in Virginia before him in a broad coalition, Gantz looked destined to lead a yes to the occupation”. The last round of US-brokered Akbar” (God is greatest). UN humanitarian agency returning in 2011 to join other rebels in the uprising OCHA said it was extremely concerned about the “dis- centre-left parliamentary opposition. peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians col- against Gaddafi. Despite the flare-up in conflict, nor- lapsed in 2014. Trump is expected to release his proportionate and indiscriminate use” of explosive “The skies may look overcast...but they cannot con- mal life was just about continuing in Tripoli, a city of administration’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan weapons in densely populated areas. ceal the sun of hope that we have brought to the Israeli roughly 1.2 million people, though prices were rising after the election. If it includes Israeli concessions to Half a million children were at risk, it added. As well people and society,” Gantz, 59, wrote in an open letter and businesses closing earlier than usual, residents the Palestinians, Netanyahu’s probable far-right coali- as the humanitarian consequences, renewed conflict in to supporters. Should Netanyahu retain the helm, he will said. “I don’t care who wins or loses, I just want to sur- become the longest-serving Israeli prime minister in tion allies will likely object. — Reuters Libya threatens to disrupt oil supplies, increase migra- vive with my family,” said a teacher in Tripoli who tion across the Mediterranean to Europe, scupper the hoped to get out.— Reuters matter and radiation circling at tremendous speed at ‘Seeing the the edge of the event horizon - around a region of Fadhl said that the Assembly is expected to debate a darkness representing the actual black hole. This is MP: Labor law draft law for regulating the charity work in the country, known as the black hole’s shadow or silhouette. The adding that he objects to a provision in the law that unseeable’... scientists said Einstein’s theory correctly predicted needs balance... stipulates a prison term for those who distort the image that the shape of the shadow would be almost a per- of charity. The Assembly will also debate a draft law on Continued from Page 1 fect circle. With M87, it deviated from perfect circu- Continued from Page 1 commercial cheating. larity by less than 10 percent. In another development, the Constitutional Court project, an international collaboration involving “We found literally the proverbial hole in the middle yesterday rejected a case disputing the constitutionali- about 200 scientists begun in 2012 to try to directly of this galaxy, and to me that is just stunning,” said who will benefit from any amendments to the labor ty of a special law for the trial of ministers or former observe the immediate environment of a black hole. The astrophysicist Dimitrios Psaltis of the University of law. The trade unions have insisted that the amend- ministers. The court also called for continuing the trial announcement was made in simultaneous news confer- Arizona, the EHT project scientist. Einstein’s theory ments should go through and should become a key of former Health Minister Ali Al-Obaidi and a number of ences in Washington, Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, also was validated by another major astrophysics part of the labor law. former Health Ministry Assistant undersecretaries. Taipei and Tokyo. achievement announced in 2016, the detection of gravi- The image was obtained using data collected in tational waves, or ripples in spacetime, arising from two April 2017 from eight radio telescopes in six locations black holes that smashed together. “Science fiction has Election Commission order that political parties should that essentially create a planet-sized observational become science fact,” University of Arizona astronomy not use the armed forces for propaganda. India on high alert dish. The team’s observations strongly validated the professor Daniel Marrone said. A biopic of the prime minister has also caused con- theory of general relativity proposed in 1915 by “The image has this exquisite beauty in its simplici- troversy, with the opposition Congress party waging a ahead of poll... Einstein, the famed theoretical physicist, to explain the ty,” said CfA astrophysicist Michael Johnson, the pro- legal battle to prevent the showing of what it has called laws of gravity and their relation to other natural forces. unfair propaganda. The film however was given a cen- ject’s imaging coordinator. “It is just a fundamental Continued from Page 1 “We have achieved something presumed to be statement about nature. It’s a really moving demonstra- sors’ certificate earlier in the week after the Supreme impossible just a generation ago,” said astrophysicist Court dismissed an appeal, and will be released yester- tion of just what humanity is capable of.” The project Sheperd Doeleman, director of the Event Horizon day. “We are very happy that we got the ‘U’ (universal) has also targeted another black hole - Sagittarius A* - Telescope at the Center for Astrophysics (CfA), Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday reinforced fears of certificate from the Censor Board,” producer Sandeep situated at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. Harvard & Smithsonian. Black holes, phenomenally trouble during voting. Parts of Kashmir will also vote Ssingh said in a statement. Scientists expressed optimism about getting a picture dense and coming in various sizes, are extraordinarily today. Gunmen burst into a Jammu hospital and shot Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, said the flattering of that one, perhaps within a year. Sagittarius A* pos- difficult to observe by their very nature. A black hole’s dead the regional leader of the right wing Rashtriya portrayal of Modi would give an unfair advantage to sesses 4 million times the mass of our sun and is located event horizon is the point of no return beyond which Swayamsevak Sangh, which is closely linked to Modi’s his Hindu nationalist BJP. The producers of two TV 26,000 light-years from Earth. anything - stars, planets, gas, dust and all forms of elec- party. Tensions also simmered in the eastern state of series were given warning notices by the Election Streaming away from M87 at nearly the speed of tromagnetic radiation - gets swallowed into oblivion. Odisha where two landmines were recovered by Commission for promoting Modi’s pet schemes light is a humongous jet of subatomic particles, though The M87 black hole observed by the scientific team patrols, and in nearby Bihar where two roadside bombs through their shows, PTI reported. Under Indian elec- that was not captured in the photo. The researchers resides about 54 million light-years from Earth and were detonated. Kashmir hit the headlines ahead of the tion law, during the 48 hours before a state votes, the estimated that the observed shadow of M87 is roughly election after 40 paramilitaries were killed in a suicide publication of any content deemed as campaigning- boasts an almost-unimaginable mass of 6.5 billion times that of the sun. A light year is the distance light travels 2-1/2 times larger than the actual size of the black attack in February. including adverts, films and even social media-requires hole’s boundary - the event horizon - due to light bend- India blamed the attack on a Pakistan-based group Election Commission approval. in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). “This is a huge day in astrophysics,” said US National Science ing because of the extreme gravitational forces. and launched a cross-border air raid, which sparked a Gandhi, scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, They think the event horizon measures just under 25 retaliatory strike by Pakistan that briefly brought the filed his nomination papers yesterday following a Foundation Director France Cordova. “We’re seeing the unseeable.” “It did bring tears to my eyes,” Cordova billion miles (40 billion km) across, about three times rivals close to a new war. Modi has used India’s action roadshow in his home constituency of Amethi in Uttar the size of Pluto’s orbit around the sun. The project’s against Pakistan to bolster his strongman image and added. The existence of black holes was first predicted Pradesh. Amethi goes to the polls on May 6. The last researchers obtained the data using radio telescopes in divert attention from criticism over a lack of jobs across in 1916. Most galaxies are thought to have a supermas- vote is on May 19 and the results will be announced the US states of Arizona and Hawaii as well as in the country and a farmers’ debt crisis. At a rally on sive black hole at their center. on May 23. Various opinion polls have indicated an Mexico, Chile, Spain and Antarctica. Since then, tele- Tuesday, Modi urged first-time voters to dedicate their alliance led by Modi’s BJP will win up to 273 of the The fact that black holes do not allow light to scopes in France and Greenland have been added to ballot to the military who staged the air strike inside 543 parliament seats at stake, just one more than the escape makes viewing them difficult. The scientists the global network. — Reuters Pakistan. Congress said the speech breached an required majority.— AFP looked for a ring of light - super-heated disrupted Established 1961 25 Sports Thursday, April 11, 2019 Japan’s minister of Tokyo 2020 Olympic steps down after gaffes

