THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020 / JUMADA AL AWWAL 14, 1441 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17279 28 PAGES 150 FILS ice hockey Page 25 IRAN RETALIATES WITH MISSILE ‘SLAP’ AT U.S. BASES IN IRAQ US to double-down on Iran sanctions Amir offers condolences Ukrainian airline crash in Iran claims 176 Sides shy away from escalation WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (Agencies): The US and Iran stepped back from the brink of possible war Wednes- day, as President Donald Trump indicated he would not respond militarily after no one was harmed in Iran’s missile strike on two Iraqi bases housing US troops. Speaking from the White House, Trump seemed intent on deesca- lating the crisis, which reached a new height after he authorized the targeted killing last week of Gen Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Iran retali- ated overnight with its most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the US Embassy in Tehran, firing more than a dozen missiles from its territory at the US in- stallations. Trump credited an early warn- ing system “that worked very well” for the fact that no Ameri- cans or Iraqis were killed. He added that Americans should be “extremely grateful and happy” with the outcome. Trump, facing one of the great- est tests of his presidency, said Wednesday that Iran appeared to be “standing down” and said the US response would be to put in place new economic sanctions “until Iran changes its behavior.” The strikes had pushed Teh- ran and Washington perilously close to all-out conflict and put the world’s attention on Trump as he weighed whether to re- spond with more military force. The Republican president deliv- ered his remarks surrounded by his national security advisers in the foyer of the White House. It came after a late-night tweet in which he insisted “All is well!” after the strikes. Iran, for days, had promised to respond forcefully to Soleimani’s killing, but its limited strike on two bases – one in the northern Iraqi city in Erbil and the other at Ain al-Asad in western Iraq – appeared to signal that it was also uninterested in a wider clash with the US. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the country had “concluded proportionate measures in self- defense.” Trump, who is facing reelec- tion in November, campaigned for president on a promise to keep the United States from en- gaging in “endless war.” Speaking Wednesday he said the United States is “ready to em- brace peace with all who seek it.” Trump opened his remarks by reiterating his promise that “Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” even as that country announced in the wake of Soleimani’s killing that it would no longer comply with any of the 2015 nuclear deal’s limits on enrichment that had been put in place to prevent it from building a nuclear device. But he seized on the – at least temporary – moment of calm to call for new nuclear nego- tiations to replace the 2015 deal from which he withdrew the US, objecting that it didn’t limit Iran’s ballistic missile programs or constrain its regional proxy campaigns like those led by So- leimani. The president spoke directly to Iran, saying, “We want you to have a future and a great future.” Trump also announced he would ask NATO to become “much more involved in the Middle East process.” While he has frequently criticized NATO as obsolete and has encouraged participants to increase their mil- itary spending, Trump has sought to have the military alliance refo- cus its efforts on modern threats. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a joint statement after a closed- door meeting on Mideast security had warned that the further use of A forensic investigator works at the scene of a Ukrainian plane crash as bodies of the victims are collected in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran on Jan 8. A Ukrainian airplane carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, killing all onboard. (AP) 63 Canadians dead in crash Manila orders evacuation of Filipinos from Iraq, Iran Commercial airlines reroute flights amid US-Iran tensions — Details Page 8 — Probe launched KUNA hacked on ‘pullout’ TEHRAN, Iran, Jan 8, (Agen- cies): Kuwait says its state-run KUNA news agency’s Twitter account was hacked and posted false story on US troops with- drawing from nation. Kuwait made the announce- ment Wednesday after the fake alert went out on its account, drawing widespread attention. Tiny, oil-rich Kuwait has over 13,000 US troops in the country, with more on the way amid tensions between the US and Iran. Minister of Information Mo- hammad Al-Jabri Wednesday announced formation of an inde- pendent committee to investigate publication of false informa- tion on Kuwait News Agency’s (KUNA) Twitter account. The committee will comprise representatives of several state departments, Al-Jabri said in a brief statement. The head of the Kuwaiti Gov- ernment communications center and its official spokesperson, Tareq Al-Mizrem, announced earlier that malware has infested KUNA’s Twitter account. He emphasized reports that ap- peared on the social media about American forces’ pullout were false. SHAHEDSHAHR, Iran, Jan 8, (Agen- cies): A Ukrainian airliner carrying 176 people crashed on the outskirts of Teh- ran during a takeoff attempt Wednesday hours after Iran launched its missile at- tack on US forces, scattering flaming debris and passengers’ belongings across farmland and killing everyone on board. Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical problem brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737. Ukrainian of- ficials initially agreed but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is going on. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah offered in a cable, Wednesday, his deepest con- dolences to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the crash inci- dent. His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables. His Highness the Amir also offered in a cable his deepest condolences to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the plane crash incident. His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prime Minister sent similar cables. The Ukraine International Airlines flight was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several coun- tries. Ukraine Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board, along with 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British citizens. Airline officials said most of the pas- sengers were en route to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Passengers on the flight are often Iranian students returning to Ukraine after the winter holidays or Ira- nian-Canadians on their way to Toronto. Zelenskiy cut short a visit to Oman to return to Kyiv and said a team of Ukrai- nian experts would fly to Tehran to help investigate the crash. “Our priority is to find the truth and everyone responsible for the tragedy,” Zelenskiy wrote in a Facebook statement. Major world airlines Wednesday re- routed flights crossing the Middle East to avoid danger amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, and the US Federal Aviation Administration barred American airlines from certain Arabian Gulf airspace, warning of the “potential for miscalculation or misidentification” of civilian aircraft. The plane had been delayed from tak- ing off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport by almost an hour. It never made it above 8,000 feet, crash- ing just minutes after takeoff, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24. Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry, said it appeared a fire erupted in one of its engines and the pilot lost control of the plane, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Hassan Razaeifar, the head of the air crash investigation committee, said it ap- peared the pilot couldn’t communicate with air-traffic controllers in Tehran in the last moments of the flight. He did not elaborate. Ukraine International Airlines Presi- dent Yevhen Dykhne, said the aircraft “was one of the best planes we had, with an amazing, reliable crew.” In a state- ment, the airline went further, saying: “Given the crew’s experience, error prob- ability is minimal. We do not even con- sider such a chance.” Authorities said they found the plane’s so-called black boxes, which record cock- pit conversations and instrument data. The crash shocked Canada, with For- eign Minister François-Philippe Cham- pagne saying the country’s “hearts are with the loved ones of the victims.” The plane, fully loaded with fuel for Newswatch KUWAIT CITY: An unmanned drone was seen hovering over a number of oil installations in Mina Shuaiba at around 10:00 pm which, then headed towards the American Army berth and arrived at the port square before head- ing south in the direction of Mina Abdullah and disappeared out of sight, reports Al-Anba daily quot- ing the oil sector employees. The daily added the security authorities are in the process of monitoring and following up in- formation about this unidentified drone, verify its sources and reveal its content. ❑ ❑ ❑ BRUSSELS: A NATO official Wednesday said there were no ca- sualties among staff serving in the NATO mission in Iraq following missile strikes by Iran on two mili- tary bases in Iraq where US troops are based. “According to our assessments, we can confirm there were no ca- sualties among those serving with NATO Mission Iraq. We are taking all precautions necessary to protect our people, and we are keeping the situation under close review,” said the official in a statement on condi- tion of anonymity. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg con- demned the Iranian missile attacks on US and coalition force forces in Iraq. “NATO calls on Iran to refrain from further violence. Allies con- tinue to consult and remain com- mitted to our training mission in Iraq,” he tweeted. The NATO mission in Iraq was established in October 2018. It is designed to help Iraqi security structures and institutions further develop and sustain their capacity, so they can ensure ISIS/DAESH does not return. NATO announced that it is sus- pending its training mission in Iraq following the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike in Baghdad last week. (KUNA) ❑ ❑ ❑ BRUSSELS: The European Union said Wednesday it “will spare no efforts” in its attempts to keep alive an international deal prevent- ing Iran from developing atomic weapons. EU Commission President Ur- sula von der Leyen said her for- eign affairs chief Josep Borrell This satellite image provided on Jan 8, by Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Planet Labs Inc, shows the damage caused from an Iranian missile strike at the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq. Iran’s actions were in response to the US killing of Revolution- ary Guard Gen Qassem Soleimani. (AP) Other Voices They all failed By Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli Former Minister of Oil SOME blame us for shedding light on those who belong to fun- damentalist movements and oth- ers who seem to be religious, pi- ous and righteous. We have repeatedly said the same belief is shared by all Islam- ic doctrines, as well as Christian- ity, Judaism, Buddhism and Zo- roastrianism etc, after becoming conscious and learning to un- derstand that being religious corresponds to adopting vir- tues such as truthfulness, honesty and chastity both in action and words. However, this conviction be- comes shaky from time to time when we hear, for instance, about some clerics in the church mo- lesting minors, and greed of some Muslim clerics who hoard money instead of distributing the money to serve purposes for which they were collected or as donors of the money believe it should be used for. Hundreds of horrible stories choke clerics in all religious spec- trums, as we have already men- tioned. In this article, I will talk about religious men who deviate from uprightness with regard to the reason for acquiring such titles, just to understand that the title is a sham. I will narrate what I heard and saw with my own eyes from a re- nowned credible Egyptian jour- nalist and TV personality Ibrahim Essa when he said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had re- quested the leadership of Azhar University in Egypt to nominate 100 scholars among its top gradu- ates to assume positions in a center for religious guidance and moralization, in order to spread moderate religious thoughts in the mosques, schools and media platforms across the UAE. Our UAE brothers are thorough on this kind of dealings. They do not entertain pleasantries at all – something our government circles lack in Kuwait where the sector is filled by expatriates whom we do not know the veracity of their cer- tificates or academic description or ideological bearing. Back to our brothers in the UAE, they requested all 100 nominees from Azhar University armed with titles and certificates (doctorates, masters and degrees) to seat for ap- titude tests to determine their cul- tural and academic levels in majors related to the Islamic religion con- cerning guidance, moralization and propagation of moderation princi- ples. Surprisingly, the 100 mullahs or religious men failed. All of them failed the test. All of them! Journalist Ibrahim Essa earlier described the same religious men as the top newly graduates from the renowned religious univer- sity, Al-Azhar, but none of them managed to earn the honor of as- suming a position in the moraliza- tion center in UAE. To our brothers in Egypt and UAE, we share the same situation. We have religious institutes that started competing with the normal government schools. We also have an unnecessary col- lege, the College of Shariah, which is the major manufacturer of gradu- ates who resemble our 100 Egyp- tian brothers. Al-Baghli Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 8 Email: [email protected]
Transcript
THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020 / JUMADA AL AWWAL 14, 1441 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17279 28 PAGES 150 FILS
ice hockey Page 25
IRAN RETALIATES WITH MISSILE ‘SLAP’ AT U.S. BASES IN IRAQ
US to double-down on Iran sanctionsAmir offers condolences
Ukrainian airline crash in Iran claims 176Sides shy away from escalation
WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (Agencies): The US and Iran stepped back from the brink of possible war Wednes-day, as President Donald Trump indicated he would not respond militarily after no one was harmed in Iran’s missile strike on two Iraqi bases housing US troops.
Speaking from the White House, Trump seemed intent on deesca-lating the crisis, which reached a new height after he authorized the targeted killing last week of Gen Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s
elite Quds Force. Iran retali-ated overnight with its most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the US Embassy in Tehran, firing more than a dozen missiles from its territory at the US in-stallations.
Trump credited an early warn-ing system “that worked very well” for the fact that no Ameri-cans or Iraqis were killed. He added that Americans should be “extremely grateful and happy” with the outcome.
Trump, facing one of the great-est tests of his presidency, said Wednesday that Iran appeared to be “standing down” and said the US response would be to put in place new economic sanctions “until Iran changes its behavior.”
The strikes had pushed Teh-ran and Washington perilously close to all-out conflict and put the world’s attention on Trump as he weighed whether to re-spond with more military force. The Republican president deliv-ered his remarks surrounded by his national security advisers in the foyer of the White House. It came after a late-night tweet in which he insisted “All is well!” after the strikes.
Iran, for days, had promised to respond forcefully to Soleimani’s killing, but its limited strike on two bases – one in the northern Iraqi city in Erbil and the other at Ain al-Asad in western Iraq – appeared to signal that it was also uninterested in a wider clash with the US. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the country had “concluded proportionate measures in self-defense.”
Trump, who is facing reelec-tion in November, campaigned for president on a promise to keep the United States from en-gaging in “endless war.”
Speaking Wednesday he said the United States is “ready to em-brace peace with all who seek it.”
Trump opened his remarks by reiterating his promise that “Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” even as that country announced in the wake of Soleimani’s killing that it would no longer comply with any of the 2015 nuclear deal’s limits on enrichment that had been put in place to prevent it from building a nuclear device.
But he seized on the – at least temporary – moment of calm to call for new nuclear nego-tiations to replace the 2015 deal from which he withdrew the US, objecting that it didn’t limit Iran’s ballistic missile programs or constrain its regional proxy campaigns like those led by So-leimani.
The president spoke directly to Iran, saying, “We want you to have a future and a great future.”
Trump also announced he would ask NATO to become “much more involved in the Middle East process.” While he has frequently criticized NATO as obsolete and has encouraged participants to increase their mil-itary spending, Trump has sought to have the military alliance refo-cus its efforts on modern threats.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a joint statement after a closed-door meeting on Mideast security had warned that the further use of
A forensic investigator works at the scene of a Ukrainian plane crash as bodies of the victims are collected in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran on Jan 8. A Ukrainian airplane carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, killing all onboard. (AP)
63 Canadians dead in crash
Manila orders evacuation of Filipinos from Iraq, Iran
KUNA hacked on ‘pullout’TEHRAN, Iran, Jan 8, (Agen-cies): Kuwait says its state-run KUNA news agency’s Twitter account was hacked and posted false story on US troops with-drawing from nation.
Kuwait made the announce-ment Wednesday after the fake alert went out on its account, drawing widespread attention.
Tiny, oil-rich Kuwait has over 13,000 US troops in the country, with more on the way amid tensions between the US and Iran.
Minister of Information Mo-hammad Al-Jabri Wednesday announced formation of an inde-pendent committee to investigate
publication of false informa-tion on Kuwait News Agency’s (KUNA) Twitter account.
The committee will comprise representatives of several state departments, Al-Jabri said in a brief statement.
The head of the Kuwaiti Gov-ernment communications center and its official spokesperson, Tareq Al-Mizrem, announced earlier that malware has infested KUNA’s Twitter account.
He emphasized reports that ap-peared on the social media about American forces’ pullout were false.
SHAHEDSHAHR, Iran, Jan 8, (Agen-cies): A Ukrainian airliner carrying 176 people crashed on the outskirts of Teh-ran during a takeoff attempt Wednesday hours after Iran launched its missile at-tack on US forces, scattering flaming debris and passengers’ belongings across farmland and killing everyone on board.
Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical problem brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737. Ukrainian of-ficials initially agreed but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is going on.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah offered in a cable, Wednesday, his deepest con-dolences to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the crash inci-dent.
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables.
His Highness the Amir also offered in a cable his deepest condolences to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the plane crash incident.
His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prime Minister sent similar cables.
The Ukraine International Airlines
flight was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several coun-tries. Ukraine Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board, along with 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British citizens.
Airline officials said most of the pas-sengers were en route to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Passengers on the flight are often Iranian students returning to Ukraine after the winter holidays or Ira-nian-Canadians on their way to Toronto.
Zelenskiy cut short a visit to Oman to return to Kyiv and said a team of Ukrai-nian experts would fly to Tehran to help investigate the crash.
“Our priority is to find the truth and everyone responsible for the tragedy,” Zelenskiy wrote in a Facebook statement.
Major world airlines Wednesday re-routed flights crossing the Middle East to avoid danger amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, and the US Federal Aviation Administration barred American airlines from certain Arabian Gulf airspace, warning of the “potential for miscalculation or misidentification” of civilian aircraft.
The plane had been delayed from tak-ing off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport by almost an hour. It never made it above 8,000 feet, crash-
ing just minutes after takeoff, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry, said it appeared a fire erupted in one of its engines and the pilot lost control of the plane, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Hassan Razaeifar, the head of the air crash investigation committee, said it ap-peared the pilot couldn’t communicate with air-traffic controllers in Tehran in the last moments of the flight. He did not elaborate.
Ukraine International Airlines Presi-dent Yevhen Dykhne, said the aircraft “was one of the best planes we had, with an amazing, reliable crew.” In a state-ment, the airline went further, saying: “Given the crew’s experience, error prob-ability is minimal. We do not even con-sider such a chance.”
Authorities said they found the plane’s so-called black boxes, which record cock-pit conversations and instrument data.
The crash shocked Canada, with For-eign Minister François-Philippe Cham-pagne saying the country’s “hearts are with the loved ones of the victims.”
The plane, fully loaded with fuel for
Newswatch
KUWAIT CITY: An unmanned drone was seen hovering over a number of oil installations in Mina Shuaiba at around 10:00 pm which, then headed towards the American Army berth and arrived at the port square before head-ing south in the direction of Mina Abdullah and disappeared out of sight, reports Al-Anba daily quot-ing the oil sector employees.
The daily added the security authorities are in the process of monitoring and following up in-formation about this unidentified drone, verify its sources and reveal its content.
❑ ❑ ❑
BRUSSELS: A NATO official Wednesday said there were no ca-sualties among staff serving in the NATO mission in Iraq following missile strikes by Iran on two mili-tary bases in Iraq where US troops are based.
“According to our assessments, we can confirm there were no ca-sualties among those serving with NATO Mission Iraq. We are taking all precautions necessary to protect our people, and we are keeping the situation under close review,” said the official in a statement on condi-tion of anonymity.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg con-demned the Iranian missile attacks on US and coalition force forces in Iraq.
“NATO calls on Iran to refrain from further violence. Allies con-tinue to consult and remain com-mitted to our training mission in Iraq,” he tweeted.
The NATO mission in Iraq was established in October 2018. It is designed to help Iraqi security structures and institutions further develop and sustain their capacity, so they can ensure ISIS/DAESH does not return.
NATO announced that it is sus-pending its training mission in Iraq following the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike in Baghdad last week. (KUNA)
❑ ❑ ❑
BRUSSELS: The European Union said Wednesday it “will spare no efforts” in its attempts to keep alive an international deal prevent-ing Iran from developing atomic weapons.
EU Commission President Ur-sula von der Leyen said her for-eign affairs chief Josep Borrell
This satellite image provided on Jan 8, by Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Planet Labs Inc, shows the damage caused from an Iranian missile strike at the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq. Iran’s actions were in response to the US killing of Revolution-
ary Guard Gen Qassem Soleimani. (AP)
Other Voices
They all failedBy Ali Ahmed Al-BaghliFormer Minister of Oil
SOME blame us for shedding light on those who belong to fun-damentalist movements and oth-ers who seem to be religious, pi-ous and righteous.
We have repeatedly said the same belief is shared by all Islam-ic doctrines, as well as Christian-ity, Judaism, Buddhism and Zo-roastrianism etc, after becoming conscious and learning to un-derstand that being religious corresponds to adopting vir-tues such as t ru thfu lness , honesty and chastity both in action and words.
However, this conviction be-comes shaky from time to time when we hear, for instance, about some clerics in the church mo-lesting minors, and greed of some Muslim clerics who hoard money instead of distributing the money to serve purposes for which they were collected or as donors of the money believe it should be used for.
Hundreds of horrible stories choke clerics in all religious spec-trums, as we have already men-tioned. In this article, I will talk about religious men who deviate from uprightness with regard to the reason for acquiring such titles, just to understand that the title is a sham.
I will narrate what I heard and saw with my own eyes from a re-nowned credible Egyptian jour-nalist and TV personality Ibrahim Essa when he said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had re-quested the leadership of Azhar University in Egypt to nominate 100 scholars among its top gradu-ates to assume positions in a center for religious guidance and moralization, in order to spread moderate religious thoughts in the mosques, schools and media platforms across the UAE.
Our UAE brothers are thorough on this kind of dealings. They do not entertain pleasantries at all – something our government circles lack in Kuwait where the sector is fi lled by expatriates whom we do not know the veracity of their cer-tifi cates or academic description or ideological bearing.
Back to our brothers in the UAE, they requested all 100 nominees from Azhar University armed with titles and certifi cates (doctorates, masters and degrees) to seat for ap-titude tests to determine their cul-tural and academic levels in majors related to the Islamic religion con-cerning guidance, moralization and propagation of moderation princi-ples. Surprisingly, the 100 mullahs or religious men failed. All of them failed the test. All of them!
Journalist Ibrahim Essa earlier described the same religious men as the top newly graduates from the renowned religious univer-sity, Al-Azhar, but none of them managed to earn the honor of as-suming a position in the moraliza-tion center in UAE.
To our brothers in Egypt and UAE, we share the same situation. We have religious institutes that started competing with the normal government schools.
We also have an unnecessary col-lege, the College of Shariah, which is the major manufacturer of gradu-ates who resemble our 100 Egyp-tian brothers.
Non-Kuwaiti docs, medical experts toassist during training in internship yrKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: In confi rmation of what was published by Al-Anba daily last week, Min-ister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah has is-sued a ministerial decision authorizing non-Kuwaiti doctors and medical professionals to assist during training in internship year or to nominate a named ‘registered assistant’ in hospitals, medical centers and the ministry, reports Al-Anba daily.
The ministry stated, in a press statement, that this decision lifts the suffering of medical school gradu-ates to specifi c groups and under certain conditions.
The statement pointed out that the decision speci-fi ed the categories to which graduates from the colleges of medicine and dentistry and applied in-stitutes apply, and include the children of Kuwaiti women and the husband of the Kuwaiti woman or the non-Kuwaiti wife, provided that the marital re-lationship exists.
He added that among those groups are also un-specifi ed nationals who are registered with the Cen-tral System for Remedying the Status of Illegal Res-idents (CSRSIR) or the so-called bedoun in Kuwait or the sons of the martyrs registered in the martyr’s offi ce and the children of soldiers and other nation-alities who have valid residency are have graduated from the Kuwait University and applied institutes provided they were born in Kuwait.
The statement indicated that the decision in its second article clarifi es the requirements that must be met to train and includes the equivalence of their academic degrees from the competent authorities or their documentation from the competent authorities inside and outside Kuwait in the event of obtaining them from other than the Kuwait University, as well as passing the personal interview.
The statement stated that the decision included in its fourth article its implementation as of the date of its issuance, and that every decision or text that contradicts the provisions of this deci-sion is canceled.
Panel starts meetings to develop Ramadan program map
Kuwait TV forms committee for drama worksKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Kuwait Tel-evision has formed a committee for the drama works for the next Rama-dan session which will be responsi-ble for choosing the local Ramadan drama and program television series, according to certain criteria. The committee has started its meetings to develop a Ramadan program map at an early date, reports Al-Seyassah
daily.The committee is chaired by Assis-
tant Undersecretary of the TV Sector Saud Hamad Al-Khaldi, and Vice-President Assistant Undersecretary for the Press, Publishing and Publications Sector Muhammad Abdul Mohsen Al-Awash, in addition to the member-ship of the directors of coordination, performance, production and cultural
programs in the TV.The Ramadan programmatic map
will be local and of interest to the Minister of Information, Minister of State for Youth Affairs Muhammad Nasser Al-Jabri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information Munira Sulaiman Al-Huwaidi, and a follow-up by the Assistant Undersecretary of the TV Sector Saud Hamad Al-Khaldi,
as well as the cooperation of adminis-trative and fi nancial authorities at the Ministry of Information.
This comes after the TV decided to attract all the local drama works for the Ramadan session this year accord-ing to the “distinctive purchase” sys-tem and not the executive producer. The TV set a deadline for local artistic production institutions to deliver the
works at the end of January or latest by mid-February next
Among the new local series that will be shown on the Kuwait TV screen in the upcoming Ramadan session are the series “Paradise of my Family “ Jan-nat Ahli “ by Souad Abdullah, written by Nouf Al-Mudhaf, and the series “Umm Haroun” by the artist Hayat Al-Fahd, written by Muhammad and
Ali Shams, and Hoda Hussein in the series “A Passion” for the author Alaa Hamza.
The TV attracted ten series in the Ramadan session last year: “The Storm, Planting Friendliness, I have text, limits of evil, conditional release, bosom of thorns, Al-Derva, Zamani Ramani, Moudhi, a piece of gold, from me and in me .”
Waste gets accumulated on theKuwaiti side near Saudi border
Move to study options, engineering designs of Al-Durra Gas Field
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: The separation zone be-tween the Kuwaiti Nu-waiseeb and Saudi Khafji ports, and its Kuwaiti side, remained outside the cleaning contracts concluded by the Ku-wait Municipality, while the Ministry of Interior did not adopt any clean-ing contract for it, which caused the accumula-tion of waste between the fence and the street on the Kuwaiti side, reports Al-Rai daily.
The citizens have expressed their dissatisfaction with the neglect of the special area of the State of Kuwait and the Nuwaiseeb port because of the absence of any cleaning work-ers removing the waste although the part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is permanently cleaned and there is no accumulation of waste.
Confi rmedThe Al-Rai daily followed what
the citizens shared with the Kuwait Municipality, which was confirmed by an official source in the Ahmadi branch, that this area is not subject to the municipality’s cleaning contracts, a region super-vised by the Ministry of Interior, indicating that the municipality is fully prepared to clean it in the event the Interior Ministry requests and opens the way for it.
Meanwhile, within the frame-work of the Kuwaiti-Saudi agreement on the neutral zone, the two countries have reached an agreement with a global advi-sor to study the options and engi-neering designs of Al-Durra Gas Field in the divided area (neutral zone), reports Al-Rai daily quot-ing sources.
Sources explained the study is aimed at determining the best options, especially in the separa-tion of the shares of the partners – whether from the sea or others, although it is likely that separa-tion will be from the sea. “Nev-ertheless, we have to wait until the study is completed to determine the best way and cost of various solutions in order to take the fi nal decision,” sources added.
Sources said the study has many aspects such as storage capacity, production method, quantities and other technicali-ties.
Al-Rai daily photoWaste accumulated on the Kuwaiti side of the border with Saudi.
‘Kuwaiti women have proven their worth’
Charity work deep-rooted among KuwaitisKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Chair-man of the Board of Directors of the Safa Charitable and Humani-tarian Association, Muhammad Al-Shaya, was recently quoted as saying charity work is deep-root-ed in the hearts of the Kuwaiti people since ancient times and that Kuwaiti women have proven their worth in charity and volun-tary work, reports Al-Anba daily. He told the daily, the Safa as-
sociation supports more than 2,000 orphans and 3,000 widows in Kyrgyzstan and that they need help in education and health.
During the interview he also talked about the association and what it has been doing since its inception, and that he has worked with it for 11 years with his fam-ily and talked about the associa-tion’s work in Kyrgyzstan.
Souad Abdulla (right) and actress Maram.
Khaled Al-Mudhafar and Abdulaziz Al-Zafar (left).
Al-Musallam to present new theatrical show
‘Kompars’ to be staged at Dasma TheaterKUWAIT CITY, Jan 7: Artiste Khaled Al-Mudhafar told Al-Rai daily that “Kompars” play will be staged at the Dasma Theater during the coming days. The play is directed by Abdulaziz Zafar, co-starring Sheila Sabt, Khaled Al-Ajeer, Abdullah Bahman, Iman Faisal, Iman Al-Hussaini and Abdullah Al-Hammadi.
Al-Mudhafar added, “(Kompars) is a family comedy that suits all groups and ages through which the artistes to provide an integrated work that carries value, fun and message.”
Al-Mudhafar indicated that his coop-eration with director Abdulaziz Zafar for the second time comes after the great success they achieved together in the play “Wanted”, which was shown on more than one occasion during the past year, and with a distinguished group of artistes.
He said: “After my participation with the director Abdulaziz Zafar, and after we confirmed that the public is receptive to the change that we presented together in the play (Wanted), and the success that accompanied the performances, we want-ed to present another theater in (Kompars), a theater that adheres to its roots, and does not forget the credit for its first pioneers, a theater that does not tran-
scend its audience, but respects it, does not separate from reality, does not trivial-ize it, does not forget its issues, does not compel the recipient to adopt it, and that we offer a theater that gives pleasure, adopts the concerns of the country, calls for optimism, and also adopts noble human causes.
Meanwhile, the artist Abdulaziz Al-Musallam is preparing to present a new theatrical show that depends on the development of theater sciences in Kuwait and the Arab world. He said, “My door is open to the children of the new generation of dramatists”, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
Talking to Al-Seyassah Musallam pointed out that he is working to compose his works himself or through a workshop because of his experience and openness to state institutions, calling on those who want to work and follow theatrical schools must be a good reader of the Holy Qur’an, so that he becomes aware of the words God the Exalted, the Exalted, the Morals, and the Message of Man on Earth and knows the types of evil sur-rounding everyone, expressing his happi-ness for honoring him at the Kuwait Theater Festival.
Al-Shaya
LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
3
KUNA photo
HH the Crown Prince receives HH the Prime Minister.
HH Crown Prince receives HH PremierHis Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah re-ceived on Wednesday at Bayan Palace
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. (KUNA)
Board Chairman of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ali Mohammad Thunyan Al-Ghanim Tuesday morning hosted in his offi ce the Ambassador of Ku-wait to France Sami Sulaiman Al-Murshid. Al-Ghanim welcomed his guest enthu-siastically and exchanged pleasantries with him. The two offi cials later discussed bilateral relations between the two friendly nations and the best way to improve it.
Inspectors discover KD 200,000defi cit in Capital co-op society
Person responsible said gone into hiding
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Cooperative Sector inspectors in the Min-istry of Social Affairs discovered a defi cit of KD200,000 when they did an inventory of the contents of a coopera-tive society in the Capi-tal Governorate and that the person respon-sible has gone into hid-ing, reports Al-Qabas daily.
A reliable source indicated that the defi cit was discovered after completing the usual in-ventory of the cooperative. He went on to say that as soon as the concerned inspec-tors visited the cooperative’s headquarters, the offi cial re-sponsible for fi nancial affairs – an Arab – withdrew surrep-titiously and then disappeared from the radar.
ReportHe affirmed the inspectors
will submit a report to the sector to take necessary mea-sures and form a specialized committee which will look into all the files and financial documents in the coopera-tive. The committee will ver-ify the inventory process to determine the deficit. In case the alleged deficit is proven true, the case will be referred to the Public Prosecution. He added the ministry asked the cooperative’s officials to take appropriate measures to prevent the financial affairs official from traveling until completion of legal proce-dures.
On food supply for emergen-cies and to confirm what the daily published earlier, the source revealed that the moni-toring and inspection teams in the Cooperative Sector have started checking supplies in cooperative societies.
The source disclosed the inspectors were assigned to various cooperatives to ensure there is ample supply for an average period of three months. The operation includes nine items according to the quantities table for each cooperative and each gover-norate. Four cooperatives were assigned to each inspec-tor to inventory the contents, he explained.
The highest supply recorded so far is water. In Jahra alone, there are more than 300,000 cartons of water while the bean products stored in cooperatives totaled 10,000 cartons, the source concluded.
KUNA photo
Offi cials of Kuwait and Qatar Basketball Associations during the signing of bilateral cooperation agreement.
A serene sunrise near a fi shing pier near Kuwait City. (Easwar Krishnan - KUNA)
Municipality plans to send letter to MoH regarding allocation of plots
Kuwait partakes in Arab anti-corruption meetingRABAT, Jan 8, (KUNA): The Arab Convention for Combating Corrup-tion member States held their 33rd session with Kuwait’s participation on Wednesday.
Riad Al-Hajri, the deputy presi-dent of Kuwait Anti-Corruption Au-thority (Nazaha), said in remarks to KUNA on sidelines of the meeting that Kuwait is partaking in the ses-sion as a signatory State of the treaty as the country approved it according
to Law 92/2013.Nazaha’s participation in the con-
ference is in line with its keenness on being present and active in the diverse regional, international and Arab activities related to precau-tions against corruption.
This participation is also within framework of coordination between Nazaha with the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry and the Arab League Sec-retariat General, as part of the ap-
proach to activate diverse specialties and attain its objectives.
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The Kuwait Municipality in-tends to send a letter to the Ministry of Health regarding reports upon which the Municipal Council is-sued decisions since 2006 to reject requests for reallocation and hand-ing over 12 locations allotted for the establishment of private hospitals,
reports Al-Qabas daily quoting a source privy to the issue.
According to the source, disclosed the ministry had earlier contacted the Municipality regarding its request to allocate plots for the construction of private hospitals. He pointed out the plots allocated for the ministry should be specifi ed to pave way for the estab-lishment of private hospitals as per the requests submitted to the ministry, the conditions and regulations.
Kuwait, Qatar sign deal to upgrade basketball gameKuwait and Qatar Basketball As-sociations inked an agreement Tuesday, to promote the game in the two countries.
The deal was signed by Kuwait Basketball Association Secre-tary-General Abdulrahman Al-Khabbaz and Qatar Basketball Association Secretary-General Said Al-Malki.
Speaking in a press state-
ment on the sidelines of inking the deal, Al-Khabbaz said the partnership agreement would benefi t the two sides, express-ing his hope that the accord would be signed by all GCC members.
The deal stipulates for hold-ing common championships, with the participation of Oman, in different periods every year, he
stated.He noted that it also seeks to
share expertise of trainers and referees of the two sides.
Meanwhile, Al-Malki said that the deal also targets cooperation in different activities between the two unions, revealing a friend-ship championship featuring Qa-tar, Kuwait and Oman in the next period. (KUNA)
5,000 studentsstay away fromgrade 12 examsKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: The re-ports on the high school exams revealed the absence of nearly 5,000 students during the four days of the exams held from Dec 29 for the 12th grade stu-dents of Science, Arts, and Re-ligious Studies groups, reports Al-Qabas daily.
According to the reports, 432 students were absent for the Physics exam, 472 stu-dents were absent for French exam, 74 for Arabic Gram-mar, 689 for Philosophy, 639 for Mathematics, and 73 for the English exam allocated for Religious Studies group. Also, 565 students of Arts group and 486 students of Science group were absent for the Arabic Lan-guage exam, and 73 students were absent for Logic exam for students of Religious Studies group.
For the exam on religious education, 753 students were absent from Science group, and 734 from Literary group. Also, 74 students of Religious Stud-ies were absent for the interpre-tation exam.
Weather Expected weather for the next 24 hours:By Day: Fair with light to moderate freshen-
ing at times south easterly wind, with a speed of 15-45 km/h with a chance for scattered light rain.
By Night: Cold and partly cloudy with light south easterly wind changing to wind, with a speed of 15-40 km/h with a chance for scattered rain.Station Max Min Exp RecKuwait City 21 12Kuwait Airport 21 07Abdaly 22 05Bubyan — —Jahra 22 09Failaka Island — —Salmiyah 20 14Ahmadi 20 14Nuwaisib 21 08Wafra 21 06Salmy 20 09
4 days forecast - WeatherThursday, Jan 09
Expected weather: ...... Fair and some scattered clouds will appearMax Temp....................................................20CMin Temp.....................................................06CWind Direction ............................................. NWWind Speed ..................................... 10-32 km/h
Friday, Jan 10Expected weather: Fair and partly cloudy with a chance for light rainMax Temp....................................................19CMin Temp.....................................................05CWind Direction ............................................. NWWind Speed ..................................... 08-32 km/h
Saturday, Jan 11Expected weather: ..........Rather cool and some scattered clouds will appearMax Temp....................................................18CMin Temp.....................................................04CWind Direction ............................................. NWWind Speed ..................................... 08-38 km/h
Sunday, Jan 12Expected weather: ...........................Rather coolMax Temp....................................................17CMin Temp.....................................................04CWind Direction ............................................. NWWind Speed ..................................... 20-45 km/h
Umm Al-Maradim 20 17 - 6ft SESea Island Buoy - - - - -Salmiyah 20 14 - 6ft SE
4 days forecast - MarineThursday, Jan 09
Expected weather: .......Fair and some scattered clouds will appearSea state .............................. Slight to moderateWave height................................................ 2-4ftMax Temp.................................................... 20CMin Temp.....................................................06CWind Direction ..............................................NWWind Speed ......................................10-32 km/h
Friday, Jan 10Expected weather: .Fair and partly cloudy with a chance for light rainSea state .............................. Slight to moderateWave height............................................... 1-4 ftMax Temp.................................................... 19CMin Temp.....................................................05CWind Direction ..............................................NWWind Speed ......................................08-32 km/h
Saturday, Jan 11Expected weather: .......... Rather cool and some scattered clouds will appearSea state .............................. Slight to moderateWave height............................................... 1-5 ftMax Temp.................................................... 18CMin Temp.....................................................04CWind Direction ..............................................NWWind Speed ......................................08-38 km/h
Sunday, Jan 12Expected weather: ........................... Rather coolSea state .............................. Moderate to roughWave height............................................... 3-6 ftMax Temp.................................................... 17CMin Temp.....................................................04CWind Direction ............................................. NWWind Speed ..................................... 20-45 km/h
Tide times at Shuwaikh Port1st high tide .............................................. 11:182nd high tide ............................................. 16:421st low tide................................................ 15:502nd low tide .............................................. 05:25Sunrise ..................................................... 06:44Sunset ...................................................... 17:06
Recorded yesterday at Kuwait Airport
Max temp ................................................... 21°CMin temp .................................................... 06°CMax Rh .......................................................91%Min Rh ........................................................33%Max Wind...........................................S 18 km/hTotal Rainfall in 24 hrs .............................. 0 mm
— Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Department
deathsMunira Saud Abdul Aziz Al Houli, 88 years old, widow of Abdul Rahman Abdul Salam Al Tarkeet, buried on Wednesday. Condolences: (Men) Faiha, Diwan Al Tarkeet, Block 1, Abdul Aziz Al Mezaini Street, Tel. 22575075 (Women) Rawda, Block 5, Ahmad Al Sebaie Street, House 24. Zainab Mo-hammad Khaleefa Rahim, 12 years old, buried on Wednesday. Condolences: begins from Thursday (Men) Mishref, Al Wazzan Mosque, Tel. 66644304. Obaida Sarhan Al Rakaka Al Rasheedi, 72 years old, widow of Ali Mitlaq Al Adlan, buried on Wednesday. Condolences: (Men) Omariya, Block 5, Street 108, House 25, Tel. 99028705 (Women) Faiha, Block 7, Bilal Bin Rabah Street, House B13, Tel. 99757312. Rabeah Gharbi Dahal Al Enzi, 49 years old, buried on Wednesday. Condolences: Qasser, Block B4, Street 1, House 11, Tel. 97907370, 99969987. Yousef Mohsen Ali Jafar, 35 years old, to be buried on Thursday at 9:00 am. Condolences: (Men) Bayan, Al Imam Al Hasan Mosque, Tel. 97817501 (Women) Adan, Block 6, Street 20, House 17, Tel. 60029494.
Jan 8, 2020
Organizing panel completes all necessary preparations
HH Amir 9th Int’l Shooting Grand Prix starts todayKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Engr Duaij Al-Otaibi, Head of the organizing committee of His Highness the Amir 9th International Shooting Grand Prix, affi rmed that the supreme organ-izing committee has completed all necessary preparations for the event, which is due to start Thursday, Jan 9 and end on Jan 17, at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Com-plex.
In his statement, Engr Al-Otaibi stressed that Kuwait is ready to wel-come its guests and host them in all aspects.
He revealed that majority of the shooting delegations have arrived in the country and some of them are en-gaged in local training camps.
Engr Al-Otaibi, who is the Head
of Kuwaiti and Arab shooting federa-tions, indicated that hotels are ready, and all means of transportation for the delegations are in place, adding that
the welcom-ing committee is at Kuwait International Airport contin-uing to receive d e l e g a t i o n s and transport them to their accommoda-tions.
Regard ing Kuwait Na-tional Shoot-
ing Team, Engr Al-Otaibi described it to be in full readiness, adding that
he hopes the team will continue to up-hold their achievements in this sport in local, regional and international arenas.
It is worth mentioning that more than 400 shooters from 30 Arab and foreign countries are set to partici-pate in the His Highness the Amir 9th International Shooting Grand Prix at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex.
The event will include all Olympic shooting competitions, and the partic-ipation of the most skilled world arch-ers from Italy, Spain, Kazakhstan, and others as well as from Arab countries and Kuwait. A total of 100 Kuwaitis will participate this year with 44 of them in rifl e category, 45 in pistol, and 11 in Olympic archery.
Engr Al-Otaibi
‘MoH and KU joint committee being restructured’KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Assistant Un-dersecretary for Allied Health Servic-es at Ministry of Health Dr Fawaz Al-Refaie announced the restructuring of the joint committee between Min-istry of Health and Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at Kuwait University with the aim of setting up a work plan for a joint mechanism to follow-up coordination, and determining the needs of the labor market for gradu-ates in technical specializations such as nursing, lab techs, radiology and physiotherapy, reports Al-Anba daily.
In a press statement, he indicated that cooperation between the two parties will be aimed at facilitating the training of students from the college, and techni-cians at Ministry of Health as well as or-ganizing affi liations and joint scientifi c research between the two parties.
Dr Al-Refaie affi rmed that the pri-mary goal is to stimulate and encour-age technical graduates to engage in the labor market for raising the level of health services provided.
