THULHIJJA 21, 1440 AH THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

28 Pages Max 47º Min 27º 150 Fils Established 1961

ISSUE NO: 17912 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net

MoI affirms Kuwait’s deep Two killed in Kashmir as Cardinals drop Brewers; 3 military relations with US 9 Trump offers to mediate 28 D-backs hold off Rockies

MPs urge quick approval of unified public sector wages Quotas mulled for expat communities • 12,422 deported after failing health tests

By B Izzak and A Saleh the new pay scale, recalling that it was the government which withdrew the draft it had submitted to the Customs seizes 4m Captagon pills KUWAIT: MPs yesterday called on the government to Assembly, adding the government now puts the blame on quickly complete the long-awaited unified pay scale for the Assembly. He said the new pay scale, if implemented government employees to achieve justice and equality correctly, will have important positive results among gov- among all employees. The new pay scale was submitted ernment employees, as under the scheme, the employee by the government to the National Assembly a few years will get the same salary and benefits regardless of the ago, but was withdrawn after criticism that it does not place of appointment in any government department. achieve equality among employees in various government MP Khalil Al-Saleh said the proposed pay scale will departments and takes away some benefits from some. be difficult to implement under the current employment MP Majed Al-Mutairi said the strategic payroll alter- policy and stressed he will reject any cuts to the wages native, as the new pay scale is referred to, should be and benefits of Kuwaitis. He said the existing gap accepted and approved quickly if it is based on a scientif- between government employees despite having similar ic and comprehensive study. But the lawmaker said that qualifications is the cause of social and financial disparity any such study must be first reviewed by specialists, and among employees. The lawmaker however ruled out the warned against taking away any benefits currently possibility of approving the pay scale in the coming term, enjoyed by employees. The lawmaker said the new pay because it may not be very popular, especially with elec- scale must not be applied to vital sectors like the oil sec- tions around the corner. tor and the national guards, adding that attempts to Meanwhile, informed sources said State Minister for reduce benefits to such sectors will not be accepted. Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel said she will present a He said the new pay scale must be transparent, achieve study to the Cabinet calling for passing a technical rec- justice and equality, and above all, provide for raising ommendation related to implementing a quota and decide salaries to help citizens cope with the high cost of living. the percentages of expat labor allowed in the country. The new pay scale should be fair with employees who do She said the quota will start with new work permits until not get the same wages and benefits like their counter- it develops in the future to set a percentage that no com- KUWAIT: The Customs Department yesterday foiled an attempt to smuggle nearly four million Captagon tablets into parts in other ministries. Mutairi also insisted that the munity will exceed, which is 25-30 percent of the number Kuwait. The tablets were inside plastic material in a 40-foot container that arrived from an Arab country. — KUNA wages of Kuwaiti employees must not be touched. of Kuwaitis. MP Saleh Ashour blamed the government for delaying Continued on Page 24

Iran warns if oil exports cut Trump accuses as Aussies join Gulf mission Jewish voters of GENEVA: If Iran’s oil exports are cut to national waterways can’t have the same zero, international waterways will not have security as before,” Rouhani said while ‘great disloyalty’ the same security as before, its president said meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah yesterday, cautioning Washington against Ali Khamenei, according to Khamenei’s offi- WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump raising pressure on Tehran in an angry con- cial website. “So unilateral pressure against said Tuesday Jewish Americans who vote for frontation between the longtime foes. The Iran can’t be to their advantage and won’t Democrats display “either a total lack of knowl- comment by President Hassan Rouhani coin- guarantee their security in the region and edge or great disloyalty,” sparking accusations that cided with a remark by Iranian Foreign the world.” he is promoting and politicizing anti-Semitism. His Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Tehran Tensions between Tehran and Washington comments, which drew fierce rebuke from Jewish might act “unpredictably” in response to have risen since the Trump administration last groups, came amid his ongoing dispute with “unpredictable” US policies under President year quit an international deal to curb Iran’s Democratic Muslim congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Donald Trump. nuclear ambitions and began to ratchet up “World powers know that in the case sanctions. Tehran has denounced the new Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both of TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks alongside Iranian that oil is completely sanctioned and Iran’s penalties as “economic warfare”. Continued on Page 24 President Hassan Rouhani during a cabinet meeting yesterday. —AFP oil exports are brought down to zero, inter- Continued on Page 24

joint civilian-military sovereign council’s 11 members Sudan swears in were eventually announced late Tuesday after differ- ences within the opposition camp held up the process for two days. General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who civilian-majority already headed the TMC, was sworn in as the chairman of the new sovereign council in the morning. ruling council Wearing his usual green beret and camouflage uni- form, Burhan took the oath in a short ceremony, one KHARTOUM: Sudan took further steps in its transition hand on the Koran and the other holding a military towards civilian rule yesterday with the swearing in of a baton under his arm. He will be Sudan’s head of state new sovereign council, to be followed by the appoint- for the first 21 months of the 39-month transition peri- ment of a prime minister. The body replaces the od, until a civilian takes over for the remainder. The Transitional Military Council (TMC) that took charge council’s 10 other members were sworn in shortly after- after months of deadly street protests brought down wards and Abdalla Hamdok, who was chosen by the longtime ruler Omar Al-Bashir in April. As a result of opposition last week to be prime minister, was due to yesterday’s move, it was the first time that Sudan was not be sworn in later yesterday. under full military rule since Bashir’s coup d’etat in 1989. HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- The first steps of the transition after the mass celebra- Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday sent a cable of congratulations tions that marked the Aug 17 adoption of a transitional to Burhan. In the cable, the Amir congratulated him on KHARTOUM: Sudanese General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (center), head of Sudan’s sovereign council, watches the constitution proved difficult however. The names of the Continued on Page 24 swearing in of the new council yesterday. —AFP

Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and Trump scraps effort for both the United States and Denmark by Saudi eases travel being so direct.” Yesterday, Trump snapped back at Frederiksen, say- Denmark visit, ing her blunt refusal to consider any negotiation was curbs on women “nasty”. Trump told reporters he had taken offense at RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday began implement- slams premier her description of any such deal as “absurd”. “It was ing a landmark reform allowing women over the age of not a nice way of doing it. She could have just said no, 21 to receive passports and travel abroad without per- COPENHAGEN: Denmark was left stunned yesterday we’d rather not do it,” Trump said. “She’s not talking to mission from a male “guardian”, authorities said. The by Donald Trump’s decision to postpone a state visit me, she’s talking to the United States of America.” reform, announced earlier this month, weakens the after the government told the US president its The decision to postpone the visit confirmed just restrictive guardianship system. “The passport depart- autonomous territory Greenland was not for sale. how interested Trump was in purchasing Greenland, an ment has started receiving applications for women Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who has idea initially dismissed as a joke by some, but which the aged 21 and above to issue or renew passports and to called the idea of selling Greenland “absurd”, told White House later insisted had a serious purpose COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette travel outside the kingdom without permission,” the reporters that she was “annoyed and surprised” at because of its strategic location. The territory - which Frederiksen talks to the press after US President Donald department said on Twitter. Trump’s decision but insisted that US-Danish relations is mostly covered in ice - has been essential to US Trump cancelled his state visit yesterday. — AFP Women in the kingdom have long required permis- remain strong. defense since World War II. sion from their male “guardians” - husband, father and Trump tweeted on Tuesday that “based on Prime The postponement has sparked strong reactions in our country is for sale. Then insultingly cancels visit that other male relatives - for these tasks, a restriction that Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she Denmark. “Reality transcends imagination... this man is everybody was preparing for,” tweeted Rasmus Jarlov, a drew international censure. The reform comes after would have no interest in discussing the purchase of unpredictable,” said Morten Ostergaard of the Social member of the opposition Conservative Party. “Are parts high-profile attempts by women to escape alleged Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting sched- Liberal Party, which is part of the ruling coalition. “For of the US for sale? Alaska? Please show more respect.” guardianship abuse despite a string of reforms by uled in two weeks for another time”. “The Prime no reason, Trump assumes that (an autonomous) part of Continued on Page 24 Continued on Page 24 2 Established 1961 Local Thursday, August 22, 2019 Iraqi officials inquire about Kuwait Amir’s health Sheikh Sabah receives cables from Arab League chief, Libya’s GNA Chairman

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah condition. His Highness the Amir thanked Hakim of the Presidential Council of Libya and prime Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a phone for his phone call. minister of the Government of National Accord call yesterday from Iraqi Prime Minister Dr Adel (GNA) Fayez Al-Sarraj over his recovery from a Abdul-Mahdi who inquired about His Highness’ recent minor health setback. Sarraj uttered his health condition following successful medical sincere congratulations over His Highness the tests. His Highness Sheikh Sabah thanked the Amir’s recovery and he wished him a good health. Prime Minister for his kind feelings, expressing Amir receives His highness the Amir addressed a cable to Sarraj, appreciation for his concern. expressing his gratitude for his kind words. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad cable from Pope Moreover, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had also received a phone call Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received on Tuesday from Iraqi parliament speaker Tawadros II separate cables from the Arab League’s Mohammad Al-Halbousi who inquired about his Secretary General Ahmad Abul-Gheit and health. His Highness the Amir thanked Al-Halbousi Egypt’s Pope Tawadros II, congratulating him for his phone call and wished him good wellbeing. on recovery from his recent health trouble, and Furthermore, His Highness the Amir received a wishing His Highness Sheikh Sabah wellbeing. In phone call from Ammar Al-Hakim, head of the In the meantime, His Highness the Amir Sheikh response, His Highness the Amir sent cables to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Reforms and Construction alliance and head of Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received Abul-Gheit and Pope Tawadros, thanking them Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Al-Hikma party in Iraq, to inquire about his health yesterday a congratulatory cable from Chairman for their kind sentiments. — KUNA Crown Prince receives senior state officials

KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Ali Al- Ghanem. His Highness Sheikh Nawaf also received His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al- Hamad Al-Sabah. His Highness the Crown Prince then received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al- Hamad Al-Sabah and Deputy Prime KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh meets with Speaker of the National Assembly Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanem. — KUNA with His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah. — KUNA

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Deputy Prime His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah.

Kuwait looks to adopt technologies NBK and Loyac concluded ‘KON’ Training Program found in Qatar airport

DOHA: Kuwait Assistant Undersecretary devices, technical and electronic capa- for Ports Affairs in the Interior Ministry bilities used at Hamad International Major General Mansour Al-Awadhi Airport to facilitate the movement of praised the state-of-the-art security sys- passengers, and discussed the possibil- tems used by Hamad International ity of using them in Kuwait. He added Airport to maintain safety and security that the visit comes within the frame- of passengers and civil aviation traffic in work of cooperation and exchange of Qatar. Awadhi made his remarks on experiences between the two countries. Tuesday after a tour at the airport where He explained that the delegation lis- he headed a Kuwaiti delegation, tened to a presentation on the tasks expressing appreciation for such experi- offered by Airport Passports ence and thanking Qatari airport officials Department and the technological who facilitated the tour. Awadhi also development adopted by the depart- hailed Qatar’s experience in the issuance ment on the entry and exit counters of of visas and procedures for entry and passengers. The delegation also wit- exit of passengers to Qatar that affected nessed at first hand modern technology the speed and completion of procedures applied to electronic gates in the to passengers’ security. arrivals and departures lounges and a Awadhi said that the Kuwaiti delega- number of advanced devices used that tion was briefed during the tour on the contribute to enhancing security inside modern methods used, including the airport and other ports.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) this program and the great number of Throughout the six weeks program, leaders, and Loyac concluded the Training Program interns who participated. NBK sponsorship mentors and trainers encouraged the par- ‘KON’. More than 64 interns participated in to this program goes with our continuous ticipants to create a profitable business plan this program that consisted of six weeks support to Loyac’s activities and events.” that solves social challenges. training sessions. “NBK always strives to empower youth NBK continues to promote a range of NBK sponsored this program as part of to realize their potentials, providing career philanthropic missions and social welfare its commitment to Corporate Social and training opportunities,” Baqer added. programs as part of its corporate social Responsibility as well as towards support- Baqer stressed the importance of develop- responsibility to assert its leadership in ing students, youths and self-building initia- ment programs in shaping the youth and supporting Kuwait’s social development tives in Kuwait. Mohammad Al Othman, preparing them for the job market and even standing as a model in serving all aspects NBK General Manager, Consumer Banking more so the importance of employers sup- of the community. LOYAC is a nonprofit Group attended the closing ceremony porting such programs. organization that runs several programs for alongside Loyac officials. Commenting on As a platinum sponsor, NBK provided the youth to develop their professional this occasion, Yaqoub Al-Baqer, NBK Team lectures and guidance on business models skills, enhance their personal growth and Leader, Communications and Public rela- during the training sessions that started on help them find their sense of purpose by tions said “We are proud of the outcome of the 2nd of July until the 7th of August 2019. extending themselves to others. DOHA: Major General Mansour Al-Awadhi is seen during the tour around Hamad International Airport. — KUNA Established 1961 3 Local Thursday, August 22, 2019 Mediate regional differences to defuse tension in Gulf waters: Kuwait Kuwait stresses maintaining Yemen’s unity, sovereignty

NEW YORK: Kuwait has anew confirmed importance the relevant Security Council resolutions, ending the lems remain a priority and ending the occupation is the of strengthening regional security since the establish- occupation and establishing a Palestinian state with East first of these solutions. He underscored that investment in ment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1981, Jerusalem as its capital, he said. Israel’s policies since education is one of the most prominent areas of Kuwait’s through resolving differences between countries of the joining the UN are united by a common factor: non- assistance. Crimes of terrorists such as the so-called region since its first years of independence. Kuwait’s compliance with its charter, non-implementation of Islamic State and others resulted to the destruction of Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Security Council resolutions and international legitimacy, monuments and civilizations, as the impact of wars dev- Mansour Al-Otaibi made this statement while speaking also nonstop violations in the absence of any accounta- astated cities, erasing memories preserved by previous during a UN Security Council meeting on challenges of bility, he mentioned. The UN Charter is his primary generations, he said. peace and security in the Middle East. means of conflict prevention, he said pointing out that Otaibi pointed out that Kuwait is seeking to strength- there have been initiatives for years that Israel has Yemen’s unity en its relations with Iran based on dialogue and mutual rejected, such as suggesting Middle East to be free of Separately, Kuwait has stressed the importance of respect. He said that the dialogue is based on adopting mass destruction weapons. preserving unity and sovereignty of Yemen, expressing confidence-building measures and avoiding unilateral concern over the latest developments in the city of Aden measures, which would increase the tension of the Gulf and is looking forward to the efforts exerted by Saudi waters, disturbing the safety of waterways and under- Kuwait builds Arabia in hosting talks in Jeddah between the Yemeni NEW YORK: Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the mining the security in the world. The issues of the Middle government and representatives of the Southern UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi speaks during a UN East are intertwined and complex, currently taking up a relations based Transitional Council. This came in Kuwait’s speech at the Security Council meeting on challenges of peace and large part of the Security Council’s agenda, ranging from Security Council session on Yemen which Otaibi deliv- security in the Middle East. — KUNA 30-40 percent of the agenda, as the region witnessed on dialogue, ered Tuesday night. many wars and crises for more than seven decades, he Otaibi expressed hope that the final outcome of the agreement for the exchange of prisoners and detainees. said. He added that this region, which is the ground of mutual respect talks will lead to the return of security and stability in a He pointed out that the Hodeidah agreement is still three monotheistic religions, human civilizations, cul- way that preserves Yemen’s unity and sovereignty over struggling to reach the starting point and get out of the tures, some of the oldest cities worldwide, contains its territory. “Eight months have passed since the first phase of implementation, which will be done only by tremendous natural resources and vast human resources, Stockholm Agreement entered into force, during which it respecting the understandings and agreements reached in which it unfortunately witnesses crises. witnessed the continuation of the impasse and the lack of through the Redeployment Coordinating Committee on On the humanitarian side, Otaibi underlined that his any tangible progress,” he said. He stressed that the the concept of operations. Region’s woes work must be human-centered and the law is its source, political solution is based on the dialogue sponsored by Otaibi welcomed the efforts of the Special Envoy in Otaibi said that both the UN and Security Council to seek a decent life for the people peacefully. Adding the United Nations and through resolutions 2451, 2452 this regard by submitting proposals to break the stale- deal with the Palestinian issue, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and that Kuwait has joined with France and a group of coun- and 2481 adopted unanimously by the Council as well as mate associated with the elements of the Stockholm Libya, that are currently under occupation of parts of tries in defending civilians and generating facilities such several press statements emphasizing the need for full Agreement, stressing at the same time that these efforts their territory. The region is confronting terrorism, wit- as hospitals and schools to prevent targeting them dur- implementation of this agreement. should be based on understandings to ensure the full nessing six internal conflicts in six Arab countries out of ing wars. He brought up witnessing the occupation of Otaibi pointed out that the Stockholm agreement did exercise of the sovereignty of the Yemeni government on 14 peacekeeping operations, in addition to the crisis of Kuwait, which had numerous violations of international not witness any constructive measures that lead to its territory. He reiterated Kuwait’s firm position that there refugees and displaced people, he said. It has been reit- humanitarian law, so because of that, doubled thought- achieving the desired objectives, as the city of Taiz is still is no military solution to the crisis in Yemen, stressing the erated in more than one meeting that the solution to the fulness is ensured that everyone respects the interna- under siege for the past four years and have not wit- statement of the Special Envoy on the need to reduce the Palestinian issue lies in restoring the right of their owners tional humanitarian law. He pointed out that the number nessed any concrete measures towards achieving or pace of military escalation and reiterated that the utmost to their land and their state, reaching a comprehensive, of refugees and displaced people in the Arab countries even starting to implement the Taiz understandings, in importance lies in the full and concrete implementation of just and lasting settlement through the implementation of rose to 24 million. Political solutions to the region’s prob- addition to the continuous stalemate to implement the all three elements of the Stockholm Agreement. —KUNA Kuwait Interior Minister affirms deep military bond with US

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Larry Memmott, where the two sides Minister and Minister of Interior discussed a number of issues of com- Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah yes- mon concern, the Ministry of Interior terday affirmed the deep-rooted coop- said in a statement. Ambassador eration in all fields with the US, espe- Silverman praised Kuwait’s vital role in cially in the security arena. Sheikh stabilizing security and peacekeeping Khaled Al-Jarrah made the remark dur- in the region, expressing his country’s ing a meeting with the US Ambassador aspiration to continue coordination and to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman, accom- cooperation with Kuwait, the statement panied by US Deputy Chief of Mission added. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah meets with the US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman, accompanied by US Deputy Chief of Mission Larry Memmott.

Kuwait army chief meets British military official KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff the military aspects, according to a Lieutenant General Mohammad Al- Defense Ministry statement. Delegation Khuder met yesterday with the defense Affairs Colonel Musaed Al-Hamdan and attache at the UK embassy in the coun- Commander of British Military Mission try. During the meeting, they discussed in Kuwait Brigadier Andrew Barr also issues of common interest, especially in attended the meeting. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Al-Khuder meets with the defense attache at the UK embassy in the country. 4 Established 1961 Local Thursday, August 22, 2019

Photo of the Day

KUWAIT: Sunset over Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Causeway. —Photo by Bader Al-Methen (KUNA) Manpower authority denies allowing small projects’ laborers transfer to private sector Alternative energy to produce power at state departments’ buildings

News in brief By A Saleh Alternative energy ministry will use 10 current buildings to implement Ministry of Electricity and Water’s undersecre- projects with a capacity of 3.6 megawatts. Oun said KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Manpower tary for technical services and main workshops the ministry is studying the possibility of con- Foreign ministry defends denied issuing a decision or circular allowing the Fuad Al-Oun said the ministry plans to use alterna- structing multilevel parking lots for the ministry Kuwait’s reputation transfer of small projects’ laborers to the private tive energy technologies as a basic element of the with 900 parking places to serve ministry employ- sector. A local newspaper had said according to ees as a solution due to the increasing number of KUWAIT: Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah informed sources, the authority is contemplating a employees. He said the parking building will have Al-Khaled Al-Sabah said that the foreign ministry wrote to decision regarding expat labor in small projects. an Islamic architectural design, and its roof will be concerned authorities in other countries where people In other news, sources said the information used to install photoelectric panels with a capacity allegedly made disparaging remarks against Kuwaiti institu- ministry is carrying out a comprehensive study to ‘Pioneer’ of 483 KW. tions to take legal action against those who insulted Kuwait. re-evaluate work in the special programs budget, Responding to a question from MP Abdullah Al-Kandari in adding that rewards were not paid to workers in cardiologist Visiting cardiologist regards to legal action taken against parties who allegedly such programs since March. They said the finan- visits Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Heart Center will host an Italian insulted the Kuwaiti judiciary, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said cial ceiling for such programs is open and sur- cardiologist as part of the center’s policy to attract that based on its founding decree which states taking care of passes the allowed limit for Kuwaiti employees at the best medical experts and provide all aspects of Kuwaiti interests abroad and taking measures to protect them KD 1,200 and expats at KD 600. They said care in the field of heart diseases. Prof Carlo de within laws, regulations and international treaties, the foreign rewards of programs with special budgets were Mario is one of the pioneers in the field of heart dis- ministry “takes the responsibility of writing to concerned stopped until the rules of such programs are ease and highly skilled in surgical procedures. The authorities to take legal and penal action against all those who amended to suit the ministry’s budget, as the min- components of new ministry buildings, and is set to visit will be from Aug 25 to 29 to carry out several committed an act that forms an insult or aggression against istry seeks solutions for the issue including the commit to power produced from renewable energy delicate procedures and treatment. Kuwaiti patients Kuwait. It also does not hesitate in making statements when- unification of rewards and make sure they do not sources in new buildings at no less than 10 percent can inquire about making appointments with the vis- ever anything that means insult is received.” He said the for- eign ministry takes all diplomatic and legal measures regard- vary in all programs. to alleviate load on the power grid. He said the iting cardiologist by calling 22272608. ing issues that concern Kuwait and its citizens. —Al-Jarida be held in Russia. Head of Kuwait’s dele- Bedoon students rejected Injuries in Riggae PAAET gation Deputy Director General for Training Affairs Eng Tariq Al-Omairi said KUWAIT: The education ministry has stopped the admission participates that this competition is unique, noting of bedoon children in government schools until further gas cylinder blast that an elite group of people with tech- notice. Informed educational sources said education zones nical and vocational specialties from 63 halted procedures of admitting bedoon children in their in World Skills’ countries will participate, in addition to schools due to high numbers of students in them, adding that pioneering companies that support guardians were asked to refer to the ministry. They said occupational education. Kuwait will par- despite Minister Al-Azmi’s instructions to ease procedures competition ticipate in four skills: welding, wiring, air for this group, where some students were admitted with a conditioning and cooling, and health written approval by the minister, the zones refused to regis- KUWAIT: Kuwait will be represented by care, he indicated. The competition will ter students. Their guardians then went to the ministry, where the Public Authority for Applied be held with 63 countries participating they were told there is no place in schools and “we are wait- Education and Training at the World in 56 skills, featuring 1,300 competitors, ing for the start of the school year to consider classes’ budg- Skills’ international skills competition to 1,300 experts and 3,500 volunteers. et”. They said the ministry advised them to go to the private education department and register their children as a pre- caution against any unknown development. —Al-Anbaa

ePassport gates

KUWAIT: Kuwait International Airport will use ePassport gates to allow Kuwaitis to travel abroad and return to the country without the need to stop at passport control, start- ing next year. Informed sources said the project, which was By Hanan Al-Saadoun stations responded and found most approved by the IT department at the interior ministry, will injuries were burns, which were han- allow citizens to place their passports on a scanner linked to KUWAIT: A cooking gas cylinder blast dled by paramedics. The fire was an ePassport gates that reads stored information and opens. injured three persons in an apartment brought under control and put out. An The sources said this service will be limited to Kuwaitis with in a five-storey building in Riggae. investigation was opened to reveal the Kuwait’s team. electronic passports. —Al-Qabas Industrial Shuwaikh and Ardiya fire cause of the fire. Established 1961 5 Local Thursday, August 22, 2019

Zain Cash, UNHCR and IrisGuard collaborate to introduce iris technology for cash disbursements to refugees in Iraq

New revolutionary technology helps expand UNHCR cash assistance in a blink of an eye

BAGHDAD: Zain Group, the leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces that Zain Cash, its award-winning mobile wallet, money transfer, electronic bill payment, and funds disbursement service in Iraq will introduce a revolutionary EyePay Cash platform enabling refugees to cash-out their financial assistance via iris identification. The program has been developed by Zain Cash in partnership with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and IrisGuard, a UK-based elec- tronic payment solutions company and the leading sup- plier of end-to-end iris recognition biometric technolo- gy, to ensure the highest level of protection against fraud and improved accountability in transferring cash assistance to the beneficiaries of UNHCR. Currently over 120,000 vulnerable families in Iraq and approximately 30,000 refugees in the country receive cash support via UNHCR, with the agency dis- bursing over $60 million through its partners in 2018 alone. The introduction of iris technology for payment of cash assistance will improve identification accuracy, efficiency and speed as it is the most accurate, fast and secure biometric personal identifier available today. Only the entitled refugee will be able cash-out without any need for any other identification tools, it massively reduces fraud and as such, the much-needed aid is pro- vided to those who it is intended for. It is worth men- tioning that UNHCR has in place a high level of security and encryption for its registration data. A streamlined disbursement process will significantly aid UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in Iraq who are target- an important role in the socio-economic development disbursement of critical cash assistance to these in ing it to a reliable and permanent Unique Verifiable ing more than 1 million displaced Iraqis and refugees for of this great nation, and as such our collaboration with need will have a marked and immediate positive impact Identity (UVI) that is used for cross-matching purpos- cash assistance in 2019. on their lives.” es. IrisGuard’s EyePay Phone is the first of its kind; and Ayman Gharaibeh, UNHCR Iraq Representative said, Imad Malhas, Founder and CEO at IrisGuard com- capable of authenticating identity on a global scale “UNHCR always looks for new and improved technolo- mented, “We are proud to be leading the way in pro- within 3 seconds. This new smartphone combines gies that can help enhance protection services to viding financial inclusion for vulnerable populations in IrisGuard’s expertise in iris recognition technology with refugees, including cash assistance. We have been uti- 120,000 families, the blink of an eye. We are delighted to be partnered mobile capability, providing the world’s only one to mil- lizing iris scan technology to facilitate assistance in the with Zain Cash and the UNHCR providing a reliable, lions iris comparison in real-time. MENA region - in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt - and it 30,000 refugees 100% accurate solution which removes risks, increases IrisGuard was founded in 2001 and is a UK-based has proven to be a most effective and efficient channel. receive cash beneficiary privacy, improves speed and ultimately electronic payment solutions company and the leading Iris scan reinforces the dignity of the beneficiaries ensures that those who need it receive aid faster and in supplier of end-to-end iris recognition biometric tech- ensuring their identity through their iris and thus is support a more secure way.” nology for large-scale deployments, focused on man- fraud free. UNHCR is glad that Zain Cash is taking the By integrating the iris technology in the registration aging trusted human identity requirements for large lead in rolling out the use of iris scan technology in Iraq and cash-out of assistance to refugees, the disburse- populations. Zain Cash was launched in late 2015 by in cooperation with IrisGuard.” ment process is set to become more streamlined and Zain and Iraq Wallet, allowing users to deposit, with- Commenting on the adoption of the EyePay Cash secure and quick in comparison to previous process draw, transfer money and pay for goods and services platform in Iraq, Zain Cash CEO, Yazen Altimimi said, UNHCR and IrisGuard allows us to return greater dig- which took over 15 days. The on-boarding process for via their mobile phone. The service was subsequently “Zain has a strong commitment to the people of Iraq nity, privacy and ensure financial inclusion of vulnerable iris biometric capture is fast and simple - the IrisGuard chosen by UNHCR as a disbursement mechanism for and its residents. We are steadfast in our desire to play people throughout Iraq, and we expect the streamlined imager captures a greyscale image of the iris, convert- refugees in Iraq.

UNHCR assists 648,000+ forcibly displaced people in the first half of 2019

DUBAI: A new report by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency revealed that 648,476 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees were assisted in the first half of 2019 with Zakat funds received through its ‘Refugee Zakat Fund’. The report released today by UNHCR is a mid-year review that shows the impact of its Refugee Zakat Fund which was intro- duced earlier this year. The Fund is a globally trust- ed, effective, and Sharia compliant structure that harnesses the power of Zakat to make a long-lasting impact on the lives of the most vulnerable displaced communities around the world. According to the report, $38.1 million was raised through the Fund thanks to generous contributions ate need of humanitarian assistance. Multi-purpose testament of the instrumental role that Islamic phi- be supplemented through its Sadaqah Jariyah cam- from donors across the globe; surpassing the cash assistance supports refugee and IDP families in lanthropy can play in the humanitarian response to paign (voluntary charity contributions Muslims make fundraising target of $26 million originally set for meeting their most basic needs including rent, food, displacement crisis globally,” said Houssam Chahin, at their discretion), launched post Ramadan to sup- 2019. The report also revealed that for the first time, health and education. In May this year, The Fund UNHCR’s Head of Private Sector Partnerships in port refugees in Bangladesh as a priority. Zakat was raised online by UNHCR offices in expanded its geographical scope of support to cover the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Rafi-uddin Shikoh, CEO and Managing Director Canada, the United Kingdom and in a number of displaced Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, making “We are grateful to all individuals and institutions at DinarStandard, growth strategy firm working countries in South East Asia. it the first crisis outside the MENA region to receive who continue to entrust UNHCR with their Zakat with UNHCR on the production of the report, said Donations received through the Fund have so far Zakat assistance. This will support UNHCR’s ongoing and for their resolute support for displaced per- “The Refugee Zakat Fund has gained substantial helped over 111,209 of the most vulnerable refugee efforts in providing life-saving assistance to sons around the globe.” momentum since its launch earlier this year. With and IDP families (approximately 648,476 individuals) Rohingya refugees displaced due to conflict from UNHCR aims to substantially scale up its support its expansion to Bangladesh and already exceeding in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Rakhine State in Myanmar. through Zakat funds to support a total of 1 million the original target of $26 million for 2019, the Mauritania through cash assistance. In Yemen alone, “The impact of the contributions to UNHCR’s displaced persons by the end of 2019. UNHCR has Refugee Zakat Fund is gearing up to showcase the $13.5 million has already been disbursed as emer- Refugee Zakat Fund on the lives of refugees and consequently revised the Fund’s target to $44 million impact it can have on the lives of millions of dis- gency cash to support displaced families in desper- internally displaced persons is remarkable. It is a in Zakat donations for 2019. The Fund’s impact will placed families.” International THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019 EU, UK clash over Australia’s Cardinal Pell loses child sex abuse appeal Johnson’s Brexit Page 9 backstop demand Page 8

ROME: Members of the far-right League party congratulates Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini (center) following his speech at the Italian Senate, in Rome as the country faces a political crisis. — AFP Italy Prime Minister Giuseppe resigns Conte denounces Salvini for sinking government