Sakurada resigns after hurting the feelings of victims of 2011 earthquake and tsunami

TOKYO: Japan’s minister in charge of the down and leading to the world’s worst After a backlash, he sought to clarify his Tokyo 2020 Olympics stepped down yes- nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. stance and admitted his comments had terday after comments seen as hurtful to More than 50,000 people have not “lacked consideration.” But they were hardly survivors of the 2011 tsunami, the latest in a returned to their home towns and Japan has the first time he had become a lightning rod. series of gaffes. Yoshitaka Sakurada’s resig- dubbed the 2020 Games the Despite serving as minister for cyberse- nation comes less than 500 days before “Reconstruction Olympics” in a bid to curity, he has admitted that he “does not use Tokyo hosts the Summer Games, and fol- showcase recovery in affected regions. computers,” sparking widespread ridicule. lows a decision by the head of Japan’s NHK reported that Abe had decided to And in 2016, he sparked anger when he Olympic Committee to step down as French reappoint a previous Olympics minister, described the women forced to work in mili- authorities investigate him. Shunichi Suzuki, to replace Sakurada. tary brothels for Japan’s wartime troops as Sakurada “requested to resign after he The resignation comes after a string of “professional prostitutes.” hurt the feelings of victims” of the 2011 gaffes that had already raised questions Sakurada’s resignation comes only a earthquake and tsunami, Prime Minister about Sakurada’s suitability for the post of month after the head of Japan’s Olympic Shinzo Abe told reporters. “And I accepted Olympics minister, which he held in addition Committee Tsunekazu Takeda announced he it.” “I deeply apologise for his remark to the to a portfolio for cybersecurity. In February, would step down from his position in June. people in the disaster-hit areas,” the prime he was forced to apologise after suggesting That decision came after it was revealed minister added, saying he accepted respon- that the leukaemia diagnosis of star that Takeda was the subject of French inves- sibility for having appointed Sakurada as Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee could damp- tigations involving payments made before minister. The resignation comes after en enthusiasm for the 2020 Games. Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Summer Sakurada made comments at a political The shock announcement of 18-year-old Games. Takeda also stepped down from the gathering to the effect that a lawmaker from Ikee’s diagnosis had prompted an outpour- International Olympic Committee, after the disaster-hit region was more important ing of support in Japan, but Sakurada came French authorities said they believed they than the recovery of the area, according to under fire after responding to the news by had evidence of corruption in the awarding the public broadcaster NHK. saying: “She is a potential gold medallist... of the 2020 Games. TOKYO: In this file photo taken on October 2, 2018 Japanese minister in charge of Tokyo 2020 The March 2011 tsunami, triggered by a I’m really disappointed.” Takeda has denied any wrongdoing and Olympic and Paralympic games Yoshitaka Sakurada speaks during a press conference at the massive undersea quake, killed around “When one person leads, she can boost said his decision to step down was related premier’s official residence in Tokyo. Japan’s minister in charge of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics 18,000 people and swamped the Fukushima the whole team. I am slightly worried that to a desire to pass the role on to a younger stepped down yesterday after the latest in a series of gaffes. -—AFP nuclear plant, sending its reactors into melt- this type of excitement could wane,” he said. generation. — AFP

ABK hosts exciting 8th Annual Golf McIlroy powers into Challenge event Masters with Tiger KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) yesterday announced the results of its 8th Annual ABK Golf among many poised Challenge event held at the Sahara Golf Resort and Spa on 30th March. 80 golfers participated on a to pounce warm, sunny day perfect for golf. During the event, participants competed in teams of four for the sought after ABK Golf Challenge trophy. AUGUSTA: Rory McIlroy is in fearsome form as he Amar Ali Al Naqi, Mishary Al Zamanan, Meshari arrives at Augusta National chasing a rare career Al Mulla and Hamad Abdul Razzak won the chal- Grand Slam, but a renewed Tiger Woods could have lenge with a score of 53.8 points. Abhay Kumar something to say about the Northern Ireland star’s Kashyap won “Beat the Pro” and received a busi- bid for a breakthrough Masters win. ness class return ticket to Dubai from Emirates “I don’t think I’ve ever started a season this well in Airline presented by Ahmad Al Nahas, while terms of finishes, and even stats wise, looking at all “Nearest-the-pin” went to Brett King who my stats, they are right up there with some of the received a 1 year unlimited meet and greet at best years that I’ve had,” said McIlroy, whose seven Kuwait International airport from Pearl Assist. The top-10 finishes in seven starts this year include a vic- “Straightest-Drive” was won by Abdulrazzak tory at the US PGA Tour’s prestigious Players Abdullah who received a KD 100 ABK Visa pre- Championship in March. paid card from Visa International. He owns top-10 Masters finishes the past four During the closing ceremony ABK thanked their years, including a tie for fifth behind American partners; Emirates Airline, Visa, Sahara Golf Club, Patrick Reed last year, and with more than a decade and Pearl Assist for their ongoing support. of experience on a course where local know-how is key, says there’s no reason he can’t become the sixth man to win all four of golf’s major professional titles. ple more. I’ve had some very good opportunities as it was then, but I feel like it’s going in the right “I’ve shot enough good scores around here over Johnson frustrated that I didn’t capitalize on,” Johnson said Tuesday. direction.” Johnson won the WGC Mexico title in the years that if I can put my best effort forward, I’m “Disappointed or frustrated, one of those would February, giving him a US PGA title in each of his going to have a good chance to do well here,” be OK to describe that. But I mean, it’s golf. This first 12 tour seasons, joining Jack Nicklaus and McIlroy said. by only one game’s very frustrating and disappointing at times. Tiger Woods as the only players to accomplish Plenty of his peers agree. “Rory is playing unbe- “But I think I’m happy with my career so far. I the feat. lievable golf,” said Spain’s Jon Rahm. “I mean, he’s major win definitely think it could have been better. But I’ve And he likes his chances this week if he can putt playing the best golf he has played in a long time ... still got hopefully still got a lot of time left in my well over the undulating, lightning-fast greens of Really good golf and it seems like his putting has career.” Augusta National. “I feel like