It is worth mentioning that the com-mittee is presided over by Dr Fawaz
Al-Refaie, and has Director of Nurs-ing Administration Sanaa Taqadum, Director of Physiotherapy Depart-ment Dr Abdullah Zaman, Director of Medical Laboratories Department Dr Rama Al-Safi , and Legal Adviser at the ministry Hossam Al-Batani as members. It also includes repre-sentatives from the College of Allied Health Sciences – the Dean of the college Dr Suad Al-Fadhli, Dr Mo-hammad Nazar, Dr Laila Ghazanfar, Dr Maha Al-Nashmi and Dr Nasser Al-Enezi.
LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
4
A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION
DIWANIYA‘Iran must quit policy of interference’
‘Soleimani cause of Mideast turmoil’“NO TWO sane people disagree that the stability of the region and the smooth relations between its countries will have a positive impact on the region, and will ultimately lead to the prosperity of its countries and the welfare of their peoples,” columnist Muhammad Al-Moqate wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“But the facts and recent history, and even the current one, confirm that it is Iran (the Persian soul) with its revo-lutionary expansionist idea that has ignited the region and put it on a hot tin plate.
“Since the establishment of the so-called Iranian Revolution in 1978 Tehran has been hoisting the slogan of exporting its revolution, it has established a special armed force that bore a provocative name ‘The Revolutionary Guard’, and since then Iran has spoken the language of expansionism and with the same sectarian Persian soul.
“Not only that, it was practically involved in many provocative practices which mostly look like the aggres-sive deeds and this was evident through its insistence to maintain its occupation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) three islands in addition to its gross intervention against the regimes of the Gulf states and fanning its hate-ful extremism and feeding it in vari-ous ways by all means.
“Iran extended its tentacles after the Americans the Europeans gave it the green light in its actions until it actually occupied Iraq, and made a demographic change in it, in addi-tion to its actual human and military presence, and the establishment of a regime loyal to it with Persian roots, fighting and besieging Arab Shiites and trimming their nails, in addition to its hateful sectarian streak in the face of the Iraqi Sunnis.
“Apart from the above, Iran is currently involved in brutal military intervention in Syria, moving its allied forces (Lebanese Hezbollah) on the ground in Syria, and carrying out all kinds of ethnic cleansing, killing and abuse of the Syrian people.
“Not only that, it is Iran who crippled Lebanon and kept most of that country facilities out of order and destabilized the situations of the people there, and at last, its notorious manipulation in Yemen that represented by its direct mili-tary and financial intervention in that country in terms of instigating and the supporting of the Houthis.
“In short, Iran destroyed some of the most important Arab capitals, and practiced all kinds of destruction, sabo-tage, and killing, and it was Qassem Soleimani who was planning the tactical moves for these sabotage and destruc-tive actions, and there is no credibility to anyone trying to describe him as the hero of eliminating the ‘ISIS’ organi-zation, which is - as we have already described in many articles -- American, Zionist, and Iranian creation.
“Accordingly it is not Soleimani who killed ‘ISIS’, but rather it is he who created ‘the ISIS bogeyman’ to distort Sunni Islam.
“In other words, the above troika, decided to end his mission, and Iran was a party to coordinate with the Americans and the Zionists in this scary file of conspiracy.
“Speaking of the recent escalation following the death of Soleimani which is actually a natural consequence of the persistent state of provocation by Iran, which has been reluctant to rationalize and maintain good neighborhood, and has continued to broadcast its revolutionary provoca-tions and expansionist practices.
“Today, Iran has no choice but to demonstrate in prac-tice its abandonment of its provocative and expansionist approach to leaving Iraq alone, withdraw from Syria, stop its incitement and its military and logistical intervention in Yemen, and move to bridging good-neighborly relations with the Arab Gulf states, if they wish to stabilize the region, and bring the curtain down on the stressful situa-tion in the region.”
Also:“The tension which prevails in the Gulf region after the
killing of General Qassem Soleimani and lighting the spark of confrontation between Iran and the United States puts the region in front of the greatest security challenge whose dimensions and scope are beyond speculation,” columnist Dr. Nasser Khamees Al-Mutairi wrote for Annahar daily.
“This security challenge is added to the war that our region has been witnessing since five years ago in its southern side which does not seem to be nearing the end in the foreseeable future, and this war in Yemen against the Houthi militias is draining money and men and sparks of this war are flying over Gulf relations and the regional environment.
“The economic war entered the risk line of the countries of the region targeting the Saudi oil fields, which set the alarm bell for all the Gulf oil states.
“Faced with this reality and its international circum-stances politically, security wise and economically, we believe that it is an opportunity to wake up call for the Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCC) states to think with collective awareness and a common interest and realize that they are all targeted in terms of their existence and borders.
“In the meantime, these states, should realize that the crisis of boycott between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries has become a loophole for the enemies, oppo-nents and greedy regional powers, whether they are Iranian or other international powers harping on the tune of the Gulf crisis by blackmailing them or using them as a bargaining chip (the Gulf states).
“It is necessary to review the Gulf positions, the conces-sions must be made on both sides of the Gulf crisis, and the higher interest of maintaining the security and entity of this Gulf system must prevail in order to form a unified bloc in the face of challenges and dangers and dealing with threats to one Gulf front, which provides security and economic immunity and security to the Gulf states in this difficult period.
“At this stage and its sensitive circumstances, it is better for the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council to tran-scend their political differences at this critical and sensi-tive time from the security and economic point of view.
“Consequently, all of us must shoulder our responsibil-ity and protect our Gulf cohesion and hold ourselves above all minor differences in the best interests of the joint fate.”
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“The new government formation came with a glimmer of hope to confront political corruption and a platform to stand in front of a storm of systemic challenges, as it may comply with the conditions of cooperation between some MPs and the government. This is what some say and ex-pect,” columnist Tareq Bouresli wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“It seems His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sa-bah Al-Khaled, one of the knights of foreign policy, is at stake. He certainly has a good insight. His vision in the new government formation and his choice of his ministers was correct. The entry of more than two women to the government came differently with the previous govern-ments.
“It seems the legacy of political corruption inherited by the new government is an ominous legacy. The new gov-ernment is expected to work hard to distribute the quorum of government action to the ministers. This work should not resemble the one before it, rather it should be estab-lished to lay the foundation for governmental decisions that emanate from future governments, especially since the 2020 elections will overshadow almost everything
soon.“Then, the electoral battle, with all its drawbacks, will
begin with the purchase of votes with political money, as opposed to the positives of the electoral work, with the keenness of the talented and loyal patriots in the electoral wedding.
“By the way, I have had several readings about the chal-lenges that the new Kuwaiti government will face. The most prominent statement is that the government is fac-ing options for comprehensive or selective reform. This depends on the cooperation of members of the Parliament with it.
“The corruption perceptions must be addressed, espe-cially as Kuwait’s ranking in the international corruption index has increased by about 43 in the last 15 years. The new government will surely look at expectations of low economic growth due to internal political and regional geopolitical tensions.
“There is an expectation of slowing progress in the completion of development projects due to political ten-sions and accumulation of challenges without exhausting what the future government work solutions. Everyone ex-pects the work of the new government.
“Today, we must believe that we have a government on its agenda with priorities benefi cial to the citizen as an optimistic view of the future. We are on a date with new episodes of the series, ‘The Work of the New Government and the Council’, so I wish you a good follow-up.”
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“Every season, an offi cial comes out asking everyone to fi ght corruption, until the issue becomes a ‘trend’ or a preamble that must be said from time to time. Based on my experience, I consider it a boring routine, not a seri-ous issue,” columnist Professor Ali Al-Zuabi wrote for Al-Shahid daily.
“In a joint research with my late professor Dr Khal-doun Al-Naqeeb published in 2007, we confi rmed that the spread of corruption in the country is due to ‘talking’ about it only without ‘taking’ strict measures to address it. We expected that corruption, which is sponsored by both the executive and legislative authorities, will seriously expand in the society. This expectation was on point.
“The research was published in an American magazine under the title ‘Tackling corruption in the Arab World, with special reference to Kuwait’. It was translated and discussed in several academic and press symposia in and outside Kuwait.
“One of the most important points I argued, and the ar-gument still stands, is that most of our problems are not with the ‘declared corruption’ but the ‘undeclared corrup-tion.’ This is the real danger. ‘Declared corruption’ means it can be monitored. This is referred to as ‘direct corrup-tion’, for instance, if the offi cial or employee receives bribe directly from someone.
“‘Undeclared corruption’ entails diffi culty in chasing or identifying its source and attributes due to its complexities and the ways in which it is carried out. For example, if a third, fourth or fi fth party receives bribe which ultimately ends in the pocket of the employee or offi cial, or that is done by exchanging benefi ts and interests indirectly.
“Corruption is evident. Tracking it is very easy. Curb-ing this evil is possible if there are determination, monitor-ing and deterrent measures. As for dealing with it in the logic of talk in diwaniyas, only the good is taken from it. If we continue to deal with corruption with this attitude, we must stop claiming that we are fi ghting corruption, and make corruption ‘ring’ to graze with absolute freedom.”
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“The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gu-terres announced that the international organization is suf-fering from a large fi nancial defi cit, and that its fi nancial reserves may run out soon, and called for the possibility of postponing conferences and meetings, reducing some services and taking energy saving measures to reduce expenditures,” columnist Hind Al-Shoumar wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“Guterres expressed his concern about the waves of demonstrations that we are witnessing all over the world, and said he hopes the world will see peace because it can no longer bear a new war in the Gulf, as restraint will have a great impact on different countries and peoples of the world as the wars lead to destruction, doom, victims and bloodbaths.
“When the Secretary-General of the United Nations de-mands restraint and calls for avoiding violence, he realizes the infl uence of the media, the political dwarfs, and op-portunists who fuel confl icts and ignite strife, especially among the same people.
“We must learn from what is going on around - the struggles and displays of brute forces. We tasted a lot of bitterness when our Gulf region was the scene of wars and confl icts and wounds that are still bleeding, therefore we must fall in line with the international voice calling for re-straint, and this is not strange for the Kuwaiti diplomacy, which was built by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, may God protect and preserve him, when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“We call on all those who consider themselves strategic experts and political analysts to exercise restraint and stop analyzes of reactions and vengeance scenes as if we are witnessing a bloody play in a world that has lost its senses and is in need of a major international center for mental health to house forever those who could not control them-selves amidst these diffi cult circumstances. We must be with Guterres, to avoid violence, and maintain restraint so that we do not fall into new wars.”
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“The speech of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Marzouq Al-Ghanim was very clear and important when he stressed in his statement in the National Assembly yes-terday that everyone should unite and stand behind HH the Amir during the current stage, who is confi dent in his wis-dom and expert in managing the country and steering the ship to the safe shore,” columnist Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“These statements coincide with the volatile situation in the region, and a renewed regional confl ict between Washington and Tehran as a result of the assassination of the Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani by the US drone.
“Al-Ghanim disclosed there is coordination between the government and the National Assembly to hold a spe-cial session Thursday to discuss security developments - a move necessitated by the current situation to review gov-ernment measures and contingency plans to ensure their effectiveness.
“Here we must point out that all aspects that are not re-lated to the current challenges and risks in the countries of the region, including Kuwait, should be postponed. For example, the grilling request submitted by the MP Adel Al-Damkhi against Minister of Social Affairs can be post-poned, whether at the request of the government or the desire of the interrogator.
“This does not mean the interrogation is not important or it is an attempt to seize the right of the MP towards accountability but the necessity calls for thinking and planning more urgent things during the current and future stage.
“It relates to the stability in the country, security and safety, and reviewing the precautions in all government agencies to face any emergency. In such situations, the in-terest of Kuwait must be a top priority.”
— Compiled by Zaki Taleb
Al-Moqate
KUNA photoHis Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mo-
hammad Al-Sabah. Various local and international issues were discussed.
Kuwait ranks 57 among bestpassports to hold worldwide
Japan maintains top spotKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Ku-wait ranked 57 on the Henley Passport Index, a global clas-sifi cation that tracks coun-tries according to their most powerful passports in terms of the freedom of movement of their citizens according to the number of destinations that the passport holder can travel without a prior visa, reports Al-Anba daily.
The index showed that the Ku-waiti passport allows its holder to travel to 95 countries without a pri-or visa and to be the second Arab passport after the Emirates, which ranked 18th in the world with 171 countries, where it jumped 47 cent-ers during the last 10 years, fol-lowed by Qatar in the 58th place with 93 countries.
For the third year in a row, Japan maintained its top spot – based on ex-clusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), with a visa waiver/visa on arrival score of 191. Asia dominates the top of the list, with Singapore in second place (with
a score of 190) and South Korea tying with Germany in third place (with a score of 189).
European countries have a strong showing in the rest of the top ten, with Finland and Spain at No. 4, Spain, Lux-embourg and Denmark coming fi fth, and Sweden and France sitting at No. 6.
The US and the UK, meanwhile, continue to slide down the rankings. As we step into the 2020s, they hold joint eighth place – a far cry from the number one spot they jointly held fi ve years ago, in 2015.
A Japanese passport holder can access 165 more destinations than a
holder of the world’s weakest pass-port, that of Afghanistan, which offers visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to just 26 destinations.
The best passports to hold in 2020 1. Japan (191 destinations); 2. Singapore (190); 3. South Korea, Germany (189); 4. Italy, Finland (188); 5. Spain, Lux-embourg, Denmark (187); 6. Sweden, France (186); 7. Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria (185); 8. United States, United Kingdom, Nor-way, Greece, Belgium (184); 9. New Zealand, Malta, Czech Republic, Can-ada, Australia (183); and 10. Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary (181)
MoH seeks to rent medical equipmentKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: In the framework of streamlining expendi-ture to achieve budget surplus, while reducing purchase and maintenance activities, Ministry of Health seeks to hire medical equipment instead of purchasing them, reports Al-Rai daily.
The daily quoting a source ex-plained that the ministry is planning to hire medical equipment, indicat-
ing the Ministry of Health has pre-sented a proposal to the Ministry of Finance based on the economic and fi nancial changes experienced by Kuwait.
The ministry mentioned that many benefi ts come along with hiring of medical equipment; most importantly the fi nancial benefi t and accelerating measures to achieve permanent hi-tech equipment.
LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
6
Confront any minister involved in corruption, says Al-Fadhala
MPs responses to HH Amir’s speech discussed
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Approximately 130,000 pas-sengers returned to the country in the last four days after spending the New Year holiday outside the coun-try, reports Al-Anba daily quoting the acting Deputy Director General of Kuwait International Airport Af-fairs, Director of Engineering Department, and Head of the T4 passenger terminal operating team Saleh Al-Fadaghi.
In a press statement, he affi rmed that the travelers spent their holidays at several destinations, adding that the preparations at the airport for this season were at its best, as they were developed for this purpose and turned out to be successful.
Al-Fadaghi praised the great role played by Ministry of Interior in managing airport security through the ef-forts it put in place in coordination with the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA).
He explained that the preparations at the airport were integrated through the airport’s operating authorities from DGCA, Ministry of Interior, and other bodies which were in full preparation, as well as the support-ing staff teams that were formed for this purpose.
The offi cials at Kuwait International Airport had prepared a plan for receiving travelers by organizing and establishing barriers for arrivals and preventing non-passengers from entering areas reserved strictly for passengers.
Al-Fadaghi revealed that there were a total of 1,740 scheduled fl ights at Kuwait International Airport, and the total number of passengers and arrivals were ap-proximately 256 thousand.
He affi rmed that DGCA is striving to develop and provide all services to passengers using the airport, “because Kuwait International Airport is the face of this country that connects with the other world”, add-ing that there will accordingly be many services in the future.
Al-Fadaghi indicated, “We are looking forward to the completion of the new airport, which will have a greater impact.
It will be a world landmark compared to other inter-national airports”.
1,740 scheduled fl ights at Kuwait airport
130,000 passengers return home in last 4 daysafter spending their New Year holidays abroad
By Saeed Mahmoud SalehArab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: The re-sponses of the lawmakers to the speech delivered by His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dur-ing the inauguration of the fourth round of the parliamentary term were discussed during the session held by the National Assembly on Wednesday, January 8.
MP Ahmed Al-Fadhl was the fi rst to speak. He highlighted the directives of His Highness the Amir to manage the “loose space of social media” which neg-atively affects national unity especially during the current critical era.
Al-Fadhl reminded about the promises they received for three years from the for-mer minister of interior regarding bringing an end to frivolity in terms of people being appointed to manage fake accounts under the names of ministry offi cials in order to defame those they do not like.
He said such fake accounts are also used to slander the National Assembly and distort the image of any par-liamentary achievements in the eyes of the citizens, adding, “We do not accept fi ghting with mercenary ghosts”.
Al-Fadhl revealed that the agreement signed between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia was also vilifi ed despite the fact that huge efforts have been exerted by Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs to conclude this agreement.
Regarding the general amnesty draft law, he stressed that offending His Highness the Amir is not the way to request for general amnesty.
Al-Fadhl described the grilling submitted by MP Adel Al-Damkhi against the Minister of Social Affairs Dr Ghadeer Aseeri as uncon-stitutional and illegal.
He said, “If Al-Damkhi wants the minister to resign because of a Twitter post she wrote nine years ago, then he should be the fi rst to resign because he has written worse Twitter messages against Bahrain”.
Al-Fadhl concluded by saying, “The gov-ernment should not be too hard to avoid getting cracked, or too soft to avoid being squeezed”.
DeclaringThis was followed by MP Yousef Al-Fad-
hala declaring that this is the fi rst time since 1999 that the National Assembly reached the fourth round of its parliamentary term.
He explained that the fourth round normal-ly witnesses more promises and increase in the MPs’ tendency to gain as many voters as they can in preparation for the next elections. How-ever, they must focus on the public interest of Kuwait during such a critical stage, because “If Kuwait is lost, there will be no elections to win”.
Al-Fadhala said, “We have to avoid fake fi ghts that are aimed at creating fake heroes”.
He called upon His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid and the ministers to confront any minister who is in-volved in corruption, indicating that some of the ministers who confronted corruption in the past were dismissed.
Al-Fadhala said he hopes for the issue of corruption in the Kuwait Army Fund to be dealt with seriously.
MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf praised the speech of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
He stressed that this is the best time to pass the general amnesty law as a basis for enhanc-ing national consolidation and social unity.
Al-Hajraf indicated that most of the social media accounts are owned by infl uential fi g-ures who use them as weapons against their opponents.
He called for establishing a monitoring insti-tution for controlling administrative decisions. He cited a number of decisions issued in vari-ous ministries especially Ministry of Health, describing those decisions as “failure”.
Al-Hajraf explained that the ministry ma-nipulates court verdicts by dismissing the con-victed offi cials for two or three months and then reappointing them again as consultants.
The ministry had announced that the fi rst heart transplant surgery in Kuwait at Adan Hospital in November 2019 was performed by a Kuwaiti doctor but the truth was that a Ger-man doctor had performed the surgery with the cooperation of a Kuwaiti medical team.
TreatmentOne of the sisters of minister of oil was ad-
mitted for treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of Amiri Hospital. During her stay, she caught a viral infection and eventually died. Howev-er, the minister skewed the truth by saying his sister had caught the viral infection when she was admitted in a private hospital after which she was transferred to Amiri Hospital.
In response, Minister of Health Dr Bassel Al-Sabah said the MP mentioned some inac-curate information concerning medical errors, affi rming that the ministry is preparing a special report in this regard which will be referred to the National Assembly in a few months. How-ever, MP Al-Hajraf responded by saying he did not make up this information, insisting that there are victims of medical errors every day.
Meanwhile, MP Abdullah Al-Roumi said referring the issue of corruption in the Army Fund to the Public Prosecution is not enough, as it must be followed up, and relevant docu-ments should be handed over to the Public Prosecution.
He criticized the spread of administrative corruption, stressing that it is not limited to some employees but is practiced by the govern-ment through “parachute appointments”.
MP Dr Ouda Al-Ruwai’e requested for can-cellation of aptitude tests in Kuwait University, revealing that students who do not pass these tests are forced to enroll in private universities in Kuwait for the same specialization, which in turn forces the state to bear the high fees for the university education of these students.
He lamented the level of deterioration in various aspects including traffi c, indicating that in most cases, the reports of traffi c incidents are modifi ed to conclude that there is nothing wrong with the traffi c situation.
MP Mohammad Al-Mutair described the
formation of the new government as “shock-ing”, insisting that the parliament cannot be blamed for submitting the grilling as His High-ness the Prime Minister should have studied the history of the ministers more carefully.
He affi rmed the importance of approving the general amnesty law as a basis for fi ghting cor-ruption.
MP Abdulwahab Al-Babtain said the killing of the Iranian Commander of the Islamic Revo-lutionary Guard Corps Qasem Al-Soleimani in Iraq had a negative impact in Kuwait, as it pro-voked some fi gures to adopt sectarian speeches that are not allowed in the country.
He said, “Even though the freedom limit in Kuwait is much higher compared to neighbor-ing countries, we are sad to see an intellectual and academic fi gure like Dr Abdullah Al-Nefi si being referred to Public Prosecution only be-cause he expressed his opinion, which is part of his job as a political analyst”.
Commenting on what MP Ahmed Al-Fadhl claimed about the general amnesty draft law being offensive to His Highness the Amir, Al-Babtain stressed that presenting this draft law is a constitutional procedure as per article 75 of the Constitution.
ClarifyHe asked His Highness the Prime Minister
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to clarify the state-ment he made in the previous session that the number of Al-Sabah family members is 300 thousand.
Al-Babtain asked the prime minister to convince citizens about his seriousness to fi ght corruption and provide protection for whistleblowers before asking them to expose corruption.
He indicated that former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense was dis-missed after he referred corruption-related is-sues to the Public Prosecution, “so what about ordinary citizens?”, he asked
Al-Babtain stressed the need to amend the elections law in order to create a parliament that refl ects real representation of the majority, adding that most of the ministers are supposed to be chosen from that majority according to the Constitution.
MP Mohammad Hayef stressed that the draft law on general amnesty cannot be de-scribed as “stepping over His Highness the Amir” because if it is approved by the Nation-al Assembly, it will not be enforced unless His Highness the Amir approves it.
He said, “We ask for amnesty for those who fought corruption, and not for criminals, thieves or drug traffi ckers”.
Hayef stressed the importance of activating article 2 of the Constitution, which stipulates that Islamic Sharia is the main source of leg-islation.
He called upon the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Saud Al-Harbi to enforce segregation in Kuwait University and Shadadiya University.
Hayef insisted on the need to fi ght the in-justice that the Bedoun residents face, indicat-ing that the Central System for Remedying Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR) does not consider the humanitarian conditions of the Bedoun residents or their civil rights. He add-ed that the crime is not limited to the system but extends to those who disrupt the issuance of the Bedoun law.
DisputesMP Abdullah Fahad insisted that the elec-
tions law must be amended, stressing that the current law created disputes among members of the same family, and does not refl ect a real representation of the citizens.
MP Osama Al-Shaheen asserted the impor-tance of changing the laws in order to abide by the Islamic Sharia, highlighting that a large number of citizens were forced to back out from participating in two public subscriptions because they did not want to violate the Sha-ria.
He affi rmed that Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs issued a fatwa to state that par-ticipating in the two subscriptions is prohib-ited, adding that it violates the constitutional principle of equality among all citizens.
MP Khalid Al-Shatti said the general am-nesty law should not be selective but must cover all relevant individuals. He stressed the need to commit to national unity and loyalty to Kuwait.
MP Omar Al-Tabtabaei said the current re-gional conditions must not be considered as an excuse to delay the achievements.
He revealed that the citizens lost hope not only in the National Assembly but also the government, especially when they saw the new formation was based on quota rather than ef-fi ciency.
Al-Tabtabaei said, “The government de-clares its support of freedom of speech but we see Dr. Abdullah Al-Nafeesi being sued for ex-pressing his opinion”.
He criticized the phenomenon of signing agreements with the World Bank, insisting that, “The World Bank has destroyed many coun-tries, and we are giving it money so that it can destroy our country as well”.
MP Adnan Abdulsamad said it is normal to adopt contradicting opinions, but what is re-quired is fi nding a mechanism that will allow the adoption of varied opinions and preserve national unity at the same time.
He criticized the calls of normalizing rela-tions with the Zionist entity, Israel, stressing that the Palestinian issue should be the basis of national unity as all citizens agree to support it.
Abdulsamad affi rmed that the Bedoun resi-dents are being subjected to injustice by CSR-SIR, which dismissed a number of Bedoun em-ployees of Ministry of Health whose salaries ranged from KD 200 to KD 250.
MP Riyadh Al-Adsani called for canceling the provision of exceptional salaries to MPs.
He said it is unacceptable for an MP, whose job is to monitor the government, to wait for its approval to receive exceptional salary.
Al-Adsani criticized the government’s negli-gence in executing the projects that were even-tually taken over by the Amiri Diwan, stressing that executing those projects is not part of the tasks of the Amiri Diwan.
MP Faisal Al-Kandari was the last to speak during the session. He asked the parliament and the government to cancel the prior monitoring of State Audit Bureau especially for roads pro-jects, indicating that such monitoring results in delay in completion of the projects.
Regarding fake certifi cates, Al-Kandari re-vealed about an information he received, as per which a number of lecturers in the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies were nominated for promotion to occupy the position of head of department even though they are accused of stealing academic researches.
Dr Aseeri
LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
7
Souk Al-Mubarakiya beautifully decorated during the holiday season. (Mustafa Al-Bader – KUNA)
Other Voices
‘No Golden Age during early era’By Ahmad alsarraf
The collective mind of Muslims has been preoccupied for years
with the saying that Muslims were “not only the best nation, but also the most advanced in the world, because their ancestors lived in an era when science spread to the world and others and Europe in par-ticular benefited from the early Muslims.”
This preoccu-pation with the Golden Age includes a strange paradox which contribut-ed to the continued backwardness of the Arabs and the civilization of Muslims, a backwardness that they have been floundering for hundreds of years and have been unable to get out of it no mat-ter how much they tried.
The first irony is that the so-called Golden Age, as the Moroccan thinker Ahmad Asad says, during which sci-ence flourished and the movement of translating the books from Greek was active and a wonderful era, but it did not rise to the level of human civiliza-tion, despite all that it achieved. The criterion for the prosperity of the state was in terms of its expansion and the subjection of many provinces to it.
This era witnessed bloody events, invasions and wars, and not even the great caliphs and leaders were safe from being flanked by its fire, whoever
was killed by the sword and tortured and who was burned to death often at the hands of other Muslims, all because of the struggle for power and wealth and enslaving women.
The first era of Islam did not witness any urbanization or prosperous science, and universities or scientific institutes were not known in the following peri-ods, and the dominant feature of life during the first period was oralism – oralism is the education of deaf stu-dents through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech. Oralism came into popular use in the United States around the late 1860s – so there was no codification, and therefore we at that stage did not benefit from any civilization effect mentioned, so where is the golden side of it?
As for research progress and codifi-cation, it took place at a later stage and they relied on translation, and the majority of scholars of that period were non-Arabs and non-Muslims, in the well-known sense, this led to the sec-ond paradox, which is the insistence of Islamic parties or groups to atone for these scholars, despite the greatness of their accomplishments. They even refused to give their names to any pub-lic buildings or scientific institutes.
If we are proud of them, then we are proud of scholars who lived and died as infidels, heretics and deniers of knowl-edge of religion, and if they deny their affiliation with us, then we tear apart what we call the ‘Golden Age’.
Many sheep stolen: Police are look-ing for an unknown person who alleged-ly broke into the animal pen of a Kuwaiti and stole sheep, reports Al-Anba daily.
According to the Asian shepherd, the suspect was armed with a knife and threatened to kill him if he prevented him (the thief) from stealing the sheep or shouted for help.
The man then allegedly loaded the sheep into his vehicle and escaped.
The complaint has been filed by the Kuwaiti with the Research and Investigation Office of the Jahra Security Directorate.
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Fire in garage: Acting on informa-tion firemen from the Shuwaikh Industrial Area moved to a garage in the area to put out fire in the storeroom, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to fire sources, the fire destroyed equipment and spare parts.
The fire-fighting department is inves-tigating the cause of the fire.
No casualties have been reported.❑ ❑ ❑
Two caught with drugs: Customs officers at Terminals T1 and T5 of Kuwait International Airport caught two passengers in possession of hashish in the last two days.
According to sources, a customs offi-cer in T5 Terminal suspected an Arab national who arrived at the airport from his country, and checked him to find few pieces of hashish.
Also, a customs officer in T1 Terminal found one piece of hashish with an Arab passenger.
Both passengers were referred with the confiscated pieces of hashish to the concerned authorities of Ministry of Interior for investigations.
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Chemical spill scare: A huge vol-ume of a dangerous chemical substance fell from a heavy vehicle on one of the roads in Ahmadi area.
When the Control Room of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) received information about the incident,
relevant personnel were sent to the loca-tion, and they removed the substance from the road. No casualties were reported. Necessary action was taken thereafter.
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Marijuana seized: The air cargo department of the Kuwait International Airport has seized about one-and-a-half kilos of marijuana, reports Al-Anba daily.
The daily added the contraband has been referred to the General Department for Drugs Control (GDDC) and an investigation has been opened to identi-fy the person who attempted to smuggle the contraband into the country.
The daily added, the find was made with help of sophisticated advanced equipment.
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Citizen injured: A traffic accident on the Fifth Ring Road between Al-Rai and Al-Omariya, caused injuries to a citizen, disrupting traffic, reports Annahar daily.
The cause of the accident is not known. The General Traffic Department said traffic movement came to normal after the damaged vehicles were moved to the side of the road.
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Fire in Hawally building: Fire broke out in a flat on the first floor of a six-storey building in Hawally, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
Firefighters from Hawally Fire Station rushed to the location after receiving information on the fire inci-dent.
Tenants of the building were guided to a safe place and fire-fighters extin-guished the fire before it spread to other parts of the building.
A case was registered and investiga-tion is ongoing to determine the cause of fire.
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Caught driving drugged: Jahra securi-tymen arrested a young man, who was caught driving under narcotic influence, at a security checkpoint near Al-Naeem Roundabout in Jahra area at night.
News in Brief
Verdict overruled as judge absolves fourof acquiring Kuwaiti nationality by fraud
Hearings against Dr Nafisi expedited in libel suit
By Jaber Al-HamoudAl-Seyassah Staff and
Agencies
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: The Court of Cassation presided over by Judge Saleh Al-Murshed over-turned the verdict issued by a lower court which sentenced two men and two women to ten-year imprisonment on charges of acquiring the Kuwaiti citizenship fraudulently. The judge instead refrained from pronouncing punishment against them.
The defense legal team said the charges against their cli-ents had exceeded the statute of limitation, and that the prosecution lacked substan-tial evidences against their clients that would suggest they committed the offense, adding that the charges lacked principles of criminal intent.
The defense team stressed that the decision to charge their cli-ents is against Article 175 of the Penal Code which stipulates that the confession of the accused only applies to him/her and does not affect others.
They said the confession should be unequivocally direct and linked to the charges leveled against the confessor.
Meanwhile, in a similar case, the Criminal Court presided over by Judge Abdullah Al-Osaimi sentenced three individuals to seven-year imprisonment, and another to five year imprison-ment, and ordered then to return the amount they received in their capacity as citizens after acquir-ing Kuwaiti citizenship fraudu-lently.
According to the case file, the authority in charge of following up issues related to citizenship managed to gather information from its confidential sources regarding a Syrian father and his four children who managed to buy Kuwaiti citizenship from any Kuwaiti ready to do so. The Syrian father managed to find three Kuwaitis in 1998 who added the names of his children under their names in order for them to acquire the Kuwaiti citi-zenship in exchange of about KD 100 thousand for such a service.
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Hearing resumed: The Misd-emeanor Court resumed sittings in a lawsuit filed by the State Security Department against Dr Abdullah Al-Nafisi over alleged offensive statement against the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
instead of the original schedule next month.
According to the case file, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submit-ted a complaint against Al-Nafisi on Aug 20, 2019, urging the State Security Department to charge him to court for maximum punishment, because his action threatened diplo-matic relations between Kuwait and the UAE.
In light of this, Al-Nafisi’s office issued a statement concerning an order for his arrest: “We wish to start by appreciating the massive reac-tions on social media, as well as direct contact or visit from various Islamic countries over the surprising order for arrest, detention and travel ban. We are equally shocked like others when the restriction orders were issued on Jan 5, 2020.
When we made inquiries about the issue, it was discovered that the case was registered at the State Security’s Misdemeanor Section on Sept 12, 2019 with number 25/2019. It ema-nated from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without informing us about it until the decision was issued on Jan 5, 2020, regardless of the fact that Dr Al-Nafisi did not form the habit of absenting or delaying in other cases against him in the Public Prosecution and judiciary.”
The statement continues, “In that regard, Dr Abdullah Al-Nafisi here-by announces readiness to make himself available before the judicia-ry at the scheduled time to enable
him to defend himself and seek full acquittal with his full right. May Allah Almighty protect the country and the people from all evil and mis-fortune.”
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Car thieves gang held: A gang of six Syrian expatriates and five Bedoun residents was arrested for stealing more than 50 vehicles, dis-assembling them and selling their parts in a plot within Salmi scrap-yard, says Al-Seyassah.
According to security sources, when security authorities received several complaints about thefts of vehicles, a security team was formed to arrest the thieves. While one of the team officers was investigating the theft of a vehicle in Jahra area, he followed the driver and managed to pull him over.
When questioned, the suspect confessed that he is one of the six Syrian members of a gang that steal vehicles and sell the parts in the scrapyard, adding that two members of the gang have a crane to carry the vehicles.
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Two new decisions: In two new decisions for regulating the work of the Public Prosecution, Attorney General Dirar Al-Asousi amended the name of the Criminal Execution Prosecution and International Cooperation and created a public prosecution attached to the Attorney
General’s office under the title “International Cooperation Prosecution”, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
The decision specifies the tasks and powers of International Cooperation Prosecution, the most prominent of which: issuing local arrest warrants against “accused per-sons and convicts” who are required to be extradited to foreign countries to face trial, while examining their extradition files in light of the deci-sions taken under the principle of reciprocity or through bilateral or multilateral agreements, to which Kuwait is signatory.
The decision stipulates the func-tions of the Public Prosecution Office, which include issuing inter-national arrest warrants against accused persons and convicts required to be returned to Kuwait, and informing the Arab and International Police Department (INTERPOL) to flag them for arrest before returning them to their countries of origin to face trial, in addition to preparing handover requests of the accused and convicts.
The tasks also include cancella-tion of arrest warrants and travel bans, and deciding on requests to repay fines and bails paid in this regard, monitoring files concerning human rights at the local, regional and international levels in relation to the work of the Public Prosecution.
Police hunt thief
Kuwaiti held with ammoKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Customs officers at the Abdali Port have arrested an unidentified Kuwaiti and referred him to the State Security police for attempting to smuggle double barrel shotgun gun cartridges into the country, reports Al-Qabas daily.
According to the customs source the Kuwaiti arrived at the Abdali border port from Iraq and appeared confused.
Customs inspectors then thoroughly searched the man and his vehicle and found 82 rounds of ammu-nition hidden in a secret compartment of his vehi-cle.
The contraband and the Kuwaiti have been referred to the concerned authorities.
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Police hunt ‘thief’: Police are looking for an unidentified person who allegedly broke into the home of a Kuwaiti with the intention or stealing valuables, reports Al-Anba daily.
In his complaint the Kuwaiti said the movement of the suspect around the house has been recorded by the CCTV cameras installed in his house.
The Kuwaiti added, the suspect is also seen spraying some white material on the floor of the house, which he suspects to be some kind of black magic.
He also said he has yet to find out what the thief escaped with from his house.
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Citizen swindled: Police are looking for an unidentified Syrian for swindling a citizen to the tune of 3,500 dinars, by convincing the man to join his business, reports Al-Anba daily.
The daily quoting the security sources according to the complainant after he paid the money to the Syrian, he put off his cell phone and disappeared.
Iranian strikes on US and Ukrainian crash!By Yousef Awadh Al-Azmi
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap” – Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Politics is full of strange mal-ice, unusual questions, and
reconsideration of positions and theories, most of which are doubtful. There are some inci-dents that I cannot follow-up as a mere follower, unless I link them together either by measur-ing up or distrusting. The expansive halls of politics do not include a corner for ethics or a comfortable couch for human-ity to sit!
The disturbing news about the ballistic missile strikes from Iran on the American base in Ain Al-Asad within the Iraqi territo-ries was a clear retaliation for the assassination of the Iranian top official Qasem Soleimani.
Iran claimed that the ballistic missile strikes killed eight US soldiers, but the United States declared that there has been no human casualty in the base till now!
In related news reported close
to the previous incident, a Ukrainian commercial plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran International Airport due to technical reasons! Of course, the announcement of “technical reasons” was released by the Iranian authorities, not the con-cerned air-line or the U k r a i n i a n government!
There are predictions, though inac-curate but could be regarded as predictions or ques-tions as its replacement. Among the major questions is this – Is there any link between the Iranian ballistic missile strikes and the Ukrainian plane crash?
The question here does not indicate that Iran attacked Ukraine, but the possibility of a missile missing its target and hit-ting the plane, leading to its disas-trous crash that claimed the lives of at least 180 passengers onboard!
The above is a mere question rather than information. It is a known fact that the Iranian-Ukrainian relationship is cordial, but what we are saying is that it could be an unintentional military error. This is because it is unimag-inable to target an aircraft in which the passengers and the owners were not part of the US-Iranian dispute!
The required fact will come out of the investigations within the next few days. The Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zarif declared on Twitter that Iran has ended its response. The US President Donald Trump announced that the Iranian attack did not claim human casualties and that he is yet to read any neu-tral report concerning the inci-dent!
The question is still hot – is there any link between the Iranian strikes and the Ukrainian plane crash? There is enough time for an answer… and tomorrow that we are waiting for is just around the corner!
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Twitter - @alzmi1969
Other Voices
Al-Azmi
INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
8
Malaysia is seeking to evacuate citizens: foreign ministry
Philippines orders evacuation of Filipinos from Iraq, IranMANILA, Jan 8, (Agencies): The Philippine government has ordered the mandatory evacuation of Filipino work-ers from Iraq and Iran and is sending a coast guard vessel to the Middle East to ferry its citizens to safety in case hostili-ties between the United States and Iran worsen, offi cials said Wednesday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said the government has raised the alert level in Iraq to the high-est level, requiring Filipinos to leave the country due to escalating security risks. Filipinos can leave on their own or be escorted out with the help of their employers or the Philippine govern-ment, offi cials said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Filipino workers should also move out of Iran and Lebanon, adding that the government was indefi nitely banning Filipino workers from trave-ling to the three countries amid fears
of more hostilities.The Philippines, one of the world’s
leading labor providers, would face a gargantuan crisis if hostilities between the US and Iran escalate and embroil other Middle Eastern countries that host large numbers of Filipino work-ers, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“It will be a nightmare, but we are not helpless,” Bello said at a news con-ference in Manila.
Other Asian nations with large pop-ulations of expatriate labor may weigh similar decisions after Iran fi red mis-siles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces in a major escalation of hos-tilities. The strikes were retaliation for last week’s killing of Iran’s top general in a US drone attack in Baghdad.
India, which has a large number of workers in the Middle East, advised its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Iraq. It also urged its nationals living
in Iraq to remain alert and avoid travel within the country.
There are an estimated 15,000-17,000 Indians now in Iraq, mostly in the Kurdistan region, Basra, Najaf and Karbala. About 30,000-40,000 Indians visit Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf and Sa-marrah each year for pilgrimages.
Philippine offi cials have reported dif-fering numbers of Filipinos in Iraq and Iran. The problem has been compound-ed by the huge numbers of Filipinos who have entered the countries illegally and avoided reporting their presence to Philippine Embassy offi cials.
Department of Labor records show that 2,191 Filipinos work in Iraq, some in US facilities, while more than 1,180 others are based in Iran, including Fili-pino women married to Iranians.
There could be more than 2.1 mil-lion Filipinos across the Middle East, including many illegal workers, Bello
said.Philippine President Rodrigo Du-
terte and top offi cials have been hold-ing emergency meetings since the weekend to discuss evacuation plans.
Defense Secretary Delfi n Lorenzana said the plans include the possible de-ployment of one battalion each from the army and marines to secure and evacuate Filipinos in case of a major fl areup of violence anywhere. Navy ships and three air force cargo aircraft were also being readied for possible deployment, the military said.
Duterte said late Tuesday that he has deployed a special envoy to get assur-ance from the leaders of Iraq and Iran that Filipinos would be spared in case of any major outbreak of violence.
“Just to get the assurance that my countrymen will have the egress just in case hell breaks loose,” Duterte told reporters.
While evacuation plans were being fi -nalized, Manila’s coast guard said a new patrol vessel en route to the Philippines from France has instead been ordered to head to the Middle East in case Filipino workers need to be immediately extricat-ed from any danger. The vessel can ferry up to 500 people at a time.
“In case of confl ict, overseas Fili-pino workers will be brought to safer ports where they may be airlifted, as the need arises,” the coast guard said, adding that an initial plan was for the Philippine vessel to temporarily stand by in Oman or Dubai.