ROME: Italy’s prime minister resigned after launching a blis- neither of the coalition parties, handed his resignation to ple who have institutional culture and a sense of responsi- which he has blamed for impoverishing the country. Rome tering attack on his own interior minister, Matteo Salvini, President Sergio Mattarella, who said he would begin talks bility,” he said in an hour-long speech in which he also should spend at least 50 billion euros ($55 billion) to stimu- accusing him of sinking the ruling coalition and endangering with parliamentary groups to see if a new coalition can be denounced Salvini’s habit of brandishing the cross at his late the chronically weak economy, he added. the economy for personal and political gain. Prime Minister formed. Failing that, Mattarella would have to dissolve parlia- political rallies. “I am not afraid,” he said. “I don’t want Italy to be a slave Giuseppe Conte, addressing parliament after it was recalled ment, 3-1/2 years ahead of schedule, to allow for autumn Touching on a particularly sensitive subject, he also said to anyone, and I don’t want Italy to be given a long chain like from its summer recess to decide the future of the 14-month- elections. Salvini should provide explanations over allegations that a little dog. I don’t want any chain at all.” Italy has not held old government, accused the far-right League party chief The consultations with party delegations will begin with the League attempted to obtain illegal funding from Russia an election in the autumn since World War Two because the Salvini of seeking to cash in on his rising popularity. minor groups at 1400 GMT. Mattarella will hear all the main through a covert oil transaction. Salvini rejected Conte’s final months of the year are traditionally dedicated to draw- In a shock move on Aug 8, Salvini declared that his parties on Thursday, concluding with 5-Star at 1500 GMT. comments, saying other parties were afraid of going to ing up the budget-a key moment for a country with one of alliance with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement was The PD’s leadership is also scheduled to meet to discuss the elections and losing their influence. He said his political the world’s largest debt mountains. At the end of the parlia- dead and called for elections, but the gambit could yet prove prospect of hooking up with 5-Star. The two parties have goal was to challenge the European Union’s fiscal rules, mentary debate the League withdrew the no-confidence a big political blunder and open the door to power for his been bitter political foes for years. Financial markets rallied vote in the government that it had tabled earlier this month, rivals. Politicians from 5-Star and the centre-left Democratic on Conte’s resignation, seemingly hopeful that snap polls but Conte said the move had come too late. Party (PD) are openly discussing forming a new coalition could be avoided. “I see that the League’s leader Matteo Salvini lacks the which would push the League into opposition and give Italy a courage to take responsibility for his actions. If there’s a more centrist, pro-European government. “The interior minis- Challenging Europe Jihadists exploit lack of courage, don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility before ter has shown that he is following his own interests and those Salvini at times shook his head, rolled his eyes or nod- weaknesses to the country that is watching us,” said Conte. Mattarella is of his party,” Conte told a packed Senate, a stony-faced ded to League senators as the prime minister accused him likely to push for a swift decision by the 5-Star and PD on Salvini sitting by his side. “His decisions pose serious risks for of being “irresponsible”, “reckless”, “alarming” and “disre- make gains whether they can work together. Failing that, he will proba- this country.” spectful”. Conte said he was worried by Salvini’s threat to bly dissolve parliament and call a vote in late October or He described Salvini’s actions as reckless and “liable to tip call people into the country’s squares if his drive for elec- early November. “They won’t be able to run away from the country into a spiral of political uncertainty and financial tions were thwarted, as well as his demand for “full pow- elections for ever,” Salvini told reporters as Conte met the instability”. After the Senate debate Conte, who belongs to ers”. “We do not need men who have ‘full powers’, but peo- president. — Reuters

document reads. “It is commonly under- alongside Rah on Tuesday were dozens of US school stood among scholars and the general Teenagers other locals who said their relatives were public that depicting African Americans also in custody-among them 21 boys from with jet black skin is a negative racial the most recent night raid. district sued for stereotype. During the Jim Crow era [of swept up in They say soldiers used ladders to scale racial segregation] slaves were often the walls of their compounds. Widow Rozi, coloring black depicted as happy in their slave existence night raids who only gave one name, said a gun was and with jet black skin as a means to dis- put to her head and she was told to “keep pupil’s scalp guise their humanity and imply that they quiet” by soldiers as they led her 20-year- are unlike ‘white’ people.” in Kashmir old son Suhail Mohiuddin from the house. As news of the incident spread and out- Another woman, Mubeena, said a soldier SRINAGAR: Ali Mohammad Rah sat on the rage grew, the Pearland ISD issued a state- “sprayed something on my face” when her WASHINGTON: Parents of a black pavement outside a police station in ment saying that it was “extremely disap- brother was seized. “I fell down in pain and teenager in Texas are suing their Houston- Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar on Tuesday, pointed to learn of a situation,” but insisted couldn’t see for a while. When I gathered area school district after three white mid- waiting to see his teenage sons, who were that the boy’s hair cut violated district myself my brother had already been taken dle school personnel used a marker to blot swept up in government raids overnight. dress code. Nevertheless, a “campus away,” she said. out a design in their son’s scalp. The feder- “Soldiers violently banged windows of our administrator mishandled disciplinary Nearby, Ulfat cradled her one-month- al civil rights lawsuit was filed Sunday home while we were sleeping,” Rah told action,” and the practice that is “not con- old son as she waited to find out about her against the Pearland Independent School AFP, saying his sons-aged 14 and 16 - were doned by the district,” it said. The breadwinner husband Mushtaq Ahmad, who District and the three staff members of taken away before dawn in the Srinagar unnamed administrator was placed on she said was taken away by police. “I don’t Berry Miller Junior High who used the neighborhood of Mehjoor Nagar. administrative leave over the incident. The have money to buy medicines for myself marker to color the student’s scalp. “They just barged in and dragged my statement said that ISD officials contacted and other things for my baby,” she said. The three claimed that his “common two sons away.” Government sources say at the student’s family “to express our sincer- Officials at the station did not respond to a African American ‘fade’ haircut violated least 4,000 people have been detained in est apology and extreme disappointment request for comment. Authorities have the Pearland ISD dress code policy,” the Kashmir since India revoked the restive in this situation.” declined to speak on the numbers of people lawsuit reads. The school’s assistant princi- Himalayan region’s autonomy on August 5 pal threatened to suspend the boy if he did However, according to the lawsuit and behind bars. Those picked up include local and imposed a massive security lockdown politicians, activists, business leaders and not have his scalp design colored. The the school website, the assistant principal on the restive region. Protests have broken lawyers. Kashmir has been divided between design stood out even more when that was involved in the incident has since been out frequently, prompting raids by police India and Pakistan since independence from done, so school personnel proceeded to promoted to school principal. In a related and paramilitary forces. Britain in 1947, and has been the spark for color his entire scalp with black marker. incident southeast of Pearland, in In Nowshera, in an old quarter of the two major wars and countless clashes Galveston, Texas, two white police offi- “They laughed as they took many minutes city, residents said several young men were between the two nuclear-armed arch-rivals. cers on horseback were recently pho- to color 13-year-old J.T.’s scalp which took taken away and detained by police on In justifying the scrapping of Kashmir’s tographed in early August leading a hand- many days of scrubbing to come off. J.T. Sunday night. Locals from other neighbor- autonomy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra was immensely humiliated and shamed,” cuffed African-American by a rope - a LAHORE: Pakistani civil society activists carry placards as hoods reported similar blitzes. To try and Modi said last week that “fresh thinking” the lawsuit states. scene that evoked past lynchings of black stop the raids, residents in Srinagar’s Soura was needed after seven decades of failure “There are hardly any African people. Those officers will not face a they shout slogans during a protest rally in Lahore, as they condemn the India stripped the disputed Kashmir region of area have erected barricades and dug to ensure harmony in the former Himalayan Americans in America with jet black skin criminal investigation for their actions, its special autonomy and imposed a lockdown. — AFP trenches in roads that lead to their cluster kingdom, where tens of thousands have and, of course, neither does JT,” the court officials said.— AFP of homes. Sitting outside the police station died in the past 30 years.— AFP Established 1961 7 International Thursday, August 22, 2019 Yemen’s separatist chief in Saudi amid Aden standoff Takeover of Aden by separatists exposes cracks in coalition

RIYADH: The leader of southern Yemeni separatists has regional allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which in June arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks aimed at ending a scaled down its presence in Yemen while still backing standoff in Aden port between the separatists and thousands of southern separatist fighters. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, who had been STC chief Aidaroos al-Zubaidi arrived in the Saudi nominal allies under a Sunni Muslim military coalition. Red Sea city of Jeddah late on Tuesday for the talks, Saudi Arabia, the coalition leader, called for a summit the STC said. Hadi’s government asked Abu Dhabi, after the separatists on Aug 10 took over Aden, interim which has called for dialogue, to stop funding and arm- seat of the government, in a move that fractured the ing separatist forces. “If it were not for the full support alliance. provided by the United Arab Emirates ... this rebellion The ousted Yemeni government and coalition part- would not have happened. This scheme of fragmenta- ner the United Arab Emirates traded blame over the tion continues and is escalating despite calls for de- crisis late on Tuesday. It was not clear if a delayed escalation led by Saudi Arabia,” said a government let- meeting involving both Yemeni sides would go ahead ter to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday. after the separatists extended The UAE responded by their grip on the south on reaffirming its commitment to Tuesday by seizing govern- the coalition and criticizing ment military camps in nearby the “weak performance” and Abyan. Aden crisis “ineffectiveness” of Hadi’s The separatist fighters are government and its inability part of the Saudi-led alliance complicates to engage in constructive dia- that intervened in Yemen in peace efforts logue with other Yemeni par- March 2015 against the ties. “It is not appropriate for Houthis, who ousted President the Yemeni government to Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi hang its political and adminis- from power in the capital trative failure on the UAE,” Sanaa in late 2014. His gov- Abu Dhabi’s deputy perma- ZINJIBAR: A fighter with the UAE-trained Security Belt Forces loyal to the pro-independence Southern ernment rebased to Aden. However, the UAE-backed nent U.N. representative said in New York. His remarks Transitional Council (STC), stands atop a military vehicle near the south-central coastal city of Zinjibar separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has a were carried on state news agency WAM yesterday. in south-central Yemen yesterday. —AFP rival agenda to Hadi’s government, which has refused to The STC said it would hold Aden until elements of participate in any talks unless the southern forces the Islamist Islah, which the UAE regards as an offshoot reverse what it calls a coup. of the Muslim Brotherhood, and northerners are the south and blames Islah, a key Hadi ally, of being urban centers, has recently stepped up attacks on removed from power positions in the south. It also complicit in a Houthi assault on southern forces earlier Saudi cities. The conflict, which has killed tens of thou- Trading accusations wants a say in Yemen’s future. Yemeni sources have said this month. The Islah party denies the charge. sands and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, is The standoff has complicated efforts to end the the delayed summit could discuss reshuffling Hadi’s The Houthis point to Aden as proof that Hadi is unfit widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi ruinous war and has exposed differences between government to include the STC, which seeks self-rule in to rule. The group, which holds Sanaa and most big Arabia and Iran. —Reuters

local media as 20-year-old Willian Brazil bus hijacker Augusto da Silva, had been carrying what turned out to be a fake gun, mili- armed with fake tary police said, without specifying if it was a pistol. Heavily armed police had Nigerian president gun shot dead surrounded the bus as they negotiated with the hijacker. assigns new cabinet, RIO DE JANEIRO: A hijacker armed A live broadcast of the scene showed with what turned out to be a fake gun several ambulances parked nearby, appoints oil minister was shot and killed by police in Rio de receiving hostages as they were released Janeiro on Tuesday after he held a bus- one by one. The man boarded the Rio- ABUJA: Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari load of passengers hostage for several bound bus at around 5:40 am (0840 swore members of his cabinet into office yester- hours on a major bridge in peak-hour GMT) and began threatening passen- day, assigning a new minister of state for petrole- traffic. Dozens of people were trapped gers. “He said the bus was being hijacked um in Africa’s top producer of crude oil. Buhari on the bus on a heavily transited bridge and didn’t ask for our belongings,” Hans kept the petroleum portfolio for himself, as in his connecting Rio with the neighboring city Moreno, one of the passengers, told first term, and appointed Timipre Silva as the jun- of Niteroi after it was commandeered by Globo TV. “He was very calm, very qui- ior minister, who is widely expected to manage the man, who police said was also carry- et.” Walter Freire, another passenger, the portfolio on a day-to-day basis. Silva, a former ing a stun gun, lighter and plastic bottle said he thought he was “going to die.” governor of Bayelsa state in the southern Niger filled with gasoline. “Thank God the police performed well,” Delta oil production heartlands, replaces former Describing the man as “psychotic,” Freire told Globo TV. ExxonMobil executive Emmanuel Kachikwu who Lieutenant Colonel Maurilio Nunes told RIO DE JANEIRO: Photo shows the gunman who hijacked a bus with around 31 passengers, before he was shot dead by police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. —AFP was the country’s main representative at OPEC reporters a sniper was given the green ‘Save the hostages’ meetings. light to shoot the hijacker when he Several lanes of traffic on the busy Nigeria, which has Africa’s biggest economy, briefly exited the bus for fear he was Rio-Niteroi bridge spanning Guanabara remains heavily reliant on crude oil sales despite about to set the vehicle alight. The man Bay were paralyzed during the hostage state Governor Wilson Witzel, who was this type of terrorism.” Police are investi- seen pumping his fist in the air after the gating the hijacker’s motivation for com- efforts by Buhari to boost non-oil revenues since had placed plastic bottles cut in half and situation that gripped the city. he first took office in 2015. Oil receipts account partially filled with gasoline throughout Commuters stuck on the bridge could be hijacker was shot. “We are looking after mandeering the bus. They said he had no the families of the hostages and of the criminal history. This is not the first time for about 90% of foreign exchange and low oil the bus, said Nunes, a member of an elite seen standing outside their cars parked prices helped to push the country into recession police squad. bumper to bumper and taking photos or person who died.” A member of the a public transit bus has been hijacked in hijacker’s family had “apologized to the Rio. In 2000, a gunman stormed a pas- in 2016. The move to assign portfolios comes six He was taken to hospital where he filming videos with their smartphones. months after Buhari won a presidential election died, military police said in a statement. The bus had been on its way to Rio, a entire society,” Witzel told reporters at senger bus in a fashionable neighbor- the scene. hood of the city. The hours-long hijack- and nearly three months after his second term Thirty-seven people were in the vehicle sprawling city of more than six million began. The time taken to appoint ministers caused when it was hijacked. Of those, six were people where deadly violence is com- Witzel, whose tough on crime mes- ing of bus 174 was later turned into an sage helped get him elected last year, award-winning documentary. The hijack- jitters amongst investors and threatened growth freed during the terrifying, nearly four- mon. “Ideally everyone would have got prospects. hour ordeal. None of the hostages was out of this alive, but we had to take a said he was sure the incident was “linked er and one hostage were killed in that to organized crime which encourages incident. —AFP Zainab Ahmed, who became finance minister in hurt, police said. The man, identified by decision to save the hostages,” said Rio September last year after her predecessor resigned, retained the position with additional told reporters when he submitted his responsibilities for the budget and national plan- Moderate application earlier this month. Ennahda ning. The cabinet of 43 ministers faces a long list won the first free parliamentary elections of challenges including tepid growth following after the Arab Spring pro-democracy Nigeria’s emergence from recession in 2017, high Islamists make uprisings of 2011, but did not stand in the unemployment and galloping inflation that has hit presidential poll after protests by secu- the poorest people in a nation of 190 million peo- new power larists like those against Egypt’s freely ple, most of whom live on less than $2 a day. elected Muslim Brotherhood, which was And security forces have been stretched as subsequently banned. they try to tackle Islamists waging a decade-long quest in Tunisia Mourou, kept under police surveil- insurgency in the northeast, banditry in the north- lance during the 24-year rule of Zine El west and clashes between nomadic herdsmen and TUNIS: Tunisia’s moderate Islamists are Abidine Ben Ali, has a good chance of farming communities over dwindling arable land in hoping the genial Beethoven fan they surviving the first round of the election central states. “The core objectives of this admin- have nominated to run in next month’s because the secularist vote is split, ana- istration are to improve security, achieve diversi- presidential elections will break the lysts say. If he wins the second round he fied, inclusive economic growth and fight corrup- mould in the Arab world by turning suc- would become a standout, elected Sunni tion,” Buhari told his cabinet at the swearing in cess at the ballot box into uncontested Islamist president in North Africa and ceremony. The ministry of power, housing and rule. Abdelfattah Mourou is a lawyer the Middle East, where many longtime works - created to address challenges related to who has distanced himself from the more rulers style themselves as bulwarks the country’s ailing electricity and transport infra- socially conservative positions of his against radical Islamism. Whether that structure when Buhari first took office in 2015 - Ennahda party in the past, has friendly would happen is less clear in a country was broken up. relations with opponents and is known with no reliable opinion polls. TUNIS: Nabil Baffoun (right), Tunisia’s head of Independent High Authority for elec- Babatunde Fashola, a former governor of com- for a jokey manner. Some Tunisians are wary, recalling a tions (ISIE), attends a press conference in Tunis. —AFP mercial hub Lagos state who headed that super His aim, he says, is to unite Tunisians 2013 reception Mourou gave to visiting ministry in the first term, was named minister for via the election to be held on Sept 15 in Islamist preacher Wagdy Ghoneim, who Mouna ben Salem, a student in Tunis, deals only with foreign and defence poli- housing and works. Sale Mamman, a businessman which he will face 25 other candidates, was excluded from the United Kingdom capital of the former French colony, cy in Tunisia’s nascent democracy. and former ministry of works official, was given including prominent secularists such as in 2009 for “seeking to foment, justify or where the key tourism sector is recover- Mourou was not immediately available for the power portfolio. His task will be to tackle a Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, his glory terrorist violence”. Mourou later ing from 2015 militant attacks. comment, but he regularly displays mod- poor electricity supply that holds back everything Defense Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi and a apologized, saying he did not realize the Ennadha officials say the party has erate credentials, attending annual gath- from manufacturing to education, while address- TV tycoon. “If I am elected I will be full extent of his views. “Mourou is like a shown its true colours in its readiness to erings of Jews at the ancient Ghriba syna- ing spiralling debts that have crippled the power president of all Tunisians, not president chameleon; his positions change every seek political consensus and is entitled to gogue, for instance, where he speaks sector and held back investment. for Ennahda supporters,” Mourou, 71, day like the rest of the Islamists,” said compete in polls for the president, who about religious coexistence. —Reuters “We have seen an exodus of the more capable and technocratic ministers and in their place there are politically connected replacements,” said dead to 100. Officials had put the tally at 95 on Sunday, and cal condition,” said the doctor. Many of the victims are Malte Liewerscheidt, vice president at Teneo Tanzania truck blast another two people were announced dead on Monday. At motorbike taxi drivers who rushed to the scene to try to Intelligence. He said some of the new entrants least 30 of the victims died in the days after the accident, in siphon off leaking petrol. were stalwarts in Buhari’s ruling All Progressives which a fireball engulfed a crowd thronging to collect petrol It was the latest in a string of such disasters in Africa and Congress (APC) party, who appear to have been death toll hits 100 from an overturned tanker near Morogoro, 200 kilometers at least the third this year. Last month, 45 people were killed rewarded for helping him to win February’s elec- (125 miles) west of Dar es Salaam. and more than 100 injured in central Nigeria when a petrol NAIROBI: The death toll from a fuel truck explosion in tion, while others were part of a bid to solidify the Officials said the explosion was triggered when a man tanker crashed and then exploded as people tried to take Tanzania on August 10 hit 100 yesterday after several vic- party’s base in some parts of the country ahead of tried to take the truck’s battery, creating sparks that ignited the fuel. In May, a similar incident in Niger killed nearly 80 tims perished from severe burns. Aminiel Aligaesha, a elections in 2023. “There are no real surprises the fuel. A doctor at the hospital, speaking on condition of people. In the worst tragedy, 292 people lost their lives in spokesman for the National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, told here. The potential for positive change is rather anonymity, told AFP that most of those who survived the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2010, while in reporters “two people died on Tuesday during the day, and limited,” said Liewerscheidt. —Reuters initial blast had suffered burns on over 80 percent of their September 2015 at least 203 people died the South Sudan another on Tuesday night”, bringing the total number of body. “We are doing our best, but most of them are in criti- town of Maridi. —AFP 8 International Thursday, August 22, 2019 Five EU countries to take in Open Arms migrants, ending standoff Around 100 migrants stranded at sea for weeks

BRUSSELS: Five EU states agreed to take in scores of said it was seeking recipient states for the migrants on migrants stranded for weeks on board a crowded res- board a second charity ship, the Norwegian-flagged cue ship, EU authorities said yesterday, ending a pro- Ocean Viking, whose disembarkation Salvini had also longed standoff with Rome over their fate. The around sought to prevent. The ship is carrying 356 migrants. one hundred mostly African migrants, picked up in the Refinitiv data pinpointed that vessel west of the Maltese Mediterranean from early August onwards by the Open island of Gozo. Salvini, who has clashed with Italyís court Arms, had been forced to remain on the Spanish-regis- system over his attempts to veto landings, says the country tered vessel after the Italian government refused to has borne too much responsibility for handling migration to allow it to dock in line with a closed ports policy it Europe. This month the coalition his League party formed adopted last year. with the 5-Star movement collapsed. They finally disembarked Signs of the impact of the on the Sicilian island of migration crisis were also evi- Lampedusa on Tuesday night dent in Madrid, where the after an Italian prosecutor Second ship, government said the Open ordered the shipís seizure and Arms was not authorized to evacuation. Several of the Ocean Viking carry out rescues, only to migrants jumped overboard provide humanitarian aid. The and tried to swim to shore. offshore with charity had previously been Spain, France, Germany, 356 migrants threatened with a fine if it Luxembourg and Portugal continued to perform rescues. had agreed to take all of them Asked if the government in, said a European would sanction Open Arms, Commission spokeswoman in Spainís acting deputy prime Brussels. Authorities in Madrid and Lisbon confirmed minister Carmen Calvo declined to answer directly, their readiness to participate. telling Cadena Ser radio that no one was above the law, ìincluding a ship like this.î European Commission Steady flow of refugees spokeswoman Tove Ernst said the five countries receiv- A succession of charity vessels has struggled over ing the Open Arms migrants would register them and MADRID: Activists ride boats bearing placards reading ‘Safe harbor now!’ at the Retiro Park in Madrid the past year to bring migrants rescued at sea to Italian make necessary checks and transport arrangements, during an awareness campaign organized by Amnesty International in support of migrant rescue boats shores. The countryís far-right Interior Minister Matteo meaning the relocation from Lampedusa would take stuck in limbo for days. —AFP Salvini has taken a tough line on migrant entry since the some time. ìThe Commission will ...do its utmost to sup- coalition government he forms part of took office in port and help to ensure that procedures are as swift as June 2018. With the continuous flow of refugees des- possible,î she said. EU states have been at loggerheads in 2015, with bitter feuds over how to handle refugees due to discuss the issue again when they meet in perate to cross from Africa to Europe, the Commission over migration since a spike in Mediterranean arrivals and migrants damaging the blocís unity. EU leaders are Brussels mid-October. —Reuters

letter does not provide a legal operational EU, UK clash over solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland,” commis- Johnson’s Brexit sion spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told Salvini: Italian reporters. “It does not set out what any backstop demand alternative arrangements could be, and in fact it recognises there is no guarantee far-right leader BRUSSELS: Britain and the EU clashed that such arrangements will be in place by Tuesday over Prime Minister Boris the end of the transitional period.” Johnson’s demand to scrap the Irish bor- down but not der backstop plan, as fears mount of a ‘No prospect’ of deal chaotic “no-deal” Brexit. London insisted Downing Street hit back, saying the yet out there was “no prospect” of a Brexit deal withdrawal agreement struck in 2018, unless the backstop was abandoned, after which includes the backstop, was “sim- ROME: With his “Italians first” rallying cry and his Brussels said Britain had still not come up ply unviable”, having been rejected tub-thumping against Islam and illegal migrants, with a workable alternative. three times by British lawmakers. Matteo Salvini’s stint as Italy’s deputy prime minis- Johnson wrote to EU Council “Unless the withdrawal agreement is ter and interior minister made him the country’s President Donald Tusk on Monday to reopened and the backstop abolished most popular and controversial politician. But the insist that Britain could not accept what there is no prospect of a deal,” a leader of the far-right League party was on Downing Street spokesman said. The he called the “anti-democratic” backstop, BERLIN: The Union Jack is raised next to an European Union (right) and a Tuesday ushered away from the government bench a mechanism to avoid border checks clash comes as Johnson prepares to travel to Berlin and Paris, where he German (left) flag ahead of the visit of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at and joined the opposition after his miscalculated between EU-member Ireland and the Chancellery on his first foreign visit since taking office. —AFP power grab that saw Prime Minister Giuseppe Northern Ireland, part of the UK. Since hopes to convince German Chancellor Conte tender his government’s resignation. taking office last month, Johnson has been Angela Merkel and French President Nevertheless, Salvini’s long political career is not adamant Britain will leave the European Emmanuel Macron to give ground in the global ambitions. Johnson said Britain’s bit of patience”. In another move designed over after 14 months of proudly promoting his Union on October 31 come what may and search for a Brexit deal. European partners were being “a bit neg- to signal the seriousness of Britain’s intent nationalist, anti-immigrant mantra in the press while has stepped up preparations for a “no Telephone talks of nearly an hour on ative”, with Tusk’s approach hardly to leave the bloc on October 31, the gov- dismissing criticism that he uses racist, xenophobic deal” departure that would cause major Monday with Irish Prime Minister Leo “redolent of a sense of optimism”, he told ernment announced that British officials and tasteless language. “Thank you, finally, I would economic disruption. Varadkar failed to yield any obvious reporters. “But I think, actually, we’ll get will stop attending most EU meetings do it all again,” Salvini said after he was effectively But the European Commission, the EU breakthrough. Johnson’s diplomatic there. There is a real sense now that from September 1. Officials will only go to kicked out of government. executive which has led Brexit negotia- offensive continues at a G7 summit in the something needs to be done with this meetings on “matters of ongoing national His blunt attacks on migrants, as well as Islam, tions with London, dismissed the propos- French resort of Biarritz at the weekend, backstop.” interest” such as security, the Brexit min- gay marriage and criminals, have replaced the his- al in Johnson’s letter that the backstop where Johnson hopes to show off his He said the EU would not make con- istry announced, saying the time saved toric secessionist battle cries of the League and could be replaced with a “commitment” warm relations with US President Donald cessions so long as it thought parliament could be used to focus on other “national seen his party soaring in opinion polls. But after a to find “alternative arrangements”. “The Trump as a signal of post-Brexit Britain’s might block Brexit, “so it’s going to take a priorities”. —AFP stormy 14 months of rows with coalition partner the Five Star Movement, Salvini, 46, pulled his support ments and follow-ups,” Macron said. “We in the hope of snap elections that would make him G7 or G5? Trump must assume that, on one subject or another, premier. The deputy premier was hoping to capital- a member of the club might not sign up.” The ize on the League’s top billing in May’s European and Johnson add G7 groups the United States, France, Britain, elections, with opinion polls suggesting the League Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada, and the could double its 2018 election result if a vote were European Union also attends. Macron has held tomorrow. unpredictability also invited the leaders of Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, India, Senegal, Rwanda ‘Tricolore doesn’t represent me’ to French summit and South Africa, in order to widen the Born in Milan in 1973, Salvini joined what was debate on inequality. then the Northern League in 1990, aged just 17, PARIS: Brexit Britain’s overtures to US rising quickly through the ranks. At the time, the President Donald Trump risk further compli- Tough topics Northern League was known for its campaign to cating the search for common ground this But the tougher discussions lie elsewhere. secede from Italy, with Salvini making his name weekend at a Group of Seven summit already The Sino-US trade war has spurred fears of a while running its Radio Padania-the wealthier clouded by transatlantic rifts over trade, Iran global economic slump; European powers are northern region it wanted to see independent. and climate change. The summit host, struggling to defuse tensions between One of his shows was called “Never Say Italy” President Emmanuel Macron of France, has Washington and Tehran; and Trump has and in 2011, he won notoriety for boycotting set the bar low for Biarritz to avoid a repeat shown little enthusiasm for France’s push for a Italy’s 150-year anniversary celebrations, putting of the fiasco last year when Trump threw universal tax on digital multinationals such as his desk outside Milan city hall to show he was Canada’s G7 summit into disarray by leaving Google and Amazon, and turned his back on working. early, scotching the final communique. efforts in Europe and around the globe to limit “The tricolore doesn’t represent me,” Salvini Macron, an ardent europhile and staunch carbon emissions to slow climate change. BIARRITZ: Police ride horses at the Parme aerodrome in Biarritz, southwestern said of the Italian flag in 2014. But by 2018, he was defender of multilateralism, will count on The crisis in Kashmir and street protests France ahead of a Group of Seven (G7) summit. —AFP campaigning as far south as Matera in the impover- incremental advances in areas where a unit- in Hong Kong may also be touched on during ished Basilicata region, where he promised “order, ed front can be presented, with the meeting, the talks in France’s Atlantic coast surfing munique won’t be issued.” Strained relations do,” the Japanese official added. Moreover, rules, cleanliness” and railed against “out of con- which runs from Saturday to Monday, offi- capital, where some 13,000 police will be between the United States and its top allies Italy’s prime minister resigned on Tuesday, trol” immigration. He has successfully shifted his cially focusing on the broad theme of drafted in to prevent any violent anti-global- mean that where once they were in agree- Canada is heading for an election, German party’s image from defender of the wealthy north reducing inequality. On hot-button issues, ization demonstrations. “There’s no doubt ment, they now seek the lowest common Chancellor Angela Merkel’s influence on against its “parasite” south, to that of guardian of they will, when necessary, have to agree to that we will discuss how trade frictions could denominator. the world stage is waning ahead of her Italy’s national sovereignty. disagree. affect the global economy,” a Japanese gov- “It won’t be productive to push some- departure, and Britain is probably on the Facing a migrant crisis with hundreds of thou- “We have to adapt formats. There will be ernment official said. “But it is difficult to thing that someone - whether it’s America verge of either leaving the EU or a snap sands landing on Italian shores, Salvini furthered no final communique, but coalitions, commit- deliver messages to the outside, since a com- or some other country - would not agree to election. —AFP his agenda by appealing to a sense of resentment among many Italians who feel Europe has aban- doned them. A staunch critic of the EU, he opposes enthusiasts to gather on Sept. 20 and “storm” nearby Area Facebook post appeared. She estimates at least 30,000 same-sex unions, wants to deport foreign criminals Tiny Nevada town 51, a US military base long rumored to house extraterrestri- people will arrive on Sept. 20, and she’s scrambling to and to bulldoze Roma camps. His blunt language als and spaceships. More than 2 million Facebook users have order enough portable toilets. As of mid-August, she had has reminded some Italians of the Mussolini era in said they plan to go. secured 30. the 1920s and 30s, when minority groups were per- near secretive Area Residents of Rachel, a 150-mile drive from Las Vegas and Area 51 was shrouded in secrecy for decades, stoking secuted. home to roughly 50 people, are split on how to respond. conspiracy theories that it housed alien bodies and a crashed Some sternly warn the public to stay away, fearing large spaceship from Roswell, New Mexico. The US government Putin admirer 51 braces for alien crowds will overwhelm a town with no gas station or gro- did not confirm the base existed until 2013, when it released Upon taking up the interior ministry post, Salvini cery store. Others, including West, believe the best course is CIA archives saying the site was used to test top-secret spy insisted rescued migrants could only land in Italy if hunters to welcome them with a music festival dubbed Alienstock. planes. The documents made no mention of little green men other EU countries took them in. A savvy social “We’re trying to figure out how to make this a positive or flying saucers, but that did not end suspicion. Rachel and media user, he has successfully pushed his agenda RACHEL: Connie West, co-owner of an alien-themed motel from an absolute negative,” West said in an interview. “You its surroundings had long celebrated their spot in UFO lore online, updating his followers daily with live videos, in the tiny US desert outpost of Rachel, Nevada, believes can fight it, but it’s coming.” West, with her mother, runs as a tourist draw. A 98-mile road running through the area is photos and even pictures of what he eats. —AFP they are coming no matter what. Not aliens, but alien Rachel’s only business, the Little A’Le’Inn motel and restau- dubbed the Extraterrestrial Highway, a purported hotbed of hunters. A whimsical invitation on Facebook has urged UFO rant, and was inundated with phone calls as soon as the UFO sightings.—Reuters 9 International Thursday, August 22, 2019 Tens of thousands flee Russia-led onslaught on opposition enclave Russia deploys troops in major assault against rebels AMMAN: Ten of thousands of people have fled to the Khan Sheikhoun would be an important gain for Turkish border in the last few days as the Syrian army Moscow and its ally into the northwestern region, pushed a major advance further into the opposition’s where Moscow has helped President Bashar al Assad last major stronghold, residents, rights groups and turn the tide against insurgents in the eight year conflict opposition sources said yesterday. They left Maarat al- since stepping up its intervention in 2015. Numan, a main city in Idlib province that has been a Russia has thrown its weight behind the campaign, sanctuary for families fleeing former rebel areas, as a which began in earnest at the end of April, conducting Russian-led campaign has come close to capturing the thousands of raids and strikes on rebel-held northern strategic town of Khan Sheikhoun further to the south. Hama and southern Idlib in what Western military “The flow of cars and vehicles experts and opposition fig- leaving is not stopping,” said ures say is a “scorched earth Abdullah Younis from the city. strategy”. Foreign Minister Rescuers there said around Sergei Lavrov acknowledged 60,000 people had fled in the Capture of on Tuesday that Russia had last four days alone. strategic town military personnel on the On Tuesday, Russian and ground in Idlib province, the Syrian jets intensified their key gain for Interfax news agency quoted bombing of scattered villages Assad forces him as saying. and towns around Maarat al- The Russian military has Numan, with the al-Rahma previously downplayed its hospital in the area struck, direct role in the campaign, residents said. “There were 15 where it used mercenaries and raids on Jarjanaz in less than five minutes,” Abdul special forces as well as directing battles, according to Rahman al Halabi told Reuters from the area. Rebels Western intelligence sources. After months of stalemate concede most of their fighters have fled Khan Russia has increased the intensity of raids in the last 10 Sheikhoun but are providing fierce resistance to the days, dramatically transforming the situation on the Syrian army, which has secured a foothold in the town. ground. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and at State media, broadcasting from the outskirts of Khan least 400,000 people displaced, according to medics Sheikhoun on Tuesday, said government forces were and NGOs and the United Nations. Moscow and TALLMANNIS: Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the ‘White Helmets’, carry away in a battling militants but had extended their advance and Damascus, who deny indiscriminate bombing of civilians blanket the body of a victim following a reported air strike on a makeshift clinic in the area of seized a highway running through the town. Capturing areas, say they are fighting jihadist militants. —Reuters Tallmannis in Syria’s northern Idlib province yesterday. —AFP

