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SUNDAY, APRIL 14, SHAABAN 9, 1440 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17053 28 PAGES 150 FILS

World Bank recognizes Amir supportKUWAIT CITY, April 13, (KUNA): World Bank Chief Execu-tive Officer Kristilina Georgieva announced on Friday an excep-tional award handed to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ah-mad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in recognition of his sup-port of economic and so-cial development world-wide, and global peace.

This came at a press confer-ence announcing the award in Washington DC, attended by representative of His High-ness the Amir, Finance Min-ister Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf.

This is another recognition by an international organiza-tion of His Highness the Amir’s endeavors to helping people and countries in need. The UN named His Highness the Amir a “Humanitarian Leader” in Sep-tember 2014.

RevealedGeorgieva revealed World

Bank Vice-President for the Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj would be visiting Kuwait on April 28-30 to present an official commemoration to His Highness the Amir in person.

The occasion is unprece-dented and is the first time the World Bank bestows such rec-ognition upon a world leader.

It comes in appreciation for His Highness the Amir’s globally-recognised role in supporting political, economic and social stability in addition to his tireless efforts in assist-ing people in need around the world.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ah-mad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah con-gratulated His Highness the Amir for the award.

The World Bank honoring de-servedly crowned the march of giving and humanitarian efforts of His Highness the Amir and the generous people of Kuwait across the Arab and Muslim na-tions and worldwide, His High-ness the Crown Prince wrote in a cable to His Highness the Amir.

The world’s most prestigious organizations recognized His Highness the Amir as an icon of peace and humanitarian ac-tion, he said.

His Highness the Crown Prince expressed pride in the leadership of His Highness the Amir who affirmed the eminent status of the State of Kuwait at the international level.

DevelopmentMinister of Amiri Diwan

Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah ex-pressed, on behalf of His High-ness the Amir, gratitude to the World Bank for offering this special award in recognition of his support to social and eco-nomic development in the Arab region and beyond.

The World Bank honoring reaffirms the eminent status of His Highness the Amir and the State of Kuwait in the eyes of the international commu-nity and comes in recognition of relentless efforts to foster humanitarian causes at the re-gional and international levels, the minister said.

He cited the numerous hu-manitarian initiatives launched by His Highness the Amir to alleviate the suffering of needy people in crisis-hit areas.

His Highness the Amir is deeply grateful for the World Bank Group’s kind and unprec-edented award, and is looking forward to the visit of Belhaj to Kuwait later this month to present the official commemo-ration, the minister added.

Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim said the award “is yet another international rec-ognition of His Highness the Amir’s humanitarian work.”

He said His Highness the Amir dealt with politics as a mean of helping others, and boosting cooperation and trans-parency.

His Highness the Amir has been focusing on “the human being and his suffering ... and the humanitarian intervention policy in addition to develop-ment policies for many devel-oping countries ... which have been highly recognized by in-ternational institutions,” said Al-Ghanim.

By Michelle Fe SantiagoArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 13: Hundreds of Filipinos in Ku-wait fl ocked to the Philippine Embassy on Saturday to cast their votes as the Overseas Voting for all Filipinos offi -cially opened in various Philip-pine embassies and consulates across the globe.

Filipinos in Kuwait who have registered at the Commis-sion on Elections (COMELEC) can cast their votes in the mid-term national elections wherein they will select 12 senators and one party list representa-tive. The Overseas Voting in Kuwait started on Saturday till May 13, 2019. Kuwait has 96,423 registered voters and ranks fi fth among highest in the Middle East and Africa region. Dubai ranks fi rst with 209,862 followed by Riyadh (169,401), Abu Dhabi (109,366) and Jed-dah on the fourth spot with 103,349.

“We are very happy to see a good voters turnout on the fi rst day. We can see that a lot of voters started lining up out-side the embassy as early as 6:00 am. This is a good sign. We hope we can have at least

Filipinos vote

KHARTOUM, April 13, (Agen-cies): Kuwaiti embassy in Sudan confirmed on Saturday its com-mitment to carry out its duties to serve Kuwaiti citizens and to protect their interests.

In a press statement, the embassy assured its readiness to help all Kuwaiti citizens in Sudan.

The statement was issued after reports circulated in some social media, which high-lighted a voice recording of a Kuwaiti citizen claiming that the embassy did not perform its duties in getting him, and a group of Kuwaiti citizens, back to the country after the prevail-ing conditions there.

“We were surprised to re-ceive a call from an official from the embassy of Saudi Ara-bia informing as of the pres-ence of Kuwaiti citizens there.

In return, the embassy con-tacted the citizens to find out why they did not go directly to it and issued the voice recording.

AbideThe embassy stressed the

need for Kuwaiti citizens to abide by the warning issued by the Foreign Ministry earlier to avoid traveling to Sudan at the current time.

Meanwhile, Sudan Embassy in Kuwait has regretted the “inappropriate conduct” of two nationals who removed and then smashed a framed photo of former president Omar al-Bashir from the embassy’s re-ception hall.

In a press statement on Thursday, the embassy cen-sured the act and urged nation-als to ensure safety of public properties and respect laws of the hosting country (Kuwait).

It also thanked Kuwaiti po-lice for rushing to provide pro-tection to the embassy building after the new developments in Sudan. It dismissed as untrue claims that the incident took place in the Kuwaiti embassy in Khartoum.

The new head of Sudan’s military council said on Sat-urday a civilian government would be formed after consul-tations with the opposition and the transition period would last for a maximum of two years, as protesters kept up pressure for rapid change.

In his first televised address, Lieutenant General Abdel Fat-tah al-Burhan Abdelrahman said he was also cancelling a night curfew ordered by his predeces-sor and ordered the release of all prisoners jailed under emer-gency laws ordered by ousted President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir was overthrown on Thursday after weeks of mass protests brought on by rising food costs, high unemployment and increasing repression dur-ing his three decades in power.

Protest organisers had ear-lier on Saturday urged people to keep marching to demand a civilian government after the defence minister and the intel-ligence chief stepped down.

Thousands of people gath-ered in front of the Defence Ministry in central Khartoum, a Reuters witness said.

Salah Abdallah Mohamed Saleh, known as Salah Gosh, the former head of the National Intelligence and Security Ser-vice quit on Saturday. He was once the most influential per-son in the country after Bashir and protesters held him respon-sible for the killing of demon-strators demanding an end to military rule.

Embassy in Sudan ready to aid Kuwaitis

A long queue of voters outside the embassy.

Honor a first

The World Bank awarding ceremony for HH the Amir.

Wolfsburg’s Robin Knoche (left), challenges for the ball against Leipzig’s Timo Werner (right), during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and VfL

Wolfsburg in Leipzig, Germany on April 13. (AP)

Vasiliy Lomachenko (left), from Ukraine, hits Anthony Crol-la, from Britain, during a WBA and WBO lightweight title

boxing bout on April 12 in Los Angeles. (AP)

The Kuwait Towers decorated with expressive images of HH the Amir following his honoring by the World Bank.

By Ahmed Al-JarallahEditor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

‘WHERE to?’ I am borrowing this question from HH the late Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah who repeated it in every political crisis and escalation. The case has not changed for decades.

It is as if Kuwait lives in a closed circle without the ability to exit, as it keeps on regurgitating crises without any hope of putting an end to this ostentation which has never become something palatable.

Even when our major crisis was at its peak, some opted to exploit the situation to serve their inter-ests. They completely disregarded the concept of nation as they put themselves ahead of everyone else as if they are the only Kuwaitis on this land with the right to every-thing, while others cannot oppose even just for the sake of opposing.

Unfortunately, Kuwaitis did not learn from their past experi-ences, even the most difficult and most painful experience – the Iraqi occupation.

At the time, political clamor was at its peak; as well as the ‘Monday diwaniyas’, political trolls and others. The late Sad-dam Hussein saw an opportunity to invade and occupy Kuwait through the social crack.

Despite his failure and convic-tion that Kuwaitis cannot turn from themselves and their histo-ry, and that they resisted the ag-gression formidably and in unity; all this came after their misery.

The entire nation, even the youngest citizen, stood by the words of HH the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad who said: “It is important for us to re-turn and live in tents on the land of Kuwait.” We returned after the world stood beside us in our fight for our right.

The questions are: What did we do after our return? Did we strive to build our country or is there a team drenched in greed wanting to possess everything at the expense of others? What has changed 29 years after the inva-sion and 28 years after libera-tion? Nothing. In fact, the State has become weaker, develop-ment projects are stagnant, gov-ernments change constantly up to a point where Kuwait is compet-ing with itself in the number of governments and dissolution of Parliaments.

The prevailing mentality is that the MP targets the Cabinet member who failed to grant his illegal demands, or a dispute be-tween a minister and a lawmaker makes the government succumb to blackmail in order to avoid confrontation.

A politician or influential per-son in a feud with a minister mo-bilizes a group of unscrupulous MPs to taunt the minister. They act against the entire State using social media and their affiliated mouthpieces. They portray those opposing them as the devils.

Didn’t this happen when the ‘Brotherhood’ MPs mocked the late Minister Sheikh Saud Al-Nasser in relation to the northern oil fields – an act of revenge due

‘Where to?’

Email: [email protected]

Follow me on:

[email protected]

Continued on Page 6

Opinion

NEW YORK/LONDON, April 13, (RTRS): The chief execu-tive and a managing partner of the collapsed Dubai private eq-uity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd have been arrested on US charges that they defrauded their investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Abraaj founder and Chief Ex-ecutive Arif Naqvi was arrested in the United Kingdom last Fri-day, while managing partner Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was ar-rested at a New York hotel on Thursday, Assistant US Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hear-ing in Manhattan federal court.

Griswold said prosecutors would seek to have Naqvi, who is charged with the same crimes, extradited. Casey Larsen, a spokesman for Naqvi, could not immediately be reached.

A statement from Naqvi’s ex-ternal PR firm said Naqvi main-tained his innocence in relation to the charges.

“Mr Naqvi maintains his in-nocence, and he fully expects to be cleared of any charges. For almost a year since the com-mencement of the provisional liquidations, he has been work-ing tirelessly to maximise returns for Abraaj’s creditors,” the state-ment said.

Top executivesof Abraaj held

Newswatch

ALGIERS, Algeria: Police fi red intense volleys of tear-gas and used water cannons in clashes in the Al-gerian capital during the eighth week of massive Fri-day demonstrations that forced the president to resign and now aim to rid the nation of its interim leadership.

Police arrested 108 people in the confrontations in Algiers, the capital, in which 27 offi cers were injured, police said, adding that four of the offi cers were in serious condition. No mention was made of civilians. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations on Friday urgently appealed for the release and evacuation of more than 1,500 detained refugees and migrants caught in the crossfi re of escalating fi ghting sparked by a self-styled Libyan army commander’s military campaign to take the capital.

The UN refugee agency said the refugees and mi-grants are believed to be trapped in detention centers where hostilities are ranging.

The oil-rich North African country is now gov-erned by rival administrations – a UN-backed gov-ernment in the capital Tripoli and the west, and the self-styled Libyan National Army in the east led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter who launched the ma-jor offensive earlier this month. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

RABAT: A Moroccan court has sentenced a Swiss na-tional to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges over links to the suspects in the killing of two Scandina-vian women near Marrakech in December, the state news agency MAP said on Friday.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Den-mark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway were found dead on Dec 17 near the village of Imlil in the Atlas Mountains. (RTRS)

SPORTS SUNDAYPages 22 - 28

Continued on Page 6

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019

2

Duo dedicate medal to His Highness the Amir

Two Kuwaitis awarded at Int’l Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva ’19GENEVA, April 13, (KUNA): Ku-wait’s Abdulrahman Al-Jassem and Khaled Al-Kouh on Friday won the silver award of environment protec-tion at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2019 for devis-ing a method to protect seashores from erosion.

The new wave absorbers are cost-effective, according to a statement by the jury.

In statements to KUNA, Al-Kouh and Al-Jassem dedicated their medal to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sa-bah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his support to environment protection

initiatives.The award signals the ability of Ku-

waiti youth to compete at international forums and offers encouragement for creative youth to embark on initiatives to protect environment, Al-Kouh said.

On his part, Al-Jassem applauded the support from His Highness the

Amir and encouragement from Ku-wait Institute for Scientifi c Research (KISR) and Kuwait mission in Gene-va. He noted that Kuwait Representa-tive to the UN Offi ce in Geneva Am-bassador Jamal Al-Ghuneim followed up the stages of development of the new invention and facilitated the par-

ticipation of the two Kuwaiti inventors in the current exhibition.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Al-Ghu-neim, congratulating the two youths on their achievement, said the award testifi es to the creatively of Kuwaiti youth and their ability to compete with nearly 800 inventors from more than

45 countries.The event opened on Wednesday,

April 10 and lasts until Sunday, April 14; it displays archetypes and fi nished products from various technologists like electricity, electronic, mechanics, optics, water, energy and quality of environment.

Kuwait urges int’l efforts todeal with remnants of war

Fahd Hajji speaks at Security Council session

Some of the animals after the zoo re-opened.

Kuwait Zoo re-opensDirector of the Kuwait Zoo Nasser Al-Attiyah said the facility has been re-opened after making sure the ani-mals are free of brucellosis and culling the animals that were infected, reports Al-Anba daily.

Al-Attiyah said in a statement the tasks were distrib-uted and coordination with the concerned staff mem-bers.

He went on to say the attendance was exceptional on

the fi rst day of reopening.In response to a question about the development of

the park during the coming period, he said this will be done in joint cooperation with the zoos in the neighbor-ing countries. He also said there are plans to introduce more animals.

He also spoke about the water sprinklers inside the zoo to cool the animals.

NEW YORK, April 13, (KUNA): Kuwait urged for international ef-forts to deal with the remnants of war, stressing that mines have be-come a major ob-stacle for peace-keeping missions and relief agen-cies to carry out their duties and responsibilities.

This came in Ku-wait’s speech during the Security Council session, which was de-livered by the second secretary Fahd Hajji on explosive ordnance on Friday.

“We are discussing a topic of utmost impor-tance to the international community and espe-cially important to us in Kuwait,” Hajji said.

“We are still suffer-ing from the presence of landmines in various parts of Kuwait that have killed many innocent ci-vilians and injured others with permanent disabili-ties,” he added.

Hajji stressed on strengthening national capacities for mine clear-ance and prevention, as-sisting victims and the need to establish a rapid response system to ad-dress mines, explosive remnants of war wherev-er they appear so that the focus can be shifted from reaction to prevention.

CommittedHajji affi rmed that Ku-

wait is committed to join-ing multilateral interna-tional efforts to mitigate the impact of the threat of explosive ordnance in various places of confl ict not only for the safety of civilians but also to pro-mote stability and peace and support the process of sustainable develop-ment.

He praised the work of the UN Mine Action Service through mine risk education courses and the dissemination of life-sav-ing education.

Hajji pointed to Reso-lution 2365 adopted by the Security Council in 2017, which constituted a positive development in the work of the UN to ad-dress the threat of mines and explosives caused by the effects and remnants of war.

He reiterated that meas-ures to limit the use of mines would save the lives of many civilians, humani-tarian workers and peace-keeping personnel.

Hajji noted that the num-ber of casualties caused by these weapons recorded a huge increase in the year 2017, where the number of victims more than 15,000 people between wounded and killed in different con-fl ict areas.

Hajji reiterated that Kuwait condemns the use of mines and improvised explosive devices that are indiscriminately planted and endanger the lives of civilians in clear violation of international humani-tarian law.

KUNA photo Kuwait’s Representative to the UN Offi ce in Geneva Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghuneim

with Abdulrahman Al-Jassem and Khaled Al-Kouh.

KUNA photoChairman of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society Dr Hilal Al-Sayer during a meeting with the head of the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross

in the GCC region Yahia Al-Alibi.

Bid to prepare them for employment

Law planned on adoption of qualitytests for grads of some disciplinesKUWAIT CITY, April 13: Sources familiar with the orientation of government agencies concerned with higher education on the one hand and employment on the other plan to issue a law on the adoption of quality tests for graduates of some disciplines to prepare them for employment, reports Al-Qabas daily.

This came during a joint meeting of per-sonnel from the Labor Market Standards Department, Kuwait University, Ministry of Higher Education, Civil Service Commis-sion and Public Authority for Applied Edu-cation and Training (PAAET). The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Director General of the Planning and Administrative Devel-opment Sector at the Manpower Authority Mubarak Al-Azmi.

The sources told the daily the fi rst step will be to approve unifi ed tests for graduates in fi ve fi elds: teaching, engineering, medi-cine, law, accounting, and the options are open to add other professions.