Also:KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is seek-ing to evacuate its citizens from Iraq and Iran in aftermath of the Iranian missile attack on bases manned by American and Iraqi troops in Iraq, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry declared
on Wednesday.Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifud-
din Abdullah said in a statement that offi cials of various authorities, namely the premiership offi ce, the defense and interior ministries, held a meeting to-day to map out evacuation plans.
Malaysia is monitoring the situation in the Middle East and has advised nationals there to be vigilant amid “the strife in the Gulf region.”
There are currently 58 Malaysians, mostly students, in Iran, and 160 oth-ers in Iraq — bulk of whom are per-sonnel of the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Minister of Economic Affairs Mohamed Azmin expressed concern air navigation would be disrupted due to tension es-calation throughout the Middle East, disclosing that Malaysia Airlines halt-ed fl ights over Iran and Iraq.
US President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House on the ballistic missile strike that Iran launched against Iraqi air bases housing US troops on Jan 8 in Washington, as Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, Vice- President Mike Pence,
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and others look on. (AP)
Jumbled schedules could effect passengers, lengthen fl ight times
Commercial airlines reroute fl ights amid US-Iran tensionsNEW DELHI, Jan 8, (AP): Com-mercial airlines are rerouting fl ights throughout the Middle East to avoid potential danger during heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
Jumbled schedules could effect as many as 15,000 passengers per day, lengthen fl ight times by an average of 30 to 90 minutes, and severely bruise the bottom line for airlines, industry analysts said.
There is anxiety that the confl ict between the longtime foes could intensify following Iranian ballistic missile strikes Wednesday on two Iraqi bases that house US troops. The attacks were retaliation for the US killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike near Baghdad last week.
“In a war situation, the fi rst casu-alty is always air transport,” said Dubai-based aviation consult Mark Martin, pointing to airline bankrupt-cies during the Arabian Gulf and Yu-goslav wars.
At least 500 commercial fl ights travel through Iranian and Iraqi air-space daily, Martin said.
A Ukrainian passenger jet crashed shortly after taking off from Iran’s capital Wednesday killing 167 pas-sengers and nine crew members just hours after Iran’s ballistic missile
attack, but Iranian offi cials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ukrainian offi cials ini-tially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing.
Still, at least two Kazakh airlines — Air Astana and SCAT — were considering rerouting or canceling their fl ights over Iran following the crash, which killed all 176 passen-gers.
Poland’s national carrier, PLL LOT, said Saturday that it was chang-ing routes to bypass Iran’s airspace.
A suite of other European car-riers followed on Wednesday, and the restrictions were expected to “further depress” air travel between Iran and Western Europe, which saw strong growth after the Iran nuclear deal but a sharp dive when President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement and reimposed sanc-tions, according to the Sydney-based Center for Aviation consultancy.
Air France and Dutch carrier KLM both said Wednesday that they had suspended all fl ights over Ira-nian and Iraqi airspace indefi nitely.
German airline Lufthansa and two of its subsidiaries also canceled fl ights to Iraq.
The Russian aviation agency,
Rosaviatsia, issued an offi cial rec-ommendation for all Russian airlines to avoid fl ying over Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman “due to existing risks for the safety of international civil fl ights.”
Russia’s biggest private airline, S7, said it would reroute its twice-a-week fl ight from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk to Dubai.
Asia-Pacifi c carriers, which oper-ate many of the world’s long-haul fl ights, were also expected to be hit hard by the ad hoc no-fl y zone over Iran, Martin said.
Australian carrier Qantas said it was altering its London to Perth, Australia, route to avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice. The longer route meant that Qantas would have to carry fewer passen-gers and more fuel to remain in the air for an extra 40 to 50 minutes.
Malaysia Airlines said that “due to recent events,” its planes would avoid Iranian airspace.
Singapore Airlines also said that its fl ights to Europe would be re-routed to avoid Iran.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation advised Indian com-mercial carriers to avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Arabian Gulf airspace.
“In light of the tensions within the Iranian airspace a decision to tempo-
rarily reroute fl ights of Air India and Air India Express overfl ying Iran has been taken,” said Air India spokes-man Dhananjay Kumar.
Travel times will increase by as much as 40 minutes for fl ights in the region, the airline said.
Buta Airways, an Azerbaijani low-cost carrier, said Wednesday that it was not planning to suspend or reroute daily fl ights between Baku, the country’s capital, and Tehran.
In North America, Air Canada rerouted its fl ight from Toronto to Dubai through Egypt and Saudi Ara-bia to avoid traveling over Iraq.
The US Federal Aviation Admin-istration said it was barring Ameri-can pilots and carriers from fl ying in areas of Iraqi, Iranian and some Arabian Gulf airspace. The agency warned of the “potential for miscal-culation or mis-identifi cation” for civilian aircraft amid heightened ten-sions between the US and Iran.
Such restrictions are often pre-cautionary in nature to prevent civil-ian aircraft from being confused for ones engaged in armed confl ict. The FAA said the restrictions were being issued due to “heightened military activities and increased political ten-sions in the Middle East, which pre-sent an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations.”
US to
Ukrainian airline
KUNA hacked
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force “would lead to a new cycle of in-stability and would eventually damage everyone’s interests.”
However, in the hours before the missile strikes, Trump warned the longtime US foe, “If Iran does any-thing that they shouldn’t be doing, they’re going to be suffering the con-sequences, and very strongly.”
And Iran’s Supreme Leader Aya-tollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on Wednesday, said the strike was not necessarily the totality of Iran’s re-sponse.
“Last night they received a slap,” Khamenei said. “These military ac-tions are not suffi cient (for revenge). What is important is that the corrupt presence of America in this region comes to an end.”
Soleimani’s death last week in an American drone strike in Baghdad prompted angry calls for vengeance and drew massive crowds of Iranians to the streets to mourn him. Khamenei himself wept at the funeral in a sign of his bond with the commander.
The Iranians fi red a total of 15 mis-siles in the latest strikes, two US of-fi cials said. Ten hit the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s western Anbar prov-ince and one targeted a base in Erbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Four failed, said the offi cials, who were not authorized to speak pub-licly about a military operation.
According to a US offi cial, early warning systems detected the missile launches and alarms sounded, giving personnel at the bases time to get to shelter. Offi cials also said that the US was closely watching the region and communicating with allies, and was aware of preparations for the attack. It’s unclear if any intelligence identi-fi ed specifi c targets or was more gen-eral in the potential strike locations.
Two Iraqi security offi cials said a missile appeared to have struck a plane at Ain al-Asad, igniting a fi re. There were no immediate reports of casual-ties from the attacks, according to the offi cials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they had no permission to talk to journalists.
Ain al-Asad was fi rst used by Amer-ican forces after the 2003 US-led inva-sion that toppled dictator Saddam Hus-sein, and it later was used by American troops in the fi ght against the Islamic State group. It houses about 1,500 US and coalition forces. Trump vis-ited it in December 2018, making his fi rst presidential visit to troops in the region. Vice-President Mike Pence visited both Ain al-Asad and Erbil in November.
Democrats called on Trump avoid military escalation with Iran.
Rep Eliot Engel, D-NY, the chair-man of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration needs to quickly “extricate us from what could lead into a full-fl edged war with terrible casualties.” Engel said he feared the situation ”spirals out of control.”
The fallout for Trump’s order to kill Soleimani had been swift.
Iraq’s Parliament voted to expel US troops from Iraq, which would under-mine efforts to fi ght Islamic State mili-tants in the region and would strength-en Iran’s infl uence in the Mideast.
The counterattack by Iran came as Trump and his top advisers were under pressure to disclose more details about the intelligence that led to the Ameri-can strike that killed Soleimani.
Top Senate Democrats, citing “deep concern” about the lack of information coming from the Trump administration about the Iran operation, called on De-fense Department offi cials to provide “regular briefi ngs and documents” to Congress.
Minority Leader Chuck Schum-er and the senators said in a letter Wednesday that the White House’s classifi ed War Powers notifi cation to Congress was “generic, vague, and en-tirely inconsistent in its level of detail” compared with the norm.
They also registered their “grave concern” with Trump’s comments on targeting Iranian cultural sites and asked for clarifi cation. Members of Congress were to be briefed on the strike Wednesday afternoon in closed-door sessions on Capitol Hill.
Trump and top national security of-fi cials have justifi ed the airstrike with general statements about the threat posed by Soleimani, who commanded proxy forces outside Iran and was re-sponsible for the deaths of American troops in Iraq.
But the details have been scarce.Soleimani was targeted while he
was at an airport in Baghdad with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant, who also was killed.
US troops must leaveIraq’s outgoing prime minister said
Tuesday that the United States has no alternative and must pull its troops out
its 2,300-km (1,430-mile) fl ight, slammed into the ground near the town of Shahedshahr, causing fi res that lit up the darkened fi elds before dawn.
Resident Din Mohammad Qassemi said he had been watching the news about the Iranian ballistic missile at-tack on US forces in Iraq in revenge for the killing of Gen Qassem Soleim-ani when he heard the crash.
“I heard a massive explosion and all the houses started to shake. There was fi re everywhere,” he told The As-
of the country, or else face an impend-ing crisis. But Trump countered that it’s not the right time for a pullout and that it would be the worst thing that could happen to Iraq.
Trump said a US pullout would al-low Iran to gain a stronger foothold in Iraq.
“The people of Iraq do not want to see Iran running the country, that I can tell you,” Trump said from the White House.
Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned in November amid mass anti-government protests, said Iraq wants a US troop withdrawal to avoid further escalation as tensions soar between American and Iran.
His comments came just days after a US airstrike killed Iran’s top general at Baghdad’s international airport. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, senior Iraqi com-mander of an Iran-backed militia, was also killed in Friday’s strike. His re-mains were brought back to Iraq from Iran to be buried in the holy southern city of Najaf.
“We have no exit but this, otherwise we are speeding toward confronta-tion,” Abdul-Mahdi said in a prere-corded televised speech following a weekly Cabinet meeting.
He said the “historic decision” was necessary, “otherwise we will not be taken seriously.”
US troops are present in Iraq based on a request by the government in 2014, when vast swathes of the coun-try were being overrun by the Islamic State group. But now that IS has been largely defeated, Abdul-Mahdi said, the mission has devolved into a US-Iran proxy war.
Trump said he wants US troops out of Iraq — eventually.
“At some point we want to get out, but this isn’t the right point,” Trump said.
Trump also reiterated that he still expects the United States to be re-imbursed for some of its expenses, though he didn’t specify a price tag.
“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of money on building airports and building one of the largest embassies we have in the world. And we want to be reimbursed to the various costs that we have had. They’re very signifi -cant,” Trump said.
Iraqi President Barham Saleh called anew Wednesday for ridding the re-gion from military confrontations and to keep the Iraqis away from any new confl icts.
Saleh, in a statement, condemned the Iranian missile attack on military bases in Anbar and Irbil, and rejected the repeated violations of Iraq’s sover-eignty as well as transforming Iraq into a battle zone.
Iraq, he said, has announced rejec-tion to being a launch-pad for attacks on any country or to pose a threat to its neighbors.
Saleh said Iraq’s security and sover-eignty should be preserved in line with international and bilateral agreements.
Deployment of coalition forces in Iraq is in accordance with agreements between Baghdad and countries mak-ing this coalition, he said, and their presence was an internal matter.
Saleh called on all parties to exer-cise restraint and to work towards dia-logue.
Leader on world stageHe was the leader on the world
stage, visiting troops stationed in a far-fl ung war zone for the holidays, shor-ing up alliances and economic deals in the Mideast, requesting a meeting with the German chancellor in his capital, portraying himself and his country as reliable partners in an increasingly un-certain world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a busy week, stepping into the aftermath of the American drone strike that killed Soleimani. Putin’s visit Tuesday to Syria was emblematic of a reality that has been playing out in recent months: The US strategic posi-tion in the Middle East is a mystery to many of its allies, and Russia is more than ready to fi ll any vacuum.
The shift has, in many ways, left US allies in a bind — or turning to Russia themselves in search of a partner.
Putin was the fi rst world leader French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with just after learning about the drone strike on Friday. German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, is traveling to the Kremlin to discuss the crisis in the Mideast.
Canada and Germany moved their troops in Iraq to safety, as did NATO, which has forces stationed there as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group. There was no sign that any had been warned by the Trump administration of the drone strike. Coalition activities froze, and NATO’s secretary-general described the killing as “a US decision. It is not a decision taken by either the global coalition nor NATO. But all allies are
concerned about Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.”
The base targeted in northern Iraq was fi lled with coalition troops.
Israel, which has criticized the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, has been quiet about the drone strike aside from a brief statement of praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seemingly disinclined to escalate an already volatile situation between its closest ally and its sworn enemy. Trump’s fi rst face to face meeting with an ally came Monday with the Saudi deputy defense minister, Khalid bin Salman. But he didn’t confi rm it until a day later, after the prince revealed it in a tweet.
“We discussed Trade, Military, Oil Prices, Security, and Stability in the Middle East!” Trump tweeted.
The American president spoke by phone with Macron on Sunday and with Merkel on Tuesday.
sociated Press. “At fi rst I thought (the Americans) have hit here with missiles and went in the basement as a shel-ter. After a while, I went out and saw a plane has crashed over there. Body parts were lying around everywhere.”
The crash left a wide fi eld of debris scattered across farmland, the dead lying among shattered pieces of the aircraft. Their possessions, including a child’s cartoon-covered electric tooth-brush, a stuffed animal, luggage and electronics, stretched everywhere.
Rescuers in masks shouted over the noise of hovering helicopters. They quickly realized there would be no sur-vivors.
“The only thing that the pilot man-aged to do was steer the plane towards a soccer fi eld near here instead of a residential area back there,” witness Aref Geravand said. “It crashed near the fi eld and in a water canal.”
The Boeing 737-800 model that went down is an extremely common twin-engine jetliner used for short- to medium-range fl ights. Thousands are used by airlines around the world.
Introduced in the late 1990s, it is an older model than the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for nearly 10 months following two deadly crashes. The jet that went down on Wednesday last underwent routine maintenance on Monday, the airline said.
A number of 737-800 aircraft have been involved in deadly accidents over the years, including a fl yDubai crash in Russia in 2016 that killed 62 people and an Air India Express disaster in India in 2010 that left more than 150 dead.
The 737-800s have been the subject of inspections and repairs since last year, after airlines started reporting cracks in a part that keeps the wings attached to the fuselage.
Boeing extended condolences to the victims’ families and said it stands ready to assist. Boeing, like other air-line manufacturers, typically helps in crash investigations. But that effort could be thwarted in this case by the US sanctions imposed against Iran since President Donald Trump with-drew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
KUNA also categorically denied reports it has broadcast statements by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Mansour Al-Sabah about withdrawal of the American forces from Kuwait.
Newswatch
will continue to work “in the mid-term” to reach out to all participants in the global deal in the hopes that the 2015 nuclear agreement can still be saved despite a rollback on com-mitments from Tehran.
Von der Leyen also reiterated the need to de-escalate the tension in the region, especially after Iran’s missile attack on two American bases in response to a US strike that killed its top general.
“The use of weapons must stop now to give space for dialogue,” she said. “We are called upon to do everything possible to rekindle talks. There cannot be enough of that.” (AP)
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DAMASCUS: Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Damas-cus on Tuesday for a meeting with President Bashar Assad, a rare visit that comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and United States following the US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general.
While the offi cial statements made during the previously unan-nounced visit made no mention of the killing last week of Gen Qas-sem Soleimani, the timing was con-spicuous.
The US strike that killed Soleim-ani minutes after he landed in Iraq has drawn vows of retaliation from Tehran and its proxy militias in Baghdad and Beirut. It has also led the US to re-position its troops in Iraq following calls by the Iraqi Parliament and prime minister for US forces to leave the country. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑
MANILA: The Bureau of Immigra-tion has barred 100 fi rst time over-seas Filipino workers (OFW) bound for Kuwait in compliance with the temporary travel ban imposed by the labor department, reports News.abs-cbn.com.
“Even with the properly an-nounced deployment ban, there are still some individuals who wanted to try their luck in leaving for Ku-wait,” Ports Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said in a statement.
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INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
9
Politics
Senate waits
Pelosi’s next move on impeachment unclearWASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has the votes to start President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as soon as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi releases the documents, winning support from GOP senators to postpone a deci-sion on calling witnesses.
The announcement is signifi cant, enabling McCo-nnell to bypass for now Democratic demands for new testimony as he launches the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history. It could begin this week if Pelosi sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
But Pelosi gave little indication Tuesday of her next move. She cut short an impeachment discussion with her leadership team late at the Capitol when an aide handed her a note about the crisis unfolding in the Mid-dle East. She asked Democrats to “pray,’’ according to
a lawmaker at the closed-door session.
Pelosi appears in no rush to transmit the articles of impeach-ment as Democrats push to hear from more witnesses but Mc-Connell focuses Republicans on a strategy for speedy acquit-tal. The Senate can’t start the proceedings until the charges against Trump are sent.
“We have the votes,” Mc-Connell told reporters about his proposal that would set the rules
for a trial and would be modeled after President Bill Clinton’s impeachment 20 years ago. He said the ques-tion of new witnesses and documents will be addressed later “and not before the trial begins.”
The contours of a Senate trial have been in dispute for weeks. Pelosi is delaying transmission of the ar-ticles as Democrats press for testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton and other new witnesses.
“Sadly, Leader McConnell has made clear that his loyalty is to the President and not the Constitution,” Pelosi wrote to colleagues late Tuesday. She said the process he is outlining “is not only unfair but designed to deprive Senators and the American people of crucial documents and testimony.’’
StrategyPelosi told House leaders Tuesday she believed the
strategy was working, according to those in the private meeting. She called on McConnell to “immediately” re-veal the details of his proposal.
“People are united,” said Democratic Rep Mike Thompson of California about the mood in the House caucus.
McConnell has resisted calling new witnesses and expects the trial to end with the GOP Senate majority voting to acquit the president of the charges, and without Trump’s removal from offi ce.
The GOP leader told senators at their closed-door lunch Tuesday that he has support for his plan. It would start the trial fi rst and postpone votes on witnesses until later in the process.
“He has 51 (votes), for sure,”’ said Sen Lindsey Gra-ham, R-SC, a top ally of the president, exiting the meet-ing. Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, 53-47.
In withholding the articles, Pelosi gave Democrats an opportunity to ramp up pressure on Republicans not to go along with McConnell’s proposal. Senate Minor-ity Leader Chuck Schumer called McConnell’s plan a “trap” and a “cover-up.” He vowed to force votes any-way on Bolton and the others.
“Whoever heard of a trial without witnesses and documents?” the New York Democrat said. He asked Trump what he has to hide. “Witnesses and documents: fair trial. No witnesses and documents: cover- up.”
TrialRepublicans countered that Democrats rushed to im-
peach and then delayed the process. Pelosi has yet to choose House impeachment managers for the trial, a po-litically sensitive next step, with many lawmakers vying to be candidates. The House impeached the president last month on the two charges.
Just four GOP senators would be needed to deny Mc-Connell his majority, but he appears to have locked up the votes. GOP leaders were conducting a whip count Tuesday to gauge support. Several GOP senators have indicated they want to hear from Bolton and other wit-nesses, but they are nevertheless standing with McCo-nnell’s plan for starting the trial.
“I’m comfortable with that process,” said Sen Mitt Romney, R-Utah. “I’d like to hear from John Bolton and other witnesses with the right information, but that process will accommodate that.”
McConnell
Sen John Barrasso, R-Wyo, fl anked by Majority Whip John Thune, R-SD, (left), and Sen Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks in support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, who told reporters he has secured enough Republican votes to start President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and postpone a decision on
witnesses and documents Democrats want, at the Capitol in Washington on Jan 7. (AP)
Messitte Northam
Bid to stop resettlement limit: Three national resettlement agencies are asking a federal judge in Maryland to block a presi-dential executive order allowing state and local governments to turn away refugees.
US District Judge Peter Messitte is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on the agencies’ request for a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administra-tion from enforcing the order.
Agency attorneys say the administration announced in November that the faith-based nonprofi ts must get written consent from state and local offi cials in any jurisdiction where they want to help resettle refugees beyond June 2020.
Church World Service, Lutheran Im-migration and Refugee Service and HIAS – a Jewish nonprofi t – fi led the lawsuit in Green-belt, Maryland, on Nov 21. They are three of the nine national organizations agencies that have agreements with the federal govern-ment to provide housing and other services for refugees.
Before Trump signed the executive order, state and local offi cials were “given a voice but not a veto in where refugees would be resettled,” agency lawyers wrote in a court fi ling.
The agencies argue the order illegally confl icts with the Refugee Act. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑
Virginia Dems promise ‘action’: A historically diverse Virginia General As-sembly is set to convene Wednesday, led for the fi rst time in more than two decades
America
laid out an ambitious agenda. It includes high-profi le issues Republicans thwarted for years, including gun control measures and criminal justice reforms. They also have pledged to ease restrictions on abortion ac-cess, raise the minimum wage, prohibit dis-crimination against members of the LGBTQ community and make Virginia the next state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Lawmakers will also be tasked with pass-ing a two-year state budget. (AP)
by Democrats who are promising to enact a litany of changes.
“Voters demanded action, and they have called for a legislature that works for them. And this session, they will get exactly that,” House Speaker-elect Eileen Filler-Corn said at a press conference Tuesday with Gov Ralph Northam and other legislative leaders.
In the weeks since Democrats retook con-trol of the state House and Senate, they have
Vagueness of principles unlikely to satisfy watchdogs
WH proposes regulating use of AIWASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): The Trump administration is proposing new rules to guide future federal regulation of artifi cial intelligence used in medi-cine, transportation and other industries.
But the vagueness of the principles announced by the White House is un-likely to satisfy AI watchdogs who have warned of a lack of accountability as computer systems are deployed to take on human roles in high-risk social set-tings, such as mortgage lending or job recruitment.
The White House said that in de-ciding regulatory action, US agencies “must consider fairness, non-discrimi-nation, openness, transparency, safety, and security.” But federal agencies must also avoid setting up restrictions that “needlessly hamper AI innovation and growth,” reads a memo being sent to US agency chiefs from Russell Vought, acting director of the Offi ce of Manage-ment and Budget.
“Agencies must avoid a precaution-ary approach that holds AI systems to such an impossibly high standard that society cannot enjoy their benefi ts,” the memo says.
The rules won’t affect how federal agencies such as law enforcement use facial recognition and other forms of AI. They are specifi cally limited to how fed-eral agencies devise new AI regulations for the private sector. There’s a 60-day
public comment period before the rules take effect.
“These principles are intentionally high-level,” said Lynne Parker, US dep-uty chief technology offi cer at the White House’s Offi ce of Science and Technol-ogy Policy. “We purposely wanted to avoid top-down, one-size-fi ts-all, blan-ket regulations.”
The White House said the proposals unveiled Tuesday are meant to promote private sector applications of AI that are safe and fair, while also pushing back against stricter regulations favored by some lawmakers and activists.
AgenciesFederal agencies such as the Food
and Drug Administration and the Fed-eral Aviation Administration will be bound to follow the new AI principles. That makes the rules “the fi rst of their kind from any government,” Michael Kratsios, the US chief technology of-fi cer, said in a call with reporters Mon-day.
Rapid advancements in AI technol-ogy have raised fresh concern as com-puters increasingly take on jobs such as diagnosing medical conditions, driving cars, recommending stock investments, judging credit risk and recognizing indi-vidual faces in video footage. It’s often not clear how AI systems make their de-cisions, leading to questions of how far
to trust them and when to keep humans in the loop.
Terah Lyons of the nonprofi t Partner-ship on AI, which advocates for respon-sible AI and has backing from major tech fi rms and philanthropies, said the White House principles won’t likely have sweeping or immediate effects. But she said she was encouraged that they detailed a US approach centered on values such as trustworthiness and fairness.
“The AI developer community may see that as a positive step in the right direction,” said Lyons, who previously worked for the White House science and technology offi ce during the Obama ad-ministration. “It’s a little bit hard to see what the actual impact will be.”
What’s missing, she added, are clear mechanisms for holding AI systems ac-countable.
Another tech watchdog, New York University’s AI Now Institute, said it welcomed new boundaries on AI appli-cations but it “will take time to assess how effective these principles are in practice.”
Kratsios said he hopes the new prin-ciples can serve as a template for other democratic institutions such as the Eu-ropean Commission, which has put for-ward its own AI ethical guidelines, to preserve shared values without imped-ing the tech industry.
Technology
In this Oct 8, 2019 file photo, Califor-nia Gov Gavin Newsom speaks during an interview in Sacramento, California. Newsom said on Jan 8 that he is seek-ing $750 million to help pay rent for peo-ple facing homelessness, among other purposes, in the most populous state’s latest attempt to fight what he called a
national crisis. (AP)
World News Roundup
World News Roundup
INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
10
Australia
US sends more fi re-fi ghters
Storms bring relief,danger to wildfi resCANBERRA, Jan 8, (AP): Thunderstorms and show-ers brought some relief for fi re-fi ghters battling deadly wildfi res across Australia’s drought-parched east coast on Wednesday, but also raised concerns that lightning will spark more fi res before dangerous hot and windy conditions return.
Around 2,300 fi refi ghters in New South Wales state were making the most of relatively benign conditions by frantically consolidating containment lines around more than 110 blazes and patrolling for lightning strikes, state Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
“Unfortunately with lightning strikes, it’s not always the next day they pop up,” Fitzsimmons told the Austral-ian Broadcasting Corp.
“They can smolder around in trees and in root systems for a couple of days and pop up under drier, hotter conditions, so we are very mindful of that as we head into Friday,” he added.
The containment work comes as the death toll since the fi res fl ared in September rose by one to 26. Matt Kavanagh, a 43-year-old Victoria state fi re-fi ghter, was killed in a vehicle crash on Friday, offi cials said. Kavanagh
was on the road working to extinguish unattended camp-fi res when the crash happened, said Chris Hardman, Forest Fire Management Victoria’s Chief Fire Offi cer. It took police a few days to investigate his death before they confi rmed it was linked to his work on the wildfi res, and therefore part of the disaster’s offi cial death toll.
People“He’s such a well-loved guy,” Hardman told report-
ers. “For those people who knew Matt, it’s going to take a long time. I can’t imagine what that family is going through and what Matt’s colleagues are going through. It’s just such a very sad day.”
The unprecedented fi re crisis in southeast Australia that has destroyed 2,000 homes and shrouded major cit-ies in smoke has focused many Australians on how the nation adapts to climate change. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced fi erce criticism both domestically and internationally for downplaying the need for his gov-ernment to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes.
The center-left opposition Labor Party has made po-litical capital from the crisis by promising more ambi-tious policies than the ruling conservative coalition to tackle climate change. Opposition climate spokesman Mark Butler wants the government to allow a debate on climate change in Parliament when it returns in February.
“Hopefully we could fashion a bipartisan position,” Butler told ABC. The two sides last held a bipartisan po-sition on climate change in 2007, and have remained bit-terly divided ever since on issues such as making carbon polluters pay for their emissions.
Labor had pledged to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve zero emissions by 2050 if it had won last year’s elections.
The coalition government has committed to reduce emissions by 26% to 28% by 2030 and warns that La-bor’s more ambitious target would wreck the economy. The government argues that Australia is responsible for only 1.3% of global emissions and more ambitious tar-gets would not ease the current fi re crisis, which follows Australia’s hottest and driest year on record.
Several fi refi ghters unions urged the federal govern-ment on Wednesday to order a royal commission – the nation’s highest form of investigation – into the wild-fi res. Environmental group Greenpeace Australia said any such investigation must analyze the role of climate change.
“This unprecedented and catastrophic fi re season still has months to go and the next one will not be far behind. We need to start planning now so the chaotic scenes witnessed this summer do not become an annual occurrence,” Greenpeace Australia Pacifi c’s Head of Campaigns, Jamie Hanson, said in a statement. “But this inquiry needs to go beyond the symptoms of the bushfi re crisis and look at the largest underlying cause of the con-ditions that have exacerbated these fi res, which is burn-ing coal. ”
Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefi ed natural gas, but Morrison rejected calls last month to downsize Australia’s lucrative coal industry.
The wildfi re disaster, which is likely to continue throughout the Southern Hemisphere summer, has galvanized calls for more global action on climate change.
Elton John and actor Chris Hemsworth are among the celebrities donating big bucks to help aid the fi re-fi ghting efforts. Hemsworth, an Australian who lives in the drought-affected New South Wales town of Byron Bay, wrote on Twitter that he was donating $1 million and asked his followers to show support. “Every penny counts,” he wrote.
John announced during his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert in Sydney on Tuesday that he will also do-nate $1 million. The singer said he wanted to bring atten-tion to the devastation that wildfi res have caused, saying it has reached a “biblical scale.”
Hemsworth and John joins a growing list of celebri-ties, including Pink, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, who have pledged to donate toward relief efforts.
Also:BOISE, Idaho: US offi cials said Tuesday they’re plan-ning to send at least another 100 fi re-fi ghters to Australia to join 159 already in the country battling wildfi res that have killed 25 people and destroyed 2,000 homes.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said that 90 fi re-fi ghters including on-the-ground hand crews left in recent days to fi ght fi res that have scorched an area twice the size of the US state of Maryland.
Another 100 American fi refi ghters are expected to fl y to Australia next week, said center spokeswoman Car-rie Bilbao. It’s the largest ever deployment of US fi re-fi ghters abroad, she said.
The Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authori-ties Council requested the fi re-fi ghters as part of a recip-rocal deal that sent 138 Australians to fi ght US wildfi res in 2018. The US has similar agreements with Canada, Mexico and New Zealand.
Offi cials are working to send the additional fi re-fi ghters to Australia quickly so they can assume wildfi re management and aviation management roles. The most recent contingent of fi re-fi ghters dispatched to Australia included crews that fi ght fi res on the ground, based in the US Forest Service’s Angeles National Forest in Cali-fornia.
Bilbao said the next group will also include more ground crews and that they are receiving training about poisonous snakes and insects they might encounter while fi ghting wildfi res in Australia.
Morrison
This illustration provided by Harvard shows data from the ‘Radcliffe Wave’, indicated in red, superimposed on an artist’s rendering of Milky Way galaxy. (AP)
Titanic wave of star-forming gases found in Milky WayAstronomers have discovered a titanic wave of star-forming gases practically right under our noses in the Milky Way.
Harvard University scientists report-ed Tuesday that this massive structure has been hiding out in the Milky Way galaxy’s spiral arm closest to Earth.
The researchers were building a 3-D map of our galaxy’s interstellar matter, using a star census gathered by Europe’s Gaia spacecraft when they spotted the wave-shaped struc-
ture.It’s an astounding 50 quadrillion
miles (85 quadrillion kilometers) long and it’s home to tens of thousands of baby stars, with the potential for count-less more stellar births, according to the paper published in the journal Na-ture.
All these stellar nurseries, or star-forming blobs of gas, are interconnect-ed, according to Harvard’s Catherine Zucker. Together, they form this wavy,
gassy fi lament, why this shape is still a puzzle.
The sun is just 500 light years away from the wave at its closest point, ac-cording to lead author Joao Alves.
The team was shocked by the dis-covery. No one expected “we live next to a giant, wave-like collection of gas – or that it forms the local arm of the Milky Way,” Harvard’s Alyssa Good-man said in a statement.
What’s more, the structure dubbed
Radcliffe Wave – after a Harvard insti-tute – contains stellar nurseries once thought to belong in a ring-shaped band around the sun. The wave con-tains gases equivalent to 3 million times the mass of the sun.
“It has completely transformed our understanding of our galactic `neigh-borhood,’ ” Zucker said in an email. It “has been right in front of our noses ... for millions of years, but we could not see it clearly until now.” (AP)
Pakistani air force jet crashes, 2 pilots killed
India sets rape convicts’ executions Jan 22NEW DELHI, Jan 8, (AP): A death warrant was issued Tuesday for the four men convicted in the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a New Delhi bus that galvanized protests across India and brought global atten-tion to the country’s sexual violence epidemic.
A New Delhi court scheduled the hangings for Jan. 22, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The warrant has been anticipated since India’s Supreme Court rejected one of the men’s fi nal review pleas last month. India’s president can still inter-cede, but that is not expected to happen.
The victim, a 23-year-old physiother-apy student whom Indian media dubbed “Nirbhaya,” or “Fearless,” because Indi-an law prohibits rape victims from being identifi ed, was heading home with a male friend from a movie theater when six men lured them onto a bus. With no one else in sight, they beat the man with a metal bar, raped the woman and used the bar to infl ict massive internal injuries to her.
The pair were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later.
The assailants were tried relatively quickly in a country where sexual as-sault cases often languish for years. Four defendants were sentenced to death. Another hanged himself in prison before his trial began, though his family insists he was killed. The sixth assailant was a minor at the time of the Decem-ber 2012 attack and was sentenced to three years in a reform home.
Swati Maliwal, the chair of the Delhi Commission for Women, applauded Tuesday’s court announcement on Twitter.
“I salute her mother who has fought for so long,” she tweeted. “It is a victory for all the fearless people of this coun-try. This is the time to punish every rap-ist in the country so that a strong mes-sage is sent out.”
The scheduled executions come amid a revived debate over sexual violence in India after several headline-grabbing cases in recent months. A woman in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh was doused with gasoline and set on fi re by fi ve men - including two who were out on bail after she had accused them of gang rape - on her way to attend a court hearing in her case. She died last month at a hospital in New Delhi.
In late November, the burned body of a 27-year-old veterinarian was found near the city of Hyderabad in southern India. Police later fatally shot four men being held on suspicion of raping and killing the woman after investigators took them to the crime scene, drawing praise from people frustrated by the pace of the 2012 New Delhi case and condemnation from those who decried it as extrajudicial.
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MULTAN, Pakistan: Pakistan’s air force said one if its aircraft crashed during training Tuesday in the eastern Punjab province, killing the two pilots.
The FT-7 jet trainer went down in an open area and caused no damage on the
ground, the air force statement said. It said an investigation had been
opened to determine the cause of the crash, which took place near the district of Mianwali, 300 kilometers (186.41 miles) from the city of Lahore.
Pakistani authorities rarely release details of military training crashes, which are relatively common.
Last July, 19 people died when a Pa-kistani military aircraft crashed into a residential area on the outskirts of the garrison city of Rawalpindi, most of them in their homes.
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan po-lice have suspended a leading investi-gator who probed the killing of journal-ists and alleged abductions during the government of the current president’s brother for discussing a politically sen-sitive murder case in a phone call with a government minister.
The police spokesman’s offi ce said in a statement Wednesday that the phone conversation between Senior Superin-tendent of Police Shani Abeysekara and Ranjan Ramanayake, a former minister and now an opposition lawmaker, had marred the police department’s image.
Police did not give details of the phone call, but government politicians have circulated recordings of a conver-sation purportedly between Abeysekara and Ramanayake in which the two dis-cuss sending a politician loyal to current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa to jail for the 2011 murder of a political rival.
Subcontinent
In this photo released Indonesian Presidential Offi ce, Indonesian Presi-dent Joko Widodo (center), inspect troops during his visit at Indonesian Navy ship KRI Usman Harun at Selat Lampa Port, Natuna Islands, Indone-sia on Jan 8. Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday visited the Natuna islands that overlap with China’s expansive claim to the South China Sea amid heightened tensions over the waters after Beijing recently claimed it was their traditional fi shing
area. (AP)
Sanchez Pope Francis
Sanchez readies Cabinet: Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez took the oath as Spanish prime minister Wednesday, a day after his proposal to form a leftist coalition government narrowly won a parliamentary confi dence vote with support from smaller parties.
With the oath-taking before Spanish King Felipe VI, Sánchez is ending months of political deadlock in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy.
He plans to announce the members of his administration next week, the Socialist party said in a statement.
The new Cabinet is set to include mem-bers of the anti-austerity United We Can party as a junior partner in the government, including party leader Pablo Iglesias as deputy prime minister.
The Socialist-led coalition faces the daunting task of trying to rein in separatist tensions in the northeastern Catalonia re-gion and keeping economic growth amid a challenging global economic climate. (AP)
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Asylum applications drop: Ger-many says new asylum applications in the country dropped more than 14% last year, continuing their decline since an infl ux of migrants from the Middle East and else-where in 2015 and 2016.
The Interior Ministry said Wednesday that 111,094 fi rst-time asylum applications were made in 2019, 18,534 or 14.3% fewer than the previous year.
Syrians were easily the biggest single
Europe
Members of various trade unions listen to a leader during a general strike called by various trade unions in Ahmedabad, India on Jan 8. Trade unions have called for a country-wide strike Wednesday to protest against what they call the ‘anti-workers and anti-people’ policies of the government led by Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi. (AP)
group of asylum-seekers, with 26,453 making applications. They were followed by 10,894 people from Iraq, 10,275 from Turkey, 7,778 from Iran and 7,124 from Afghanistan.
In December, 6,771 applications were
made in total, the Interior Ministry said.Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said
that “the number of asylum seekers in Germany has fallen for the third consecu-tive year.” He said that shows that “the numerous measures of recent years against
uncontrolled immigration are working,” but that “migration pressure at the (European Union’s) external borders and to Germany remains high.” (AP)
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Pope prays for Australians: Pope Francis is asking for prayers for Aus-tralia as it copes with devastating fi res and expressed his solidarity with the country’s people.
Francis drew a round of applause after he made the unscripted appeal at the end of his general audience Wednesday.
In his comments, Francis said: “I’d like to ask for you all to pray to the Lord to help the (Australian) people at this diffi cult mo-ment, with these powerful fi res. I’m close to the Australian people.”
The fi res, which have been blazing since September, have killed 26 people, destroyed 2,000 homes and scorched an area twice the size of the US state of Maryland. They have been fueled by drought and the country’s hot-test and driest year on record. (AP)
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Greek court postpones retrial: A Greek court on Wednesday postponed the retrial of seven suspects on murder charges over the 2017 fatal beating of a Texan tourist on an island resort to allow a lawyer newly hired by the victim’s family to familiarize himself with the case.
The court in the western port town of Patras postponed the case until Jan 13. (AP)
11ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
analysis
crossroads
‘We knew there would be consequences’
Killing of Iran general risks US gains against DAESHWASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): President Donald Trump’s national se-curity team knew that killing Iran’s most powerful general could hurt efforts to mop up and head off any revival of the Islamic State militant group – and that is just what has happened.
Days after Gen Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad, the US troops in Iraq to fight the Islamic State were focused on their own defense, guarding American bases and the US Embassy from the expected Iranian response. Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday, shooting ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops. The US fight against the militants is now on hold, and a Trump foreign policy achievement is in doubt.
“When we looked at this operation we knew there would be conse-quences,” said Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We knew there’d be risk.” But he said the threat of attack on US inter-ests was too great to not act.
The Islamic State evolved in Syria after US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011; its fighters swept back across the border in 2014, captured wide swaths of western and northern Iraq and imposed brutal rule over a self-declared “caliphate.”
A US-led coalition finally ousted the group from the last of its territory in Syria in March 2019, but thousands of fighters scattered throughout the region and continue to pose a threat.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper agreed on Tuesday that “the suspen-sion of activities in Iraq” against IS was foreseen as a possible outcome of the killing of Soleimani.
Two days after a missile launched from a US drone killed the gen-eral in Baghdad on Jan 3, shortly after he arrived, the US-led military coalition in Iraq announced a pause in its years-long partnership with Iraqi forces against IS remnants. The focus shifted to protecting coalition troops and the US Embassy, in anticipation that Iran would try to avenge Soleimani’s death by attacking.
Iran’s attack with ballistic missiles on Wednesday was its most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the US Embassy in Tehran, and Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the killing of Soleimani. A
US and Iraqi officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties, though buildings were still being searched.
Ketti Davison, a retired Army intelligence officer with experience in Iraq, said there is no doubt that the fight against the militants has been undercut.
“The counter-ISIS campaign was already strained,” said Davison, an intelligence expert at the Institute for the Study of War. The effort in Syria has been hampered since Turkey invaded northern Syria in Octo-ber, complicating US cooperation with Kurdish fighters and giving the Russian military a wider role in the country.
Just Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin showed up in Damas-cus for a meeting with President Bashar Assad. Official statements dur-ing the previously unannounced visit made no mention of Soleimani, but the timing was conspicuous.
The Iraq campaign also has been sidetracked by recent civil unrest that diverted the attention of Iraqi security forces previously focused on IS.
“The counter-ISIS mission is truly at risk, not just in the short term,” Davison said, adding, “It’s hard to see how we can stay on the offensive with our Iraqi partners to defeat ISIS in this kind of circumstance.” To complicate matters further, the US military presence in Iraq forms the logistical support foundation for US efforts in neighboring Syria.
The US has 650-750 troops in eastern Syria working with a local group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces to continue the fight against the Islamic State. It was unclear Tuesday the extent to which the suspension of US and coalition support operations in Iraq will limit operations in Syria. Esper said he has received no indication from commanders of a “material impact” in Syria.
Trump on Tuesday called Soleimani “a monster” who deserved to be killed, adding that Soleimani was planning “a very big attack.” He and others have said US intelligence showed that danger clearly, but they have not provided details.