the game is in very been lot better. If Rory is hitting the ball the way he AUGUSTA: Second-ranked Dustin Johnson admits Johnson, one of the game’s longest drivers, was good form right now,” Johnson said. For me, it’s all is, and he putts good, he’s tough to beat.” he’s frustrated and disappointed to only have one the clear player to beat at the 2017 Masters, arriv- going to be up to my putting. I think if I can roll it Soaking rain on Monday and Tuesday could major golf victory, but sees plenty of time to boost ing at Augusta National after wins at Riviera and well, I’ll be right there come Sunday.” heighten long-hitting McIlroy’s chances, making the his career total, starting at this week’s Masters. the WGC Match-Play and Mexico Championships. Johnson, however, sees himself as more wanting course play longer. The diminished practice time The 34-year-old American, dethroned from But he fell down a staircase at his rental home in than needing another major win. “It’s more want. If could also play in favor of experienced Masters cam- world number one this week by England’s Justin Augusta and hurt his back, forcing him to withdraw. you’re telling yourself you need to win, I think paigners. Rose, captured his only major crown at the 2016 US It’s a missed chance Johnson often recalls as he you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself,” Rahm noted the difficulty of handicapping the first Open. His six other top-five major finishes include tries to reclaim the form that he enjoyed before the Johnson said. major championship of the year. Each of the last four runner-up showings at the 2011 British Open and setback. “Everyone that’s out here wants to win. I want winners-and seven of the last eight-have been first- 2015 US Open plus a share of fifth at the 2010 PGA “I definitely look back at it a lot,” Johnson said. to win every week but I don’t need to win. You time major winners, a trend Rahm certainly hopes to Championship after a penalty for grounding his “I’ve got videos of my swing from when I was here put more pressure on yourself if you’re saying continue. club in a bunker on the 72nd hole cost him a chance in 2017, and so I watch those a lot to try to just get you need to win. “I’ve definitely done that, But with experience at a premium, multiple win- at a win. some of those same feels. almost trying too hard. I think I do that quite a ners including Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba “I would have definitely liked to have won a cou- “I feel like the game, it’s close. It’s not as good bit sometimes.” — AFP Watson must always be judged a threat. World num- ber one Justin Rose and second-ranked Dustin Johnson will be aiming to bulk up resumes highlight- Leclerc. Valtteri Bottas claimed a dominant victory in the ed by one US Open win apiece and fourth-ranked Young star Leclerc “It’s the 1,000th race in the history of Formula season-opening Australian Grand Prix with world Brooks Koepka, the reigning US Open and PGA One and I hope the car will be as good as it was in champion Hamilton second. Champion, has a chance to become the third golfer Bahrain (until late on) so that I can continue to go It was the other way round in Bahrain, leaving of the modern era to capture three of four consecu- eyes victory in F1’s for the results we deserve.” the Finn a point ahead of the Briton in the early tive majors. Shanghai has one of the longest straights in the drivers’ standings after picking up the fastest-lap “There’s so many different ways to do it and 1,000th race 21-race championship and should be perfect for bonus point in Melbourne. However, Mercedes there’s so many different things that you can do Ferrari’s searing pace, with reliability the main con- team principal Toto Wolff is under no illusions right,” Rahm said. “It’s one of those weeks where cern for the Italian marque. about the challenge posed by Ferrari. anybody can win at any given point.” And this year, that emphatically includes Woods, SHANGHAI: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is gunning for While there has been fulsome praise of Leclerc, “The truth is that we weren’t as quick as our who carries not just the hope he had last year-in his his first win this week in China after cruelly missing particularly the mature way he handled the Bahrain direct competitors throughout qualifying and the first Masters since spinal fusion surgery-but real out in Bahrain as Formula One’s 1,000th race coin- disappointment, his Ferrari team-mate Vettel is fac- race in Bahrain,” he said. “The Ferrari was consid- belief that he can claim a fifth green jacket. cides with the emergence of a bright new star. ing criticism. It seems absurd for a four-time world erably faster on the straights and this added up to “I just feel like I’ve improved a lot over the past 12, The supremely talented 21-year-old upstaged champion to have to defend his ability and tem- several tenths around one lap. 14 months,” said Woods, whose injury return was in five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in perament, but the German is having to do just that “Nevertheless, the saying goes that ‘in order its embryonic stages when he teed it up last year. Bahrain but ultimately limped home third when his after a series of unforced errors stretching back to to finish first, first you have to finish’... “The From a tie for 32nd, he would go on to contend in Ferrari lost power with 10 laps left. last season. challenge we are facing doesn’t daunt us, it’s two majors and win the US PGA Tour championship The Chinese Grand Prix is replete with sub- Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault uplifting,” he added. Being able to say they tri- and says he’s “proven to myself that I can play at this plots: can Hamilton win the race for a sixth time? during the 2017 season, called Vettel’s spin in umphed in the 1,000th race is added incentive level again”. Can Sebastian Vettel silence the doubters? How Bahrain-where he was duelling with Hamilton- for all drivers and teams. Woods, 43, admits he would never have foreseen much faster are Ferrari? But the focus in Shanghai ”amateur”. Vettel finished fifth and was comfort- F1’s first championship race was at the major drought that has followed his 14th major will be on Leclerc, the Ferrari rookie from Monaco ably eclipsed by Leclerc, who is a decade younger. Silverstone, England, in 1950 and it says much victory at the 2008 US Open. “After I won my 14th, I who fully deserved victory two weeks ago but had “If a backmarker rookie had spun in the man- about how the sport has grown that its milestone felt like I still had plenty more major championships to settle for the first podium of his career. ner Vettel did, they would have been a laughing grand prix is in China. that I could win, but unfortunately I just didn’t do it,” In just his second season in F1, it is widely stock after the race,” Palmer told the BBC. “For a The country, which has a swelling number of he said. “I put myself there with chances on the back assumed that it is just a matter of time until Leclerc four-time world champion to do so should be motor sport enthusiasts, is a key market for F1’s nine on various Sundays and just haven’t done it. tastes victory. “Usually the Chinese race is good unthinkable.” US-based owners Liberty Media. Liberty Media “Hopefully this year, I put myself there again and, fun because the weather can be unpredictable and With all the talk about Ferrari, it is easy to for- say they are interested in holding a second grand hopefully, I’ll get it done.” — AFP rain can arrive when you least expect it,” said get that Mercedes won the opening two races. prix in the world’s most populous country. — AFP 26 Established 1961 Sports Thursday, April 11, 2019 Soto smash in 10th lifts Nationals, Castillo helps Reds blank Marlins Astros beat Yanks with another late-inning rally