At the same time, the sources revealed that the same authorities have begun to re-spond to the request of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development to establish training courses for some graduates, ena-bling them to be more professional at both the Kuwait University and the PAAET to move towards implementation of the plan.

The meeting discussed the classifi cation of professions and linking them to qualifi -cations and specializations. The study also examined the application of practical tests and training courses for employment in the private sector, in cooperation with Kuwait University and the PAAET.

The sources pointed out that the rep-resentatives of the four sides stressed the importance of working on the outputs of education and what is needed by the labor market in the private sector and the need to verify the required disciplines of graduates in order to establish controls and conditions for the needs of the labor market.

Fahd Hajji

MPW eyes new budget: The Ministry of Public Works is waiting for the Cabinet to approve the new budget for its projects, after being endorsed by the National Assembly and Ministry of Finance, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources. On the other hand, sources quoted the Ministry of Public Works as saying that completion of road repair and renovation works depends on the weather condition.

Sources added the ministry will soon implement a number of projects, indicating it is currently coordinating with the Central Agency for Public Tenders to prepare for the bidding process.

❑ ❑ ❑

Changes to org structure: Civil Service

Commission (CSC) has adopted the new orga-nizational structure of Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), reports Al-Rai daily quoting informed sources. They explained that the adoption of the orga-nizational structure of Central Tenders Committee can be expected soon, affirming that the process of rearranging the organiza-tional structures of governmental bodies is necessary due to the fact that many of them have not been amended for decades.

In the meantime, the sources said CSC has nominated nearly 7,000 citizens who regis-tered their data in the 66th batch to work in governmental bodies, indicating that the reg-istration period for batch No. 67 will begin on June 14.

News in Brief

Al-Muwaizri submits queries to ‘interior’

Abul sternly voices objection to randomre-evaluation of fi nancial status of MPs

By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 13: Since the emer-gence of the MPs’ infl ated bank accounts issue, the public through social media and the con-cerned authorities like Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (NAZAHA) through accountability protocols have put the MPs under the micro-scope.

NAZAHA has implemented the policy on random re-evaluation of MPs’ fi nancial status. This led to a heated debate in the recently con-cluded meeting of the parliamentary Budgets and Final Accounts Committee with repre-sentatives of the authority, during which MP Khaleel Abul sternly voiced objection to such measures.

He revealed he was keen on attending the meeting in order to point out that the random selection of MPs from a pool of names to re-evaluate their fi nancial status and that of their minor children is unacceptable. He said only six names were chosen, clarifying he is not against the policy per se but the selection of six names only. He added the policy “should cover all members of the legislative author-ity, not just those chosen randomly.”

He asserted this process puts the selected MPs in bad light and it might raise suspicion on

them if correspondences of the evaluating body are leaked.

Committee Chairman MP Adnan Abdulsa-mad agreed with Abul and confi rmed his sup-port for the latter’s statement.

Meanwhile, representatives of NAZAHA explained to the committee that the random policy was implemented in accordance with the parliamentary immunity regulations. He dis-closed names are randomly chosen in batches until all members of the legislative authority are covered.

In another development, MP Shu’aib Al-Muwaizri submitted questions to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Lieutenant General Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah. He wants to know if the Interior Ministry or the concerned bodies affi liated to it are monitoring the phone calls and messages of MPs. If yes, he asked: What is the goal of the ministry in taking this step?

He inquired if a similar step is taken con-cerning citizens’ communications, especially those who voiced objection to the fi nancial cor-ruption of the State.

He also asked about the legal grounds for registering certain citizens on the blacklist of the ministry; thereby, subjecting them and their families to extensive monitoring which some-times affects their chances of getting employed.


3

New appointments in service center sector

Teams formed to keep eye onmoney collection in RamadanKUWAIT CITY, April 13: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has formed super-visory teams to follow up the procedures adopted by the charity societies to receive monetary donations during the month of Ramadan according to the regulations, laws and circulars issued for the current year, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting reliable sources.

The sources expect 40 charity societies to take part in fundrais-ing during Ramadan after submitting their credentials and ob-taining the necessary licenses, compared to 31 societies that took part in money collect-ing during last year.

Last year nine societies were not given permission to collect donations at the start of Ramadan because these societies failed to meet the conditions.

The sources added if 40 charities take part in donations campaigns during Rama-dan this year, they are expected to collect between 60 and KD 70 million.

The sources added, during 2018 Rama-dan month the total collection was KD 51 million, an increase of 25% over Ramadan month of 2017, which saw the collection of KD 40 million, while the outcome of 2016 was more than 33 million.

The Ministry has informed the societies

which have submitted requests for license to abide by the approved schedules of the mosques and the distribution of the com-mittees therein.

Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Hana’a Al-Hajri confi rmed that the Min-istry continues to enforce the collection of donations through K-net or online and/or any other electronic collection devices.

Al-Hajri pointed out that the ministry al-lows the collection of donations in accord-ance with the regulations and mechanisms specifi ed in the resolutions organizing the fundraising, stressing on the need to abide by the laws, regulations and controls an-nounced by the ministry.

In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minis-ter and Minister of Interior Lt-Gen Sheikh Khalid Al-Jarrah issued a ministerial deci-sion concerning appointments in some lead-ing positions in Service Centers Department and the General Department for Residency Affairs, reports Al-Rai daily.

As per the decision, Colonel Khalid Al-Daloum has been appointed as the Direc-tor of Jahra Department of Citizen Service Centers, and Colonel Ahmad Al-Awadhi as his deputy.

Colonel Mohammad Al-Rashid has been appointed as the Director of Coordination Department in General Department for Citizen Service Centers, and Colonel Mo-hammad Saad Al-Abdullah as the Deputy Director of Service Centers Department in General Department for Residency Affairs.

Al-Hajri

deaths

April 13, 2019

Prayer TimingsFajr ............................................................ 04:01Sunrise ...................................................... 05:24Zohr ........................................................... 11:48Asr .............................................................. 15:23Maghrib ...................................................... 18:14 Isha ............................................................ 19:34

Weather Expected weather for the next 24

hours:By Day: Warm and clouds will de-

crease gradually with light to moder-ate north westerly wind to light variable wind, with speed of 12-36 km/h with a slight chance for scattered rain.

By Night: Fair with light to moderate variable wind to north westerly wind, with a speed of 12-38 km/h.Station Max Min Exp RecKuwait City 29 23Kuwait Airport 30 20Abdaly 35 21Bubyan – –Jahra 32 22Failaka Island 28 20Salmiyah 26 23Ahmadi 25 23Nuwaisib 27 20Wafra 28 19Salmy 31 20

4 days forecast - WeatherSunday, April 14

Expected weather: ..........Relatively hotMax Temp......................................33CMin Temp.......................................19CWind Direction ............................... NWWind Speed ....................... 20-38 km/h

Monday, April 15Expected weather: ..........Relatively hotMax Temp......................................34CMin Temp.......................................20CWind Direction .......................VRB-NWWind Speed ....................... 08-28 km/h

Tuesday, April 16Expected weather: ...Relatively hot and partly cloudy to cloudyMax Temp......................................37CMin Temp.......................................22CWind Direction .......................... VRB-SWind Speed ....................... 06-32 km/h

Wednesday, April 17Expected weather: ...............................Relatively hot and partly cloudy with a chance for scattered rainMax Temp......................................35CMin Temp.......................................23CWind Direction ......................... SE-NWWind Speed ....................... 08-40 km/h

Marine ForecastStation Max Min Sea Today’s Exp Rec Surf Waves Ht DirectionSouth Dolphin - - - 5ft NWUmm Mudayrah - - - 5ft NWBeacon M28 - - - 5ft NW

Beacon N6 - - - 5ft NWQaruh Island 25 21 - 5ft NWUmm Al-Maradem 28 21 - 5ft NWSea Island Buoy - - - - -Salmiyah 26 23 - 5ft NW

4 days forecast - MarineSunday, April 14

Expected weather: ..........Relatively hotSea state .............................. ModerateWave height................................. 3-5 ftMax Temp......................................33CMin Temp.......................................19CWind Direction ............................... NWWind Speed ....................... 20-38 km/h

Monday, April 15Expected weather: ..........Relatively hot Sea state ................ Slight to moderateWave height................................. 1-4 ftMax Temp......................................34CMin Temp.......................................20CWind Direction .......................VRB-NWWind Speed ....................... 08-28 km/h

Tuesday, April 16 Expected weather: ...Relatively hot and partly cloudy to cloudySea state ................ Slight to moderateWave height................................. 1-4 ftMax Temp......................................37CMin Temp.......................................22CWind Direction .......................... VRB-SWind Speed ....................... 06-32 km/h

Wednesday, April 17Expected weather: ...............................Relatively hot and partly cloudy with a chance for scattered rainSea state .Slight to moderate, rough at timesWave height................................. 2-6 ftMax Temp......................................35CMin Temp.......................................23CWind Direction ......................... SE-NWWind Speed ....................... 08-40 km/h

Tide times at Shuwaikh Port1st high tide: ............................... 16:292nd high tide: .............................. 08:141st low tide:................................. 11:142nd low tide: ............................... 00:31Sunrise: ...................................... 05:26Sunset: ....................................... 18:12

Recorded yesterday at Kuwait AirportMax temp .......................................29CMin temp ........................................20CMax Rh ......................................... 94%Min Rh .......................................... 32%Max Wind............................. E 57 km/hTotal Rainfall in 24 hrs ................ 0 mm

Recorded yesterday at South DolphinMin/Max/ Air Temp ..................-/- Hash

(0x4009c3e4)Min/Max Rel Hum ..........................-/-%Wind Direction/Wind Speed....N/- km/hPrev Wave Dir/Max Wave Ht .........N/-ftMin/Max Sea Surface Temp ......... -/- CSea Current .........................Downdraft

— Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Dept.

Najat Abdullah Mohammad, widow of Khaled Matouq Al Aslawi, 75 years old, bur-ied on Saturday. Condolences: (Men) Ishbiliya, Block 2, Street 218, House 36, Tel. 99686362, 99646363. (Women) Adan, Block 8, Street 15, House 26, Tel. 92200490, 99982002; Sharah Sayah Helail, widow of Ayesh Falah Al Mutairi, 79 years old, bur-ied on Saturday. Condolences: Ardiya, Block 10, Street 1, House 11, Tel. 60000900; Massouma Mahmoud Ibrahim Qambar, 22 years old, buried on Saturday. Condo-lences: (Men) Riggae Al Imam Al Mahdi Mosque, Tel. 97998609 (Women) Rabya, Block 1, Street 34, House 9, Tel. 51131210; Khaled Salem Jasem Al Khadari, 57 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: (Men) Rehab, Block 1, Street 26, House 19, Tel. 55222761.

KUNA photo His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah being seen off at the Kuwait International Airport.

His Highness the Crown Prince departs on a private tripHis Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah departed the country on a private trip Saturday.

Upon departure, His Highness the Crown Prince was seen off at the

Kuwait International Airport by the National Assembly Speaker Mar-zouq Al-Ghanim, Acting Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and senior state offi cials. (KUNA)

Al-Hajraf reviews New Kuwait ’35Vision at the Arab institute in US

Kuwait’s fi nmin joins others to discuss Bahrain Fiscal Balance Program

KUWAIT CITY, April 13, (KUNA): Kuwait’s Minister of Finance Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf on Fri-day reviewed in a closed-door discussion at the Arab Gulf States Insti-tute in Washington the vision of the new Kuwait 2035 and the executive plan accompanying the vision.

This came in a press state-ment issued by the Ministry of Finance received by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) during the annual spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund held in the US capital between April 8 and 14.

The meeting was held in the presence of a number of former ambassadors of the United States in the Arab region, academics and researchers in regional affairs, the statement said.

It explained that the institute’s President, Ambassador Marcel Wahba, opened the dialogue session and welcomed Minister Al-Hajraf as the main speaker of the session.

The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington is an independent, non-profit institution dedicated to providing specialized research and analysis on the social, eco-nomic and political dimensions of the Gulf Arab states and their impact on domestic and foreign policies.

The institute focuses on issues ranging from politics and security to economy, trade and business on the one hand, and from social dy-namics to civil society and culture on the other.

PromoteThrough programs, publications

and scientifi c exchanges, the in-stitute seeks to promote construc-tive debate and inform the political community in the United States about this sensitive geostrategic region.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Finance Minister Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf dis-cussed Bahrain’s Comprehensive Fiscal Balance Program with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in Washington on Friday.

The offi cials included Saudi Ara-bia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, UAE Sate Minister for Financial Affairs Obaid Al-Tayer and Bahrain’s Minister of Finance and National Economy Sheikh Sal-man Al-Khalifa.

The encounter was held on the fringes of the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, held be-

tween April 8-14.During the talks, held in the pres-

ence of the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and Direc-tor General at the Arab Monetary Fund Dr Abdulrahman Al-Humaidi,

the ministers discussed global con-cerns, poverty eradication, eco-nomic development and enhancing investment fi elds, read a Kuwaiti ministry statement.

Last year, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

and the UAE signed a jointly-fund-ed USD 10 billion aid package to the Bahrain Comprehensive Fiscal Balance Program aimed at prevent-ing the neighbouring Gulf kingdom from going in debt.

The delegation of the Kuwaiti Relief Society meets the President of the University of Mosul Dr Qusay Kamal Al-Din Al-Ahmadi and a delegation of university facilities at the Consulate General in Erbil.

KUNA photos Part of the opening of a school after the rehabilitation of Nineveh province in northern Iraq.

Nayef Al-Hajraf

KRCS continues to embody Kuwait’s generosity in aiding IraniansKuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) continues to embody the genuine Kuwaiti generosity through providing all forms of humanitarian aid and relief to fl ood-stricken victims in some of the affected areas

in Iran’s province of Golestan.The KRCS team and children of the southwestern

province exchanged joyful smiles during the deliv-ery process of the Kuwaiti humanitarian aid. (KUNA)

Debate over ‘family sheesha’ in cafés, restaurantsKUWAIT CITY, April 13: While the member of the Municipal Coun-cil Hamdi Nassar Azmi has sub-mitted a proposal to cancel what is called ‘family sheesha’ in cafés and restaurants, his colleague has dropped a bombshell saying some cafés operate until after midnight and asked a question directly to the concerned ministries of the state about the presence of some women inside the cafés past midnight, re-ports Al-Rai daily.

The attention is drawn to the up-coming municipal council session Monday, where the controversial proposal will be debated and faces a severe blow, especially as a num-ber of members object to the content

of the proposal that focuses on the ‘family sheesha’ without including the general public.

During the meeting, requests are expected to amend the proposal by consensus among members, so that the amendment will be ‘doing away with the sheesha from cafés and res-taurants’, for everyone and not lim-ited to the families sheesha, or pass the proposal as it stands.

However, the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Fahd Al-Shu-la is expected to express his opinion of rejection or approval.

“We are also from a conservative environment, and we do not allow anyone to judge us through pro-posals or recommendations,” said

Mashaal Hamdan, a member of the Municipal Council.

He said this is unacceptable, stressing he is against the proposal, but not against the customs and tra-ditions, since the proposal is ‘defec-tive’ and full of shortcomings, even the proposal is not applicable.

Al-Hamdan stressed that there is no such thing as ‘family sheesha’ and that there is no authorization to do so until there is a request to can-cel. In the beginning, the proposal was sent to the Technical Commit-tee to amend it to be consistent with the mechanism of application of the rules and laws, but unfortunately it was returned to the Commission without any modifi cation.


4

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Work for Kuwait’s bright future’

‘Arabs must overcome differences’“HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad was able to rise to the occasion at the Arab summit which was held recently in Tunisia,” columnist Abdulmohsen Al-Hussaini wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“In his speech, the Amir confirmed the necessity of unifying the Arab ranks and put ‘current differences and relations among some Arab states on the back burner’.

“We would like to point out here that the Amir means that the Arab-Arab problems and differences will not be solved under the circumstances which currently prevail in our Arab countries, because these problems and dif-ferences in the absence of the necessary agreement and conflicting attitudes in dealing with various issues among these countries are linked to vested Arab inter-ests.

“His Highness the Amir, has referred to the necessity of perceiving the Arab conflicts and differences that have negatively affected the relations among the Arabs. In this context, we refer to the differences between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen in addition to the differences among various components of the Syrians since Syria is still suffer-ing due to sectarian and partisan struggles.

“Speaking of Iraq, Baghdad still suffers due to local differ-ences which can be attributed to sectarian conflicts, while Algeria suffers from differences among the local political parties.