refugees for less pay - even though official- Welcome ly they aren’t allowed to work. “They are stealing marginal jobs from us by bribing law enforcers,” he said. Some of the wears thin Rohingya who settled outside the official Two killed in camps are now being forced to return and children enrolled in local schools are being for Rohingya expelled. Kashmir as Trump refugees Drug gangs The largely Muslim Rohingya fled a mili- offers to mediate tary crackdown in Myanmar that the UN COX’S BAZAR: When hundreds of thou- SRINAGAR: A suspected militant and a policeman has likened to ethnic cleansing, joining sands of Rohingya fled Myanmar into were killed in the first gun battle since New Delhi some 200,000 already in Bangladesh. Only Bangladesh two years ago, local communi- stripped Indian Kashmir of its autonomy, police said a handful have returned, fearing for their ties were mostly welcoming. Today that wel- yesterday after US President Donald Trump offered safety in a country where they are denied come has worn thin, and resentment, anger to mediate the “explosive” situation. In a further sign citizenship and treated as illegal immi- and fear are creeping in. “At first, as a mem- of rising tensions, Pakistan said meanwhile that three grants. Ikbal Hossain, the acting police chief ber of the Muslim community, we helped of its civilians died in Indian gunfire from across the of the Cox’s Bazar district, said the them,” said Riazul Haque, 28, a laborer from de-facto border in Kashmir known as the Line of enforced “idle and workless” lifestyle of the Hakimpara, near the border town of Ukhiya. Control (LoC). refugees made them “unstable”. “They are Haque allowed around 60 Rohingya fami- The Press Trust of India news agency quoted offi- receiving all sorts of aid, but they have lies to settle on a piece of his land, thinking cials as saying one Indian soldier died and four were ample idle time as they don’t have any other they would remain for two or three months at wounded when Pakistani troops opened fire on for- work,” he said. most. “Now it seems the rest of the Rohingya ward posts and villages along the LoC in the Poonch This is driving many in the hands of drug TEKNAF: Rohingya people are seen at a camp in Teknaf yesterday. —AFP living in Burma (Myanmar) will arrive soon in district on Tuesday. Both India and Pakistan are gangs, he said. Tens of millions of metham- Bangladesh,” he complained. Ukhiya was nuclear powers and the situation in Kashmir, divided phetamine pills enter Bangladesh from home to around 300,000 people, but the higher than national statistics, according to said the refugees were violent at times, and between them since 1947, is further complicated by Myanmar through Cox’s Bazar and drug refugee influx of August 2017 has swelled the police, which record roughly 3,000 murders she was scared of their sheer numbers. “We the fact that China also claims part of the Himalayan kingpins frequently use Rohingya as mules population to more than three times that annually in a country of 168 million. Police don’t feel secure at night but I cannot sim- region. to carry the narcotics to nearby cities. At many. Most of the refugees are housed in the chief Hossain said some 318 criminal com- ply leave my homestead or else the rest of Trump - who has previously spoken of his willing- least 13 Rohingya were shot dead in what sprawling Kutupalong camp, but others - plaints had been filed against Rohingya since my land will be occupied by the refugees as ness to mediate — said he would raise the situation police said were gunfights with officers particularly those with resources - ventured August 2017 - including 31 murder cases. well,” she said. But Rohingya community over the weekend with Indian Prime Minister while allegedly carrying thousands of the out in search of opportunity. But experts warned the number of murders leader Mohib Ullah said the refugees have Narendra Modi. Both men are expected in France for “yaba” pills. Locals blame them from everything from in the Rohingya camps were far higher than “very good relations” with the host com- a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized The presence of the narcotics mafia has increased pollution and a rise in petty the figures quoted by police. munity. “We thank Bangladesh for shelter- nations. “Kashmir is a very complicated place. You in turn led to violence inside the camps, crime, to a lack of work. Mohammad Sojol This has added to mistrust by locals. ing us. We help each other because we are have Hindus and you have the Muslims and I wouldn’t prompting police to increase their presence. said he lost his job as a rickshaw driver Rabeya Begum, a housewife living in neighbors,” he said. “We’d do the same say they get along so great,” Trump told reporters at Crime and murder rates in the camps were because vehicle owners now prefer to hire Madhurchhara hamlet near Kutupalong thing for them.” —AFP the White House. “I will do the best I can to medi- ate,” he added. At least 4,000 people have been detained in Guinea. Police fired tear gas to disperse Indian-controlled Kashmir, according to security and Indonesia deploys crowds in Fakfak after they set fire to a government sources, since early August when authori- market and destroyed ATMs and shops, ties imposed a communications blackout and restrict- troops; Papua hit local media reported. ed freedom of movement in the region. Highlighting Several cities in resource-rich Papua the growing international concern, a senior US official, were brought to a standstill this week, who has just returned from a visit to the region, called by fresh unrest including Manokwari where businesses on India Tuesday to quickly release detainees and restore basic liberties. MANOKWARI: Indonesia’s Papua was hit and the local parliament building were set ablaze by angry demonstrators. “We continue to be very concerned by reports of by fresh unrest yesterday as more than detentions, and continued restrictions on the residents 1,000 security personnel were sent to the Authorities are hunting for more than 250 inmates who had escaped from a prison of the region,” the State Department official told restive region after violent protests that reporters. “We urge respect for individual rights, com- saw buildings torched and street battles in Sorong that was torched during the riots. Several police officers had been pliance with legal procedures and an inclusive dia- between police and demonstrators. logue,” said the official, who spoke on condition of injured, authorities said, and there are Jakarta has called for calm in its eastern- anonymity. Officials in France said that President most territory — where an insurgency unconfirmed reports of wounded demon- Emmanuel Macron would bring up Kashmir with Modi against Indonesian rule has simmered for strators. No deaths have been reported. when the two meet in Paris ahead of the G7 summit. decades - following riots triggered by the detention of dozens of Papuan students in ‘Getting out of control’ Johnson speaks to Modi Java at the weekend. Some 1,200 extra police and troops Earlier this year India and Pakistan again came Yesterday, about 1,000 people have been deployed to Manokwari and close to all-out conflict over the region after a militant protested in the streets of Timika city, Sorong from other parts of the country, attack in Indian-held Kashmir in February was claimed according to the government and Papuan MANOKWARI: Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian by a group based in Pakistan, sparking tit-for-tat air where an AFP reporter saw demonstra- police in Manokwari, Papua. —AFP tors throw rocks at the local parliament authorities. But security personnel were strikes. India has bristled at any suggestion of foreign building as they tried to tear down its not equipped with live bullets, and the sit- mediation and strenuously denied a claim by Trump fence. The crowd, which also reportedly uation was “generally under control”, Papuan issues. “I’m really afraid this is the country’s second-biggest city, last month that Modi had invited him to act a peace- pelted shops and homes with rocks, National police spokesman Muhammad getting out of control,” she added. Surabaya, on Saturday - Indonesia’s broker. It was also left seething when the UN Security Council held its first formal meeting on Kashmir in began to disperse as riot police fired Iqbal said yesterday. “It is standard that if The government has moved to slow independence day. Police in riot gear nearly half a century last week, saying it would not warning shots. Hundreds also marched things escalate (authorities) will deploy down Internet connections in parts of stormed a dormitory to force out stu- additional personnel,” he added. But the accept “international busybodies... tell(ing) us how to through the streets of Sorong city, and Papua to stop the spread of online hoax- dents who allegedly destroyed an run our lives.” hoisted the banned Papuan flag in the move could aggravate tensions, observers es it said could spark more demonstra- Indonesian flag, as a group of protesters warned. “It’s making Papuans even more British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Modi in a town of Fakfak on the western end of the tions. Anger boiled over at reports that shouted racial slurs at them. Authorities phone call on Tuesday that the Kashmir dispute must island, which is divided between angry,” said human rights lawyer Veronica authorities tear-gassed and detained said the students were briefly questioned Koman, a frequent commentator on be resolved between India and Pakistan alone, Indonesia and the nation of Papua New some 43 Papuan university students in and set free. —AFP Downing Street said. An Indian statement said Modi had raised with Johnson the “violence and vandalism perpetrated by a large mob against the High cathedral in the 1990s. four-year legal fight had taken him “to places that, in my Commission of India in London” on August 15. Several Australia’s Cardinal The high-profile case pitted 78-year-old - who pre- darkest moments, I feared I could not return from.” thousand people had protested in London that day viously helped elect Popes, was a trusted papal aide and Dismissing vocal conservative media critics, the man over India’s Kashmir move. Police separated them was involved in the church’s response to child sex abuse said the death of his friend, the second choirboy, from a from a smaller pro-Indian counter-demonstration and Pell loses child sex claims - against a former choirboy now in his thirties. drug overdose had prompted him to break his decades- made at least one arrest. Pell, dressed in a dark suit, occasionally bowed his head long silence. abuse appeal as Chief Justice Anne Ferguson dismissed his arguments “After attending the funeral of my childhood friend... I ‘Terrorist’ killed and described his victim as “very compelling” and some- felt a responsibility to come forward,” he said in a state- Clashes are common between Indian security one who “was clearly not a liar, was not a fantasist and ment read by his lawyer. “I am not an advocate. You MELBOURNE: Disgraced Cardinal George Pell lost his forces and militants opposed to Indian rule, with tens was a witness of truth.” wouldn’t know my name. I am not a champion for the appeal against child sex abuse convictions yesterday, of thousands of people killed in the past 30 years, The ruling prompted cheers to ripple into the court- cause of sexual abuse survivors.” A lawyer for the father prompting relief from victims who fought to bring one of most of them civilians, adding to public resentment room from a large crowd gathered outside, and pro- of the second victim said he felt “a weight had been lift- the Catholic Church’s most powerful men to justice. A towards New Delhi. But the latest gun battle north duced emotional statements from victims, their families ed.” “He feels that justice has been delivered today. He former Vatican treasurer, Pell had been trying to over- Kashmir’s Baramulla district, reported by Kashmir and advocacy groups. The now-adult victim - who can- has a real sense of relief that George Pell is behind bars turn the verdicts and six-year sentence for sexually police yesterday, since the August 5 move. —AFP not be named for legal reasons - said the “stressful” tonight,” Lisa Flynn told AFP. —AFP assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys at a Melbourne 10 Established 1961 Analysis Thursday, August 22, 2019

Established 1961 The First Daily in The Arabian Gulf THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24833199 Extn. 125 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait. E mail: [email protected] Website: www.kuwaittimes.net (Left) Signs promoting plastic free products and packaging are seen as shoppers browse the shelves at Budgens supermarket in Belsize Park in north London on July 2, 2019. (Right) A paper carrier bag promoting the use of plastic-free packaging is seen at the supermarket. — AFP

Fearing tobacco’s UK supermarkets test plastic-free zones ritish supermarkets are starting to go “nude”. Investigation Agency said in November. Like Stirling, oth- London branch of the smaller supermarket chain Budgens fate, palm oil Bowing to pressure from environmentally conscious er shoppers have also been pressing the Oxford Waitrose - part of a 147-year-old company of nearly 250 franchises Bconsumers, big brand shops have begun taking supermarket to do more to stop plastics pollution via a - has already ripped the plastic off more than 2,300 of its steps to strip their shelves of plastic wrapping over con- wall, set up by staff, where customers have pinned hun- 14,000 products. “We did this to show the other big industry fights back cerns about saving the oceans from waste. “Nude zones” dreds of suggestions, many asking for refillable bottles for supermarket chains that it wasn’t as difficult as they said it and “Food in the Nude” campaigns are already being items like milk and cleaning products. It has now extend- was,” Andrew Thornton, who runs a Budgens in north n the morning of Feb 26, executives from a rolled out in places such as New Zealand and South ed its trial in the branch and announced that it would soon London, told AFP, of the reorganisation which took 10 Washington consultancy presented a strategy Africa, where many fresh fruits and vegetables are grown introduce the scheme in three other stores. Waitrose has weeks. But among those products still delivered to the Opaper to some of the most powerful officials within relatively easy reach. Now retailers in Britain - said however that it has yet to establish whether plastic- shop in plastic is cheese, which the staff cut into slices and in the Malaysian palm oil industry. The message: where even bunches of bananas are often sealed in plastic free zones would work in all of its 344 locations across then re-wrap in cling film made of sugarcane. “If all the Don’t allow environmental activists and Western to keep them fresh and undamaged during long-distance Britain. “While the priority is the environmental benefit, big players globally start to deal with this in their own governments to tarnish palm oil to the extent that it shipping -are gradually following suit. we clearly need to ensure (the trial) is commercially shops and put pressure on the big manufacturers, things ends up a pariah product, like tobacco. The $60 bil- “I’ve just done my first-ever plastic-free shop,” said viable,” spokesman James Armstrong said. will shift,” Thornton said. lion palm oil trade has been vilified by environmen- May Stirling, who travelled 60 km from the village of talists because of the vast areas of tropical rainforest Ramsbury to Oxford for the university city’s “unpackag- ‘Not that difficult’ ‘Great material’ they say have been cleared to grow the commodity ing” event at the local Waitrose supermarket. “It’s so liber- Plastic packaging is cheaper than some of the other Materials scientist Mark Miodownik, of University that is consumed by billions of people. ating,” the 49-year-old mother said, carrying her own possible options. So, are shoppers ready to pay more for College London, said that plastic had become a victim of a Malaysia and Indonesia, which together produce containers for the loose products. The Oxford branch of their groceries to come wrapped in more ecological pack- global business model focused on “disposability and con- about 85 percent of the world’s palm, had been the upmarket chain was selling 160 types of vegetables aging? Fran Scott, a 55-year-old marketing consultant, is sumption”. Part of the problem, he said, stemmed from the largely passive in response, comfortable in relying on and fruits, plus cereals, grains, couscous, lentils, wine, beer unsure. “I genuinely don’t know,” she said, while also marketing of plastic in the 1960s when it came to symbol- the sustainability of demand for an oil used for cook- and other items in bulk, in what was initially planned as an shopping at Waitrose, armed with her own plastic con- ize modernity and practicality. “Plastic is a great material,” ing and in items like soaps and shampoos, snack 11-week trial. “I just wish there were a few more things I tainers. “I would like to think that,” she added however. he said, pointing to its advantages for hospital materials, foods, pizza, bread and biodiesel. Food accounts for could have got today,” said Stirling, who added in particu- Other big supermarket chains have signed up to “The pipes and technological equipment. He said that plastic is nearly 70 percent of global consumption of palm oil. lar that she would have liked more choice of non-pack- UK Plastics Pact”. The pledge’s four tenets include elimi- good for packaging too, but only if it can be recycled well. But last year, Malaysia launched a global public rela- aged cereals for her son. nating all single-use packaging and making the remainder Britain’s Food Standards Agency notes that plastic tions and lobbying offensive to protect the reputa- recyclable or compostable by 2025. Tesco and Asda, a limits the exposure of produce to air and moisture, tion of its key export, particularly in Europe. Reuters Commercially viable? low-cost retailer, have promised to stop using plastic for extending its shelf life and “helping to reduce food has pieced together a picture of the sweeping effort Currently, British stores rely greatly on plastic to ship, online shopping deliveries. Morrisons, which like Tesco waste”. But Budgens shopper Richard Brady still said he from internal public relations strategy documents as store and sell items. The country’s 10 largest grocery and Asda is among the biggest five supermarket chains in felt guilty about being caught holding a plastic container well as interviews with dozens of palm oil industry chains produce 810,000 tons of single-use plastic pack- Britain, intends to install plastic-free produce zones in 60 of sushi. “Well, there is nothing else,” he said. “It comes participants. aging every year, a figure that does not include bags, locations by the end of the year. like that and my wife is hungry. It’s up to the supermarket The European Union passed an act earlier this Greenpeace and the UK-based Environmental Others are going further. Budgens Belsize Park, a to (make the switch) as opposed to us, isn’t it?” — AFP year to phase out palm oil from renewable fuel by 2030 due to deforestation concerns. While demand for palm oil used in EU biodiesel accounts for a frac- tion of global supply, palm oil producers in Malaysia and Indonesia worry the law could spur calls for reg- ulation in its usage in food. Malaysia has led the PR offensive since the EU began working on the law, as Vocational education and training in Xinjiang it is far more reliant on exports than larger rival Indonesia, and ships about 85 percent of its total palm oil production overseas annually. From the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has injiang is a key battlefield in the fight against which allows trainees to go back home on a regular the trainees. There is no maltreatment or restrictions said the EU law was “grossly unfair” and was an terrorism and extremism in China. For some basis and ask for leave to attend personal affairs. The on personal freedom. The trainees are happy to study attempt to protect alternative oils that Europe pro- Xtime Xinjiang has been plagued by terrorism trainees also enjoy the freedom of correspondence. and live there. What I saw and felt during the visit duced itself. The publicity campaign aimed at critics and religious extremism, which pose a serious threat The customs of all ethnic groups and the right to use was very different from the negative propaganda of of palm oil has been coordinated by the Malaysian to the lives of the people in the region. Between 1990 their spoken and written languages are fully protect- the US and other Western countries, and I felt their Palm Oil Council (MPOC), a state agency responsible and the end of 2016 separatists, religious extremists ed at the centers. The regulations, curriculum, and double standards simply rude and unreasonable.” for promoting palm oil and looking for trade oppor- and terrorists plotted and carried out several thou- menus at the centers all use local ethnic languages as US magazine International Focus published Val tunities for the product. The agency is funded at least sand acts of terrorism such as bombings, assassina- well as standard Chinese. Thompson’s “A Journey to the Autonomous Region of partly by a fee paid by plantation companies based tions, poisoning, arson, assaults, and riots in Xinjiang. The customs of all ethnic groups are fully respect- Xinjiang, China” in its May 2019 issue: “A visit to on palm oil production. MPOC’s board includes rep- Many innocent people were killed and several hun- ed and protected, and a variety of nutritious Muslim Kashgar Vocation Skills Educational and Training resentatives from plantation companies, including dred police officers died in the line of duty. The prop- food is provided free of charge. Education and train- Center, which I found well organized with young peo- Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, the world’s biggest oil erty losses incurred were enormous. ing at the centers never interferes in the trainees’ ple, was mostly of the UYGHUR ethnicity. The young palm planter by land, and IOI Corp. Exploiting people’s religious beliefs, extremist freedom of religious belief and the centers have never people, men and women, were, or could be, victims of Its campaign is centred around small holder forces spread religious extremism through Xinjiang’s made any attempts to have the trainees change their extremist teaching, now were learning a vocational farmers, carried out by platforms that say they rep- large religious population, among people who have religious beliefs. skill and being taught a better way of life... They were resent farmers but are created or run by PR firms limited means of communication outside their own No terrorist incidents have occurred in Xinjiang well fed, and they had good sleeping conditions... I hired by the MPOC, the strategy documents dated communities, limited employment opportunities in for nearly three years since the education and training interviewed several of them; they seemed very happy; Aug 6, 2018 and Feb 26, 2019, show. MPOC has also farming and animal husbandry, limited sources of started. As the infiltration of religious extremism has and they were treated well by their supervisors. For approved funding news sites, researchers, op-eds information, and limited knowledge of modern sci- been curbed, public order and security have returned those who want to believe these young people may and former politicians to speak up for palm oil and ence. To strengthen their psychological control over to society, where equality, solidarity and harmony have been coerced, I say you can’t fake happiness; undermine the EU law, the documents show. None religious believers, extremist forces have incited peo- among ethnic groups and religions have prevailed, and happiness is exactly what I saw.” of the groups or individuals identified in the propos- ple to boycott the standard spoken and written and people are enjoying peace and stability. Terrorism and extremism are the common enemies als have been transparent about their funding and Chinese language and reject modern science. In 2018, tourism in Xinjiang grew rapidly: Tourists of humanity. Over the years, in response to the threats have often claimed to be independent voices. At They act in accordance with fabricated “religious from inside and outside China totaled over 150 mil- posed by terrorism and extremism, and in order to least three PR firms hired by the MPOC are running law” and “domestic discipline”, and defy the lion, a year-on-year increase of 40 percent; foreign prevent them from breeding and expanding, and to these campaigns, copies of their proposals seen by Constitution and state laws. They spread word about tourists numbered 2.6 million, a year-on-year guarantee individual safety and social stability, many Reuters show. The MPOC approved all their pro- a “next life where one’s fate is predestined”, and increase of nearly 12 percent. From January to June countries have explored measures based on their own posals, according to two sources with direct knowl- deceive religious believers into rejecting the kind of 2019, nearly 76 million tourists visited Xinjiang, an conditions, and gained experience in effectively com- edge of the matter. vocational skills training by which they can improve increase of 46 percent over the same period in 2018. bating terrorism and extremism. their economic conditions and their capacity for self- Since the end of December 2018, nearly 1,000 Practice has proved that vocational education and Lobbyist for tobacco, oil development. A large part of the population could not people have visited Xinjiang. They include foreign training in Xinjiang can effectively eradicate the con- The main company involved in the strategy is the read and write in the standard spoken and written diplomatic envoys to China, UN officials, Geneva- ditions that enable terrorism and religious extremism DCI Group, a Washington-based public relations Chinese language, and they had no basic knowledge based senior diplomats of various countries, as well to breed and spread; it can protect the rights to life, firm that has previously developed campaigns for of the law. as more than 40 groups (or delegations) of people health and development of the various ethnic groups tobacco and oil multinationals. Its clients have Faced with this severe and complex problem, from political parties, civil society organizations, news of the region. It ensures social stability in Xinjiang included Altria and the former Burmese military jun- addressing both the symptoms and root causes and media, and religious organizations of various coun- and regional security and stability. The practice con- ta, according to US public records and DCI itself. integrating preventative measures and a forceful tries. Through field trips, many have realized the truth forms to the basic principles of international efforts in Asked by Reuters for comment on its strategy, DCI response, Xinjiang has established vocational educa- and understood the urgency, necessity, legitimacy and countering terrorism and extremism, and accords said it was engaged in the Malaysian campaign but tion and training centers in accordance with the law. rationality of carrying out education and training. with the fundamental interests and needs of the peo- did not give details. “We are proud to work with To meet the needs of fighting terrorism and extrem- They have all recognized that violent and inhu- ples all around the world. Malaysia’s palm oil industry in its fight to defend the ism, these centers deliver a curriculum that includes mane terrorist activities in the autonomous region, However?some people, for reasons of ideological jobs and livelihoods of small farmers against unfair standard spoken and written Chinese, understanding provoked by religious extremism, were causing out- prejudice or other ulterior motives, are doing all they trade and environmental policies which perpetuate of the law, vocational skills, and deradicalization. After rage. Through rehabilitating trainees poisoned by ter- can to blacken the reputation of Xinjiang’s vocational global poverty,” said Justin Peterson, managing part- graduation, the trainees can choose their own jobs, or rorist and religious extremist ideas, education and education and training centers. Their censure of ner at DCI Group, in an e-mail. employment can be arranged for them with the assis- training has made an important contribution to inter- Xinjiang’s huge effort in countering terrorism and The MPOC has not spoken publicly about the tance of relevant authorities. national efforts to fight terrorism and extremism, and extremism will be firmly rejected by the Xinjiang peo- campaign. It told Reuters that it uses various meth- The only criterion for education at the centers is generated valuable experience that is of great refer- ple. A number of countries, organizations and individ- ods, including engagement of PR agencies and advi- whether the trainee has been convicted of unlawful or ence value. At its 46th session, the Council of Foreign uals apply double standards in their approach to ter- sory firms, to pursue its objectives, but for competi- criminal acts involving terrorism and religious Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation rorism and extremism, which will in effect shield and tive and client confidentiality reasons, it would not extremism. It has nothing to do with their region, eth- adopted a resolution commending China’s efforts in incite terrorism and extremism. Such acts go against disclose details. “Industries and governments across nicity or religion. These centers are education and providing care to its Muslim citizens. international morality and human conscience, and are the world engage in an array of efforts to defend their training institutions in nature. The number of people “China respects ethnic minorities and their reli- scorned by all just people of goodwill. national interests. In MPOC’s case, however, we participating in education and training at the centers gious beliefs,” says a report in Saudi Arabia’s news- Xinjiang still has much to do in the fight against ensure that all such activities are above board and are is not fixed; some are coming in while others are paper Al Riyadh entitled “Xinjiang: Gateway to China terrorism and extremism, and improvements can be in accord with local rules and regulations governing going out. However, as education and training has on the Belt and Road” published on May 15, 2019. made in this regard. In the context of local condi- such engagements,” the MPOC said. — Reuters played its role, most trainees have reached the “The Chinese government at all levels and its depart- tions, and complying with the spirit of documents required standards and graduated. ments have formulated a series of policies and regula- such as the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy In organizing the training programs, the education tions to respect and accommodate the dietary habits, and the UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent and training centers strictly follow the provisions of clothing, festivals, weddings and funerals of ethnic Extremism, Xinjiang will put prevention first while All articles appearing on this page are the the Constitution and the law to prevent any violation minorities.” “In Xinjiang, all ethnic groups have the taking resolute action against terrorism and extrem- personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait of the basic rights of trainees. right to maintain or change their own lifestyles or ism. We will make unremitting efforts to improve The personal freedom of trainees at the education customs, which is China’s consistent policy.” vocational education and training, protect the peo- Times takes no responsibility for views and training centers is protected in accordance with A report from Turkey’s DHA says: “The centers ple’s basic rights, and ensure long-term social stabili- expressed therein. the law. They employ a residential education model provide human-based management and services for ty and security in Xinjiang. Established 1961

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019 Business

In high-tech Japan, ‘GAC GS7 2020’ provides modern and KFH-Germany: Free of charge money 12cash is still king 13 more efficient driving experience 14 transfer from Europe to Turkey

WASHINGTON, DC: In this file photo, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen through a flower bed in Washington, DC. US tariffs won’t fix the trade deficit, and neither will weakening the US dollar through interest rate cuts, IMF economists said yesterday. — AFP IMF to Trump: It’s not working US tariffs and rate cuts will only harm domestic and global growth: Economists

WASHINGTON: US tariffs on China won’t fix the trade “Taming the Currency Hype,” co-authored by fellow especially within a 12-month period,” they said. With downgraded its global growth forecast, and said the deficit, and neither will weakening the US dollar IMF researchers Gustavo Adler and Luis Cubeddu. the US presidential election coming in November 2020, trade tensions make for a “precarious” 2020, and said through interest rate cuts, International Monetary Fund “Instead, they are likely to harm both domestic and Trump is especially focused on the next 12 months. the tariffs threaten to exacerbate the slowdown of economists said yesterday. global growth by sapping business confidence and China’s economy. In unusually-blunt language, the blog post seemed investment and disrupting global supply chains, while ‘Bearing the burden’ The IMF blog repeats much information released in targeted straight at President Donald Trump who has raising costs for producers and consumers.” With the IMF and others warning that his trade war separate reports, but highlights the key points and loudly and constantly demanded the Federal Reserve And any plans to weaken a country’s own currency is slowing global growth, and as warning signs of a US brings them together. While economic theory states cut interest rates to weaken the US dollar and juice the value “are cumbersome to implement and likely to be recession flashing red, Trump has doubled down on his that a weaker currency tends to make a country’s economy, while imposing round after round of tariffs on ineffective,” they said, adding that pressure on the cen- attacks on the Federal Reserve and on China. And he exports cheaper and more competitive, the IMF notes China to reduce the deficit he describes as theft. tral bank will not achieve that goal either. and his advisors have been talking up the economy to that many products are priced in US dollars on the But the US policy moves are counterproductive, The authors warned that “one should not put too counteract the increasing jitters on US stock markets. global marketplace. won’t achieve the desired results, and will slow the much stock in the view that easing monetary policy can But Trump confirmed Tuesday he is considering So in reality, “US importers and consumers are bear- global economy, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath weaken a country’s currency enough to bring a lasting some kind of tax cuts to boost the economy. However, ing the burden of the tariffs. The reason: the stronger said. “Higher bilateral tariffs are unlikely to reduce improvement in its trade balance.” “Monetary policy he said “We’re far from the recession. If the Fed US currency has had a minimal impact thus far on the aggregate trade imbalances, as they mainly divert trade alone is unlikely to induce the large and persistent would do its job, I think it would have a tremendous dollar prices Chinese exporters receive because of dol- to other countries,” Gopinath warned in a blog titled devaluations that are needed to bring that result ... spurt of growth.” Just last month, the IMF again lar invoicing.” — AFP

the European Union. “It is not clear whether or not the World stocks President will try and put a caretaker government in “It will be a very tough negotiation,” said one of the place at first — though it seems likely that Salvini will be Japan, US ministers officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the given the reins sooner or later,” Rabobank analyst Jane sensitivity of the matter. rise fears over Foley said. “If there is to be an ‘agreement’ we need to have “The confusion, combined with Salvini’s spending meet for trade something we can formally announce, which is tough,” recession fade pledges, is potentially a negative factor” for the European said another Japanese official, adding that it will be diffi- single currency, she added. VTB analyst Neil MacKinnon talks as hopes for cult to agree on a deal in September unless Washington LONDON: Stock markets mostly rose yesterday as was more downbeat. “There is an increasing risk of a fresh makes more concessions. The US Trade Representative investors appeared willing to set aside fears of a world- eurozone debt and banking crisis,” he cautioned. had no immediate comment on the meetings. wide recession, instead focusing on bargain hunting, ana- early deal fade lysts said. They also seemed to largely shrug off political Powell speech looms TOKYO: Japan and the United States will seek to nar- Sticking points remain turmoil in Italy. Investors’ focus was starting to turn to a key speech by row gaps on trade when their top negotiators meet this The key sticking points are agriculture and automo- “Recession nerves look to have settled a little following Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell at the end of the week, but hopes for a deal in September are fading as bile. Under his “America First” policy, Trump has been last week’s panic, which has brought some relief to mar- week. Powell’s talk at the central bankers’ gathering in both sides fail to make concessions on agriculture and urging Japan and other trading partners to take steps to kets,” said Craig Erlam at OANDA. Global bond yields sta- Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is the key event and will be close- automobiles, sources say. fix what he sees as unfair trade imbalances with the bilized, indicating that markets are becoming less pes- ly pored over for clues about the bank’s plans for next Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and United States. Washington is targeting Japan’s auto simistic about the outlook for the world economy. Key month, with experts unable to agree on whether or not he US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will hold exports, which account for about two-thirds of the US European equity markets were more than one percent will announce further cuts. The Fed releases minutes of its two-day talks in Washington D.C. from today, which trade deficit with Japan at roughly 7 trillion yen ($65.82 higher by the mid-afternoon. That included Milan’s FTSE July meeting later which will provide an insight into its will be their second meeting this month. billion) a year. MIB index that rallied as Italian President Sergio deliberations when it cut interest rates for the first time The talks aim to lay the groundwork for a possible Trump also wants to open up Japan’s market for agri- Mattarella began talks with key players in a bid to end since the financial crisis. — AFP meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe culture goods and beef. One demand Washington is mak- political limbo in the eurozone’s number three economy. and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of a ing is for Tokyo to cut tariffs on US beef imports. US The index had dived 1.1 percent on Tuesday after the Group of Seven summit later this month in France, farmers have been lobbying Trump to push Japan to shock resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. “The where the two could discuss trade. As separate trade agree to the same low tariffs for their products applied to markets have seemingly taken the latest political upheaval talks with China and Europe have made little headway, imports from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?signatory in Italy in their stride and are gaining,” noted XTB analyst Trump is keen to clinch an early deal with Japan that countries like Australia and Canada. Trump pulled the David Cheetham. US stock markets also made a better would open up its politically sensitive agriculture sec- United States out of TPP when he took office in 2017. start, “aided by some stabilization in global bond yields tor, as well as curbing Japan’s US-bound auto exports. Japan, on the other hand, wants the United States to cut which had plunged recently to exacerbate market uneasi- Japan also hopes for a timely deal to avoid being tariffs on imports of car parts and industrial goods - ness and growth concerns”, said Charles Schwab analysts. slapped with up to 25 percent tariffs on automobile something Washington is reluctant to. exports to the United States. Trump threatened to do US auto industry officials said this week the deal is Euro turns flat so on national security grounds in May, but put off likely to involve Tokyo offering US farmers new access to The euro flatlined against the dollar as Italy’s crisis off- imposing the duties by six months. its market, in return for Washington reducing tariffs on set optimism that Germany’s government could unveil During previous round of talks, Motegi and certain Japanese auto parts. US automakers are also urg- measures to avert a downturn. Conte resigned this week, Lighthizer had agreed to aim for a broad deal by the ing the US Trade Representative to include in the deal hitting out at far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for time Abe and Trump are scheduled to meet on the side- with Japan a provision prohibiting both countries to pursuing his own interests by bringing down the govern- lines of a UN General Assembly meeting in New York engage in currency manipulation. Japanese officials are ment coalition. in late September. But progress towards reaching a opposed to adding such language in the deal, for fear of President Sergio Mattarella must now decide to form NEW YORK, NY: Traders and financial professionals work on the deal has been slow, Japanese government officials with having their hands tied in battling any unwelcome yen a new coalition or call an election, throwing up more floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in knowledge of the negotiations say. spike that hurts the country’s exports. — Reuters uncertainty and another possible budget standoff with New York City. — AFP 12 Established 1961 Thursday, August 22, 2019 Business In high-tech Japan, cash is still king Japan’s ageing population still prefers physical money