PHILADELPHIA: Juan Soto hit a three-run home run pulled a 2-2 off-speed pitch from closer Jose Leclerc off Jose Alvarez in the top of the 10th inning to rally the (1-1) over the fence in right field. Arizona’s Christian visiting Washington Nationals to a 10-6 victory over Walker singled to left to lead off the ninth against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday. Victor Robles, who Leclerc and scored to make it 4-3 when Eduardo had three hits, tied the score with a solo homer in the Escobar followed with a double to the wall in right- ninth, and Yan Gomes and Howie Kendrick also home- center field. Leclerc struck out Nick Ahmed before red for the Nationals. Anthony Rendon had two hits and Dyson pinch-hit for John Ryan Murphy. two RBIs, and Gomes added two hits. Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg lasted only four innings and gave up RAYS 10, WHITE SOX 5 six hits and six runs while walking four and striking out Austin Meadows had a career-high four hits, includ- three. Sean Doolittle (3-0) picked up the win in relief. ing a two-run home run, and drove in four runs, and Bryce Harper and Maikel Franco homered while J.T. visiting Tampa Bay continued to match its best start in Realmuto added three hits for the Phillies, who couldn’t team history with a win against Chicago. Avisail Garcia hold a 6-1 lead. had three hits and Brandon Lowe had two, each hitting solo home runs for the Rays, who improved to 9-3 REDS 14, MARLINS 0 while clinching their fourth consecutive series to start Starter Luis Castillo fired seven scoreless innings, the season. Rays starter Charlie Morton (2-0) went five the heart of the order hit three consecutive homers in a innings, allowing two runs, three hits, striking out seven seven-run sixth inning, and host Cincinnati won for the and walking three. first time since Opening Day by clobbering Miami. The result snapped the Reds’ eight-game losing streak. Up GIANTS 7, PADRES 2 4-0, Cincinnati blew open the first meeting between the Kevin Pillar cleared the bases with a three-run dou- two teams in the home half of the sixth as Jesse Winker ble to highlight a six-run second inning that sent San had an RBI single off reliever Wei-Yin Chen, and a Francisco on its way to a victory over visiting San fielding error plated another run. Matt Kemp later Diego. Derek Holland (1-1) allowed just one run in sev- clubbed an opposite-field three-run homer, Eugenio en innings, helping the Giants beat the Padres for just PHILADELPHIA: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals hits a three-run home run in the top of the tenth inning Suarez golfed a solo shot, and Scott Schebler homered the second time in six meetings this season. Hunter against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Nationals defeated the in the next at-bat for an 11-0 lead. Renfroe hit his fourth homer for the Padres. Phillies 10-6. — AFP

MARINERS 6, ROYALS 3 BRAVES 7, ROCKIES 1 Dee Gordon had three hits and two RBIs as Seattle Ronald Acuna homered for the second straight four as visiting Oakland defeated Baltimore. second consecutive game after going deep in their first claimed a victory at Kansas City. The Mariners extend- game, Dansby Swanson also went deep, and Atlanta Profar ended the night 4-for-5 with a solo homer, 10 games this season and 14 consecutive going back to ed baseball’s best record to 11-2 with their fourth beat Colorado in Denver. Max Fried (2-0) gave up three singles and three runs. He drove in four runs in last season. The Dodgers lost consecutive games for straight win. Whit Merrifield continues to be the lone five hits and one unearned run over six innings to the final three innings as Oakland snapped a four-game the first time. bright spot for the Royals, who lost their eighth game in lead the Braves to their second straight win in the losing streak. Semien finished 1-for-4 and added a sac- a row. He led off the bottom of the first with a triple to series. German Marquez (1-1) was rocked for five rifice fly in addition to an early three-run homer. BLUE JAYS 7, RED SOX 5 extend his hitting streak to 30 games, dating back to runs in five innings, and Ian Desmond had an RBI Matt Shoemaker pitched into the sixth inning to earn last season. The streak is tied for the longest in Royals single for Colorado, which has lost its first five home ASTROS 6, YANKEES 3 his third straight win, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI sin- history with Hall of Famer George Brett’s run from in games this season. George Springer roped a two-run double to left field gle and stole home, and visiting Toronto defeated 1980, the year he hit .390. Merrifield finished 2-for-5. in the eighth inning, and host Houston rallied against Boston on the day the Red Sox unfurled their 2018 TWINS 14, METS 8 the New York bullpen for a second consecutive night. world championship banner at Fenway Park. Boston left- ANGELS 11, BREWERS 8 Mitch Garver hit two home runs and tied a career Springer drilled a 1-1 fastball from Yankees right-han- hander Chris Sale (0-3) continued to struggle, allowing Tommy La Stella hit two home runs, but it was a high with four hits, and Jorge Polanco finished a double der Chad Green (0-2) into the left field corner, scoring seven hits and five runs while striking out three in four bases-loaded walk by Jonathan Lucroy that drove in shy of his second cycle of the season as visiting Yuli Gurriel and Robinson Chirinos to snap a 3-3 tie. innings. Shoemaker (3-0) gave up five hits, two walks the winning run in Los Angeles’ victory over Minnesota took advantage of a rare hiccup by Jacob The eighth-inning rally did come at a cost, however, as and four runs (two earned) and added four strikeouts as Milwaukee Brewers. The Angels earned their fifth win deGrom in a win over New York. The Twins have alter- Bregman left the game with a tweaked right hamstring. the Blue Jays ended a four-game losing streak. in a row, though it wasn’t easy. Los Angeles blew a 6-0 nated wins with losses in their last five games. The Mets After the game, Bregman said he hopes to miss only the first-inning lead and then lost Mike Trout for the game have dropped two straight and three of four. Polanco Wednesday game. INDIANS 8, TIGERS 2 after the third inning because of a strained right groin. and Garver helped the Twins end two historic streaks Brad Miller smacked one of four Cleveland home The two-time American League MVP is day-to-day. by deGrom (2-1), who gave up six runs on eight hits CARDINALS 4, DODGERS 0 runs, scored three runs and knocked in two as the The Brewers, thanks in large part to two homers by and one walk while striking out three over four innings. Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run, and Yadier Molina Indians stretched their winning streak to five games by Yasmani Grandal, rallied to take an 8-7 lead in the fifth DeGrom entered Tuesday having given up three runs or added a pair of run-scoring doubles as St Louis moved cooling off host Detroit. Ex-Tiger Leonys Martin, Jake before the Angels’ bullpen got stingy and the offense fewer in each of his previous 31 starts, the longest such over .500 for the first time this season with a victory Bauers and Roberto Perez added solo homers for rallied to put Los Angeles in position to sweep the streak in major league history, and having produced a over visiting Los Angeles. Cardinals starter Dakota Cleveland. Corey Kluber (1-2) gave up two runs (one series Wednesday. quality start 26 straight times, tying the record set by Hudson only lasted 4 2/3 innings after throwing 100 earned) on seven hits in six innings while striking out Bob Gibson in 1967-68. pitches, but the bullpen took it from there as John eight. Miguel Cabrera had two hits and an RBI for the DIAMONDBACKS 5, RANGERS 4 Brebbia (1-0), John Gant, Mike Mayers, Andrew Miller Tigers, who had their five-game winning streak Pinch hitter Jarrod Dyson hit a two-run homer in the ATHLETICS 13, ORIOLES 2 and Dominic Leone finished off the shutout. Enrique snapped. Jordan Zimmermann (0-1) surrendered up five bottom of the ninth inning as Arizona walked off with a Jurickson Profar homered on a four-hit, five-RBI Hernandez and Cody Bellinger had two hits each for the runs (four earned) and four hits in 4 1/3 innings while victory over Texas in Phoenix. With one out, Dyson night, and Marcus Semien homered and knocked in Dodgers, who were held without a home run for the serving up three of the homers. — Reuters Kohli named among Wisden lashes Wisden’s Cricketers out at new of the Year