“With regard to the Gulf States, we are actually suffering because of political differences between the three states – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain on one hand and the State of Qatar on the other hand. Meanwhile, we refer to the fact that the Arab states are still in disagreement over their relations with both Iran and Turkey.

“Notwithstanding, all the above differences summed up the keenness of the Amir through the speech he gave at the Arab summit in Tunisia which was frank and transparent.

“Not just that, the Amir, was frank about the conflicts facing the Arabs, because these conflicts represent one of the major reasons for instability and insecurity in our Arab States, given the fact these conflicts are topped by the Arab-Israeli conflict over the Palestinian cause.

“Likewise, His Highness the Amir, talked about the torment facing the Syrian people as he emphasized on the necessity of getting rid of all of problems which cur-rently impede reconciliation among various components of the Syrian people.

“In this connection, the Amir said: ‘Our responsibil-ity before Almighty Allah and history is great, as such the future generations will not forgive our follies if we fail to solve the problems and conflicts.’

“Furthermore, the Amir during the summit regretted the US decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights currently occupied by Israel.

“Speaking of Arab relations with Iran, the Amir said: ‘We are keen for friendship and cooperation with Iran based on the principles of respect for each other in line with the international law and non-intervention in the internal affairs of each other’s states.’

“However, the Sabah of Humanity and the veteran politician is always true in expressing without any hesi-tation or bias his attitudes, because he is always keen to be a fair politician when it comes to global issues through extreme transparency and frankness.

“In this context, we fully support His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad when he said: ‘We have to accept the opinion of others. Likewise, we have to consult each other instead of being at loggerheads. We may be in difference over certain issues but we should not attack each other. We may criticize one another, but with-out hurting the other. We have to bring to book, but without vengeance. All of us must begin from Kuwait and in Kuwait we have to end, because it is Kuwait which shall remain for good, even if all of us will vanish.’”

“We pray to Almighty Allah to help us.”

Also:“The speech given by the Speaker of the National

Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim before the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly during its 141st session in the Qatari capital Doha, was impact-ful and full of credibility, full of sublime values and the deep-rooted principles which are ingrained in the minds of Kuwaitis generation by generation,” columnist Abdurrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“Al-Ghanim, has called on the International Parliamentary Union to play its ethical role towards the adoption of a serious and crucial attitude in dealing with all the struggles in the world including the Palestinian struggle with the occupying usurping Zionist entity.

“Al-Ghanim, was actually speaking on behalf of mil-lions of Arabs and Muslims who are watching the tor-ment of the Palestinians under the Zionist occupation in addition to what is currently facing them in the form of terrorism, racism and discrimination in addition to per-secution and punishments which they have been sub-jected to for more than seventy years without any cru-cial attitude from the international community to pre-vent the same.

“However, this simple example elucidates the double standard policy when it comes to dealing with torment of the Arabs, which truly and warmly conveyed by Al-Ghanim to the participants in the meeting as if he wants to say that the world has failed to adopt a crucial attitude in dealing with the occupying entity which con-tinues to persecute, terrorize the Palestinians in addition to practicing racism and discrimination in the occupied territories, then any other talk about the international resolution, shall remain unbinding and remain ink on paper and this shall conduce to struggles at both the regional and global levels.

“Oh the Masters, yes, this is the fact which Al-Ghanim has spoken of, it is a fact that the strong prey upon the weak, and those who possess sophisticated weapons will take every opportunity to persecute those who don’t have, but it is needless to say this policy will lead to devastation of the whole world.”

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“Just like most of the zealous people of Kuwait, I was surprised by the recent media campaigns calling for fighting against the traditions of Kuwaiti society – con-servative practices and ethics,” columnist Abdulaziz Al-Fadhli wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“These are calls against the modest clothing such as the cloak, veil and ‘niqab’, such that they accuse those who adhere to this dress code of involvement in terror-ism, extremism, backwardness and retrogression! There are calls for opening night clubs and liquor bars! They present lies as facts, trying to mislead the masses to market their ideas! They say that prevention of alcohol in Kuwait since the 1960s has resulted in the spread of drugs at a higher rate than countries which allow alco-hol!

“We wish to affirm that statistics have exposed your lies. Statistics show that drug users are arrested every 25 seconds in America. According to Human Rights Watch, 1.25 million people are in US prisons because of drug dealing and trafficking. What do you think of this

statistics? “One of the campaigners called for opening beer

parlors and discotheques. The idea indicates that the trend of youths towards these beer parlors is better than their direction towards drug abuse or joining DAESH!

“And I say, sorry for the phrase, your idea is like that of someone who chooses between washing with urine and being dirty! This came at a time he could choose between washing with river water or distilled water. Why do we give young people an option between filth and impurity?

“Kuwait is our ship and we have no other. It carries us through the ocean that is tumbling to safety. Some want to break this ship through corrupt calls to allow discotheques and beer parlors. If we leave them and what they want as they are, all of us will drown.”

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“A video clip showing immoral acts went viral on social media recently and it was purportedly filmed on Kubbar Island,” columnist Muhammad Al-Awadhi wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The uninhabited island has become a favorite desti-nation for seekers of prohibited fun. The circulated video revealed part of this fact as it showed a number of semi naked men and women dancing while loud music was playing. The immoral scenes confirm the presence of the devil.

“A number of colleagues wrote several times that this island has become a hotbed for all types of prohibited acts (‘haraam’), and that the effects of crimes commit-ted there unveiled the magnitude of immoral attitudes, especially those who violate the provisions of religion, leaving behind bottles of alcohol and some women’s clothing.

“We have not found anyone who listens to the com-plaints and stops tampering on this island and other places.

“The preservation of the moral values of society is one of the greatest duties. Many countries suffered from fragmentation and their production declined due to the spread of devastating immorality, resulting in the loss of family ties while the youths no longer wish to get mar-ried and establish new families.

“The immoral phenomena that are alien in our society threaten our values, our concepts and our customs. As a result, we became strangers in our homeland.

“Calls to spread the culture of nudity and mingling between opposite genders are finally joined by disre-spectful voices in the fight against the ‘hijab’ under the pretext of freedom. Undoubtedly, these are unaccept-able calls.

“Everybody has the responsibility to confront such negative phenomena and preserve the values, morals and traditions of our society that match the regulations of our religion. If we lose our values and morals, we will lose everything. Morals and values are the fences which protect and defend our society.”

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“We’ve repeatedly stated in previous articles the ‘inflation of digits’ on every project in Kuwait. The cost of building a sports stadium in Kuwait is five times that of building a sports stadium with better specifications in Saudi Arabia, the UAE or Qatar. In any case, the cost of refurbishing asphalt as a set of highways is equivalent to the cost of building complete roads in countries without a single drop of oil, all rugged mountains and steep val-leys,” columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“The latest cry of unknown numbers is the cost of developing the third stage of Martyrs Park, which will reach 85 million dinars or 260 million dollars. The reader of this huge figure might think that we are talking about the cost of building the Martyrs Park, but in real-ity it is only for one phase out of three. We cannot deny the recreational role offered by the Martyrs Park to families, and as a green outlet in the midst of the huge pile of buildings in Kuwait City but at the same time, we have the right to ask about the huge and high cost of building one phase of this park. Most parks and amuse-ment parks are related to entertainment machines and games, their high prices, expensive maintenance rates and huge manpower they need to operate them.

“However, it is different in the Martyrs Park. As most Kuwaitis know that there is a green area planted with facilities we did not know about. The largest of its operations is carried out by a voluntary association. Comparing Martyrs’ parks, Turkey opened a city called Wonderland Eurasia in an area of more than 1.3 million square meters at a cost not exceeding $260 million, according to figures published in the official Turkish sites, and with 2100 games.

“Dear readers, you can compare between the cost of the Wonderland mega-amusement park and the cost of one phase of the Martyr Park, which does not have any games or complex mechanisms as mentioned above. In order not to go far in comparison to avoid mentioning the bureaucratic complexity of our country, the rising cost of construction and other materials, the cost of building Yas Water World’s Theme Park in the UAE did not exceed $245 million, according to the announce-ment although it is 150,000 square kilometers. This is twice the size of the third phase of the Martyrs Park with 43 water games, unlike the Martyrs Park, which con-tains only fountains, plants, some theaters and antiques.

“The lack of transparency in government contracts on building projects under the pretext that the people do not care about the money spent as much as they care about the achievements on ground is very dangerous, and wrong. Although citizens seek entertainment and achievements and crave to see projects, they also refuse misappropriation of funds at a time when it is possible to obtain the same project with less money.”

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“The future of water in the Arab world is in danger, especially surface water, for several reasons. The first of which is global warming due to pollution and lack of rainfall, as the current rainfall in Arab countries is just half of what used to fall in the past. Second is Israel’s control over Arab water sources in the Golan, Jordan River and other sources of water such as Litani River in Lebanon and elsewhere,” columnist Dr Abdulmalik Khalaf Al-Tamimi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Third, the dam projects of Turkey and Iran depend on sources of main rivers – Euphrates in Syria and Iraq, Tigris in Iraq and dam projects in Ethiopia, most nota-bly Al Nahda Dam. This led to decline in water levels in the Nile River, threatening Egypt and Sudan, which constitute one third of the population. The main source of rivers in the Arab world is from outside. This is a weak point in the lives of Arabs today and in the future.

“The weakness of Arabs in front of Israel and neigh-boring countries is the presence of essential Arab water sources in these countries and using them as political trump card whenever they wish. Therefore, Arabs should first of all think strategically about water secu-rity because the available resources today are unsafe.

“Water war does not necessarily mean military war. Building dams in Turkey, Iran and Ethiopia depending on sources of Arab rivers, whatever the justification, is a prelude to the water war against Arabs. The water issue is a matter of life and death and the Arabs should secure it.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Al-Hussaini

KUNA photoKuwait’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi addresses the gathering at the

Security Council session on Colombia.

Kuwait lauds Colombian head,backs peace effort in country

UN-led initiatives win applause

NEW YORK, April 13, (KUNA): Kuwait renewed its full support to peace process in Colombia praising initiatives taken by President Ivan Duque to imple-ment the peace agreement reached in this regard.

The remarks came in a speech delivered Friday before a meeting for the Security Council on Colombia by its P e r m a n e n t R e p r e s e n t a t i v e Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi.

“We meet on the third anniversary of signing the Colombian peace agree-ment which put an end to a bloody conflict that lasted for more than 50 years, and left many dead, wounded, and missing “,Al-Otaibi said in the speech.

In spite of the positive impact of the peace agree-ment on the general situa-tion in Colombia, and all national success achieved in this regard, the agreement still facing challenges that needs to unite effort of the concerned parties in order to maintain those successes, he added.

PolicyAmbassador Al-Otaibi

appreciated the efforts of the Colombian government in the process of social and economic reintegration of former members of the revo-lutionary armed forces of Colombia (FARC) through collective and individual plans, initiatives and projects approved by the National Council for Economic and Social Policy.

He looked forward to achieving the objectives of the reintegration process within the time-bound scope of the measure and acceler-ating the reintegration pro-cess by providing legal and security guarantees for for-mer members of FARC.

Al-Otaibi also expressed concern about the continu-ing killings, violence and threats against community leaders, human rights activ-ists and leaders of indige-nous communities, stressing that their response requires further efforts by the nation-al government, regional and local organizations and civil society organizations.

He expressed his hope that the Legislative Law for the Special Jurisdiction for Peace will be issued in accordance with the consti-tutional framework as soon as possible in a secure polit-ical environment that would help to complete the imple-mentation of the peace agreement in all its aspects.

Al-Otaibi praised the continuous efforts aimed at strengthening the peace pro-cess carried out by the United Nations led by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and other civil and international organizations.

He also commended the Mission’s role in involving young people and youth organizations by including a youth perspective in its activities, “which we have seen in many initiatives and dialogues launched by the United Nations Mission, especially towards the rein-tegration process”.

KUNA photoMinister of Finance Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf meets US Treasury Secretary Steven

Mnuchin in Washington. Various issues were discussed.

Iran Air resumes flights

Call to shift embassies to MishrefKUWAIT CITY, April 13: In a radi-cal solution to the crisis of consulates and the headquarters of diplomatic missions which are established in residential areas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the Council of Ministers to allocate 4 plots of land in the ‘Diplomatic Zone’ west of Mishref, specifically in Section 7B for this purpose, reports Al-Qabas daily.

In a letter to the Secretariat-General of the Council of Ministers, the daily identified the area measur-ing 2,000 square meters required to shift the Egyptian Consulate and the Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lankan missions to west Mishref.

The sources explained that the request for the allocation of land comes in view of the large number of citizens of these countries which necessitates the provision of suitable sites for the establishment of consul-

ates and embassies for the benefit of their communities. The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the alloca-tion of land will be free of charge based on the principle of reciprocity.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated devel-opment, Iran Air, the national airline of the Iranian Islamic Republic Airways has announced the resump-tion of flights between Kuwait and Tehran – the weekly Monday and Thursday flights, reports Al-Rai daily.

Regional Director of Iran Air said this move comes to promote tourism after the suspension of flights for many months between the capitals of both countries.

It’s worthy to mention the Iranian Air had suspended flights to Kuwait citing economic reasons. The airline was established in 1944 and flies to more than 60 destinations around the world.


5

Other Voices

‘Every action has reaction’By Ahmad Al-Sarraf

A former academician and politician said during a lecture about 10 years

ago to an audience who were pleased by what they heard from him when he said: “Four pounds of anthrax carried by a (guerrilla) from Mexico City tun-nels to the United States are enough to kill 330,000 Americans in one hour, if he succeeded in spreading the lethal substance on the population there, and compared this terrible idea with the events of September 11 making the lat-ter look like sal-ad, it earned him a round of applause from the audience as they broke out in laughter”.

The former a c a d e m i c i a n says, with ec-stasy and obvi-ous indiffer-ence, that the guerrilla here does not need planes, dates or plots, but only some courage and pounds of anthrax and scattering the material on the population, thus the subject seemed to be for fun or entertainment.

His speech was not only the begin-ning of the spread of our hatred of the entire human race because we have been practicing it with almost the whole world, but it was also a stage of showing our hatred to others es-pecially people whose governments were wronged or oppressed and did not stand by our causes.

I am not here to explain why all the hatred and grudge that some people have against the peoples of the world – a vast majority of innocent people – who have not sinned and have noth-ing to do with us, but I would like to show that every action has an equal reaction.

Therefore, what is committed by the foolish and the extremists among us or encouraging other persons will result in equal reaction, perhaps stronger and more violent.

When we are not merciful with ourselves and cruel with our broth-ers, this will encourage our enemies to strip and deprive us of our liber-ties and end our lives, such as the Christchurch massacre in New Zea-land and elsewhere.

This criminal, who has no mini-mal passion, has every reason to justify his atrocious crime. He may have heard what our “thinkers”, our religious scholars, and our politicians have said, and inevitably, he must have heard about the bombings of our mosques by ‘ourselves’, and we shedding our blood easily, and thus the Muslim worshippers have become easy prey, showed no mercy and killed as we also have not shown any mercy towards them.

This Australian criminal killed fifty innocent Muslims, in what is known as ‘white terrorism’, but we did not limit ourselves to commit-ting all the other colors of terrorism against others, and to ourselves be-fore them.

Until we decide to have mercy on one another, we must not expect oth-ers to be merciful to us. This is not a justifi cation for the crimes commit-ted against us, nor a justifi cation for the increasing wave of hatred against Muslims, wherever they may be, nei-ther restricting the words of this acad-emician and other extremists.

It is merely a reminder that others have the right to hate and fi ght us as long as we give ourselves the right to hate, and fi ght and set our anger and curse them.

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e-mail: [email protected]

Al-Sarraf

KFSD photoFire-fighters at the site of the fire in Sabhan.

Losses in marine items store fireFire broke out in a marine equipment store in Sabhan area. No casualties were reported.

In a press release, the Public Rela-tions and Media Department of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) ex-plained that the Control Room of KFSD, after receiving information about the fire

broke out in a store of area 750 square meters, dispatched fire-fighters to the location with securitymen and paramed-ics. They extinguished the fire before it spread further. High-ranking officials were present at the site.

Investigations have been launched to determine the cause of the fire.

KUNA photo The successful ‘Batch 47’ officers pose for a picture with Major General Muhammad Al-Khudhair.

‘Govt 5-year residence plan for expatsopposed; policy will serve visa traders’

‘Move to have adverse effect on economy, people’

Batch ‘47’ completes military trainingThe National Military Service Authority (NMSA) celebrated batch ‘47’ of officers who completed their four months training course, under the patronage and in the presence of NMSA Chief Major General Muhammad Al-Khudhair.