And in the aftermath, the durability of the defeat of IS in doubt, and the extremist group has new breathing room.
Although the US military during the Obama administration devel-oped and began executing the strategy that eventually eliminated the IS
group’s hold on large portions of eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq, Trump has insisted he deserves full credit for the territorial defeat. He has made it a feature of his reelection campaign, but national security experts say the group’s remnants in Syria as well as Iraq are still a threat and could stage a comeback.
That is why the US and its coalition partners have remained in Iraq. Iran’s longtime goal has been to force the US out, giving it a freer hand there.
Rep Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat and a former Pentagon and CIA official, said Soleimani was the architect of that Iranian strategy. If the Iraqi government ends up expelling US troops, Soleimani will have achieved his goal, she said.
“If we do indeed get officially asked to leave Iraq, we will need robust diplomacy to outline a plan with the Iraqi government that maximizes pressure on ISIS and allows us time to safely withdraw in a way that doesn’t cost the US in blood and treasure,” Slotkin said Monday.
Germany, Canada and some other US allies have moved some of their troops out of Iraq, citing an increased security risk, but Esper said he is pleased by the commitments of allied governments to remaining in the counter-IS coalition. He took to Twitter to thank Italy for keeping forces in Baghdad, where tensions are running high.
The US had about 5,200 troops in Iraq before the Soleimani killing, mostly to train and advise Iraqi security forces in their campaign against IS fighters who are attempting to reconstitute. The US troop total is now in flux as some trainers are flown out of the country and additional se-curity forces come in. Those movements led to an international incident Monday when a US officer seemed to announce that US forces were withdrawing, prompting Milley and Esper to address reporters at the Pentagon to deny there was any withdrawal plan.
The Iraqi Parliament on Sunday passed a nonbinding resolution call-ing for the expulsion of all foreign forces. On Tuesday, Iraq’s outgoing prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, said the United States has no choice but to pull its troops out of the country. Trump, however, told reporters in the Oval Office that he has no intention of withdrawing yet.
A protester waves the national fl ag while demonstrators set fi re to close streets near Tahrir Square during a demonstration against the Iranian missile strike in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan 8. (AP)
Democrats accused of appeasing Iran with failed foreign policy
Trump campaign seizes on Soleimani killingWASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): Donald Trump once warned Barack Obama not to “play the Iran card” to boost his politi-cal prospects by starting a war. Eight years later, Trump is showing no reluctance to capitalize politically on his order to kill a top Iranian general, drawing accusations that he is weaponizing foreign policy for his campaign’s own gain.
Trump’s campaign has used the killing of Qassem So-leimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, as a cudgel against the president’s Dem-ocratic political rivals and to divert attention from his im-pending impeachment trial in the Senate.
“Americans want to see their President acting decisive-ly and defending the nation’s interests and that’s exactly what President Trump did,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.
“Republicans are good at killing terrorists and this is a reminder of that,” added Michael Ahrens, communica-tions director of the Republican National Committee.
The president was expected to amplify those messages on Thursday in Toledo, Ohio, during his first campaign rally since the drone strike last week. Trump’s campaign pur-chased ads on Facebook highlighting the Soleimani killing.
The Pentagon said Soleimani “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” But the Trump admin-istration has refused to provide any specific information about the nature or timing of the alleged plots, leaving Trump open to suspicions that the attack was driven, at least in part, by a belief that it might help him in the polls.
Those around the president strongly dismiss any sugges-tion of political motive. But they have been happy to use the killing to contrast Trump with his Democratic rivals,
painting him as a strong leader and accusing Democrats of appeasing Iran with a failed foreign policy approach.
Despite the short shelf life of most Trump news stories, Trump aides recognized immediately that the strike – ap-proved by the president at his private club in Florida dur-ing his winter break – could play an outsize role in the upcoming campaign, particularly if Iran retaliated and the region descended into chaos.
That scenario began to play out Tuesday night when Iran fired a series of ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops and warned the United States and its allies in the region not to respond in kind.
The president himself told one confidant that he wanted to deliver a warning to Iran not to mess with American assets. And he was eager to project an image of strength and replicate the message he delivered late last year af-ter approving the raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: The US will hunt down its enemies anywhere in the world.
The al-Baghdadi killing has become a staple in Trump’s campaign ads and at his rallies, and Soleimani’s death was expected to receive similar treatment.
“Another dead terrorist,” declared the subject line of a Sunday campaign email blast, which described Solei-mani as a “monster responsible for thousands of American deaths.”
The president campaigned on the dual promises of get-ting tough on Iranian aggression and withdrawing US troops from overseas entanglements — priorities seem-ingly at odds with one another in the wake of the strike. Trump has increased the number of troops in the region since he took office, despite his promise to end the “end-
less wars” in the Middle East.Trump’s foreign policy, dating back to his first cam-
paign, has always had its internal inconsistencies: As much as Trump pushed the drawdown of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, he promised nightly to “bomb the hell out of ISIS” and has been eager to strike a posture of American military strength.
But Trump aides expressed confidence that the presi-dent’s supporters would not punish him for prioritizing one over the other, at least in the short term. Instead, they argued that targeting what they called terrorist leaders had little to do with prospects for a protracted ground war. And they argued that the killing could be used to create their own version of Obama’s unofficial 2012 slogan, “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”
At the same time, Trump’s campaign and White House have tried to use Democratic criticism of the president’s killing of Soleimani to paint party members as radical and out of touch.
Two of Trump’s rivals, Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders called Solei-mani’s killing an assassination – a label that implies a po-litical rather than national security motive.
Trump’s advisers, meanwhile, are out to make the case that the president continues to tend to the nation’s business – in this case, the elimination of a dangerous adversary – while Democrats obsess over impeachment. Aides also believe the raid can be used to highlight possible foreign policy vulnerabilities of possible opponents, including former vice-president Joe Biden’s support for the unpopu-lar Iraq War and suggesting Warren and Sanders are un-willing to stand up to global bad guys.
‘Active plotting’
Trump pressedto detail ‘intel’WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): Presi-dent Donald Trump and his top advis-ers are under pressure to disclose more details about the intelligence that led to an American airstrike that killed top Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani.
Trump said Tuesday that his decision saved American lives and that mem-bers of Congress will get a briefing on the reasons for the US attack.
“We saved a lot of lives,” Trump said. “They were planning something.”
Hours later, Iran struck back, firing a series of surface-to-surface missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops and warning the United States and its allies in the region not to retaliate. The White House said the president was monitor-ing the situation closely and consulting with his national security team.
So far, Trump and top national secu-rity officials have justified the airstrike with general statements about the threat posted by Soleimani, who commanded proxy forces outside Iran and was re-sponsible for the deaths of American troops in Iraq.
But the details have been scarce. “He’s no longer a monster. He’s
dead,” Trump said. “And that’s a good thing for a lot of countries. He was planning a very big attack and a very bad attack for us and other people and we stopped him and I don’t think any-body can complain about it.”
Soleimani was targeted while he was at an airport in Baghdad with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant who also was killed.
Trump said they weren’t in Bagh-dad to discuss vacation plans or visit a “’nice resort,” but were there to talk over “’bad business.”’
The lack of detail doesn’t sit well with Democrats, who recall how presi-dent George W. Bush justified his inva-sion of Iraq by accusing Saddam Hus-sein of having non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Lawmakers in recent days have been pressing for more detail to explain why Trump ordered the kill-ing — a decision that previous admin-istrations passed up because of fears it would unleash even more violence.
Soleimani traveled frequently and relatively openly, with visits to Bagh-dad more frequent in recent months. He also often showed up in Syria, includ-ing along the border between Iraq and Syria.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have called on Trump to declassify the written noti-fication he sent to Congress after the strike. The notification was required under the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973, which requires the president to report to Congress when American forces are sent into hostile situations.
“’The president must come to Con-gress and present clear and compelling intelligence as to why the strike against Soleimani was absolutely necessary,” Menendez said in a Senate speech.
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
12
‘Balancing free expression with safety toughest thing’
Insider Q&A: How YouTube decides what to ban, what to allowBy Rachel Lerman
Matt Halprin, the global head of trust and safety for YouTube, has a tough
job: He oversees the teams that decide what is allowed and what should be prohibited on YouTube.
The Google-owned site has come under fi re recently for allowing videos that feature what many fi nd offensive or violent, and for not doing enough to protect kids online. Halprin has to make diffi cult decisions to craft policies that keep the site as safe as YouTube wants it to be, while balancing what the company considers one of its core tenets: people’s free speech.
The Associated Press spoke recently with Halprin about how his team works. Questions and answers have been edited for
length and clarity.Question: How does your team operate?Answer: They’re separated into policy
development and policy incubation. Policy development starts with the highest level of principles: We are an open platform. We do have a bias to allow freedom of expression on our platform and only remove content that we think is egregious and could cause real harm. We want to be a place where a variety of perspectives can be heard, and sometimes
that even means things that people disagree with or are even offended by.
We kicked off a process a couple of years ago to essentially re-review all of our policies. We look at which policies seem to be most out of kilter with what our enforcement teams are telling us, the gray area cases or which policies are regulators talking about or the press asking about. As an example, in Q2 (June) we relaunched our hate speech policy.
Q: What does the process look like to make or change a policy?
A: The team fi rst does the research and puts together the framework and essentially a proposal. Once it gets through me, then we bring in our cross-functional partners and people on public policy and public rela-
tions, in product, in legal. We often get sent back to the drawing board on a few issues. Then we go to an executive steering review, which is chaired by our chief product of-fi cer. Finally, the fourth and fi nal step is the top executives. We have these meetings every single week.
As we go through this process, these guys are watching a ton of video examples.
Q: How do you think about balancing free expression with safety?
A: That is probably the toughest thing that we do. There is not a right answer. Not all of us agree. One person will think that, “Hey, we should have more civility. We shouldn’t let something like this come up.” And another person will say, “Yeah, but if you get rid of that uncivil comment, you
lose some really valuable, you know, free expression or political discourse.”
And so we have seriously huge debates about this. Sometimes we think that if we are not criticized by all sides for the policy, we’ve probably done something wrong. If you’re only upsetting one side, then you probably haven’t gotten it right.
Q: How do you ensure that things aren’t slipping through the cracks when it comes to enforcement?
A: We’ve always had community guide-lines and that’s what defi nes our rules. We measure how much exposure occurs on con-tent that we think goes against the line. And that’s going down. For every workfl ow, for every policy, I get a measure of how accurate our reviewers have been regularly. (AP)
Halprin
DAI
Homes
A fl yer of the event. A fl yer of the event. A fl yer of the event.
Make your cooking life better with these great devices
Essential gadgets worth real estate in your kitchenBy Katie Workman
I love a shiny new kitchen object as much as the next cook, and at times my kitchen
has resembled a kitchen specialty store. But if you have a small kitchen, counter space and cabinet storage are at a premium.
Here are some of my all-time favorite gadgets to make your cooking life better.
I’m skipping the bigger appliances like slow cookers and air fryers. I’m also skip-ping knives, cutting boards, pots and pans, measuring cups and the like, because you pretty much know you need those.
This is about great gadgets, both low- and high-tech, that deserve a spot in your kitchen because they work hard and smart.
Perfect Peeler I use a peeler pretty much every day for
something. Potatoes, carrots, apples, winter squash, etc. I am a fan of Kuhn Rikon peel-ers, which are lightweight and easy to use on peels thick and thin. OXO also make an assortment with different blades, shapes and widths.
Peppermill Nothing is more important in the kitchen
than salt and pepper, and freshly ground pepper is much better than pre-ground. The Peppermate Traditional Pepper Mill is sleek and contemporary looking, made of ceramic with a side crank. It has a remov-able, clear bottom cup under the grinder to catch the pepper, and an adjustable grinding size, from very fi ne (for most things) to very coarse (for things like steak au poivre ). For a more classic look, Peugeot makes high-quality mills.
Mandoline It’s hard to get perfectly thin slices for
most of us home cooks, even with a good knife. But with a mandoline, you can get even slices of all sorts of vegetables and other ingredients. One example is the OXO Good Grips Hand-Held version, which comes with settings for three different thin-nesses, and a handle so you can slice safely and quickly into a bowl or over a plate.
Food Processor I use no appliance more than this one. I
use it for pureeing, chopping, slicing and shredding. Cuisinart has long been my go-to brand; I grew up with one and now own half a dozen. Other companies, like KitchenAid and Breville, also make good food proces-
sors. Sizes range from quite large (14 or 16-cup bowls) to mini (about 2 cups). I recommend one little one, for things like mincing garlic or making pesto, and one large, for everything else.
Microplane One of those products where the brand
name has become synonymous with the thing itself, even though other manufactur-ers make similar items. This is basically a small, handheld grater. The most classic one is long and narrow, with lots of fi ne blades that turn lemon zest and hard grating cheeses and chocolate into fl uffy mounds of delicate tiny shreds. You can also get ver-
sions that grate food into larger strands.
Instant-Read Thermometer There are many versions on the mar-
ket, from digital to analog to Bluetooth to infrared. When you want to make sure that you are not overcooking a roast beef, or that your bread is cooked through, an instant-read thermometer is indispensable. (You’ll justify the cost quickly when you consider how much you spent on that holiday fi let!) In the most user-friendly digital arena, Ther-mapen instant thermometers are fast and precise with a wide temperature range.
Immersion Blender I love my blender and food processor, but
if you’ve ever tried to transfer a pot of hot, chunky soup to a blender then you under-stand why an immersion blender is such an asset. Instead of pouring, just place the immersion blender right into the pot. You can even stick the wand into a can of whole tomatoes and puree them right there. There are loads of good ones on the market, from companies like Breville, All-Clad, Braun and Philips.
Sous Vide If you’ve been curious about sous vide
(and many people are), then now is a good time to try this latest-technology gadget; there are lots of options out there at pretty reasonable prices. Sous vide is a cook-ing method that entails putting food in a vacuum-sealed bag and cooking it in water at a controlled temperature. It’s basically impossible to overcook it. The Joule Sous Vide is small compared to other sous vide appliances, but powerful, as well as sleek and attractive enough to leave out. It works with phone apps as well for the ultimate in modern cooking. (AP)
This December 2019 photo, shows an assortment of various kitchen gadgets in New York, including a food processor, (back right). (AP)
Kuwait Water Park, Dandiya Night as well as a Diwali get together.
Upkar Association will be glad to provide additional information on Upkar membership and can be contacted. at [email protected] or kindly visit our website www.upkarkuwait.org. In addition our offi ce bearers shall be reachable on - Jitendra Chaudhary 66457045; Mohan Singh 69004861; Sachin Vig 50477619; Anil Sangtani 97297445; Harpreet Singh Ms. Himali Shringi – 66898319; Ms. Ritu Nath - 97210178 and Ms. Sonali Jagath - 60417119
UPKAR executive committee thanks all members for the overwhelming support and co-operation and also looks forward to welcoming new members on board!
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Christmastide programme: January 17/18/19th 2020 – Solemnity – Our Lady of Arabia
Patroness of our VicariateWishing you all a Happy & Blessed Christmas
and Grace fi lled New Year!❑ ❑ ❑
‘Maurya Manch 2020’: Maurya Kala Parisar, (MKP) Kuwait, is presenting a cultural evening “Maurya Manch” at 5 pm on Friday, Jan 17, at Salmiya Indian Model School, Salmiya Kuwait. The event will showcase the talents of members and their families through music, dance dramas, skits etc.
Maurya Kala Parisar, Kuwait will be celebrat-ing its 25th year in Kuwait. During the celebra-tion of 20th years of formation, MKP had invited special guest like “Super 30” famed Anand Kumar Founder and Head of “Ramanujan School of Mathematics”. The event was attended by the association members, students and parents and received wide coverage in newspapers in Kuwait and in India.
In the year 2017, Padma Shri ex-Cabinet Min-ister of Government of Dr. C. P. Thakur, from Bi-har who revolutionized the concept of treatment of Kala-azar and is recognized as an international authority in this fi eld, author of many books on medicine and winner of Dr. B. C. Roy National Award, Indian Medical Council, was the Chief Guest of the event.
President of Maurya Kala Parisar, Sabir Hus-sain Ansari said while announcing the event that through Maurya Manch, MKP has successfully achieved its two main goals - a platform for expression of culture of the region and presenting Bihar and Jharkhand in a positive light to other Indian Communities in Kuwait. He also informed that Anand Kumar of Super 30 fame, who has been very popular among the students and their parents has accepted to be the Chief Guest of the event. Anand is revered as one of the most infl u-ential and illustrious sons of Bihar & Jharkhand. The event is expected to be graced by many more
well wishers of the community.The entertainment quotient of the event has
been appreciated by audiences in the previous editions of Maurya Manch. This year also the programs are going to be entertaining. The entry is free and open to all Indian Communities in Kuwait and friends of India alike.
Maurya Kala Parisar, founded in the year 1995 and registered with Indian Embassy in Kuwait is a highly active association of people from the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand. It has con-ducted successful events like Dinkar Samman & Hindi Divas, Ethnic Food Festival for all families from Indian Community, etc. every year for quite some time.
For details contact Tel Nos: 60007401, 66503221, 66731321or Fax: 23918295
Drinking problem?: Friends of Bill W. are available to help. Totally confi dential. Email: [email protected]
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Narcotics Anonymous: NA can help with addiction problems. Totally confidential: 94087800 English/Arabic.
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Cancer online support group: If you are Cancer patient or family member fi ghting with this deadly disease, come join our online support group. Best way of dealing with this disease is providing support and share our experience with each other. There are lot of things which even doctors can’t tell so be member of this website and start sharing your experiences which may help others. October is recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The primary purpose is to promote self examination and screening mammography as the most effec-tive way to save lives by detecting breast cancer at early stage. For more information visit: http://fi ghtingwithcancer.webs.com/
LatestJan 17
SWAK marks silver jubilee: Shriva Welfare Association Kuwait (SWAK) will be celebrating their Silver Jubilee and hence has organized a Konkani musical show on Friday, Jan 17 at the American International School, Maidan Hawalli. It is an open to all event. SWAK members and Konkani community guest who would like to attend the event please contact M&M confec-tionary – Salmiya for entry passes. You may also contact the members listed below for entry passes:
Upkar Lori celebrations: Upkar Association Kuwait, one of the prominent Association of Indians formed in Kuwait, is planning its annual Picnic and Lohri celebrations on Jan 17. Upkar Association celebrates a number of festivals and other events where all its members can join in to meet and celebrate together.
Lohri is a popular winter North Indian festival, to commemorate the passing of the winter solstice. Lohri marks the end of winter, and is a traditional welcome of longer days and sun’s journey to the northern hemisphere. People cel-ebrate the festival by meeting family and friends and lighting a bonfi re around which everyone gathers to celebrate.
Upkar has been regularly organizing for its members events and celebrations including Holi, Diwali, Sports Day etc. Social events such as Yoga Day and Blood Donation Camp have also been organized. In 2019, Upkar members have enjoyed event such as Lohri, Holi, a day out at
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Continued on Page 15
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
13
This photograph taken in May 2019 shows the Kuwait Towers during sunset. (Yousef Buqamaz – KUNA)
By Sean Pyles
A year is built one day at a time. It’s the busy Tuesdays when you
never have a moment and the lazy Sundays when you can fi nally relax.
Focusing on small, cumulative ac-tions can take you far, whether you want to train for a marathon, clean out your garage or start a hobby. This is especially true for money goals, for which daily habits can have big payoffs.
But while New Year’s money res-olutions are common - with 84% of Americans setting money goals, ac-cording to a survey from NerdWallet conducted by The Harris Poll (1) in 2017 - so is abandoning them. More than 20% of those surveyed ditched their resolutions within two weeks, and over half failed to achieve some or all of their money goals.
You can beat the odds, though. To hit your big money goals in 2020, fo-cus on months and days.
Know Your Money and Pick Your Goal
Do some initial research and get a detailed understanding of your cash fl ow, because you have a better chance of improving your fi nances when you know your starting point. The 50/30/20 budget, where half your income covers needs, 30% goes to wants and 20% goes to debt and savings, is an easy way to do that.
Use what you learn to decide on and write out your money resolu-tion, getting as specifi c and realistic as you can. If you want to pay off your debt, for instance, list each ac-count, its balance, monthly payment and interest rate.
“Whatever your goal is, it has to be trackable and quantitative,” says Levi Sanchez (2), founder of Seattle-based Millennial Wealth, a fi nancial planning fi rm. “If you say you want to pay off your student loans this year, what does that really mean? How much will you pay each month?”
Make Monthly Goals Divide your goal into smaller
tasks. List the actions you can take monthly and even weekly that will build up to you hitting your target by year-end.
“People treat resolutions like a sprint when really it’s a marathon,” says Lauren Anastasio, (3) a certi-fi ed fi nancial planner at SoFi, an online lender. “Anytime you have a goal in mind, break it down into as many mini-goals as you can. You feel more accomplished and you have more momentum when you’re checking things off a to-do list.”
To build an emergency fund of $1,000, for example, you’ll need to save a little over $80 each month. Or if you’re set on conquering credit card debt, divide your current bal-
By Liz Weston
The way our brains work can cost us a lot of money. But
some of our mental quirks can be turned to our advantage.
Cognitive biases are the faulty ways of thinking that can persuade us to run up debt, save too little and make stupid investment deci-sions. The bandwagon effect, for example, entices us to buy the hot stock everyone’s talking about, rather than the mutual fund that makes more sense for our long-term goals. Or we sign up for a too-large mortgage because of op-timism bias (“I’ll fi gure out a way to make the payments, somehow!”).
We can try to be more rational, but sometimes it makes sense to exploit our faulty wiring instead. Here are three money biases that you could put to work for yourself:
Mental Accounting Money is fungible, which
means every dollar has the same value regardless of how we get it or store it. But our brains didn’t get that memo, so we treat dif-ferent types of money differently. We’re tempted to splurge with windfalls, for example, or to be more careful spending cash than using credit.
You can turn this mental ac-counting to good use by creating multiple savings accounts, each labeled with your goal for the mon-ey. For example, you could create accounts called “vacation,” “car re-pair fund,” “home down payment” and so on. Online banks and credit unions typically make this easy by allowing you to create and name numerous subaccounts without minimum balance requirements or fees.
Labeling and segregating money could help you keep your hands off of it. While you might dip into a
general savings account for a ques-tionable purchase, you may resist the urge if you can envision having less money for your vacation or not being able to pay for a needed car repair.
‘End-of-history illusion’ Think of the person you were
a decade ago - what you thought was important, what you liked and disliked, how you behaved. If you’re like most people, you’ve changed, but you also probably think that the person you are today is pretty much who you’ll be from now on.
Regardless of their age, adults consistently underestimate how much they’ll change in the future, according to research by psychol-ogists Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel T. Gilbert and Timothy D. Wilson, who dubbed this phenomenon the “end of history illusion.”
This illusion leads to the tattoo, mort-gage or mar-riage you later regret. But the end-of-history illusion could be benefi cial if you use it to give your fu-ture self more, rather than fewer, options.
Here’s an example: People who save for retirement often anticipate the freedom and leisure they’ll en-joy one day when they can quit work. They can’t imagine they’ll feel differently later. As they get closer to retirement, though, some realize they want to keep work-ing at least part time for the extra money, the intellectual stimulation, the social benefi ts.
With suffi cient savings, you typically have more options: You
could quit, work part time, work full time, take a break and return to work or start your own business. If you haven’t saved, you may have little choice but to keep working.
Hyperbolic Discounting Our hard-wired preference for
short-term payoffs, even when we would get more by waiting, is known as “hyperbolic discounting.” We know we need to save more for retirement, or pay down debt, or build an emergency fund. In the moment, though, we want to spend our money in other ways.
But hyperbolic discounting can be leveraged to create good out-comes, as well. Behavioral econo-mists Richard H. Thaler and Sh-lomo Benartzi designed a “Save More Tomorrow” intervention where people committed to sav-ing a portion of future raises. The economists fi gured opportunities to save future income would be considered more attractive than giving up current income. They were right: Retirement plan partici-pation and contribution rates rose at the companies that tried this ap-proach.
Saving future income is also the idea behind automatic escala-tion. Many 401(k) plans allow you to sign up now to increase your contribution in the future by, say, 1 percentage point a year, and some plans have automatic escalation as the default. The IRS also offers a kind of “save more tomorrow” plan: You can split the direct de-posit of your next tax refund, send-ing part to your savings account and the rest to checking.
It would be great if we were always rational and could count on ourselves to make smart de-cisions. Since we aren’t and we can’t, using these workarounds can help us get better results with our money. (AP)
ance by 12 to see the monthly pay-ment needed to meet that goal, with adjustments for any accruing interest charges if necessary.
Build Daily Habits Your daily money management is
the groundwork for achieving goals. Build habits that make accomplish-ing your monthly money tasks easier.
To get better at sticking to your budget, for example, set aside time at the end of each day to review what you spent and how well you followed your budget. Automate savings or debt payments to the extent that you can.
“A lot of building good money habits comes down to knowing your
needs versus wants and having a spending plan so you know what ob-ligations you’re meeting,” says Paul Golden, managing director of com-munications at the nonprofi t National Endowment for Financial Education. (4) “I’m a big fan of automating things so the habit is almost forced.”
Give Yourself a Break - and a Reward
Life happens. You might set a cer-tain debt payment, then your car’s transmission blows - and drags your monthly budget down with it. Give yourself the fl exibility to adjust the plan so you don’t just give up.
“One of the benefi ts of breaking the goal into mini-goals is that if you
miss one piece, you don’t feel like you failed at the whole thing,” Ana-stasio says. “It’s always about how you frame the goals you set for your-self and giving yourself a clean slate at the beginning of each month.”
And reward yourself when you hit milestones, like choosing a robo-advisor to start investing with or hav-ing a month where you stick to your budget. Achieving money resolu-tions isn’t easy.
“I fi nd people don’t celebrate the little things,” says Tania Brown (5), a Georgia-based certifi ed fi nancial planner. “A month where you didn’t rack up any new credit card debt is huge.” (AP)
Hit big money target with small actions
Focus on monthly tasks to hit 2020 goalsLabeling and segregating money could help
How to make money biases work for you
Millennial Money
legal clinicPRO BONO LEGAL ADVICE
This is with regards to the above attached complaint no. 2982 registered at Indian Em-bassy offi ce Kuwait on 24th September, 2019.
I was recruited from India by a Kuwaiti for a job of sales ex-ecutive on a salary of KD 450 per month.
I arrived in Kuwait on 7th June, 2019 and got my medi-cal and fi nger-print done in Kuwait and all the documents were collected by the man-doob of the Kuwaiti.
Thereafter the Kuwaiti did not give me a promised job and also could not stamp my residence since his Company License (Ruksa) had expired.
After several follow-ups he asked for KD 350 to complete my residence stamping. He kept calling several times for more money and since I did not have a job, I had to ar-range money from friends and family to pay him.
I managed to arrange KD 200 and gave it to him on 6th August, 2019 (Tuesday) in Salmiya and he promised to proceed with stamping. Since 9th August, 2019 was Eid holi-day, he promised to complete the process after 2 days. I called on the 8th August, 2019 (Thursday) to know the sta-tus. His statement was “ It’s Eid week, everything is closed, next week we will do it” but he never completed the stamping process and I just kept calling /following up in vain.
With no response, I fi led a complaint at the Indian Em-bassy offi ce on the 24th Sept and some two gentlemen helped me in getting my origi-nal passport and visa from his offi ce. They were really helpful and cooperative.
The Kuwaiti committed to pay the penalty when the Embassy called him. Since I had come to the Embassy offi ce to collect my original passport and visa the Kuwaiti spoke to my family member and said that “Friend I don’t have money to pay the penalty” I will pay you by the 30th of October. “There was no response from him after that. My friend paid the penalty KD 176 online. This has not been paid back as promised by the Kuwaiti.
Since I am the only bread winner of my family, I kept try-ing for other companies and got selected but since he was not completing the stamping of residence, the new company requested me to exit and come back on a new visa (I agreed and left Kuwait on the 4th of No-vember).
Now the new company is re-questing me to join but the prob-lem is that the old visa must be fi rst cancelled in the Shoun sys-tem in order for the new com-pany to issue new visa.
I am requesting you to please help me by cancelling the old visa in the system so that new visa can be issued and I can join the new com-pany and take care of my chil-dren’s future.
The Embassy offi cial has also been following up for can-celling the visa in the system as the Kuwaiti informed him that he has cancelled in the system and requested him not to call him back on the issue.
But he still has not cancelled the visa in the system and not returned my money to me.
Name withheldAnswer: Unfortunately, there is
nothing we can do about your plight as we are not clothed with the powers to do what you are ask-ing us to do. Indeed your Embassy is in a better position to take up your case, look for your former sponsor and compell him to do the needful by working to make sure that your old visa is removed from the system. Your new sponsors can also play a part by speaking to the Kuwaiti and impressing on him to work to remove the visa from the system.
I need advice to apply for a driving licence. My current designation is salesman, my salary is KD 600 in my work permit. I have done bachelor’s degree, I have attested the de-gree certifi cate, my new com-pany designation is Massnell purchases. Am I eligible to ap-ply for a driving licence in Ku-wait? People have given me confused answers, they say I am not eligible because of my designation. Your comments in this regard will surely help out with the confusion.
Name withheldAnswer: When applying for a
driving licence the issue of desig-nation only crops up when you seek exemption from meeting some of the requirements. If you, however, meet these requirements which include minimum of KD 600 monthly salary, university degree, two-year stay in Kuwait upon first entry, your designation is irrelevant.
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I’m working in Kuwait for the last seven plus years and my salary is above KD 750 and my designation is Instrument
Supervisor in KNPC. I have a Bachelor’s degree i.e., BSc in Physics, my query is can I apply for a driving licence in Kuwait. If yes what are the procedures to that.
Name withheldAnswer: Yes, you meet all the
requirements to apply for a Kuwait driving licence, but before that you should first obtain a learner’s licence and pass the driving test.
The documents to be submit-ted include the following:
1. Original and copies of pass-port and Civil ID
2. Old driving licence (if any)3. Letter of attestation by the
company4. Passport-size photographs5. Typed application form6. Eye and blood test7. Copy of work permit from
the Public Authority for Manpower or letter of employ-ment from the ministry.
All the above documents should be submitted to the licence section for registration for the driving test along with the stamped application form. You then visit the driving test centre at the traffic department to fix a date for the driving test by paying a booking fee.
My husband’s visa right now is Article 14 visa type. His last date was on January 6.
The company where he was working are not giving him re-lease. Due to that he is not able to join any other company.
So my question is, as his visa is Article 14 is it allowed to transfer to a new company without the signature of the old company.
Name withheldAnswer: Unfortunately visa
14 is issued to enable one not to be classified as an illegal resi-dent while one’s papers are being sorted out or to wind up one’s stay in Kuwait and leave for good. This means that visa 14 is not transferable and hence your husband cannot transfer the visa 14 that he is currently on. Granting that your husband is even on visa 18, he can only effect the necessary transfer to another company with the per-mission of the sponsor who however cannot say no if your husband is qualified to ask for such a transfer. If your husband is therefore convinced that he is qualified to ask for a visa trans-fer and is being denied by the sponsor, then he can file a com-plaint at the Public Authority for Manpower through the Labor Department in his area to seek redress.
I’m from India. My husband is working as phsio at Kuwait for KD 350 salary. And I’m also planning to do same job there. Can we sponsor our kids who are 4 and 2 years old?
Name withheldAnswer: No, you cannot,
because your husband’s salary of KD 350 is below the KD 500 required to sponsor the kids on dependent visa. In addition club-bing of salaries by husband and wife to attain the required salary amount is no more allowed. The sole responsibility of sponsor-ship has been shifted to the man who must meet the salary bench-mark. We must however point out that workers under some professions are exempted from meeting this salary requirement. We therefore advise you to seek clarification from the Immigration Department to ascertain if physios are among the professions exempted.
I have been working in the private sector since 2016 un-der a fi rst sponsor, can I ask for a release from my compa-ny and if they refuse shall I go to shoun?
Name withheldAnswer: Yes you are quali-
fied to ask for a release since you have fulfilled your obliga-tion under the Kuwait Labor Law by working at least three years for the company. If the company refuse to give you a release, you can file a case against them at the Public Authority for Manpower through the Labour Department in your area to seek redress.
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The Arab Times invites questions on all aspects of Kuwaiti law. If you face a prob-lem, or need specific advice on any legal matter, from com-mercial and investment law to divorce and labour, send ques-tions to the Managing Editor, Arab Times, P.O. Box 2270, 13023 Safat, Kuwait, or Fax to 24818267. E-mail: [email protected]
Visa stamping
Visa transfer
Sponsorship
ReleaseDriving licence
Liz Weston
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
14
h o r o s c o p eBy Jacqueline Bigar
Happy birthday for Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020: This year, you have the ability to see both sides of an argument and understand where others are coming from. Trying to find a midpoint often can be challenging, even with this knowledge. If single, you meet people with ease, and you will know when you meet Mr. or Ms. Right. Creating this bond is likely this year. If attached, the two of you often are on a seesaw about situations. Respect each other’s views and you’ll come up with an excellent solution or compromise. Cancer often is too emo-tional for you to deal with.
The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Diffi cult.
Capricorn - (Dec 22 - Jan 19)
**** Others defer naturally to you because you are such a commanding person. You also seem to have it more together than you have for a while. Pressure builds. Still, be sponta-neous and open to different energy. Tonight: The only answer is yes.
Aquarius - (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
*** You could be wrapped up in a project that feels endless. You are tired of being so devoted and disciplined. Know that it might be wise to take a break or two. What you are working on will show the benefi t. Tonight: Know when to call it a night.
Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20)
**** You could be playful. Others - es-pecially one specifi c person in your environ-ment - refuse to have a long overdue talk. You know this conversation is a must, but
timing is also critical. Tonight: Kick up your heels.
Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19)
*** You might feel pushed and pulled between different forces, all of which have different agendas. You might wonder how to handle the pressure. Assume a holding posi-tion until you are sure of yourself. Tonight: Happiest at home.
Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20)
***** You could be questioning yourself as to why you are continuing on a certain path. Without knowing why, you could be confusing others as well as yourself. You might want to slow down and do some solid thinking. Tonight: Return calls.
Gemini - (May 21 - June 20)
***** Your sense of humor is a tremen-dous asset that you must not underestimate. While others get upset, you stay clearheaded in search of the information you desire. You need to expect a push and pull between your work and personal life. Tonight: Up late.
Cancer - (June 21 - July 22)
***** Emotions soar, and you might feel out of control since a lot is being tossed at you. Slow down and refuse to make any fast decisions. Listen to a signifi cant other and what he or she needs to share. Tonight: Eval-uating your next move.
Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22)
*** Take your time working through an innate resistance that appears to be affecting you as well as those around you. You could be juggling more than your share of demands
and personal issues. Say little until you are sure of yourself. Tonight: Vanish quickly.
Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22)
**** You appear to be on top of your game and will not tolerate interference. You need to screen calls and be selective as to who you have conversations with. Do not be surprised at a friend’s or loved one’s strength and conviction. Tonight: Make plans with friends.
Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22)
*** Take a stand if you think it will help. Others put a lot of pressure on you. They want certain results and want you to proceed in a certain direction. You might need to ex-plain to others where you are coming from. Tonight: A force to be dealt with.
Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21)
**** Feelings run high, and you might be more emotional than you think. Slow down and make careful choices that work for you. A relative or friend at a distance could give you powerful feedback. Tonight: Be willing to try a new spot.
Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21)
**** Break past a self-imposed restriction that you cannot get under control. You need to be more realistic about what you are capable of. Follow through on that path and you will suc-ceed. Tonight: Making the most of an offer.
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Born today: Former president Richard Nixon (1913), Duchess of Cambridge Catherine (Kate) Middleton (1982), writer/activist Simone de Beauvoir (1908)
home decor indoor gardening beauty tips taste buds
scallop pendant lantern barkeria lindleyana diagonal french nail art sausage-potato saladSupplies: Crape paper; scissors and glue gun
Instructions: Cut the crape paper in half and then trim off the corners to make one side a semi-circle. Glue the pieces on so that every other scallop was on top. The scallops have a nice loose look, so use as little glue as possible, just one little dot in each square corner of each piece. This left a nice loose look.
Barkeria lindleyana is native from Mexico south to Costa Rica. The flower stem emerges from a mature pseudobulb in the fall and produces be-tween 5 and 20 flowers. The flowers of Barkeria lindleyana are purple to lilac and are quite attrac-tive. Sepals and petals reflex back around the column. Sepals are twice as wide as petals. The lip is white with a darker spot and the base of the lip is heart-shaped.
Site: The plant requires plenty of diffused light and a brief period of rest after fading in the winter.
Temperature: 60-85°F.Water: Keep the soil evenly moist.
Required: Golden nail art pen; French manicure kit and gem stone sticker
Step 1: Using the golden nail art pen, draw a diagonal stroke from the right side corner of the nail going upwards.
Step 2: Paint the left side of the nail white.Step 3: To give it a more elegant look, stick a
gem stone sticker on the white section of the nail.Step 4: Top it off with a top coat to secure the
Method: Cook sausage and onion in oil over medium heat until browned. Add the vinegar, wa-ter, sugar, salt and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil, then add the potatoes and parsley. Crumble in half of the sausage. Heat through, then transfer to a serving dish. Crumble the remaining sausage over the top, and serve warm.
what’s on todaywhat’s on today emergency number 112
Civil ID info: 1889988Site for checking travel ban www.kuwaitcourts.gov.kw/mojweb/NGeneral/Main.jsp
THURSDAY
■ Expo at Dar Al Funoon: Dar Al Funoon is holding an exhibition by Abdul LatifAshkanani.
The exhibition will continue through to Jan 15, 2020.
Gallery hours Sunday to Thursday: 10 am-1pm and 4-8 pm
Saturday by appointment Getting to the gallery: AI Watiah,
Behbehani Compound, House 28. For additional information call +965 90088402
www .daralfunoon-kw. com❑ ❑ ❑
■ St Paul’s Church weekly activi-ties: English worship services on Fri-days at 10.30 am and on Sundays at 6.30 pm. The Friday English service has separate sessions for children and youth. A Mandarin language speaking congregations meets separately on Fri-days at 10.30 am in the Youth Centre at St Paul’s. A combined service with the English and Mandarin language con-gregations is held on the first Friday of every month. A family service is held on the second Friday of every month with presentations from different organs of the church. The Church of Pakistan has services in English every Thursday at St Paul’s at 5.35 pm and for Urdu language speaking members every Fri-day at Diwaniya of the NECK Centre, Kuwait City at 5.45 pm. Please contact Fr Michael Mbona on mobile 65960781 or call at Church house on 23985929 or email to [email protected] or [email protected] For Mandarin speaking congregation contact Revd Zhu Peijin on 99551783 and her email address is [email protected]
Contact person: Fr Michael Mbona Mobile: 65960781 Email: [email protected]
FRIDAY
■ Free IFRA coaching classes: Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) will be starting free refresher/coaching classes for existing referees, new recruits, those aspiring to be referees and even those who would like to learn about the laws of the game at IEAS – Salmiya (Don Bosco).
Classes will be from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm every Friday.
Those interested may call 99519439 or get in touch with any IFRA member for registration.
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■ Arnis/Eskrima training: Eskrimador-Kuwait a member of Cacoy Doce Pares World Federation now opens a new batch of training. Learn the Philippine national sports, which is Arnis/Eskrima with the authentic style and techniques. Training schedule will be every Friday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm @ Kaifan Sports Complex-Karate Gym. Text or call #50292148-Herms.
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■ FBC tournament: Filipino Badminton Committee (FBC) is inviting all badmin-ton enthusiast in Kuwait to join their regular badminton tournament being held every Friday from 8 am to 7 pm at Kuwait Disabled Sports Club, Bin Khaldoun Hawalli. Over 10 badminton courts are now available for badminton practices and tournament and it is open for all nationalities and from different badminton organizations. Exclusive-private court are also available on per
hour rental. For more information, please contact Dr Chie Umandap – 97197268
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■ UBC badminton tourney: United Badminton Club (UBC) is inviting all players and enthusiast of all nationalities to join their badminton tournament every Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. UBC offers 10 badminton courts for their tour-naments, where an exciting price awaits to the winners. And not just that, they also have raffle prizes for those who joined their tournaments. UBC also allowing exclusive badminton courts for hourly rentals. UBC is a newly-formed badminton club located at Street 9, Block 3, Fahaheel Sports Club, Fahaheel, Ahmadi Al Asimah Kuwait headed by Dennis Romeo Malay and Jimmy Carandang. For more information please contact the following number 6566753.
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■ Tagalog Khutba for Filipinos: The Ministry of Awqaf, Islam Presentation Committee, & Kuwait Philippine Cultural Center (KPC Center) invites all Filipino Muslim & Muslima to hear Khutba (Sermon) in Tagalog every Friday at Marzouq Al-Badr Mosque, Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq St (at the back of Ambassador Supermarket and SM Supermarket, near Salhiya Police Station & Kuwait Airways Bldg) in Kuwait City. There will be a com-munity started and lunch after Friday prayers at KPC Center in Farwaniya. For further information, please call KPC Center, Tel 4712574.