LONDON: Virat Kohli was yesterday named as one of 100-ball cricket Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year and also became the first player to win the award for leading cricketer in the competition world in three successive years. The India captain put to bed questions over his ability LONDON: English cricket’s controversial to thrive in English conditions last year, topping the Test new 100-ball competition has been com- run charts with 593 runs and two centuries even though pared unfavourably with Brexit in the latest his side lost the series 4-1. edition of Wisden, which says the innova- Kohli, who is top of the Test and one-day international tion has “hung over the game like the Sword rankings, scored 2,735 runs in all formats in 2018, out- of Damocles”. stripping nearest rival, England’s Joe Root, by more than The 156th edition of the Wisden 700 runs. “His struggles in English conditions were con- Cricketers’ Almanack, published on signed to history, and Kohli banished any doubt about Thursday, offers a highly sceptical take on being regarded as the outstanding player of the era,” The Hundred, the new format due to debut Wisden said in a statement announcing its awards. on the domestic circuit next year. Editor The other cricketers of the year were England’s Sam Lawrence Booth addresses the subject and Curran, Jos Buttler and Rory Burns, plus prolific England has harsh words for advocates at the women’s player Tammy Beaumont. Players can only England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). receive Wisden’s cricketer of the year award, given pri- SYDNEY: In this file photo taken on January 7, 2019 India’s captain Virat Kohli kisses the Border-Gavaskar trophy as “All the while The Hundred hung over the marily for feats achieved during the preceding English the Indian team celebrates their series win on the fifth day of the fourth and final cricket Test against Australia at English game like the Sword of Damocles, domestic season, once in their career. the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney. —AFP suspended only by the conviction of a suit- Kohli was also named as the leading men’s player ed few. “Some preferred a modern analogy: in the world for a third straight year. “In making hun- this was cricket’s Brexit, an unnecessary dreds in South Africa, England and Australia, as well never cowed him.” title as leading Twenty20 cricketer in the world. The latest gamble that had overshadowed all else, as at home, he showed a mastery of all conditions India’s Smriti Mandhana scooped the women’s award, edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, considered the gone over budget and would end in tears. and bowling attacks,” Wisden said. “The pressure with Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan retaining his “Bible” of the game, is published on April 11. — AFP “But the analogy was imperfect: where Brexit had plenty of advocates, it was diffi- cult to find anyone beyond a small group after a run of poor results, and that he needs to man- Smith believes his behaviour needs to be monitored within the ECB’s offices who believed that Warner’s ego must aged carefully. closely. “I think he’s very driven, I think he wants to do cricket, its fixture list already unfathomable, Smith, who skippered his country for more than a well, he wants to prove his worth again. And I think David needed a fourth format.” decade, said that while he admired Warner’s batting, he Warner in that position is probably a good guy to have in The editorial criticises the “shambolic be managed: had “pissed a lot of people off” throughout his career. your environment,” he said. launch” of the competition, arguing that “I don’t know,” he told Fox Sports on Tuesday evening “It’s when he starts to get bigger than everybody early soundbites made the sport’s existing Graeme Smith when asked if he would have any issue in welcoming else then probably management needs to be ready for fanbase “feel like outcasts” while attempt- Warner back to the Australian team. “It’s difficult to know that. “Guys like Langer and whoever is captaining the ing to attract a new core. Critics have what it’s like behind the scenes, but he’s always been an side going forward need to ensure they stay on top of bemoaned the ‘dumbing down’ of the game, SYDNEY: Former South African captain Graeme Smith incredible cricketer,” added Smith, who played 117 Tests that and manage that space and that ego well going given plans to ditch traditional overs, and has some advice for Australia coach Justin Langer-make before retiring in 2014. forward.” questioned the need for a new format given sure David Warner’s ego is managed if he starts to “get “Especially when he bats, he bats with that driven The reintegration of Warner and co-conspirator Steve the global popularity of Twenty20, which bigger than everybody else”. nature, that intensity, ego to perform. And he’s an excel- Smith has already begun with the pair meeting the one- has just 20 more deliveries per innings than The polarising opener, on the comeback trail after a lent cricketer. “I think where David has been throughout day team after their bans expired late last month. the Hundred concept. There are also con- one-year ban for ball-tampering, has been in red-hot his career is that he’s pissed a lot of people off. He’s just Australian cricket chief Kevin Roberts recently said team- cerns over the potential impact of the new form in the Indian Premier League ahead of his expect- that type of guy. I think at the moment he needs mates don’t always need to be “best mates”. competition on England’s existing domes- ed recall to the national side for the World Cup in Australian cricket more than they need him.” “In any workplace, you don’t need to be best tic cricket structure, which is built upon 18 England and Wales. Warner is suspected of instigating a plot to use sand- mates with everyone, but there needs to be a founda- first-class counties. —AFP But some commentators believe Warner’s return paper to alter the ball in the now infamous Cape Town tion of respect and I think there is growing respect could be disruptive to the team, which is now resurgent Test last year. He has long been a divisive figure. And there,” he said. — AFP 27 Sports Thursday, April 11, 2019 Liverpool ease past Porto to close in on Champions League semis

‘It was a good game, a controlled game’ LIVERPOOL: Liverpool closed in on a Champions as Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League League semi-final meeting with Barcelona or table with a 3-1 win at Southampton on Friday, but the Manchester United after sweeping aside Porto 2-0 in Egyptian got his angles wrong when he failed to double the first leg of their quarter-final tie at Anfield. Far from the hosts’ lead with just Casillas to beat moments later. the late drama that has accompanied the Red’s Premier Conceicao was visibly furious with his side’s slack League title bid of late, Naby Keita and Roberto defending, but Porto could easily have got back into the Firmino struck inside the first 26 minutes to put the tie when Alisson Becker saved well with his feet from hosts in command. “2-0 is a really good result, I would Moussa Marega. Liverpool then had to survive a VAR have taken it before the game and I take it now,” said review for a potential handball against Trent Alexander- Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. “It was a good game, a Arnold as Alisson palmed the ball into his full-back. controlled game. Soon, though, Alexander-Arnold was helping twist We deserved the win 100 percent and scored two the knife into Porto at the other end with his eighth wonderful goals.” Liverpool’s only regret may be not assist of the season. Jordan Henderson, playing in a building a more emphatic lead to take to Portugal for more advanced midfield position than normal, cut the next week’s second leg. However, a fourth clean sheet in visitors’ defence open for the England international to five home Champions League games this season means square for Firmino to tap into an empty net. an away goal at the Estadio do Dragao on April 17th “Hendo is a brilliant player and I’m really happy he will leave Porto needing four to progress. can show that again,” said Klopp. “He likes that position “We have to go there, we have to fight, Porto will do so it is my fault he played for one-and-a-half years as everything to strike back but that’s how it should be in the holding player, but we needed him