The graduants included the second batch of drafters who joined the military after ap-plication of the compulsory National Military Service.

Commander of the National Service In-stitute Brigadier Bader Al Kheinej in the

opening speech affirmed that the conscrip-tion included practical and theoretical mili-tary training, as well as security, civics and religious lectures. High-ranking officials from the Army were present at the cere-mony.

By Najeh BilalAl-Seyassah Staff and

Agencies

KUWAIT CITY, April 13: The new approach being considered by the govern-ment to solve the popula-tion imbalance by stipu-lating five years duration for residence visa of ex-patriate labor after which they will be replaced with new sets of workers has attracted negative reac-tions from Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis, especially private company owners, who affirmed that the poli-cy will only serve visa trad-ers since it will help them to enlarge the rate of their activities.

An expatriate Mohammad Ali said the idea of stipulating five years for residence visa of expa-triates is ill conceived, because it will make experienced expatriates reject working in Kuwait. He in-dicated that he has acquired long years of experience in Kuwait.

In his reaction, another expatriate engineer Salah Al-Seyyid declared that the market is about demand and supply, so it is the company where an expatriate works that can deter-mine his competency. This means that the company will terminate his appointment if his performance is low to almost 70 percent rating. Considering that companies keep only highly competent staff, stipu-lating five years only for residence of expatriates will have negative im-plications on the companies.

As for Mansour Zaki, he said the decision would have been reason-able if targeted at marginal workers only. He posited that taking such a step against productive expatri-ates will have adverse effect on the country, because they benefit econ-omy of Kuwait and gain from the country at the same time.

Talking about the issue, Chair-man of the Union of Contracting Companies Dr Salah Bourseli de-clared that stipulating five years for expatriates’ residence visas is an unrealistic proposition that cannot stand the test of time and the deci-sion is unprofessional. He believed that the decision is detrimental to the national interest, because there are some professions that are not easy to lose such as engineers in

the construction sector. He stressed, “I have many engineers who have been working in my company for over 25 years, while I keep some technical experts and supervisors whose wealth of experience I can’t afford to lose”.

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Addiction deaths report: Minister of Health, Dr Bassel Al-Sabah said in the absence of statistics for deaths resulting from addiction due to non-registration of deaths by the addic-tion treatment center and cases that are monitored at the center cannot be said that they constitute all cases of addiction in society, and there-fore cannot be determined by the number of cases which may have died as a result of addiction, reports Al-Rai daily.

Dr Al-Sabah said in response to a parliamentary query, that “the process of dealing with addiction includes direct treatment, which means the health care provided to the patient during the period of elimination of toxicity and rehabili-tation process, and the subsequent process and a long time to rid the

patient of the psychological and be-havioral consequences of years of addiction.

He added, that the ministry is working on the implementation of an integrated awareness plan to re-duce the phenomenon of addiction under the title ‘Together eliminate the scourge of drug abuse and pro-tect and prevent the loss of our chil-dren due to addiction’.

He referred to the measures taken by the Ministry of Health to treat and prevent addiction.

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Interpol holds Egyptian: The Ku-waiti Interpol has arrested an Egyp-tian who is wanted by his country in connection with criminal cases, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to a security source, the suspected managed to escape from Egypt two years ago and has been staying in the country illegally.

He reportedly remained in hiding and did not make an attempt to re-new his residence permit for fear of being arrested.

According to a source, the arrest came after the Egyptian authorities

included the name of the accused on the wanted list both at home and of Interpol.

According to sources, he ven-tured out of his house only in the af-ternoons and visited remote cafés in Hawalli when he was certain there would be no security checks.

However, his moves were moni-tored and when police closed in on him, he made an attempt to escape but was chased and caught.

A security source said Inter-pol deported the wanted person to Egypt under tight security.

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Iraqi women in brawl: A Kuwaiti man has been detained for inter-rogation by the police following a brawl in front of a restaurant with with two Iraqi women, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to the sources the women were leaving the restaurant and the Kuwaiti and his female friend were about to enter and one of them objected to the other be-cause the Kuwaiti believed one of the Iraqi women were staring at them.

KFSD photoFiremen test the new product to extinguish the fitre.

KFSD tests new product to extinguish fire

By Munaif Nayef Al-Seyassah Staff

The Control Sector of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) conducted an exercise to test a new product used for extinguish-ing fire.

The exercise was held in the

presence of Director General of KFSD Lieutenant General Khalid Al-Mekrad.

During the exercise, a vehicle on fire was extinguished using the new product to test its effec-tiveness, and it produced posi-tive results.

Following this exercise, the

new product will be circulated to all fire stations so that it can be used to deal with fire incidents especially car fires.

Deputy Director General of the Control Sector at KFSD Major General Jamal Al-Bulaihees and other high-ranking officials were present at the site.

News in Brief

Citizen acquitted: The Court of Ap-peals upheld the decision of the First Instance Court which acquitted a mar-ried citizen of having sex with a minor and adultery, says Al-Seyassah.

The Public Prosecution charged the citizen with having sex with a 15-year-old girl without using force, tricking or threatening her. The prosecution said the girl shared the crime with the citizen since she is aware that he is married and she accepted his invitation to meet in a flat located in Salmiya. They have been in a pas-sionate relationship since they met through Snapchat. The girl said the citizen had traces of burns in various parts of his body and she also withdrew her complaint against him.

Attorney Isma’el Dashti, who repre-sented the citizen in court, stressed that the report attached to the case file did not include any evidence that his client committed adultery.

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Woman in suicide bid: An un-identified Qatari woman set fire to herself inside the Kuwaiti embassy compound in Doha following a family dispute with a Kuwaiti man, reports Al-Anba daily quoting diplo-matic sources.

It is believed the woman suffers from psychological disorders.

The sources pointed out the interven-tion of embassy guards in a timely manner prevented the spread of fire in the embassy.

The Qatari woman was taken to the Hamad Public Hospital to treat her of burns on her hands.

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Brothers run over: Police are looking for an unidentified person for running over two bedoun brothers (students) in front of their school, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily added, the victims

have been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Jahra Hospital. The victims were taken to the hospital by paramedics.

The daily did not give more details.❑ ❑ ❑

Car damaged: Police have arrested a Kuwaiti for damaging the car of his compatriot neighbor in Waha with an axe, reports Al-Anba daily.

A security source said the arrested came after the suspect, who looked abnormal, then knocked at the door of his house and accused his son of steal-ing the car.

Although the neighbor denied, he reportedly got angry at the denial and damaged the car which was parked in front of his house.

When he tried to assault the victim, he was overpowered and handed over to police.

Dashti

Held at border

‘Pills’ with bus driverBy Munaif Nayef

Al-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 13: A bus driver was arrested at Abdali border check-point for attempting to smuggle 1,000 narcotic pills into the country.

According to sources, when the bus arrived at the border checkpoint from Iraq, customs officers checked the bus and found the contraband.

The suspect was arrested and referred with the narcotic pills to the concerned authorities for necessary legal action.

❑ ❑ ❑

Culprit nabbed: Ministry of Interior announced arrest of the person who dumped empty liquor bottles in a waste bin at Shamiya – as shown in a video clip that went viral on social media recently.

Security operatives started their investigation and succeeded in trail-ing the person who dumped the bottles in the waste bin. He was ar-rested and referred to the concerned authority for legal action.


6

By Hanan Al-SaeidiKUWAIT CITY, April 13, (KUNA): The growing numbers of private hospitals and clinics in Kuwait attracted many Kuwaiti doctors from the government health facilities in the recent years, which turned to be a phe-nomenon of migration.

This phenomenon adds strains on the medi-cal staff at public hospitals and poses risk to the efficacy of the health system in its entirety, observers believe.

There are administrative, technical and fi-nancial causes that prompted the medical staff to turn to private health facilities.

These include the lack of a legal system to protect Kuwaiti physicians against claims of medical errors in case of adverse effects on patients, the retirees’ health insurance pro-gram dubbed “Afiya,” and the relatively low salaries at public hospitals.

Dr Hussein Al-Majadi, chief anesthetist and head of the ICU at Al-Razi Hospital, sug-gests reconsideration of the experiment of integrating the private health sector into the government-run one.

“This integration negatively affects the per-formance of physicians,” he said in statements to KUNA. “The phenomenon of migrating physicians led to shortage in the medical staff at public health facilities and added strains on the doctors who choose to continue to work,” he pointed out.

Dr Al-Majadi highlighted the need of im-plementing a supervisory mechanism for the private health facilities and beefing up the inspection teams in keeping with the expan-sions of this sector with a view to minimiz-ing the practices that could harm the medical profession.

On the relation between Afiya program and the phenomenon of migrating physicians, he said the idea of the program is generally good and signals the care of the Ministry of Health for the retirees’ health.

“However, some privately-run health insti-

tutions have manipulated beneficiaries from this program and offer drugs and medications that already exist in government-gun hospi-tals,” he said, noting that the public hospitals offer better service.

Dr Al-Majadi called for controls on prac-tices such as patients’ resumption of their medication at public hospitals after expiry of their Afiya credits and patients’ missing of the dates of their surgeries or magnetic resonance sessions without notifying the concerned hospital, which leads to plunder of public funds.

On his part, Dr Ra’ed Behbahani, eye sur-gery consultant at Al-Bahar Ophthalmology Center, said Afiya program materialized the desire of the Ministry to involve the private sector in providing better health service to the citizens and cope with the population growth.

He voiced hope for expanding the program to include other age groups.

Regarding the attractiveness of the private sector health facilities, he said these facili-ties provide competitive environment where doctors feel more independent and free from the bureaucratic, administrative and technical constraints besides the financial returns.

Asked on the integration of doctors’ work at public and private health facilities, he said this experiment is followed in many other coun-tries. Behbahani believes that this practice has no impact on the performance of doctors.

He urged early finalization of the draft law on regulation of the medical profession, high-lighting the need to protect physicians against coerced litigation resulting from confusion of medical errors with implications of certain drugs.

He also called for modernization of the civil service laws relating to remunerations in a way that could avoid late remuneration of doctors and take stock of their efficiencies.

Dr Behbahani appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Health to provide quality service for patients and ensure complementarity of the public and private health facilities.

Effi cacy of health delivery system at risk

Docs’ migration to private hospitals a growing phenomenon

Kuwait provides right environment forlaunching of startups: Nabd developer

Easy access to internet facilitates marketing applications

By Mahmoud Bushehri

DEAD SEA, Jordan, April 13, (KUNA): Kuwait has all requirements for launch-ing a successful startup, especially in IT sector, a Kuwait-based Egyptian entrepreneur, whose news-feed app Nabd appeared twice on the World Eco-nomic Forum’s list of top

100 Arab startups.“We chose Kuwait to launch

our startup due to its market stability and availability of all requirements for founding and marketing startups, especially in the technology sector,” Abdul-rahman Al-Sayyed told KUNA.

Al-Sayyed is the co-founder of the Kuwait-based Waveline Media company and the developer of wide-ly-used newsfeed application (Nabd) which was named by the World Eco-nomic Forum as one of the top 100

promising startups in Arab World in 2019 and 2017.

“We have proven that a global company can be launched from Ku-wait,” he said.

“Today, we have offi ces in four Arab countries in addition to the head offi ce in Kuwait.”

Nabd is a personalized Arabic content platform, used by millions of Arabs across the world on a daily basis to stay up-to-date with their fa-vorite news, videos and content.

He suggested that the high con-nectivity of Kuwaiti people was in-

strumental to the success of the IT startups in Kuwait.

“The Kuwaiti society is highly connected – in reality through Di-waniyas, social gathering places, and virtually via social networking sites,” Al-Sayyed stated, adding that the easy access to internet had facili-tated marketing of applications.

He cited other examples of the outstanding startups initiated by young entrepreneurs in Kuwait ad left hallmarks at the Arab world and beyond including Carriage; Q8.car; Talabat and For Sale.

KUNA photo

Ambassador of Kuwait to France Sami Al Sulaiman poses with the Al Farsi Kite Team.

1st to receive stem cell transplant cert

Kuwaiti doc ‘completes’ stemcell transplant program in UK

By Khaled Al-Dehani LONDON, April 13, (KUNA): Kuwaiti Dr Sondos Al-Shereda completes a two-year train-ing program in cultivation of stem cells at the Leeds Medical Center in the United Kingdom.

Al-Shereda is the fi rst Kuwaiti to receive a stem cell transplant certifi cate from Leeds-based training center in the United Kingdom which is recognized by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), and International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISO), Dr Becky James, program supervisor at the Leeds Center said.

Al-Shereda told KUNA that she has spe-cialized in stem cell transplantation since 2016 until the end of her studies in mid-March, not-ing that during her studies at the center, she participated as a stem cell consultant and pedi-atric obstetrician in the Leeds, which serves seven counties from starting from Yorkshire.

She pointed out that she is the second con-sultant working in the center after Dr Becky James.

During her stay in Britain, she worked on

growing multiple stem cells for children to cure various diseases such as bone marrow disease, Beta thalassemia, severe sickle cell disease, Leukemia, and non-genetic sickle cell anemia by using the most recent technologies used to treat implant rejection, she have suc-cessfully addressed the most diffi cult cases of implantations and their problems.

Al-Shereda is the fi rst Kuwaiti and Gulf doctor to be a member of the British Board of Pediatric bone marrow Transplantation, and European Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). Al-Shereda stressed that she is seek-ing to make Kuwait a center of the Jesse inter-national educational organization, which will, enables Kuwait to join the (EBMT).

She expressed the hope that the Ministry of Health will support the establishment of the Stem Cell Program for Children, which will be presented to the Ministry soon, in coordi-nation with the Center for Transplantation of the bone marrow at the Sheikha Badriya Al-Ahmad Center in Kuwait and the National Bank Hospital.

‘Where to?’Continued from Page 1

to his stance during the invasion as he refused to grant them $50 million under his tenure as Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington?

Was it not the case with the Dow Chemi-cal scheme through which Kuwait lost tens of billions and missed the opportunity to employ around 20,000 Kuwaitis? What did those who stood against these two schemes achieve? Did they provide alternative schemes or they con-tinued to milk the State and employ the public wealth to serve their personal interests? Is this patriotism?

For years, we have had the slogan, “Kuwait 2035,” which aims to transform the country into a global commercial and financial hub. What has the legislative authority been doing in this regard? Did they endorse legislation for the realization of this vision, or they endorsed bills which lock the country and isolate it from others – starting with banning coeduca-tion, tourism and introducing laws which re-strain personal liberty and the economy?

Unfortunately, these people know well how to agitate public zeal which is between a rock of their interests and a hard place of backwardness. Despite this, they continue to raise a slogan here and coin a phrase there ac-cusing people of bribery, embezzlement and looting. They say: “Kuwait is not for sale, this project is a country within a country, so and so is corrupt, or our values are redlines and the history of our grandfathers is a no go zone,” and many other rhetoric void of truth.

The legislative authority benefits from this degradation that the country has reached. It en-acts laws which curtail personal liberties, lead-ing to the spread of narcotics in a scary manner. In spite of this, some are engaged in political bullying and are not concerned with the coun-try and its people; because for them, they come first and the rest are not their business.

Gentlemen, this is not how a country is built. This is not how democracy is. This odd condition exists only in Kuwait. In India – the largest democracy in the world, the United Kingdom, the Scandinavian countries and many other countries; democracy does not impede development projects of the State for the sake of a person or for mere malicious-ness.

Perhaps, a question should be raised: Who is responsible for all this destruction? The an-swer is a no-brainer; the one responsible is the kitchen of decision – the government which shivers when questioned and shrinks when grilled.

In case of confrontation, the government of decision should be up for it and engage head on by presenting facts as it continues imple-menting its projects without paying attention to the quota system – an act that brings down a nation.

This means there should be an impervious government in which an undersecretary does not undermine a minister in a manner that both of them resort to their strongholds in the Parliament or through unscrupulous person-alities.

Three decades after liberation, there is par-liamentary dictatorship which is above the law in the entire country; while it is unfor-tunate that the executive authority rendered itself the postal messenger or ‘mandoub’ of parliamentarians, so the projects end up dying in the drawers and shelves.

Whenever a project or scheme is an-nounced, the MP stubbornly fights against it because he is not in good terms with the con-cerned minister or because he did not get a piece of the cake.

Therefore, we go back to the question: ‘Where to?’ Shouldn’t Kuwaitis fear Allah for their country is in the midst of volcanic erup-tions or selfishness has blinded them?

Worst is the democracy that we are singing about after the misery. If we managed in the past to find those who stood with us in our fight for our right, I don’t believe that in today’s world, anyone will look at us considering the condition in the region we are living in.