TOKYO: Once a pioneer in cashless transactions, Japan payment system and was forced to scrap the scheme. is now lagging behind as the world’s biggest economies increasingly embrace electronic payments-because its ‘Outdated and collectable’ ageing population still prefers physical money. Yet it was way back in the 1990s that Japanese firm Four out of five purchases are still made with cash in Denso Wave developed the first QR codes now fre- Japan, despite its reputation as a futuristic and innova- quently used in cashless payments, while Sony has tive nation. In South Korea, some 90 percent of trans- offered a chip used on public transport and for pay- actions are digital, while Sweden aims to be a cashless ments since the 2000s. Payment cards for transport society as early as 2023. But in Japan, where crime and systems in Tokyo and other cities are also often used counterfeiting is virtually non-existent so people feel for small purchases from vending machines or conven- more comfortable carrying cash, consumer response ience stores, but cash remains preferred for other has been sluggish. transactions. The Japanese government is hoping to At Katsuyuki Hasegawa’s bike repair shop cus- seize on a wave of tourists expected to flood in for the tomers are invited to settle their bills using PayPay-a 2020 Tokyo Olympics to double the amount of elec- tie-up between Softbank and Yahoo-using a QR code tronic payments to 40 percent by 2025. via their smartphones. But only “two or three” people a It also plans to introduce a points system to partially week are using the service, Hasegawa tells AFP. reward customers paying by cashless means as a way “In a place like this, everything is very slow. We get to mitigate a controversial hike in consumption tax from lots of old people who like to chat while getting out eight percent to 10 percent from October. Tokyo per- their money. They don’t need quick transactions,” says haps has an eye on the costs of such a dependence on the 40-year-old shopkeeper. “Personally, I prefer cash. cash, estimated by a Boston Consulting Group survey With PayPay, you don’t keep track of your money,” he at two trillion yen ($18 billion) to maintain ATMs and adds. With Japan becoming the first “super-aged” transport money around securely. Companies too are society with more than 28 percent of people 65 or over, doing their best to promote a cashless society-earlier it is harder to persuade consumers to take up new in the year, mobile company Rakuten started “100-per- technology, according to Yuki Fukumoto, an analyst at cent cashless” stadia for its baseball and football teams. TOKYO: This photo shows a poster offering cashless payments displayed outside a supermarket in the NLI Research Institute. Akiko Yamanaka, who runs a chic restaurant called Tokyo. Once a pioneer in cashless transactions, Japan is lagging behind as the world’s biggest “The challenge from now on is how to motivate peo- “Koguma” (“bear”), said a 10-percent discount intro- economies increasingly embrace electronic payments because its ageing population still prefers physi- ple” to change their habits, said Fukumoto. This is a duced by PayPay for diners who settle the bill using cal money. —AFP serious challenge in a country with more than 200,000 their system had attracted several people. ATMs and where most small shops will only take cash “The more campaigns there are like this, the more to avoid high transaction costs. Many were also put off people will convert to cashless,” said the 54-year-old. “One day soon, money as we know it-notes and blog. Nevertheless, he admitted that “security has to be when retail giant Seven & I Holdings suffered a hacking And Rakuten boss Hiroshi Mikitani is convinced that coins that we carry with us-will be as outdated and improved” for this to happen, especially in the wake of attack immediately after launching a new QR-code the future is cashless, even in Japan. collectable as vinyl discs are now,” he said in a recent the QR hack. —AFP BA owner slams Scottish budget spiralling costs deficit at 7-year of Heathrow’s low, but exceeds third runway UK average LONDON: IAG, the parent company of British Airways, hit out yesterday at the spiralling costs linked to the LONDON: Scotland’s budget deficit has fallen to a controversial construction of a third runway at London seven-year low but remains much larger as a share of Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport. the economy than the average deficit for Britain as a In a submission to Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority, whole, official figures showed yesterday-figures that IAG accused Heathrow of trying to cover up the real were seized on by opponents of Scottish independ- costs and passing on the burden to airlines and, in turn, ence. Scottish public spending was 13.6 percent to passengers. “Advance costs are spiralling out of con- higher per head than the average for the United trol and total expansion costs are being covered up,” Kingdom, the biggest margin since records began in IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said in a statement. 1998-99. Revenue collected in Scotland was 2.6 per- IAG said the airport had originally put the cost of the cent lower per head than the UK average. expansion-both of the runway and the additional termi- During Scotland’s 2015 independence campaign, nal and aircraft stand capacity-at £14 billion (15.3 bil- the public debate included arguments about whether lion euros, $17 billion). “However, its latest masterplan Scotland’s high public spending could be sustained. says that now only builds the runway. The total cost is £32 billion,” the statement said. “The airport’s chief The country ultimately voted to remain part of the LONDON: IAG accuses Heathrow of trying to cover up the real costs and passing on the burden to air- United Kingdom. However, its pro-independence first executive thinks expansion is a ‘fait accompli’ but with lines and, in turn, to passengers. minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has told British Prime judicial, environmental and political hurdles ahead, Minister Boris Johnson that she wants to hold a sec- there’s no guarantee,” Walsh said. ond referendum because of Brexit. Wednesday’s fig- “Spending £3.3 billion before receiving planning ernment last year finally approved the third runway increase its total capacity to 130 million passengers per ures showed Scotland’s net fiscal balance, including permission is irresponsible and it’s completely unac- after decades of acrimonious debate. In June, the air- day, compared with the current level of about 78 million. revenues from North Sea oil in its territorial waters, ceptable to expect passengers to pick up the tab.” port published its plans, including the re-routing of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, along with environmental dropped to 12.6 billion pounds ($15.3 billion), or 7.0 IAG said it had “no confidence in Heathrow’s ability rivers and roads as it sought to allay environmental charities and local councils, recently lost a court battle to percent of gross domestic product in 2018/19, down to deliver cost-effective expansion.” concerns. prevent the Heathrow expansion. Britain’s Conservative from 8.1 percent in 2017/18. And its “submission urges the CAA to regulate Construction is expected to start in 2022, with the government argues that the project will provide a major This was the lowest since 2010/11, but exceeds the Heathrow effectively and stop the airport from steam- runway built by around 2026. New terminals will not be boost to Britain’s post-Brexit economy and could create equivalent deficit for the United Kingdom as a whole, rolling through massive cost increases”. Britain’s gov- ready until about 2050. The hub, west of London, aims to up to 114,000 local jobs by 2030. —AFP which stood at 1.1 percent of GDP, down from 2.0 percent in 2017/18. Across advanced economies, the Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) — lies,” the carrier said in a statement. action should not be taken until a medi- average budget deficit was 2.1 percent in 2018. had intended to match planned action The Dublin-based airline is also taking ation process had been completed. Scotland - which accounts for about a tenth of Court blocks by British pilots, which may yet be the British Airline Pilots Association The carrier also said Forsa had not Britain’s population and economic output - is now blocked also at a separate hearing in (BALPA) to the High Court in London outlined specific pay demands, had responsible for more than half of the United Ryanair pilots’ London. The no-frills airline said the yesterday in a last minute bid to cancel been hasty in their movement to strike Kingdom’s total government borrowing in cash terms. High Court’s decision to impose an that action. and conducted the strike ballot improp- The Scottish government’s finance secretary, Derek injunction against the strike in Ireland A five-day strike by Ryanair cabin erly. Forsa said the 2018 agreement was Mackay, focused on the reduction in borrowing. strike in Ireland “will come as a huge relief to thou- crew in Portugal meanwhile began yes- limited to matters of the time only and “With a deficit that is falling at a faster rate than DUBLIN: Ireland’s High Court yester- sands of Irish passengers and their terday, but disruption was limited after Ryanair had been “dismissive and the rest of the UK, strong economic growth and a day blocked a planned strike by families”. the country’s government ordered showed no desire to engage in a rea- near record low unemployment, Scotland’s economic Ryanair pilots in the country due this The airline called on IALPA mem- workers to deliver at least a minimum sonable manner with the pay proposal”. and public finances are strong,” he said. Supporters week that had been triggered by a row bers-working with parent union Forsa- service. Elsewhere, Ryanair cabin crew Justice McDonald said there was a of independence say Scotland’s economy would per- over pay. “The immediate industrial to return to mediation, but reiterated its in Spain have called for ten days of “gap in the evidence” regarding the form better if the country had greater control of fiscal action (due today and tomorrow) is hardline stance on pay negotiation. strikes in September. The Irish court strike ballot, in which 61 percent of and industrial policy, especially with the United restrained,” Justice Denis McDonald “Small groups of workers, earning six- dispute centred on a 2018 agreement members voted. His injunction was Kingdom due to leave the European Union, a deci- told the court in Dublin. figure salaries should not be threaten- between pilots and management. made on the condition that all par- sion opposed by Scottish voters. —Reuters A total 180 directly-employed ing to disrupt the holiday travel plans Ryanair argued that was an “overarch- ties returned for a fuller hearing Ryanair pilots-members of the Irish of Ryanair customers and their fami- ing” text which outlined how industrial soon. —AFP EXCHANGE RATES

Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.224 Turkish Lira 54.410 Chinese Yuan 0.041881 0.045381 Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Tunisian Dinar 109.640 Singapore dollars 220.319 Hong Kong Dollar 0.036773 0.039523 Jordanian Dinar 430.720 Indian Rupee 0.003726 0.004498 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES Lebanese Lira/for 1000 0.203 Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023 US Dollar Transfer 304.800 Syrian Lira 0.000 Japanese Yen 0.002776 0.002956 Euro 339.850 BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY WLL Morocco Dirham 32.391 Korean Won 0.000243 000258 Sterling Pound 371.550 Canadian dollar 229.950 Malaysian Ringgit 0.069189 0.075189 CURRENCY BUY SELL Nepalese Rupee 0.002682 0.003022 Turkish lira 54.570 Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Europe Swiss Franc 313.100 Pakistan Rupee 0.001343 0.002113 British Pound 0.363103 0.377003 Philippine Peso 0.005814 0.006114 US Dollar Buying 297.600 Rate for Transfer Selling Rate Czech Korune 0.005084 0.014384 Singapore Dollar 0.214718 0.224718 US Dollar 304.440 Danish Krone 0.041251 0.046251 ASIAN COUNTRIES Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001343 0.001923 Canadian Dollar 229.435 Euro 0. 330399 0.344099 Japanese Yen 2.861 Taiwan 0.009604 0.009784 Sterling Pound 371.560 Indian Rupees 4.275 Georgian Lari 0.102910 0.102910 Thai Baht 0.009574 0.010124 Euro 339.305 Pakistani Rupees 1.944 Hungarian 0.000940 0.001130 Vietnamese Dong 0.00013 0.00013 Srilankan Rupees 1.716 Swiss Frank 299.700 Norwegian Krone 0.029829 0.035029 Bahrain Dinar 809.620 Nepali Rupees 2.656 Romanian Leu 0.054497 0.071347 Arab UAE Dirhams 83.290 Singapore Dollar 220.950 Russian ruble 0.004575 0.004575 Bahraini Dinar 0.802335 0.810395 Hongkong Dollar 38.854 Qatari Riyals 84.530 Slovakia 0.009118 0.019118 Saudi Riyals 82.080 Egyptian Pound 0.018663 0.022023 Bangladesh Taka 3.597 Swedish Krona 0.027393 0.032393 Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000086 Philippine Peso 5.838 Jordanian Dinar 430.680 Swiss Franc 0.304580 0.315560 Iraqi Dinar 0.000210 0.000270 Thai Baht 9.923 Egyptian Pound 18.391 Jordanian Dinar 0.424997 0.433997 Malaysian ringgit 77.954 Sri Lankan Rupees 1.711 Australasia Indian Rupees 4.248 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000 Australian Dollar 0.198332 0.210332 Lebanese Pound 0.000151 0.000251 GCC COUNTRIES Pakistani Rupees 1.917 New Zealand Dollar 0.188989 0.198489 Saudi Riyal 81.334 Bangladesh Taka 3.605 Moroccan Dirhams 0.021054 0.045054 Omani Riyal 0.786557 0.794458 Qatari Riyal 83.771 Philippines Pesso 5.818 America Omani Riyal 792.203 Qatar Riyal 0.083065 0.083899 Cyprus pound 18.110 Canadian Dollar 0.223483 0.232483 Bahraini Dinar 809.980 Japanese Yen 3.860 Saudi Riyal 0.080193 0.081493 UAE Dirham 83.040 US Dollars 0.300700 0.306000 Syrian Pound 0.001292 0.001512 Syrian Pound 1.590 US Dollars Mint 0.301200 0.306000 Nepalese Rupees 2.663 Tunisian Dinar 0.102077 0.110077 ARAB COUNTRIES Turkish Lira 0.046539 0.056384 Malaysian Ringgit 73.915 Asia Egyptian Pound - Cash 21.650 Chinese Yuan Renminbi 43.630 UAE Dirhams 0.082352 0.083180 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 18.411 Bangladesh Taka 0.002982 0.003783 Thai Bhat 10.865 Yemeni Riyal 0.000991 0.001071 13 Business Thursday, August 22, 2019 ‘GAC GS7 2020’ provides modern and more efficient driving experience Midsize SUV available now at Mutawa Alkazi showroom

KUWAIT: Mutawa Alkazi Co, the exclusive and the world “GAC Motor”, and the relentless efforts in authorized distributor and dealership of GAC Motors modern technologies and applications to end up with vehicles in Kuwait, through the all-new “GS7” vehicle applying the first 50 technologies ever used in the car. reiterates the relentless quest to enhance their pres- In addition, it features a sophisticated and secure ence in Kuwait, whilst meeting the requirements of suspension system, automatic emergency braking sys- driving enthusiasts wishing to experience the thrill of tem(AEB), multi-level strategies and a warm-out the latest tech features in driving. warning system, which automatically detects the vehi- The “GS7” is characterized by the best perform- cle’s lane departure by audible warning. ance of its powerful engines with advanced technolo- When the vehicle exceeds the speed of 30 km/h, gy, which are produced under strict quality control the front collision system is automatically activated systems based on the strategy of “GAC Motors” depending on the different types of risk. The car is Group that makes customers and consumers a top equipped with adaptive cruise control to maintain a priority. safe distance between vehicles at all times. It includes The “GS7” is a midsize SUV designed especially powerful features, new interface design, remote moni- for consumers seeking modern driving experience. It toring and intelligent security services, in addition to a is equipped with a “GAC” engine that provides a max- unique emergency and safety service that provides a view up to 600m, and a lighting width of 56m, with with negative ion air cleaners provides comfort with imum power of 148 kW (201 hp) at a rotation rate of high-efficiency remote starter which allows to start a rectangular shape and form and adjustable sensitivi- automatic control so that passengers can experience 1,750 rpm. the car using a remote control. ty, for ensuring a safe driving in a great manner, show- great car journey. The vehicle has central control 10- The glamorous “GS7” expresses the power, speed ing an elegance of the advanced technology. inch touch screens (LCD) and 7 inches for the tablet and agility as a luxurious car reaching highest levels in High-quality specifications The car is spacious with comfortable, roomy and and mobile phone screen. This allows for smooth the global market with its enormous determination The “GS7” reflects the aesthetics of technology multi-mode smart seating. It has an air-conditioning transmission of vehicle information and provides a and unique and elegantly integrated style. This vehicle with dual U-style tunnel led taillights, and the matrix system and elegantly integrated floating dashboard good sense of control with new vision. It features a enjoys powerful measures to ensure outstanding driv- crystal lens full- led headlights with great design that that redefine the luxurious cockpit and add interior silencer system that decreases noise at slow speeds ing with the world’s most advanced and efficient pow- creates a sense of technology in multi-dimensional refinement to meet the travel requirements of large shrugging offal roads conditions. er system. The vehicle embodies the absolute best of spaces. The car features balanced details that explain families. “GAC Motors” ensured that the all-new “GS7” has renewable and innovative energy group globally the spirit of freedom and the power of exploring new The all-new “GS7” also features very high stan- distinctive rear design with super-size trunk, aestheti- through the network of research and development of horizons. Its beam headlights enable the driver to have dards. The three-zone independent air conditioning cal rear bumper and dual U-style tunnel led taillights.

find an RV to rent. Texas shale “I had to go where the money is, and the money is here,” Garcia said. towns grapple The city of Midland, the local hospital district and other employers are con- Norway mulls sidering banding together to build with growth as oil apartments for workers, said Jerry alternatives Morales, mayor of Midland, the de fac- bust fears fade to capital of the Permian. In neighbor- ing Odessa, the school district has to sluggish ODESSA, TEXAS: In west Texas, the considered buying a hotel to house center of the US oil boom, about 3,800 new teachers. $1 trillion fund students at Permian High School are “That’s crazy to even think that,” crammed into a campus designed for said Gex, the principal. OSLO: Norway’s $1-trillion-plus sovereign wealth 2,500, with 20 portable buildings to fund, the world’s largest, may seek to shift the balance help with the overflow. Staying power of its investments between Europe, the Americas and School officials had expected The oil industry, of course, still has Asia, a senior official said yesterday. enrollment to fall after the last oil price its ups and downs, like any business North American equity markets have grown faster crash, starting in 2014, but it kept ris- involving global commodities subject than European ones since the last time Norway exam- ing - one sign of a growing resilience to rapid market shifts. Some of the ined the regional weight of the fund’s reference port- in the region’s oil economy as Exxon smaller producers that pioneered shale folio, in 2012. And this year investor confidence in Mobil, Chevron and other majors con- drilling in the Permian, such as Concho Europe has faltered, as the region’s economy slows tinue pouring billions of dollars into Resources, Laredo Petroleum and and that of its largest country, Germany, shrinks amid HOUSTON: The oil industry, of course, still has its ups and downs, like any business involving global trade tensions and uncertainty surrounding Britain’s long-term investments here. Whiting Petroleum, are downshifting commodities subject to rapid market shifts. —Reuters For most of the last century, oil mon- as West Texas oil prices have lost 16 departure from the European Union. “This (regional weighting) is exactly the question ey has flowed into this region like a ris- percent and natural gas has tumbled that we are considering now, and we are giving advice ing tide during booms - but residents 36 percent over the past year. need in new hires, he said. school teacher equipped a classroom to the (finance) ministry about regional weighting of here had enough sense to know it But the world’s biggest oil majors the equity reference index, by the end of this month would flow right back out again when are increasingly taking control of the “I think there’s more sustainability with orange buckets and folding tables because all of the supermajors have because of a lack of chairs and desks. probably,” Egil Matsen, deputy central bank governor the next bust hit. That cycle has always Texas shale business, and their drilling in charge of the fund, told Reuters. made officials, developers and voters plans - sometimes sketched out in come back into the area,” Cobb said. The school found tables after photos While many local officials and civic of students using the makeshift furni- Matsen’s remarks refer to the proportion of money wary of investing too much during the decades rather than years - are envi- it invests in stock, bonds and property, including a leaders say the region has permanently ture went viral online. Several groups good times on everything from school sioned to withstand the usual price stake in London’s Regent Street, across different construction to roads to housing. drops. That means they will need to left its boom-and-bust cycle behind, have formed to bring change to the regions globally. The fund is managed by a unit of the That hesitance is fading fast as oil lure more staff to live permanently with others remain wary. Alan Herig arrived region, and local officials are finding central bank. It advises the finance ministry and par- majors make ever-larger and longer- their families in cities such as Midland in Midland in 1977 to sell oilfield that voters are more receptive to liament, which ultimately sets the fund’s investment term commitments to drill in the and Odessa, rather than depending on equipment and later opened an office approving new spending on services mandate. It is unclear at this stage what the fund will Permian Basin and residents grow “man camps” for transient roughnecks supply store. He went from flying to such as schools and roads. recommend and what the ultimate decision of the weary of traffic jams on once-rural or relying on temporary worker-train- Houston for steak lunches to painting Priority Midland - a long-range finance ministry will be. roads, long waits for medical appoint- ing schemes. houses after oil prices crashed. planning initiative formed this year by The fund has 70 percent of its value invested in ments, pricey housing and overcrowd- In Midland, a group of local founda- “Midland became a ghost town,” officials in government, business and company shares but has over time been reducing the ed schools. Local governments, indus- tions started by wealthy area families, said Herig, who now owns three hotels philanthropy - plans get-out-the-vote proportion held in European companies in favor of try and foundations are joining forces as well as a consortium of energy in the area and believes hard times efforts to press for increased school other markets such as the United States. The same has to tackle the region’s overwhelmed firms, recently put up $38.5 million to could come again any day. financing and a possible sales tax hike happened for government bonds. “One of the ques- infrastructure and public services. finance 14 tuition-free charter schools Still, Herig understands why city to pay for hospital services or tions is whether the current weighting, whether there are reasons to adjust that,” Matsen, the top public “When you have more students, you to relieve the stress on local class- officials and civic groups are scram- improved roads, Morales said. bling to upgrade local infrastructure The Permian Strategic Partnership, a official responsible for the sovereign wealth fund, said need more teachers,” said Danny Gex, rooms. “The mindset is changing,” said in an interview. —Reuters principal at the Odessa school, which Mayor Morales. “There are those who and services. “Midland is way behind,” group of 20 energy companies operat- was made famous as the home of the understand we’re growing and we Herig said. “They need to invest.” ing in the area, promises to spend $100 Permian Panthers football team in the need these things.” But it’s a scramble million to promote training, education, book and screen adaptations of “Friday to catch up: “We’re behind, because Orange buckets and folding tables health care, housing and roads. The Night Lights.” we never invested in ourselves.” On the The latest shale boom, which started partnership chipped in $16.5 million for Texas has a statewide teacher New Mexico side of the Permian, local about three years ago, has brought the charter school initiative, which will shortage, Gex said, and “when you’re governments, schools and foundations jobs and wealth but also many hassles open its first campus in August 2020 in a desert, it makes it a lot more diffi- joined together to build a $63 million to day-to-day life. Midland resident and plans to offer public education to cult to find them.” Also in severe short- sports complex with a water park in and energy executive Kaes Van’t Hof 10,000 students over time. age: housing. The median price of a Hobbs. Hotel taxes from visiting energy had a hard time scheduling an eye- One member of the organization is home in Midland, $311,000 in April, workers will pay part of the facility’s doctor’s appointment for new contacts Travis Stice, chief executive at was higher than any other Texas city operating costs, said Hobbs Mayor before his wedding earlier this year. Midland’s Diamondback Energy, which except the hip tech-industry hub of Sam Cobb. “Simple things have to be planned has been among the Permian’s fast- Austin, according to data tracked by Hobbs’ next proposal involves a far in advance here,” Van’t Hof said. growing firms. It’s time for the commu- Texas A&M University. $60 million vocational high school Max Campos, a tattoo artist who lives nity, he said, to trust that the oil indus- Former convenience store manager that would help turn out welders, in Odessa, recently sold his motorcycle try is here to stay. “We’ve allowed our- OSLO: Norway invests the proceeds of its oil and gas pro- Ruben Garcia came to the region and electricians and other skilled blue- after concluding it was no longer safe selves to be rangebound by thinking: duction into a rainy day fund, which is now so big that it now earns $2,000 to $2,500 a week collar workers. Oil firm executives to ride alongside heavy truck traffic. ‘Don’t invest during the boom time is equivalent to $197,000 for every Norwegian man, hauling sand to fracking sites. But he will consult on the curriculum by Odessa, a city of 120,000 people, drew because the bust time is coming,’” woman and child. had to sleep in his truck until he could offering insight into the skills they unwanted attention last year after a Stice said. —Reuters 14 Established 1961

Thursday, August 22, 2019 Business KFH-Germany: Free of charge money transfer from Europe to Turkey up to 5,000 euros KT Bank AG launches new service for Turkish citizens living in Europe

KFH-Turkey HQ KT Bank AG branch

KUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House-Germany (KT Bank based on participation banking principles. We will open as the ‘Our Homeland Account’ for the citizens living living or domiciling abroad to value their savings in AG), Europe’s first participation bank does not charge Munich branch office soon. In cooperation with KT abroad and willing to value their savings in Turkey, Turkey. any money transfers up to 5,000 euros to Turkey by Bank AG, we, as Kuveyt Turk, are now offering a brand- Mehmet Oral said, “Our people living abroad and willing l Turkish people living abroad may grow their sav- Turkey’s citizens living abroad. Mehmet Oral, Executive new service for all people no matter whether or not they to grow up and value their savings in their homeland ings in their homeland using TL, Euro, USD and gold Vice President in Charge of Retail Banking at Kuveyt are our customers. Turkish people living in any may open Our Homeland Account with Kuveyt Turk. participation accounts. Turk said, “Our citizens working and living abroad are European countries, no matter whether or not they are They can make free of charge money transfer to such l They can make free of charge money transfer from now able to transfer money to their homeland Turkey customers of KT Bank AG are now able to visit any account through KT Bank AG in an amount up to 5,000 KT Bank AG brkanch offices to Kuveyt Turk in an free of charge and value their savings in interest free branch office of KT Bank AG and make free of charge euros. Our citizens living abroad who are willing to val- amount up to euro 5,000. participation accounts at their homeland.” money transfers up to 5 thousand euros to Kuveyt Turk. ue their savings in TL, Euro, USD and gold participation l They can use small, medium and large size safe- He added: “KT Bank AG, established in 2015 in Above all, they can remit the money to a named recipi- accounts can check their accounts with Kuveyt Turk via deposit boxes for a month, 3 months, 6 months and 1- Germany has launched a brand-new service for our citi- ent in Turkey, so it is not required for them to be a cus- mobile and online branch office and make any EFT and year periods at a 50 percent discounted rates. zens living in Europe in cooperation with Kuveyt Turk. tomer of Kuveyt Turk. Our free of charge money trans- money transfers in Turkey free of charge even if they are l They can give automatic bill payment instruction KT Bank AG does not charge any money transfers up to fer service will continue till the end of year. We believe not in Turkey. Additionally, they can trade in forex and via Kuveyt Turk’s branch offices, mobile and online 5 thousand euros to Turkey by our citizens living not that our citizens living abroad would show great interest precious metals 24 hours weekdays with suitable mar- branch office. only in Germany but any European country as well.” in this new service facilitating money transfers to gins via mobile and online branch office as well as they l They can make free of charge money transfer with- “Free of charge money transfer to continue till the Turkey.” Savings of people living abroad grow with ‘Our can benefit leased safe-deposit box at 50 percent dis- in the country via Kuveyt Turk’s mobile and online end of year,” Mehmet Oral said, “KT Bank AG opened Homeland Account’! counted prices.” branch office. its first branch office in Germany in 2015 and is now Stating that, in addition to Kuveyt Turk’s free of What is ‘Our Homeland Account’ and what are its key l They can trade in forex and precious metals 24 offering services for our people living in Europe in its charge service for money transfer from Europe to benefits? Kuveyt Turk’s ‘Our Homeland Account’ is a hours weekdays with suitable margins via mobile and Berlin, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Cologne branch offices Turkey, they have also developed a product referred to service launched in order to encourage Turkish people online branch office.

Gulf Bank ABK announces congratulates first winners in winner of monthly Emirates Skywards salary draw

Miles campaign KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced the winner of its seventh monthly Salary Account draw of the year. KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) announced the This month’s lucky winner, Hadi Salem Shayea Al- first set of winners in its “6 Million Skywards Miles, 60 Hajri, will take home a cash prize of 12 times his Winners” summer promotion. Twenty lucky customers salary. The draw, which took place at Gulf Bank’s each won 100,000 Skywards Miles, which will be credited Head Office in the presence of a representative from to their Emirates Skywards Miles membership account and the Ministry of Commerce, is the seventh Salary can be used for a return Emirates Business Class ticket Account draw this year. To date, Al-Hajri, is one of from Kuwait to Dubai, or for flight upgrades and other pur- their salary. Customers are also enrolled in a yearly Customers must have a minimum salary of KD 500 chases including cultural event tickets. seven winners of this year’s monthly draws, each of draw of Kuwait’s largest salary prize, a cash prize of up and are eligible for the offer following their first salary whom took home cash prizes. to 100 times the winner’s salary. transfer to Gulf Bank. Customers can also enjoy addi- June winners were : With the new 2019 Kuwaiti Salary Offer, new cus- Gulf Bank’s Salary Account also gives new cus- tional benefits like a Visa or MasterCard credit card Mohammad Dashti, Sameer Gergi Makhoul, Yousef S M tomers who transfer their salaries to Gulf Bank are tomers the opportunity to receive either a KD 100 free of charge for a year. They can also apply for a Alsaad, Ahmad A A H Ali, Ahmad Yousef Alnufais, Dr automatically enrolled in the monthly draws, giving cash gift upon transferring their salaries to Gulf Bank, loan of up to KD 70,000 or a consumer loan of up to Hamed S Alrefaei, Jasem M A A A Eshkanani, Ahmed Saleh them the chance to win cash prizes of up to 12 times or an interest-free loan of up to KD 10,000. KD 25,000. Shalabi, Mohammad A A Dashti, Sheikh Fahad Yousef Al- Sabah, Ali Abdulhussain, Fatemah Qabazard, Abdulaziz H M A Taher, Bader Alkandari, Nour M A A Alramadhan, over the years around the world. Studies Abdullah Alsumait, Sheikha Haya Mubarak D Al-Sabah, Mohamad Salamah Ahmad, Nashwa M Waked, Haidar I J GMC ‘Forgotten have shown that children’s bodies tend Kamal. to heat up 3 to 5 times faster than adults, To participate in the remaining two draws, customers Toy’: Raising while children are also incapable of must hold an ABK Emirates credit and/or prepaid card cooling themselves down. The negative issued prior to June 1. Eligibility for the monthly draw will awareness around effects of extreme temperatures on chil- also be based on a minimum KD 500 per month total dren have been further confirmed by transaction spend completed with the following bank cards: pediatric associations worldwide, with l ABK Emirates Credit cards used in International risks of rising children often falling victim to hyper- transactions through POS and cash thermia dehydration and other risks that l ABK Emirates Prepaid Cards used in International temperatures can be fatal. transactions through POS only GMC designed its “Forgotten Toy” The more you spend the more chances you have of win- KUWAIT: Keeping safety at the heart of campaign as a metaphorical representa- ning. Simultaneously, every KD 10 spent abroad or in a for- its business, GMC has rolled out its tion of these dangers to portray the eign currency will award clients three draw entries and for “Forgotten Toy” campaign to raise public severity of leaving children alone in cars. every KD 10 spent locally, ABK cardholders will be award- awareness around the dangers of leaving The campaign’s message caters to GMC’s ed with 1 draw point. In addition, online transactions con- children unattended in a vehicle, even for fellow community members living in the cluded on Emirates.com will award clients six draw entries. a short period of time. Every year, multi- region, with the hope of helping prevent The next draw will take place on August 15. ple fatalities in cars are reported around such injuries or fatalities during the more ABK and Emirates Skywards have been in partnership the world, and the Middle East is no challenging summer climate. critical and life-threatening issues like this The wax model in GMC’s “Forgotten for over 17 years. Every year, ABK holds various campaigns exception with outdoor temperatures hit- Daniella D’Souza, Head of Brand - one. Everyone has a role to play to deliver Toy” video was made with a combination to reward its existing clients with extra Skywards Miles, ting near 500C and indoor car tempera- GMC Middle East, said: “The safety of safety and we hope our loyal and growing of three different materials: Silicone, and has allowed many to travel by simply using their cards 0 community around the region joins us in Paraffin wax and Beeswax. The wax mod- in purchases. tures rising up to an additional 30 C in drivers, passengers and the wider com- less than 15 minutes. munity sits at the center of everything we raising awareness around the risks el was then carefully textured by sculp- A common and dangerous practice, do as a brand. While we are constantly attached to the hazardous habit of leaving tors to replicate a real-life scenario in leaving children unattended in cars with innovating and striving to add value to the children unattended in cars by sharing our order to bring the dangers and conse- the windows rolled up has resulted in safety standards in our GMC vehicles, we “Forgotten Toy” campaign and spreading quences of leaving children unattended in ABK offers new numerous critical injuries and fatal cases also share a responsibility to shed light on the message.” cars to the forefront of viewers’ minds. payment solution line with the bank’s mission to develop and differentiate chances. And such investors have full flexibility in Warba Bank to its offerings, Warba Bank has enhanced its Sunbula choosing the desired tenure and the profit distribution campaign for 2019 with more cash and prizes reaching method. with Tasdeed service more than KD 1 million. Furthermore, Warba Bank is leveraging on its hold Al-Sunbula In the running campaign, Warba Bank continued its Customer Onboarding solution, in line with its ambi- KUWAIT: Further enriching its portfolio of innovative weekly draws for five winners of KD 1,000 each tious five-year strategy that enables non-Warba Bank products and services under its ‘Simpler Banking’ strat- draw today throughout the year, yet introduce the “Mega Draws” customers to request the opening of Al-Sunbula egy, Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) recently announced the that take place on a quarterly basis to reveal five win- account in a simple electronic manner without having launch of the new Tasdeed service. A solution that KUWAIT: Warba Bank, “the Best investment Bank” and ners, the 1st winner gets KD 100,000 in cash! The four to visit the branch, through 5 simple steps in 5 min- caters specifically to Point Of Sale (POS) & E-Com “Best Corporate Bank” in Kuwait, will be organizing its winners thereafter will each get the latest 2019 Land utes. New customers will be able to request opening Online Payment Gateway transactions related to the weekly Sunbula draw number 32 today at 11:00am in Cruiser 5.7 VXR. And more, as the last Mega Draw will the account at anytime, anywhere, through the new Kuwait ministries and government authorities. presence of a representative from the Ministry of give away 2 more Land Cruisers! and unique electronic system used to implement this Cardholders cannot use the card for any other form of Commerce and Industry and the bank officials. As per the winning chances, each customer will be service. Representatives will then contact the cus- payment, making it the ideal solution for a messenger or Al-Sunbula both account and fixed deposits are the participating in the draw for each KD 10 in the Sunbula tomer to determine the appropriate time to visit the representative that manages this area of the business. perfect choices for customers who wish to save money Account. It is also worth noting that the Sunbula Fixed branch to get required signatures, verify the cus- The Tasdeed service can be requested through any and achieve steady returns while at the same time gain Deposit rewards its investor with both high expected tomer’s identity, deliver his/her debit card, and acti- ABK branch and is exclusively for ABK customers. the opportunity to win prizes throughout the year. In returns, reaching up to 3.5 percent, as well as winning vate the account. 15 Established 1961

Health & Technology Thursday, August 22, 2019 Apple debuts credit card as it readies TV+ launch The moves come as Apple shifts to emphasize digital content

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Tuesday launched a smart- ma that pulls back the curtain on the morning news” Games and Cards phone-generation credit card in the US and moved closer coming this fall to those with Apple TV+ subscriptions. Apple is aiming to leverage its position with some to hitting the hot streaming television market with a new With Hollywood stars galore, Apple in March 900 million people worldwide who use at least one of subscription service. The moves come as Apple shifts to unveiled streaming video plans along with news and its devices. The company has announced plans to emphasize digital content and other services to offset a game subscription offerings as part of an effort to shift launch a new game subscription service called Apple pullback in the once-sizzling smartphone market. its focus to digital content and services to break free of Arcade internationally later this year. “Apple Arcade Arrival of an Apple Card tailored particularly for its reliance on iPhone sales. The Apple TV+ service, an will introduce an innovative way to access a collection iPhone fans came with reports that the technology titan is on-demand, ad-free subscription service, will launch of brand new games that will not be available on any keen to launch its TV+ streaming service before Disney this year in 100 countries, the company said at the other mobile platform or in any other subscription goes live with a rival in November. Apple TV+ will debut event. “We feel we can contribute something important service,” Apple said in a statement. with a small selection of original content and a possible to our culture and to our society through great story- The Apple credit card that became available on subscription price of $9.99, Bloomberg reported, citing telling,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said when the Tuesday in a partnership with Goldman Sachs was people familiar with the matter. The price would be more service was announced. integrated with Apple Pay. Those signing up will get a than that charged by powerhouse players Netflix and Apple revealed only a few of the programs in the physical card and one for a digital wallet, with the Amazon Prime as well as the announced subscription cost works but announced collaborations with celebrities on two companies pledging to refrain from sharing or of a Disney+ service to launch on November 12. both sides of the camera including Octavia Spencer, JJ selling data to third parties for marketing and adver- California-based Apple did not immediately respond to a Abrams, Jason Momoa and M. Night Shyamalan. The tising. Apple Card features that could shake up the request for comment about TV+. new content will be available on an upgraded Apple TV credit card industry include not charging fees, giving app, which will be on smart television sets and third- users cash back on purchases, and providing tools for Spending on shows party platforms including Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV. people to better manage their debt. “Apple Card Apple has reportedly allocated more than $6 billion Apple will also allow consumers to subscribe to third- delivers new experiences only possible with the pow- for TV+ original shows, a small number of which would party services like HBO and Starz from the same appli- er of iPhone,” the company said in an online post. The be available when the service goes live. Ads for “The cation. Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi card uses machine learning and mapping capabilities Morning Show” starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese expected Apple TV+ to be more of a channel at its to let users keep track of spending, and provides pay- Witherspoon and Steve Carrell began appearing on streaming video service, similar to an HBO, than to be a ment options showing interest costs of various Twitter. The show was described as “a high-stakes dra- “one-stop-shop” that would stand alone. options. — AFP