there.” the Champions League quarter-finals,” added Klopp. Only a matter of centimetres denied Liverpool a Liverpool thrashed the Portuguese giants 5-0 in the third early in the second half when another excellent first leg of their last-16 tie last season and the scoreline Henderson allowed Sadio Mane to volley home, but the could have been just as embarrassing for Sergio Senegalese was flagged offside. The fine balance Conceicao’s men had the hosts been more accurate in Liverpool must strike in maintaining their quest for front of goal. It took the hosts just five minutes to open European glory while also trying to end a 29-year wait the scoring as Keita got his second goal in as many for a league title was in evidence as Klopp withdrew games having waited nine months to open his Liverpool Mane and Firmino in the final quarter with one eye on account. The Guinean got the benefit of a big deflection Sunday’s Premier League visit of Chelsea. LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker (R) catches the ball after Porto’s Malian striker off Oliver Torres as his strike from the edge of the area However, that proved a luxury that Liverpool could Moussa Marega (rear R) shoots it while vying with Liverpool’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk (C) and left veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas helpless. afford to take as they look set for a second Champions Liverpool’s Croatian defender Dejan Lovren (front R) during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, first leg Mohamed Salah ended his eight-game goal drought League semi-final in as many years. — AFP football match between Liverpool and FC Porto at Anfield stadium in Liverpool. —AFP

European football’s governing body said in a state- The 18-time Italian champions won an appeal to the AC Milan risk Euro ment that UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last year, following investigatory chamber had decided “to refer the case of a UEFA ban from the Europa League. The club per- Matches on TV AC Milan to the CFCB adjudicatory chamber as the suaded sport’s highest court that their finances would (Local Timings) ban as UEFA order club has failed to comply with the break-even require- improve under American hedge fund Elliott ment.” The period relates to the 2018/19 season and Management Corporation, who took control last sum- UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE another Financial covering 2016, 2017 and 2018, the statement continued. mer when former Chinese owner Li Yonghong forfeited Arsenal FC v SSC Napoli 22:00 “This referral is not related to the decision that was on the loan he had taken to buy the club in 2017 from beIN SPORTS HD 1 made by the CFCB adjudicatory in December 2018 and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Villarreal CF v 22:00 Fair Play probe was covering the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 sea- AC Milan were assessed by UEFA in December, beIN SPORTS HD 3 sons,” it added. when they were told to break even by 2021 or have SL Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt 22:00 The Serie A giants are one of several clubs to have their European ban restored. The club are currently on beIN SPORTS HD 4 LAUSANNE: AC Milan risk being excluded from been investigated for breaching UEFA’s rules, whereby target to qualify for next season’s Champions League SK Slavia Prague v Chelsea FC 22:00 European competition next season after UEFA on clubs cannot spend more than they generate by their as they sit fourth in Serie A, with seven games to play. beIN SPORTS HD 2 Thursday ordered another probe be carried out into own means. AC Milan have fallen foul of UEFA’s finan- They failed to progress to the Europa League’s the Italian club for breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) cial rules since they spent 200 million euros ($225 mil- knockout rounds but have managed to reach the semi- regulations. lion) on transfers in the summer of 2017. finals of the Italian Cup. — AFP Arsenal’s Emery Pochettino urges demands consistency Spurs to finish off as Napoli City, but fears worst Europa test looms over Kane LONDON: Unai Emery has urged erratic Arsenal to show more consistency as they prepare to face Napoli in the Europa League quarter-finals today. Emery’s side suffered LONDON: Mauricio Pochettino challenged “spirited” a major blow in their bid to make next season’s Champions Tottenham to finish the job after their 1-0 win over League when they slumped to a lacklustre 1-0 defeat at Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals Everton on Sunday. was marred by Harry Kane’s potentially season-ending The Gunners slipped to fifth in the table as a result of injury. Pochettino’s side earned a slender first-leg advan- their latest dismal away performance, putting their hopes tage thanks to a clinical strike from South Korea forward of finishing in the top four in jeopardy. But Arsenal can Son Heung-min late in the second half at the Tottenham also book a place in the competition if they win the Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday. Europa League, and Emery is determined to ensure his Much-maligned Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris also players do not slip up again when Napoli visit the Emirates enjoyed a sweet moment of redemption in a troubled cam- Stadium for the first leg of the last-eight tie. paign when he saved Sergio Aguero’s first-half spot-kick. “We need to be consistent in the next matches and if Pochettino was delighted with Tottenham’s display against the Premier League champions, but he insisted the we do that we can win,” Emery said after the Everton tie was still delicately poised. “We showed great quality. defeat. “There’s some frustration collectively with the We were all excited and motivated to play this type of LONDON: Manchester City’s Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero shoots from the penalty spot but fails to result, but we won’t change our idea and our work.” game,” he said. score as the ball is saved by Tottenham Hotspur’s French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris during the UEFA While Arsenal have struggled on their travels, they have “The energy was good, fantastic, and the penalty save Champions League quarter-final first leg football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City been formidable back home in north London. Emery’s men gave us a big lift. “There are still 90 minutes to play and at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. — AFP have won their past seven games at the Emirates in all it’s Manchester City. But with the spirit we play, anything is competitions, including second-leg comeback victories possible.” Tottenham’s victory was an unexpected twist against BATE Borisov and Rennes in the Europa League. after Kane injured his left ankle in a tackle on Fabian Delph back slid in to block. have been fatal for Tottenham. Yet they thrived in Kane’s The Spaniard hopes Laurent Koscielny and Granit early in the second half. There were no penalty appeals from City, but after absence for seven matches with left ankle ligament dam- Xhaka shake off injuries in time to feature, while Aaron Kane will have tests on the injury on Wednesday, but consulting VAR, Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers awarded the age earlier this season. Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could return Tottenham boss Pochettino fears his star striker could miss spot-kick. However, Lloris plunged to his left to keep out And once again they rose to the challenge to snatch the after starting on the bench at Everton. the rest of the campaign. “It is very sad and very disap- Aguero’s penalty with a superb save. lead in the 78th minute. When Son beat the City offside “When you lose one match, maybe you can look at the Kane was embroiled in a physical battle with City trap, it appeared his touch was too heavy to take advan- pointing. We are going to miss him - maybe for the rest of players who didn’t play, but I think it’s rarely the conse- defence’s but his attempt to fight fire with fire proved his tage. But he alertly kept the ball in play, taking advantage the season,” he said quence,” Emery added. “We’ve won matches with other downfall in the 55th minute. Crunching into a late chal- of Delph’s pause to protest the decision by slamming a low “It is a worry for us. We hope it is not a big issue. But players, other systems, and we need to be efficient in each there is not to much time to recover. He twisted his ankle.” lenge on Delph on the touchline, Kane appeared to twist drive under Ederson from close range. his ankle before immediately signalling he would have to Guardiola once infuriated Pochettino by calling moment.” City had only themselves to blame for failing to earn an Like Arsenal, Napoli go into the tie in an agitated state advantage for the second leg in Manchester on April 17. come off. The sight of the England captain, who has scored Tottenham ‘the Harry Kane team’-now Son has provided after a worrying run. The Serie A side have not kept a Having won the League Cup, reached the FA Cup final 24 times this season, limping badly down the tunnel could the perfect riposte to that jibe. — AFP clean sheet in any competition since beating Red Bull and kept the destiny of the Premier League title in their own hands, this was City’s next hurdle in the race for an Salzburg in the Europa League on March 7 and lost to unprecedented quadruple. struggling Empoli before a disappointing draw with Genoa But City boss Pep Guardiola is adamant it is “almost Choupo-Moting apologises for PSG goal howler on Sunday. impossible” to achieve a clean-sweep of all four major tro- Ancelotti warned his players they must improve to phies. He might be right on the evidence of a City display avoid more misery at the Emirates. “We’re defending badly that lacked the cutting edge and intensity required to keep PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain striker Eric Maxim Choupo- #human, especially in sports! It’s sad to see how nega- at the moment. It’s an alarm bell, certainly, because if we Tottenham at bay. City’s first defeat since a January 29 set- Moting apologised yesterday for his botched goal miss tive things are pushed, especially by the media and play like this in London, then we’re in trouble,” he said. back at Newcastle is not fatal to their European ambitions, that effectively prevented the club winning the French brainwashing people’s minds.” “It is unusual to see Napoli doing that, so we have four but they will have to improve on this tired effort to stop league title in record-equalling time. Choupo-Moting, who has become something of a days to focus back on the basics, because these are basics Tottenham reaching their first European semi-final since Choupo-Moting gave PSG an early lead with his cult hero at the Parc des Princes and has 439,000 we’re getting wrong.” Napoli will be boosted by the avail- 1984. “Nobody said it would be easy. We have to show third Ligue 1 goal against Strasbourg on Sunday, but lat- Instagram followers, added: “I really like our club @psg ability of forward Lorenzo Insigne, who has scored 13 what we can do in the next game,” Guardiola said. “We er in the first half somehow succeeded in turning a net- and It was a wonderful feeling to score in front of you goals this season, after he played 23 minutes against were more in control, the second half we didn’t really con- bound Christopher Nkunku shot onto the post while supporters #collectifultrasparis. Genoa. cede anything. standing on the line. “Unfortunately after that I made the big mistake and Chelsea head to Slavia Prague for their quarter-final “It was a good performance but that’s the Champions The match ended a 2-2 draw, and the striker was all was forgotten! I hope that those #haters which are first leg in good spirits after Eden Hazard inspired a vital League. We lost, we have the second game and we will see widely pilloried for his miss, with footage soon going insulting me feel better now and find their #peace and Premier League win over West Ham on Monday. Hazard viral. “Ups & downs, that’s life! I can’t change what hap- #happiness in their own life! “For those who are always what happens.” scored a sublime solo effort and a produced a clinical late pened but for sure I will try to do better!” the supporting me or just understanding that mistakes can If Guardiola was concerned about subduing Tottenham strike to clinch a 2-0 success that lifted the Blues into third and the boisterous crowd in their new stadium, his side Cameroonian ex-Stoke player said on Instagram, along happen, I want to say thank you and big respect. I will place, above London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham. After a were handed a golden opportunity in the 12th minute. with a photo of him celebrating in front of the PSG fans continue to give everything.” PSG could win their sixth turbulent debut season for Chelsea manager Maurizio Raheem Sterling cut in from the left and left three and a video of his goal against Strasbourg. Ligue 1 title in seven years with a win or a draw away to Tottenham defenders in his wake before unleashing a shot “I am sorry for those I disappointed, but mistakes are Lille on Sunday. — AFP Sarri, Hazard’s fine form has come at the ideal moment as that struck Danny Rose’s raised arm as the Tottenham left- they battle to qualify for the Champions League.—AFP Established 1961 Sport

THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019

Japan’s minister of Tokyo 2020 Kohli named among Wisden’s Liverpool ease past Porto to 25Olympic steps down after gaffes 26 Cricketers of the Year 27 close on Champions League semis

Nowitzki scores 30 in home finale Raptors finish with NBA’s 2nd-best record after win over Wolves

DALLAS: Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks posts up on Elie Okobo #2 of the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center in Dallas. — AFP

DALLAS: In the final home game of a legendary career, locked up the No. 5 seed for the Western Conference Cleveland Cavaliers and remain one game behind Detroit field. Miles Bridges and Dwayne Bacon added 18 points Dirk Nowitzki gave an exuberant sellout crowd one final playoffs. Malik Beasley scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shoot- heading into tonight’s final regular-season games. The apiece for the Hornets. Frank Kaminsky scored 14 and show with a season-high 30 points in the Dallas ing for the Nuggets, who have lost four of their past six Pistons finish against the Knicks at New York while the Devonte Graham had 10. Collin Sexton led the Cavs with Mavericks’ 120-109 win against the visiting Phoenix Suns games and are a half-game ahead of Houston after the Hornets host the Orlando Magic. The Pistons, who trailed 18 points. on Tuesday. Nowitzki, 40, announced after the game that Rockets fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. by 22 in the second quarter, climbed all the way back and he would retire following the Mavericks’ season finale took an 85-83 lead on Ish Smith’s jumper just moments KNICKS 96, BULLS 86 today at San Antonio. The 7-footer, who entered the TRAIL BLAZERS 104, LAKERS 101 after his 3-pointer tied the score at 83-all. Smith finished Dennis Smith Jr. scored 25 points and Kevin Knox and league in the lockout-shortened 1999 season and revolu- Instead of quietly sneaking into the offseason after los- with 22 points off the bench, and Luke Kennard added 15 Luke Kornet each notched double-doubles to lead New tionized the power forward position, scored 10 points in ing its season finale to playoff-bound Portland, Los for Detroit. York past host Chicago. Knox had 17 points and 10 the opening seven minutes and had 19 points on a season- Angeles made some noise when Magic Johnson rebounds, Kornet chipped in 12 points and 13 rebounds high 18 shot attempts in the first half to power Dallas to a announced his resignation as president of basketball oper- HORNETS 124, CAVALIERS 97 and Damyean Dotson added 12 points for the Knicks (17- 68-38 halftime lead. Suns veteran Jamal Crawford wasn’t ations for the team. The game still meant something for Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb scored 23 points 64), who are already assured of the NBA’s worst record going to let Nowitzki totally steal the stage. He put in sev- Portland, though, and the Trail Blazers clinched home- apiece, and Charlotte kept its playoff hopes alive with a this season. They can do no worse than tie the franchise en 3-pointers in posting a season-high 51 points. At age court advantage in the first round of the Western victory over host Cleveland. The Hornets led by 12 points record for fewest wins in a regular season, set in 2014-15. 