Everyone has enough on their plates in terms of the pressing crises which divert their attention from other issues or prompt them to ‘export’ issues. In Kuwait, we live a life of political puberty which opens the door of un-certainty.

Filipinos voteContinued from Page 1

50 percent turnout of the total registered vot-ers. We are calling on everyone to come to the embassy and vote,” stated Philippine Em-bassy Charge d’ Affaires Mohd Noordin Pen-dosina Lomondot.

Among the over 500 Overseas voters who voted on the first day was Rudy Ong together with his wife Magnifia, who has been work-ing as an engineer in Kuwait since 1985. The couple had not voted for years however this time, they decided to participate in the na-tional elections before they finally retire to the Philippines.

“We’re so excited. It was quick and we’re very happy to try the automated election and the vote counting machine is amazing,” beamed Rudy.

The Middle East and Africa has the high-est number of Overseas Filipino voters with 887,744 and this could be considered a swing vote that can spell out a big difference on the results of the 2019 Philippine elections. The Asia Pacific has 401, 390 while the Americas has 345,415 and Europe with 187,624 regis-tered voters.

Registered voters may cast their votes from April 13 till May 13, 2019 including weekend from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, however, on the last day on May 13, 2019, the voting will be from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm only. The Voting Centre will be on the ground floor at the Philippine Embassy in Al Siddeeq area.

To vote, all registered overseas voters in Kuwait are advised to bring the Philip-pine passport or Civil ID, or any Philippine government-issued ID such as UMID, SSS ID, Driver’s License, PRC ID, OWWA or iDOLE, Voter’s ID and other valid IDs.

World News Roundup

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019

7

Immigration

Uniformed Secret Service police offi cer block Lafayette Park outside the White House in Washington on April 12. The US Secret Service says that a man operating a wheelchair scooter lit his outer jacket on fi re while sitting along Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House. (AP)

Sanders vows to win back Midwest statesMADISON, Wis, April 13, (AP): US Sen Bernie Sanders returned to the friendly terrain of Wisconsin on Fri-day, promising to build a coalition that will defeat President Donald Trump as he kicked off a swing through pivotal states that are part of the Democratic “blue wall” strategy for 2020.

Sanders, speaking to a crowd of about 2,400 who braved 40-degree (4 Celsiu) temperatures with a stiff 20 mph (32 kph) wind, pledged to fl ip Midwestern states such as Wisconsin that Trump narrowly won in 2016.

“Together, we are going to make sure that does not happen again,” Sand-

ers said to cheers. “We’re going to win here in Wisconsin. We’re going to win in Indiana. We’re going to win in Ohio. We’re going to win in Michigan. We’re going to win in Pennsylvania and together we’re going to win this election.”

Sanders spoke in a city park along the shores of a lake, just a few blocks away from the state Capitol. Those in the crowd wore ski masks, win-ter coats, gloves and scarves as they cheered Sanders.

The independent senator from Ver-mont carried Wisconsin by 13 points in the Democratic primary three years ago

and has been a frequent visitor since losing the nomination to Hillary Clin-ton. He touted his appeal to working-class and college-age voters, while fos-tering his network of supporters before this second run for president.

“He’s the real deal,” said Sanders backer Lynn Glueck, 50, a teacher from Madison who wore a winter coat with the hood up for the rally. She said to win, Sanders needs to emphasize his “long term integrity.”

“It’s not like he came up with these ideas the past two years, Glueck said. “He is not somebody who is bought and sold.”

America

Booker launches tour: US Senator Cory Booker will launch a two-week national tour on Saturday with a rally in his adopted hometown of Newark, New Jersey, aiming to put momentum behind a presidential campaign stuck in the middle of a growing pack of Demo-cratic candidates.

The “Justice for All” trip, which includes visits to the early voting states of Iowa and Nevada, will center on economic policies, including Booker’s proposed “baby bonds” that would give every child a government-run savings account at birth.

During the fi rst few months of the year, Booker has focused his campaign on his own personal story – including his seven-year stint as mayor of Newark – and his message of unity and love as an antidote to extreme partisanship.

But Booker has yet to see his cam-paign have the same sort of bounce that rivals like Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and California Sena-tor Kamala Harris have enjoyed thus far.

Public polling has him somewhere around seventh among more than a dozen candidates, while his fundraising total of $5 million for the fi rst quarter of the year lags well behind fellow sena-tors Bernie Sanders and Harris.

Booker’s campaign aides on Thursday dismissed concerns about polls at this early stage, noting that the Iowa nominating contest is still nearly 10 months away. They emphasized the workmanlike campaign they have run thus far, holding dozens of events in key early-voting states and building what they said was a state-by-state staff that rivals any campaign.

“You’ve got to organize and got to get hot at the end,” Booker’s campaign manager, Addisu Demissie, told report-ers. “We’re not building this campaign to win polls in April 2019. This is a long race and there are going to be a lot of ups and downs.” (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

‘Images for political attack’: US President Donald Trump has weighed in on the most recent controversy involv-ing Rep Ilhan Omar, retweeting video edited to suggest that the Minnesota Democrat was dismissive of the signifi -cance of the Sept 11 attacks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president “shouldn’t use the painful images of 9/11 for a political attack.”

The video pulls a snippet of Omar’s speech last month to the Council on American-Islamic Relations in which she described the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center as “some people did something,” as well as news footage of the hijacked planes hitting the towers. Trump on Friday tweeted,

“WE WILL NEV-ER FORGET!”

Omar’s remark has drawn criticism largely from politi-cal opponents and conservatives. They say Omar, one of the fi rst Muslim women to serve in Congress, offered a fl ippant description of the assailants and the attacks on

American soil that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Neither Trump’s tweet nor the video includes her full quote or the context of her comments.

Omar told CAIR in Los Angeles that many Muslims saw their civil liberties eroded after the attacks, and she advo-cated for activism.

“For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it,” she said in the March 23 speech, according to video posted online. “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” (AP)

Asylum policy gets temporary reprieve

US Democratic mayors decry Trump’s sanctuary city threatNEW YORK, April 13, (Agen-cies): Democratic US mayors said on Friday their cities would wel-come illegal immigrants, dismiss-ing President Donald Trump’s threats to transport people de-tained at the border to “sanctuary cities” as illustrating the White House’s cal-lous approach to the issue.

T r u m p confi rmed on Twitter that he wanted to transport peo-ple detained in his immi-gration crack-down at the US-Mex ico border to sanctuary cities, an in-formal designation for localities that refrain from assisting federal immigration authorities in detain-ing people living in the country illegally.

Mayors from across the country were quick to respond to Trump’s latest portrayal of immigrants and sanctuary cities as threats.

In New York City, where near-ly 40 percent of the population are immigrants, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Trump’s immigration policy was rooted in cruelty.

“He uses people like pawns,” de Blasio said in a statement. “New York City will always be the ultimate city of immigrants – the President’s empty threats won’t change that.”

In Philadelphia, known as the city of brotherly love, Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement that his city “would be prepared to welcome these immigrants just as we have embraced our immigrant communities for decades.” He said the White House was dem-onstrating “the utter contempt that the Trump Administration has for basic human dignity.”

The Republican president has made cracking down on illegal and legal immigration a center-piece of his administration, and has regularly threatened to try to cut federal funding to programs in generally Democratic-leaning sanctuary cities, counties and states.

“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only,” Trump wrote on Twitter, confi rming a Washington Post report.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, responded by say-ing on Twitter: “These are people, not pawns, Mr President.”

At least one governor, New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grish-am, weighed in, calling the plan “absurd, sad and all too character-istic of the president – not to men-tion indicative of a complete and cruel indifference to the plight of migrant families.”

The mayors of Oakland, Cali-fornia, and Takoma Park, Mary-land, voiced similar reactions.

Trump’s latest move on im-migration comes days after US offi cials said they arrested or de-nied entry to over 103,000 people along the border with Mexico in March, more than twice as many as the same period last year.

Shocked“I am shocked but not surprised

that once again this president is playing a cynical game with people’s lives in order to score political points,” Jesse Arreguin, the mayor of Berkeley, Califor-nia, said in a statement. “Rather than supporting a real pathway to citizenship for the millions of im-migrants in this country, he is fan-ning the fl ames of division.”

Meanwhile, the US govern-ment can continue at least tempo-rarily to send asylum seekers back to Mexico after President Trump scored a rare ruling in his favor on Friday from the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The asylum program was set to be shut down at 8 pm EDT (mid-night GMT) by an order issued on Monday by US District Court Judge Richard Seeborg, but the Trump administration had asked for the Court of Appeals in San Francisco to intervene.

The Court of Appeals issued a two-paragraph order saying the lower court injunction was tem-porarily stayed while the parties prepare to submit arguments next week on the government’s request for a longer stay that would re-main in place for the months-long appeals process.

The government told the Court of Appeals in papers fi led late Thursday that the United States faced “a humanitarian and secu-rity crisis” at the southern border and needed to the policy to deal with surging number of refugees.

Seeborg had ruled on Monday the policy was contrary to US immigration law and ordered a

nationwide injunction to halt the program, but delayed implemen-tation of his order to allow the government to appeal.

“This is an interim step while the court considers the govern-ment’s stay request,” said a state-ment from Judy Rabinovitz, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who represented plaintiffs in the case and who op-posed the stay.

Since January, the administra-tion has sent more than 1,000 asy-lum seekers, mostly from Central America, back to Mexico to wait the months or years it can take to process claims through an over-loaded immigration system.

Although it is appealing and the lower court order had yet to take effect, Reuters reporters con-fi rmed that the Trump administra-tion was allowing some asylum seekers from Mexico to return to the United States.

Trump has bristled at limits on his administration’s ability to detain asylum seekers while they fi ght deportation, and the administration was in the midst of expanding the program when Seeborg blocked it.

The 9th Circuit Court has been a frequent target for Trump’s criticisms of the judicial system, which has blocked his immigra-tion policies on numerous occa-sions.

In other news, Mexican au-thorities said a group of about 350 migrants broke the locks on a gate at the Guatemalan border Friday and forced their way into southern Mexico to join a larger group of migrants trying to make their way toward the United States.

The National Immigration In-stitute did not identify the nation-alities of the migrants, but they are usually from Central America.

A similar confrontation oc-curred on the same border bridge between Mexico and Guatemala last year.

The institute said the migrants were acting in a “hostile” and “ag-gressive” way, and accused them of also attacking local police in Metapa, a Mexican village that lies between the border and the nearby city of Tapachula.

The group of 350 pushed past police guarding the bridge and joined a larger group of about 2,000 migrants who are walking toward Tapachula in the latest caravan to enter Mexico.

Claudia Jaqueline Sandoval, 43, from El Progreso, Honduras, was walking toward Tapachula with her six-year-old daughter. Another son and a daughter are already in the United States.

“I have been HIV positive for 16 years,” said Sandoval, but her reason for going north was not just medical treatment. “It has been two years since I heard from my son” in the United States, and money is scarce, she said.

There are already several groups of migrants in the southern border state of Chiapas who have expressed frustration at Mexico’s policy of slowing or stopping the process of handing out humanitar-ian and exit visas at the border.

A group of several hundred Cu-ban, African and Central Ameri-can migrants have been waiting at the immigration offi ces in Ta-pachula for documents that would allow them to travel to their US border, where most plant to re-quest asylum.

Some members of that group have scuffl ed with immigration authorities and broken windows at the offi ces in recent days, ac-cusing offi cials of making them wait too long for papers.

And another group of an esti-mated 2,500 Central American and Cuban migrants have been stuck for at least a week further west in the Chiapas town of Ma-pastepec, also waiting for papers.

Also:NEW YORK: A second federal judge has blocked the Department of Homeland Security from forc-ing tens of thousands of Haitians to return to their native country.

US District Judge William F. Kuntz in New York issued a nationwide injunction Thursday preventing the department from terminating Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.

Kuntz ruled on a lawsuit fi led by Haitians in Florida and New York that challenged the Trump administration’s decision to end the status granted to Haiti after its 2010 earthquake.

The trial in federal court in Brooklyn stemmed from one of seven lawsuits fi led by im-migrants and advocates over the 2017 move to end the program. The program has allowed about 300,000 people from Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan and other countries to stay in the US for years following natural disasters or violence in their home countries.

De Blasio

Pelosi

World News Roundup


8

Britain

Brexhaustion

Long, grinding Brexit ‘stressing’ people outLONDON, April 13, (AP): Elly Wright can’t sleep through the night.

The Dutch native, who has lived in Britain for 51 years, keeps thinking about the black boots of Nazi soldiers marching by her basement window as they brought Jews to a nearby camp in her homeland. The fl ashbacks have been triggered by Britain’s heated debate over leaving the European Union, which has brought division, strife and fear of foreigners. The 77-year-old painter says it has shattered her sense of belonging.

“(Britain) is my home,” Wright said quietly. “That is being taken away from me.”

Wright isn’t alone in her angst. The acrimony over Brexit, which has reached fever pitch as deadlines

come and go while politicians squabble, is affecting the men-tal wellbeing of people from Belfast to Brighton.

Job uncertainty. Visa wor-ries. Confrontational conversa-tions between family members or friends with opposing views on Brexit. The fatigue and stress caused by three years of confl ict has spawned new terms: Brexhaustion or Strexit.

“It’s a civil war,” said Cary Cooper, a professor of organi-

zational psychology at Manchester Business School. “What the country is going through is not a war with Europe. It’s not us against them. It’s internal.”

Just when some thought a conclusion could be drawn, Britain’s departure was delayed by six months at an emergency EU summit this week. Whether in favor of exit or hoping to stay, the long argument just got longer, and, for many more stressful.

Some have taken note of the trend. Online medita-tion provider Headspace has added bespoke medita-tions to help people manage Brexit stress, address-ing issues such as having diffi cult conversations and what to do when you feel overwhelmed. Mike Ward, a London-based therapist who specializes in treating anxiety, estimates that some 40% of his patients now bring up Brexit-related issues, while cognitive-behav-ioral clinical hypnotherapist Becca Teers says many of her clients struggle with their lack of control over how Brexit might affect them.

UpsetResearchers at the London School of Economics’

Centre for Economic Performance, found that the “subjective well-being,” or happiness, of Britons has declined since the 2016 referendum – regardless of a person’s position on Brexit. The researchers believe this is because those in favor of remaining in the EU are upset with the outcome, and those who want to leave are unhappy with how politicians are handling the process.

The study was based on an analysis of the Euroba-rometer surveys conducted every year that ask 1,000 people in each EU country about the economic out-look, their job prospects and issues ranging from ter-rorism to immigration and climate change.

Business consultant BritainThinks asked focus groups to name a song that encapsulated their emo-tions about Brexit. Their answer: the theme song from the classic horror movie “The Exorcist.” And that question was asked before the EU stretched the dead-line to Oct 31, Halloween.

“People consistently tell us how worried (Brexit) makes them feel,” said Tom Clarkson, research direc-tor at BritainThinks. “It’s just pessimistic mood music in the background.”

Brexit has been a major story in Britain since be-fore the June 2016 referendum, as the country tries to unpick the legal and economic ties that have bound it to the EU for over 40 years. Things have ramped up since December as Parliament repeatedly rejected a withdrawal agreement negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May, raising the prospect of a chaotic no-deal exit that could have devastating effects on the economy.

Television news broadcasts are dominated by Brex-it, with pundits dissecting daily developments and politicians trading insults. Some people are glued to live parliamentary debates with a dedication normally reserved for soccer, but others have tuned out, unable to bear news of the latest incremental development that seems to resolve nothing. Meanwhile, issues like a surge in knife crime, homelessness and rising child-hood poverty get scant coverage.

Wright, for example, is watching the debates in Parliament, trying to make sense of all the arcane pro-cedures and motions, knowing that the decision has implications for her life.

“I try to curtail (my viewing), but I get sucked in,” she said. “I want to understand.”

ThreatsMembers of Parliament aren’t immune to the stress.

Lawmakers say they regularly receive death threats because of their positions on Brexit and some have publicly broken down in tears.

Andrew Percy, an MP from the governing Con-servative Party, said recently that he had found a cupboard inside the House of Commons where he occasionally retreats for a few moments of calm be-tween debates.

“It feels as if we are under siege,” Labour Party law-maker Chris Bryant told the Times. “I know three MPs who have partners who are dying. They daily have to make the decision of whether to go home to see them or hang out for a vote that may never happen.”

Beyond Westminster, uncertainty is pervasive as companies try to prepare for the future without know-ing what the economic rules will be.

Autoworkers are already getting bad news, as companies like Honda and Nissan curtail investment to focus on countries where there is less insecurity. Bankers, farmworkers, even doctors and nurses in the National Health Service are wondering what the fu-ture holds.