Americans (more than 211 million people), Study links while Health Canada estimates 39 percent Israel seeks to of its population receives water from fluor- fluoridated idated supplies. beat PTSD with Dr Strangelove water during Anticipating controversy, the journal ‘ecstasy’ therapy took the unusual step of issuing an edi- tor’s note that said the decision to publish SDE BOAZ: Nachum Pachenick says he lived a pregnancy to was “not easy” and that it had been sub- nightmare for nearly two decades after being ject to additional scrutiny. Experiments in sexually abused and developing post-traumatic lower IQ water fluoridation began in the early 20th stress disorder — until MDMA therapy came to century, and over time its opponents his rescue. “It’s a life full of stress, pressure, WASHINGTON: A study published came to be seen as quacks: the 1964 nerves, anxiety, fatigue,” the 46-year-old Israeli Monday linked consumption of fluoridat- satirical film “Dr Stranglove” features an said from his home in Sde Boaz, a wildcat settle- ed tap water during pregnancy to lower unhinged general who believes fluorida- ment in the occupied West Bank south of IQ scores in infants, a finding at odds tion is a Communist conspiracy against Jerusalem. “You can’t live like that.” with decades of public health messaging the US. Pachenick said relief came in 2014, when he extolling the mineral’s benefits in reduc- Till said that she herself had not been took part in a clinical trial that included the use ing cavities. Several outside experts convinced when a graduate student first of MDMA, the active component in the drug expressed concern over the research’s approached her with the idea to investi- known to nightclubbers as ecstasy. The treat- methodology and questioned its conclu- ment’s success on him and dozens of others has gate the effects on IQ, but has since come SDE BOAZ: Nachum Pachenick is pictured in the yard of his home in Sde Boaz outpost sions, though some found the results led Israel’s health ministry to approve its own around. “We’ve had many moments in located near the Neve Daniel settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. — AFP compelling enough to merit further history where we got new knowledge and pilot for MDMA-assisted therapy for people investigation. changed decisions: look at thalidomide with treatment-resistant PTSD. Encouraged by The US Centers for Disease Control and and look at recommendations for hor- trials so far, therapists involved hold out hope of MDMA, administered in the form of a small The current trials with MDMA, a substance Prevention (CDC) named community water mone replacement therapy,” which was for its future treatment possibilities, though pill. created in a laboratory in 1912, are part of the fluoridation one of ten great public health once advised for all menopausal women, there have also been warnings that further While the PTSD of most Israelis taking part “renaissance” in the research of psychedelic sub- achievements of the 20th century because she said. But experts in fields ranging investigation is needed. in the trial was caused by sexual assault, the stances and their application in psychiatry over of its contribution to the steep decline in from statistics to toxicology to neuro- Last year, a research team reported in the country has also fought a series of conflicts, the past decade, Tzarfaty said. Pachenick said the tooth cavities in the United States over science expressed reservations. “The key journal The Lancet Psychiatry that a trial in the resulting in relatively high rates of the disorder, effects of the treatment on him were dramatic. several decades. But although high levels of words in the paper are ‘higher levels,’” United States showed positive results, but Ben Gershon said. Tzarfaty said because of that, “The process put me back on track, but in a more fluoride have been found to be toxic to rat said Oliver Jones, an environmental stressed such treatment should only be done she believed the government had a moral duty profound way brought me home, to myself,” he brains, the concentrations seen in fluoridat- chemist at Australia’s RMIT University, hand-in-hand with psychotherapy under pro- to do what it could to help those suffering from said. “I’m a much calmer person today. I have a ed tap water are deemed safe. who noted that fluoride intake appeared fessional supervision. During that trial, 85 it. Most Jewish Israelis must perform mandatory family that’s very dear to me — all these things “We realized that there were major to be below one milligram per liter for “adverse events” — including anxiety, military service. were very unstable beforehand.” — AFP questions about the safety of fluoride, most people in the study. headaches, fatigue and insomnia — were especially for pregnant women and young reported by 20 participants. It was not clear children,” Christine Till, an associate pro- Precautionary principle however whether the MDMA or something else fessor at Canada’s York University and the He nevertheless called the work “inter- was responsible. paper’s senior author told AFP, adding it esting” and said it justified future research Pachenick had been part of the second phase Missing hiker in Deployed in 12 EU states was important to base decisions on evi- — a conclusion shared by David Bellinger, of three trials conducted in a number of coun- The technology has been deployed in dence. The study, published in the influen- an epidemiologist at Harvard University tries under the auspices of the Multidisciplinary Italy spotlights 12 European Union countries, including tial JAMA Pediatrics journal, analyzed data who told AFP the results were “highly Association for Psychedelic Studies. MAPS Britain, the Netherlands and Austria, from 512 mother-child pairs across six credible” but would need to be replicated hopes to receive approval from the US Food where it was used last year to save a Canadian cities, with about 40 percent liv- before policy changes were in order. But and Drug Administration for the process by need for geo paraglider who had gone off course and ing in communities supplied with fluoridat- Stuart Ritchie, a psychologist at King’s 2021. The results of the trial’s first two phases hurt his legs upon landing. In Lithuania, a ed municipal water. College London, said it was “inconsistent” were “extraordinary”, said Dr Keren Tzarfaty, a location tech seven-year old boy called emergency After controlling for other toxins in that the study’s first analysis only found a psychologist in charge of training therapists for services in 2017 to report that his father their analysis, they found that an increase significant result for boys and not girls, MAPS in Israel. PARIS: Badly injured on a cliffside in was unconscious but he did not know his in concentration of fluoride in pregnant while the second analysis found an overall “When we look at these people a year after southern Italy, a French hiker called emer- address. The emergency location feature mother’s urine of one milligram per liter effect with no sex differences, and deemed the end of their treatment, we see that 68 per- gency services this month, but he could in the Android phone used to make the was associated with a 4.5-point lower IQ the findings “pretty weak.” cent of the people who received MDMA-com- not tell them exactly where he was after a call located it within 6 meters and score in boys — but not girls — at age Critics of water fluoridation argue it is bined therapy don’t have (PTSD) anymore or fall that broke his legs. It took rescuers allowed emergency services to arrive at three or four. When estimating the daily unnecessary because modern dental prod- are not defined as having PTSD,” she said. nine days to locate Simon Gautier’s body, the right place. maternal fluoride intake instead of fluo- ucts like toothpaste contain fluoride, while Recovery rates are especially impressive when but it could have been found much sooner Geo-location and rescuers’ response ride in urine, they found a one milligram 97 percent of European residents receive taking into account the fact that “the people had Italy installed a new emergency time are key questions for Italian prosecu- increase in intake was associated with a unfluoridated water without a major impact who reach us have tried everything”, Tzarfaty mobile phone geo-location system that is tors, who have opened an investigation deficit of 3.7 IQ points for both boys and on their dental health. Pamela Den Besten, a said from her spacious clinic in the Israeli town in operation in a dozen European coun- into why it took so long to locate Gautier. girls. professor of orofacial science at UC San of Hod Hasharon.”Their trauma is resistant to tries, according to the European The Salerno prefecture, which administers US and Canadian health authorities rec- Francisco told AFP that while she remained medication, to psychotherapy; they come to us Emergency Number Association (EENA). the area where the Gautier disappeared, ommend capping fluoride concentration at in favor of fluoride for its dental benefits, it as a last resort.” It might also have saved Gautier’s life said a search began immediately but that 0.7 milligrams per liter (parts per million) acts on teeth topically and concerns over had emergency services been able to geo-location was inaccurate and that the to prevent fluorosis, overexposure to fluo- its presence in drinking water should not ‘Brought me home’ locate him quickly, although it later search area was as large as 140 sq km (54 ride that leads to mild tooth discoloration. be dismissed. “My bias, given the findings The third and final phase of the trials began emerged that the hiker had died soon after square miles). But the actual levels that will be ingested of this and other studies, is to focus on the in the second half of 2019, and demand far making the call from a ravine on the The head of Italy’s emergency response will vary according to how much a person delivery of fluoride through strategies that exceeded the mere 14 spots allotted for Israeli rugged coastline south of Naples. network, Mario Balzanelli, told Italian drinks. According to the CDC, fluoridated do not require the fluoride to be ingested,” participants. As a result, the Israeli medical Brussels-based EENA lobbies European media that Gautier would have been swift- water is supplied to nearly three in four she said. — AFP establishment has decided to operate its own Union (EU) countries to adopt the ly rescued if Italy had applied the EU pilot program and allow dozens more to Advanced Mobile Location (AML) system, directive on the geo-location of emer- receive the treatment, which is done in a con- which can be a matter of life or death in gency calls. “This case points to the glar- trolled setting. search-and-rescue missions. “Member ing, absurd and untenable fact that in Italy “The Israeli health ministry decided to take states have a moral obligation to imple- the 118 (emergency) switchboards still do the humane and responsible measure to start a ment AML but some have not done it yet not have the emergency call geo-location pilot of 50 people suffering from PTSD who are because there is no pressure,” EENA system, despite the fact this was called for resistant to other forms of treatment,” said Dr spokesman Benoit Vivier said. by an industry ministry decree in 2009,” Bella Ben Gershon, in charge of trauma for the As of December 2020, AML will be he was quoted as saying by ANSA news Israeli health ministry. Tzarfaty has facilitated required for all EU member states, in line agency. Gautier’s friends and relatives the training of 30 Israeli therapists to work with with legislation passed in late 2018 that have also denounced the slowness of the MDMA. PTSD is triggered by experiencing an builds on 2009 and 2002 EU directives. rescue operation, saying more could have event so traumatic it cannot be fully processed, Member states that do not comply will be been done. His mother called the operation leaving parts of the brain in a state of hyper- fined. The new emergency system is up to “absolutely inadequate.” arousal and harming its elasticity. 1,000 times more precise than older Italian newspapers quoted medical What MDMA has been found to do is mobile phone geo-location systems, sources on Tuesday as saying that an “remove all the defences, but also create lots of which can triangulate a caller’s position initial medical examination had shown compassion to others and oneself”, Ben to within only about two kilometers in a Gautier had died about 40-45 minutes Gershon said. The drug can afford the joy and city or 20 km in the countryside. AML after he made his call to 118. He suffered empathy those suffering from PTSD need to can pinpoint a person’s location down to a hemorrhage caused by his broken leg begin processing their trauma in the therapy within two metres (yards) and when cutting an artery, and even with an sessions, Tzarfaty said. The treatment includes someone phones emergency services, the active geo-location system, rescuers 12-15 therapy sessions, all attended by both a system transmits the caller’s coordinates would not have had time to get to him male and female mental health professional. Two at the same time. alive, they said. — Reuters or three of the sessions are under the influence 16 Established 1961 Health & Science Thursday, August 22, 2019 More than 2,300 tigers have been killed, trafficked this century: Report

GENEVA: More than 2,300 endangered tigers to protect endangered animals and help gov- breeding centres play in fuelling the illegal have been killed and illegally trafficked since the ernments catch those who trade in their parts, tiger trade, especially in Southeast Asia. The plastic of less than 30 microns in turn of the century, according to a report pub- published a new analysis looking at 19-years of tiger farm industry often argues the trade in Everest thickness as well as drinks in plastic lished Tuesday, urging more action to protect tiger seizure data from across the globe. It captive animals helps to relieve the pressure bottles, and will be effective from the giant cats. With an average of more than 120 found that an estimated total equivalent to 2,359 on wild felines, but wildlife groups argue it January. “If we start now, it will help illegally trafficked tigers seized each year — individual tigers were seized from 2000 to 2018 reduces the stigma around buying the animals region bans keep our region, the Everest and the which amounts to over two each week — since across 32 countries and territories. Skins are the or their body parts and could create new mar- mountains clean long term,” local year 2000, conservation group Traffic warned single most frequently seized tiger part, with on kets for them. single-use official Ganesh Ghimire said. The there was little sign of respite for the species. average 58 whole tiger skins seized each year, More than half of tiger seizures in Thailand region receives over 50,000 tourists Report author Kanitha Krishnasamy, who and a third of those in Vietnam over the past every year, including climbers and heads Traffic’s Southeast Asia operations, two decades were identified as coming from plastic trekkers. said the numbers were deeply concerning. captive breeding facilities, Traffic said. The local body will work with “It looks like we are losing this fight,” she “Seizures of tigers from captive facilities con- KATHMANDU: Single-use plastics trekking companies, airlines and the told AFP. tinue and serve as a stark reminder that such Nepal Mountaineering Association In 1900, more than 100,000 tigers were facilities seriously undermine conservation have been banned in the Everest to enforce the ban, though no penal- estimated to roam the planet. But that fell to efforts to safeguard this species and provide region to reduce the vast amounts of It looks like we are ty has yet been decided for violation. a record low of 3,200 globally in 2010. opportunities for laundering and other illegal waste left by trekkers and moun- Environmentalists are also concerned Since then, population numbers have losing this fight activities,” said senior Traffic crime analyst taineers, Nepali authorities said. In inched upwards, but there are still estimat- Ramacandra Wong in the statement. addition to seeing a record number that the pollution on Everest is ed to be fewer than 3,900 tigers left in the Tuesday’s report was released as parties of climbers this year, a government- affecting water sources down in the wild. “This pernicious trafficking, evidenced to the Convention on International Trade in led cleaning initiative on Everest — valley. Six years ago, Nepal intro- by the continuously high number of whole Endangered Species (CITES) meet in Geneva the world’s highest mountain — also duced a US$4,000 deposit per team skins, whole animals — both dead and alive to evaluate and fine-tune the treaty that man- collected over 10 tons of trash. of climbers on Everest that would be — and bones is testament to the ongoing the report found, also noting a clear increase in ages trade in more than 35,000 species of The new ban in Khumbu Pasang refunded if each climber brought demand for Tiger parts,” Krishnasamy said. seizures of whole animals, both dead and alive. plants and animals. Tiger farms are on the Lhamu rural municipality, home to down at least eight kilos of waste, “The time for talking is over: words must be agenda, with the report authors calling for Mount Everest and several other but only half of the climbers return turned into action to prevent further Tiger loss,” ‘Undermine conservation efforts’ CITES to monitor facilities to ensure they are snow-capped mountains, covers all with the required amount. — AFP she said in a statement. Traffic, which campaigns The study also highlighted the growing role not helping feed the illegal trade chain. — AFP 17

Thursday, August 22, 2019

To advertise on this Page

Call: 24833199 ext:101,102 or Direct line: 24835616 / 24835617 or email: [email protected] 18 Established 1961

Stars Thursday, August 22, 2019

CROSSWORD 2287 STAR TRACK

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

The opposition and blockage you may be experiencing this morning are Keep a positive outlook through a challenging dilemma in the workplace temporary—really. Cool it and let this one pass. Jot down inventive ideas that come to this morning. You may not have all the facts at this time so make sure you remove any your mind today as you will have an opportunity to discuss the ideas with a trusted judgments. Give yourself time and you will have the answers you need. Your intuition is friend later today. The convention center, a lecture hall or some other place for a pres- strong and it can guide you accurately in making forecasts or decisions. Hard work entation could be in order today and you, along with several other work partners, want and going beyond the call of duty are par for the course today. Friendships and to hear the message. Follow your instincts and you will not go wrong today. When you involvement in group activities play a more important part for you this afternoon. notice a need for assisting another, you are quick to either give help or find help. This is Friends are our only true riches and the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing a good time to teach and advertise your favorite charity. things in cooperation with others is something no one can take away from you. A good conversation with those you love is possible this evening

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This is a period when you take your work more seriously than usual. There is a lot of energy available and you are determined to get things scheduled and organized. The nail that sticks up is hammered down now. Law, politics, education, This is a good time to concentrate on your career goals. Your organiza- travel and religion are some of the areas where an emotionally charged drama may be tional abilities and sense of responsibility will be what guides you and proves success- played. Seeing both sides of an issue and figuring out resolutions to opposing views ful. Your career could assume a more determined and solid form. There is certainly an take on a greater importance. You can really use your mind to make clear choices and abundance of paperwork to wade through today. You may think that few people rec- think through situations. Some negotiations may be in order. A new cycle also begins ognize your efforts or accomplishments but instead, there are people that know and that helps you with the progress of your work. appreciate your work. You should, however, throw your efforts into work you really love doing.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You are relentless about cutting through appearances and finding the essential in situations. This could involve legal or financial matters. A heightened Expressing your views regarding some subject matter may be a bit interest in getting things organized into a rational system is a part of this. There is touchy today. You have a sense for power, wealth and passion. Yours is ACROSS DOWN much mental busywork. A time of good fortune will begin to open up in a very natural indeed a passionate life. You are not at all superficial and you always seem to get to 1. A fraudulent business scheme. 1. (of something seen or heard) Clearly way. It will become easy to see the path you decide to take. Because of new oppor- the heart of things. This is good for business and politics but your words and actions 5. Type genus of the Giraffidae. defined. tunities, you may find yourself energized and ready to participate. With your deter- can sometimes be construed as insensitive; listen and learn. You will succeed best if 12. The universal time coordinated time when 2. French chemist (born in Poland) who won mination to succeed, the time will soon be right to take the lead. You may be able to you ask for feedback from those with whom you have been teaching or helping. Be a transmission is sent from Earth to a two Nobel Prizes. enjoy and value your own life situation or feel especially kind towards a friend or wise in your communication with others by agreeing to disagree occasionally. 3. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of spacecraft or other celestial body. loved one this evening. the Old World. 15. French poet and novelist and dramatist. 4. A group of island in eastern Indonesia 16. 16th President of the United States. between Celebes and New Guinea. Capricorn (December 22-January 19) 17. A resource. 5. Showing or causing joy and pleasure. 18. Any of various plants of the genus Aralia. 6. Being one more than one. Cancer (June 21-July 22) 19. A disease caused by deficiency of niacin 7. A radioactive gaseous element formed by The support you need for whatever you want to accomplish is now or tryptophan (or by a defect in the the disintegration of radium. This is a challenging day in that there is much to be accomplished. You available. This is the time to make your request. You could gain attention with metabolic conversion of tryptophan to 8. The highest level or degree attainable. may be especially dynamic and assertive just now. You are helpful with co-workers superiors or in relation to your work. As you work to enhance the value of your service, you will enhance your job potential. You may find that you enjoy your job niacin). 9. (used of a horse or related animal) Born. and, if asked, can give plenty of suggestions or ideas to others. Right now, the key to 10. A blank leaf in the front of back of a book. career moves involves tending to nagging details—whatever you have neglected and or the responsibility it entails more than usual. Circumstances may stimulate the 21. Tall New Zealand timber tree. pleasure of your life situation now. Your ethics deepen, providing you with a bet- 23. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising 11. Black tropical American cuckoo. put off before today. Take a deep breath and dig in to the work at hand. A good work 12. (aeronautical) Pertaining to the tail section ethic is rewarded. Do your share to ensure smooth sailing on the job. Attention to ter sense of discrimination. That purchasing eye of yours is fine-tuned; others may solely the razorbill. of a plane. matters of efficiency is important. There is a lot of energy available to push forward find you selecting the best buys. 24. The state prevailing during the absence 13. (computer science) A kind of computer with your personal plans this afternoon. of war. architecture that has a relatively small set 26. The branch of engineering science that of computer instructions that it can per- studies the uses of electricity and the form. Aquarius (January 20- February 18) equipment for power generation and 14. Designer drug designed to have the Leo (July 23-August 22) distribution and the control of machines effects of amphetamines (it floods the Someone important or in authority may put a damper on your ideas. Since and communication. brain with serotonin) but to avoid the you are good at creative thinking, there are many more ideas where these came from. 27. Port city in western Saudi Arabia on the drug laws. You should find everything running in a smooth manner today. Ideas and Take this as an opportunity to reassess and revamp your thinking. Listen carefully, Red Sea. 20. Little known Kamarupan languages. interaction with authority figures may be in the forecast. Working with rather than there may or may not be important points to ponder. Your efforts will not go unno- 22. An Old World plant of the genus Scilla 29. (anatomy) A somewhat rounded subdivi- against the flow should be easy to do. Outer circumstances and the flow of events ticed. Your work environment is usually the most practical of environments. You can having narrow basal leaves and pink or make it easy for you to make clear decisions—see the road ahead and move forward. manipulate every situation and put it to good use. Emotions are seldom a priority and sion of a bodily organ or part. blue or white racemose flowers. Things seem to fall into place—progress is easy. Be careful not to overextend. you are always very practical and ambitious. 33. Struck with fear, dread, or consternation. 25. A person who announces and plays pop- Sometimes you say yes too quickly and may hastily try to get too many things accom- 37. A chronic inflammatory collagen disease ular recorded music. plished at once. affecting connective tissue (skin or 28. An administrator in charge of a division of joints). a university or college. 38. Noisy quarrel. 30. English scholastic philosopher and Pisces (February 19-March 20) 40. Put down by force or intimidation. assumed author of Occam's Razor Virgo (August 23-September 22) 41. Speaking a Slavic language. (1285-1349). This is a great time to work and be with others. An authority figure may 43. A byproduct of inflammation. 31. Capable of wounding. seek you out as just the person for a particular job. This is a busy but rewarding work- 32. A parliamentary monarchy in southwest- You have an urge to strike out on your own in a new direction, to take on day. Fondness and appreciation for the past and for your roots in life take on a greater 44. A river in north central Switzerland that ern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. runs northeast into the Rhine. new challenges no matter what the risks. You can be bold, perhaps headstrong and importance. A co-worker friend may have recently done research on his or her family 34. A person who keeps watch over some- history and is willing to give you suggestions of how to go about this research. You 45. A very poisonous metallic element that impatient. This is a period emphasizing an enhanced sense of personal possibility and thing or someone. potential. There is tremendous psychological growth, which can lead to great personal could make plans to meet at a library this weekend or some day after work to gain that has three allotropic forms. 35. Swift timid long-eared mammal larger success, if you follow through with it. You might also find that you will put on the information. Making your home situation more attractive plays a part in this and the 47. A blue dye obtained from plants or made than a rabbit having a divided upper lip pounds if you are not careful. There is a bout of philosophy or even a little religion sale or purchase of real estate could bring you much gain before this cycle ends. There synthetically. and long hind legs. now that could have an enormous effect on your career during this time. is a chance to have a special time with someone you love. This is a positive time. 50. The termination of a relationship. 36. Building material used as siding or roof- 53. (medicine) A systematic plan for therapy ing. (often including diet). 39. A blood group antigen possessed by Rh- 55. A public promotion of some product or positive people. Wordsearch Puzzle Yesterday’s Solution service. 42. Light wispy precipitation that evaporates before it reaches the ground (especially 56. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on when the lower air is low in humidity). a skewer usually with vegetables. 46. Less than human or not worthy of a 57. Any of various small biting flies. human being. 58. An official prosecutor for a judicial dis- 48. United States tennis player (born in trict. Czechoslovakia) who won several sin- 60. A colorless explosive liquid that is volatile gles championships. and poisonous and foul-smelling. 49. A Spanish female Gypsy. 61. A genus of Ploceidae. 51. A Loloish language. 62. Sedative-hypnotic drug (trade name 52. (Greek mythology) The first woman. Quaalude) that is a drug of abuse. 54. Large family of important mostly marine 66. In a straight unbroken line of descent food fishes. from parent to child. 59. Lap at the front of a coat. 63. The part of the eye that contains the iris 70. X-ray picture of the kidneys and ureters and ciliary body and choroid. after injection of a radiopaque dye. 64. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of 71. Without moral standards or principles. Lamaism. 74. The capital and largest city of 65. A member of an Iroquoian people for- Bangladesh. merly living on the south shore of Lake 75. (meaning literally `born') Used to indicate Erie in northern Ohio and northwest the maiden or family name of a married Pennsylvania and western New York. woman. 67. Electronic warfare undertaken to insure 76. Any of several plants of the genus effective friendly use of the electromag- Calochortus having tulip-shaped flowers netic spectrum in spite of the enemy's with 3 sepals and 3 petals. use of electronic warfare. 78. The 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. 68. A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain. 79. United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts 69. Set down according to a plan. or 3.785 liters. 72. The month following March and preced- 80. An organism (especially a bacterium) ing May. that does not require air or free oxygen 73. A toilet in England. to live. 77. A metallic element having four allotropic 81. A master's degree in education. forms.

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily Sudoku Yesterday’s Solution Established 1961 Lifestyle

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

A visitor poses for photographs in front of the eco-art exhibition “Anima Mundi: Soul of the World” by Indonesian artist Mulyana in Bangkok yesterday. Mulyana uses discarded materials such as rubber and plastic for his marine creatures knit- work to raise awareness of the environment. — AFP

administer massages which frequently French model led to abuse and even rape. His address book, which was made public tycoon at heart in 2015 through the Gawker website, Palestine children document plight included dozens of names listed under “massages”, some 30 of which were in of Epstein scandal France. Now in his 70s, Brunel began his career as a model scout who in of Bedouin villages near Israeli settlements accusations 1978 was involved in setting up the prestigious Karin Models agency. formerly powerful French mod- He then moved to the United States alestinian children, residing in the Bedouin eling tycoon has emerged as a where he co-founded the Miami-based Pvillage of Abu Al-Anwar and other towns, key figure in the scandal sur- agency MC2. Brunel’s name had been documented the plight of their people via A linked to Epstein for several years but rounding US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, producing unfiltered photos and works of art who committed suicide in jail while fac- details emerged only relatively recently displaying the vast contrast in living conditions ing charges of sexually trafficking during a civil lawsuit launched in 2015 between wealthy Jewish settlers and Palestinian minors. Jean-Luc Brunel, regarded as a by Virginia Roberts Giuffre against nomads. In an exhibition featuring the works of close friend and ally of the disgraced Epstein. Abu Al-Anwar village’s children and other US financier, has been accused in court According to court documents, Bedouin gatherings, 25 youngsters had the documents of procuring young girls for Giuffre accused Epstein of using her as courage to show the world that settlers-who Epstein, as well as of rape. He has in the a “sex slave” and said she had been enjoy full access to facilities and services-could past unequivocally denied the accusa- forced to have sex with well-known live only meters away from Palestinians who tions. The model scout, an influential politicians and businessmen, including barely make ends meet. figure in the industry, has lwaysa been a Brunel. She also alleged that Brunel Speaking to KUNA, Majed Al-Jahleen-one low-profile figure and like some other would bring girls as young as 12 to the of the children partaking in the exhibition former Epstein allies vanished after the United States and pass them on to his organized by the Abdulmohsen Al-Qattan inde- financier was charged in early July. friends, including Epstein. These claims pendent foundation in Ramallah-said that he Brunel has issued no comment over prompted Brunel to issue his statement spent nine years making the long journey to the latest events, but in a statement in saying he had “decided to bring judicial school by foot until recently when buses 2015 that itself broke years of silence proceedings in France and in the became available. He contrasted that with how he vehemently denied involvement, United States against allegations which children in Jewish settlements were provided “directly or indirectly”, in Epstein’s cause considerable damage to me per- with the finest of services, while he and his crimes. Jailed ahead of a trial, Epstein sonally and to my model agencies.” brethren had to suffer. was found hanged in his cell on August Similarly, Yosra Al-Jahleen and Ali Mousa Providing her input in regards to the chil- Riffing on the same issue, Naeel Mazadah-a 10 after being linked to a string of sor- ‘Omerta in place’? relayed how settlers made the life so miserable dren’s suffering, chief executive officer of coordinator for programs developing children did abuses involving underage girls at Long before the Epstein scandal for Bedouin villages nestled between various Abdulmohsen Al-Qattan foundation, Fada Tuma photographic and artistic abilities-affirmed that both his Palm Beach home and on his broke, Brunel was accused of rape by illegal settlements, restricting their movements revealed that a chance was given to children the young ones managed to convey their mes- private island in the Caribbean. several models in a 1988 documentary and choking them out in a figurative and some- from over 20 Bedouin villages to display their sage to the local community and the world, say- by CBS. Last week, French investiga- times literal sense. All of the children had taken living conditions-whether in photo or art form- ing that what is occurring in the occupied lands ‘Investigators must shed light’ tive website Mediapart released testi- numerous photos depicting their lives, which in contrast to settler lifestyles. The main pur- was not right by any measure or standard. The But there have been allegations that mony from former Dutch model Thysia lacked necessities such as electricity, water, and pose of the event is to document what is occur- movie and photos displayed in the exhibition some abuses may also have taken place Huisman alleging she was “drugged and food. To make matters worse, settlers would ring on the ground to provide an unaltered organized by the foundation had clearly shown in Paris at Epstein’s sumptuous apart- raped” by him in the early 1990s when barged in to destroy whatever makeshift image of what is happening, he said. Meanwhile, that the children were reflecting in all honesty ment on Avenue Foch near the she was 18. “We have been contacted dwellings the Bedouins made, but what irked the exhibition coordinator and artist Raouf Hajj- how the situation is with one people living in Champs-Elysees. Calls are growing in by many models who worked for MC2 children was that settlers would repeatedly Yahya revealed that similar exhibitions and pro- luxury-the Jewish settlers-and others- France for an investigation into what and Karin about accusations of poten- demolish their schools, which they had to rebuild grams were being held since 2017 to encourage Palestinian Bedouins-living in misery. Israeli went on behind the walls of the apart- tial sexual trafficking and sexual from scratch every single time. It is important to Palestinian children to express themselves and authority is making life unbearable to some ment, which was frequented by Brunel. abuse,” former top model Sara Ziff, who note that the Israeli government would backup champion their righteous stance. 30,000 Bedouins living in around 22 villages “It is up to investigators... to shed light now runs the modeling rights organiza- settlers’ actions against Bedouin gatherings. In Hajj-Yahya also revealed that alongside the between Jericho and Jerusalem. — KUNA on the use of this apartment which was tion Model Alliance, told AFP. 2016, the Israeli government allowed the demoli- exhibition, numerous workshops were held to owned by Mr Epstein,” said Innocence “For years, everyone knew about tion of the six-room school in Abu Al-Anwar vil- develop Palestinian children photographic and in Danger, a French NGO working to these practices but said nothing, there lage, which served some 56 students. artistic skills to better convey their messages. protect children against sexual vio- was some kind of omerta in place,” said lence, urging Paris prosecutors to Ekaterina Ozhiganova, co-founder of investigate. Model Law, a French association that Two French government ministers works to protect models’ rights. “It’s have also demanded action, saying the not the first time that people in power US inquiry had exposed links with benefit from favorable treatment” guar- France that needed investigating. So anteeing them years of impunity, she far, prosecutors have said they are car- told AFP, pointing to the similarities rying out an initial analysis before mak- with the Harvey Weinstein scandal that ing a decision over launching a probe. rocked Hollywood and launched the #MeToo movement. “Potential abusers Rape, procuring allegations gravitate towards certain professions Epstein, who at one time counted linked to the body, like modelling,” she Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Britain’s said. “That allows them to mix with Prince Andrew among this friends, was easy prey.” — AFP accused of recruiting young girls to 20 Established 1961 Lifestyle Gossip Thursday, August 22, 2019

rench electronic music composer Fred Rister, this way as his cancer was making him suffer a lot,” F known for his songs such as “I gotta feeling” Guetta said in a statement to AFP. “Rest in peace my by the Black Eyed Peas and music partner of friend I’ll keep playing our music and I’ll think of you the acclaimed DJ David Guetta, has died at the every time. We lived our dreams and way beyond and I’m age of 58, according to sources Tuesday. Originally from forever thankful,” he added. His friend wrote on his Dunkirk in the north of France, the DJ and producer had Facebook page “he was a sun, for others a good man, a collaborated with Guetta since 2000 and co-wrote sev- person who we could count on, a man who made us eral hits with him, winning a Grammy Award for the song dance”. His publishing house, Editions Seguier, which “When love takes over” in 2010. He was diagnosed with published his book “Make People Dance”, also confirmed cancer and stopped his treatment in 2017. “I feel very his death. lonely right now crying in my bed but I guess it’s better