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■ Redeemed Christian Church: The Redeemed Christian Church of God (HOD Parish) worship in English.
Celebration Service: Friday 9 am – 11 am; Divine encounter: Sunday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Digging Deep (Bible studies): Tuesday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Night vigil every last Friday of the month from 10 pm.
Venue: New Mishref. For more infor-mation and direction please call 9927-6603, 6557-7482. Email: [email protected]
Bible Study – every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm.
ISOM – Batch 1 Class Tuesdays – 7 to 9 pm and Batch 2 Class Fridays – 4 to 6 pm.
Cottage Prayers – every 2nd and 4th Week.
Baptism Service – every 4th Friday.Welcome to all Tamil known people to
participate in our regular activities to worship the Lord in our own mother tongue and be blessed!
For details or for any prayer needs contact Tel No: 66920350 / 99432849.
Items for the What’s On page can be sent directly to the Arab Times, P.O. Box 2270, 13023, Safat or faxed to 24818267 or e-mail to [email protected]. All items on this page are published as a courtesy to the public. These announcements can include birthday greetings, weddings, social functions or any other non-commercial events. Photographs of all events are wel-come.
Dear AbbyCouple target of ridiculefor their healthy lifestyle
By Abigail Van Buren
Dear Abby: We need advice about how to respond to friends and family who poke fun or show disdain because of our healthy lifestyle. We are in our 60s. We rarely eat out, and when we do, we avoid fast food. We cook most of our meals with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, fish and chicken. We exercise regularly and have occa-sional treats. We have no chronic illnesses and aren’t on any medications.
For some reason, our food choices rub people the wrong way. If we are asked why we are in good health, we answer, “Over the years, we’ve learned
not to consume foods or bever-ages that make us feel bad.” If we’re invited out to eat and order the baked salmon with broccoli instead of the burger and fries, we hear, “Your diet is so boring.” We usually laugh and shrug it off, but we don’t think our diet is boring. We simply enjoy being healthy and know that food is “medicine.” Should we continue to keep our
mouths shut?
— Healthy LivingDear Healthy: YEP! Your friends and fam-
ily react the way they do because seeing you eat the way you do makes them feel self-con-scious about their own food choices. Continue laughing and shrugging to age 100. The oth-ers may not be as fortunate as you.
❑ ❑ ❑
Dear Abby: My girlfriend recently discovered that I am still talking to another girl I used to date. I’ll call her Kyra.
Kyra and I had agreed we would remain strictly friends, and the breakup was before I started dating my current girlfriend, “Jan.” Jan is devastated by this, and I can somewhat understand why. She got cheated on multiple times in her last relationship.
Do you think I was crossing a boundary by wanting to maintain the friendship with Kyra? Or should I have dropped it when I started dat-ing Jan? I’m asking you because everyone I talk to agrees with me, and everyone Jan talks to agrees with her. I assume it’s because peo-ple agree with whoever is telling the story. You are unbiased, and your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
— Doing The Right Thing In UtahDear Doing: There’s nothing wrong with
remaining friends after a breakup. Jan is in-secure because her last boyfriend cheated on her, and who can blame her? However, that is her problem, and you shouldn’t make it yours. Your mistake was not telling Jan when you first started dating that you are still in touch with Kyra - and that she’s a platonic friend, nothing more. Jan does not have the right to control your friendships, and you shouldn’t let it happen.
❑ ❑ ❑
Dear Abby: How do you cut off a person who talks constantly without a break? By the time there’s a lull in her speech, I have forgotten what I wanted to add to the conversation.
— Word In Edgewise In PennsylvaniaDear Word: I have encountered compulsive
talkers like her. They are exhausting. Remem-ber, she has to breathe sometime. The minute she starts to inhale, start talkin’!
❑ ❑ ❑
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Bu-ren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Con-tact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
(Source: Universal Uclick)
Abigail
A fl yer of the event
A fl yer of the event
Toastmasters in Kuwait Area E19, Dis-trict 20 invites all to the Annual Speech Contest and a fun-filled day of motiva-tional speeches, humorous speeches, games, raffle draws and much more at Arab Open University - Al Ardiya on Jan 11, from 12.00 pm to 7.00 pm.
It’s free! Open to publicTheme: All stars! All winners!You attend, you learn and you gain.
Learning at its best. Meet 8 speakers in 4 different categories compete.
Dress Code: Red and BlackPlease register at the thislink: https://
Kuwait Kerala Islahi Center has organ-ised a publicity event in Abbasiya for the upcoming 5th Islamic seminar titled ‘Reli-gion, Nationalism and Humanity’ near Far-waniya Garden from Feb 25-28.
KKIC Central Committee President PN Abdul Latheef Madani released the semi-nar campaign poster at the conference organised at Masjid Abdurahmanu Binu-Ouf Auditorium. The event also saw the launch of the seminar coupon, which was presented to Khalid Kanhangad.
President of Wisdom Youth Wing (Malappuram District) Harris Kayakodi, who has arrived in Kuwait for a short visit,
delivered the keynote address.Representatives of various organisa-
tions attended the event including Mush-taq Tirur, KMCC, MA Nissam, OICC, Nissar Kannamveli, Kerala Arts Lovers Association, Siddique Hassan, KIG, Ma-jeed Rawabi, KKMA, KA Saker, KKIC and Aslam Kappad, KKIC. Hafil Muhammad Aslam and Haroon Abdul Aziz spoke at the event.
Azam Alappuzha, President of Zonal Committee presided over the function, while Zonal General Secretary Salih Zubair delivered the welcome address and Jishad VV rendered the vote of thanks.
Toastmasters announces Annual Speech Contest
KKIC to hold fifth Islamic seminar
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
15
GeneralAWL registration: If you were interested in joining the American Women’s League (AWL) please check out their website, www.awlkuwait.org, or email them at [email protected]. American women over the age of 17 or wives of Americans are able to join. All other nationalities are welcome as associate members.
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Q8BBall Season 13: Q8BBall is be-ginning our 13th season with Boys U13 (ages 10-13) and U17 (ages 14-17). We train three times a week and play regular games throughout the year with schools and clubs. Contact Coach T 97128884 for information.
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Invitation to Grand Mosque: The Visits Department is pleased to invite you to visit the Grand Mosque, which is one of Kuwait’s most treasured religious and cultural landmarks to discover the beauty of Islamic arts and architecture. Free guided tours are available all year round on offi cial working days between (9-11 am) and (5-7 pm), within a special tour program designed to cater to the needs of different age groups. The program is as follows:
Reception; Auditorium show; (ac-cording to age group); Touring the Mosque; Q & A; Art workshops; (ac-cording to age group – between 5 and 18 years old); Snack break; Distribution of the Grand Mosque publications and souvenirs; End of tour.
According to these age groups:Age group: 5 to 9 years old: Morning:
Tour language: Arabic- English- French; Arabic (English upon prior request); Arabic- English- French; Ara-bic (English upon prior request); Arabic- English- French: Arabic (English upon prior request)
Rules and Regulations:■ Please arrive in time for your visit.■ All visitors are kindly required to abide by the mosque’s dress code. Male visitors should wear long pants. Shorts and sleeve-less shirts are not allowed. Female visitors: should wear head cover and long loose clothing (available at the mosque).■ Foods and drinks are not allowed inside the prayer halls.■ For school visits, teachers are respon-sible for their students and are required to cooperate with the staff members of the Grand Mosque.■ Photography is allowed inside the Grand Mosque (please note that disre-spectful poses are strictly prohibited).
If you would like to book a tour, please contact us:
Share your story with Amricani: Do you or any of your family members, acquaintances or friends happen to have a story with the American Missionary hospital in Kuwait (Mustashfa Lemrai-cani) during the years from 1914-1967, the offi cial period of offering medical services in Kuwait?
Please share with us your story or your memory during those old days by writing the event and sending it to the following email address: [email protected]
Notes: 1. Please send your story only to the above mentioned email. Story shared in Instagram, Facebook or Twit-ter will not be considered.
2. Please write your story or memory and sign it with your full name, and your contact number.
3. It will be great if you send us your personal photos or those of the place related to the story (optional).
Your story will be part of a new book to be published by DAI.
I am confi dent that your contributions will be an essential part of the history of Amricani. Share with us!
click
Continued from Page 12
Continued on Page 18
■ Kuwaiti budget carrier Jazeera Airways has revealed plans to move to an all-econ-omy fleet configuration with the launch of three new fare categories from Jan 8.
The move to economy will apply to all routes, except flights to Cairo, while the three categories include Economy Class: Light, Value and Extra.
Business Class on Jazeera Airways never made sense anyway since they were the exact same seats as economy, just sold at double the price.
(Source: Posted by Mark, 248am.com, Jan 8, 2020)
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■ Faisal Al-Kharafi goes by the instagram handle @porsche_collector and has one of the rarest Porsche collections in the world. His instagram account has over 200,000 followers and his home garage is inspired by Iron Man. Dennis Collins (from the TV series Fast N’ Loud) was in Kuwait back in 2015 for the Kuwait Concoursd’Elegance and while here he got a tour of Faisal’s ga-rage which you can watch above. Since 2015 Faisal has added more porsches to his collection which you can check out on his instagram account.
While in Kuwait Dennis also shot some other episodes including the one which is a tour of another garage, not sure who’s garage but it has two mint condition Ram-bo-Lambo’s and a red hot Countach! If anyone know’swho’s garage that is let me know and hook me up with a tour!
For more episodes check out Dennis’s youtube page.
(Source: Posted by Mark, 248am.com, Jan 7, 2020)
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■ Nick Ingman is an English arranger, composer and conductor who’s worked with a lot of musicians including Blur, Oasis, Madonna, Elton John and even worked with Radiohead on ‘OK Computer‘ which is one of my favorite albums ever. I hadn’t heard of Nick until a few days ago when a reader made me aware that his 1976 album ‘Terminator’ used the Kuwait Water Towers on the cover. Since it was released around the same time the water towers were completed, this might have been the first time the water towers were ever used in an artwork.
I found three copies of this record on eBay, I just bought one and so there are two more left if you’re interested in picking one up.
(Source: Posted by Mark, 248am.com, Jan 7, 2020)
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■ Someone on Reddit noticed that Murouj have an “I … Kuwait” message written on top of one of the roofs. Not sure if you can see it from a plane as you’re landing or leaving Kuwait, but it shows clearly when you view Murouj on Google Maps.
I wonder if there are any other secret messages around Kuwait?
(Source: Posted by Mark, 248am.com, Jan 6, 2020)
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■ If you’ve wanted to know the story of Kuwait’s stock market crash in the 80s, NPR released a short 9 minute podcast about it a few days ago. Here is the de-scription of the podcast:
In the early 1980s, Kuwait’s unofficial stock market - run out of a parking garage on the site of an old camel market - was the third largest in the world, second only to the US and Japan. But then, in an in-stant, it all came crashing down, plunging Kuwait into a brutal recession that would last for nearly a decade. How is it that a simple financial innovation could create such vast wealth and such devastating chaos? And what can it teach us about the fundamental forces at the heart of modern capitalism?
Today on The Indicator: the story of the Souk al-Manakh and one of the greatest stock bubbles of all time. Source
If you want to listen to it search for “THE INDICATOR FROM PLANET MONEY” podcast in your favorite podcast player or listen to it below.
(Source: Posted by Mark, 248am.com, Jan 6, 2020)
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■ A Kuwaiti makeup artist was accused of racism after she posted a video and a picture of herself painted in dark makeup,
in what critics condemned as blackface.Ghadeer Sultan first posted a short video
clip on her Instagram page on Wednesday, with the song We Are the World playing in the background, showcasing her different looks in a range of skin colours and wigs.
She then posted a photo of herself in blackface, which has garnered more than 44,000 likes.
Sultan’s page, which has two million fol-lowers, was then inundated with comments denouncing her blackface while others ar-gued she had done nothing wrong.
This happened last week and I thought with all the negativity she’d end up remov-ing the photos and videos but she hasn’t yet. Not only that but she’s also been reposting all the negative news articles about her that are being published in the media into her instagram story. So not really sure what to think about all of this. I hadn’t heard of her until last week but don’t think she’s actually racist, just unaware that blackfacing can be deemed offensive.
After the photos and videos went viral she posted the following statement and apology yesterday on her story (spelling mistakes fixed):
I’m sorry, I can see how blackface event must have been frustrating for you. I ap-preciate how difficult it must have been for you to deal with blackface. However it was absolutely not in my intention…
I was trying to show how artists could show things in a professional way.
I am professional artists and I did my
best to show the beauty in colors..the people and my millions of followers who knows me would definitely know what I’ve meant by doing this and what is my feel-ings towards all people’s and all colors.
Thanks for alerting me to blackface. I recognized that this can’t have been an easy thing to deal with and I’m so sorry that I have caused you to feel humiliations however on the contrary I looked more beautiful in my dark colors…
I’ve tried to explain several times why and how I’ve done this and what was my goal behind it, but I can’t really change the sensitivity behind the whole issue.
You were absolutely right to bring this to my attention, so I can immediately resolve any issues or any misunderstanding with my loved followers...
I will try everything I can to get this fixed and live with all people with love joy and peace once again … I am fully committed to my followers to show how artists could make your life peaceful and beautiful...
I will work on resolving the miss under-standing and I will be careful in approach-ing or touching another culture, so we can all enjoy the beauty behind the arts..
Love u allI think she’s the only influencer that’s
made the news for something negative and then apologized. But, she still hasn’t removed the video or any of the blackface photos and don’t think she will.
(Source: Posted by Mark, 248am.com, Jan 5, 2020)
Overheard in the Soukthe grapevine
Tongues Wag
Homes
This undated photo shows Anthropologie’s Adriana velvet chair. The chair is 70s-era rust hue, is a comfy, cushy nod to the groovy decor trend. (AP)
‘Sometimes it’s the little things that bring the look home’
It’s that ’70s and ’80s show in home decorBy Kim Cook
You’ve probably noticed it in clothing stores: racks and
shelves full of high-waisted flares, rib-knit turtlenecks, acid green sweatshirts and disco ball metal-lics. It’s that ’70s – and ’80s – show.
These two fashion trends have, as usual, worked their way into home decor as well.
“Right now, in home design, it feels like a total ’70s takeover,” says Apartment Therapy’s Dani-elle Blundell. “This time period had two pretty distinct things go-ing on – boho hippie vibes and glam, glitzy disco feels. Which means you can probably find a way to work something ’70s into your home no matter your aes-thetic.”
Watch for patchwork and peas-ant prints, fringe and earthy hues. Shaggy, textured woven rugs. Modernist wall art. Rattan etageres and side tables.
One of the hallmarks of the 1980s was Memphis style. Start-ed by Austrian-born but Italian-raised architect Ettore Sottsass, it was characterized by squiggle
and geometric pattern, mixing of pastels with black and brights, and an overall playful, whimsi-cal approach. Sottsass and his team designed for Fiorucci, Alessi and Esprit among others, and Karl Lagerfeld and Bowie were collectors.
Designer Sasha Bikoff cre-ated a buzz-worthy Memphis-inspired staircase for the 2018 Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse in Manhattan. New Yorker Raquel Cayre manages an Ins-tagram account dedicated to all things Sottsass, and even created a temporary space in Soho called Raquel’s Dream House, chock full of Memphis themed interior décor.
Memphis originals are pricey, but you can find referential deco-rative items that are affordable. Street brand Supreme offers cloth-ing and skateboard decks; designer Ellen Van Dusen’s Brooklyn-based eponymous company makes clothing and home goods featuring her own versions of Memphis pat-tern.
Surfaces Imola Ceramica has the Pop
collection of ceramic tile, with Roy Lichtenstein-inspired art comics printed on subway-style tile. Their Let It Bee collection features groovy, semi-circular, tone-on-tone designs in brick red, indigo, apple green and dark yellow.
Designer/architect Luca An-drisani has designed a collection for New York Cement Tile called Geometrika. Inspired by midcen-tury op art, there are retro hues, square and rectangular shapes, and eye-catching optical illusion patterns. Walker Zanger has Australian designer Pietta Dono-van’s hip new ’70s-patterned tile collection.
At www.spoonflower.com you’ll find several peel and stick wallpapers and fabric by the yard with Memphis style or leopard prints. Here as well are ’70s-style florals in wall coverings and fabric.
European bathware designers have been featuring pedestal sinks, toilets and tubs in colors like cran-berry, moss, mustard, teal and pink – colors that would have been des-tined for the bin a few years ago. Here in North America, eBay and
salvage sites like Retro Renovation are good places to source vintage wares. For new products, Aquatica USA has roomy resin tubs in dark red or moss green with white inte-rior, while Bella Stone’s got a fun one in fire-engine red.
Accessories Check out www.roostery.com
for whimsical ’70s-style fruit and vegetable prints, geometrics and paisleys in soft goods like napery and throw pillows.
Sometimes it’s the little things that bring the look home. Atomic starburst knobs, for example; and www.zazzle.com has several pat-terns. Cabinet and doorknob back-plates come in starry shapes at www.rejuvenation.com.
At www.dusendusen.com, find soft furnishings printed with bold check, dot, stripe, cutout and squiggle patterns. There are pat-terned pet beds, pillows and show-er curtains, too.
FurnitureIn a collaboration with Lon-
don-based Soho Home, Anthro-pologie offers the Adriana chair; in a deep terracotta velvet, the chubby, channel-seamed silhou-
ette echoes Italian postmodern design. Kardiel’s curvy Miranda gold-velvet two-seater has an Austin Powers flair.
At Beam, you’ll find simple yet stylish chairs and tables made of powder-coated steel, hard-wood and performance fabrics, part of a collaboration between Gus*Modern and LUUM inspired by the Memphis Group’s color pal-ette.
ModShop has a treasure trove of options, including the Chubby 2 lounge chair that swivels on a brass-clad base, and the St Ger-main side table and credenza, with an abstract, patterned front in poppy colors, perched on chunky acrylic legs.
Ball-shaped and half-dome lighting in matte and polished metallics reference the ’70s, as do embossed ceramic bases and cane and rattan fixtures. Look for combinations of pyramids, squares and balls, as well as thick glass circle shapes in ’80s-style fixtures. CB2, Urban Outfitters and All Modern have well-priced designs, while Chairish and 1stDibs are good places to hunt for vintage pieces. (AP)
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
16
PET PALACE people & their pets
Look out for the Arab Times series, the Pet
Palace, and read about how people and their animals enrich each other’s
lives.
The Palace welcomes
submissions by our readers. If
you’d like to tell the world about your pet, send us a photograph and accompanying
article for publication.— Editor
In this Dec 27, 2019 photo, Pete and Pat Sam-mataro help their 4-year-old Australian shep-herd mix, Louie, who was born without his two front legs, with his cart that was designed by UW-Madison engineering students, in the front
yard of their home in Madison, Wis. (AP)
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC, Jan 8, (AP): A man whose dog was stolen during a truck theft in South Carolina found his beloved pet’s body alongside a highway.
Ben Brengle found the body of his 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever mix named Bella early Sunday, Charleston police spokes-person Karley Ash told WCSC-TV. Her body was just blocks from the North Charleston store where she and Brengle’s truck were sto-len days before Christmas.
It was a cold and rainy day when Brengle left Bella in his truck with the engine running as he ran into a home improvement store to buy some lumber. By the time the contractor returned only minutes later, he said Bella and his truck were gone.
Richard Rawlings Jr., 37, was arrested and charged with possessing the stolen vehicle last week, new outlets reported. Bella got out of the truck at a nearby mall, and a man re-cently reported feeding her near the embank-ment of the 52 Connector, Brengle said.
Brengle camped out in the area Satur-day night, hoping to find her. He found the body hours later. No additional charges in the case have been filed against Rawlings, police said.
Brengle had posted information about Bella on social media, and thousands quickly followed the related Instagram and Facebook pages.
After Bella’s body was found, Brengle posted a plea to the “Find Bella of Charleston SC” Facebook page sharing photos of miss-ing dogs.
“In honor of all The Lost Dogs sent to us during Bella’s search,” he wrote. “We pray they all fi nd their way home.”
“It was about fi nding Bella,” Brengle said, according to the station. “Now that I found her, it’s about paying it forward. It’s about trying to use this as a movement.”
He had offered a $10,000 reward for her safe return. He now plans to hold a service for Bella at Sullivan’s Island once he has her
ashes, The Post & Courier reported.❑ ❑ ❑
A Florida man was hoping for a Christmas miracle when his dog was attacked by another animal, and a team of veterinarians provided it.
The heart of Gerald Ford’s 1-year-old French bulldog Neo stopped beating follow-ing the attack on Christmas Eve. In a rare oc-currence, veterinarians at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine were able to revive Neo. Research suggests that animals whose hearts have given out live full, healthy lives only 5% percent of the time.
The team of veterinarians who worked on Neo said he will be among them, although he did need a leg to be amputated.
“Typically when an animal passes and comes back, they have to be on a mechanical ventilator, a breathing machine,” Dr. Bobbi Conner, a University of Florida professor and vet specializing in emergency medicine told The Gainesville Sun.
Kuwait Bus Routes and Numbers
The following are Kuwait bus routes and corresponding numbers. All routes, bus numbers and stops are the same with all bus companies (City Bus, KPTC and KGL). Bus schedule is between 4:20 am and 10:25 pm, except for buses X1, X2, X3, X4 and X5 which run 24 hours. Minimum fare charge is 0.200 fils and maximum is 0.350 fils. Buses are widely
used by expats due to its cheap fares.
A1
A2
A3
A4
X1
X2
X3
x4
X5
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
21
21A
23
23A
24
25
26
34
38
39
39A
40
40A
41
44
51
55
59
66
66X
77
77X
88
99
101
102
103
105
105A
106
106X
139
205
500
501
502
506
507
555
602
747
999
Salmiya to Avenues
Khaitan to Riggae
Salmiya Palace to Avenues
Fahaheel to Av-enues
Fahaheel to Airport
Salmiya to Airport
Bneid Al Gar to Airport
Riggae to Airport
Airport To Jahra
Sharq to Amghara
Sharq to Sulaibiya
Mirqab to Khaitan to Airport
Mirqab to Messila
Maliya to Salmiya
Maliya to Khaitanto Jleeb
Sharq to Salmiya
Mirqab to UN Circle
UN Cirlce to Salmiya
Mirqab to Jleeb
Sharq to Farwaniya
Mirqab to Khaitan to Subhan
Mirqab to Khaitan to Civil Id Office
Mirqab to Salmiya to Messila
Jabriya to Jahra
Sharq to Sulaibiya
UN Circle to Civil ID Office to Salmiya
Maliya to Da’ahiya
Sharq to Jleeb to
Khaitan to Subhan
Sharq to Fahaheel
UN Circle to Fahaheel
UN Circle to Khaitan
Sharq to Subhan
Sharq to Jleeb
Maliya to Salmiya
Mirqab to Hasawi
Salmiya to Hasawi
Salmiya to Khaitan
Salmiya to Khaitan
Salmiya to Ardiya
Salmiya to Jleeb
Airport to Jleebto Civil ID Office
Mirqab Civil ID Of-fice to Fahaheel
Maliya to Fahaheel
Mirqab to Jahra
Fahaheel to Hasawi
Fahaheel to Hasawi
Jleeb to Civil ID Of-fice to Fahaheel
Jleeb to Fahaheel
Maliya to UN Circle
Fahaheel to BneidAl Gar
Jleeb to Abdaly
Mirqab to Airport
Fahaheel to Mirqab
Jleeb to Maliya
Sharq to Jleeb
Maliya to Hassawi
Fahaheel to Ahmadi
Hasawi to Jleebto Airport
Maliya to Fahaheel
Salmiya Khansa Street – Mughira Street – Apollo Hospital – 4th Ring Rd – Sul-tan Centre, Shuwaikh – Al Rai – Avenues
Khaitan, Farwaniya, Al Rai, The Avenues, Riggae
Salmiya Palace – Cairo Street – Hawally – Jabriya – 4th Ring Road – Al Rai – Avenues
Fahaheel – Avenues From Fahaheel – Mangaf – Abu Halifa – Mahaboula – Fin-tas – Messilah – 360 Mall – Lulu – Shuwaikh – Center Point – Al Rai – Avenues
Airport Express - CITY BUS (24 hours, Wifi, Luggage Area, USB charging point)Fahaheel, Central, Hilton Hotel, Sultan Center Mangaf, Abu Halifa Co-Op, Ma-
haboula, Lulu Exchange, Aliya Hospital, Fintas, London Hospital, Fintas Police Station, Fintas Co-Op, Egaila, Mubarak Al Kabeer, Airport
Airport Express - CITY BUS (24 hours, Wifi, Luggage Area, USB charging point)Salmiya, Salmiya Club, GAD Rest., Khansa St., Al Aman Indian School, Mughira
St., Apollo Hosptal, 3rd Ring Rd, Shaab Park, Promenade Mall, Maidan Hawally, Baghdad St., Al Sadiq Roundabout, Tunis St., Canary Rest., Royal Hayat Hospital, 4th Ring Rd., Hawally Traffic Dept., Rd No. 50, Airport
Airport Express CITY BUS (24 hours, Wifi, luggage area, USB charging point)Bneid Al Gar, Al Kharafi St, Al Salam Int’l Hospital, Dasman, Al Shuhada St, Al
Ahmad Al Jaber St, Sharq, Mirqab, JW Marriott Hotel, Fahad Salem St, Maliya, 1st Ring Rd, Road No 50, Riyadh Rd, Khaldiya University, 5th Ring Road, Airport Road No 55, Kuwait Zoo, Farwaniya Stadium, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Airport
Airport Express CITY BUS (24 hours, Wifi, luggage area, USB charging point)Riggae, Ramada Hotel, Al Omooma Hospital, Al Dallah Supermarket, 5th Ring
Road, Avenues, Rabiya, Ghazali Rd 60, Ali Fahad Al Dewailah St 300, Farwaniya Police Station, Habeeb Munawer St, Metro Farwaniya, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Abu Dhabi St, Ibrahim Bin Adham St, Khaitan, Khaitan Park, Bin Zuhair St, American School, Awtad Complex, Muscat St, Khaitan Police Station, Airport Rd 55, Airport
Airport – Farwaniya – Khaitan Cinema – Lulu – Hospitals Area – UN Circle – Sulaibikhat, Amghara, Jahra
Shuhada St., Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber St., Dasman Roundabout, Sharq Police Station, Darwazah, Mirqab, Safat Square, Fahad Al Salem St., Jahra Rd 50, 2nd Ring Rd, Jamal Abdul Nasser St, Shuwaikh Port, Kuwait University, Sabha Hospi-tals, Al Razi Orthopedic Hospital, Ministry of Social Affairs, Un Circle, Jahra Rd 80, Sulaibhikat, Amghara Industrial Area, KPTC garage
Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber St., Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Shuhada St., Mirqab, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, Jahra Rd, Aiport Rd, Kuwait University, 4th Ring Rd, Riggai, UN Roundabout, Al Andalus, Sabah Al Nasser, Sulaibiya
Mirqab, Educational Science Museum, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, City Center, Lulu, Omariya, Osaimi Hospital, American School, Khaitan Garden, Khaitan Police Station, Khaitan, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, Airport
Maliya, Mirqab, Sharq, Darwazah, Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Istiqlal St., Embas-sies, 30 Rd, 4th Ring Rd, Shaab, Maidan Hawally, Salmiya Fire Station, Apollo Hospital, MOE, Al Mugirah St., Qatar St., Salem Al Mubarak St., Sultan Center, Kuwait Palace Hotel, French School
Maliya, Fahad Al Salem St., Sharq, Darwazah, Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Al Hamra, Istiqlal St., Dasma, Embassies, Daiya, MoC Hawalli, Dar Al Shifa Hospi-tal, Rehab Complex, Rawda, Adaliya, Qortuba, Yarmouk, Khaitan Sports, Khaitan Station, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, Dajeej, Jleeb Co-Op, Abbassiya, German Clinic, Jleeb Roundabout
Sharq, Sharq Police Station, Darwazah, Riyadh St., Faiha Co-op, Adaliya Co-Op, Rawda, North Nugra Complex, Hawally, Mubarak Hospital, 4th Ring Rd, Salmiya Fire Station, Salmiya Garden
Mirqab, Darwazah, Cairo St., Tunis St., Dowra Sadiq Hawalli, 4th Ring Rd., Royal Hayat, Airport Rd 55, Canada Dry St., Toyota Spare Parts, Shuwaikh Sabah Hospitals, UN Circle
UN Circle, Sabah Hospitals, 601 Rd, Shahrazad Roundabout, Canada Dry St., Toyota Spare Parts, McDonald’s, 3rd Ring Rd, Plaza Complex Hawally, Beirut St., Dar Al Shifa Hospital, Tunis St., Best Al Yousifi, Al Bahar Center, 4th Ring Rd, Salmiya Fire Station, Amman St., Apollo Pharmacy, Al Mughira Bin Shu’ba St., Boulevard Park, Salmiya Park, Al Amal Indian School, Al Khansa St., Holiday Inn Salmiya
Mirqab, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, Jahra Rd, City Center, Airport Rd, Lulu, Khaldiya Rd 55, Omariya, Farwaniya Fire Station, Farwaniyah Co-op, Metro, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, Dajeej, Jleeb Co-Op, Abbassiya, German Clinic, Jleeb Roundabout
Sharq, Darwaza, Fahad Al Salem St, Maliya, Jahra Rd, Kuwait Sports Club, Airport Rd, Lulu Hypermarket, Rd 55, Omariya, Farwaniya Fire Station, Metro, Far-waniya
Mirqab, Libaration Tower, Muthanna Complex, Maliya, Soor St., 50 Rd, King Faisal Road, Riyadh Rd, Khaldia, 5th Ring Rd, Kuwait Zoo, 55 Rd, Khaitan Police Station, Muscat St., American School, Khaitan Garden, Khaitan Clinic, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, Subhan
Mirqab, Libaration Tower, Muthanna Complex, Maliya, Soor St., 50 Rd, King Faisal Road, Riyadh Rd, Khaldia, 5th Ring Rd, Kuwait Zoo, 55 Rd, Khaitan Police Station, Muscat St., American School, Khaitan Garden, Khaitan Clinic, Abu Dhabi Stop, Civil ID Office (PACI)
Mirqab, Darwazah, Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Soor St., 40 Rd., 2nd Ring Rd., Qadisiya Coop, 3rd Ring Rd., Khaldoun St. Hawalli, Beirut St., Tunis St., 4th Ring Rd., Salmiya Fire Station, Amman St., 5th Ring Rd., Rumaithiya, Ta’awan St., Messila
Jabriya, Hawalli, Jahra Gate
Sharq, Dasman, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, Airport Rd, Kuwait Club, Canada Dry St., UN Roundabout, Anndalus, Firdoous Co-Op, Sabah Al Naser Co-Op, Su-laibiya
UN Circle, Sabah Hospitals, 601 Rd, Shahrazad Roundabout, Canada Dry St., Toyota Spare Parts, McDonald’s, Airport Rd 55, Al Rai Lulu, Friday Market, Omariya, Farwaniyah Fire Station, Farwaniyah Coop, Metro Complex, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, Khaitan, 50 Rd, 360 Mall, Civil ID Office (PACI), 6th Ring Rd, Messila, 30 Rd, Salwa Coop, Bidea Roundabout, Al Seef Hospital, Al Blajat St., Salmiya
Maliya, Fahad Al Salem St., Darwazah, Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Shuhada St., Is-tiqlal, 3rd Ring Rd., Tunis St., Canary Hawally, Jabriya Coop, Bayan Coop, Mishref Coop, Da’ahiya Sabah Al Salem
Sharq, Mirqab, Maliya, City Center, Lulu, Airport Rd, 4th Ring Rd, Plant Nursu-
ries, Shuwaikh Fire Station, National Guard Super Market, Ardiya, Firdous Co-op, Riggai, Farwaniya Hospital, Hasawi, Jleeb Roundabout, German Clinic, Abbassi-ya, Jleeb Co-op, Farwaniya Co-op, Khaitan, Subhan
UN Circle, Shuwaikh, Ghazali, Farwaniyah, Khaitan, Subhan, Qurain, Egaila, Fintas, Abu Halifa, Fahaheel
UN Circle, Jamal Abdul Nasser St., Mohd Bin Qasim Street, Al Rai, Ghazali, Farwaniyah, Khaitan
Sharq, Maliya, City Center, 3rd Ring Rd, Canada Dry St., Al-Watan, National Guard HQ, Farwaniyah, Farwaniyah Co-op, Metro, Khaitan, Pepsi Co, Al-Baqli, Subhan Hospital, Kuwait Flour Mills, ABC Co, Subhan
Sharq, Mirqab, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, Jahra Rd, City Center, Airport Rd, Lulu, Khaldiya Rd 55, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, Dajeej, Jleeb Co-op, Abbassiya, German Clinic, Jleeb Roundabout
Maliya, Municipality Garden, Bank District, Flex Gym, Embassies, Daiya, Al Rawda, Hawalli, Rehab Complex, Al Bahar, Apollo Hostipal, Salmiya Co-op, Salmiya Sports, Salmiya
Mirqab, Maliya, City Center, Canada Dry St., Al Watan, Toyota Spare Parts, Center Point Al Rai, Ardiya Industrial Area, Rabya, Hasawi, Jleeb Roundabout
Salmiya, Sultan Center, Zahra Complex, Shaab Park, Al Bahar, Rehab Com-plex, Hawally Eng School, Qortuba, 4th Ring Rd, Lulu, Friday Market, Farwaniya Fire Station, Farwaniya Co-Op, Holiday Inn, 6th Ring Rd, Dajeej, Hasawi
Salmiya, Al Mughira St, Qortuba, 4th Ring Road, Lulu Hypermarket, Farwaniya Fire Station, Holiday Inn, 6th Rind Road, Hassawi
Salmiya, Salmiya Sports, Salmiya Co-Op, Apollo Hospital, Al Bahar, Rehab, Dar Al Shi-fa Hospital, MOC Hawally, Nugra, 3rd Ring Rd, Adaliya, PAEET Headquarters, Canada Dry St., Al Watan, Toyota Spare Parts, London Shopping, Al Naki, Sultan Center, Safat Alghanim, Lulu, Khaitan Police Station, Awtad Mall, Khaitan Garden, Khaitan
Salmiya, Salmiya Khansa St, Qatar St, Mughira, Apollo Hospital, 4th Ring Road, Shuwaikh, Canada Dry St, 4th Ring Road, Riggae, Ardiya
Salmiya, Gad Rest., Apollo Hospital, Shaab Park, Rehab Complex, Al Rawda Co-Op, Al Sadiq Roundabout, Rawda, Adaliya, 4th Ring Rd, Al Watan, Canada Dry St., Toyota Spare, Al Naki, Sultan Center, Safat Alghanim, Al Rai, Cen-ter Point, 60 Rd, 6th Ring Rd, Jleeb Co-Op, Abbassiya, German Clinic, Jleeb Round About
Airport, Jleeb Co-op, Abbassiya, German Clinic, Jleeb Roundabout, Hasawi, Rabya, Ardiya Industrial Area, National Guard HQ, Toyota Spare, Canada Dry St., Al Watan, Lulu, Friday Market, Farwaniyah Fire Station, Farwaniyah Co-op, Holiday Inn, Khaitan, Al Zahra, South Surra, Civil ID Office (PACI)
Mirqab, Maliya, Jahra Rd, City Center, Airport Rd, Lulu, 6th Ring Rd, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, South Surra, Civil ID Office (PACI), Sabah Al Salem, Qurain, West Fintas, Al Sabahiya, Mecca St., Daboos St., Fahaheel
Maliya, Municipality Garden, Bank District, Flex Gym, Embassies, Daiya, Khaldoun St., Cairo St., Hadi Clinic, Bayan, Mishref, Salwa, Messila, Sabah Al Salem, Funaitees, Egaila, Fintas, Mahaboula, Abu Halifa, Hel Sports Club, Indian Internal School, Faha-heel Sports Club, Niaf Chicken, Fahaheel Central Market, All Mulla, Fahaheel
Mirqab, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, Jahra Rd, City Center, Al Tilal Complex, Ghazali Bridge, Risco, Army General HQ, Traffic Dept., KGL PT Office, UN Circle, Infectious Diseases Hospital, Andalous, Sulaibhikat, Doha, Amghara Camp, 80 Rd, Jahra Sports, Jahra Roundabout, Kuwait Flour Mill, Jahra Co-Op, MOC Jahra
Fahaheel, Mecca St, Mangaf, Abu Halifa, Coastal Rd, Al Aqeela, Qurain, Daayia Sabah Al Salem, South Surra, (PACI), 6th Ring Road, New Khaitan, Canada Dry St, Hassawi
Fahaheel, Abu Halifa, Mangaf, Mahboula, Fintas, Sabah Al Salem, Khaitan, Lulu Hypermarket, Canada Dry St, Hassawi
Hasawi, Jleeb Roundabout, German Clinic, Abbassiya, Jleeb Co-op, 6th Ring Rd, 60 Rd, Farwaniyah Co-Op, Metro, Holiday Inn, Khaitan, Al Zahra, South Surra, PACI, 360 Mall, Messila, Sabah Al Salem, Funaitees, Egaila, Fintas, Mahaboula, Abu Halifa, Fahaheel
Hassawi, Jleeb Roundabout, German Clinic, Abbassiya, Jleeb Co-op, 6th Ring Road, 60 road, Farwaniya Co-op, Metro, Holiday Inn, Khaitan, Messila, Sabah Al Salem, Funaitees, Egaila, Fintas, Mahboula, Abu Halifa, Fahaheel
Maliya, Fahad Al Salem St., Sharq, Darwazah, Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Shuhada St., Istiqlal, 3rd Ring Rd, Da’ahiya, Canada Dry St., Mohd. Bun Qasem St., 5th Ring Rd, 4th Ring Rd, UN Circle
Fahaheel, Souk Fahaheel, King Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rehman Rd., St. 220, Connecting Kheiran & Al-Zour Block 7 right parallel to Chalet, St. 270, King Fahad Rd., St. 285, King Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz Rd., Beneidar
KPTC Bus Depot (Hasawi), 602 Road, Farwaniya Hospital, 6th Ring Road, Kuwait Shooting Federation, Doha Road, Jahra Road (80 No Road), Trolley Convenience Store, Mutlaa Police Station, New Abdaly Supermar-ket, Abdaly
Mirqab, Maliya, Jahra Rd, City Center, Airport Rd, Lulu, Farwaniyah Fire Station, Farwaniyah Co-Op, Metro, Holiday Inn Farwaniyah, 6th Ring Rd, Dajeej, 60 Rd, Airport
Hasawi, 6th Ring Rd, Holiday Inn, Farwaniyah Co-op, South Khaitan, Airport Rd, 4th Ring Rd, Tunis Street, 3rd Ring Rd, Istiqlal St., Embassies, Soor St., Darwaza, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya
Mirqab, Fahad Al Salem St., Maliya, Jahra Rd, City Center, Airport Rd, Al Watan, Canada Dry St., Toyota Spare, Al Naki, Sultan Center, Safat Alghanim, Al Rai, Center Point, 60 Rd, 6th Ring Rd, Jleeb Co-Op, Abbassiya, German Clinic, Jleeb Roundabout
Maliya, Darwazah, Mubarak Al Kabeer St., Awqaf Tower, Cairo St., Istiqlal St., Dwora Sadiq Hawally, Beirut St., Tunis St., 4th Ring Rd, Khaitan, PACI (Civil ID Office)
Fahaheel, Ahmadi
Hasawi, Jleeb Roundabout, German Clinic, Abbassiya, 100 Rd, Airport, Farwaniyah
Maliya, Bank Street, Flex Gym, Embassies, Shaab Park, Apollo Hospital, Salmi-ya Co-Op, Kuwait Karate Fed., Holiday Inn, Shaikha Complex, Al Bedda Round-about, Movenpick, Radisson, Salwa, Messila, Sabah Al Salem, Egaila, Fintas, Ku-wait Magic Mall, Abu Halifa, Mangaf, Fahaheel
Cinema programme from Thursday 09/01/2020 to Wednesday 15/01/2020
Cinema
Photos from the event
‘HSSE Excellence for Sustainable Business’
ASSP Kuwait organizes HSSE professional development conference 2019KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), Kuwait Chapter is an ISO certified premier voluntary, non-profit making Health, Safety and Environmental organization, which strives to provide pro-fessional guidance, training, consultancy and resources to the industrial and social sectors in the region.
As a part of continuous efforts in its professional jour-ney, ASSP Kuwait Chapter has organized the 10th International HSSE & Loss Prevention Professional Development Conference (PDC) and Exhibition on Dec 17 and Dec 18, 2019 under the patronage of Dr Khaled Ali Al-Fadhel, Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water State of Kuwait,
The 2-day conference with the theme “HSSE Excellence for Sustainable Business” was inaugurated by Sheikh Dr Nemer Al Sabah, Under Secretary, Ministry of Oil repre-sentative of His Excellency Minister of Oil & Minister of Electricity & Water, State of Kuwait
The inaugural session was attended by Waleed Al Bader,
CEO, KNPC, Mohammad Husain, Ms Wafaa Al Zaabi, MD, Planning & Finance, KPC, Hatem Al-Awadhi Acting CEO, KIPIC, Abdul Aziz Al Duaij, DCEO, Support Services, KNPC, Ms Diana Stegall, President, ASSP USA, Ian Taylor, CEO, NEBOSH several other dignitaries from oil sector companies, Director 1, Region IX, ASSP, Ashok Garlapati, Director, BCSP and other distinguished guests.