39, he became the oldest player ever to reach 50 in an Conference playoffs when Maurice Harkless made a 3- in the first half and then pushed the lead all the way to 27 The Bulls closed the home portion of their schedule with a NBA game. pointer at the buzzer for a win. The Trail Blazers can over- in the fourth quarter, winning their fourth straight and 9-32 record, setting a franchise record for home futility. take the Rockets on a tiebreaker to finish third in the West eighth in their past 11 games. They hit a season-high 22 3- The 2000-01 team held the previous club standard for HEAT 122, 76ERS 99 with a win against the visiting Sacramento Kings today. pointers on 44 attempts and shot 57.7 percent from the fewest home victories with 10. — Reuters Dwyane Wade, playing the final home game of his NBA Harkless, who left the previous game with left hip tight- career, scored 30 points to lead Miami over Philadelphia. ness, finished with 26 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Wade made 10 of 23 shots, including 4 of 10 on attempts had 32 points and eight assists for the Lakers, who finished from beyond the arc. It was his second-highest scoring with 37 wins-two more than last season. Magic Johnson steps down as LA Lakers chief game of the season. But it was a bittersweet night for the LOS ANGELES: Magic Johnson stunned the Los Heat, who were eliminated from playoff contention earlier in THUNDER 112, ROCKETS 111 Angeles Lakers on Tuesday after resigning from his role the evening when the Detroit Pistons rallied from a 22-point Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, but it was Paul as president of basketball operations at the struggling deficit to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies. Philadelphia, which George’s corner 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left that sent NBA franchise. “Today, I’m gonna step down as the has already clinched the third seed in the Eastern Oklahoma City to a home win over Houston. Oklahoma president,” Johnson told reporters at an impromptu Conference playoffs, rested two of its stars: Joel Embiid, City trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter and by four in press conference. who was listed as having a knee injury, and JJ Redick (back). the final minute before Westbrook’s and George’s heroics. Johnson’s resignation comes after a disappointing James Harden made his first 12 free throws in the game but season which saw the once-mighty Lakers fail to reach WARRIORS 112, PELICANS 103 with less than 10 seconds left and Houston on top 111-109, the playoffs for a sixth straight season. The Lakers leg- DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 12 rebounds he missed one, giving the Thunder a chance to tie or take end was appointed to his front office position in 2017, against his former team as visiting Golden State defeated the lead. Westbrook barreled up the court, briefly handing charged with reversing a slide in fortunes for the 16-time New Orleans. After clinching home-court advantage the ball off to Steven Adams near midcourt before getting NBA champions. throughout the Western Conference playoffs on Sunday, the ball and firing it to George in the corner for what The 59-year-old had played a key role in persuading the Warriors had Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Andre proved to be the game-winner. LeBron James to join the Lakers last year in a block- Magic Johnson Iguodala and Andrew Bogut among their inactive players. CELTICS 116, WIZARDS 100 buster move. However, the Lakers revival under Johnson Stephen Curry left for game after scoring five points in stalled this season when James was injured, triggering a nine minutes in what the Warriors called “a precaution” Terry Rozier led seven Boston players in double figures slump which saw the team fall from playoff contention. However, he hinted that Walton may now stay. after he sustained a mild foot sprain. Jahlil Okafor scored with 21 points as his team closed out the regular season Johnson also attracted criticism for an unsuccessful “Tomorrow I would have to affect someone’s livelihood 30 points to lead the short-handed Pelicans, who dressed with a win over host Washington. The Celtics rallied from a pursuit of New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis, a and their life,” Johnson said, without referring to Walton just eight players and finished the season 33-49. 13-point, third-quarter deficit for their sixth win in eight move which was widely reported to have destabilized directly. “And I thought about that. And that’s not fun for games. Boston, which played without Marcus Smart, RAPTORS 120, TIMBERWOLVES 100 the Lakers locker room. An emotional Johnson told me. That’s not who I am. I don’t want to put (Buss) in the Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Morris, reporters on Tuesday he was stepping down in order to middle of us. “Even though she said ‘You do what you Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points as visiting Toronto Aron Baynes and Gordon Hayward, will be the fourth seed preserve his friendship with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, want to do.’ I want to go back to having fun. I want to go completed its regular-season schedule with a victory over in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Semi Ojeleye, Brad describing her as like a sister. back to who I was before taking on this job.” Johnson, Minnesota. The Raptors (58-24) secured the second-best Wanamaker and RJ Hunter had 17 points apiece for The former Lakers star also revealed he had been however, said he believed the Lakers were on the right record in the Eastern Conference with the win, behind only Boston, which outscored Washington 27-15 in the fourth wearied by the responsibilities of his position, saying he track following the arrival of James. the Milwaukee Bucks (60-21), who play their final game quarter. Tomas Satoransky led the Wizards with 19 points, had not enjoyed the process of hiring and firing person- “We’re halfway there with LeBron coming,” he said. today. Fred VanVleet added 16 points for the Raptors, and Bradley Beal scored 16 points in 16 minutes. Beal nel. “(Jeanie Buss) and I have such an amazing relation- “I think this summer we’ve got other stars coming in. Chris Boucher added career bests with 15 points and 13 became the first person in franchise history to finish a sea- ship,” Johnson said. “She gave me full power to do what This team is going to be in position to contend for rebounds, and Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell each son averaging at least 25 points, five rebounds and five I wanted to do, but I think that with her and I, I want to championships.” Johnson revealed that he had not even scored 10 points. Gorgui Dieng and Andrew Wiggins each assists per game. always preserve our relationship. informed Buss of his resignation before announcing it to scored 16 points for the Timberwolves. “I had more fun when I was able to be the big brother PISTONS 100, GRIZZLIES 93 reporters at the Staples Center. and the ambassador to everybody. I had more fun on the JAZZ 118, NUGGETS 108 “She doesn’t know I’m standing here because I know Andre Drummond scored 20 points and grabbed 17 other side than on this side.” Johnson was widely I would be crying like a baby in front of her, even though Donovan Mitchell matched his career best of 46 points, rebounds, and Detroit came back from a 22-point deficit to expected to swing the axe on Lakers coach Luke Walton I’m about to cry now,” Johnson said. “But it’s the right and Utah posted a victory over Denver in Salt Lake City. defeat visiting Memphis. Despite winning, the Pistons were yesterday following their final game of the season at the thing to do, the right move to make,” Johnson said, hint- Rudy Gobert added 20 points and 10 rebounds as Utah unable to clinch the eighth and final playoff spot in the Staples Center against Portland. ing that Walton may now remain as coach.—AFP notched its ninth straight home win against Denver. Utah Eastern Conference. The Charlotte Hornets beat the