“Going on for three years, people look around them and see that people are losing jobs, companies plan-ning to move staff. It’s been three years of constant in-stability,” said Cooper, an expert on workplace issues.

That frustration recently spilled into the streets, with hundreds of thousands marching on Parliament to demand that the government give the people a sec-ond vote on leaving the EU.

Less than a week later, after Parliament forced May to delay Britain’s departure, Brexit supporters held a smaller but equally animated protest to decry politi-cians they said were ignoring the will of 17.4 million people who voted to leave.

In the middle of this morass sit people like Elena Remigi, who runs the In Limbo Project, a Facebook forum for EU citizens living in the UK.

May

Migrants on a rubber dinghy are approached by Sea-Watch rescue ship’s staff-ers in the waters off Libya on April 3. The German humanitarian group Sea-Watch says the ship it operates in the central Mediterranean Sea has rescued 64 migrants in waters off Libya. Sea-Watch wrote Wednesday on Twitter that the

people brought to safety from the rubber dinghy included 10 women, fi ve chil-dren and a newborn baby. The group said it carried out the rescue off the coast of Zuwarah after Libyan authorities couldn’t be reached. Sea-Watch is asking Italy or Malta to open a port to the rescue ship, the Alan Kurdi. (AP)

Trump wants to keep N. Korea sanctions

Kim open to 3rd summit with TrumpPYONGYANG, North Korea, April 13, (AP): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is open to a third sum-mit with President Donald Trump, but set the year’s end as a deadline for Washington to offer mutually accept-able terms for an agreement to salvage the high-stakes nuclear diplomacy, the North’s state-run media said Saturday.

Kim made the comments during a speech Friday at a session of North Ko-rea’s rubber stamp parliament, which made a slew of personnel changes that bolstered his diplomatic lineup amid stalemated negotiations with the United States. His speech came hours after Trump and visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in Wash-ington and agreed on the importance of nuclear talks with North Korea.

“We of course place importance on resolving problems through dia-logue and negotiations. But US-style dialogue of unilaterally pushing its demands doesn’t fi t us, and we have no interest in it,” Kim said during the speech.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, Kim blamed the collapse of his summit with Trump in February on what he described as unilateral demands by the United States, which he said raised questions over whether Washington has genuine willingness to improve relations. But Kim said his personal relationship with Trump remains good and that they could exchange letters at “any time.”

Kim repeated earlier claims that North Korea’s crippled economy would persevere through heavy inter-national sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons program and that he wouldn’t “obsess over summitry with the United States out of thirst for sanc-tions relief.”

The United States has said the sum-mit in Vietnam broke down because of the North’s excessive demands for sanctions relief in return for limited disarmament measures. In their fi rst summit last June in Singapore, Trump and Kim issued a vague statement call-ing for a nuclear-free Korean Penin-sula without describing when or how it would occur.

Kim said the United States has been refusing to withdraw what the North perceives as “hostile policies” while sticking to “mistaken judgment that we would succumb to maximum pres-sure.” He said the North would not compromise on the “fundamental in-terests of our country and people, even by a speck,” and blamed the United States for arriving in Hanoi with “com-pletely unrealizable plans.”

President Trump says the US wants to keep economic sanctions in place to pressure North Korea to give up nucle-ar weapons, but isn’t ruling out a third summit with Kim Jong Un or taking steps to ease food or other shortages in the repressive nation.

“We want sanctions to remain in place,” Trump said Thursday at the White House during a meeting with South Korea President Moon Jae-in. “I think that sanctions right now are at a level that’s a fair level.”

SanctionsMoon, for his part, has called for an

easing of sanctions, including those holding back joint economic projects between North and South Korea. Trump said he would favor easing those sanctions at the right time but added: “This isn’t the right time.”

He said he was open to discussing smaller steps, such as helping to ease North Korea’s humanitarian problems, but that, in general, the US wants sanc-tions to remain.

“There are various smaller deals that maybe could happen,” Trump said.

“You could work out step-by-step pieces, but at this moment, we’re talk-ing about the big deal. The big deal is we have to get rid of the nuclear weapons.”

Negotiations on Pyongyang’s nu-clear program appear to be stalled, and there is uncertainty over whether Kim is considering backing out of talks or restarting nuclear and missile tests. The Korean Central News Agency on Thursday said that at a party meeting on Wednesday, Kim stressed “self-reliance” in his country to “deal a tell-ing blow to the hostile forces” that “go with bloodshot eyes miscalculating that sanctions can bring” North Korea

“to its knees.”Moon said it’s important to main-

tain the “momentum of dialogue” and express a positive outlook to the inter-national community that a “third U.S.-North Korea summit” will be held.

“I’d like to express my high regard for how you have continued to express your trust towards Chairman Kim,” Moon said. “And also, you have made sure that North Korea does not deviate from the dialogue track.”

The United States and North Korea have accused each other of causing the Hanoi summit’s breakdown. But they haven’t formally abandoned diploma-cy. Moon, a liberal who facilitated US-North Korea diplomacy last year, told Trump that he would push for an inter-Korean summit with Kim, according to Moon’s offi ce. Moon met Kim three times last year.

At the White House, Moon did not publicly address the issue of sanctions. But several North Korea watchers, in-cluding Sue Mi Terry, a North Korean expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Asia analyst at the CIA, said Moon is trying to persuade Trump to agree to ease some sanctions to keep the talks alive.

While Trump didn’t rule out a third summit with Kim following his earlier two meetings with him in Singapore and Hanoi, Victor Cha, a North Korea expert from the Bush administration, wasn’t as hopeful.

With Trump already campaigning for re-election, Cha said, “It’s hard for me to think Trump will risk a third summit.”

Trump walked away from making a deal with Kim at their meeting in late February. Trump said Kim was asking for sanctions relief without wanting to fully dismantle all his nuclear weapons programs. There is ongoing debate over whether harsh sanctions can pres-sure Kim to denuclearize or will keep him away from the negotiating table.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the administration was fully en-gaged in efforts to negotiate a resolu-tion to the nuclear standoff.

North Korea

Pope Francis looks at faithful as he arrives on the occasion of an audi-ence with high school Liceo Visconti students in the Paul VI hall at the Vati-

can on April 13. (AP)

Macron Merkel

Macron, Ukraine contenders meet: Ukraine’s beleaguered president traveled to Germany and France on Friday ahead of a presidential runoff in which he is trailing a comic actor who is a political novice. His rival headed to Paris only.

Polls show Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko behind by a wide margin ahead of the April 21 runoff against Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Germany and France, which have led diplomatic efforts for years trying to ease tensions between warring neighbors Ukraine and Russia, are following the elec-tion closely.

French president Emmanuel Macron successively met with Zelenskiy and Po-rochenko at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris.

“We had a very constructive conversa-tion,” Zelenskiy was quoted as saying by Russia’s state news agency as saying after the talks. “It was a pleasure to meet Mr Macron.”

He would not elaborate.After his meeting with the French

president, Poroshenko later tweeted that he was “happy to meet with a sincere friend of Ukraine.” (AP)

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Deal to distribute migrants: Malta announced Saturday a deal to distribute among four EU nations the 64 migrants rescued at sea off Libya 10 days ago.

In a statement, Malta’s government said that the migrants will be distributed among Germany, France, Portugal and Luxem-bourg. The migrants are being transferred to Maltese vessels and brought to port.

However, Malta said the German-fl agged aid ship, named Alan Kurdi, will not be allowed to enter its ports, and none of the migrants will remain in Malta.

“Once again, the smallest member of the European Union was put under unnecessary pressure being asked to resolve a case which was neither its responsibility nor its remit,” the government said. “A solution was found in order not to let the situation deteriorate further while making it clear Malta cannot keep shouldering this burden.”

The transfer of migrants from the Alan Kurdi to Maltese army boats was conducted at sea and the Maltese army is expected to return to dock at the port by Saturday afternoon. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Europe

People offer prayers and wait to bury the bombing victims at a funeral in Quetta, Pakistan on April 12. A suicide bomber targeted an open-air market in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing many people and wounding

dozens of others, police and hospital offi cials said. (AP)

German leader blasts SPD: German conservative leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said divisions in the ruling coalition about planned military spending were undermining Germany’s credibility worldwide.

Speaking at a political rally in the northern state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Kramp-Karrenbauer said she was growing convinced that her conservatives could not rely on their Social Democratic (SPD) coalition partners on the issue of military spending.

While voicing its commitment to mul-tilateralism, Germany is facing increasing criticism from disenchanted allies for making go-it-alone decisions on defence spending, energy and arms exports.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservatives back bigger military spend-ing increases, formed a coalition with the SPD in early 2018 after failing to reach agreement with her preferred partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, following the 2017 national election.. (RTRS)

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Squatters occupy Venice homes: Squatters are taking over unoccupied build-ings in Venice in defi ance of what they say are high rents forcing families out of the city as tourism takes over.

Venice’s population has declined rapidly from roughly 175,000 after World War Two to about 50,000 today. Remaining residents complain that their city is being overrun by tourists while they have to pick up the bill for cleaning and security.

Around 25 million tourists pour into the Italian lagoon city each year, of whom around 14 million spend just one day there. It has close to 8,000 Airbnb apartments catering for those who stay longer, soaking up the attractions around the canals.

Nicola Ussardi, 41, co-founder of a housing community group that helps Venetians fi nd homes, has been squatting in an apartment in the Cannaregio district since 2013, with his partner Nadia and their two children. (RTRS)


9

Space

NASA twins study explores space, the fi nal genetic frontier

UAE chooses astronauts for mission to International Space StationABU DHABI, April 13, (Agencies): UAE’s Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) announced on Friday the selection of Hazzaa Al-Mansoori as a main astronaut and Sultan Al-Neyadi as a backup astro-naut for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Both Al-Mansoori and Al-Neyadi are undergoing trainings at Yuri Ga-garin Cosmonaut Training Center in

Russia’s Star City to prepare for this mission, UAE News Agency (WAM) reported.

Al-Mansoori will be on an eight-day space mission to ISS aboard a Soyuz-MS 15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh-stan on Sept 25, 2019, and return to Earth aboard a Soyuz-MS 12, the agency noted.

Choosing the fi rst Arab and Emirati

astronaut to ISS misison is a historic milestone for the UAE, it pointed out.

During the stay at ISS, Al-Man-soori will undertake a scientifi c mis-sion to make experiments on the ef-fect of micro gravity compared to the gravity of the Earth.

❑ ❑ ❑

Space ... fi nal genetic frontier: From his eyes to his immune system,

astronaut Scott Kelly’s body some-times reacted strangely to nearly a year in orbit, at least compared to his Earth-bound identical twin – but newly published research shows nothing that would cancel even long-er space treks, like to Mars.

The good news: Kelly largely bounced back after returning home, say scientists who released fi nal re-sults from NASA’s “twins study”, a

never-before opportunity to track the biological consequences of space-fl ight in genetic doubles.

It marks “the dawn of human genomics in space,” said Dr Andrew Feinberg of Johns Hopkins Univer-sity.

He led one of 10 teams of re-searchers that scrutinized the twins’ health down to the molecular level before, during and after Kelly’s

340-day stay at the International Space Station.

More importantly, the study “rep-resents more than one small step for mankind” by pointing out potential risks of longer-duration spacefl ight that need study in more astronauts, said Markus Lobrich of Germany’s Darmstadt University and Penny Jeg-go of the University of Sussex, who weren’t involved in the work.

Featu

res

Featu

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This image released by Lucasfilm Ltd shows Daisy Ridley as Rey in a scene from ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’. (AP)

Kaling, Chopra teaming on wedding comedy for Universal

Ritesh Batra’s ‘Photograph’ to play NY Indian FestivalLOS ANGELES, April 13, (RTRS): The New York Indian Film Festi-val has announced three of the fi lms it will showcase during its annual week-long event in May.

The festival, which will take place May 7-12 at the Village East Cinemas in Manhattan, will screen “Sir”, “Photograph” and “The Last Color” throughout the week, followed by Q&As with their respective directors.

“We are proud to share a wonderful collection of new fi lms from India,” festival director Aseem Chhabra wrote in a statement. “This selection of exceptional titles showcases the beauty, power and glory of fi lm story telling at its best. Our audience will be excited by the protagonists and fall in love with their journeys.’

The festival will open May 7 with Rohena Gera’s “Sir”. The criti-cally acclaimed fi lm, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last May, follows a wealthy Indian man who falls in love with his widowed servant.

“Photograph,” directed by Ritesh Batra, will serve as a Centerpiece screening May 10. Batra’s fi lm, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, is set in Mumbai as a struggling street photographer has a stranger pose as his fi ancee after his grandmother pressures him to marry. Despite their vastly different upbringings, the two develop a surprising and heartwarming connection.

The festival will close with Vikas Khanna’s “The Last Color”,

which follows nine-year tightrope walker Chhoti and her friend Noor as they struggle to survive on the streets of the ancient city of Banaras, India. While Chhoti works to up enough money to attend school, Noor suffers from a strict family life that forces abstinence and disallows her from attending festivities.

The Indo-American Arts Council will reveal the full lineup in the coming days.

Also:LOS ANGELES: Universal Pictures is developing a wedding come-dy after winning an auction for a pitch by Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra and Dan Goor.

Kaling, who will write the screenplay with Goor, is attached to star alongside Chopra and will potentially direct. Kaling will produce for her Kaling International, Chopra for Purple Pebble Pictures, Howard Klein for 3 Arts, alongside Goor. Heather Morris and Nina Anand Aujla executive produce.

Details of the pitch are being kept under wraps other than being de-scribed as “Crazy Rich Asians” meets “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.

Kaling will next be seen starring opposite Emma Thompson in Amazon Studios’ “Late Night”, which opens June 7. She previously starred in “Ocean’s Eight” and executive produced “The Mindy Pro-ject”.

Chopra broke out in ABC’s drama series “Quantico”. She recently appeared in “A Kid Like Jake” and “Isn’t It Romantic”.

Goor currently has an overall deal at NBCUniversal Television. He is co-creator and executive producer of NBC’s sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”. In addition to being the showrunner, he has also written and directed numerous episodes.

The deal was completed prior to the Writers Guild of America in-structing its members to fi re their agents late Friday afternoon.

❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones and Kristen Bell are attached to star as Phoenix housewives in “Queenpins”.

The story centers on creation of a scheme to counterfeit coupons, leaving the housewives with $40 million coupon cartel. The team of Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, who directed “Beneath The Har-vest Sky”, have been attached to direct from their own script.

Linda McDonough is producing.Meanwhile, Universal has moved back Illumination’s “Sing 2” from

Dec 25, 2020, to July 2, 2021, and placed DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods 2” on Dec 23, 2020.

“Sing 2” is being directed again by Garth Jennings. Matthew Mc-Conaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Eger-ton, Nick Kroll and Tori Kelly will reprise their voice roles.

LOS ANGELES: “Shazam!” is still showing box offi ce power as it heads for a repeat victory in North American, with about $21 million, early estimates showed on Friday.

Universal’s body-swap comedy “Little” is eyeing second place with about $14 million, narrowly topping another new-comer, Lionsgate’s “Hellboy” remake, at around $12 million. The second weekend of “Pet Sematary” and the third frame of “Dumbo” will battle for fourth at about $8 million each. Laika’s animated “Missing Link” and Avrion’s romantic drama “After” are both debuting quietly in the $6 million range.

“Shazam!” will likely have the year’s lowest gross for a domes-tic box offi ce winner since the third weekend of “Glass” topped the chart during Super Bowl weekend with $9.5 million.

“Shazam!”, starring Zachary Levi as the boyish superhero, is declining about 61% from its opening. The DC Comics tentpole, which carries an $80 million budget, should wind up the frame with more than $90 million domestically in its fi rst 10 days. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Julianne Moore has signed on to star in and executive produce the drama “Lisey’s Story” at Apple, Variety has confi rmed.

Apple has given the project an eight-episode straight-to-series order. It is based on Stephen King’s 2006 book of the same name. King will write all eight episodes of the series in addition to executive producing, marking one of the few times the iconic au-thor has written for the screen. J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson of Bad Robot Productions will also executive produce. Warner Bros Television is the studio.

The series follows Lisey (Moore) two years following the death of her husband. The series explores a series of events that causes her to begin facing amazing realities about her husband that she had repressed and forgotten.

The series marks Apple’s third project from Abrams and Bad Robot Productions, following straight-to-series orders for “Little

Voice”, executive produced by Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson, and “My Glory Was I Had Such Friends”, starring and executive produced by Jennifer Garner, from writer and executive pro-ducer Karen Croner. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Rich Moore, who won an Academy Award for

“Zootopia”, will be joining Sony Pictures Animation to develop, produce, and direct original animated features.