Conference Core committee members Engr Fadhel Al Ali, Chairman ASSP Kuwait, Engr Faris Al Mansouri, Conference Director, Golamari Sampath Reddy, Conference Deputy Director, Eng Ahmad Esmail, Head, Conference Strategy, Jignesh Shah, Head Conference Proceedings and Sunil Sadanandan, President, ASSP Kuwait Chapter, who played key role in organizing this mega international conference had received the dignitaries & guests.
Eng Fares Al Mansouri, Conference Director delivered his address on behalf of ASSP Kuwait Chapter on the con-ference overview along with video capsule which show-cased the highlights of the conference, which is organized
by the ASSP volunteer efforts of the Chapter’s members.The inauguration featured keynote speeches by Waleed
Al Bader, CEO, KNPC and Mohammad Husain and Ms Diana Stegall, President ASSP, USA. At the end of the inaugural ceremony all the dignitaries, major sponsors and conference core committee members were recognized with memento. During this ceremony, Muhammad Alamgir the past president of the Chapter was awarded as the chapter safety professional of the year – 2019. The ceremony was concluded with a thanking speech by Eng Ahmad Esmail, Head – Conference Strategy. Later, the dignitaries inaugu-rated the conference exhibition.
After the inaugural ceremony an executive panel discus-sion was held with the participation of Abdulaziz Ahmed Al-Duaij, DCEO, Support Services, KNPC, Hamad Al Subaie, DCEO, Manufacturing & Marketing, PIC, Ms Diana Stegall, CSP, CFPS, ALCM, CPCU, ARM, President, ASSP, USA, Ian Taylor, CEO, NEBOSH. The moderator was Larry Wilson, Safe Start, USA.
During the two-day conference, three symposiums on Process Safety Management, HSE Regulations in Kuwait, Energy Management, three plenary sessions, ten concurrent Technical sessions on topic related to the Occupational Health & Industrial Hygiene, Process Safety, Personal Safety, Fire Safety, Environmental Engineering & Management, Loss Prevention, Industrial Security, Behavior Based Safety (BBS), Ergonomics etc were presented. E-poster exhibition on vari-ous topics were presented. During the two days, a total of 60 plus papers were presented with participation of more than 600 delegates, visitors and guests
As part of this two–day conference, an exclusive session for women professionals was organized by WISE commit-tee on Dec 18. Around 50 HSE professionals attended the event. The topics presented were “The Pros and Cons of Cosmetic Procedures” by Dr Ebtihal Al Habeeb, “Mental health of women” by Dr Mariam AL Awadhi, “Healthy eating and women” by Dr Mai Al Hazza, “You are sweet enough” by Dr Entesar Al Hendal.
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
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Tourism opens the world to new cultures and adventures
The evolution of tourism industry – a look back at the decadeBy Florian Sengstschmid, Chief Executive Officer of Azer-baijan Tourism Board
The travel industry has evolved exponentially over the last de-
cade. Mega trends across the globe have affected the industry from digital advancements to the rise of Airbnb as an accommodation plat-form, overtourism, and the growth of social media influencers. These factors and more have shaped the way the travel industry looks today and the predicted direction it will go in the future.
The last 10 years have seen signifi cant changes with varying ef-fects. One of these is the impact that social media has created in attract-ing tourists to a country. In today’s digital age, people turn to social media for travel inspiration. The emergence of Instagram introduced a new type of celebrity to social media, a generation of users called “infl uencers”. This channel has
proven its power to infl uence and even generated a constant state of “FOMO” among its audiences.
The digital space however is oversaturated with infl uencers and users are now savvier about recog-nising images that are staged, over-edited and lack authenticity. Some will attest to the fact that infl uencers are ruining the integrity of travel. Rather than inspiring wanderlust, the images have become more about personalities rather than showcasing the destinations themselves. Before the turn of the decade, the word “infl uencer” has been deemed as having a negative connotation.
OvertourismAnother challenge faced by
the industry today is overtour-ism. Advancements in mobile app technology have made it easier to plan trips, book hotels and travel the world conveniently. Today, we see that travel apps play an integral role in every stage of planning a
trip, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down. With accom-modation apps, the ability to book rooms has contributed to a boost in tourism globally, providing tourists cost-effective lodging. When the shift from renting rooms to entire homes became available, listings skyrocketed, offering travellers the opportunity to live like a local.
Before the decade began, ticking popular destinations off a bucket list was a core motivation. This took the spontaneity out of travel and contributed heavily to overtourism. This wave of overtourism led to a new trend of discovering unex-plored destinations. As this shift began, travellers started consider-ing different countries rather than following the crowd. There is now an appeal in discovering unexplored destinations and experiencing authentic hidden gems. Tourists have begun globetrotting to places many did not consider only a few years ago, which has made room for
lesser known destinations like the Caucasus region and countries like Azerbaijan, which has a rich history and culture and its capital Baku which has emerged as a popular city break destination.
With air tickets selling more than ever to both new and estab-lished destinations, the decade also saw the expansion of low-budget airlines and the ability to fl y further and faster. We’ve also seen that direct travel access is increasingly pertinent for travellers. People want quick access and no longer want to wait for transfers or long layovers.
Activists like Greta Thunberg are fuelling awareness of the environmental impact of travel. She has helped inspire a generation of travellers to travel responsibly, think about the planet’s wellbeing, and consider the carbon footprint. Greta’s fl ight shaming movement, fl ygskam, is not only about travel accountability but also entails a reminder to travel slowly. The
repercussions on airlines due to the Greta effect has caused companies to accelerate the hunt for solutions to the negative impact caused by its fl eets.
Solutions Though solid solutions are yet to
be found, technology continues to advance. One major advancement is the introduction of a wide array of travel apps. From Skyscanner to Kayak, Uber and others, these apps have had an overwhelming impact on commercial and leisure travel. The number of mobile phone users in the world has reached the fi ve bil-lion mark this year, and the shift to mobile for travel planning continues to rise. According to Criteo’s Sum-mer Travel Report, hotels receive over 70% of last-minute bookings through mobile devices. As travel-lers continue to become digitally and mobile dependent, their habits will inherently change, affecting the way they plan and book trips, fur-
ther driving the industry to evolve to meet the rapidly changing demands of consumers.
These trends have dictated the ethos of the travel and tourism industry and of travellers the world over. Varying trends, environmen-tal movements, individuals, and technological advancements are capable of completely changing the mindset and habits of tourists. As we slowly step away from crowd-following, fast travel and unsustain-able travel habits, the industry will be sure to undergo dramatic changes over the next 10 years. Despite its impacts, tourism brings great joy, opening the world to new cultures and adventures. As a major source of income for many nations, it additionally creates new jobs and opportunities and increases regional development. Working together with these objectives we can help create a sound and sustainable ecosystem in the travel and tourism industry.
Favorite smartphone this season
5 reasons why Huawei nova 5T excelsKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: As indi-viduals we are all adept at playing the roles required of us in any given situation: Different occasions ask of us different attributes and skills. As the demands on us shift and change during the course of a day it is essential we are equipped with the tools that can help us thrive.
Like you, the Huawei nova 5T is effortlessly the life of the party and the discrete, dependable profes-sional when the situation arises. As the countdown begins to the launch of one this season’s most stylish and awaited smartphones, we wanted to take you through the fi ve reasons why we picked the Huawei nova 5T as our favorite phone this season:
1. Now it’s easier to take stun-ning photos, no matter what the conditions
Life is about making memories of moments that you can cherish and share with the ones that matter most to you. Ever been in the moment where you knew it had to be cap-tured in a photo or video?But you grab your phone, stumble around in the camera settings to fi nd the right mode or setting to take the perfect shot but the moment is lost. The HUAWEI nova 5T takes care of this dilemma with not one or two, but 5 AI powered cameras which ensure that all you have to do is point and click.
The AI Quad-Camera setup on the back houses a 48MP HD lens, 16MP wide-angle lens, 2MP macro lens and 2MP bokeh lens, ensuring that you get the shots you want in any scenario. Now you can take stunning photos and shoot gorgeous videos with a simple tap of a button, be it in low-light while camping outdoors, a wide-angle of the land-scape, a fancy close-up shot or even a portrait completes with rich bokeh effects.
A dinner out with family requires good lighting, a day at the beach needs better stabilization and stunning vistas witnessed during a holiday, need different settings for that ideal panoramic shot. With most of us not having the techni-cal know-how to fi gure this out, it is a relief that Huawei nova 5T’s powerful AI comes to the rescue. It takes the guesswork out of photog-raphy by adapting and applying the necessary tweaks to best match the circumstances.
And let’s not forget selfi es please! Huawei nova 5Tmakes stunning selfi es easier than ever. Thanks to the front facing 32MP camera and the enhanced AI beautifi cation that help fl atter your facial features, your selfi es will be simply stunning even in low light conditions! your friends will go green with envy when they see your stories and posts on social media
For a more personal touch, fea-tures like the AI Movie Editor and AI Portrait Color allow you to get as creative as you want with your videos, while the Spotlight Reel feature makes your videos ready to share among friends and family as well as social media.
2. A lot of power in the palm of your hand
The smartphone has become an
indispensable part of our lives. We depend upon it to keep us connected to those most important to us as well as for work and play. As such it is vital that apps run smoothly, and it can complete tasks effi ciently. This is where the nova 5T’s powerful onboard Kirin 980 chipset with 8GB of RAM comes into play. It ensures you get fl agship grade performance, no matter how many apps you are running or even how long you have them running for. Huawei Nova 5T is powered by Android and bring you all your favourite smartphone applications in a powerful device.
The phone is tailored for all your needs, be it streaming movies to browsing social media and even mobile gaming. Thanks to GPU Turbo 3.0, gaming is enhanced and much more immersive than before.
3. A long-lasting battery that charges back up in no time
Have you ever that had moment when you needed your phone to make an important call or work on your device but were worried that the battery was too low? The Huawei nova 5T solves this issue by packing a solid 3750mAh battery that ensures long-lasting perfor-mance. You don’t have to wait around for your phone to charge up either, thanks to the 22.5W Huawei SuperCharge that can charge up 50% in just 30 minutes.
4. A movie watching experience like no other
Upfront, the Huawei nova 5T packs a 6.26-inch Huawei Punch FullView Display with an FHD+
resolution of 2340 x 1090 with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, allowing for stunning viewing experience. Add-ing to this are features like Huawei Histen 6.0, Huawei’s third genera-tion headset 3D audio technology that supports 9.1 channels and deliv-ers a 3D audio experience, boosting audio and in turn your movie watch-ing experience to the next level.
5. A stylish look and feelWith the fashion season coming
up, you will need a phone that is a lot more than just power-packed features and the Huawei nova 5T is more than capable to raise a few eyebrows when you whip it out.
The Huawei nova 5T is available in three color variants. Be it the classy and elegant Black, a soothing Crush Blue reminiscent of the sea with its shades of blue and green or the brash Midsummer Purple, complete with a new and unique nova branding. Thanks to the design engineering, the Huawei nova 5T boasts a multi-layered 3D effect on a fl at surface for a more enhanced texture with a unique refl ective design, making it stand out from everyone else. This fi ts into the thin 7.87mm body with a fi ngerprint sensor on the side, allowing for not just a slim profi le, but for an overall fashionable look to the device, that complements its user.
Are you convinced with these rea-sons? If so, get your Huawei Nova 5T from the nearest retail store from you or from Huawei Experience Store (HES) at the Avenues Mall, Phase IV, Electra.
Huawei nova 5T smartphones
click
GeneralNYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breath-ing, meditation and reiki classes by a well-experienced female yoga teacher for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825.
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Leadership Excellence Course: The Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of lead-ership for all mankind. The LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next.
The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Understand the purpose of our lives and learn to live that purpose with confi dence 3. Under-stand the importance of connecting to Allah and learn how to do it 4. Under-stand how to leverage your strengths and overcome weaknesses 5. Understand how to articulate your life goal and cre-ate a road map to achieve it.
For more information please visit
www.leckuwait.com or call 99514995 / 66363310.
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Ugandans register with UIK: Are you a Ugandan living and working in Kuwait? Would you like to get in touch with other Ugandans in Kuwait both socially and professionally? Then please get in touch with us. We would like to invite you to register with the Ugandans in Kuwait (UIK) association, an informal organiza-tion of Ugandans living and working in Kuwait. The purpose of this exercise is to get together as Ugandans and to consider taking the fi rst steps to establishing a more formal organisation. This association is voluntary. It is designed to create a forum for Ugandans in Kuwait to foster a sense of community, to communicate more ef-fectively with each other and to encourage Ugandans out here to work together. We are also planning a celebration to mark 50 years of Ugandan’s Independence this year. If you have any questions regarding this association or if you are interested in registering, then please send us an email at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you soon.
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Free drum music classes: Free professional drum music classes are available at Salmiya for all age groups from beginners to advanced by a well experienced drum teacher. For more details: 94974295.
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Indian Embassy SPDC notice: At-tention of all Indian associations/Indian schools in Kuwait is once again drawn
to Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) which was introduced by Government of India in the academic year 2006-2007 with the objective to make higher education in India accessible to the children of overseas Indians and promote India as a centre for higher studies.
Under the scheme, 100 PIO/NRI students were awarded scholarship of up to US$ 4,000 per annum for undergraduate courses in Engineering, Technology, Humanities, Liberal Arts, Commerce, Management, Journalism, Hotel Management, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and some other courses.
The scheme is open to NRIs/PIOs from over 40 countries (including Ku-wait) having substantial Indian Diaspora population.
The Scheme was revamped and launched in July 2016. Under the re-vamped Scheme, number of scholarships has been enhanced from 100 to 150 with introduction of 50 scholarships for children of Indian workers employed in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries. The Scheme is now applicable to four categories of applicants:
(i) Persons of Indian Origin(ii) Non-Resident Indians(iii) Children of Indian workers working
in ECR countries (including Kuwait).(iv) Children of Indian workers in
ECR countries — studying in IndiaThe institutions that are covered
under this Scheme are:(i) NITs, IIITs, Schools of Planning
and Architecture(ii) “A” Grade institutions accredited
by National Assessment and Accredita-tion Council (NAAC) and recognised by
University Grants Commission (UGC).(iii) Other institutions covered under
Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.
Income criteria will be applicable to all four categories. Applicants will seek schol-arships after they obtain admission in the approved list of educational institutions.
Applications are required to be sub-mitted online at SPDC portal — http://spdcindia.gov.in/login/index.php. Last date for submission of applications was extended till Oct 14, 2016. Nodal offi cer for SPDC is P. Bharadwaj, Deputy Secretary (OIA-II), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, Tel: 00-91-11-24197952, Email: [email protected]
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Islamic and Arabic courses: Islamic and Arabic courses are being offered at the Enlightenment into Islam Center starting from 5:00-7:00 pm.
Registrations can be done at the main offi ce — Women’s Committee in Qurtoba.
For more information contact:
24322684, 25362693, 97743327 and 25362681.
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Islamic classes in French: The En-lightenment into Islam is offering Islamic Classes in French for ladies. Timings 4:30 to 7 pm. Every Wednesday. Please register at the offi ce (Women’s Section), 2nd fl oor. For more information please contact us. Telephone 25362684, 99789954, 99507076, 97743327. Fax 25342573 (at-tention — Enlightenment into Islam)
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Bridge game: Bridge tournament is be-ing held every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 hours, played at the Graduates Club, next to Kuwait Engineering Society. In-terested Bridge pairs or individual players please contact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: 24815622, 24841158, 99612287.
Sports Chess Round Robin Challenge: Registrations are open for chess
coaching and the Annual Round Robin Challenger Series. Send your name, Civil ID No., mobile number, age, rating to [email protected] with CCR in the e-mail subject. No entry fee.
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Kwt-Brits football supporters: A new football supporters website for British expats living and working in Kuwait has been set up by an Everton supporter, Trevor Powell. The Kuwait Brits Football Supporters Association (KBFSA) site aims to provide contact information for supporters of each others’ whereabouts and also in the future hopes to organise social events such as quizzes and even five-a-side matches on a home international teams basis. We need expats to regis-ter their support and hence we can then start to cast around for a suitable meeting venue. The site can be accessed at www.kbfsa.co.uk.
Continued from Page 15
Continued on Page 20
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
19
Health
Findings ‘overall reassuring’
Big study fi nds no strong sign linking baby powder & cancerNEW YORK, Jan 8, (AP): US government-led research found no strong evidence linking baby pow-der with ovarian cancer in the largest analysis to look at the question.
The fi ndings were called “overall reassuring” in an editorial published Tuesday with the study in the Journal of the American Medical Associa-tion. The analysis involving 250,000 women isn’t defi nitive but more conclusive research probably isn’t feasible because a dwindling number of women use powder for personal hygiene, the editorial said.
“This represents the best data we have on the topic,” said the study’s lead author Katie O’Brien, a senior scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Health concerns about talcum powders have prompted thousands of US lawsuits by women who claim asbestos in the powder caused their cancer. Talc is a mineral similar in structure to asbestos, which is known to cause cancer, and they are some-times obtained from the same mines. The cosmetics industry in 1976 agreed to make sure its talc products do not contain detectable amounts of asbestos. Smaller studies investigat-ing a possible link between talcum powder and cancer have had con-fl icting results, though most found no connection.
The new analysis pooled results from four long-running studies in-volving 250,000 US women, who were asked periodically about their use of powder in the genital area. About 40% said they did. During 11 years of follow-up, 2,168 women de-veloped ovarian cancer, with roughly similar numbers in those who used powders and those who didn’t.
Cause These kinds of observational
studies cannot determine cause and effect, and O’Brien said a more rig-orous study isn’t likely to be done. That would require randomly assign-ing a large group of women to use talc powders over many years, and comparing the results with those who didn’t use powders.
The researchers found hints of a potentially small increased risk for cancer for women who had never had a hysterectomy or fallopian tube-tying surgery. The American Cancer Society’s Susan Gapstur said that fi ts with one theory for how genital use of talc might be risky: With a path-way not blocked by surgery, pow-der particles could potentially travel into the fallopian tubes and ovaries and cause irritation, infl ammation and DNA damage that could lead to cancer. Those results were weak and are murky at best. Still, O’Brien said they make the overall fi ndings “very ambiguous.” The US lawsuits have targeted leading baby powder maker Johnson & Johnson. Although sever-al juries have reached multimillion-dollar verdicts against the company, they have been overturned or are be-ing appealed. J&J says its powder is routinely tested to ensure there’s no asbestos.
On Monday, an unusual mid-trial settlement was announced in an Oakland, California, case involving a woman who claimed asbestos in the powder caused her mesothelioma, a cancer that can affect the lungs and other organs. J&J spokeswoman Kimberly Montagnino declined to disclose terms or reasons for the agreement but said it “in no way
changes our overall position that our talc is safe, is asbestos-free and does not cause cancer.”
J&J did recall a batch of baby powder in October after US govern-ment testing found trace amounts of asbestos in a single bottle. The com-pany paid for more testing by outside labs, which it said found no asbestos in the implicated baby powder bottle and other samples. Last week, New Mexico sued the company claiming it has marketed asbestos-containing baby powder and other talc powders for decades, and has targeted black and Hispanic women and children with “false messages” about safety. J&J denies the claims.
Also:IRVINE, Calif: Now there’s a web-site for patients and families that have experienced harm from medi-cal errors: ifyouvebeenharmed.org. Launched by the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF), the site provides resources and tips to support patients and families in helping them navigate the often-challenging healthcare system and its processes.
“When preventable harm hap-pens, patients and their families are often unsure about what to do or where to go for support and informa-tion,” said Dr. David Mayer, PSMF CEO. “This new website, created with guidance from patient advo-cates and healthcare professionals, connect patients and families with resources and support organizations that can help them during this very diffi cult time.” The new site includes a list of support organizations, shares how patients could take action if they have been harmed, and a fl ow chart to help patients fi nd their way to the right person with whom to discuss their concerns.
If your organization offers volun-tary assistance to patients and fami-lies that experience preventable med-ical harm and want to be included in this list, contact PSMF at [email protected]. PSMF also offers the opportunity for pa-tients to share their stories with oth-ers which helps individuals, as well as other patients, heal.
Each year, more than 200,000 people die unnecessarily in US hos-pitals. Worldwide, 4.8 million lives are similarly lost. The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) is a global non-profi t that offers free tools to help achieve ZERO prevent-able deaths from hospital errors. The Patient Safety Movement Founda-tion was established through the sup-port of the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation, and Competition in Healthcare to reduce that number of preventable deaths to ZERO. Im-proving patient safety requires a col-laborative effort from all stakehold-ers, including patients, healthcare providers, medical technology com-panies, government, employers, and private payers. PSMF’s World Pa-tient Safety, Science & Technology Summit brings together the world’s best minds for thought-provoking discussions and new ideas to chal-lenge the status quo. Our Action-able Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) provide evidence-based processes to help hospitals eliminate errors. Our Open Data Pledge encourages healthcare technology companies to share the data for which their prod-ucts are purchased. Visit patientsafe-tymovement.org.
In this Dec 3, 2019 photo, children with Down’s syndrome perform in a dance show, in Bucharest, Romania. (AP)
Disabled Romanian children given chance to shineDuring Romania’s communist era, children with disabilities were shunned, often locked away in in-stitutions or kept at home and de-prived of schooling and social inter-actions.
Recent shows in which children with Down’s syndrome had the starring roles illustrate how much that has changed since commu-nism fell in 1989.
At one event in Bucharest, youngsters with the genetic disor-der staged a fashion show parad-ing their own creations. The chil-dren also performed with a ballet ensemble on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in early December.
“The two shows were their chance to shine, to feel important and talented, to feel they bring a
contribution to the world we live in,” said Georgeta Bucur, who leads the Down Plus Association, which promotes the inclusion in Roma-nian society of people with Down’s syndrome.
Since the pair of events, there have been others in the Romanian capital.
Bucur emphasized the posi-tive impact such events have on
children with Down’s syndrome, though she said that societal preju-dice against them still exists. She also stressed the love and warmth the children give to those around them.
“They teach us a new lesson ev-ery single day,” Bucur said. “Spend-ing even a little time together with them will make anyone change their views.” (AP)
Hong Kong will add mystery illness to reportable diseases
South Korea reports 1st case of viral pneumoniaSEOUL, South Korea, Jan 8, (AP): South Korea has put a 36-year-old Chi-nese woman under isolated treatment amid concerns that she brought back a form of viral pneumonia that has sick-ened dozens in mainland China and Hong Kong in recent weeks.
The Korea Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that the woman, who was diagnosed with pneu-monia on Tuesday following two busi-ness trips to China last month, represent-ed the country’s fi rst possible case of the respiratory illness whose cause remains unknown.
The unidentifi ed woman, who works for a South Korean company near capital Seoul, has experienced cough and fever since returning from a fi ve-day trip to the Chinese city of Xiamen on Dec. 30, the KCDC said in a press release.
She had also visited Wuhan, the main-land Chinese city where the outbreak originated, for fi ve days in mid-Decem-ber. She told South Korean doctors she made no contact with animals while she was there and didn’t visit a seafood mar-ket in Wuhan’s suburbs where most of the cases have been traced to.
The KCDC said the woman was in relatively good condition and undergo-ing tests at a hospital south of Seoul to confi rm whether she has the same ill-ness as the Wuhan patients. South Ko-rean offi cials have tightened monitor-ing of people entering from China and advised travelers to avoid contact with animals and take extra care in personal hygiene.
The disease - an unidentifi ed form of viral pneumonia - has sent 59 people to the hospital in Wuhan in central Hubei
after recent visits to Wuhan. It is not clear whether they have the same illness as the Wuhan patients.
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Hong Kong’s health chief said Tues-day that a respiratory illness whose cause remains unknown will be added to an offi cial list of diseases that medical practitioners are required to report to the government.
The disease - an unidentifi ed form of viral pneumonia - has sent 59 people to the hospital in the mainland Chinese city of Wuhan, in central Hubei prov-ince. As of Sunday, seven were in criti-cal condition, while the rest were stable. Municipal authorities have ruled out SARS, the severe acute respiratory syn-drome that killed 700 people in 2002 and 2003.
In Hong Kong, a total of 15 patients were being treated Sunday for symptoms including fever and respiratory infection after recent visits to Wuhan. It is not clear whether they have the same illness as the Wuhan patients.
Speaking at a news conference, the health chief, Sophia Chan, said the “se-vere respiratory disease associated with a novel infectious agent” will be added to a list of reportable infectious diseases in Hong Kong’s Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance.
The regulation enables the govern-ment to take stronger measures against the spread of certain diseases, such as tuberculosis and chicken pox. Ac-tions under the ordinance could include enforcing quarantines or limiting the movement of people who are suspected to have infections.
province. As of Sunday, seven were in critical condition, while the rest were stable.
In Hong Kong, a total of 15 patients were being treated Sunday for symptoms including fever and respiratory infection
Dr Qais Al-Duwairi, Director General of Dasman Diabetes Institute.
Safeguarding medical data
DDI achieves HIPAA seal of complianceKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Dasman Diabe-tes Institute (DDI), founded by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, has recently received HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Ac-countability Act of 1996), which is a United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information. The law has emerged into greater prominence in recent years with the proliferation of health data breaches caused by cyber at-tacks and ransomware attacks on health insurers and providers. Compliancy
Group LLC has supervised and overseen Dasman Diabetes Institute’s compliance since July of 2019. Dasman Diabetes In-stitute has completed their Compliance Audits for 2019. The annual HIPAA Self Audits and documentation show the Company is making a Good Faith Effort in complying with the HIPAA federal regulations. Dasman Diabetes Institute records show that the Security Rules for administrative, physical and technical safeguards, as well as policy, procedure and documentation requirements for 2019 have been completed.
ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
20
Challenger
DIRECTIONS:Fill each square with a
number, one through nine.■ Horizontal squares
should add to totals on right.
■ Vertical squares should add to totals on bottom.
■ Diagonal squares through center should add to total in upper and lower
right.
THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION.
Today’s ChallengeTime 8 Minutes
5 SecondsYour Working
Time __ Minutes__ Seconds
Yesterday’s solution
Embassies
UK Embassy passport service: The British Embassy would like to remind British nationals that full validity passports are no longer issued at the British Embassy’s Consular Section in Kuwait. For full details on the application proce-dure, please follow the link ‘Passports’ on the British Embassy’s website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk.
British Embassy’s Consular Section is located at British Embassy, Kuwait. Postal ad-dress: PO Box 2, Safat 13001.
For emergency travel documents and Birth/Death registration enquiries call: 22594358.
For Consular/Notary enquiries (Not for Visa) call: 22594357.
Opening hours: 0830-1030 Sunday – Thurs-day.
Admittance into the Embassy will not be possible before 0830 hours. Please bring a form of ID with you to enable entry.
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Botswana Emb Website Launch: This is to announce that the Embassy of the Republic of Botswana is launching the website www.botswanagulf.com. The site has infomation on investment, trade, tourism and general issues.
Those interested to follow up on any issue can contact the Embassy at the following e-mail addresses:
Nepal Embassy new location: The Embassy of Nepal is now moved to a new location in Jabriya Area, Block 8, Street 13, Building no 514, and the offi ce hours for consular and visa works are 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. The new telephone and fax numbers are as follows: Tel. 25321603, 25321604 25321605; Fax 25321601, 25321628. Website: www.nepembku.org e-mail: [email protected].
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Romanian citizen registration: Is kindly asking Romanians living in Kuwait to register or update contact information at our Embassy’s e-mail : [email protected]
The registration helps the Embassy to con-tact the Romanian citizens and invite them to different functions and to assist them in case of any emergency.
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Embassy of Georgia: The embassy of Geor-
click
Continued from Page 18
Conceptis SudokuThe grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3
box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle
bridgebridgeBy Steve Becker
contract bridgebridge
gia wishes to inform the general public of their telephone: 25352909; fax: 25354707; E-mail: [email protected] Address: Qurtoba,
Block 2, Street 1, Avenue 3, Villa 6.❑ ❑ ❑
Dutch citizens registration: The Embassy
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands welcomes Dutch citizens living in Kuwait to register with the embassy. This registration service is provided so that the embassy can contact and assist Dutch citizens in case of an emergency, such as a natu-ral disaster or civil unrest, or inform Dutch citi-zens in case of a family emergency in the Netherlands. Registration forms are available online at www.mfa.nl/kwe.
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Bangladesh Embassy data: The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait has taken up an initiative to update the database of Bangladesh nationals residing in the State of Kuwait. For inclusion in the data-base all the Bangladesh nationals are requested
to collect the Registration Form from the Labour Wing of the Embassy. The forms can also be collected sending request to [email protected] e-mail address. The filled-in forms can also be submitted by hand, by email or by fax (number 2491-3204).
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New US Visa app form launched: As part of continued effort to welcome qualifi ed visitors to the United States, US Embassy Kuwait has launched a new, streamlined visa application. The new application, the DS-160, replaces and combines all previous forms. All-non-immigrant visa applicants — includ-ing tourists, businessmen and women, those participating in training, students, exchange visitors, and temporary workers — will use this new form.
The new application minimally alters the ap-plication process for visa applicants. With the new form, applicants will have to upload a visa photograph, and submit the form via the Inter-net. The applicant will print just one confi rma-tion sheet upon completion of the DS-160. The rest of the steps remain the same: applicants must pay the visa application fee at Burgan Bank, schedule an appointment, and appear at the Consular Section for an interview.
For additional information, please visit the US Embassy website – http://Kuwait.usem-bassy.gov – as the site contains a complete list of visa application requirements, links to the new application and the online appointment system.
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Netherlands visa service: The embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has launched a special visa facility for business relations of the Netherlands in Kuwait. If you travel to Holland for business reasons you can apply for a fast track called the ‘Orange Carpet’ visa facilitation program. Just send an e-mail to [email protected] to set the date and time that is convenient for you to apply for your business (Schengen) visa. For more information please visit our web-site: www.mfa.n1/kwe
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Japan Embassy new Tel No: The Embassy of Japan is located in Mishref, Block 7 A, Diplomatic Area, Plot 57. The new telephone number is 25309400 and fax 25309401.
The opening hours of the consular section has been extended by two hours from 8:00 to 16:00 hours.
The embassy has announced that it will be able to issue tourist and business visas to Japan for only two working days. Kuwaiti citizens can receive the visas in principle, in the afternoon one day after acceptance of the visa application.
The necessary documents have also been re-viewed and simplifi ed to promote tourism and investment in Japan. Further info on 25309400 or check the embassy website www.kw.emb.japan.go.jp/index.htm
Word by Word
Gold ThahabAll is not gold that glitters.Ma koul ma yalmai thaha.
Numbers
8367 Eight thousand three hundred sixty seven
Thamaniyat alaaf wa thalath maah wa sabah wa setoon
A flyer of the event
Friday Forum Kuwait conducts Inter-school Islamic Elocution Competition 2020
Friday Forum Kuwait conducted its 12th Inter-school Islamic Elocution Competition at Hotel Rajadhani Palace, Khaitan on Jan 1. The competition, which was held in the senior and junior categories had participation from 15 Indian Schools across Kuwait comprising of 43 students.
In the senior category, Ayisha Wafiya of Indian Community School, Khai-tan bagged the first prize and Efrem Joseph of Indian Community School, Amman won the second prize. In the junior category, Hima Jameela of Indian Community School, Khaitan bagged the first prize and Fadhel Kan-
dapath of Fahaheel Al Wataniya Indian School won the second prize. Nawaal Yaseen Ebrahim of Indian Community School (SR), Salmiya and
Rhruthunanda of Indian Learners Own Academy, Abbasiya won the conso-lation prizes in senior and junior categories respectively.
This year, the event was fully conducted by the ladies wing of Friday Forum. Dr Thasneem Amir, Ibtisam Basheer, Toast Masters Ola Rasheed, Fatma Abduhedeid, Shazia Thabassum and Marium Rangat were the judg-es for the competition in senior and junior categories.
The event started with the Qira’at by Saneera Riyas, followed by wel-come speech by Dr Sajna Mohammed. The prizes were distributed to win-ners by Shahina Mansoor, Femitha Faseeh, Dr Thasneem Amir, Dr Sajna Mohammed, Zeenath Yacoub, Safna Sayam and Saneera Riyas.
The Souvenir for the program – “INSPERIA 2020”– was released during the event by the chief editor Farha Abdul Rahman. The program was com-pered by ThanveeraNoushad and the program convenor Subeana Sha-beer conveyed the vote of thanks.
Photos from the event.
Market Movements 08-01-2020
Business Change Closing ptsGERMANY - DAX +89.62 13,316.45FRANCE - CAC 40 +13.24 6,025.59EUROPE - Euro Stoxx 50 +13.31 3,772.56
A week after a malicious virus infected its network, the London-based foreign currency exchange company Travelex had yet to re-store digital sales and was reported infected with ransomware by hackers threatening to release personal data unless it pays a $3 mil-lion ransom.
The UK-based security website Bleep-ingComputer said hackers claimed to have encrypted Travelex’s entire network with a strain of ransomware known as Sodinokibi and copied more than 5 gigabytes of person-al data, including Travelex customers’ credit
and debit card information, birth dates and Social Security numbers.
The hackers said they deleted backup files and gave London-based Travelex - which op-erates in 27 countries with more than 1,200 stores – a week to pay up or they would pub-lish the data they stole, the website reported.
Travelex did not immediately respond Tuesday to emails and a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. In a Jan 2 Twitter post, the company said the virus had compromised some of its services on New Year’s Eve and that it took all sys-
tems offline immediately. The statement said Travelex’s investigation “to date shows no indication that any personal or customer data has been compromised.”
Travelex said its branches worldwide, many of which are at airports, were con-tinuing to provide money-changing services manually. The company’s UK website re-mained offline on Tuesday, with a notice on the only page available saying in seven lan-guages that its online foreign currency pur-chasing service was temporarily unavailable “due to planned maintenance.” (AP)
In this file photo, a Travelex Group currency exchange booth is shown at Seattle-Tacoma Inter-national Airport in Seattle. A week after a malicious virus infected its network, the London-based foreign currency exchange com-pany Travelex has yet to restore digital sales and was reported infected with ransomware by hackers threatening to release personal data unless it pays a $3 million ransom. (AP)
‘Historic project key example of Turkey and Russia win-win cooperation’
Erdogan, Putin launch new gas line, vow Mideast diplomacy
Oil prices jump to highest levelin four months after Iran attack
Gold prices soars amid current geopolitical tensions
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8, (KUNA): Oil prices jumped Wednesday to the highest level in four months, reaching $71.75 per barrel (pb) for Brent crude, following the Iranian attack on Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad air base.
The air base includes American sol-diers in Iraq, which raised fears of an escalating conflict and disruption of oil supplies.
Brent crude futures rose $1.83, by 2.7 percent, to reach $70.10 pb, after rising earlier in the session to $71.75, reaching its highest level since last mid-Septem-ber.
West Texas Intermediate also rose about two dollars, nearly three percent, recording $64.30 pb, where earlier it touched $65.85, its highest price since last April.
In this regard, oil expert, Abdulha-meed Al-Awadi, told KUNA that the recent tensions in the Middle East have a direct refl ection on oil prices, due to re-gion’s sensitivity and its containment of the largest oil reserves in the world.
The region exports approximately 18 million barrels of oil per day, he said.
Some 50 to 60 oil tankers enter the Gulf region daily, he said, noting that the daily oil prices fl uctuate according to the geopolitical conditions and tensions in the region.
Oil prices have been rising since the beginning of tension between Washing-ton and Tehran following US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement in May 2018, as well as two-missile attack on Saudi Aramco, in addition to the Ira-nian attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, he added.
The prices jumped three dollars this week after the killing Commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force Qassem Soleimani, in an action adopted by the Pentagon, fol-lowing escalation of fears of Iranian reac-tions, Al-Awadi said.
The Iranian response to the killing of Soleimani came early Wednesday, by an attack on Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad air base, as oil prices jumped after the attack to USD 70 pb, then came back down due to large amount availability of American oil in the market in addition to most countries took their precautions of crises times.
China, Japan and South Korea have re-serves of 1.2 billion barrels covering their needs for about three weeks, he noted.
Al-Awadi said that the decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce production by 500 thousand barrels per day starting from the beginning of January this year had a role in the relatively high oil prices.
Oil prices expected to rotate between $75-80 in case tension increased and Washington’s response to the Iranian at-tack on the air base, he added.
Iran announced today bombing of Ain Al-Asad air base, which includes Ameri-can soldiers in Iraq, in response to the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
Iranian state television said that the Revolutionary Guards bombed the air base with missiles, warning the United States against any further movement or aggression.
In the same context, Iraqi media have confi rmed targeting the air base in An-bar Province with nine ballistic missiles, without revealing the size of the losses caused.
In turn, US President Donald Trump it a tweet posted on his offi cial account on Twitter following the attack stressed that “all is well”, and “assessment of causali-ties and damages taking place now.
Gold prices have jumped to unprec-edented levels since seven years ago, trading at $1,611 per ounce due to current geopolitical jitters in the Middle East. In spot deals, the gold ounce rate rose on Wednesday by 0.8 percent, equivalent to $11, standing at $1,611 per ounce, the highest level since April 2013.
Rajab Hamed, a specialist in precious metals at Kuwait Sabaek Company, told KUNA that mounting regional tension would boost traders’ trend to seek safe refuge, namely the yellow metal.
Gold is widely regarded as a substitute option in gloomy political and fi nancial conditions, he said, adding that the gold price would reach $1,700 per ounce in the shadow of the regional political jit-ters.
ISTANBUL, Jan 8, (AP): The presi-dents of Turkey and Russia inaugurat-ed the dual natural gas line connecting their countries Wednesday, opening up a new export path for Russian gas into Turkey and Europe and promising co-operation in trade and diplomacy.
The meeting in Istanbul between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Er-dogan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin came amid deteriorating security in the Mideast, with U.S.-Iranian ten-sions high since the American killing of a top Iranian commander last week. Erdogan, with Russian support, vowed to work for de-escalation.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Putin hailed the TurkStream gas pipe-line as a symbol of fruitful coopera-tion between Russia and Turkey and a “unique, unprecedented system for transporting gas” that would benefi t all of Europe.
With TurkStream, Russian gas pass-es through the Black Sea to Turkey. Together, the two 930-kilometer (578-mile) lines under the Black Sea, along with the Russian and Turkish onshore pipes, have the capacity to carry 31.5 billion cubic meters (1.1 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas annually.
Russia is the top gas supplier to Turkey, which relies on imports for its energy needs. TurkStream allows Rus-sia to bypass Ukraine by opening up a new direct transport line to Turkey, in addition to the Blue Stream line also under the Black Sea further east. The simmering confl ict between Moscow and Kyiv has prompted Russia to seek alternative gas routes to Europe.
From Turkey, Russian gas will reach southern and southeastern Eu-rope through new and existing lines. Turkstream has already begun trans-porting gas but the two leaders turned a symbolic valve in the ceremony.
Erdogan said the “historic” project was a key example of Turkey and Rus-sia’s “win-win cooperation” and a ba-sis for future projects.
The opening of the TurkStream pipeline comes amid tensions over another ambitious Russian project, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is supposed to allow Russia to transport natural gas directly to Europe, again bypassing Ukraine. Late last year, construction of Nord Stream from Russia to Germany was halted after U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on sanctions against individuals and companies involved with it. Im-mediately after that, a Swiss com-pany laying the pipeline suspended work on it.
Turkey is also part of a race to explore oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, where it fears being excluded from resources around the ethnically split island of Cyprus. A maritime deal it signed with the Trip-oli-government in Libya heightened tensions in the region over exploratory and drilling rights.
In the ceremony Wednesday, Er-dogan also vowed to work diplomati-cally to calm soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“No one has the right to throw the region, especially Iraq, into a new ring of fi re for their personal gains,” he said.
Iran targeted with missiles Iraqi bases where American troops are sta-tioned in retaliation for Friday’s Amer-ican drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The escala-tion risks open confl ict between the two rivals and violence through their proxies in the region.
“We will be in constant dialogue and consultation with the Russian Fed-eration and my dear friend Mr. Putin. God willing, with help of our Russian friends support and contributions, I be-lieve we will overcome this troubled phase,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan and Putin talk and meet of-ten, cooperating on trade, energy and defense industries. Their close partner-ship is a dramatic reversal from 2015, when diplomatic relations hit rock bot-tom with Turkey’s downing of a Rus-sian fi ghter jet along the border with Syria. Their increased cooperation has worried Turkey’s NATO allies, espe-cially with Moscow’s delivery of a Russian-made missile defense system to a base near Ankara over the sum-mer.
In a closed-door meeting ahead of the ceremony, the two leaders were also expected to discuss Syria and Libya.
Putin is in Turkey following a visit to Damascus where he met Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has re-established control in much of Syria with Russian and Iranian backing. Turkey, in contrast, has supported the rebels opposing Assad and has carved out zones of control in Syria’s north.