emi Lovato has joined the cast of Netflix’s D ‘Eurovision’. The ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ hit- Jessica Chastain’s spy thriller ‘355’ is set maker will play Icelandic singer Katiana in J for release on January 15, 2021. The Will Ferrell’s comedy - which is based on the upcoming female-led ensemble movie - real-life annual singing contest - alongside the likes of starring Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Rachel McAdams and Pierce Brosnan. In a video Cruz, Fan Bingbing and Diane Kruger - went into announcement posted on Twitter on Demi’s 27th birthday production in June, a year after it first started to be Will said: “Hi everyone, Will Ferrell here on the set of my together, and bosses are hoping it’ll be finished and new movie ‘Eurovision’. “We are having a great time, we ready to hit cinema screens in just under two years’ just started filming, and we want to make a very special time, according to Screen Rant. The plot will follow announcement about a brand new cast member. “It just top agents from agencies around the globe, who so happens to be her birthday today and I made her this are forced to co-operate with each other when a wonderful cake from scratch. Happy Birthday, yay!” The new threat emerges involving a weapon that could movie is Demi’s first live-action role since 2010’s ‘Camp throw the world into total chaos. The new agency’s Rock 2: The Final Jam’. Will and Rachel play Icelandic numerical name is inspired by the codename of the musicians Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir respec- one of the earliest spies in the American tively. Whilst former James Bond Pierce portrays Will’s Revolution, a woman whose identity remains on-screen father Erick Erickssong. It was recently con- unknown to this day. Chastain, 42, recently teased firmed that ‘Beauty and the Beast’ actor Dan Stevens will that although the film is a female-led cast, the play Russian contestant Alexander Lemtov. ‘Anchorman’ forthcoming spy thriller will have some Bond boys star Will is producing the project through his Gary for women to lust over. She said: “Oh yeah. We’ve Sanchez Productions company, and he is penning the got some eye candy. I’m going to allow the female script with Andrew Steele, while David Dobkin is helming audience to sit there and go, ‘Wow, isn’t he beauti- the project. Filming will be taking place in Iceland and ful!’ “ The ‘Dark Phoenix’ star went on to explain Tel-Aviv, Israel, although no release date has been set by that although she doesn’t want to objectify the men the streaming service. in her movie, she wants female viewers to accept that they have a “female gaze” and are able to view themselves as “sexual creatures”. She said: “It’s kind of incredible to let women know we have a female gaze and we are also sexual creatures.” Chastain is producing the film through her Freckle ada Pinkett Smith wanted her husband Will Films banner alongside Kelly Carmichael and J Smith to take the ‘Matrix’ role. The 50-year- Simon Kinberg, who are using a script from old actor was approached to play Neo in the Theresa Rebeck. Filming will take place in London 1999 sci-fi film but he famously turned it and Morocco. down, much to the disapproval of his wife as she tried to encourage him to go for it because she knew in her gut it would be “revolutionary.” Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, she said: “I knew it would be revolutionary. I was like, ‘Will, you’ve got to do this movie!’ He didn’t fully get it, but I did.” Smith recently said he turned down the part because he wasn’t happy with the pitch by the film’s writ- ers, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, but he still regrets the decision to this day after he saw Keanu Reeves play pro- odd Phillips thinks there’s potential for a tagonist Neo in the film. Speaking on his YouTube chan- T ‘Joker’ sequel. The psychological thriller isn’t nel, he said: “All right this is one of them stories I’m not set for release until later this year, but the 48- proud of but it’s the truth. I did turn down Neo in ‘The year-old director is convinced there could be Matrix’. “They came in and it was like they’d only down a follow-up if Joaquin Phoenix - who plays the mentally one movie, I think it was called ‘Bound’. And they came in ill stand-up comedian in the film - agrees to star in and they made a pitch for ‘The Matrix’. As it turns out another movie. Speaking to Total Film, Phillips said: “One they’re geniuses. But there’s a fine line between genius thing I will tell you: I would do anything with [Phoenix], and what I experienced in the meeting.” Mimicking the any day of the week. There’s nobody like him. If he was writers at the meeting, the ‘Suicide Squad’ star said: “So, willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and dude, we’re thinking like, imagine you’re in a fight and Warners came to us and said, ‘You know what? If you then you, like, jump. Imagine if you could stop jumping in guys could think of something...’ “Well, I have a feeling the middle of the jump. But then, people could see that he and I could think of something pretty cool.” around you.” Looking unimpressed, Will admitted: “So I However, the likelihood of a sequel will depend on how made ‘Wild Wild West’.” The ‘Men In Black’ star has successful the original will be when it hits cinema screens nothing but praise for Keanu’s performance in the 1999 at the beginning of October. And Phoenix recently said film and the sequels as well as Laurence Fishburne, who he fears that the upcoming movie based on the origin of portrayed Morpheus. He said: “I’m not proud of it, but ... the DC Comics villain may not live up to fans expecta- Keanu [Reeves] was perfect. Laurence Fishburne was tions as he and Phillips chose to stray from the original perfect.” Although Will missed his chance to play Neo, he material and focus on the “story of becoming Joker”. The joked that due to changes in casting if he had been in the 44-year-old actor said: “We didn’t follow anything from film, he probably did fans a “favor”. He quipped: “If I had the comic books, which people are gonna be mad about. done it - because I’m black - then Morpheus wouldn’t obbie Williams has teased new music. We just wrote our own version of where a guy like Joker have been black because they were looking at Val Kilmer. R The ‘Let Me Entertain You’ hitmaker might come from. “That’s what was interesting to me. “I was going to be Neo and Val Kilmer was going to be took to social media to share a black and We’re not even doing Joker, but the story of becoming Morpheus, I probably would’ve messed ‘The Matrix’ up, I white photo of himself back in the studio, Joker. It’s about this man. “ The ‘Gladiator’ actor added would’ve ruined it. So I did y’all a favor.” leading fans to speculate he might be working on a that he thought the project sounded “super ambitious” Christmas album. Robbie didn’t give the game away, when he first discussed it with Phillips. He explained: “I leaving the caption blank but a stamp on the photo thought it was crazy-ambitious. Todd said to me ‘I have says it was taken on May 28, 2019. Meanwhile, this idea, I wanna tell the origin story of the Joker. I said Robbie’s collaborator Guy Chambers recently ‘Wow okay’”. — Bang Showbiz Neil Young is a revealed his friend’s approach to creating new music is often quite spontaneous, and he has to make sure he’s always recording just in case the ‘control freak’ singer does something “really very strong”. He said: “[Robbie] gets quite a buzz from a track already in eil Young is a “control freak” when it comes to progress. He likes a certain amount of music to ... N his music. The ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ hit- So what we tend to do when he walks through the maker’s favorite recording engineer John room is we immediately give him a mic, a handheld Hanlon has revealed that Neil is a stickler for mic, and he immediately starts singing, if he likes having things done his way and admits it is “foolhardy” to the track. We record everything he does, because even think about saying something because Neil is “10 sometimes his first thoughts are really very strong, steps ahead”. He told the New York Times magazine: “He and I’m sort of playing along at the same time try- wants the honesty of what went down, not some pasted- ing to interact with him. I like jamming with people together overdubbed representation that’s not the truth. when I’m writing. I like playing at the same time, I He’s a control freak. If he wants your opinion, he’ll ask for like getting involved, and not just watching it. I like it. If he doesn’t, it’s foolhardy to wade in. He’s 10 steps ... I suppose directing it in a way, and that’s what it’s ahead of you in his thought process.” Neil created his like with Rob.” Earlier this year, it was claimed that own online music archive, which features his entire back Robbie wants to make another swing album after catalogue along with “unreleased albums”. He wrote: being inspired by his Las Vegas residency. An “Every single, recorded track or album I have produced is represented. View all albums currently released and tion found here is a work in progress, always growing insider said at the time: “Robbie is a huge fan of and adapting to new information as we find it. “We have swing and believes his performing style of singing see albums still unreleased and in production just by using the controls to zoom through the years. Unreleased done our best to find all of the background pertinent to and joking with the audience has a direct link with this music. The NYA Timeline shows you when and how greats like Sinatra and Martin. “Getting on stage in album art is simply pencilled in so you can where unre- leased albums will appear on the timeline, once they are the music was made. Every single, recorded track or Vegas, where those guys were kings, to sing those album I have produced is represented. It is always cur- tracks again has given him the impetus to make completed.” And the site will be constantly updated with new information. Speaking back in 2017 before its rent. You can browse through the music I made between another swing record. He’s starting to list the songs today’s date and 1963, when I made my first recording in he wants.” launch, he explained: “We have attempted to highlight the creative process and the creators. A lot of people and Canada and it was released as a 45 RPM single.” work are behind the music we hear. The musical informa- Established 1961 21 Lifestyle Music & Movies Thursday, August 22, 2019

A man arrives for the press visit of the exhibition titled “Michael Jackson: On the Wall” that was inspired by late US iconic pop Men stand next to artworks: US artist Mark Ryden’s reworking of the cover for the 1991 record “Dangerous” (left), “Equestrian star at Espoo Museum of Modern Art in Finland. — AFP photos Portrait of King Philip” by US painter Kehinde Wiley (center) and a painting by US artist Kai Guetta (right) during the press visit of the exhibition titled “Michael Jackson: On the Wall” that was inspired by late US iconic pop star at Espoo Museum of Modern Art in Finland.

n exhibition of art inspired by Michael she said. “This exhibition and these artists are Jackson opened Tuesday in Helsinki with not celebrating Michael Jackson, but analyzing Aorganizers insisting it was not a “celebra- his meaning in our culture,” Miller added. tion” of the singer, still dogged by abuse allega- tions a decade after his death. “Michael Jackson: Sponsors scared away On the Wall” brings together old and new works Miller said some organizations refused to depicting the iconic pop star and his impact on sponsor the exhibition over concerns about the popular culture, by artists including Andy controversies surrounding the singer, despite not Warhol, American photographer David having seen the show. “I’m convinced that if LaChapelle and British potter Grayson Perry. everyone would have seen the exhibition they’d The show of 90 works first hung in London’s gladly be our partner because the exhibition is National Portrait Gallery in 2018 to widespread so diverse,” she told AFP. Many of the Jackson- critical acclaim. It then toured in Paris and Bonn inspired works veer between the gaudy and the before coming to Helsinki. The German and grotesque, including an oversized golden statue Finnish shows come after a new raft of allega- of the megastar with his pet chimpanzee, tions that Jackson groomed and sexually assault- Bubbles, by Paul McCarthy. ed children, detailed in the 2018 documentary Elsewhere, a life-size portrait by Kehinde “Finding Neverland”. Wiley, commissioned by Jackson himself shortly The exhibition will nevertheless run in the before his death in 2009, features the star in Finnish capital “as planned”, organizers said, jeweled armor on horseback surrounded by with a text at the entrance acknowledging that cherubs, after a portrait by Rubens of King Jackson has hit the headlines over the years. “He Women stand in front of “current conversations may have changed the Philip II of Spain. The Romanian artist Dan will stay as an icon somehow, you cannot just pictures by US photogra- way the exhibition is interpreted”. “We can’t shy Mihaltianu’s installation draws on the impact of erase him,” Mihaltianu told AFP. “I remember pher David Lachapelle away from these difficult subjects and we of Jackson’s seminal 1992 concert in post- already when he died, people were kind of, ‘OK, during a press visit. course condemn all kinds of abuse,” Arja Miller, Communist Bucharest, using newspaper photos now he’s got to rest in peace.’ But 10 years later, chief curator at Espoo Museum of Modern Art, alongside concert footage. it’s a new story coming up.”—AFP US based artist Todd Gray poses in front of his work Cosmic told AFP. “But we also want to provide a plat- Mihaltianu said that interest in his piece, from Speakers during the press visit of the exhibition. form for open discussion and for artists’ voices,” 1994, has grown again every time Michael Spider-Man’s Marvel future in ‘No Time To Die’ revealed peril as Sony deal breaks down as title of latest Bond film

arvel’s superhero films could lose that Disney and Sony had failed to agree he next James Bond film and the last Mtheir most famous character after on financial terms for future Spider-Man to feature Daniel Craig as 007 will Sony confirmed Tuesday that films. T be called “No Time To Die” and talks over its deal to share Spider-Man According to Deadline, which broke released in April, the franchise announced with the Disney-owned studio have bro- the news, Disney had wanted to signifi- on Tuesday. The 25th installment of the ken down. The Marvel movies have cantly increase its financial stake in new British spy saga will see Bond drawn out of together grossed $22 billion at the global Spider-Man movies, while Sony refused retirement by his friend and CIA agent box office, and British actor Tom Holland’s to alter existing terms. Sony said the Felix Leiter to embark on a treacherous Spider-Man has become an increasingly reports “mischaracterized recent discus- mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist, US actor Keanu Reeves and Canadian-born actress central figure in the most lucrative fran- sions,” but thanked Feige for “the path he according to the official plot summary. Carrie-Anne Moss pose for photographers on a terrace of chise in film history. But while the teen has helped put us on, which we will con- Filming is already under way, but has been the Palais des festivals during the photocall for “Matrix web-slinger has for decades been the tinue.” In financial terms, Spider-Man is beset by problems. An explosion at Reloaded” directed by the Wachowski brothers during crown jewel of the Marvel comic book one of the most successful superheroes in Britain’s Pinewood Studios in June rocked the 56th Cannes film festival on 15 May 2003. — AFP Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek (left) and empire on which the films are based, Sony movie history. Holland’s iteration of one of the film sets, causing damage to the Daniel Craig. owns the character’s movie rights. Spider-Man has delivered box office stage and one minor injury. He only began appearing in Disney- gold-he has appeared in a total of five The Sun newspaper said a triple blast owned Marvel’s “cinematic universe” after Marvel Studios and Sony films since the Waller-Bridge has been called upon to liv- ‘Matrix 4’ announced hit the set after a stunt went wrong, taking en up the script, at the express request of the Hollywood giants stuck an almost- collaboration deal, which collectively off part of the roof and several wall panels. unprecedented, and still highly secretive, grossed almost $8 billion worldwide. Craig, who wanted to inject more humor with Keanu Reeves to Craig-who will play the legendary spy for into the film. The production has also been 2015 deal to co-produce and split profits These included Marvel’s “Avengers: the fifth time-earlier had to undergo minor across the films. A key aspect of that part- Endgame,” the highest-grossing movie of repeatedly delayed over script disputes, ankle surgery after an injury on set in with Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle return as Neo nership has now broken down. Sony con- all time. At Comic-Con last month, Marvel Jamaica. Oscar-winner Rami Malek will firmed that Marvel Studios boss Kevin Studios set out a timeline of films and tel- quitting the project last year and “Beasts play a villain in the long-awaited movie, of No Nation” director Cary Fukunaga ci-fi franchise “The Matrix” will return for a Feige-widely credited with the phenome- evision shows scheduled for the next two which is set to see Craig bow out after fourth film with Keanu Reeves reprising his nal boom in comic book movies of the years including new outings for popular stepping in. The film is due to open in cine- S eight years as 007. role as kung fu-kicking, shades-wearing hero past decade-will no longer produce characters Thor, Black Widow, Doctor mas in Britain on April 3 and in the United “No Time To Die” will also see the States five days later. — AFP Neo, studio Warner Bros said Tuesday. Lana Spider-Man films, with a spokesman Strange and Loki-but none featuring return of Ralph Fiennes-as Bond’s boss- Wachowski will helm the project, returning to adding the studio was “disappointed.” Spider-Man. Feige is also expected to be and French actress Lea Seydoux. Emmy- write, direct and produce the latest installment of “We hope this might change in the busy overseeing new Marvel franchises nominated “Fleabag” creator Phoebe the hugely popular series about humans trapped in future, but understand that the many new acquired by Disney in its purchase of 21st a virtual reality by machines, which has netted responsibilities that Disney has given Century Fox, which include the popular more than $1.6 billion worldwide. “We could not be him... do not allow time for him to work on “X-Men”. Sony last year produced an more excited to be re-entering ‘The Matrix’ with IP (intellectual property) they do not Oscar-winning Spider-Man animation was not there at the time, he said. The ambush reportedly took place at a dis- Lana,” studio chairman Toby Emmerich said in a own,” the Sony spokesman said in a state- separate from Marvel Studios’ domain, as Several hurt as statement sent to AFP. “Lana is a true visionary-a ment sent to AFP. The separation makes it well as a standalone film centered on pop- used warehouse where the music video was being made, with the attackers singular and original creative filmmaker,” he added. “almost certain” that the character ular Spider-Man villain Venom. Disney did gang storms video Lana and her sister Lilly-who were formerly Spider-Man will be absent from crossover not immediately respond to request for pulling up to the site in cars and firing four shots towards Booba’s crew as known as the Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, appearances in future Marvel films, comment. — AFP before switching gender-directed the original trilo- according to Hollywood Reporter journal- set of French they put away equipment. They then began attacking the rest gy. Warner Bros did not specify if the new film ist Graeme McMillan. Multiple Hollywood would be a direct sequel, saying only that it was media outlets reported earlier Tuesday rapper Booba of the crew with iron bars and baseball bats, with the video’s producer sustain- “set in the world of ‘The Matrix’,” and did not give ing serious head injuries and another a release date. The original films followed a band of hots were fired and several peo- rebels who battled intelligent machines in a future ple injured overnight as gangs technician also badly hurt, BFMTV S said. It said the man who sustained a where humans are enslaved within the Matrix-a armed with guns and baseball virtual reality that resembles the contemporary bats stormed the set of a music video gunshot wound to the leg was Booba’s 36-year-old marketing and sponsorship world. Reeves’ Neo was a hero on a mission to save by controversial French rapper Booba, a mankind. police source told AFP yesterday. The manager. Police found four 9mm shell casings and two cartridges at the scene The dark fantasy featured a mix of pseudo- 42-year-old musician, who is one of eastern philosophy and Western mythology, spec- France’s biggest rap stars, has been and have opened an inquiry, the chan- nel said. tacular fight scenes and lavish special effects. locked in a high-profile feud with fellow “Many of the ideas Lilly and I explored 20 years rapper Kaaris which exploded into vio- ago about our reality are even more relevant now,” lence at a Paris airport last year, landing Cage fight? It was not immediately clear who said Lana Wachowski. “I’m very happy to have them both in jail for a month. these characters back in my life and grateful for Around 15 people were involved in was behind the attack but it led to spec- ulation it was linked to the ongoing feud another chance to work with my brilliant friends.” the overnight attack which took place Carrie-Anne Moss will also return to her role as around midnight (2200 GMT) in the between the two rappers which has made headlines in France and beyond. Trinity, the studio said Tuesday. northeastern Paris suburb of Aulnay- The original film turns 20 this year, with special sous-Bois, the source said, confirming Their August 2018 brawl at Orly airport erupted as the men and their screenings planned in the US later this month. The a report first published by Europe 1 third film in the series, “The Matrix Revolutions” radio. One of the injured sustained a entourages were about to fly to Barcelona for a concert, prompting offi- (2003), was the first film to be released simultane- bullet wound to the thigh but his ously around the world at the same hour. — AFP injuries were not thought to be life- cials to temporarily shut down part of In this file photo a giant inflatable Spider-Man is displayed on the red carpet for the “Spider- threatening, said the source. Booba the terminal, delaying flights. —AFP Man: Far From Home” World premiere at the TCL Chinese theatre in Hollywood. — AFP 22 Established 1961

Thurssday, August 22, 2019 Lifestyle Features

ubans and beards have gone hand in hand, Fidel’s beard Cutting edge of imperialism Cor cheek by jowl, since the days of Fidel Castro told US television in an interview Shunning what Cuba saw as the cutting Castro’s revolution, but after falling out of after the revolution: “My beard means a lot of edge of US imperialism represented by Gillette, favor, facial hair is back-and this time, it’s not things for my country.” “When we have fulfilled Havana looked to Soviet-era Czechoslovakia to political. Cuba’s old guard, for the most part, no our promise of good government, I will shave provide suitably patriotic blades under the longer sport iconic beards, but the youngsters do. off the beard.” In the end he decided to keep it. brand name “Venceremos” (‘We will Clean-shaven President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s gov- But Castro’s facial hair carried such symbolism Overcome’), sold in boxes bearing the revolu- ernment only features one hirsute minister, vice- that the CIA hatched a plan in the early 1960s tionary slogan “Patria o Muerte” (‘Homeland or to un-beard the revolutionary leader. The plot Death’). In time came Soviet-made blades involved an attempt to put thallium sulphate Sputnik and Neva, popularly known in Cuba as into his shoes so that his beard would fall out “men’s tears” because they painfully dragged and make him a laughing stock. Castro, howev- bristle from the skin, rather than cut it. er, canceled the trip during which the chemical Schoolchildren used them to sharpen their was to be used. pencils. Over the years, the symbolism has dimin- Relatives abroad often came to the rescue. ished, even if young Cubans continue to be “Glued into their letters home were two, three surrounded at every turn by images of Fidel or four Gillette razors,” says Somoza. “When and Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos-the they arrived, it was a party!” When the Soviet revolution’s most famous “barbudos.” But Union collapsed in 1990, Havana descended according to clean-shaven journalist and writer into a deep economic crisis that further com- Manuel Somoza, there were overwhelmingly plicated access to razors until 1993, when practical reasons why beards took such a grip Cubans were allowed to use the dollar as cur- A man with a beard travels in a taxi in front of a poster with on Cuban culture in the immediate aftermath of rency and modern razors started to appear in the image of Cuban late leader Fidel Castro in Havana. the revolution-blades were practically non- shops. existent. Before 1959, Cubans used American “I think that the young people’s beards of Gillette razors, but “when the embargo began today have nothing to do with those that we in 1962, everything was complicated,” says had... Today the young guys are more connect- Men with beard president Ramiro Valdes, 87. Having a beard these Somoza, 74. ed to world fashion,” said Somoza. For Alain walk along a days on the streets of Havana is definitely more a “Beards spread, not only because the Gil, a 23-year old employee at the Cuban street of Havana. question of style. beard had a patriotic connotation, but also Cinema Institute, there are some benefits to his “Lately there are a lot of people, especially out of practical need, because the blades of newly hirsute appearance. “My girlfriend likes young guys, who are letting their beards grow-it’s razors were of very poor quality and shaving men with beards, she says it’s sexier.” — AFP a trend,” said barber David Gonzalez, 31, as he with them was a nightmare!” Somoza told trimmed a customer’s goatee in his city center AFP. Shaving cream and aftershave quickly salon. In Old Havana’s Rue Obispo, Franco Manso, became an unattainable luxury, and men had 24, took scissors to his own beard during a lull in to make do with the cheap soap and scratchy business at his craft shop. “I saw that it suited me, blades acquired with the Cuban ration book, so as it’s the fashion, I decided to keep it,” he said. or libreta.

An old man sits in a street of Havana.

A barber cuts client’s beard in a barbershop of Havana. — AFP photos A man combs his beard in a mirror in Havana.

ocial media users are fuelling a burgeoning appetite social media hype around the creatures has sparked such Conservationists insist the move is vital, after both species “very charismatic creatures,” saying “it is the cute factor Sfor acquiring wild otters and other endangered ani- a frenzied demand for baby otters in Asian countries, have seen their numbers plunge at least 30 percent over that is causing their demise.” mals as pets, conservationists say, warning the trend Japan in particular, that it could drive entire species three decades, and with the decline believed to have The pictures mask the suffering of the naturally social could push species towards extinction. Popular towards extinction. Parties to the Convention on accelerated significantly in the past few years. mammals taken from the wild when they are held in cap- Instagrammers posting selfies with their pet otter may International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), cur- “This is especially being fuelled by the desire to have tivity and isolation. Koenen pointed to the numerous “fun- simply be seeking to warm the hearts of their sometimes rently in Geneva to evaluate and fine-tune the treaty that otters as an exotic pet, and social media is really driving ny videos” posted of pet otters turning in circles, saying hundreds of thousands of followers, but animal protection manages trade in more than 35,000 species of plants and that,” Cassandra Koenen, global head of Wildlife Not Pets, that to a trained eye, it is obvious: “The reason the animal groups say the trend is posing an existential threat to the animals, will consider proposals to hike protection of two told AFP. Paul Todd of the Natural Resource Defense is spinning around is that it is in huge distress.” Amid the silky mammal. particularly imperilled otter species. Council (NRDC) agreed. growing demand for pet otters, hunters and fishermen in “The illegal trade in otters has suddenly increased “It is really remarkable to see how the latest trends in Indonesia and Thailand especially are increasingly killing exponentially,” Nicole Duplaix, who co-chairs the Otter Dangerous ‘cute factor’ social media and social influencing have a direct correla- adult otters and snatching the babies, which are caged and Specialist Group at the International Union for The Asian small-clawed otter and the smooth-coated tion with the demise of species on the ground,” he told shipped off to become exotic pets. The main destination is Conservation of Nature, told AFP. All Asian otter species otter are already listed as threatened under CITES AFP. Popular figures on Instagram and Facebook often Japan, where one otter pup can fetch up to $10,000 have long been listed as vulnerable or endangered after Appendix II, but India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the rake in thousands of gushing comments about their otter (about 9,000 euros). facing decades of shrinking habitats and illegal trade in Philippines are asking that they are moved to Appendix I, pictures, such as “cuteness overload”, “otterly adorable”, their pelts. But conservationists say the recent surge in which would mean a full international trade ban. and “want one!”. Duplaix acknowledged that otters are Otter cafes Several “otter cafes” have also popped up in the coun- try, with patrons urged to buy small pieces of food to feed the caged mammals and to snap a selfie with them while drinking a coffee. “It is a very unnatural environment for them,” Koenen said, maintaining that they are often isolat- ed in individual cages, given poor nutrition and little access to water. Pet otters may have it better, but they still suffer from being far from their natural environment and away from the large family groups they lived with in the wild, she said. Koenen also warned that smiling selfies with pet otters provide a “false narrative” about what it is like to live with the wild creatures, which smell and are prone to biting. “They make very unsuitable pets,” she said. Social media platforms have meanwhile made it too easy to purchase exotic pets like otters, she said, sparking impulse buys with little reflection over the implications of bringing a wild animal into one’s home. Otters are not the only species suffering from a boom- ing and often social-media fuelled interest in exotic pets. Among the 56 proposals on the table in Geneva for increased protection listings, 22 involve species-including lizards, geckos, tortoises and spiders-which suffer because of the multi-billion-dollar exotic pet trade. Todd said there was mounting evidence that “a species can go from com- pletely fine to utterly gone in the matter of a few years because of this drive in desire for images”. “Baby otters are dying, and for what? A selfie,” he said. “We have to stop this.” — AFP

A promotional signboard for a pet cafe that features otters is displayed at the Harajuku district in Tokyo. — AFP photos Promotional signboards for pet cafes featuring exotic ani- mals, including otters Æ, are seen on display at the Harajuku district in Tokyo. Classifieds Thursday, August 22, 2019

Passport No. N1869225, issued CHANGE OF NAME on 20-01-2016 at Kuwait and permanent address being, I, Kiran Kandathil Mepurathu House, Kottathoor Radhakrishnan holder of Indian P.O., Ayroor, Pathanamthitta, Passport No: J7085559, issued Kerala hereby correct my son’s on 30/05/2011 at Banglaore given name as REUBEN and permanent address being, VARUGHESE and surname as No. 207, Parway Apts, Tarang JOSEPH in his Passport No. near WOC road, Shivanagar, N9724089 issued on 19-05-2016 Bangalore - 560010, Karnataka, at Kuwait. Jleeb Al Shouyouk India hereby correct my given block 4, building no. 144 flat no. name as Kiran and surname as 86. (C 5579) Kandathil Radhakrishnan, P.O.Box - 8766, Salmiya - 22058, I, JOSEPH MEPURATHU block 10, lane 18, flat no. 1, floor VARUGHESE, holder of Indian no. 1, Kuwait. (C 5580) Passport No. N1869225, issued 22-8-2019 on 20-01-2016 at Kuwait and permanent address being, I, Mookan Kumar Kannan S/O Mepurathu House, Kottathoor Mookan holder of Indian P.O., Ayroor, Pathanamthitta, Passport No. J0976988 having Kerala hereby correct my son’s permanent address 173-68 A, given name as REJOY VARUGH- Melapidavoor, Manamadurai, ESE and surname as JOSEPH in Sivagangai-Dist, Tamilnadu - his Passport No. R8273659 630606, residing in Kuwait at issued on 27-08-2017 at Kuwait. present, hereby declare that Jleeb Al Shouyouk block 4, henceforth my name will be building no. 144 flat no. 86. read as given name: KUMAR (C 5579) KANNAN, surname: MOOKKAN, 20-8-2019 S/O: MOOKKAN. (C 5573) I, Hanif (Given Name) Salman I, JOSEPH MEPURATHU Mohammed (Surname) holder VARUGHESE holder of Indian of Indian Passport No. J5396300 Passport No: N1869225, issued having permanent address: OFF on 20-01-2016 at Kuwait and Mira Bhayander Road, Shanti permanent address being, Park, Mira Road (East), Dist Mepurathu House, Kottathoor Thane-401107, India residing in P.O., Ayroor, Pathanamthitta, Kuwait at present, hereby Kerala hereby correct my given declare that henceforth my name as JOSEPH MEPURATHU name will be read as: Given and surname as VARUGHESE. name: Salman Mohammed and Jleeb Al Shouyouk block 4, Surname: Hanif for all purposes. building no. 144 flat no. 86. (C 5667) 19-8-2019 (C 5579)

I, RITA PHILIP, holder of Indian SITUATION WANTED Passport No. K7924609, issued on 11-11-2012 at Kuwait and Finance auditor (Internal - Automated enquiry about permanent address being, External) with 10 years experi- the Civil ID card is Mepurathu House, Kottathoor ence looking for a suitable job. P.O., Ayroor, Pathanamthitta, Email: [email protected] Kerala hereby correct my given Mob: 60025033 (C 5575) 1889988 name as RITA and surname as Websaite: https://www.paci.gov.kw PHILIP. Jleeb Al Shouyouk block HR-Admin Executive 10 years + 4, building no. 144 flat no. 86. experience in GCC with (C 5579) accounting background looking for a suitable job. Email: I, JOSEPH MEPURATHU [email protected] Mob: 112 VARUGHESE, holder of Indian +965 50687025 (C 5576) 18-8-2019

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Thursday 22/8/2019 KAC 614 Bahrain 12:30 Departure Flights on Thursday 22/8/2019 QTR 1075 Doha 12:10 Airlines Flt Route Time UAE 871 Dubai 12:45 Airlines Flt Route Time JZR 611 Tbilisi 12:20 FEG 241 Alexandria 00:05 MSR 610 Cairo 12:45 AIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05 IAW 158 Al Najaf 13:00 IGO 1757 Kochi 00:10 AXB 393 Kozhikode 13:10 MSC 406 Sohag 00:15 AHY 120 Baku 13:05 THY 772 Istanbul 00:20 FBS 118 Sarajevo 13:30 MSR 615 Cairo 00:30 JZR 123 Dubai 13:10 DLH 625 Dammam 00:50 KAC 774 Riyadh 13:35 FDB 072 Dubai 00:30 JZR 115 Doha 13:25 KAC 102 London 00:50 JZR 212 Jeddah 13:45 FEG 342 Sohag 01:05 KAC 661 Abu Dhabi 13:30 KAC 504 Beirut 01:00 IRA 607 Mashhad 13:55 IGO 1758 Kochi 01:10 SAW 702 Damascus 13:30 RJA 642 Amman 01:20 KAC 672 Dubai 14:00 KAC 677 Dubai 01:50 MSR 611 Cairo 13:45 UAE 853 Dubai 01:40 UAE 877 Dubai 14:00 THY 773 Istanbul 01:50 THY 767 Istanbul 14:00 KLM 446 Bahrain 01:45 KNE 231 Riyadh 14:10 DLH 625 Frankfurt 01:50 AXB 394 Kozhikode 14:10 PGT 858 Istanbul 01:50 FDB 059 Dubai 14:20 KAC 417 Manila 02:00 UAE 872 Dubai 14:15 THY 1464 Istanbul 01:50 QTR 1078 Doha 14:25 THY 765 Istanbul 02:50 FBS 119 Sarajevo 14:45 KKK 1268 Istanbul 01:55 KAC 792 Madinah 14:40 PGT 859 Istanbul 02:50 IRA 666 Esfahan 14:55 PGT 828 Istanbul 02:00 KAC 194 Trabzon 14:40 KKK 1269 Istanbul 02:55 KNE 382 Taif 15:00 ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:15 FDB 8065 Dubai 14:40 PGT 829 Istanbul 02:59 KAC 673 Dubai 15:00 KAC 156 Istanbul 02:35 KAC 304 Mumbai 14:45 ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05 FDB 060 Dubai 15:05 JZR 734 Cairo 02:35 JZR 222 Riyadh 14:45 KLM 446 Amsterdam 03:10 JZR 103 Bahrain 15:05 QTR 1086 Doha 02:40 KAC 562 Amman 14:50 JZR 111 Doha 03:25 UAE 878 Dubai 15:30 JZR 722 Alexandria 02:40 KAC 618 Doha 14:50 JZR 409 Delhi 03:30 QTR 1079 Doha 15:30 JZR 254 Amman 02:40 KAC 788 Jeddah 14:55 JZR 701D Asyut 03:30 FDB 8066 Dubai 15:40 GFA 211 Bahrain 02:50 KAC 118 New York 15:00 UAE 854 Dubai 03:30 JZR 125 Dubai 15:50 PGT 860 Istanbul 02:50 KNE 529 Jeddah 15:05 JZR 713 Sohag 03:50 KNE 530 Jeddah 15:55 THY 768 Istanbul 02:55 KAC 412 Bangkok 15:10 THY 769 Istanbul 03:50 KAC 563 Amman 16:00 OMA 643 Muscat 03:05 ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:15 ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:00 KAC 775 Riyadh 16:05 ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:05 OMA 645 Muscat 15:20 OMA 644 Muscat 04:05 KAC 743 Dammam 16:05 JZR 262 Beirut 03:10 ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35 QTR 1087 Doha 04:15 KAC 615 Bahrain 16:10 MSR 612 Cairo 03:15 UAE 857 Dubai 15:45 MSR 613 Cairo 04:15 ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15 KAC 418 Manila 03:20 SVA 500 Jeddah 15:50 PGT 861 Istanbul 04:20 ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20 QTR 1076 Doha 03:30 FEG 341 Sohag 16:00 JZR 1735 Cairo 04:40 OMA 646 Muscat 16:20 JZR 406 Kochi 03:30 FDB 051 Dubai 16:10 QTR 1077 Doha 05:00 KAC 785 Jeddah 16:20 OHY 352 Istanbul 04:00 JZR 732 Cairo 16:10 LMU 511 Cairo 05:00 KAC 619 Doha 16:25 LMU 510 Cairo 04:00 QTR 1072 Doha 16:15 OHY 351 Istanbul 05:00 SVA 501 Jeddah 16:50 KAC 382 Delhi 04:05 SAW 705 Damascus 17:00 IGO 1752 Chennai 05:10 FEG 242 Alexandria 16:55 IGO 1751 Chennai 04:10 JZR 116 Doha 17:05 KAC 303 Mumbai 05:15 KAC 675 Dubai 17:00 MSR 0516 Cairo 04:25 SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15 MSR 0517 Mumbai 05:25 FDB 052 Dubai 17:10 KAC 784 Jeddah 04:25 GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30 FDB 070 Dubai 06:00 QTR 1073 Doha 17:25 JZR 404 Hyderabad 04:50 JZR 214 Jeddah 17:35 THY 1414 Trabzon 05:05 JZR 124 Dubai 17:40 THY 1465 Istanbul 06:00 KAC 151 Istanbul 17:35 FDB 069 Dubai 05:05 KAC 158 Istanbul 18:00 THY 771 Istanbul 06:30 UAE 858 Dubai 17:40 IGA 170 Bahrain 05:05 JZR 104 Bahrain 18:00 JZR 745 Sharm el-Sheikh 06:45 KAC 343 Chennai 17:50 THY 770 Istanbul 05:20 KAC 662 Abu Dhabi 18:05 GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50 KAC 381 Delhi 17:55 KAC 344 Chennai 05:30 QTR 1080 Doha 18:10 RJA 643 Amman 07:00 SAW 706 Damascus 18:00 KAC 552 Cairo 05:50 JZR 612 Tbilisi 18:15 JZR 251 Amman 07:10 SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15 KAC 548 Alexandria 05:55 KAC 506 Beirut/LCA 18:15 JZR 121 Dubai 07:15 JZR 721 Alexandria 18:15 KAC 362 Colombo 06:05 JZR 302 Istanbul 18:20 RBG 550 Alexandria 07:30 GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20 BAW 157 London 06:10 MSR 620 Cairo 18:30 BAW 156 London 07:40 JZR 127 Dubai 18:20 KAC 284 Dhaka 06:15 SAW 703 Damascus 18:55 KAC 413 Bangkok 07:45 JZR 403 Hyderabad 18:25 JZR 402 Mumbai 06:25 IRA 667 Esfahan 19:00 KAC 173 Munich 07:55 JZR 733 Cairo 18:35 KAC 678 Dubai 06:40 FDB 063 Dubai 19:05 JZR 211 Jeddah 08:00 JZR 261 Beirut 19:10 KAC 106 London 06:40 RJA 640 Amman 19:05 KAC 193 Trabzon 08:10 JZR 253 Amman 19:10 RBG 559 Alexandria 06:50 GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05 KAC 181 Paris/NCE 08:10 QTR 1081 Doha 19:20 KAC 206 Islamabad 06:50 UAE 875 Dubai 19:05 IRA 606 Mashhad 08:10 MSR 621 Cairo 19:30 QTR 8511 Doha 06:55 ABY 123 Sharjah 19:20 IGO 1756 CNN 08:10 KAC 691 Muscat 19:35 KAC 302 Mumbai 07:00 KAC 744 Dammam 19:25 KAC 163 MXP 08:35 FDB 064 Dubai 19:45 JZR 408 Ahmedabad 07:05 NIA 161 Cairo 19:30 KAC 505 LCA/Beirut 08:40 GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50 JZR 112 Doha 07:05 KAC 616 Bahrain 19:40 KAC 177 Vienna 08:45 SAW 704 Damascus 19:55 IGO 1755 CNN 07:10 KAC 776 Riyadh 19:45 KAC 561 Amman 08:55 IRA 600 Tehran 20:00 IRA 601 Tehran 07:10 KAC 674 Dubai 19:45 QTR 8512 Doha 08:55 ABY 124 Sharjah 20:00 KAC 354 Bengaluru 07:50 KAC 178 Vienna 19:50 KAC 121 AGP 09:00 RJA 641 Amman 20:05 QTR 1084 Doha 08:00 JZR 310 BJV 19:50 KAC 613 Bahrain 09:00 KAC 357 Kochi 20:05 KAC 352 Kochi 08:05 FDB 057 Dubai 19:50 KAC 117 New York 09:05 NIA 162 Cairo 20:30 KAC 332 Trivandrum 08:05 KAC 174 Munich 19:55 KAC 791 Madinah 09:10 FDB 058 Dubai 20:30 KAC 384 Delhi 08:10 KNE 381 Taif 20:00 QTR 1085 Doha 09:10 JZR 401 Mumbai 20:30 UAE 855 Dubai 08:25 OMA 647 Muscat 20:05 KAC 671 Dubai 09:15 UAE 876 Dubai 20:35 ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 08:50 DLH 624 Frankfurt 20:10 KAC 787 Jeddah 09:15 KNE 232 Riyadh 20:50 ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00 MEA 402 Beirut 20:15 KAC 157 Istanbul 09:20 KAC 353 Bengaluru 20:50 OMA 641 Muscat 09:00 JZR 126 Dubai 20:20 KAC 773 Riyadh 09:40 DLH 624 Dammam 20:55 GFA 209 Bahrain 09:05 RBG 213 Sohag 20:30 ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40 OMA 648 Muscat 21:05 QTR 1070 Doha 09:20 KAC 620 Doha 20:30 JZR 731 Cairo 09:45 KAC 333 Trivandrum 21:05 FDB 055 Dubai 09:40 QTR 1088 Doha 20:40 UAE 856 Dubai 09:50 RBG 214 Sohag 21:10 IGO 1753 Ahmedabad 09:40 KLM 445 Amsterdam 21:00 ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 09:55 MEA 403 Beirut 21:15 IRA 675 Lar 09:55 ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:10 JZR 301 Istanbul 09:55 KAC 301 Mumbai 21:25 JZR 702D Asyut 09:55 UAE 859 Dubai 21:15 OMA 642 Muscat 10:00 KAC 545 Cairo 21:30 SVA 512 Riyadh 10:00 ALK 229 Colombo 21:15 KAC 101 London 10:05 QTR 1089 Doha 21:50 IAW 157A Al Najaf 10:00 THY 764 Istanbul 21:30 GFA 210 Bahrain 10:05 IGA 171 Bahrain 21:50 JZR 714 Sohag 10:00 KAC 164 MXP 21:40 QTR 1071 Doha 10:30 KAC 203 Lahore 22:00 GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40 KAC 676 Dubai 21:45 KAC 617 Doha 10:40 KLM 445 Bahrain 22:10 MEA 404 Beirut 10:55 GFA 219 Bahrain 21:50 IGO 1754 Ahmedabad 10:40 ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15 QTR 1074 Doha 11:00 KAC 564 Amman 21:55 FDB 056 Dubai 10:40 JZR 1737 Cairo 22:20 SYR 341 Damascus 11:00 QTR 1082 Doha 22:05 IRA 668 Mashhad 10:55 ALK 230 Colombo 22:20 OMS 223 Muscat 11:00 ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15 SVA 513 Riyadh 10:55 THY 1401 ADB 22:25 JZR 1736 Cairo 11:05 KAC 786 Jeddah 22:20 IAW 158A Al Najaf 11:00 UAE 860 Dubai 22:35 JZR 122 Dubai 11:45 AIC 981 Chennai/Ahmedabad 22:25 JZR 221 Riyadh 11:20 KAC 383 Delhi 22:35 IAW 157 Al Najaf 12:00 RBG 555 Alexandria 22:30 GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35 GFA 220 Bahrain 22:50 AHY 119 Baku 12:05 JZR 128 Dubai 22:50 OMS 224 Muscat 11:40 KAC 783 Jeddah 22:55 JZR 410 Delhi 12:10 BBC 043 Dhaka 23:00 JZR 309 BJV 11:45 KAC 551 Cairo 23:00 JZR 252 Amman 12:20 MSC 501 Alexandria 23:10 MEA 405 Beirut 11:55 ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05 JZR 746 Sharm el-Sheikh 12:25 MSC 415 Sohag 23:15 SYR 342 Damascus 12:00 RBG 556 Alexandria 23:10 SAW 701 Damascus 12:30 MSR 614 Cairo 23:30 JZR 213 Jeddah 12:05 QTR 1083 Doha 23:20 THY 766 Istanbul 12:30 FDB 071 Dubai 23:35 24 Established 1961 News Thursday, August 22, 2019 Kashmiris demand answers for ‘unaccounted for’ deaths