Sony Pictures Animation, which made the announcement said Moore will also be be avail-able to act in an advisory capac-ity with ongoing feature fi lm and series-based projects.

Kristine Belson, president of

Sony Pictures Animation, said, “Rich is a world-class storyteller and he brings with him a wealth of experience and a unique sensibil-ity for story, comedy, and heart. We are so excited for him to join our team of fi lmmakers at Sony Pictures Animation as we continue to develop a slate of animated features that are big, bold, and will take audiences by surprise.”

Moore also received Oscar nominations for “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” with fellow director Phil Johnston. He was one of the original three directors on “The Simpsons”, directing epi-sodes over the series’ fi rst fi ve seasons, including the Emmy-winning “Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment”. (RTRS)

Film

Variety

Film

‘Episode IX’ sees return of emperor Palpatine

Skywalker’s rise in new ‘Star Wars’By Lindsey Bahr

‘No one is ever really gone,’ says the voice of Luke Skywalker in the first teaser trailer for “Star

Wars: Episode IX”, which audiences finally learned will be called “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Fri-day at a fan event in Chicago.

The closely guarded film from director J.J. Abrams will put an end to the Skywalker saga that began over 40 years ago, but even as characters and actors have passed on, the footage shown at Star Wars Celebra-tion suggests that as with all “Star Wars” films, death is just a technicality a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Mark Hamill’s Skywalker may have died at the end of the most recent installment but his voice dominates the teaser trailer, telling someone, possibly Daisy Rid-ley’s Rey, that, “this is your fi ght now.” And audiences got a tantalizing tease from another fi gure from the past: Emperor Palpatine from the original and prequel trilo-gies, whose ominous laugh closes out the promotional spot.

Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa is back as well, despite the actress’ untimely passing in December 2016, thanks to unused footage from “The Force Awakens” which Abrams was able to craft into its own narrative for this new fi lm.

“You can’t just recast and you can’t just have her dis-appear,” Abrams said. “The idea of having a CG char-acter wasn’t even an option.”

He’s currently in the process of editing and adding visual effects to the fi lm which will hit theaters on Dec 20 and said that despite Fisher’s death, “We’re working with her every day.”

“Princess Leia lives in this fi lm in way that is mind-blowing to me,” Abrams said.

Abrams was joined on stage at the event by Lucas-fi lm president Kathleen Kennedy and actors and droids alike including Ridley, Oscar Isaac (Poe), John Boye-ga (Finn), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), newcomer Naomi Ackie, who plays a character named Jannah, Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and even Billy Dee Williams, who reprises his role as

Lando Calrissian in the new fi lm after decades away.“How did I fi nd Lando again?” Williams said. “Lan-

do never left me.”“Star Wars” superfan Stephen Colbert moderated

the panel, doing his best to get the tight-lipped cast and creators to reveal anything about the fi lm. Although no one cracked under pressure, Abrams did reveal some previously known details, like the fact that “The Rise of Skywalker” will pick up “some time” after the events of “The Last Jedi”.

“This is an adventure that the group goes on togeth-er,” he teased, although he wouldn’t reveal whether or not that meant the group on stage or some other com-bination.

“This movie is about this new generation and what they’ve inherited, the light and the dark,” Abrams add-ed. “As they face this greatest evil, are they prepared?”

Besides Hamill, another person who wasn’t in at-tendance was Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver. Ren is the son of Han Solo and Leia, making him and his mother the only known Skywalkers left.

ProddedWhen prodded about what will happen with the

complex relationship between Kylo and Rey, Ridley demurred, “I guess the Kylo and Rey thing, we’ll have to see.”

She added: “I think I can confirm there are no more semi-naked Kylos.” That’s a reference to the scenes of a shirtless Driver in “The Last Jedi” that surprised fans.

Although fans are salivating for any morsel of information, the panelists stayed as vague as possi-ble, and kept things light-hearted debating questions like “who’s a better pilot: Poe or Han” and even tak-ing a break so that the audience could sing an un-prompted Happy Birthday to Ridley, who turned 27 on Wednesday.

Kennedy, quoting George Lucas, said however that “Episode IX” is indeed the third act of a three-act struc-ture.

But, predictably, there are still more questions than answers when it comes to “The Rise of Skywalker”, es-

pecially what will come after.The Lucasfi lm and Disney collaboration has proved

to be a lucrative one since Disney purchased the com-pany in 2012 for $4 billion. Disney’s fi rst two “Star Wars” fi lms, “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” and its spinoffs, “Rogue One” and “Solo”, have already grossed more than $4.8 billion at the worldwide box offi ce.

As of now, there is a future for “Star Wars” on the big screen, but details are sparse and dates are non-existent. “The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson is working on a new “Star Wars” trilogy and “Game of Thrones” show-runners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are also at work on a “movie series.”

Lucasfi lm is expanding its small screen universe too beyond “The Clone Wars” with the Jon Favreau-directed series “The Mandalorian”, which will be avail-able on Disney’s streaming service, DisneyPlus, when it launches on Nov 12, and there will be a “Rogue One” spinoff series focused on Diego Luna’s character Cas-sian Andor. With the company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment properties, too, Lucas’ original trilogy and prequels will also be available on the service.

But who’s got time to think about the future when there are over two minutes of brand new footage from “The Rise of Skywalker” to dissect?

A villainous cackle was heard at the end of the trailer, and the actor who played Palpatine in previous fi lms, Ian McDiarmid, walked onstage to loud applause from an audience of roughly 10,000 fans, many waving colorful lightsabers.

As of Friday afternoon, the “Rise of Skywalker” trailer had been viewed online about 11 million times.

Director J.J. Abrams, speaking alongside a handful of cast members, said the movie takes place some time after the events of the 2017 fi lm “The Last Jedi.”

The footage showed a hug between Princess Leia, played by the late Carrie Fisher, and Rey (Daisy Rid-ley). Fisher died in 2016, but Abrams said that in a “weird miracle,” he was able to piece together unused footage from “Last Jedi” to continue the beloved char-acter’s story. (Agencies)

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People & Places

NEWS/FEATURESARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019

11

People

‘Hometown hero’

Memorial celebratesHussle and his legacyLOS ANGELES, April 13, (AP): Nipsey Hussle’s legacy as a persistent rapper, community activist, uniter, doting father, protective sibling and a loving son were underscored at his public memorial service on Thursday, with deeply personal testimonies from those closest to the rapper, including his actress-fian-cee Lauren London, collaborator and dear friend Snoop Dogg and his mother, who said she was at peace with the death of her “superhero” son.

Beyonce and Jay-Z were among the big-name celebrities who attended the three-hour event in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, where the last celebrity funeral held at the concert arena was Michael Jackson’s in 2009.

The arena was packed with more than 21,000 fans and drove home the important impact Hussle – just 33 when he died – had on his city and the rest of the world.

“I’m very proud of my son. My son Ermias Joseph Asghedom was a great man,” said Angelique Smith, dressed in all white. Standing onstage with Hussle’s father, Dawit Asghedom, she declared: “Ermias was a legacy.”

London, who was in dark sunglasses, was emotional but

stood strong onstage as she told the audience: “I’ve never felt this type of pain before.”

London called Hussle “majestic” and “brilliant” and said she had learned so much from his presence. She added that though she was hurting, she was really sad for their son Kross, whom she feared wouldn’t remember his dad: “My pain is for my 2-year-old.”

Snoop Dogg’s words to immortalize his friend were both serious and silly, as he told old stories about Hussle and their brotherhood.

“This a tough one right here,” he said, visibly shaken but keeping his composure.

Snoop thanked Hussle’s parents multiple times and told his father that “you picked up another son in me.”

WrappedHussle’s father said he knew his son was strong

because when he was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck but he prevailed.

“He was a fighter,” he said.Earlier in the ceremony, Hussle’s children also

appeared onstage to pay tribute. London’s son with rapper Lil Wayne, Cameron Carter, said days after Hussle died, he had a dream he saw the rapper.

“I realized Ermias told me what heaven was like. He told me it was paradise,” Cameron said.

Cameron then told the audience that Hussle would look at him through the window at times and say “respect.” Cameron then asked the crowd to say “respect” in unison, and they complied.

Hussle was slain last month in front of a store that he tried to use to empower his South Los Angeles neighborhood. The public memorial service kicked off by paying respect to Hussle the rapper, as songs from his latest Grammy-nominated album, “Victory Lap”, filled the arena.

“Everybody put your hands in the air,” the DJ said as one of Hussle’s songs played. “It’s a celebration.”

Indeed, his mother danced in the aisle as R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius sang the Mariah Carey song “Fly Like a Bird” while fighting back tears. “This is for Nipsey y’all,” Ambrosius said before she started as she tried to gain her composure, sighing heavily.

But soon the focus was squarely on the person behind the persona. A montage of photos featuring the rapper from infancy, childhood and adulthood, with fellow rappers, his family and London, were shown to the crowd, set to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.

Stevie Wonder was the last performer to pay tribute to Hussle, who he said he had the chance to meet, say-ing: “We had a good conversation.” Before he sang “Rocket Song”, one of Hussle’s favorites, Wonder denounced gun violence and told the audience “there’s enough people being killed by guns and violence.”

SpiritAnthony Hamilton invoked the spirit of a church

service when he performed in Hussle’s honor. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan hailed Hussle’s abil-ity to bring different factions together. And blogger and media figure Karen Civil read a letter sent by former US president Barack Obama, who wrote that he never met Nipsey but heard of his music through his daughters.

“While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighbor-hood where he grew up and only see gangs, bullets and despair, Nipsey saw potential. He saw hope. He saw a community that even through its flaws taught him to always keep going. He chose to invest in that community rather than to ignore it,” the Obama letter read. “He set an example for young people to follow and is a legacy worth of celebration. I hope his mem-ory inspires more good work in Crenshaw and com-munities like it. Michelle and I send our sympathies to Lauren, Emani, Kross and his whole family and to all those who love Nipsey.”

Father Thomas Uwal read a scripture in Tigrinya – the native language in Eritrea, the African country where Hussle’s father was from. Uwal spoke of Hussle being “proud to be an Eritrean-American,” later saying to the late rapper’s family: “On behalf of all Eritreans ... we say our condolences to you.”

Books with an image of Hussle on the cover were handed out to service attendees. The book of nearly 100 pages contained numerous photos of Hussle with London, his children, and friends like Russell Westbrook and Snoop Dogg. It also had heartfelt mes-sages from Rick Ross, The Game and LeBron James.

“I’ve never cried myself to sleep over any public figure before, but Nipsey’s presence meant so much for our community,” actress Issa Rae said in her mes-sage inside the book.

The hearse carrying Hussle’s coffin went through a 25-mile (40-kilometer) lap through the city, including past the property where Hussle had planned to turn an aging strip mall into new businesses and affordable homes.

Thousands of people crowded the streets, some on bicycles and motorcycles, following and surrounding the vehicle as it slowly wound its way to the funeral home. The silver Cadillac passed the rapper’s child-hood home in Watts. It came to a halt at times, unable to move in the vast crowd of people.

Police kept an eye on the crowd, which appeared largely peaceful. At one point, people sat atop a police car spray-painted with the words: “Nips in Paradise.”

At one point during the procession, there was a brief stampede, apparently because of some kind of startling noise that may have been Mylar balloons popping.

Hussle

Rose (from left), Jenni Kim and Lisa of Blackpink perform at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 12 in Indio, Calif. (AP)

K-Pop sensations give first full US concert

Blackpink win over CoachellaBy Chris Willman

Memo to the Spice Girls: Never mind about that whole-group

reunion the world has been wanting for the last couple decades. We may officially be covered on girl groups, for a lot of years to come, based on the reception to Blackpink’s first public full-length concert in America at Coachella Friday night.

“I have a few words to say,” said the group’s Rose, introducing the final numbers. “Us coming all the way from South Korea, we didn’t know what to expect, and obviously we – you guys and us – we’re from totally different worlds. But tonight I think we’ve learned so deeply that music brings us as one. So I want to thank you guys tonight for sticking by to the end of the show,” she added, aware that a large contingent of the audience consisted of the merely curious. “You guys are awesome. And those of you who will be joining us at the concert next week, we’ll see you soon.”

The concert in question is Wednesday night’s headlining show at the Forum in Inglewood, which marks the proper start of their US tour.

But if this was a slightly abridged ver-sion of what they’ll shortly be taking to a headlining arena trek, there was little that was condensed about the audience’s enthusiasm as the K-pop quartet man-aged to speed through 13 songs in a set lasting just over 50 minutes. They per-formed three of five songs from their recent “Kill This Love” EP, while also finding time to gush over a massive Sahara Tent audience that, ingenuously or not, they claimed was bigger than they expected.

Lisa stood out as a surprisingly com-manding bilingual rapper. While the pony she rocked gave her a slight resem-blance to Sunday night’s headliner, Ariana Grande, no one would have mis-taken her for that other Coachella star once she tore into the live premiere of the recent EP’s “Kick It”. Other songs in the set included “DDU-DU DDU-DU” as show opener, Jennie going solo with (naturally) “Solo”, and their 2017 “Kiss and Make Up”, minus Dua Lipa, but no worse for it.

Discovery It wasn’t always easy to tell who in

the audience was a hardcore fan and who was in the process of discovery, given that the enthusiasm levels often matched. On the way to the Sahara Tent, frat-type bros could be seen screaming “Blackpink”, and whether it was out of some sense of intended irony or serious wasn’t immediately apparent.

But if already knowing the words was any indication of fandom, the faithful in the crowd didn’t always break down along obvious demo-graphic lines. Punk-looking kids (a rare commodity at Coachella in these post-rock days) sang along, and so did a white, late ‘50s-ish couple who seemed to already know all the words, right alongside the expected throngs of Korean Americans and the younger women who might have been expected to have discovered Blackpink through having BTS as a gateway drug.

The choreography might be more of a selling point than the music – and it was seamless enough among the four that the addition of a half-dozen or more other dancers seemed super-fluous – but the music, too, was well

crafted, and right in the pocket for Coachella’s late-’10s bent toward opti-mism.

“We had so much fun. I think I’ll remember today for the rest of my life,” said Lisa, suggesting that, although they had every practical rea-son to expect America to fall into line, too, maybe they hadn’t taken it as a complete given after all.

The success of Korean superstars BTS has paved the way for multiple K-pop acts to try their chances in the US – but few will be making their US concert debut with as much panache as Blackpink.

This and next weekend, the quartet will be the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Once they’re done with Coachella, they’ll head straight into the North American segment of their “In Your Area” world tour, which bypasses inti-mate clubs for arenas.

It’s a daring and auspicious Stateside launch, but Blackpink has the numbers to back it up. Along with their millions of fans – known as “Blinks” – the group has become known for setting records and then breaking them. “Kill This Love”, the title track from their latest EP, topped their 2018 hit, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du”, to become the biggest premiere of all time on YouTube, with peak concurrents reaching over 979,000. It’s the most-viewed music video debut in YouTube history, earn-ing 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours, according to a spokesperson for the platform. “Kill This Love” also is ranked as the fastest music video to hit 100 million views, reaching the mile-stone in less than three days.

Music

Actor Billy Crystal places a foot from his character Mike Wazowski from the film ‘Monsters Inc’ in cement during a hand and footprint ceremony on April 12 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los

Angeles. (AP)

Stewart Close

LOS ANGELES: Gary Stewart, a veteran of Rhino Records and Apple Music and a widely known figure on the Los Angeles rock scene for more than 40 years, has died, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office confirmed to Variety. He was 62. The Santa Monica Police Department con-firmed that he died by suicide.

A Los Angeles native, Stewart worked behind the counter from the mid-’70s at Rhino Records’ store on Westwood Boulevard, a music hub not unlike the one depicted in the book and film “High Fidelity”.

He was an archetypal “record store guy” who loved little more than “turning people on” to music or films that he thought they would love. That quality remained with Stewart until the end of his life. (RTRS)

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LOS ANGELES: Katy Perry was among the honorees at the 10th Annual DVF Awards. The singer was recognized for her advocacy work.

“Music has opened the doors for so many opportunities for me,” she said while accept-ing the inspiration award. “The ability to meet people and champion their stories, to be a voice for those who may not have a voice to be heard. I have been truly transformed by my experiences. There is a constant fight to bring equality to the forefront.”

