N IO T IP R C S B U S SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2015 SAFAR 24, 1437 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Al-Kharafi Group Benzema double sponsors ‘Paris helps Madrid in The Heart rally from fiasco of Kuwait’ to thrash Getafe conference3 20 Obama insists America Min 6º Max 13º High Tide ‘will not be terrorized’ 06:44 & 19:35 Low Tide IS hails California attackers as followers 01:03 & 12:22 40 PAGES 40 16719 NO: FILS 150 SAN BERNARDINO, California: US President Barack Obama insisted yesterday that America “will not be terror- Islamic teachers ized” as the Islamic State group praised the perpetrators of the California mass shooting as “soldiers” of its caliphate. to be trained to The president’s pledge and extremists’ praise followed an announcement by the FBI that it was treating the investi- fight extremism gation into the San Bernardino rampage as an act of terror- ism. “It is entirely possible that these two attackers were KUWAIT: The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs said radicalized to commit this act of terror,” Obama said of yesterday it is organizing a number of training courses Syed Farook, 28, and his 29-year-old Pakistani wife for Islamic religion teachers to strengthen their role in Tashfeen Malik, who slaughtered 14 people and wounded countering extremism. Assistant Undersecretary for 21 others at a year-end office party on Wednesday. Financial and Administrative Affairs Farid Emadi stated In its English-language radio broadcast yesterday, IS that the ministry would hold 24 training courses for stopped short of explicitly claiming the attack but referred 600 teachers nationwide as a part of an ambitious plan to the assailants as soldiers of the khilafah (caliphate) who to harness the skills of religion teachers. were “killed in the path of Allah”. In the group’s Arabic-lan- Emadi, also secretary general of the higher commit- guage radio broadcast earlier in the day, however, they tee for moderation, lauded the cooperation between referred to the attackers simply as “supporters of the the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and the Islamic State”. Ministry of Education to improve the qualification and Obama said in his weekly address that the Islamic State the skills of the teachers. He pointed out that building and other terrorist groups “are actively encouraging peo- the capacity of religion teachers is essential to foster ple - around the world and in our country - to commit terri- the values of tolerance, co-existence and moderation ble acts of violence, often times as lone wolf actors.” “We among students and to stand up against destructive are Americans,” he added. “We will uphold our values - a ideologies, hatemongering and extremism. — KUNA free and open society. We are strong. And we are resilient. And we will not be terrorized.” SILVER SPRING, Maryland: People participate in a candlelight vigil The carnage marked the deadliest mass shooting in the held by the Council on American-Islamic Relations for the victims United States since the Newtown school massacre in 2012, KAC pilot loses of recent mass shootings at the Muslim Community Center on when 26 people, mostly children, were shot dead. The New Friday. (Inset) This undated combination of photos provided by York Times yesterday published an editorial on its front license in cockpit the FBI and the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows page for the first time since 1920, using the rare, Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook. — AFP/AP porn star scandal Continued on Page 13 KUWAIT: The license of a Kuwait Airways pilot who had invited a porn star and her friend into the cockpit in 2013 has been revoked, according to a report by Al- Jarida daily yesterday. The decision, announced by AA+ Fitch rating for Kuwait Communications Minister Essa Al-Kandari in a report to KUWAIT: Fitch’s new sovereign credit rat- billion (377 percent of GDP) in FY2015/16 enue and expenditure excluding invest- ance will fall to $5 billion (4.1 percent of the National Assembly, was taken following an investi- ing for Kuwait in 2015 stands at “AA+” level (FY15) and continue to rise beyond that ment income and after the transfer of at GDP) in 2015, interrupting a history of gation he ordered in July with a “stable outlook” for the country. due to investment returns and on-going least 10 percent of total revenue to the double-digit surpluses since 1999. when news about the secu- Fitch Ratings, in a fresh report, affirmed transfers of revenue,” Fitch said. Reserve Fund for Future Generations Under our baseline oil price assump- rity breach broke out. Kuwait’s long-term foreign and local cur- Based on unofficial, publicly available (RFFG), which is entirely