The Syrian government’s all-out of-fensive to retake rebel-held Idlib has pushed hundreds of thousands of civil-ians towards the closed Turkish bor-der, risking a major new refugee fl ow into Turkey.
Bulk of hiring among smaller and mid-sized businesses
US companies add 202,000 jobs in Dec: surveyBALTIMORE, Jan 8, (AP): US com-panies added 202,000 jobs in Decem-ber, led by robust hiring in construc-tion, trade, transportation and utilities, according to a private survey.
Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that the bulk of the hir-ing was among smaller and mid-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Hiring in Novem-ber was also revised upward to 124,000, a sign that the job market was stronger than past surveys ini-tially suggested.
Construction fi rms added 37,000 jobs in December. The trade, transpor-tation and utilities sector added a com-bined 78,000. Health care and social assistance accounted for 46,000 new jobs.
Still, not every industry is hiring. Manufacturers shed 7,000 workers. Leisure and hospitality lost 21,000 jobs last month.
It typically takes roughly 100,000 or so new jobs a month to absorb popu-lation growth and keep the unemploy-ment rate from rising.
Friday’s government employment report is expected to show an increase of 155,000 jobs with the unemploy-ment rate holding at 3.5%. ADP’s fi g-
German factoryorders fall 1.3%BERLIN, Jan 8, (AP): German factory orders dropped 1.3% in November compared with the previous month, pushed down by a drop in foreign demand and low bulk orders.
The drop in orders, an impor-tant indicator for Europe’s big-gest economy, followed a modest gain of 0.2% in October.
The Economy Ministry said Wednesday that orders from in-side Germany were up 1.6%, but demand from eurozone countries dropped 3.3% and there was a 2.8% fall in orders from other countries.
It said that, excluding bulk orders, the overall fi gure would have risen 1% and added that orders “have stabilized at a low level in recent months.”
Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING in Frankfurt, took a less optimistic view. He said it looks as though 2019 will be the sec-ond consecutive year in which new orders have fallen.
“All in all, there are still no signs at all of a bottoming out for German industry,” he said in a research note. “Instead, the free fall continues.”
The economy narrowly avoided a widely anticipated recession in the third quarter. It grew 0.1% in the July-Septem-ber period compared with the previous quarter, when it con-tracted by 0.2%. Strong domes-tic spending helped spark the modest growth.
Germany’s central bank has said that output likely remained fl at in the fourth quarter.
People pass by a stock board at the Abu Dhabi Stock Market, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Jan 8. (AP)
In this file photo, job applicants looks at jobs available at Florida Interna-tional University during a job fair in Miami. On Jan 8, payroll processor ADP reports on how many jobs its survey estimates US companies added
in December. (AP)
ures don’t include government hiring and frequently diverge from the gov-ernment’s offi cial report.
But Ian Shepherdson, chief econo-mist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the ADP fi gure was solid enough
that the government report might show gains of 190,000.
“If sustained, that’s more than enough to push the unemployment rate down to new lows, and to add upward pressure to wage growth,” he said.
Ex-banker ‘pleads’ guilty to insider tradingNEW YORK, Jan 8, (AP): A for-mer banker at Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty to an insider trading charge Tuesday, admitting that he stole secrets from the investment bank and gave them to a securities trader in Switzerland.
Bryan Cohen, 33, entered the plea in Manhattan federal court to conspir-ing to commit securities fraud. He also agreed to forfeit $260,000, an amount prosecutors said represented the proceeds of his crime.
According to a plea agreement document, federal sentencing guidelines would suggest a sen-tence of between 2-1/2 years and three years in prison, though Judge William H. Pauley III will be free
to reach his own conclusion at a sentencing scheduled for April 3. The guidelines also called for a fine up to $100,000. Cohen’s defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement that his client “to his credit” had accepted responsibility for his conduct.
“We are hopeful that at sentenc-ing we will be able to persuade Judge Pauley that despite his crimi-nal conduct Mr Cohen is a funda-mentally decent young man who should be sentenced in a relatively lenient fashion,” Brafman said.
The plea came less than three months after Cohen’s arrest on Oct 18, when prosecutors said he car-ried out his crime while working in
the investment banking division of the bank’s New York office.
He previously had worked for the bank in London.
Prosecutors said he stole inside information between 2015 and 2017, enabling the securities trader in Switzerland to make timely and profitable trades based on pending corporate acquisitions.
In return for providing the se-crets, Cohen received benefits, in-cluding cash, from the securities trader, prosecutors said.
They said he also tried to con-ceal his scheme by communicat-ing through prepaid “burner” cell phones and by receiving cash in person or through intermediaries.
BUSINESSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
22
Greece retains negative yield in fi rst debt auction of year
Greece has raised 487.5 million eu-ros ($544.4 million) in a treasury bill sale that saaw the country maintain its negative interest rate in the fi rst debt auction of the year as the debt-strapped country attempts to regain full market access.
The Public Debt Management Agency said the 13-week T-bills were auctioned Wednesday at a yield of -0.08%.
Greece’s six-month-old con-servative government is hoping to
steadily rebuild market access after the country ended its third succes-sive bailout a program in August 2018, emerging from severe fi nan-cial crisis during which its member-ship in the euro currency area came under repeated threat.
The government is betting on favorable market conditions to try and convince European bailout creditors to ease draconian fi scal targets.
Greece is committed to achieving
a primary budget surplus – the an-nual balance before debt servicing costs – of 3.5% of gross domestic product through 2022. But it wants to introduce more lenient targets a year earlier. Athens is also plan-ning to pay back additional higher-interest loans to the International Monetary Fund ahead of schedule in 2020 to take advantage of the record low-interest rates in bond markets.
In Washington on Tuesday,
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the new head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva. A Greek offi -cial on the visit said that the early repayment plan was discussed at the talks. The offi cial asked not to be named pending offi cial an-nouncements.
Greece concluded its fi rst early repayment to the IMF in November, while negative interest rates at a debt auction were achieved for the fi rst time the previous month. (AP)
Greece’s Prime Minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, de-livers a speech during a parlia-
ment session in Athens,
on Dec 18, 2019. Greek
lawmakers debate on the
state budget for 2020. (AP)
‘Ivanka is not a woman in tech ... she’s not a CEO and has no background’
Invitation to Ivanka Trump draws backlash at big tech showLAS VEGAS, Jan 8, (AP): The na-tion’s largest consumer electronics show on Tuesday hosted Ivanka Trump as a keynote speaker – a choice that drew scorn from many women in technology.
The annual CES tech gathering in Las Vegas has long taken criti-cism over diversity issues. In re-cent years, the show’s organizer, the Consumer Technology Asso-ciation, has invited more women to speak and sought to curb some of the show’s more sexist aspects, such as scantily clad “booth babes” hired to draw attention of the most-ly male attendees.
But for critics and activists who have long pushed for broader rec-ognition of the less-heralded wom-en who found startups and take on diffi cult technical challenges, the inclusion of President Donald Trump’s daughter, who is also a White House adviser, sent exactly the wrong message.
“Ivanka is not a woman in tech,” tweeted Brianna Wu, a video game developer who is running for Con-gress in Massachusetts as a Demo-crat. “She’s not a CEO. She has no background.
“It’s a lazy attempt to emulate diversity, but like all emulation it’s not quite the real thing.”
Ivanka Trump spoke with CTA President Gary Shapiro for nearly 40 minutes, highlighting work the
administration has done with tech companies to retrain their work-ers for new skills. She has worked on skills-training initiatives at the White House. Companies includ-ing Google have joined that effort.
There was no mention of the pushback about her appearance at the show. The hall was full, and she was met with applause. Organ-izers declined to say how many people were in the audience.
Shapiro told The Associated Press that Ivanka Trump is fi ghting for workers at a time when robots are fi lling warehouses and facto-ries and self-driving vehicles are worrying truck drivers.
“We’ve had politicians speak before, cabinet secretaries and oth-ers who’ve come in,” Shapiro said ahead of the talk.
Ivanka Trump said the event of-fered a chance to talk “about the way jobs are evolving and chang-ing.”
“People need to be thinking about investing in their workforce so that they can enable those peo-ple to do their same job using dif-ferent equipment tomorrow,” she said.
Many people who tweeted the hashtag #BoycottCES on Tuesday in protest of Trump’s appearance also took issue with the adminis-tration’s border detention policies and various actions of the presi-dent himself.
The technology industry has especially important issues pend-ing with the US government, in-cluding antitrust investigations into Facebook and Google, the trade war with China, immigra-tion, election security and misin-formation on social media.
Government offi cials have long made regular appearances at CES. This year, for instance, the speaker roster includes both Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Secretary of Energy Dan Bouil-lette. Other female speakers in-clude Meg Whitman of video streaming startup Quibi and Linda
Yaccarino, chairman of advertis-ing and partnerships for NBCUni-versal.
Ivanka Trump is “taking this slot at this conference where women have been saying for so long, ‘Hey, we are being overlooked,’” said Rachel Sklar, a tech commentator and founder of a professional net-work for women. “The whole cat-egory of women being overlooked are still being overlooked.”
“Clearly they are not putting much effort into fi nding women in tech who can speak,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies, who is at CES.
Last year, CES caused an up-roar when it revoked an innovation award presented to a female-led sex device company. CES reversed its decision and has allowed sex tech into the show for a one-year trial. Conference organizers also brought in an offi cial “equality partner,” The Female Quotient, to help ensure gender diversity.
“Was there nobody else avail-able? Seriously?” asked Ti Chang, co-founder of the wearable vibra-tor company Crave. Chang said Trump’s experience running a clothing brand is a bad fi t for CES and its focus on innovation and technology.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I would love to know what their rationale was.”
Ivanka Trump (right), the daughter and senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, answers a question as she is interviewed by Gary Shapiro (left), CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, at the Consumer Technology
Association Keynote during the CES tech show on Jan 7, in Las Vegas. (AP)
Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn (right), faces the media in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan 8. The disgraced former chairman of Nissan speaks to journalists in Beirut, more than a week after his dramatic escape from Japan ahead
of his trial for alleged fi nancial misconduct. (AP)
Fugitive tycoon describes Japan arrest as a plot
MENA growth pegged at 2.7% in ’20: MUFG
Strike by millions of workers‘hit’ businesses across India
United to take $90mn charge for disruptions
Ghosn says ready to stand trial in fair system
NEW DELHI, Jan 8, (AP): Banking and other businesses across India suffered Wednesday as millions of workers went on strike protesting the Hindu nationalist government’s economic policies, especially the planned sale of several state-owned companies including Air India.
Protesters marched on the streets of New Delhi and several state capi-tals in response to the strike call giv-en by 10 workers unions.
Rail and road traffi c also was dis-rupted in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala states where workers held street protests and blocked railroads, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
Amarjeet Kaur, a trade union lead-er, said workers were opposed to the proposed sale of natural resources and state assets.
“The working class is on roads today,’’ she said, adding that the 90-100% of the workers had joined the strike in the defense, coal, petro-leum, income-tax and service sectors in 15 to 16 Indian states.
The unions said that hundreds of thousands of workers will lose jobs if the government went ahead with the sale of Air India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, the Shipping Corpora-tion of India and the Container Cor-
poration of India. The government says it plans to
sell the companies because they had been losing money for years.
It also wants to bolster revenues as it prepares to unveil the federal budget on Feb. 1 for the fi nancial year 2020-21.
The federal government warned the workers that they won’t receive salaries for Wednesday if they went on strike.
The government projected a 5% economic growth in the current fi scal year, April 2019 to March this year, sharply down from last year’s 6.8% with the manufacturing, cement and power sectors faring poorly.
Also, the sale of cars and other ve-hicles dipped by nearly 13% in mid-2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government recently recapitalized the banks and offered tax incentives for domestic companies. But these steps have so far not increased the rate of investment, according to data released by the government’s Na-tional Statistical Offi ce.
In May last year, government data had shown that joblessness in the country was 6.1% of total labor force during 2017-18, the highest in 45 years.
CHICAGO, Jan 8, (AP): United Air-lines said Tuesday it will take a $90 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings because of a drop in value of its routes to Hong Kong, the scene of anti-government protests in recent months.
United said lower demand for travel to Hong Kong reduced its rev-enue for each seat fl own one mile, a measure that airline investors watch closely.
The company said that led to its calculation of the non-cash impair-ment charge.
The grounding of the Boeing 737 Max has also hurt United, causing it to cancel thousands of fl ights.
The airline has pulled the plane from its schedule until early June, about two months longer than Amer-ican and Southwest.
Chicago-based United Airlines Holdings Inc is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results after the mar-ket closes on Jan 21.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect United to report net income of $653 million, adjusted earnings of $2.64 per share and revenue of $10.88 billion in the quarter.
A year earlier, the airline earned $462 million, adjusted earnings of $2.41 per share and revenue of $10.49 billion.
BEIRUT, Jan 8, (AP): Nissan’s fu-gitive ex-boss, Carlos Ghosn, on Wednesday described his arrest in Japan, from which he escaped last month, as a plot against him and his detention conditions as a “travesty” against human rights.
In his first appearance since his daring and improbable escape from Japan, Ghosn told a news conference in Beirut that the decision to flee “was the most difficult of my life.”
He was due to stand trial for al-leged financial misconduct at the automaker and on Wednesday again dismissed all allegations against him as untrue.
With big gestures and a five-part slide presentation projected behind him, Ghosn brought his case to glob-al media and said that his view was on fleeing Japan was: “You are going to die in Japan or you are going to get out.”
He quickly said he would not ad-dress the details of his escape, which has perplexed and embarrassed Japa-nese authorities.
Media reports have said that he left his Tokyo residence alone, skipping bail and despite supposedly rigor-ous surveillance. He met two men at a hotel, and then took a bullet train to Osaka before boarding a private jet hidden inside a case for musical equipment. He flew to Istanbul and was then transferred onto another plane bound for Beirut, where he ar-rived Dec. 30.
Ghosn portrayed his arrest as a plot linked to a decline in the finan-cial performance of Nissan. Ghosn had been in favor of merging Nissan with industry ally Renault, of which he was also chairman.
“Unfortunately there was no trust. And some of our Japanese friends thought that the only way to get rid of Renault in Nissan is to get rid of me,” he said.
“I should never have been arrested in the first place,” he said. “I’m not above the law and I welcome the op-
portunity for the truth to come out and have my name cleared,” he told a packed room of journalists.
Ghosn said he would be ready to stand trial “anywhere where I think I can have a fair trial.” He declined to say what country that might be.
Lebanon last week received an In-terpol-issued wanted notice - a non-binding request to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive.
Lebanon and Japan do not have an extradition treaty, and the Interpol notice does not require Lebanon to arrest him. Lebanese authorities have said Ghosn entered the country on a legal passport, casting doubt on the possibility they would hand him over to Japan.
At the request of the Japanese gov-ernment, Interpol published the notice on its website Wednesday as Ghosn was giving his news conference.
The notice previously was only sent to Interpol’s member govern-ments but not shared with the public.
Ghosn, who is Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, was expected to go on trial in Tokyo in April. In earlier statements, he has said he fled to avoid “political perse-cution” by a “rigged Japanese justice system.” He also said that he alone organized his departure from Japan and that his wife, Carole, played no role.
On Tuesday, Tokyo prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn on suspicion of perjury. That charge is not related to his escape. Lebanon’s justice minister said Tues-day that Lebanon has not received any request related to that warrant.
Japanese justice officials acknowl-edge that it’s unclear whether the Ghosns can be brought back to Japan to face charges.
Ghosn’s former employer, Nissan Motor Co., said it was still pursuing legal action against him despite his escape, adding that Ghosn engaged in serious misconduct while leading
the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alli-ance. Ghosn denies all the charges.
In France, meanwhile, prosecu-tors are investigating a 50,000-euro gift from the chateau of Versailles to Ghosn, linked to a lavish party there. Renault alerted French authorities after a company investigation found that Ghosn personally benefited from “an exchange worth 50,000 euros in the framework of a philanthropic ac-cord signed with the Chateau of Ver-sailles.”
Renault said in June that an internal audit with partner Nissan found 11 million euros (currently $12 million) in questionable expenses at their Dutch-based holding linked to Ghosn. The two carmakers recommended legal action in the Netherlands, where the alliance is based and ordering Ghosn himself to reimburse the company for some of the expenses.
Earlier in the day, Tokyo prosecu-tors raided a Japanese lawyer’s of-fice where Ghosn had visited regu-larly before he fled. Japanese media reports said prosecutors had likely seized the computer to track down how Ghosn escaped and who might have helped him.
An hour before the scheduled press conference, a Lebanese prosecutor said Ghosn will be summoned “in the coming hours” over a visit to Israel more than 10 years ago, according to the state-run National News Agency.
Two Lebanese lawyers had submit-ted a report to the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Ghosn last week, saying he violated Lebanese law by visiting Israel. The two neighboring coun-tries are technically in a state of war. Prosecutor Ghassan Khoury met with the two lawyers who filed the case on Wednesday and asked them to bring additional evidence, adding he would summon Ghosn in the coming hours.
Ghosn visited Israel in 2008 and met officials including the prime minister and the president. At the time he announced the launch of electric cars in Israel.
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: An MUFG MENA Economic report issued today expects a pick-up in MENA region-al growth in 2020 despite heightened geopolitical ten-sions and weaker energy earnings.
The bank’s research forecasts MENA real GDP growth of 2.7% in 2020, from a near fl at 0.1% in 2019, with Saudi Arabia continu-ing last year’s trend of being the regional outperformer. This perfor-mance will remain below the long-term equilibrium average level of 4.2%.
According to the research pa-per, “investors are taking increas-ing comfort with the lengths and vigour that the Saudi authorities are demonstrating in enhancing the operating environment, entic-ing foreign investment and im-plementing structural reforms in accordance with Vision 2030 tar-gets.” Saudi Arabia was named the top global reformer, based on the World Bank’s ease of doing busi-ness score, rising 30 places to 62,
in the 2020 rankings.Privatisation, in particular, has
received a boost in Saudi Arabia and will have further momentum in 2020. “We believe that the King-dom as well as the rest of the re-gion will accelerate privatisation plans this year, which is in line with the economic transformation strategy,” the report said.
Ehsan Khoman, Head of MENA Research and Strategy at MUFG and author of the report, explained: “Privatisation initiatives are an integral part of regional govern-ment’s strategies for achieving economic development, structur-ally adjusting the economy away from the reliance on hydrocarbons and realigning it away from vola-tile oil and gas prices. As such, governments in the region have devised wide ranging reform plans, with privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOE’s) central to such initiatives.”
Dubai, which already has the most diversified regional economy with hydrocarbons representing only 1.6% of its GDP, is also ex-pected to witness a rebound in eco-nomic growth this year, according
to the report. This will be triggered by a number of factors that will foster an overall momentum and spur a higher real GDP growth in the Emirate.
Dubai’s GDP in 2020 will be boosted by stronger corporate ac-tivity, higher credit growth, higher real estate prices, and renewed business optimism surrounding future output as corporates look to the upcoming World Expo in 2020, explained Khoman.
The report expects the bearish trend of oil prices in 2019 to con-tinue through 2020, with slightly weaker energy earnings this year. “Our Brent spot average is forecast at USD62.3/b in 2020, based on our models which signal a moderately balanced global oil market (0.4m b/d surplus).,” added Khoman. “Our forecast for one-year forward Brent futures is USD56.6/b.”
The GCC financing needs to meet fiscal deficits and invest-ment programmes in 2020 stand at US$73.5bn, or 4.4% of GDP, from US$62.4bn, or 4.8% of GDP, in 2019. This excludes Qatar and Ku-wait, both of which are projected to post a surplus.
Qatar, Kuwait projected to post a surplus
BUSINESSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
23
Kuwait equities turnsouth; volume drops
Boubyan Bank climbs 5 fi ls, Mabanee fl at
By Paul Francis X. FernandesArab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: The general index of Kuwait Stock Exchange declined Wednesday by 11.8 points to reach 6,121.7 points or 0.13 percent.
The trading volume of the index reached 151.26 mil-lion shares through 7,180 cash deals worth KD55.42 million or about $183 million. Out of 119 companies active, the losers outnumbered the gainers at 65 compared to 37 while 17 were unchanged.
The main market index de-creased by 4.8 points to reach the level of 4,781.7 points or 0.1 percent as 68.02 million shares were traded through 2,738 cash deals valued at KD4.6 million (about $15.3 million). The pre-mier market also decreased by 9.7 points to reach the level of 6,799 points or 0.04 percent as 83.2 million shares were trad-ed through 4,442 transactions worth KD50.7 million (about $167.4 million).
Humansoft Holding Company was the gainer of the day as it ral-lied 3.45 percent to fi nish with 3,000 fi ls while Mezzan Holding Company sprinted 1.84 percent to stand next. The steepest decline of 0.96 percent was recorded by Ahli United Bank (B.S.C.) which topped the volume with 19 million shares.
Besides Humansoft Holding Company and Mezzan Holding Company, the other top gainers were Integrated Holding Company KCSC, Boubyan Bank and Gulf Bank. The shares of Ahli United Bank (B.S.C.), Betec, Burgan, Pa-triot and Industries were the most heavily traded; whereas Projects, Al-Dawli and Agility were the low-est.
The session witnessed a com-plete disclosure from Boubyan Bank regarding a cash offer it sub-mitted for the purpose of acquiring Bank of London and The Middle East.
Kuwait Stock Exchange Com-pany is currently implementing the fi rst step of the third stage of developing the market by launch-ing special innovative products and investment tools including income-generating Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which are funds that own and manage real estate income-generating and real estate assets.
A number of investors partici-pate in these funds, which allow individual investors to obtain a share of the income resulting from the ownership of the property with-out the need to purchase or fi nance property or assets.
Gainers included Humansoft Holding Company which increased by 100 fi ls after trading 3.61 million shares with current price of 3,000 fi ls; National Petroleum Services Company climbed 40 fi ls with cur-
rent price of 1,200 fi ls; Tamdeen Investment Company earned 34 fi ls with current price of 389 fi ls; Live-stock Transport & Trading Compa-ny, Mezzan Holding Company and Kuwait Company for Process Plant Construction & Contracting gained 9 fi ls with current price of 181 fi ls, 499 fi ls and 263 fi ls respectively; In-tegrated Holding Company KCSC earned 6 fi ls through 1.19 million shares traded with current price of 534 fi ls; Boubyan Bank climbed 5 fi ls with current price of 647 fi ls; Ooredoo, First Takaful Insurance Company, and Gulf Cable and Elec-trical Industries Company gained 4 fi ls with current price of 770 fi ls, 45 fi ls and 469 fi ls respectively; Sal-hia Real Estate Company earned 3 fi ls with current price of 405 fi ls; Al Madar Finance and Investment Company went up by 2.4 fi ls with current price of 87.4 fi ls; Gulf Bank climbed 2 fi ls with current price of 294 fi ls through 5.66 million shares traded, in addition to and Kuwait Real Estate Holding Company, Gulf Cement Company and Saudi Tel-ecom Company with current price of 28.5 fi ls, 49.8 fi ls and 752 fi ls respectively; The Securities House Company and Kuwait Finance & Investment Company rose by 1.8 fi ls with current price of 45.9 fi ls and 49.8 fi ls respectively; Mashaer Holding Company went up by 1.6 fi ls with current price of 75 fi ls; Aayan Real Estate Company in-creased by 1.5 fi ls with current price of 70.5 fi ls; Burgan Bank earned 1 fi l with current price of 291 fi ls after trading 7.09 million shares, Bouby-an Petrochemical Company which traded 1.49 million shares with cur-rent price of 628 fi ls, and Al-Enma Real Estate Company which traded 1.56 million shares with current price of 67 fi ls, in addition to Ekt-titab Holding Company and Injazzat Real Estate Development Company with current price of 15.2 fi ls and 80 fi ls respectively.
Losers were Alargan Interna-tional Real Estate Company which declined by 10.7 fi ls with current price of 96.3 fi ls; Kuwait Financial Centre decreased by 7.4 fi ls with current price of 95.6 fi ls; Warba In-surance Company (K.S.C.P.) went down by 5.8 fi ls with current price of 61 fi ls; Agility Public Warehous-ing Company plunged 5 fi ls after trading 2.19 million shares with current price of 790 fi ls, as well as Educational Holding Group, and Heavy Engineering Industries and Ship Building Company with cur-rent price of 430 fi ls and 391 fi ls respectively; National Bank of Ku-wait dipped 4 fi ls with current price of 1,056 fi ls through 6.42 million shares traded, Ahli United Bank which traded 1.01 million shares with current price of 331 fi ls, and Combined Group Contracting Com-pany with current price of 252 fi ls through 1.48 million shares traded; Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Company lost 3.2 fi ls with current price of 60.7 fi ls; Ahli United Bank (B.S.C.) went down by 3 fi ls with current price of 311 fi ls after trad-ing 19 million shares, in addition to Noor Financial Investment, Fujai-rah Cement Industries, Arabi Hold-ing Group Company and Commer-cial Facilities Company with current price of 113 fi ls, 41.9 fi ls, 263 fi ls
and 215 fi ls respectively; Manazel Holding Company and Specialties Group Holding Company slid by 2.9 fi ls with current price of 35.1 fi ls and 77.5 fi ls respectively; National Cleaning Company dipped 2.5 fi ls with current price of 65.5 fi ls; Ku-wait International Bank lost 2 fi ls after trading 4.35 million shares with current price of 266 fi ls, in ad-dition to Kuwait Projects Company (Holding), Kuwait Resorts Com-pany, Soor Fuel Marketing Com-pany, Kuwait Foundry Company, Acico Industries Company, Unicap Investment and Finance, Arkan Al-Kuwait Real Estate Company and Tamdeen Real Estate Company with current price of 210 fi ls, 58 fi ls, 121 fi ls, 338 fi ls, 121 fi ls, 50 fi ls, 85 fi ls and 303 fi ls respectively; Equipment Holding Company lost 1.6 fi ls with current price of 18.4 fi ls; First Investment Company de-clined by 1.3 fi ls through 10.39 mil-lion shares traded with current price of 31.5 fi ls, as well as Kuwait and Middle East Financial Investment Company with current price of 82.2 fi ls; Kuwait Finance House declined by 1 fi l with current price of 780 fi ls through 16.46 million shares traded, National Industries Group (Holding) which traded 5.72 mil-lion shares with current price of 229 fi ls, Warba Bank with current price of 265 fi ls through 2.38 million shares traded, Al-Mazaya Holding Company which traded 1.18 million shares with current price of 57 fi ls, and Mubarrad Holding Company with current price of 71 fi ls through 1.92 million shares traded, as well as Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait Investment Company, Gulf Invest-ment House, International Resorts Company, The Commercial Real Estate Company, Kuwait Business Town Real Estate Company, Ku-wait Portland Cement Company, Senergy Holding Company, Alafco Aviation Lease and Finance, and Oula Fuel Marketing Company with current price of 248 fi ls, 145 fi ls, 58 fi ls, 10 fi ls, 93 fi ls, 41.2 fi ls, 979 fi ls, 19.1 fi ls, 266 fi ls and 124 fi ls respec-tively.
The following companies were stagnant: Mabanee Company at 914 fi ls through 1.23 million shares traded, Qurain Petrochemical In-dustries Company at 307 fi ls, Zain which traded 4.35 million shares at 576 fi ls, Commercial Bank of Kuwait at 529 fi ls, National Invest-ments Company at 133 fi ls after trading 1.27 million shares, Aayan Leasing & Investment Company at 43 fi ls through 7.09 million shares traded, Kamco Investment Compa-ny at 90 fi ls, National International Holding Company at 81 fi ls, Alim-tiaz Investment Group Company which traded 2.30 million shares at 121 fi ls, United Real Estate Company at 61.3 fi ls, The Energy House Company at 21 fi ls, Nation-al Shooting Company (K.P.S.C) at 9 fi ls, Danah Alsafat Foodstuff Company at 15 fi ls, Egypt Kuwait Holding at 405 fi ls, Inovest at 65 fi ls, Al Eid Food Company at 72.5 fi ls and Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate Company at 78 fi ls.
Ruling on station validates concerns of residents
Court tosses permit of Atlantic Coast PipelineRICHMOND, Va,Jan 8, (AP): A federal appeals court has thrown out a permit needed by develop-ers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to build a natural gas compres-sor station in a historic African American community in Vir-ginia.
The unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals is a vic-tory for opponents of a proposal to build the station in Union Hill, an unincorporated community that was founded by freed slaves after the Civil War.
Lead developer Dominion Energy said the compressor sta-tion would have far fewer air emissions and more air control monitoring than any other station in the country. But opponents ar-gued that the State Air Pollution Control Board and Dominion did not carefully consider the pro-ject’s potential health effects on Union Hill residents.
During oral arguments before the 4th Circuit in October, law-yers for opponents of the project said the state failed to consider the “unequal treatment” of peo-ple who live near the proposed site for the compressor station.
Opponents said they were con-cerned that exhaust from the sta-tion could cause harmful health effects on nearby residents, most of whom are African American.
Union Hill is in rural Buck-ingham County, about an hour’s drive west of Richmond.
During the October hearing, Deputy Solicitor General Mar-tine Cicconi said the Air Pollu-tion Control Board “absolutely grappled” with the issue of en-vironmental justice and carefully considered any adverse health impacts on residents. She said the emissions will fall well below emissions from other compres-sor stations in Virginia and will meet national ambient air quality standards.
The pipeline, which would run 600 miles (965 kilometers) and carry fracked natural gas from West Virginia into Virginia and North Carolina, has been mired in legal challenges by environ-mental and conservation groups. Construction has been halted since December 2018.
In its written ruling, the three-judge panel said it agreed with opponents that the board failed to assess the station’s potential
for disproportionate health ef-fects on the community of Union Hill. The panel also said it agreed that the board failed to consider electric turbines as zero-emission alternatives to gas-fi red turbines in the compressor station.
The 4th Circuit panel sent the case back to the Air Pollution Control Board.
Dominion said it will imme-diately begin working with the state to resolve the issues identi-fi ed by the court.
“We are confi dent the addition-al analysis required by the Court can be completed in a timely manner. We expect the project will still deliver signifi cant vol-umes to customers under our ex-isting timeline, even as we work to resolve this permit,” said Do-minion spokesman Aaron Ruby.
Greg Buppert, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the ruling vali-dates the concerns of Union Hill residents.
“The community felt like the company was trying to erase them out of existence,” Bup-pert said. “I think the court took those issues very seriously and listened.”
BUSINESSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
24
Global stock markets nosediveafter missile strike on US bases
US indexes stabilize as oil prices pull back
BEIJING, Jan 8, (AP): Oil prices rose and global stock markets fell Wednesday af-ter Iran fi red missiles at US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of an Iranian general.
Brent crude futures, the bench-mark for international oils, spiked more than $3 per barrel in London before retreating.
Stock markets in London and Frankfurt opened lower and Tokyo’s benchmark fell nearly 2% before re-covering some of its losses. Hong Kong and Shanghai also retreated.
“Investors appear to be pricing for an all-out war,” said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report.
The Pentagon said Iran fi red more than a dozen missiles at bases in Iraq used by US troops. President Donald Trump tweeted “All is well!” and that casualty and damage assess-ments were ongoing, adding “So far, so good!”
Iran’s foreign minister described the missile fi rings as “proportionate measures in self-defense.”
Financial markets have been on edge about possible US-Iranian con-fl ict and disruption of oil supplies since last week’s killing of Gen Qassem Soleimani by a US drone in Baghdad.
Brent crude was up 78 cents at $69.05. At the start of trading, it spiked $3.48 to $71.75 before retreating.
Benchmark US crude was up 55 cents to $63.25 per barrel in elec-tronic trading on the New York Mer-cantile Exchange. It earlier jumped $2.95 to $65.65 before settling back.
Higher prices for imported oil could push up infl ation in economies including China and India, making it harder for central banks to support growth by easing monetary policy, said Rajiv Biswas of IHS Markit in a report.
In early trading, London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.6% to 7,525.48 and Frankfurt’s DAX shed 0.7% to 13,134.26. France’s CAC 40 lost 0.5% to 5,98049.
On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 0.2% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.4%.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index lost 0.3% in trading that closed be-fore the Iranian attack. The Dow shed 0.4% and the Nasdaq compos-ite slipped less than 0.1%.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6% to 23,204.76 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% to 28,087.92.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2% to 3,066.89 and South
Korea’s Kospi retreated 1.1% to 2,151.31.
Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.1% to 6,817.60 and India’s Sensex shed 0.2% to 40,770.06.
Taiwan, New Zealand and South-east Asian markets also retreated.
Before the latest attack, the rush by investors into safe assets had been abating.
Gold’s momentum eased Tuesday after touching its highest price in nearly seven years.
In currency markets, the dollar was little-changed at 108.43 yen. The euro declined to $1.1139 from $1.1152.
US Markets stabilized in morning
trading Wednesday after overnight declines following Iran’s missile at-tack of US bases in Iraq.
Stocks moved broadly higher and oil prices pulled back as Iran and the US appeared to tone down their rhetoric. The missile attack comes a week after a US drone strike killed a key Iranian general.
Banks made broad gains. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all gained less than 1%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.84% from 1.82% late Tues-day. Higher bond yields allow banks to charge more lucrative interest on mortgages and other loans.
Technology and communications companies also rose. Real estate companies and utilities lagged the market as investors shifted money away from the safe-play sectors.
Energy stocks fell as oil prices
dipped. Phillips 66 fell 3.6% and ConocoPhillips slipped 2.4%.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.5% as of 11:39 am Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138 points, or 0.5%, to 714. The Nasdaq rose 0.5%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks rose 0.3%.
Markets in Europe recovered and made gains after making sharp drops overnight. Asian markets fell. Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 1.6% and The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2%
Walgreens fell 6% after reporting a disappointing 25% drop in profi t during its fi scal fi rst quarter on weak sales growth. The world’s largest drugstore chain is going through a cost-cutting program and expects earnings to be fl at this year.
Boeing fell 1.2% after one of its 737-800 aircraft flown by Ukraine International Airlines crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff, kill-ing all on board. The cause of the crash is under investigation. It oc-curred after Iran fired missiles at US bases in Iraq. Boeing is also still dealing with the grounding of its 737-Max jets because of cata-strophic technical issues.
Asia Oil prices rose and Asian stock
markets fell Wednesday after Iran fi red missiles at US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of an Ira-nian general.
Brent crude futures, the bench-mark for international oils, spiked
more than $3 per barrel in London before retreating.
Tokyo’s stock market benchmark fell nearly 2% before recovering some of its losses and Hong Kong was off 1%. Shanghai, Australia and Southeast Asian markets also retreated.
“Investors appear to be pricing for an all-out war,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a report.
The Pentagon said Iran fi red more than a dozen missiles at bases in Iraq used by US troops.
President Donald Trump tweeted “All is well!” and that casualty and damage assessments were ongoing, adding “So far, so good!”
Iran’s foreign minister described the missile fi rings as “proportionate measures in self-defense.”
Financial markets have been on edge about possible US-Iranian con-fl ict and disruption of oil supplies since last week’s killing of Gen Qassem Soleimani by a US drone in Baghdad.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.5% to 23,221.08 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1% to 28,031.54.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2% to 3,067.82 and South Korea’s Kospi retreated 1.1% to 3,068.02.
Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.1% to 6,817.60 and India’s Sensex opened down 0.7% at 40,566.78.
Taiwan, New Zealand and South-east Asian markets also retreated.
Before the latest attack, the rush by investors into safe assets had been abating.
NEW YORK, Jan 8, (AP): Boeing said Tuesday it is rec-ommending that pilots receive training in a flight simulator before the grounded 737 Max returns to flying, a reversal of the company’s long-held posi-tion that computer-based train-ing alone was adequate.
The recommendation is based on changes to the plane, results from tests involving a small num-ber of pilots, and a commitment to the safe return of the Max, Boeing said.
The fi nal decision on the nature of training will be up to the Fed-eral Aviation Administration and regulators in other countries. The FAA said it will consider Boeing’s recommendation but also rely on upcoming further tests using pilots from US and foreign airlines.
Those tests are designed to help regulators determine fl ight training and emergency pro-cedures, said FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford.
“The FAA is following a thorough process, not a set timeline, to ensure that any de-sign modifications to the 737 Max are integrated with appro-priate training and procedures,” Lunsford said.
The 737 Max has been ground-ed worldwide since last March after two crashes killed 346 peo-ple. Boeing is making changes to fl ight-control software and other systems in a bid to get the plane back in the air.
Boeing long held that pilots who can fl y older 737s only need-ed a computer course – roughly an hour-long course on a tab-let - to fl y the Max. That helped airlines avoid timely and costly training in simulators.
Boeing even offered to pay Southwest Airlines a rebate of $1 million per plane if pilots needed simulator training before fl ying the Max.
Last year, an FAA technical advisory board sided with Boeing and recommended that only com-puter-based training was needed. However, families of victims of the two crashes lobbied for simulator training, arguing that pilots need to experience how the Max differs from previous versions of the 737.
“Of course this should be required,” Nadia Milleron, a Massachusetts woman whose daughter, Samya Stumo, died in the March 2019 Max crash in Ethiopia, said after Boeing’s an-nouncement. “Passengers should not have to push for basic safety standards.”
Similarly, the chairman of a congressional panel investigating Boeing said the company’s en-dorsement of simulator training was welcome but overdue.
“It’s remarkable that it took
two deadly crashes, numerous investigations and untold public pressure before Boeing arrived at this decision,” said Peter De-Fazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Transportation Commit-tee. He said Boeing “put pro-duction and profi ts ahead of the public’s safety” by assuring air-lines that its 737 pilots could fl y the Max without going through simulator training.
Boeing’s interim CEO, Greg Smith, said in a statement that Boeing decided to recommend simulator training because of the importance to Boeing of gaining public and airline confi dence in the Max.
US pilot unions stood by Boe-ing and vouched for the Max’s safety after the fi rst crash, in In-donesia in October 2018. The American Airlines union said last April that pilots should practice certain emergencies in a simula-tor - but only as part of regular training and not necessarily be-fore the Max returned.
Dennis Tajer, a 737 pilot and spokesman for the union, said Tuesday that as more revelations emerged about the design of key systems, the union grew skepti-cal. He said Boeing’s endorse-ment of simulator training now “sounds like a step in the positive direction.”
The US airlines that own Max jets - Southwest, American and United - issued muted statements, saying they would wait for a fi nal decision by FAA.
It is not clear whether a re-quirement for simulator training would further delay the return of the Max, which is costing Boe-ing billions and forcing airlines to cancel thousands of fl ights. About 800 Max jets have been built, and they were expected to become a bigger part of the fl eets at many airlines.
There are only 34 MAX fl ight simulators worldwide – Boeing owns eight of them, and more are being made. But US airlines alone have thousands of 737 pilots – Southwest has nearly 10,000, and American and United have more than 4,000 each.
The FAA could decide that pilots can practice Max-related emergency procedures on simu-lators meant for older 737s called NG or next generation. Or air-lines could split their Max and NG fl eets and train just a small fraction of 737 pilots for the Max. However, airlines want to avoid that extra complexity, according to industry offi cials.
Shares of Chicago-based Boe-ing Co. rose $3.54, or 1.1%, to close at $337.28. They had gained 3.1% before Boeing an-nounced its reversal on pilot-training requirements.
Recommendation based on tests
‘Pilots need simulatortraining on 737 Max’
Walgreens begins 2020 much as it ended 2019, on a sour note
Walgreens is kicking off its year the much as it ended its last, with a big earnings plunge.
The drugstore chain said Wednesday that fi rst-quarter net income dropped nearly 25% in a performance that fell short of Wall Street expecta-tions. Revenue also inched up less than 2% for the drugstore chain, which is going through a cost-cutting program and developing partnerships with
other companies to bring in more business.
Walgreens earned $845 million in the quarter that ended Nov 30, while revenue grew to $34.34 billion. Earn-ings adjusted for one-time items totaled $1.37 per share.
Analysts expected, on av-erage, earnings of $1.41 per share on $34.58 billion in rev-enue, according to FactSet.
Walgreens and other drug-
stores have been hit by chal-lenges that include reimburse-ment cuts for prescriptions and growing competition from on-line options like Amazon.com. That has eaten into sales at the front end of their stores, or the areas outside the pharmacy.
The company said in Octo-ber that its fi scal fourth-quarter earnings had tumbled 55%, and it raised its annual sav-ings target from its cost-cutting
program to $1.8 billion by fi scal 2022, up from a previous goal to exceed $1.5 billion.
Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina said in a prepared statement that the company was satisfi ed with the progress they’ve made so far in that program and with Walgreens’ cash fl ow. Wal-greens recorded $1.1 billion in net cash from operating activi-ties in the quarter. (AP)
In this June 25, 2019, fi le photo signage hangs
outside a Walgreens pharmacy in downtown Cincinnati. Walgreens
travellers cheques local gold — Sterling.391041.397213.394647.395610
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Commercial Bank
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Traders work on the fl oor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Jan 8. (AP)
SPORTSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
25
WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): David Pastrnak scored for the third con-secutive game and the Bos-ton Bruins beat Nashville 6-2, spoiling the debut of new Predators coach John Hynes.
Hynes was hired as the third coach in franchise history earlier in the day to replace Peter Laviolette, who was fired Monday after 5½ seasons as coach. Hynes was fired as coach of the New Jersey Devils on Dec 3.