SRINAGAR: Rafiq Shagu’s wife died shortly after Friday deployed there ahead of the announcement to stop resi- 100 people had been hurt, some of them by firearm Saturday when police fired tear gas canisters to break up prayers in India’s Muslim-majority Kashmir when tear gas dents from protesting. “We couldn’t see each other in the injuries. Others were treated at home, fearing that they a small group of stone-throwing protesters, according to smashed through a window in their home and filled the room as the smoke was so dense. There were three huge may be arrested if they visit hospitals, people who had multiple family members and neighbors. Two shells fell in room. Now, with Indian authorities denying their troops thuds when the canisters burst,” Shagu said. “We some- been hit by pellets told AFP. front of the 62-year-old timber trader, immediately caus- have caused any civilian deaths while enforcing a lock- how removed the children from the room and as she tried ing him to collapse on the road and froth from the mouth. down of more than two weeks in the Himalayan region, he to run out amid the chaos, she fell. By the time we moved Unaccounted deaths The father of three daughters was declared dead at the is facing what may be a futile quest to hold those respon- her out of the room she was unconscious and frothing.” AFP also spoke with relatives of two other people they hospital but police forcibly took over his body. sible to account. “They (the police) are not ready to take He said Fehmeeda was taken to hospital on a motorcy- allege died due to violence from the security forces. One Just 10 family members were allowed for the funeral responsibility for the death. We want answers but I don’t cle where doctors were unable to revive her. The medical of the reported victims was Usiab Ahmad, 15, who and burial that took place under police watch in the dead know where to seek justice,” Shagu said. report seen by AFP said she “had inhaled toxic gas from a drowned on Aug 5. His family said Ahmad was near his of night. “The police officer threatened us that he will In an interview with AFP, Shagu recalled the horrific tear gas shell” and that a possible cause of death was a home when police used live ammunition and tear gas throw the body into the river if we talk to media or try to events of the August 9 afternoon when he said his wife, “toxic lung injury”. shells and chased protesters towards the river bank make a procession,” Shabir Ahmed Khan, his younger Fehmeeda, was teaching her two children at their home in Indian authorities have sought to block any news com- where the student drowned. “His body was taken out brother told AFP. “We were escorted by four police vans Srinagar, the largest city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. ing out of Kashmir since imposing the lockdown. Aside after five hours from the water and his funeral was to the graveyard,” he said. Shagu said there had been small clashes between govern- from deploying the extra troops, they cut off telephones, attacked by police,” one of Ahmad’s relatives who could Khan’s family has visited the hospital multiple times for ment forces and protesters nearby, then police started fir- mobile phones and the Internet - though some landlines not be identified for security reasons told AFP. “They a death certificate but doctors told them police had ing tear gas and pepper shells into residential houses. have now been restored. Authorities say there is no credi- tried to snatch away the body because they feared more instructed them not to issue it. “His death will probably The clashes occurred four days after Indian Prime ble proof that anyone has died in Kashmir as a result of protests,” he said. not even get recorded by the government but for us he is Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped Kashmir the lockdown, and only that eight people have been Another alleged victim, Mohammad Ayub Khan was a martyr,” Khan said. “His death is another example of of its autonomy, with tens of thousands of extra troops injured. But multiple hospital sources told AFP at least standing outside his home in downtown Srinagar on India’s brutality.” — AFP

region, where a rebellion broke out in 2003. He in Copenhagen... strengthening Denmark’s position in this Sudan swears in appeared in court on Monday - but only on charges of Trump scraps great strategic game at stake over the Arctic,” it said. corruption for the opening of a trial in which an investi- Frederiksen herself said the US “remains one of gator said the deposed leader admitted to receiving Denmark’s closest allies”. “The developments in the Arctic civilian-majority... millions in cash. Pictures of the 75-year-old autocrat Denmark visit... region call for further cooperation between the US and sitting in a cage during the hearing instantly became a Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark,” she said Continued from Page 1 symbol of his Islamist military regime’s downfall. Continued from Page 1 Wednesday, adding: “Our invitation for stronger coopera- The sight of their former tormentor in the dock was tion on Arctic affairs still stands.” Denmark’s rejection of forming the new sovereign council and on being overwhelmingly welcomed by the Sudanese but many Marc Jacobsen, a Greenland specialist at the University Trump’s proposal “does not change the character of our sworn in as its chairman, wishing him best of luck and warned the graft trial should not distract from the more of Copenhagen, said Trump was acting like “an ignorant good relations,” she insisted. to Sudan and its people more progress. HH the Crown serious indictments he faces before the ICC. “The evi- colonial overlord”. “Trump’s idea of purchasing Greenland The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dence he committed genocide should come forward... is absurd, and it is absurd that he is now cancelling his expressed interest in the self-governing part of Denmark, and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Many civilians inside and outside Sudan have died state visit to Denmark when he knows that there is no asking advisors if it would be possible for the US to Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to the because of him and he should face justice,” one resi- chance Greenland will become the 51st state of America,” acquire the territory. The president, a former real estate Sudanese leader. dent, Alhaj Adam, told AFP. he told AFP. magnate, has been curious about the area’s natural The sovereign council includes two women, includ- Sudan’s transitional authorities would need to ratify Meanwhile, former US ambassador to Denmark Rufus resources and geopolitical relevance, the paper said. ing a member of Sudan’s Christian minority, and it will the ICC’s Rome Statute to allow for the transfer of the Gifford wrote on Twitter: “He asks for an invitation from a Asked on Sunday if he would consider trading a US terri- oversee the formation of a government and of a legisla- former military ruler to The Hague. Amidst the euphoria great friend and ally. The Queen obliges invites him for a tory for Greenland, Trump replied that “a lot of things tive body. The inauguration of the civilian-dominated celebrating the promise of civilian rule, unease was pal- state visit. He declares the visit contingent on the great could be done”. “Essentially, it’s a large real estate deal.” ruling council, which held its first meeting in the after- pable within the protest camp that brought about one friend selling part of its territory to him This. Is. Not. Denmark colonized the two-million square-kilome- noon, was widely welcomed but some Khartoum resi- of the most significant moments in Sudan’s modern his- Normal.” Nonetheless, conservative newspaper Jyllands- tre island in the 18th century. It is home to around dents warned they would keep their new rulers in tory. One reason is the omnipresence in the transition Posten wrote that Trump’s actions ultimately benefitted 57,000 people, most of them from the indigenous Inuit check. “If this council does not meet our aspirations of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a member of the sovereign Denmark, highlighting Greenland’s geopolitical value. community. Greenland’s foreign affairs ministry said and cannot serve our interests, we will never hesitate to council and a paramilitary commander whose forces “Mette Frederiksen has been given the opportunity to Friday that the island was ready to talk business - but have another revolution,” said Ramzi Al-Taqi, a fruit are blamed for the deadly repression of the protests. emphasise that Greenland’s big affairs are in fact decided was not for sale. — AFP peddler. “We would topple the council just like we did His Rapid Support Forces sprang out of the Janjaweed the former regime,” he said. militia notorious for alleged crimes in Darfur. The transition’s key documents were signed on Pacifying a country still plagued by deadly unrest in childbirth, marriage or divorce and to be recognized as Saturday at a ceremony attended by a host of foreign the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile will be Saudi eases travel a guardian to children who are minors - same as men. dignitaries, signalling that Sudan could be on its way to one of the most urgent tasks of Sudan’s transitional The reforms were widely celebrated in the kingdom, shedding its pariah status. Sudan’s new rulers are institutions. The other daunting challenge that awaits curbs on women... but they also drew backlash from archconservatives, expected to push for the lifting of the suspension from the fragile civilian-military alliance is the rescue of an many of whom shared old video sermons on social the African Union that followed a deadly crackdown on economy that has all but collapsed in recent years. It Continued from Page 1 media by Saudi clerics advocating guardianship laws. a sit-in in June. The ruling council will also seek to was the sudden tripling of bread prices in Dec 2018 Some also denounced the change as “unIslamic” in a have the country removed from the US list of state that sparked the wave of protests fatal to Bashir’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including a society that traditionally sees men as protectors of sponsors of terrorism. regime. Premier-designate Hamdok was flying in from landmark decree last year that overturned the world’s women. The reform comes as the OPEC petroleum pro- Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court Addis Ababa, where he served as a senior economist only ban on women drivers. ducer reels from low oil prices and seeks to boost in The Hague for his role in massacres in the Darfur with the United Nations. — Agencies In other changes unveiled earlier this month, Saudi employment opportunities for women - currently facing women were also granted the right to officially register chronic joblessness. — AFP

Trump responded by quoting a conservative colum- diplomatic row pitting Tehran against Washington and Trump accuses nist as saying American Jews “don’t know what they’re Iran warns if oil London is too big to dock in Greece, the country’s junior doing”. The Republican president thanked the commen- foreign minister said yesterday. “This is a very large tator, Wayne Allyn Root, who likened Trump to the crude carrier, it is over 130,000 tons... It cannot access Jewish voters of... “king of Israel” and said Israelis “love him like he is the exports cut... any Greek dock,” junior foreign minister Miltiadis second coming of God”. Varvitsiotis told Ant1 TV. Varvitsiotis said the Greek gov- Continued from Page 1 Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front- Continued from Page 1 ernment had “faced pressure” from US authorities over runner to challenge Trump in Nov 2020, called the the vessel but insisted that Athens “has sent a clear mes- whom support a boycott of the Jewish state for its president’s comments “insulting and inexcusable” and In a speech at the Stockholm International Peace sage that we would not wish to facilitate the transport of treatment of the Palestinians. urged him to stop dividing Americans. “The Jewish Research Institute (SIPRI), Zarif appeared to echo this oil to Syria under any circumstances.” “Five years ago, the concept of even talking about people don’t need to prove their loyalty to you, Rouhani’s tone. “Mutual unpredictability will lead to The British Royal Marines seized the ship on July 4 off this - even three years ago - of cutting off aid to Israel @realDonaldTrump - or to anyone else,” said chaos. President Trump cannot expect to be unpre- British territory Gibraltar on suspicion it was transport- because of two people that hate Israel and hate Jewish Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke, a former US dictable and expect others to be predictable. ing oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions, people - I can’t believe we’re even having this conver- congressman from Texas who has called Trump a racist Unpredictability will lead to mutual unpredictability and triggering a sharp deterioration in relations between sation. Where has the Democratic party gone?” Trump over his immigration rhetoric. unpredictability is chaotic,” Zarif said. Tehran and London. Iran has repeatedly denied any vio- told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think any Jewish American Jews lean Democratic. Roughly 70 percent Global commodity trading has been rocked in recent lations. The incident has come at a difficult time for people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either of American Jews have typically supported Democratic months after a series of attacks on international mer- Greece’s new conservative government which was elect- a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” Israel last candidates in recent US presidential elections. J Street, chant vessels, which the United States has blamed on ed just over a month ago. week barred Omar and Tlaib from entry on the grounds a liberal lobbying group based in Washington, was Iran, and an Iranian seizure of a British oil tanker. Tehran Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ office yes- that they support the boycott against the country, and among the many US Jewish organizations that has denied accusations that it was behind attacks on six terday said the PM is expected to visit Washington after Trump urged the Jewish state to block the two. expressed outrage or alarm at Trump’s comments. “It is tankers in May and June. Washington, which has by far “soon”, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is Trump’s comments prompted condemnation from dangerous and shameful for President Trump to attack the strongest Western naval contingent in the Gulf, has expected to visit Greece in the autumn, Varvitsiotis said. Jewish groups, which charged the president with the large majority of the American Jewish community as been calling for its allies to join it in an operation to Greece must also tread carefully as its influential ship- anti-Semitism by questioning the loyalty of Jewish unintelligent and ‘disloyal,’” the group said on Tuesday. guard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital gateway ping sector does major business in the Arabian Gulf. citizens, part of a longstanding trope accusing Jewish The American Jewish Committee called Trump’s for the world’s oil industry. Varvitsiotis said Athens was not in contact with Tehran people of dual allegiance. “It’s unclear who @POTUS comments “shockingly divisive”. “American Jews - like So far, Britain, Bahrain and Australia have joined the over the tanker, which was originally called Grace 1 but is claiming Jews would be ‘disloyal’ to, but charges of all Americans - have a range of political views and poli- US-led security mission to protect merchant vessels has been renamed the Adrian Darya, and had received disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews,” cy priorities. His assessment of their knowledge or ‘loy- travelling through key Middle East waterways. “This no request from Iran. tweeted Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti- alty,’ based on their party preference, is inappropriate, destabilizing behavior is a threat to Australia’s interests The website Marine Traffic, which earlier this week Defamation League. “It’s long overdue to stop using unwelcome, and downright dangerous,” said committee in the region,” Australian Prime Minister Scott gave the ship’s reported destination as the Greek port Jews as a political football.” Chief Executive David Harris. The Republican Jewish Morrison told a news conference in Canberra yester- of Kalamata, had placed the supertanker carrying 2.1 Executive Director for the Jewish Democratic Committee sided with Trump, saying, “President Trump day. “Our contribution will be limited in scope and it million barrels of oil some 100 km northwest of the Council of America Halie Soifer echoed the sentiment, is right, it shows a great deal of disloyalty to oneself to will be time-bound.” Morrison said Australia would Algerian port of Oran. The maritime tracker says the saying the president “has no right to tell Jewish defend a party that protects/emboldens people that send a P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane to the Middle tanker is expected to arrive in Kalamata on Monday, Americans he knows what is best for us or to demand hate you for your religion.” East for one month before the end of 2019, while an but Varvitsiotis suggested it may not dock in Greek our loyalty”. “Trump needs a reality check - we live in a Trump is popular in Israel. He delighted many Australian frigate would be deployed for six months waters at all. “It has named Kalamata as its port of des- democracy and Jewish support for the @GOP has been Israelis - while appalling other world powers - by rec- from January. Australia is a staunch ally of the United tination but this doesn’t mean anything,” adding: “It halved in the past four years,” she tweeted. Presidential ognizing Jerusalem as their capital, moving the US States, which in recent months has urged partners to do could drop anchor somewhere” else. “It could unload hopeful Bernie Sanders also took to Twitter to Embassy there, withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear more for global security. the oil at any non-EU refinery. It could head south” to denounce the president’s words. “I am a proud Jewish deal and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occu- Reiterating Iran’s chilly response to the security mis- North Africa, he added. person and I have no concerns about voting pied Golan Heights. The office of Prime Minister sion, Iranian Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, a deputy com- Separately, an Iranian oil tanker has broken down in Democratic,” the Vermont senator wrote, adding he Benjamin Netanyahu, which has particularly close ties mander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, said no one the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia but its crew are safe and intends to vote for a Jewish man - himself - in the 2020 with the Trump administration, declined to comment on can secure the Gulf other than Iran and countries of the carrying out repairs, the oil ministry’s website said yes- presidential election. his remarks. — Agencies region, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. terday. The HELM suffered a “technical fault” about 120 “Securing the Persian Gulf is the responsibility of Iran km north of the Saudi port of Yanbu on Tuesday, the nomic zone, which require a large number of expat labor, and the countries of the region,” Fadavi said. “Other than ministry’s website said, citing the National Iranian MPs urge quick and if things are left as they are, thousands of marginal us, no one can secure the Persian Gulf.” Tanker Company. “The crew of the tanker are busy fix- workers will enter the country, making the problem worse Erik Hanell, owner of the British-flagged tanker ing the defect and the vessel is in a stable situation and its solution more difficult. She said the manpower detained by Iran while entering the Gulf, met Zarif in from a safety standpoint,” the NITC’s technical director approval of... authority is currently issuing work permits, which is not Stockholm on Aug 20 to make the case for the ship and Akbar Jabalameli was quoted as saying. The crew of its job - rather it should prepare a strategy to set how its crew to be freed. The Stena Impero was diverted to the tanker was safe and “in full readiness to solve the Continued from Page 1 work permits are issued, to whom and for how long. an Iranian port on July 19, two weeks after Britain problem”, he added. In a related development, a recent report by the health detained an Iranian tanker off the territory of Gibraltar. TankerTrackers.com, which monitors ship movements, Sources said Aqeel is serious about fulfilling her prom- ministry revealed that 2,214,865 expat workers were That ship was released this week. “A constructive dia- said the HELM was carrying 1.3 million barrels of crude ises to the National Assembly to implement steps to deal examined in the five years from 2012 to 2016. The report logue was had and we shared information around the oil and heading towards the Suez Canal from the Iranian with the excessive increase in expats in Kuwait, which said 12,422 expats were not granted residency permits case,” Hanell, chief executive of Stena Bulk, said in a island of Kharg. The vessel appears on the US Treasury’s exceeds the market’s needs, besides the overwhelming and deported due to infectious diseases in this period, statement yesterday. “It was important for us to website in a list of entities subject to American sanctions. number of marginal laborers that forms a security risk including 373 expats infected with malaria, 497 with filar- emphasize the importance of the release of the 23 It is the second such Iranian breakdown in recent months and burden on services. ia and 4,081 with tuberculosis. The report said among crew...Also for the release of the Swedish-owned ves- after the tanker Happiness 1 was forced to seek repairs in The sources said Aqeel is careful about mega projects those deported were 1,158 infected with AIDS, 4,177 with sel Stena Impero.” the Saudi port of Jeddah port that reportedly cost the in Kuwait, particularly the Silk City and the northern eco- hepatitis B and 2,203 with hepatitis C. Meanwhile, the Iranian tanker that has sparked a Islamic republic $10 million. — Agencies Established 1961 25 Sports Thursday, August 22, 2019 Top seeds Paire, Shapovalov reach Winston-Salem third round Canada’s Shapovalov faces Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic

WASHINGTON: Top-seeded Benoit Paire reached bids to return to peak form in the wake of career- the third round of the ATP Winston-Salem Open threatening hip surgery. Tuesday, beating Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-3, 7-5. Sandgren battled back from 0-3 down in the sec- France’s Paire, ranked 30th in the world, avenged a ond set — going up a service break before loss to India’s Gunneswaran at Indian Wells in March. Shapavolov came through with a break in the final Paire broke Gunneswaran in the penultimate game, game to seal the victory. “It was definitely a great then capped the contest with his 14th ace on match win,” said Shapovalov, who hadn’t made it past the point to book a round of 16 meeting with fellow second round of an ATP event since Lyon in May Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who defeated American and, like Paire, said he hoped a strong performance Bjorn Fratangelo 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. in Winston-Salem would be a springboard into the After enjoying a first-round bye, Paire was glad to US Open. get to work in the heat and humidity of North “I’ve been struggling a little bit during the clay and Carolina as part of his build-up to the US Open, which grass court season and the hardcourt swing,” he said. starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows in New York. “I thought it would be perfect to come play Winston- “Honestly, I like to play before the Slam,” he said. “I Salem, get a couple more matches under my belt and did the same in Lyon the week before Roland Garros get ready for the Open. and I won the tournament and after I made the last 16 “So far, so good,” said Shapovalov, who next faces at Roland Garros so it was good preparation. Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 winner “I’ll try to do the same — I’ll try to win a lot of over Australian Alexei Popyrin. South Korean Lee matches here. I think it’s important for me to play Duck-hee’s ground-breaking tournament came to an before the US Open.” Second-seeded Canadian Denis end with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 loss to third-seeded Hubert Shapovalov also advanced, beating American Tennys Hurkacz of Poland. Sandgren 6-2, 6-4. Lee had become the first deaf player to win an ATP Sandgren, ranked 73rd in the world, was coming off match with his first-round win over Henri Laaksonen. a first-round victory over three-time Grand Slam “I’m a little bit disappointed right now,” Lee admitted. champion Andy Murray, who was playing just his sec- “I had many chances that I didn’t utilise, but it was a Denis Shapovalov ond singles match since the Australian Open as he great experience overall.” — AFP

Paralympic chief hails India expect ‘positive’ verdict on Tokyo 2020 preparations Davis Cup tie against Pakistan

MUMBAI: The All India Tennis Earlier this month, Pakistan expelled TOKYO: The Paralympics chief has said the 2020 Games are “on Association (AITA) is hopeful its securi- India’s ambassador and suspended bilat- track,” but raised alarm bells over a dearth of accessible hotel rooms in ty concerns for next month’s tie against eral trade and all public transport links Tokyo with only one year to go. “I couldn’t be happier with the prepa- hosts Pakistan will be addressed after with its neighbour after New Delhi rations so far. With one year to go, we’re totally on schedule, on track,” the game’s global governing body removed “special status” from its portion Andrew Parsons told AFP in an interview to mark 12 months until the referred the matter to its Davis Cup of the contested region of Kashmir. start of the games on August 25, 2020. committee. The nuclear-armed neighbours have However, he admitted that his “biggest concern” was still the poor The AITA said last week they had fought two wars over Kashmir since selection of hotel rooms equipped for the thousands of disabled sup- written to International Tennis gaining independence from colonial porters, journalists and coaches poised to descend on Tokyo for the 13- day competition. Federation (ITF) asking them to shift power Great Britain in 1947. They came Athletes and some support staff will be housed in the Olympic vil- the tie to a neutral venue or to post- close to a third in February after a dead- lage where there will be enough wheelchair-friendly rooms. But outside PYEONGCHANG: File photo taken on March 15, 2018 shows Andrew pone it for a couple of months until ten- ly attack on Indian police by a Pakistan- the village, currently only half of the fully accessible rooms needed for Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), sions simmer down between the bitter based militant group resulted in air the Games are available and Paralympic officials do not want hotels to speaking during an interview with AFP at the Main Press Centre of the neighbours. strikes by both countries. be too widely dispersed around the vast Japanese capital for fear of Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang. —AFP The national body was scheduled to The AITA has named a six-member creating a knock-on transport headache. discuss its concerns on Monday with squad under captain Mahesh Bhupathi Japanese legislation previously required hotels with 50 or more organisers and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government were working security advisers from the ITF over the for the Sept. 14-15 tie but India’s players rooms to have just one wheelchair-friendly option and although this on a solution. Sept 14-15 tie scheduled in Islamabad sought safety guarantees from the ITF has recently been slightly improved to ensure one percent of rooms are “They understand they have an issue. They understand this is a between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. before travelling to Islamabad. accessible, the change will not come into effect until after the Games. problem for us, for the Games, so we are working on it together.” The call was, however, cancelled and The ITF shared security arrange- Parsons said the lack of accessible hotel rooms highlighted a social Parsons said he hoped the later start date for the Paralympics instead the ITF said the Davis Cup com- ments for the Indian team in Islamabad stigma sometimes faced by disabled people in Japan. “Most probably it would reduce some of the problems feared from heat and humidity mittee, comprising eight members and with the AITA and said they were satis- is perceived in Japan that people with disabilities don’t travel for during the Olympics but noted that there were specific issues faced chaired by Egypt’s Ismal El Shafei, will fied with the safety plan. An Indian ten- leisure, for business, so why have accessible hotel rooms?” said the 42- in disability sport. deliberate on the matter today. nis team last went to Pakistan in 1964 for year-old Brazilian. For example, many quadriplegic athletes are unable to sweat, mean- AITA General Secretary Hironmoy a Davis Cup tie, defeating the hosts 4-0, The change in legislation will be a positive legacy from the Games ing they need to take additional measures to cool their body, he said. Chatterjee said a “positive” decision was while Pakistan lost 3-2 on their last visit and Parsons hoped the competition would also promote a change in Like the Olympics, organisers have brought forward the start time for expected by today. to India in 2006. attitude. “What the Games will hopefully show is that persons with dis- the marathon to beat the blistering sun but this also brings its own “The committee members are from Pakistan was forced to host Davis Cup abilities can travel, they can do anything that anyone else can if you challenges for Paralympians. different parts of the world so they will ties at neutral venues for more than a offer them the conditions,” he said. “Wheelchair users need more time to prepare, so it probably means set up an appropriate time today that decade as teams refused to travel to the He cautioned that the hotel problem “may affect the Games and it they will have to wake up at 2am but the wellbeing of athletes is the suits everyone. Then they will inform us country because of security concerns. may affect the Games experience of some of our clients” but said number-one priority for us,” stressed the IPC boss. — AFP of their decision,” Chatterjee told They played their first home tie after a Reuters yesterday. gap of 12 years against Iran in 2017, while “It’s a positive, yes. If there was no Hong Kong was relegated and fined by merit why will the committee discuss. the ITF after they refused to travel to Tanak seeks We have given them more than enough.” Pakistan the same year. — Reuters German rally de l’Arc de Triomphe, on October 6. Gosden and Gosden — who handed Dettori a life- treble as Ogier line when his career was in the doldrums Dettori: Pulling after he received a six-month ban for testing positive for cocaine at the end of and Neuville lurk 2012 — says Enable’s qualities resemble the strings in those of other sports champions. TRIER: Ott Tanak seeks a German rally hat “Obviously she has great presence trick this weekend as the Toyota driver tries ‘Sport of Kings’ and is very proud,” he told AFP. “She to press home his advantage atop the World also has great physical ability as well as Rally Championship rankings and keep LONDON: John Gosden and Frankie huge mental ability. “You get to notice if Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier and Hyundai’s Dettori are probably the best trainer- the horses have mental strength when Thierry Neuville at bay. jockey combination since Vincent you are building them up in training, With just five races to go this season, O’Brien and Lester Piggott ruled the they show a positive and competitive Frenchman Ogier is filling the Estonian’s wing “Sport of Kings” 40 years ago and in attitude. mirror, just 22 points adrift. Belgian Neuville Enable and Stradivarius provide the two “Rather like tennis players their men- is just three points further back as the three star attractions at the prestigious York tal strength distinguishes the great play- jostle for glory. Ebor meeting this week. ers from the good ones. “No person or Britain’s Elfyn Evans is a distant 102 points Gosden supplied Dettori with his 14th animal’s body is fine-tuned unless the further behind in his M-Sport Ford. In the Ott Tanak Group One winner of the season as he mind is in harmony with it. constructors’ stakes, Hyundai are just holding rode Coronet to victory on Sunday, “Football coaches would say the same off Toyota by 262 points to 238. After winning leaving him just two shy of his personal thing that a player will not perform in Finland a fortnight ago, Ott and co-driver rolling six times in the shakedown. tracks near the US military base at record achieved back in 2001. unless their mind is in the right place.” Martin Jarveoja head to Trier, seeking a third Six-time world champion Ogier — bidding Baumholder. The exuberant 48-year-old Italian Gosden, whose stable star has won straight victory in the bucolic surroundings of for a seventh straight overall title — took the “Grape growers must despair,” said the will renew his partnership with Gosden’s just over £9 million ($10.9 million), says the Mosel valley. honours at Trier in 2011, 2015 and 2016. WRC web site. “Rows of vines regularly fall two superstars, the remarkable mare Enable is “special and great to be The 31-year-old is not short on confidence Having a German wife means he has all the victim to over-ambitious drivers, but it makes Enable in the Yorkshire Oaks on around.” The urbane Englishman says he as he looks for his fifth race win of the cam- more reason to feel at home in Trier, which for spectacular viewing.” For four-time cham- Thursday and then the stayer is most happy for is the owner and paign. “Germany is obviously a rally that I like was a provincial capital in the Roman Empire pion, now Toyota team principal Tommi Stradivarius in the Group Two Lonsdale breeder of Enable, Saudi Prince Khalid a lot. Martin and I have won there two years and later the birthplace of Karl Marx. Makinen, Germany is “a rally where there’s a Cup on Friday. Abdullah. in a row and our target this year is definitely The Frenchman, who recently confirmed he lot that can catch a driver out, whether it’s in The latter could scoop a one-million- “We are trying to do something that to make it three,” he said. plans to retire after next season, placed just the vineyards or the Baumholder roads, so pound ($1.2 million) bonus for the sec- has never been done before (win the But he is not taking victory for granted. “It’s fifth in Finland but says he is ready to show you need to have confidence in your car and ond year running in landing the treble of Arc),” said Gosden. “The Prince has certainly not an easy rally. I think last year was his mettle in Germany to supercharge his own be very focused to avoid mistakes.” Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and been a great supporter of French racing, one of the most difficult wins in my career, as title hopes. the Lonsdale. indeed of racing all over the world, and the competition was very strong and I had to “My aim coming into this round in World Championship leading standings: Gosden said with Enable only having would deserve to be part of history. push really hard from the beginning.” Germany, a rally where I have always per- 1. Ott Tanak (EST/Toyota): 180 points, 2. three rivals “anything can happen”, “He was extraordinarily loyal to Henry Neuville is racing almost in his back yard formed very well, is to secure a good result Sebastien Ogier (FRA/CitroÎn) 158, 3. Thierry opening up the possibility of her being (Cecil) when his life was drifting off the as he hails from Sankt-Vith, one of nine and shift the momentum a little bit in the Neuville (BEL/Hyundai) 155, 4. Elfyn Evans beaten for only the second time in 14 rails a little bit. “He (Abdullah) could German-speaking Belgian communes barely championship.” (GBR/M-Sport Ford) 78, 5. Andreas Mikkelsen starts in what is expected to be her last have walked away but he stayed loyal an hour’s speedy drive away from the course. Much of the race is along windy vineyard (NOR/Citroen) 71, 6. Teemu Suninen (FIN/M- ever appearance on a British racetrack. and was rewarded with that fairytale of “Germany is a very challenging event due to service roads. But Saturday morning’s stages Sport Ford) 66, 7. Kris Meeke (GBR/Toyota) But Gosden, 68, says it is simply a Frankel,” the legendary horse that won the fact that you have three different days are along paved country lanes and, in the 60, 8. Esapekka Lappi (FIN/Citroen) 58, 9. final stepping stone to Enable’s real tar- 14 of his 14 races giving his popular with very different characteristics,” said afternoon, the drivers must cope with more Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN/Toyota) 56, 10. Dani get this season, a record third win in trainer Cecil a grand farewell before he Neuville, who won here in 2014 despite than 100km of Panzerplatte, the tank training Sordo (ESP/Hyundai) 52. — AFP Europe’s most prestigious race, the Prix died of cancer in June 2013. — AFP 26 Established 1961 Sports Thursday, August 22, 2019 Getting batting order right key for England in Smith absence ‘England’s Roy’s best position in Test cricket is in the middle order’