invested abroad. tions, fiscal and external balances will The report, a copy of rency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘AA’. sources, “we estimate KIA assets were $456 “The transfer to the RFFG has been 25 recover in 2016-2017, although they will which was obtained by Al- The outlooks are stable, and the country billion (298 percent of GDP) at the end of percent of revenue in each of the past be held back by a pick-up in capital Jarida, said that the copilot ceiling has been affirmed at ‘AA+’ and the FY14, up from $424 billion at the end of three years, but we assume that from FY15 spending and the domestic economy. In was demoted over his role Short-Term foreign currency IDR at ‘F1+’. FY13. KIA assets could be used to cover it will revert to the 10 percent specified by response to the deterioration in rev- in the case. The plane crew Kuwait’s key credit is exceptionally more than six law. GRF should enues, the government is implementing was not aware of what was strong, and fiscal and external metrics, at years’ worth of still continue to cuts to current expenditure as per its happening inside the cock- around $48/barrel, are one of the lowest g o v e r n m e n t be able to cov- FY15 budget passed in July this year pit and no disciplinary fiscal break-even Brent oil prices among spending, and er at least one (three months into the fiscal year, which action was taken against Fitch-rated oil exporters. Fiscal and exter- we expect this year of govern- starts in April). any member, Al-Jarida said. nal surpluses will continue to add to the coverage ratio to be maintained,” it added. ment spending. We expect external assets “Goods and services expenditure was Kandari stressed the com- country’s existing buffers, if at a lower rate At an expected 8.3 percent of GDP in managed by the KIA to rise to $405 billion down 50 percent yoy in the first six months pliance of Kuwait Airways than historically. These strengths are tem- 2015, debt will be one of the lowest for (324 percent of GDP) in FY15. We expect of the FY and subsidy payments have fall- with the strict regulations adopted following Sept 11. pered by Kuwait’s heavily oil-dependent Fitch-rated sovereigns. Even as total KIA the general government to maintain a sur- en, both as a result of the lower oil prices; The investigation team in its report spelled out sever- economy, a degree of geopolitical risk, assets rise, “we expect that its General plus of KD 1.8 billion (4.9 percent of GDP) the wage bill has remained roughly con- al recommendations that included tougher measures and weak scores on measures of gover- Reserve Fund (GRF), the purpose of which in FY15, down from KD 8 billion in FY14, stant. Our assumptions for the full FY are related to the cockpit, including the revocation of the nance and ease of doing business. is to cover immediate government spend- including investment income but before aligned with these outturns. Capital spend- license of any pilot who smokes inside it. Kandari had Kuwait has ample assets to cover medi- ing needs, will slowly shrink from the esti- transfers to the RFFG. ing has grown in the first six months, and ordered the “immediate recall” of the Kuwaiti pilot um-term spending needs. “We expect mated USD85bn in FY14,” the agency not- This is driven almost entirely by a fall in we expect it to edge up to KD 2.2 billion allegedly involved in the case from the Thai capital total assets managed by the Kuwait ed. The GRF, which is mostly invested oil-related receipts,” Fitch said. “Similarly, from KD 1.8 billion for the full year. Bangkok where he was when the case was published in Investment Authority (KIA) to reach $472 domestically, receives the balance of rev- we forecast that the current account bal- Continued on Page 13 the British media. —Agencies Triple suicide Kardashian, West attack kills 30 welcome baby boy LOS ANGELES: Reality TV star Kim on Chad island Kardashian and her rapper husband N’DJAMENA: A triple suicide bombing on an island Kanye West announced yesterday the in Lake Chad yesterday killed at least 30 people and birth of their second child, a baby boy. left more than 80 wounded, a Chadian security “He’s here!” Kardashian wrote in a Titter source said, in another apparent strike by Boko post, which linked to a page exclaiming Haram Islamists despite a regional offensive to stop “Kanye and I welcome our new baby the insurgency. “Three suicide bombers blew them- boy!” The latest addition to the West fam- selves up in three different places at the weekly ily was born in the morning and “mother market on Loulou Fou, an island in Lake Chad,” the and son are doing well” according to the source in the capital N’Djamena told AFP, speaking page, which showed a picture of the on condition of anonymity.