Danton Heinen, Patrice Bergeron, Chris Wagner, David Krejci and Char-lie Coyle also scored for the Bruins, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Tuukka Rask made 34 saves.
Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund scored for Nashville, which has lost five of six. Pekka Rinne finished with 30 saves.
Blues 3, Sharks 2In St Louis, David Perron scored
his 18th goal of the season and Jordan Binnington stopped 28 shots to lead St Louis over San Jose.
Tyler Bozak and Ivan Barbashev also scored for the Blues, who have won six straight at home. Timo Mei-er and Erik Karlsson had San Jose’s goals.
This was the first matchup between the teams in St. Louis since the Blues eliminated the Sharks in Game 6 of last year’s Western Conference Final. St. Louis won 5-2 in San Jose on Dec 21.
The Blues are 8-3-1 in their last 12 regular-season games against the Sharks.
Rangers 5, Avalanche 3In New York, Artemi Panarin had a
goal and two assists, and Igor Shester-kin stopped 29 shots to win his NHL debut as New York beat Colorado.
Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome each had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider and Brady Skjei also scored for the Rangers. Jesper Fast had three assists and Tony DeAngelo added two.
J.T. Compher scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal in his 500th game for the Avalanche, who have lost two straight. Andrei Bura-kovsky had two assists and Philipp Grubauer finished with 24 saves.
Shesterkin was 15-4-3 with a 1.93 goals-against average and three shut-outs in 23 games with Hartford of the AHL in his first season in North Amer-ica. The 24-year-old Russian, called up on Monday, was a fourth-round pick by the Rangers in the 2014 NHL draft.
Capitals 6, Senators 1In Washington, T.J. Oshie and Alex
Ovechkin each scored two goals as Washington defeated Ottawa.
Oshie, who scored the tying goal in Sunday’s wild comeback win over San Jose, tied this one at 1. The Capitals, who have won three straight, scored six unanswered goals after Artem Ani-simov gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:40 of the first period.
Ottawa has lost five straight, its sec-ond five-game skid of the season.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 shots to bring his record to 12-2-1.
Craig Anderson allowed five goals on 30 shots before he was pulled after Lars Eller’s goal at 2:08 of the third period. Radko Gudas also scored for the Capitals.
Hurricanes 5, Flyers 4, OTIn Raleigh, North Carolina, Dougie
Hamilton scored 1:56 into overtime on a shot between goalie Brian Elliott’s
Bruins trounce Predators tospoil Hynes’ debut as coach
Verhaeghe’s hat trick helps Lightning rout Canucks 9-2
pads to lift Carolina over Philadelphia.Warren Foegele, Jake Gardiner,
Lucas Wallmark and Joel Edmundson also scored for the Hurricanes, who bounced back from a two-goal deficit in the first period with four straight goals, then squandered their own two-goal cushion. Carolina stopped a two-game skid and improved to 3-2 on its seven-game homestand.
Travis Konecny, Michael Raffl, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Travis San-heim scored for the Flyers, who lost
their fourth straight and dropped five of six on their road trip.
After the game, Carolina announced the signing of veteran forward Justin Williams for the remainder of the sea-son. Williams has won three Stanley Cups, two with the Kings and one with the Hurricanes. He has 312 goals and 474 assists in 1,244 career games.
Flames 2, Blackhawks 1In Chicago, Elias Lindholm scored
twice to reach 300 points in his 500th NHL game, and Calgary topped Chi-cago for its third straight win.
Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Flames, who lost 5-3 to Chicago
in their first meeting of the season on New Year’s Eve. Cam Talbot made 31 saves.
Islanders 4, Devils 3, OTIn Newark, New Jersey, Anders
Lee scored with 51 seconds left on the clock in overtime to lift New York over New Jersey.
Casey Cizikas, Jordan Eberle and Tom Kuhnhackl also scored for the Is-landers. Thomas Greiss made 32 saves, including one on defenseman Sami Vatanen on a 3-on-1 break in overtime.
P.K. Subban, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils, who were looking for their second win over the Islanders in less than a week.
Lightning 9, Canucks 2In Tampa, Florida, Carter Verhae-
ghe had his first career hat trick and Tampa Bay scored three times in less than a minute to finish a six-goal sec-ond period that propelled the Lightning past Vancouver for their season-best eighth straight victory.
Verhaeghe, Tyler Johnson, Ste-ven Stamkos, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov and Erik Cernak all scored in the second as the Lightning matched a team record for goals in a period. They chased goaltender Jacob Markstrom and ended the Canucks’ seven-game
Nats sign Castro for $12 mln, 2 years
MLB to investigate reports ’18 champion Red Sox stole signsBOSTON, Jan 8, (AP): Major League Baseball says it will inves-tigate allegations the Boston Red Sox illegally used their video replay room to steal signs between oppos-ing pitchers and catchers during their 2018 World Series champion-ship season.
The claims were made Tuesday in a report by The A t h l e t i c . The website cited three anonymous sources it said were with the Red Sox during the 2018 season who said some players visit-ed the replay room during games to get information on sign sequences.
Those sources told The Athletic that the Red Sox weren’t able to do it during the postseason because of in-person monitors used by mlb in those games.
❑ ❑ ❑
Infi elder Starlin Castro fi nalized a two-year contract with the Wash-ington Nationals on Tuesday, one of a fl urry of recent moves by the World Series champions.
Castro’s deal gives the club someone who can start at second base and maybe also play some at third, where Anthony Rendon left as a free agent. Castro gets $5 mil-lion next season and $7 million in 2021 plus the chance to earn award bonuses.
❑ ❑ ❑
Catcher Jason Castro has fi nal-ized a $6.85 million, one-year con-tract with the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels announced the agreement Tuesday after the sides reached a deal last week. Left-hand-er Adalberto Mejía was designated for assignment to make room.
The 32-year-old Castro is a re-
spected defensive catcher who com-mitted just one error last season and bolstered his reputation for working well with young pitchers.
❑ ❑ ❑
Right-hander Jimmy Nelson and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed Tuesday to a $1.25 million, one-year contract, an incentive-laden deal that could be worth $13.25 million over two seasons.
The 30-year-old pitcher spent the last six seasons with Milwaukee. Nelson was 33-46 with a 4.22 ERA and 578 strikeouts and 240 walks.
Nelson had his best season in 2017, going 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA. He ranked eighth in the National League with 199 strikeouts in 29 starts and ninth in ERA. However, he ended the season on the injured list with a rotator cuff strain. He missed all of the 2018 season with a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder.
❑ ❑ ❑
When it came time to fi nd a new shortstop for the rebuilding Bal-timore Orioles, general manager Mike Elias looked no further than José Iglesias.
Iglesias and Baltimore fi nalized a $3 million, one-year contract on Tuesday. a deal that includes a $2.5 million salary this year and a $3.5 million club option for 2021 with a $500,000 buyout.
After trading shortstop Jonathan Villar in December, Elias decided that the 30-year-old Iglesias would be an ideal replacement.
“Just his overall talent, the com-bination of his offensive capabil-ity and the glove he’s famous for,” Elias said. “His long track record put him in a tier above anyone else that was available on the free agent market.”
The Orioles couldn’t promise Ig-lesias he would be part of a winner - they’ve lost more than 100 games in each of the past two seasons - but they could at least offer a starting spot.
MLB Roundup
ICE HOCKEY
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Brandon Tanev (13) scores on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the third period of an NHL hock-
ey game on Jan 7, in Las Vegas. (AP)
In this Dec 16, 2019 file photo, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) celebrates his touchdown pass to tight end Josh Hill, which broke the NFL record for career touchdown passes, surpassing Peyton Manning, in the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts
in New Orleans. (AP)
Columbus Blue Jackets’ Nathan Gerbe, (left), is defended by Anaheim Ducks’ Ondrej Kase during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Jan 7, in Anaheim, California. (AP)
Bouncing back yet again would require a franchise fi rst
Saints identifying ways to shore up 13-win squad: PaytonMETAIRIE, La, Jan 8, (AP): Saints coach Sean Payton and players who’ve been in New Orleans the past few years have endured a cruel kind of three-peat.
Three straight seasons have ended with playoff loses in which the decisive points were scored on the final play. The latest loss Sunday came in over-time against the Minnesota Vikings, who also knocked the Saints out of the playoffs three seasons ago on a 61-yard touchdown as time expired in regula-tion.
Bouncing back yet again would re-quire a franchise first.
The Saints, who’ve won the NFC South the past three seasons, have never made the playoffs four years in a row.
U n c e r t a i n -ty surrounds the futures of record-setting q u a r t e r b a c k Drew Brees, who turns 41 next week, as well as a handful of other prime contributors who are ei-ther becoming free agents or in position to hold out for extensions.
Michael Thomas successfully held out before the final season of his first contract. Dynamic running back Alvin Kamara, one of the Saints’ most pro-ductive players the past three seasons, is at that juncture now.
Payton acknowledged the challenge of keeping the current roster intact.
“Our job is to try to protect as best we can the guys we feel like moving forward are going to help us the most,” Payton said Tuesday.
“That doesn’t mean that a player or two that we’d like to have (won’t get) a chance to play somewhere else. That’s part of the business.” Payton said Tues-day that he’s begun identifying priori-ties aimed at improving an already for-midable roster.
“There’s some musts right now that are at least in my mind positions that we have to solidify to be better,” Payton said, declining to name specific posi-tions. “And I think we’ll try to do that any way, shape or form.”
The Saints entered the 2019 season embracing Super Bowl expectations. They nearly made it that far a season earlier, only to have high-profile offi-ciating mistakes go against them when they were trying to close out the NFC championship game against the Los Angeles Rams.
But their 13-3 record wasn’t quite good enough this time to earn a first-round bye, and a narrow upset at home in their postseason opener brought a season of promise to a sudden and dis-appointing end.
It sounds like the Saints expect Brees, whose 74.3% completion rate ranked second in NFL history behind only his 2018 mark of 74.4%, to be back for a 20th season, even though he hasn’t committed to that publicly
yet. “Knowing him, I highly doubt he’s done,” left tackle Terron Armstead said. “I’m pretty confident” Brees will return.
Added Payton: “I think he wants to play more, and I think, shoot, we saw him play at a high level.”
When Brees injured his thumb in a Week 2 loss and needed surgery, the Saints surprisingly responded by win-ning five straight with backup Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback. When Brees returned, he continued his assault on the NFL record books. Already the NFL’s leader in completions and yards passing since last season, Brees became the career leader in touchdowns when he eclipsed Peyton Manning’s previous mark of 539 in December.
Thomas responded to his contract extension with an NFL single-season record 149 catches. Defensive end Cameron Jordan, who also signed an extension, had a career-high 15-1/2 sacks.
The Saints also found a new return man in 5-foot-6 undrafted rookie De-onte Harris, who was voted All-Pro.
Third-string QB Taysom Hill con-tinued to blossom in his role as a utility player, effective as an option QB and as a receiving tight end, whether he was blocking on the perimeter or making big catches down-field. He also contin-ued to thrive on special teams.
FOOTBALL
Payton
Castro
winning streak.Penguins 4, Golden Knights 3
In Las Vegas, Dominik Kahun had a goal and an assist, Tristan Jarry made 32 saves and Pittsburgh defeated Ve-gas.
The Penguins have won three straight and six of seven on the road (6-1-0).
Vegas had its season-best four-game win streak snapped.
Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Penguins, who had 16 shots on goal.
Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Reilly Smith scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 12 saves against his former team.
Coyotes 5, Panthers 2In Sunrise, Florida, Taylor Hall
scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and Arizona downed Florida for its fourth straight win.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and two assists, and Lawson Crouse, Carl Soderberg and Christian Dvorak also scored for the Coyotes. Phil Kes-sel added two assists and Adin Hill stopped 37 shots in his first start of the season.
Mike Hoffman and Noel Acciari had the goals for the Panthers. Chris Driedger made 32 saves in his second consecutive start.
Red Wings 4, Canadiens 3In Detroit, Filip Zadina scored the
tiebreaking goal with 3:52 left in the third period to send Detroit past Mon-treal.
Zadina connected on a one-timer in front off Adam Erne’s pass from behind the net. The Red Wings had lost two in a row and 20 of their last 23, giving them the NHL’s worst re-cord by a wide margin. Montreal has dropped seven straight games.
Blue Jackets 4, Ducks 3In Anaheim, California, Zach We-
renski scored two goals to lead Colum-bus over Anaheim.
The win pushed Columbus’ road point streak to nine games (6-0-3). Eric Robinson and Nathan Gerbe also scored, Pierre-Luc Dubois had three assists and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 37 shots.
Carolina 5 Philadelphia (OT) 4Arizona 5 Florida 2N.Y. Islanders 4 New Jersey (OT) 3Tampa Bay 9 Vancouver 2Washington 6 Ottawa 1Detroit 4 Montreal 3
N.Y. Rangers 5 Colorado 3Boston 6 Nashville 2St Louis 3 San Jose 2Calgary 2 Chicago 1Columbus 4 Anaheim 3Pittsburgh 4 Vegas 3
WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Tuesday.
Note: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.
Pacifi c Division P W L OT Pts GF GAArizona 45 25 16 4 54 133 114Vegas 46 24 16 6 54 147 137Edmonton 45 23 17 5 51 137 142Calgary 45 23 17 5 51 125 135Vancouver 43 23 16 4 50 143 134San Jose 45 19 22 4 42 121 151Anaheim 43 17 21 5 39 113 136Los Angeles 44 17 23 4 38 112 140
NHL Results/Standings
SPORTSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
26
Baylor stretches winning streak to 11 games with win over Texas Tech
Harper scores 22 as Rutgers upsets Penn State
LUBBOCK, Texas, Jan 8, (AP): Davion Mitchell scored 14 points, Mark Vi-tal grabbed 13 rebounds and No. 4 Baylor stretched its winning streak to 11 games with a 57-52 win over No. 22 Texas Tech.
The Bears (12-1, 2-0 Big 12) held on even though their last fi eld goal came with 3:06 left.
Texas Tech (10-4, 1-1) lost at home for the fi rst time in nearly a year. The Red Raiders had won 15 consecutive home games since a loss to Iowa State last Jan 16, and are 58-6 at home un-der fourth-year coach Chris Beard.
Freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey led the Red Raiders with 20 points, and Kyler Edwards had 10.
Maryland 67, Ohio State 55In College Park, Maryland, An-
thony Cowan Jr scored 20 points, and
No. 12 Maryland used an unyielding defensive performance to defeat 11th-ranked Ohio State 67-55 and remain unbeaten at home.
Jalen Smith had 11 points and sev-en rebounds for the Terrapins (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who have won three straight. Maryland went up by 10 on a 3-pointer by Cowan with 12:58 left and cruised to the fi nish.
Ohio State (11-4, 1-3) shot a miser-able 31%, went 5 for 27 from 3-point range and committed 14 turnovers.
Kaleb Wesson scored 15 for Ohio State, and Andre Wesson and D.J. Carton had 14 apiece. Luther Mu-hammad went 0 for 6 from the floor, Duane Washington Jr finished 2 for 11, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range.
Louisville 74, Miami 58In Louisville, Kentucky, Jordan
Nwora scored 19 points including a critical layup with 5:21 remaining, and Darius Perry and Ryan McMahon followed with key baskets down the stretch to help No. 13 Louisville pull away from Miami 74-58.
Louisville (12-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back from con-secutive losses to ranked foes, at Ken-tucky and at home to Florida State.
McGusty and Chris Lykes had 18 points apiece for Miami (9-5, 1-3), which dropped its second in a row. The Hurricanes shot 28% and were outrebounded 48-37.
Kentucky 78, Georgia 69In Athens, Georgia, Immanuel
Quickley’s 3-pointer gave No. 14 Kentucky its fi rst lead of the second half and the Wildcats overcame An-thony Edwards’ 23 points to beat Georgia 78-69 and continue their domination of the Southeastern Con-ference rivalry.
Kentucky (11-3, 2-0) trailed 37-31 at halftime before fi nally taking the lead on Quickley’s 3 with 8:06 re-maining. Georgia (10-4, 0-1) never regained the lead.
Tyrese Maxey and Nick Richards each had 17 points and seven re-
Gillespie and Saddiq Bey made back-to-back 3-pointers to give Vil-lanova the lead for good in the final four minutes, and the No. 16 Wild-cats ended a six-game Big East road losing streak with a 64-59 win over Creighton.
The Wildcats (11-3, 2-1 Big East) overcame another poor shooting per-formance to end Creighton’s 15-game home win streak and deny Bluejays coach Greg McDermott his 500th career win. Creighton (12-4, 1-2) has lost two in a row, both to ranked op-ponents.
Gillespie fi nished with 24 points and was by far the Wildcats’ best
shooter, making 8 of 10 from the fi eld, 4 of 5 from 3-point range. His team-mates were a combined 15 for 51, including 2 of 28 on 3s. Bey had 11 points, Jermaine Samuels added 10 and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 14 rebounds.
Christian Bishop led the Bluejays with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Boston College 60, Virginia 53In Boston, Jared Hamilton hit a tie-
breaking 3-pointer with 37 seconds left and added a pair of free throws to clinch it as Boston College beat No. 18 Virginia 60-53 and sent the de-fending national champions to their fi rst Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season.
Jay Heath scored 17 for the Eagles (9-6, 3-1), who had not beaten Vir-ginia since 2013. It was BC’s fi rst win
over a ranked team since a victory over No. 11 Florida State last January.
Braxton Key scored 16 points with eight rebounds for the Cavaliers (11-3, 3-1), who have now lost two of their last four games.
Rutgers 72, Penn State 61In Piscataway, New Jersey, Ron
Harper Jr had 22 points to help Rut-gers beat No. 20 Penn State 72-61.
Rutgers took a lead at 34-33 on a second-chance basket by Myles John-son with 17:53 to go. It was the Scar-let Knights fi rst lead since 4-3, when Harper. hit two foul shots from a fl a-grant foul on Jamari Wheeler. As Rut-gers was trying to inbound, Wheeler elbowed Harper in the chin.
The teams would trade a few of leads, before Rutgers (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten) took the lead for good on Mon-tez Mathis’ 3-pointer. He had a layup on the ensuing possession to make it 54-51 with 6:45 to go.
Penn State was led by Myreon Jones’ 21 points, while Mike Watkins had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Ja-cob Young added 13 points for Rut-gers.
Texas A&M 57, Ole Miss 47In College Station, Texas, Josh
Nebo scored 17 points on 5-for-5 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and collected four blocks as Texas A&M wiped out a 10-point halftime defi cit and defeated Mississippi 57-47.
The Rebels leaped to a 29-19 half-time lead thanks to Breein Tyree’s hot hand and the Aggies’ collective cold shooting. Tyree scored 21 points in the fi rst half, thanks to sinking 8-of-10 fi eld goals, including 5-of-7 3-point-ers.
Tyree led the Rebels (9-5, 0-1) with 26 points. Emanuel Miller fi nished with nine rebounds for the Aggies.
Virginia Tech 67, Syracuse 63In Syracuse, New York, Freshman
Jalen Cone scored a career-high 19 points and Virginia Tech went on a 21-4 run midway through the second half to defeat Syracuse 67-63.
Cone, who averaged 5.6 points en-tering the game, hit four 3s and scored 16 of his points in the second half when the Hokies took control.
Nolley scored 13 and P.J. Horne chipped in with 12 for the Hokies. No-lley, who averages 17.9 points a game and shoots 47 percent from 3, was just 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon Jr (1) tries to shoot over Baylor’s Freddie Gillespie (33) during the fi rst half of an NCAA college basketball game on Jan 7, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP)
BASKETBALL
Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr (24) drives to the basket against Penn State forward Mike Watkins (24) during the fi rst half of an NCAA col-lege basketball game on Jan 7, in
Piscataway, New Jersey. (AP)
Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey (3) goes in for a shot against Georgia in the fi rst half of an NCAA college basketball game on Jan 7, in Ath-
ens, Ga. (AP)
Lewis shines as WI beat IrelandBRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jan 8, (AP): Evin Lewis missed his third one-day in-ternational century by inches on the fi nal ball of the match to lead West Indies to a fi ve-wicket victory over Ireland.
Chasing Ireland’s 180 runs after Andy Balbirnie won his fi rst toss as captain and elected to bat, Lewis fi n-
ished unbeaten on 99 when his big drive over covers landed just short of the boundary, giving West Indies the four runs it needed to clinch victory.
Lewis fi nished with 13 fours and two sixes as West Indies scored 184-5 and won with 100 balls to spare.
Medium pace bowler Alzarri Jo-seph was named man of the match af-ter taking four for 32 in his 10 overs, including openers Paul Stirling and Gareth Delany. Wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker led Ireland with 31 runs.
Photo from the event.
Rayan, Suhail and Shedad post victories
Al-Owaidh dominate Farwaniya 10th meetKUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: In one of the most entertaining and in-teresting horse racing contests on Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Track at the Farwaniya Equestrian Club, seasoned coach Mohammad Al-Owaidh succeeded in leading the trio of Al-Owaidh stable horses – Rayan, Suhail and Shedad – to three consecutive victories in the 10th meeting of 2019/2020 sea-son.
Rayan won the class one cup presented by the equestrian club after covering the distance within a minute and 4.15 sec-onds, while the horse Shaki from
Al-Hamoud stable ridden by Tawfi q came second and horse Muta’amed from Al-Shilahi stable ridden by Bader won the third position. The fourth and fi fth positions went to horses Al-
Khaldi’s Bismillah Alaej and Al-Abdali respectively.
In the class two trophy pre-sented by the club for 2400 meters race won by the horse Al-Owaidh’s Suhail ridden by
Rayan by covering the distance within 2 minutes and 38.36 sec-onds, followed in second place by Al-Daban’s Ashan Fahad, while Ali rode the horse Al-Seihan’s Farraj to win the third position.
The horse Al-Owaidh’s She-dad, under Rayan, excelled op-ponents within 1 minute and 13.45 seconds in the class 3 category for 1200 meters, while Oyoun Nasser from Al-Shilahi stable ridden by Jones came sec-ond and Al-Farmawi’s Shebih Al-Reh ridden by Mohammad took the third place.
HORSE RACING
CRICKET
SPORTSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020
27
Manchester United’s Fred, (centre) tackles Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez, (left), for the ball during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City and at Old Trafford,
Manchester, England, Jan 7. (AP)
President of NWSLDuffy ‘steps’ downORLANDO, Fla, Jan 8, (AP): National Women’s Soccer League President Amanda Duffy is stepping down to become executive vice-president of the Orlando Pride.
Duffy will take over front office and technical duties for the Pride and rep-resent the team on the NWSL board. She’ll report to Orlando City chief executive officer Alex Leitao.
“As this position came into the Club’s plans, and as I learned more about the broader goals of the collec-tive organization, it was clear to me that the club is prepared to invest
deeply in the women’s game, and in the Pride s p e c i f i c a l l y , ” Duffy said in a statement. “This investment, com-bined with the chance to work with Alex’s lead-ership, a world-class roster, and intensely passion-ate fans, made the
decision to come to Orlando one of tremendous excitement and an immense honor.”
Duffy, 39, has served as the league’s president for the past year. She joined the NWSL in 2017 as managing direc-tor of operations.
The NWSL, entering its eighth season, has already lasted longer than any other women’s professional soccer league in the United States. Featuring players from the US and Canadian national teams, the NWSL has seen attendance at games grow by more than 70% since the league was founded in in 2013.
The NWSL is currently without a commissioner. The position has been vacant since Jeff Plush left in 2017, although Duffy had assumed many of his duties.
Duffy will remain in her role with the league through mid-February while the search for a commissioner continues, the league said Tuesday.
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Bayern Munich has been hit with a string of injuries, including one which may force winger Serge Gnabry to head home early from the team’s training camp in Qatar, coach Hansi Flick said.
Besides Gnabry’s Achilles tendon problem, Bayern must also contend with a knee injury to winger Kingsley Coman and ongoing problems for defensive midfielder Javi Martinez and defenders Lucas Hernández and Niklas Süle.
However, top-scorer Robert Lewandowski is expected to be back soon after undergoing groin surgery last month.
“The personnel situation is really poor,” Flick said at the camp in Qatar, according to a report from German news agency dpa on Wednesday.
Bayern’s first Bundesliga game after the break will be at Hertha Berlin on Jan 19. Fullback Joshua Kimmich will miss the Hertha game with a sus-pension for collecting five yellow cards.
Duffy
‘2 players did not meet residency rule’
CAS sets March 12 date for UAE‘appeal’ against Qatar’s Cup winGENEVA, Jan 8, (AP): A legal challenge by the United Arab Emirates soccer federation that threatens Qatar’s 2019 Asian Cup title will be heard at sport’s highest court.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Tuesday it will hear the UAE’s appeal on March 12 in a case that alleges Qatar field-ed two ineligible players at the tournament. The Asian Cup was hosted by the UAE .
A verdict by CAS judges is likely at least several weeks after the hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The ruling could strip Qatar of its biggest success in world soc-cer, affect key young players in its World Cup planning.
The UAE filed a complaint with the Asian Football
Confederation after a 4-0 loss to Qatar in the Asian Cup semifi-nals in Abu Dhabi last January.
When an ineligible player case is proven, AFC rules say a team must forfeit the game.
The Asian governing body’s first disciplinary ruling cleared Qatar of wrongdoing hours before beating Japan 3-1 in the final.
UAE officials have appealed to CAS against the Qatar Football Association and the AFC, whose appeal committee also later dis-missed the claims of wrongfully submitted documents.
The UAE alleges Qatar’s star forward Almoez Ali and defend-er Bassam Al-Rawi were not born there and did not meet FIFA nationality requirements to rep-resent the country.
FIFA’s statutes say players can acquire a nationality if they have “lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the rele-vant association.” Both Ali, who turned 23 since the Asian Cup ended, and Al-Rawi, who is now
In this Friday, Feb 1, 2019 file photo, Qatar’s Almoez Ali cele-brates after scoring during the AFC Asian Cup final match between Japan and Qatar in Zayed Sport City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates. (AP)
aged 22, seemed not to meet the five-year residency rule.
However, both reportedly claimed their mothers were born in Qatar - meeting FIFA’s national eligibility standard if a parent or grandparent is born on a territory.
Ali scored against the UAE, and again in the final, for a tour-nament-leading nine goals. Al-Rawi was suspended for the semifinal but returned to play against Japan.
They are also club teammates at Al-Duhail, runner-up in the Qatari league last season, and fellow graduates of the state-of-the-art Aspire youth academy in Doha which has educated many players born outside of Qatar.
After Qatar took a 2-0 lead in Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium - named for the UAE crown prince - players celebrating the goal had to dodge shoes thrown by some spectators.
The UAE soccer body was later fined $150,000 by the AFC for the fans’ misconduct, includ-ing the shoe-throwing and disre-specting the Qatari anthem.
The teams met again in Doha five weeks ago, when the UAE and Saudi Arabia agreed to travel to Qatar to play in the Arabian Gulf Cup, won by Bahrain. Qatar beat the UAE 4-2 in a group-stage game.
SOCCER
Man City stay on course to win League Cup for 3rd straight yr
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (left) vies for the ball with Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City and at Old Trafford, Manchester, England on Jan. 7. (AP)
Citizens humiliate United in first leg
MANCHESTER, England, Jan 8, (AP): Manchester City humiliated Manche-ster United in their fierce rivals’ own stadium, easing to a 3-1 victory in the first leg of their English League Cup semifinal to stay on course to win the competi-tion for a third straight year.
All of City’s goals at Old Trafford came in a one-sided first half that highlighted the gulf which has opened up between the cross-town neighbors over recent years.
When the visitors went 3-0 up cour-tesy of an own-goal by Andreas Pereira in the 39th minute, memories were revived of the 6-1 win served up on this ground by Roberto Mancini’s City in 2011 that was one signal of the shifting of the balance of soccer power in Manchester.
However, United managed to avoid conceding any more goals and a 70th-minute strike by Marcus Rashford
gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team a glimmer of hope heading into the sec-ond leg at City’s Etihad Stadium on Jan 29.
“Of course, Manchester United can come back,” City manager Pep Guardiola said, making reference to United advancing from the Champions League round of 16 last season after losing 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg. “Last year here they lost to PSG and they qualify.
They have the shirt which means history and pride.” City have won the League Cup the last two seasons and are now unbeaten in 16 straight match-es in the competition, dating back to a loss at United in the fourth round in October 2016.
Mindful of how United tore apart his City team on the counterattack in a Premier League game won by Solskjaer’s side at the Etihad last month, Guardiola chose not to play a recognized striker – Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus were on the bench – and flooded his midfield to outnum-ber the hosts in that department.
“We win and we’re a genius,” Guardiola said, “but if we don’t win I know what will happen. We try to control the counterattacks because they’re a wonderful team.” City’s mid-fielders picked their moments to charge forward, and did so with devas-
SOCCER
tating effect.Bernardo Silva was unchallenged as
he advanced toward the edge of United’s penalty area and drove a fierce, curling shot into the top corner in the 17th minute, with goalkeeper David De Gea barely moving.
The Portugal playmaker then wrig-gled into space in the center of the field and threaded a perfectly weighted through ball to Riyad Mahrez, who ran onto the pass, rounded De Gea and slot-ted the ball into an empty net in the 33rd.
United were reeling and it got even
worse six minutes later. Again their defense opened up as Kevin De Bruyne went round Phil Jones with ease and fired in a left-footed shot that was saved by De Gea, only for the ball to ricochet off the shin of Pereira and rebound into the net.
With Raheem Sterling wasting two glorious chances that were teed up for him from crosses from the right, City should have gone into halftime with an even bigger lead.
“We didn’t deal with their system well enough,” Solskjaer said.
Mahrez struck the outside of the post early in the second half and also brought out a good save from the feet of De Gea, before United finally got in behind City’s defense to score a goal that could yet prove to be more than a consolation.
Mason Greenwood slipped a well-timed pass into the path of Rashford, who took a touch and finished low past City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
Away goals do not count double if the aggregate score is tied after two legs in the League Cup.
Lazio fined $22,000 for racist chants at BalotelliMILAN, Jan 8, (AP): Lazio was fined 20,000 euros ($22,000) and at least temporarily avoided a stadium closure on Wednesday after its fans targeted Brescia striker Mario Balotelli with racist chants.
Serie A judge Gerardo Mastrandrea requested that further details on the case be handled by the Italian soc-cer federation prosecutor to determine exactly where in the stadium the chants came from, and to what extent Lazio collaborates in terms of identifying those respon-sible, before possible further punishment.
Sunday’s game was halted for a few minutes shortly after the half-hour mark and an announcement to stop the chants was made to fans at the stadium in Brescia.
Brescia was leading 1-0 at the time following a goal scored by Balotelli, who had also been subjected to racial abuse earlier in the match.
Balotelli posted a video of his goal on Instagram after the match and wrote: “Lazio fans that were today at the stadium SHAME ON YOU!”
The 29-year-old Balotelli was singled out by Lazio fans for abuse all match with other offensive chants, that weren’t specifically racist, against him and his family.
“As has always happened in the past, Lazio dissoci-ates itself in the most exhaustive way possible from the discriminatory behavior carried out by a very small minority of fans during the match against Brescia,” Lazio said in a statement after the game.
Lazio won 2-1.Balotelli was also the target of racial abuse earlier this
season when he threatened to leave the field because of racist chants directed at him by Hellas Verona fans dur-ing a match in November.
THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Published by: Arab Times Publishing House
LOS ANGELES, Jan 8, (AP): Anthony Davis left in the third quarter after bruising his lower back on a painful fall during the Los Angeles Lakers’ sixth straight victory, 117-87 over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
Davis bruised his sacrum - the bottom part of his spine above the tailbone - when he attempted to block Julius Randle’s driving shot. He got knocked off balance and fell awkwardly to the court, land-ing hard on his back with 2:45 left in the third.
The six-time All-Star pounded the court in pain and stayed down for roughly two minutes, but even-tually rose with his teammates’ help and then slowly walked off unaided.
X-rays were negative, but Da-vis didn’t return to the game. His agent, Rich Paul, said his client felt extremely sore.
LeBron James scored 31 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15, but the Lakers (30-7) didn’t exactly celebrate becoming the second team to win 30 games this season.
R.J. Barrett scored 19 points for the Knicks, and Randle had 15 points and 10 rebounds against his former team. New York dropped to 0-3 on its four-game West Coast trip.
Kings 114, Suns 103
In Phoenix, De’Aaron Fox scored 27 points, Nemanja Bjelica added 19 and Sacramento rallied from a 21-point defi cit in the third quarter to beat Phoenix.
The Kings - who have won three of their last four - got big contribu-tions from bench players Dewayne Dedmon and Trevor Ariza. Ded-mon fi nished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Ariza - who played for Phoenix part of last season - added 15 points.
The Suns were led by Devin Booker, who scored 34 points and had seven assists. It was Booker’s seventh straight game with at least 30 points, which extends his fran-chise record.
Deandre Ayton added 21 points and nine rebounds. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 17 points.
Trail Blazers 101, Raptors 99In Toronto, Carmelo Anthony
made the winning basket with four seconds remaining and Portland rallied to beat Toronto.
Anthony scored 28 points, Da-mian Lillard had 20 and Hassan Whiteside added 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who snapped a four-game losing streak in Toronto and won for the second time in 10 meetings with the Rap-tors.
Anfernee Simons scored 12 points and C.J. McCollum had 10.
Kyle Lowry had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Serge Ibaka added 17 points and 11 rebounds as the injury-ravaged Raptors lost for just the second time in 16 games against opponents with losing re-cords.
Oshae Brisett scored a career-high 12 points for Toronto. and Chris Boucher also had 12, includ-ing 10 straight Raptors points in the fourth.
Pistons 115, Cavaliers 113In Cleveland, Derrick Rose hit a
15-footer with 27 seconds left and Detroit rallied past Cleveland.
Rose, who scored 24 points, scored on a runner in the lane to give Detroit a 114-113 lead and cap a comeback that began with the Pistons trailing 110-91 early in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland set up for a go-ahead shot, but Collin Sexton was called for stepping out of bounds with seven seconds left. The ruling was overturned, but Sexton’s shot in the lane didn’t hit the rim and Detroit was awarded possession on a shot-clock violation.
Andre Drummond fi nished with 23 points and 20 rebounds, the 38th time in his career he has hit the 20-mark in both categories.
Kevin Love matched a season high with 30 points, but Cleveland lost its fi fth straight and went win-less on its four-game homestand.
Thunder 111, Nets 103, OTIn New York, Chris Paul scored
20 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, leading Oklahoma City past Brooklyn.
The game was tied at 103 before Paul made consecutive jumpers and the Nets never scored again. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander closed out the scoring with four free throws, after making a jumper to open OT.
Gilgeous-Alexander added 22 points for the Thunder, who bounced back from a loss Monday
in Philadelphia to win for the sixth time in seven games. Steven Ad-ams had 10 points and 18 rebounds as Oklahoma City won without Danilo Gallinari, who rested a calf injury.
Taurean Prince scored 21 points and Caris LeVert had 20 in his sec-ond game back from right thumb surgery, but the Nets dropped their seventh straight. Spencer Dinwid-die had 14 points, but he struggled early and late in a 6 for 21 night.
Grizzlies 119, Timberwolves 112
In Memphis, Tenn, Dillon Brooks scored 28 points, Ja Mo-rant added 25 and Memphis rallied in the fourth quarter for a victory over Minnesota.
Jaren Jackson Jr. fi nished with 21 points, including a trio of 3-pointers in fourth. Jae Crowder fi nished with 14 points and eight rebounds as Memphis won its third straight.
Rookie Jarrett Culver led the Timberwolves with a career-high 24 points, converting 8 of 11 shots, including 3 of 5 from outside the arc. Jeff Teague scored 18 points and handed out six assists for Min-nesota, while Robert Covington scored 17 points. Andrew Wiggins had 15 points.
PERTH, Australia, Jan 8, (AP): Spain advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Cup even before Rafael Nadal stepped on to the court Wednesday at the Perth Arena.
Spain, which won the Davis Cup in Madrid with a victory over Canada, stayed in the hunt for its second interna-tional team victory in seven weeks when Roberto Bautista Agut beat Go Soeda of Japan 6-2, 6-4.
Japan needed to beat Spain 3-0 in order for the Nadal-led team not to ad-vance to the Final Eight in Sydney be-
ginning Thursday. Nadal later had a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over 72nd-ranked Yoshihito Nishioka.
“I always enjoy sharing important moments with friends, and we had a lot of success during our entire careers playing for our country in Davis Cup,” Nadal said. “So for us it’s a good start, to be able to be qualified for Sydney already. The conditions will be differ-ent, and a three-hour time (difference). There’s a lot of things we need to adjust to, and the period of time to make it hap-pen is very short.”
Previously winless Poland’s surprise victory over Austria eliminated fourth-ranked Dominic Thiem’s team. Hubert Hurkacz’s 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over Thiem eliminated Austria after Kacper Zuk beat Dennis Novak 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the opening match in Sydney.
In other matches on the final day of group play, already-qualified Serbia
TENNIS
BASKETBALL
Davis bruises lower back in Lakers winTrail Blazers rally past Raptors
Hubert Hurkacz of Poland plays a shot against Dennis Novak of Austria during their ATP Cup tennis match in Sydney, Jan 8. (AP)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul (3) watches as Thunder center Steven Adams (12) defends Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Din-widdie (8) who goes up for a shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Jan 7, in New York. The Thunder defeated the
Nets 111-103 in overtime. (AP)
Detroit Pistons’ Derrick Rose (25) drives against Cleveland Cavaliers’ Matthew Dellavedova (18) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Jan 7, in Cleveland. De-
troit won 115-113. (AP)
New York Knicks forward Bobby Portis (left), and Los Angeles Lakers for-ward Anthony Davis reach for a rebound during the fi rst half of an NBA
basketball game on Jan 7, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Poland stun eliminated Austria
Spain advance to quarters after Bautista Agut victory
beat Chile in Group A. Dusan Lajovic beat Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6 (3) before Novak Djokovic defeated Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3. The remaining quarterfinalists were decided later Wednesday: Argen-tina won Group E, Belgium was the first runner-up and Canada the second runner-up.
The quarter-final lineup has Austra-lia playing Britain and Argentina tak-ing on Russia on Thursday. On Friday, Serbia plays Canada and Belgium takes on Spain, all at Ken Rosewall Arena at Sydney Olympic Park.
The semifinals are set for Saturday and the final on Sunday.
Detroit 115 Cleveland 113Portland 101 Toronto 99Oklahoma City 111 Brooklyn OT 103
Memphis 119 Minnesota 112Sacramento 114 Phoenix 103L.A. Lakers 117 New York 87
WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (AP): NBA results and standings on Tuesday.
Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division
W L Pct GBBoston 25 9 .735 —Toronto 24 13 .649 2½Philadelphia 24 14 .632 3Brooklyn 16 20 .444 10New York 10 27 .270 16½
Central Division W L Pct GBMilwaukee 32 6 .842 —Indiana 23 14 .622 8½Detroit 14 24 .368 18Chicago 13 24 .351 18½Cleveland 10 27 .270 21½
Western ConferenceSouthwest Division
W L Pct GBHouston 24 11 .686 —Dallas 23 13 .639 1½San Antonio 15 20 .429 9Memphis 16 22 .421 9½New Orleans 12 25 .324 13
Northwest Division W L Pct GBDenver 25 11 .694 —Utah 24 12 .667 1Oklahoma City 21 16 .568 4½Portland 16 22 .421 10Minnesota 14 22 .389 11
Pacifi c Division W L Pct GBL.A. Lakers 30 7 .811 —L.A. Clippers 26 12 .684 4½Sacramento 15 23 .395 15½Phoenix 14 23 .378 16Golden State 9 29 .237 21½
NBA Results/Standings
Rafael Nadal of Spain poses for a photo after being presented with the ATP Stefan Edberg sportsmanship award at the ATP Cup tennis in Perth,
Australia, on Jan 8. (AP)
Mane voted African playerof the year for the 1st timeHURGHADA, Egypt, Jan 8, (AP): Sadio Mane was voted as African Footballer of the Year for the fi rst time on Tuesday.
The Senegal forward beat Liv-erpool teammate Mohamed Salah and Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez to the continent’s biggest individual soccer prize at a ceremo-ny in Egypt.
Nigeria international Asisat Os-hoala, who plays for Barcelona, was voted as women’s player of the year.
Mane has fi nished as runner-up to Salah the last two years, and was third in 2016 behind winner Mah-rez.
He is the second Senegalese play-er to win the men’s award, after El Hadji-Diouf.
❑ ❑ ❑
Norwich sold forward Dennis
Srbeny back to his old German club Paderborn on Wednesday after he struggled to make an impact in the Premier League.
Srbeny was part of the Norwich team which won promotion last season but played just 39 Premier League minutes across eight substi-tute appearances this season.
Srbeny played for Paderborn when it was in the German third tier in the 2017-18 season. He left for Norwich in mid-season, before back-to-back promotions took Pad-erborn to the Bundesliga.
He’s moving from the last-place team in Premier League to the last-place team in the Bundesliga.
Neither club specifi ed the size of the transfer fee. Paderborn said Sr-beny signed a contract for two and a half years.