LEEDS: The absence through injury of leading third test in West Yorkshire, but it does appear they are Australia batsman Steve Smith gives England a golden considering moving Roy down the order. chance to level the Ashes series in the third Test at “We think we’ve got the best seven batters available Headingley, but the hosts must resolve their own bat- to us,” England coach Trevor Bayliss said. “Whether we ting problems first. can change it round and make that (order) any better, I’m Smith, who averages 126 in the series which Australia not sure, but we’ll certainly have a discussion about it. lead 1-0, was struck by a bouncer from fast bowler “Personally, I think he (Roy) probably is suited to the Jofra Archer in the first innings of the second test at middle order.” Roy produced his most convincing Lord’s and was replaced by “concussion sub” Marnus innings of his fledgling international test career when Labuschagne for the second innings. scoring 72 batting at number three against Ireland, as Initially, Smith passed a concussion test and was opposed to 45 runs from five innings when opening. allowed to return to the field and complete his innings, but his condition worsened and Cricket Australia (CA) CHANGING ORDER confirmed he is not fit to play in the third test, which Moving Roy will likely see Joe Denly open, with the starts today. pressure mounting on the 33-year-old given his highest The absence of a man who has proven almost score of the series is 30 so far. Captain Joe Root is immovable so far this series will give England a boost, another who has not reached his usual high level, aver- given Matthew Wade is the only other Australian aging less than 25. Moving him further down the order batsman with a century and only two others have to number four, his usual position, is also a possibility. passed 50. “We are going to lose arguably our best batter,” However, England have their own issues to address. Australia coach Justin Langer said. “It is not unlike Questions remain over their top order, with Jason Roy, England losing James Anderson, he’s arguably their best a specialist opening batsman in one-day cricket, con- bowler. You take your best players out it always has an tinuing to struggle. “Opening the batting in a Test in impact.” England should be a specialist position yet someone With England able to replace Anderson with the like Jason Roy will probably only come off once in ferocious Archer in the last test, both teams remained about 20 innings playing the way he does at the top of evenly matched, with England almost able to sneak vic- the order,” former England captain Nasser Hussain tory on the final day. wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper. Taking Smith’s runs out of the equation should, in “He is obviously a special talent in white-ball cricket theory, give England the edge, but there is hope for but at this level against the moving ball I maintain Roy’s Australia in Smith’s likely replacement Labuschagne, LEEDS: Australia’s captain Tim Paine (R) watches teammates during a practice session at Headingley best position in Test cricket is in the middle order.” who scored a gritty 59 as Australia saw out the draw at Stadium in Leeds, northern England, yesterday on the eve of the start of the third Ashes cricket Test England have named the same 12-man squad for the Lord’s. —Reuters match between England and Australia. —AFP

and Pakistan,” ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison Third test: June 25-29, Lord’s England to play said in a statement. “Where every Test matters, there will be lots of points to play for as England continue Australia: their efforts to reach the World Test Championship First T20: July 3, Chester-le-Street Windies, Pakistan final.” Second T20: July 5, Old Trafford India look to England begin their 2020 programme with three Third T20: July 7, Headingley. as part of Test Tests against the West Indies, with the first match start- First ODI: July 11, Lord’s dominate Indies ing at The Oval on June 4, followed by matches at Second ODI: July 14, Rose Bowl Edgbaston and Lord’s. Third ODI: July 16, Bristol Championship They then face Australia in three Twenty20 interna- in first Test tionals starting July 3 with both teams looking ahead to Pakistan: LONDON: England will host the West Indies and the T20 World Cup Down Under. The 50-overs world First test: July 30-August 3, Lord’s ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA: India look set to Pakistan in a total of six test matches from June-August champions then play Australia in three One-Day inter- Second test: August 7-11, Old Trafford extend their decade-long dominance over West 2020 as part of the inaugural ICC World Test nationals. Third test: August 20-24, Trent Bridge Indies when the first match of a two-Test series Championship, the England and Wales Cricket Board A three-test series with Pakistan starting July 30 at First T20: August 29, Headingley starts at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here today. (ECB) said yesterday. Lord’s will be followed by three T20s against the same Second T20: August 31, Sophia Gardens Having swept the T20 series 3-0 and taken the ODI The competition involves the nine top-ranked test opponents and three ODIs against Ireland. Third T20: September 2, Rose Bowl contest 2-0, Virat Kohli’s India are bursting with nations competing in a league between July 2019 and England schedule 2020: confidence going into their first Test match since the April 2021, with the top two sides progressing to the Ireland: historic series triumph in Australia at the start of the final which will be held in England in June 2021. West Indies: First ODI: September 10, Trent Bridge year. In contrast, the West Indies have gone off the “The ICC World Test Championship will add signifi- First test: June 4-8, The Oval Second ODI: September 12, Edgbaston boil since dominating England in the home series in cance and context to the test series against West Indies Second test: June 12-16, Edgbaston Third ODI: September 15, The Oval. —Reuters the Caribbean six months ago and then going toe- to-toe with the same opponents in the subsequent ODI series. (BCCI) said yesterday it will earn semi-final defeat to New Zealand in match compared to 24 million rupees A whitewash in the tour-ending T20 skirmish, Indian board 58% more per match for the next four the recent 50-over World Cup has not that Paytm paid in 2015 to win the followed by the removal of controversial head coach years as Paytm retained the title dented the sport’s popularity. rights then. “We are excited to con- Richard Pybus and a disappointing World Cup cam- grows richer sponsorship rights for international Digital payments company Paytm, tinue our long-term association with paign has left Jason Holder’s men with much lost and domestic matches, underlining the owned by One 97 Communications, BCCI and the Indian Cricket Team,” ground to reclaim. game’s undiminished popularity in the will pay 3.27 billion rupees ($45.78 Paytm Chief Executive Vijay Shekhar And on the evidence of the limited-over leg of with new country. million) for the 2019-23 period to the Sharma said in a statement. India’s visit, and especially Kohli’s irresistible form Cricketers are the highest profile BCCI, which is the richest national “Our commitment to Indian Cricket with the bat, it will be asking a lot of the West Indies Paytm deal athletes and enjoy rockstar status in cricket board in the world. gets stronger with every season. India to get the better of the tourists and claim a first Test the world’s second most populous The winning bid was 38 million loves cricket and we at Paytm are the match victory over India for more than 17 years. MUMBAI: India’s cricket board country and Paytm’s bid showed the rupees (about $532,000) for every biggest fans of it.” —Reuters However, if the home team can recapture the Holder-inspired dominance of England achieved earlier this year, there is hope that they will be able to match up to an Indian team well prepared for the N Zealand look to longer version of the game. For India Chesteshwar Pujara, who reeled off three centuries in the four Tests in Australia, has exploit S Lanka’s already picked up from where he left off Down Under in notching up three figures in the lone Oval weakness warm-up fixture against a regional representative team last weekend. COLOMBO: New Zealand will be hoping to add to Sri It remains to be seen whether selectors will Lanka’s poor record at their own Oval ground and level include Rohit Sharma — a fixture at the top of the the series in the second and final Test starting today. order in limited-over matches — in the middle- Unlike the spinner’s paradise at Galle and the batting order and whether the exciting young talent of haven that is the SSC, the Oval — the only ground in Asia Rishabh Pant will keep experienced wicketkeeper- where Don Bradman played — favours seam bowlers. batsman Wriddhiman Saha in the dressing room. Sri Lanka have been often exposed here by quality Spinner Ravi Ashwin, ‘Man of the Series’ when seam bowlers and one up in the two-match series, they India dominated the home side in the Caribbean will have New Zealand’s Trent Boult and Tim Southee — and possibly Neil Wagner — to contend with. three years ago, could find himself on the sidelines In the last 10 years, Sri Lanka have played seven games with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav seen as at The Oval and lost five, including once to New Zealand. the prime contenders for the specialist spinner’s In that game seven years ago, Southee claimed eight wick- role. A change of policy in preparation has seen the ets while Boult finished with seven. pitch in Antigua, and indeed all Test match venues in “We have some fond memories from last time, and we the Caribbean, being more fast bowler-friendly managed to win that,” New Zealand wicketkeeper B.J. since the start of last year. Watling said at a pre-match media briefing yesterday. That could favour the visitors who have a trio in “The boys like to talk about their wickets and there’s a few Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant stunning catches from memory as well. Having good mem- Sharma very capable of exploiting helpful condi- ories is always good, but it is a new game, a new day, and tions. Not that the West Indies will be daunted by we need to be switched on,” Watling added. that prospect, for in Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Left-arm quick Wagner claimed nine wickets in New Holder and all-rounder Keemo Paul, they have the Zealand’s last Test match and was unlucky to miss out in firepower to challenge India’s vaunted batting line- Galle as conditions heavily favoured spin. He is expected COLOMBO: Sri Lankan cricket Captain Dimuth Karunaratne bats during a practice session at the P. Sara Oval up, as the English found to their cost in February. to make a return possibly at the expense of Mitchell cricket stadium in Colombo yesterday. —AFP However, the outcome of the first Test could ulti- Santner. The opening Test was a lot closer than the six-wicket mately hinge on batting, and whether the West reported in November last year. New Zealand (From) margin suggests and the New Zealanders know that field- Indies can defy a determined, world-class bowling Technically he is allowed to play the second Test, but he Kane Williamson (Captain), Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, ing lapses cost them dearly after setting Sri Lanka a attack to post competitive totals. is likely to travel to India instead to test his action. Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, William Somerville, daunting task of 268 runs. “No one’s trying to drop a catch Dilruwan Perera has been drafted into the squad and is Mitchell Santner, Tom Blundell, Tom Latham, Henry or miss anything. I still look back on those chances and Teams (probable): expected to play. Sri Lanka will move up to the number Nicholls, B.J. Watling, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel they are pretty tough ones. Sometimes they stick and five of the official ICC rankings if they win the second Test and Neil Wagner. West Indies — Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg sometimes they don’t,” Watling said. “We have to give a lot and the series. More importantly, it will give them a strong Brathwaite, John Campbell, Darren Bravo, Shai of credit to Sri Lanka’s batsmen — especially that opening start in the World Test Championship. Sri Lanka (From) Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Shane partnership. “Hopefully in this Test we can look to make Wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella was confident his Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Dowrich (wicketkeeper), Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, some more inroads through that top order and hopefully team will put on a good show. “We want to win against Thirimanne, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya Shannon Gabriel put that middle order under more pressure.” world’s number two ranked team. It’s going to be a differ- de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, India — Virat Kohli (captain), K. L. Rahul, Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will leave out off-spinner Akila ent game here and fast bowlers will come into play a lot,” Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lakshan Sandakan, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Dananjaya, whose action was reported to be suspect for a he said. “It’s a big challenge. Having won one game, we Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando. Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeep- second time by match officials after the Galle Test. have a big responsibility to win the series. We need to Umpire: Michael Gough and Bruce Oxenford er), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Dananjaya, who claimed a five-wicket haul in the opening keep making good decisions at crunch moments,” (Australia). Third Umpire: Richard Illingworth (England). Bumrah, Ishant Sharma. —AFP game, was forced to remodel his action after it was first Dickwella told journalists. Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe). —AFP Established 1961 27 Sports Thursday, August 22, 2019 Ajax finish with 10 men and a goalless draw in Cyprus

Game was goalless but packed with incident

PARIS: Ajax finished with 10 men on Tuesday but end to score. We were quite unlucky not to. We moved closer to the Champions League group still believe we can go through.” stage with a 0-0 draw away to APOEL in Nicosia There was only goal from open play in the in a playoff round first-leg match. night’s three matches, but it was a pretty strike to The game was goalless but packed with give Slavia Prague a 1-0 victory in Cluj. incident. Nicolae Stanciu played a 28th-minute corner to Ajax, a four-time winner of the competition and Lukas Masopust, lurking outside the penalty area. a semifinalist last season, dominated possession The midfielder flighted the ball into the far corner and created a string of promising situations. of the net with the gentlest of long-range volleys. But the lively home attack, with 22-year-old “We practiced those corner kicks two days ago Jordanian Musa Suleiman showing some eye- and I couldn’t hit the ball well,” said Masopust catching form, created the most dangerous adding that team captain Tomas Soucek “told me chances. today to try it with the side-foot and it worked.” Ajax conceded a string of free kicks in the sec- Cluj coach Dan Petrescu was less impressed. ond half and Noussair Mazraoui paid the price “Was it a pass or a shot?” he asked. “It was like when a flailing tackle on Uros Matic earned him a table tennis.” second yellow card with 10 minutes to play. Cluj won a penalty in the 79th minute, but Veteran striker Klass Jan Huntelaar, who came Ondrej Kolar saved French striker Billel Omrani on with 12 minutes left, had a clear opportunity to left-foot spot kick. win the game in added time, but the 36-year-old’s “I knew that the penalty-taking player always tame chip was cleared. waits until the very last moment before kicking “We gave the ball away too easily and we must the ball, so I waited, did not lose my nerve and improve next week,” said Ajax attacker Dusan saved it,” said Kolar. “It was my first saved Tadic. “I expect the same compact defensive zone penalty for Slavia.” from APOEL in the second game. But we need to In Austria, Linz ASK fell behind to Club Brugge play much better.” in the eighth minute and despite a late siege of the While Ajax were disappointed with an away visitors’ goal, lost 1-0. draw, Nicholas Ioannou, APOEL captain, was hap- Centre back Gernot Trauner was caught in NICOSIA: APOEL’s midfielder Musa Suliman is marked by Ajax’s defender Nicolas Tagliafico (R) during the UEFA py with his team’s chances. possession by Lois Openda and clumsily ran into Champions League playoff football match between Cyprus’ APOEL Nicosia and Netherland’s Ajax Amsterdam at the “We played really well,” he said. “We defended the striker. Hans Vanaken slammed home the GSP stadium in Nicosia. — AFP very well and had some good chances at the other penalty kick. —AFP

I won’t be a one-man show, says designated DFB chief Keller Ancelotti’s Napoli BERLIN: The designated president of UEFA and global soccer body FIFA, the German football association (DFB), was the third consecutive DFB presi- hope of toppling Fritz Keller, said yesterday he will not dent to be embroiled in a scandal. take over international positions or run His predecessors Wolfgang the DFB as a one-man show, after get- Niersbach and Theo Zwanziger were Juventus ting the backing of professional and indicted in Switzerland earlier this amateur associations. month over a payment related to the Keller, who has been chairman of hosting of the 2006 World Cup. MILAN: As the sole survivor of a coaching shuffle Bundesliga side Freiburg since 2010, The DFB is now hoping Keller, who among the leading challengers, Carlo Ancelotti could was the only name put forward by a became a Freiburg vice president back have the best chance to end Napoli’s 30-year wait for DFB commission in charge of finding a in 1991, can again steady the ship. “This the Serie A title. new head of the seven million-member task was not part of my lifeplan,” Keller Yet Antonio Conte’s arrival at Inter Milan has also association earlier this month. said. “I am and was happy with what I raised expectations of an end to Juventus’s long domi- He will still need to be elected on did in Freiburg with my colleagues and nation in the season that kicks off on Saturday. Serie A Sept. 27. “In the future it will not be a my family business. But football is runners-up Napoli have not held the Scudetto aloft one-man show. There will be tasks on worth it. since Argentine legend Diego Maradona inspired them different shoulders who will each be “I see my work on a national level. I to their only titles in 1987 and 1990. responsible. There is no other way,” he do not want to be in bodies such as Ancelotti’s campaign begins in Fiorentina on told a news conference. “We have to FIFA and UEFA. This is a 24-7 job, a FREIBURG: File photo shows SC Freiburg’s president Fritz Keller answers journalists’ Saturday, after Juventus, now coached by Maurizio work together.” full-time job.” Keller said DFB Vice questions before the German first division Bundesliga football match SC Freiburg v Sarri, open their quest for a ninth consecutive title in His predecessor Reinhard Grindel President Rainer Koch would take over Mainz 05 on August 17, 2019 in Freiburg, southern Germany. — AFP Parma. Chinese-owned Inter Milan have also changed stepped down in April after coming the international roles. coaches with former Juventus and Chelsea boss Conte under pressure over income he “I do not want to miss being able to back home in Italy. Marco Giampaolo takes over at AC received from a DFB subsidiary and a go to watch a local game or go eat a one association chief absent. moved on to join bigger clubs. Milan and Paulo Fonseca at Roma. watch he had been given by Ukrainian sausage or go watch a top match,” he Small-budget club Freiburg have Keller, an entrepreneur in the field Sarri came close two years ago when he guided businessman and soccer administrator added. Keller got the unanimous back- been known for their no-nonsense of wine and gastronomy, has been a Napoli to runners-up spot, just four points behind Grigory Surkis. ing from all first and second division approach to the game, playing an excit- member of the German football Juventus, before moving to Chelsea. At 60, Sarri Grindel, who sat on the executive clubs. He also got 37 of 38 votes from ing brand of football while also produc- league (DFL) supervisory board returns to Italy to coach Juventus as the champions boards of the European association local and regional associations, with ing scores of talented players who have since 2016. — Reuters look for a new direction despite five trophy-laden sea- sons under Massimiliano Allegri. The decision by Napoli-native Sarri to move north has hurt in his home town. “For us Neapolitans, that was a betrayal,” said captain Lorenzo Insigne. “Now Rummenigge suggests Sanches we have to try to beat him at all costs.” Ancelotti How humble HK Sevens embarks on the second year of his three-year contract, and wants silverware this campaign. and Boateng could leave Bayern The 60-year-old has won titles in Europe’s five shaped world rugby biggest leagues. His Serie A title came with AC Milan BERLIN: Bayern Munich CEO Karl- HONG KONG: As Japan gears up to host Asia’s first Rugby World Cup, back in 2004. He arrived in Naples boasting three Heinz Rummenigge has suggested Champions League trophies from his spells with Milan that Renato Sanches and Jerome they might give a nod of thanks in the direction of continental neighbours Hong Kong for helping to make it all possible. and Real Madrid, and a Premier League title from his Boateng may be heading for the exit two-year tenure at Chelsea. door at Bayern Munich, telling Sky The Hong Kong Sevens has grown from an end-of-season bash to a globally acclaimed festival of rugby, inspiring the World Cup Sevens and The veteran coach insists he has learned from his Germany that both players will find it “transitional” first season. “We drew back the arrow, difficult to break into the first team World Sevens Series — and tens of thousands of fans, who don outra- geous fancy dress and party till they drop in the stands. now we are ready to fire,” he warned. Ancelotti has this season. bolstered in all areas with the arrival of defender Portuguese midfielder Sanches and Its 43-year history has been liberally sprinkled with legends such as Jonah Lomu, David Campese, Waisale Serevi and Zinzan Brooke. Kostas Manolas, midfielder Elif Elmas and winger German defender Boateng have both Hirving Lozano. pushed for a move away from Bayern The city holds the accolade of being the only two-time hosts of the Sevens World Cup (1997 and 2005), reward for Hong Kong’s pivotal role in in recent months. Both have dropped NEW-LOOK INTER developing the oval-ball game across the world’s most populous continent. down the pecking order in their posi- Inter are being remodelled by former Italy boss tions. The growth of sevens resulted in rugby’s return to the Olympics in 2016 after a 92-year absence. Conte, who won three Serie A titles in a row with Sanches, 22, was fined 10,000 Juventus from 2012 to 2014, and the Premier League Euros ($11,100) by the club after he None of that was in the wildest dreams of a group of club enthusiasts when they devised the event, according to former Hong Kong Rugby with Chelsea in 2017. Belgian forward Romelu publicly complained of a lack of game Lukaku joins from Manchester United with young time and stated his desire to leave Football Union president Brian Stevenson, who has been involved from the start and was treasurer for the inaugural staging in 1976. midfielders Stefano Sensi and Nicolo Barella arriving following a cameo appearance in in the San Siro. Bayern’s 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin “There had never been a thought about a kind of international sevens. I thought it was a very innovative idea,” says Stevenson, HKRFU president Uncertainly remains however over the future of last Friday. Argentine forward Mauro Icardi amid reported inter- “Renato is a player who wants to from 2001 to 2016, at the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Happy Valley, within kicking distance of where it all began. est from Napoli. Inter last won the title in 2010 under play, and I can understand that. We Jose Mourinho, and open at home against newly-pro- need to find a solution that also suits Stevenson describes how a capacity 3,000 crowd packed Hong Kong Football Club to see New Zealand’s Cantabrians win against sides from moted Lecce on Saturday. the coach and the club,” Rummenigge Karl-Heinz Rummenigge But even amid uncertainty over how Sarri, who told Sky. The Bayern CEO expressed Indonesia, South Korea, Australia, Tonga, Japan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Fiji.“Nobody would have expected it to take off as it has. We’ve been most could miss the Parma opener with pneumonia, will sympathy for Sanches, who has made adapt to life at Juventus, the Cristiano Ronaldo-pow- Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin fortunate,” says the Scot. just 17 starts for Bayern since arriving ered champions remain favourites. Pavard. “I always felt it was the nature of Hong Kong and its location. This is three years ago with a winner’s medal Juventus have spent big with newly-signed Dutch “(Boateng) will not find it easy to probably the most international city in Asia. And when the fans came in, and Young Player of the Tournament defender Matthijs De Ligt and Turkey’s Merih Demiral. get regular game time,” said this was all pretty good.“You think of the timing, 1976. Hong Kong was award from Euro 2016. The midfield has been strengthened with PSG’s Adrien Rummenigge. “If he wants to leave developing as a financial centre. Cathay Pacific was beginning to expand “He came to us as a golden boy Rabiot and former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey. the club, he needs to tell us.” its wings. So there’s a lot of things together that really made it.” and newly crowned European Giampaolo takes over at AC Milan who missed out Boateng, 30, appeared certain to The seed for the Hong Kong Sevens was sown when A.D.C. “Tokkie” Champion three years ago. Now he on Champions League qualification. The only non- leave Bayern at the end of last season Smith, then chairman of the Hong Kong RFU, attended the Scottish Rugby has lost his place in the national team, Italian involved in this game of musical coaching after club president Uli Hoeness Union centenary sevens at Murrayfield in 1973. and he needs to play if he wants to benches, is Fonseca, working for the first time in Italy advised him to “find a new club”. By 1975 he had plans for an international 15-a-side tournament, but they get it back,” said Rummenigge. at Roma, who finished sixth last season. Yet his departure was thrown into were met with resistance from the governing body of the then strictly amateur Yet the CEO admitted that it would Gian Piero Gasperini remains at Atalanta after lead- doubt after Mats Hummels returned to sport. “They were not helpful at all,” says Stevenson. “So the way around it it would “not be easy” for Sanches to ing the unheralded northeners to a Champions League Borussia Dortmund. Coach Niko was an invitational sevens. I don’t think any of us expected it to take off. Well, compete with new signing Philippe berth with a third-place finish just ahead of Inter on Kovac insisted last week that the 2014 it was absolutely enormous.” The success attracted the world’s best players Coutinho. He added that the same goal difference. The side from Bergamo open against World Cup winner remained part of and eventually national teams, or at least some of them. — AFP was true of veteran defender Jerome SPAL. — AFP Boateng, following the arrival of his plans. — AFP Established 1961 Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

Paralympic chief hails N Zealand look to exploit I won’t be a one-man show, says 25Tokyo 2020 preparations 26 S Lanka’s Oval weakness 27 designated DFB chief Keller

ST LOUIS: Dakota Hudson #43 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth inning at Busch Stadium in St Louis, Missouri. —AFP Cardinals stay hot, drop Brewers Kershaw beats Jays, passes Koufax on Dodgers’ win list

ST LOUIS: Dexter Fowler drove in four runs to power Cleveland Indians. Michael Pineda (9-5) allowed four MARINERS 7, RAYS 4 corner for a two-run triple to make it 8-3. the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-4 victory over the visiting runs on six hits over seven innings. He didn’t walk a Tom Murphy hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. Fowler’s bases- batter and struck out four while improving to 3-0 sixth inning as Seattle defeated Tampa Bay in St. REDS 3, PADRES 2 clearing double in the sixth inning — a well-placed pop- against Chicago this season. Petersburg, Fla. Kyle Seager also homered for the Freddy Galvis continued his strong early run with up into shallow left field with the bases loaded and two Mariners, who have won four games in a row and six of Cincinnati by belting a tiebreaking two-run homer in outs — capped a four-run rally that erased a 2-1 deficit. ATHLETICS 6, YANKEES 2 eight on their nine-game trip. Mariners left-hander the sixth inning, and Sonny Gray struck out 10 to win The Cardinals won for the ninth time in 11 games to Matt Olson and Mark Canha hit first-inning home Tommy Milone (3-7), who entered after Matt Wisler his fourth straight decision as the Reds beat visiting remain atop the National League Central by a half-game runs off Domingo German, and Homer Bailey pitched pitched a scoreless first, earned his second straight vic- San Diego. Galvis, claimed off waivers on Aug. 12, is 12- over the Chicago Cubs. They moved four games up on effectively into the sixth, helping Oakland open a three- tory despite allowing four runs on six hits in five for-29 (.414) with three homers and six RBIs in eight the third-place Brewers, who lost for the sixth time in game series against visiting New York with a victory. In innings. He walked one and struck out four. Sam games for Cincinnati. His opposite-field shot to left eight games. Tyler Webb (1-1), the fourth of six Cardinals their first meeting since the 2018 American League Tuivailala, Anthony Bass and Matt Magill combined for snapped a 1-1 tied and helped the Reds avoid a third pitchers, earned the victory. Jeremy Jeffress (3-4), the wild-card game, which New York won 7-2, the A’s sent three scoreless innings of one-hit relief for Seattle. consecutive loss. Gray (9-6) saw his scoreless-inning second of six Milwaukee pitchers, took the loss. the Yankees to their second straight defeat while win- Magill pitched the ninth for his second save. streak end at 23 when Josh Naylor hit a game-tying ning for the fifth time in six games. After Gary Sanchez solo homer with two outs in the sixth. However, that METS 9, INDIANS 2 homered off Bailey (11-8), a solo shot with two outs in ASTROS 6, TIGERS 3 was all Gray allowed while fanning 10 in six innings. Michael Conforto hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the first, the A’s came right back. Robbie George Springer and Jose Altuve smacked back- the sixth inning, rookie Pete Alonso added a two-run Grossman’s walk set up Olson’s two-run homer before to-back home runs in the first inning, and Martin ANGELS 5, RANGERS 1 (GAME 1) double in the seventh, and New York began a pivotal Canha followed with a long ball for a 3-1 lead. Maldonado went deep in the fifth as Houston slugged Mike Trout set a career high with his 42nd home nine-game homestand with a victory over Cleveland. its way to victory over visiting Detroit. The Astros run, and Los Angeles won the first game of a double- After winning 18 of 23 games while playing several los- PHILLIES 3, RED SOX 2 recorded their eighth consecutive win over the Tigers header in Arlington, Texas. Los Angeles’ Andrew ing teams, the Mets (65-60) began a stretch of 18 Aaron Nola pitched seven strong innings to make a despite Aaron Sanchez departing with the bases Heaney struck out a career-high 14 and didn’t walk a straight games against other playoff contenders by three-run first stand up as visiting Philadelphia edged loaded and one out in the third inning. Brad Peacock batter while winning consecutive starts for the first improving to 11-1 in their last 12 home games. They Boston in the opener of a two-game series. Nola (12-3) (7-6), making his first appearance since June 27, time since winning five straight in 2015. Heaney (3-3) matched a season best by going five games over .500. stranded the tying run in scoring position with no outs entered and stranded two of the three runners. allowed one run and four hits in eight innings. Trout Conforto snapped a 2-2 tie when he clobbered a two- in both the fifth and sixth innings, allowing two runs on Peacock, who came off the injured list Sunday after also tripled, Luis Rengifo added a two-run homer, and out slider from Shane Bieber (12-6) and hit the ball into four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. The victory recovering from a shoulder ailment, wound up pitch- Brian Goodwin contributed two hits and two runs for the Mets’ bullpen beyond the right-center-field fence. snapped a two-game skid for Philadelphia. Jackie ing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. the Angels. Willie Calhoun had two hits, including a New York’s Steven Matz (8-7) allowed two runs (one Bradley Jr. hit a two-run home run for the Red Sox, solo homer, for the Rangers. earned) and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out sev- whose five-game winning streak ended. CUBS 5, GIANTS 3 en and walked two. Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-3 with two home runs, RANGERS 3, ANGELS 2 (GAME 2, 11 INNINGS) PIRATES 4, NATIONALS 1 Nicholas Castellanos finished 3-for-5 with a homer, and Nick Solak’s 11th-inning grounder got under the DODGERS 16, BLUE JAYS 3 Starling Marte hit a three-run homer in a four-run host Chicago beat San Francisco. Jonathan Lucroy and glove of Los Angeles first baseman Albert Pujols, scor- A.J. Pollock and Will Smith hit home runs to jump- eighth inning as host Pittsburgh halted a three-game Tony Kemp also drove in runs for Chicago, which won ing Delino DeShields and giving Texas a win in the sec- start the offense, and Clayton Kershaw moved past losing streak with a win over Washington. The Pirates its third game in a row. The Cubs posted their 42nd win ond game of the doubleheader. The Rangers posted Sandy Koufax on the Dodgers’ all-time win list as Los had scored just one run during the skid. Washington in 61 home games this season. Cubs left-hander Cole their second 11-inning, walk-off victory over the Angels Angeles earned an interleague victory over visiting starter Stephen Strasburg missed a chance at setting a Hamels (7-4) limited the Giants to three runs on five in the past two nights, sandwiching Los Angeles’ win Toronto. Max Muncy, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson career high with his 16th win of the season. He pitched hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out five. Tuesday afternoon in the opener of the doubleheader. also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who have gone seven scoreless innings, scattering four hits with six Austin Slater and Kevin Pillar homered in a losing effort In the 11th inning of the nightcap, DeShields singled to deep 30 times in their last eight games. Los Angeles strikeouts and one walk. Wander Suero (3-7) was for San Francisco. right with one out off Ty Buttrey (6-6), stole second improved to a major-league-best 49-16 at home this charged with three of the eighth-inning runs. Felipe and came home on the two-out error by Pujols. season. Kershaw (13-2) went six innings, giving up Vazquez (3-1) got the final four outs for the win. DIAMONDBACKS 8, ROCKIES 7 three runs on six hits with three walks and six strike- Nick Ahmed homered, and Eduardo Escobar ORIOLES 4, ROYALS 1 outs. It was his 166th career victory, moving him out of BRAVES 5, MARLINS 1 reached 100 RBIs for the season as Arizona held on to Hanser Alberto belted a three-run homer with two a tie with Koufax and into sole possession of fifth on Freddie Freeman continued to feast on visiting beat Colorado in Phoenix. Ahmed’s solo shot — his outs in the eighth inning as host Baltimore snapped an the team’s all-time list. Miami, hitting two solo home runs and driving in four sixth homer in his past 10 games — started the scoring eight-game losing streak with a victory over Kansas in Atlanta’s win. Freeman ended a 0-for-12 streak by in the third inning, but the game turned in the sixth with City. The Orioles posted just their second win in 15 TWINS 14, WHITE SOX 4 going 3-for-4 and producing his second multi-homer one out. The D-backs scored five runs after Colorado games overall and snapped a four-game losing skid to Nelson Cruz homered and doubled three times, game in five days. He hit his first homer in the fourth starter Kyle Freeland (3-11) left in the middle of an the Royals. Rio Ruiz had an RBI single in the seventh Max Kepler had a home run, a double and three RBIs, inning, added another homer in the fifth and chased Ahmed plate appearance as he showed discomfort inning for the Orioles. Meibrys Viloria’s sacrifice fly and Jorge Polanco also homered to lead Minnesota home a pair of runs in the seventh with a single. The while the game was tied 3-3. Ahmed completed a walk plated Alex Gordon in the second inning for the Royals, past Chicago in Minneapolis. Cruz finished 4-for-5 29-year-old All-Star has 33 homers and a league- against reliever Bryan Shaw, who then walked Carson who were thwarted in their bid for a season-high fourth with three RBIs and three runs. C.J. Cron had a three- leading 102 RBIs, the second time he’s surpassed 100 Kelly to load the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Jake straight road win. Jacob Barnes (1-2) issued walks to run double, and Eddie Rosario had two hits and two in his career. In 17 games against Miami this season, Lamb knocked in two runs with a grounder to center Trey Mancini and Jace Peterson in the eighth inning of RBIs for Minnesota, which increased its American Freeman is batting .354 (23-for-65) with five homers for a 5-3 lead. Ketel Marte followed with an RBI field- a tie game before Alberto deposited 1-1 cutter over the League Central lead to three games over the and 16 RBIs. er’s choice, and Escobar pulled a ball into the right field wall in center field. —Reuters