Guests, including presenters Allison Williams and Julia Stiles, along with Seth Meyers, Fran Lebowitz, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, and Maye Musk, gathered at the Brooklyn Museum to honor the “Firework” singer at the event started by leg-endary fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

The audience applauded her as Arianna Huffington presented her on the stage “not for being a musical superstar, but for being an unwavering North Star guiding us.” (RTRS)

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LOS ANGELES: On the heels of her Oscar-nominated performance in “The

Variety

Kris Kristofferson performs in concert at The American Music Theatre on April 12 in Lancaster, Pa. (AP)

Wife”, Glenn Close has found her follow-up. The actress is set to co-star with Amy Adams in Netflix’s adaptation of “Hillbilly

Elegy”, with Ron Howard on board to direct, Variety has learned.

Based on J.D. Vance’s bestselling mem-

oir, the pic is a modern exploration of the American dream and follows three genera-tions of an Appalachian family as told by its youngest member, a Yale law student forced to return to his hometown. Close will play the grandmother of the family.

“The Shape of Water” screenwriter Vanessa Taylor adapted the script, with Howard, Brian Grazer, and Karen Lunder producing for Imagine Entertainment. Julie Oh and Vance will executive produce.(RTRS)

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LOS ANGELES: British comedian Ian Cognito, whose real name was Paul Barbieri, died on stage while performing a stand-up set in Bicester, England on Thursday evening. He was 60.

According to CNN, the comic was mid-performance at the Atic Bar in a small English town north of Oxford when he fell ill. When paramedics arrived at the venue shortly after 10 pm, he was already pro-nounced dead.

Ryan Mold, who was present during Cognito’s performance, told CNN that midway through his set “he sat down, put his head and arms back; his shoulders were twitching.”

Mold added that the “audience thought it was part of his set” because he had spo-ken about having a heart attack or a stroke only moments before and his behavior didn’t come off as unusual to those used to his flamboyant character. (RTRS)

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019

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h o r o s c o p eBy Jacqueline Bigar

Happy birthday for Sunday, April 14, 2019: This year, you express fi ery enthusiasm and a willingness to follow through. Others admire your zest for living, as well as your confi -dence. If single, you might be more inclined to alter that state this year. If you’re attached, you and your partner keep an innate closeness that seems to be more important than it was in the recent past. Leo knows how to fi re you up.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.

Capricorn - (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

**** One-on-one relating opens a door that you might not have known existed. At fi rst, you might be reticent to walk through, but you will. Know that you don’t need to make any major decisions at this moment in time. Tonight: With a favorite person.

This Week: Read between the lines. Think carefully before making a decision.

Aquarius - (Jan 20 - Feb 18)

**** Your awareness that someone needs to play a stronger role in your life emerges. Remain caring; let others do what they need to do to express their feelings. You might also have strong feelings about a person. Tonight: Go for the moment.

This Week: A loved one makes a request. You are likely to fulfi ll that wish.

Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20)

*** When making choices, be practi-cal. Know that every day cannot be perfect. You’ll enjoy the company of a usually can-tankerous friend. Fortunately, your sense of humor kicks in. Be more in touch with your feelings. Tonight: Make it early.

This Week: Others might be demanding, but they do not intend to be diffi cult.

Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19)

***** You start the day on the right foot. Feelings intensify with someone you put on a pedestal. This person feels lucky to be around you. You might want to look at the long-term implications of what’s going on with both of

you. Tonight: Be spontaneous.This Week: A need for precision domi-

nates through Wednesday. Change gears then, and be more in touch with your feelings.

Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20)

*** Despite someone’s ups and downs, stay centered. A partner or someone from a distance could transform before your very eyes. Lady Luck seems to be on your side, but don’t take that as a given. Tonight: Make a favorite dinner.

This Week: No matter what age you are, some caring moments earmark the beginning of the week. But you still might not be sure of yourself.

Gemini - (May 21 - June 20)

**** Defer to a partner who seems to feel that he or she understands more and can handle a situation differently. One-on-one relating brings in many possibilities. A con-versation with a loved one helps you under-stand where this person comes from. Tonight: Hang out at a favorite spot.

This Week: Serious yet worthy thoughts dominate through Wednesday. Your witty and fl irtatious temperament emerges then.

Cancer - (June 21 - July 22)

**** Others want to control your plans and what occurs. You can go along only so far. Also, you might choose not to share your feelings on a personal matter. Don’t feel as though you must. Support yourself in getting what you want. Tonight: Make it your treat.

This Week: You are likely to say what you mean. Others sense your determination.

Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22)

***** Your energy soars. Let go; enjoy yourself with friends or whomever surrounds you. Your ability to make the most of a situ-ation wherever you are amazes others. They would like to have that same skill. Tonight: Just be you.

This Week: Stay in tune with your budget. Discussions prove to be unusually enlighten-ing.

Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22)

**** One-on-one relating proves to be your strong suit. If you have a problem, open up and discuss the issue at hand. You could be too worried or concerned about hurting another person’s feelings. Be sensitive, but think about how you’d like to verbalize what ails you. Tonight: Vanish.

This Week: You beam as the week begins. Do not hesitate to go for what you want.

Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22)

**** Zero in on what’s going on with a friend. You could be overwhelmed by all the invitations that you might get. Prioritize, and you’ll be A-OK. Fortunately, you communi-cate well, and others get the essence of your feelings. Tonight: Give others the space to state their cases as well as their feelings.

This Week: Not until early Wednesday do you feel like yourself.

Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21)

*** Wherever you are, others notice you.

You have a lot to offer someone and will do so, if given the space. Others look to you to take the lead. On one level, you might want to vanish. Use caution with spending. Tonight: A must appearance.

This Week: You have the ability to zero in on what you want and where others are com-ing from. Use your skills.

Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

**** Your positive attitude creates an opening where there was none, or so it seems. Look beyond the obvious; you’ll see yet an-other path. When dealing with a key person over a money matter, you could feel out of sorts. Tonight: Opt for a new type of adven-ture.

This Week: You know what you want and can create just that.

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Born today: Musician Loretta Lynn (1932), baseball player Pete Rose (1941), law-enforcement professional Frank Serpico (1936)

home decor indoor gardening beauty tips taste buds

bird in a cup bulbophyllum lasiochilum body wrap rice pancakesSupplies: English style cup and saucer; small branches; fake feathered birds; Bird’s nest, or nest makings; tiny paper fl owers; PVA glue or glue gun; dried moss

Instructions: Start by shaping the nest so that it is the right size for your cup and has enough space for your birdies to sit comfortably. Start fi ll-ing the nest with some dried moss and secure us-ing PVA glue. Once dried, sit your bird in the nest.

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum commonly known as Shaggy Lipped Bulbophyllum is from Thailand. Plants bloom in the fall with a single fl ower. The fl owers are 3.1 cm wide and have a strawberry scent. The plant produces yellow fl ower with neat red spotting on the lateral sepals, held nicely above the leaves.

Site: Keep good air movement to avoid fungal growth. Keep plants in shade.

Temperature: Keep plant in warm tempera-tures.

Water: Keep moist in summer seasons and do not allow mix to dry, in winter keep the mix slight dry and reduce watering.

To get the most out of your at-home body wrap experience, warm your room so that you can lie down comfortably and quietly. Light candles, burn essential oils and play some soft relaxation music. Take a warm shower before applying the wrap to open pores. Drink lots of water to help fl ush out toxins before, during and after the wrap. Have a hot bath a couple of days after the treat-ment to release accumulated toxins.

Ingredients: 2 cups cooked rice; 1/3 cup carrot; 1/3 cup spring onion; 1/3 cup cabbage; 1/4 cup whole wheat fl our; 1/2 cup gram fl our; 1/2 tsp tur-meric powder; 1/4 tsp asafetida; 2 green chilies; 2 tbsp curds; 2 tbsp coriander; salt to taste.

Method: Combine ingredients except the oil in a bowl. Add water to make soft dough. Using wet hands press one portion of dough onto a damp cloth to form a circle. Lift the cloth and upturn pancake on to a non-stick pan. Cook on both sides till golden brown using a little oil. Repeat with the remaining dough. Serve hot with nutri-tious green chutney.

Dear Abby

Photos from the event

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

■ Exhibition by Derakshani: Dar Al Funoon announces an opening of exhibi-tion by Reza Derakshani, in the pres-ence of the artist, on April 8 at 7 pm. The exhibition continues through April 25.

Reza Derakshani was born in Iran and studied art in Iran and the USA span-ning the entire spectrum of art forms, it is within contemporary painting and music that Derakshani has experienced true liberation and fulfi llment as an artist. The challenging techniques and mental stimulation inherent in contemporary art have led him to create a meditative soli-tude that results in pure freedom of self-expression. His work, known for being diverse and highly original, has achieved recognition worldwide mainly for its fear-less exploration of form and style.

Exhibition hours: Monday to Thursday: 10 am-1 pm & 4-8 pm. Getting to the Gal-lery: AI Watiah, Behbehani Compound, House 28. For additional information call +965 2243 3283

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■ STECI Passion Week Service: Passion Week Service of St Thomas Evangelical Church of India Kuwait Parish will be as follows. On 14th April Palm Sunday Service is from 7.30 pm to 9 pm at Mangaf. 19th April Good Friday Service from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm at KTMCC Hall and Easter Service on 21st April Sunday 4.30 am to 6.00 am at KTMCC Hall. Good Friday message will be delivered by Rev Johnson Alexander, Vicar of St Peters CSI Church. Parish vicar Rev John Mathew will lead all sessions. During this week the members are requested to avoid one-time meal daily and use that amount to feed those who are in hunger and need. ‘Uposhanavaram’ offertory will be collected during the Good Friday Service. For more details contact 99601739/97678480.

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■ IPC Islamic Courses: ‘Say: O my Lord, let me grow in knowledge’. IPC is offering Islamic courses in English (for ladies only). Muslims and non-Muslims are welcome.

1. Tilawa Surah Ar-Rad and Surah

Ibrahim — Sundays at 5:30-7:00 pm; 2. Principles of Tafsir (part 2) - Sundays at 7:00-8:30 pm; 3. Tajweed 3 - Tuesday, at 5:30-7:00 pm; 4. Jesus in Surah Mariam (part 2) - Tuesdays at 7:00-8:30 pm.

Instructor: Sr Zeinab Hassan AshryPlace: IPC - Women Section Al-Raw-

dah, Area 3, Street 30, House 12, opp 4th Ring Road. Email: [email protected], Telephone: 22512257.

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■ Bridge game: Bridge tournament is being held every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 hours, played at the Graduates Club, next to Kuwait Engineering Society. Interested Bridge pairs or individual play-ers please contact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: 24815622, 24841158, 99612287.

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■ St Paul’s Church weekly activities: English worship services on Fridays 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 congrega-tions meets separately on Fridays at 10.30 am in the Youth Centre at St Paul’s. A combined service with the English and Mandarin language congre-gations is held on the first Friday of every month. A family service is held on the second Friday of every month with pre-sentations 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 Friday 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]

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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]

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■ PGMK service: Praise God Ministry of Kuwait (PGMK) holds services in Telugu and English in the NECK Compound, Lighthouse Church.

Fridays and Saturdays — 11.30 to 1:00 pm in English / 1:15 to 3:00 pm in Telugu.

Sundays services in the Hall of Hope from 3.30 to 5 pm and then in Lighthouse Church from 7.30 to 9.30 pm.

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.

A fl yer of the events

Stay-at-home momhas no time for self

By Abigail Van BurenDear Abby: I am a stay-at-home mom to three

wonderful little girls. I appreciate my husband work-ing so I can do this, but I’m very lonely. I have no real friends.

I help my mom with all her medical needs, mak-ing appointments and getting her to them. I also help my brother with his three kids. I help everyone with everything.

In addition to running my home and taking care of our three children, I do everything for my husband. All he has to do when he comes home from work is

eat and take a shower.I haven’t been anywhere by

myself in a very long time. We haven’t had a date night, either. Finding a baby sitter isn’t easy. Mom can’t watch the kids, and my grandparents do it only when I need to take her to the doctor’s without the baby. I take the baby everywhere with me.

Please give me some advice on making time for myself and my

marriage. I just need someone to be on my side.

— Loneliest Mom In IllinoisDear Mom: I’m on your side. You have been

so helpful to everyone else that you have for-gotten how to take care of yourself. Tell your husband what you need — a date night with him every two weeks and a day or two to take care of yourself each month. It will do wonders for your spirits. When you do, ask your brother to watch your children for you. If he refuses, hiring someone to baby-sit would be money well spent.

The problem with being a martyr is that peo-ple die doing it, so recognize it’s time to stand up for yourself. If you don’t, by now you should understand that nobody will do it for you.

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Dear Abby: My father was married before he met my mother and had fi ve wonderful children during his previous marriage. When my half-brother got married two years ago, he invited our father, my mother and me to his wedding. My parents declined because they didn’t want to see my father’s ex-wife (my half-broth-er’s mother). I went because, quite frankly, I have no dog in that fi ght.

I recently got word that my half-sister is getting married in June and plans on inviting our father and my mother as well. Due to their absence at my half-brother’s wedding, my parents have decided they shouldn’t go to any of my half-siblings’ weddings in order to be fair to everyone.

Although I’m upset that they’re refusing to attend, I can’t help but wonder what I should do when I get married. Because they’re my parents and I love them, I’d like them to come. But I also want to be sensi-tive to my half-siblings’ thoughts and feelings. I don’t want them to feel as if their father and stepmother love me more than they love them. What should I do?

— Troubled In KentuckyDear Troubled: When the time comes, talk

to your half-siblings about your concerns and the fact that your parents did not come to their weddings. Explain that they were absent be-cause they were uncomfortable about encoun-tering their mother. I’m sure it won’t surprise them. Tell them you would love to have them with you on that special day. But if they refuse out of loyalty to their mother, do not be sur-prised or regard it as a personal rejection.

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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

‘Flying Man of India’ enthralls the Indian community in Kuwait‘Sivaranjani Fine Arts’ one of the pioneering cultural or-ganizations in Kuwait organized a grand magic show in Grand Udayam Hall at Mangaf, Kuwait on April 11. The function commenced with the recitation of prayer song by Shiva Ranjani Siva, the founder president of Sivaranjani Fine Arts.

The president welcomed the gathering. The famous Indian magician Shri Vignesh Prabu, prominently known

as ‘Flying Man of India’ astonished the huge gathering, mostly the kids with his scintillating magic show. He gained the spectators attention with his interactions and he does mentalism to read the audience mind and serve them a great entertainment. His magic makes the chil-dren think in a different manner from the usual way of logical thinking.

Dr S. M. Haider Ali, was the chief guest and he en-

thusiastically enjoyed the entire show. The program was anchored by Shrimathi Lalitha. Awesome dance programme by children and cinematic songs perfor-mance fascinated the audience. The program was well organized by Men Seetharaman, Ragu, Jothi, Praba-kar, Ladies Deepa, Gowri, Saradha, Gayathri, Priya and Anu. The programme was concluded with deli-cious dinner.


13

Yan Liu with her award winning quilt. A textile art by Suzanne Mannolini Hanan Al Kazemi with the ‘best of show’ quilt.

Members weave stories, dreams through fi bre and fabric

KTAA expo – a celebration of unity in diversityBy Chaitali B. Roy

Special to the Arab Times

The Kuwait Textile Arts Associa-tion Exhibition is an annual cel-

ebration of the talent, skill, hard work, creativity, ability, and ingenuity of its members. Sheikha Altaf Al-Sabah, Honorary President of Sadu House and patron of KTAA, said in an ear-lier interview, “The KTAA members continually seek new challenges and opportunities to expand their knowl-edge and love for textiles resulting in an explosion of joy and creativity, and the works speak for themselves.” For KTAA members, fi bre and yarn, fabric and embroideries tell a different story not easily understood by others.

The KTAA exhibition, which has been around for two decades, is a strik-ing display of talent and skill that only seems to get better with time. Accord-ing to international experts who have judged the show, the featured works are of high standard, with an ad-vanced level of technical skill and deep emotional content.

Kuwait Textile Arts As-sociation will present the 20th year of the Annual Textile Art Exhibition un-der the auspices of the National Council of Cul-ture, Arts and Letters and Sadu House at Ahmed Al Adwani, Al Funoon Hall at Dahiya Abdullah Al Salem from Sunday, April 15 to April 16. The exhibition will open on April 14 at 7 pm. The 90 entries from thirty-two members will be judged on generic cat-egories and challenges like Quilting, Fibre Arts, and Sadu Weaving.

KTAA is a multicul-tural, multinational organization of textile artists and enthusiasts bound by their shared love for textile and fi -bre arts. The association, says Donna Shaya, President of KTAA, provides the members with an opportunity to collaborate, share and learn from each other and it aims at promoting the knowledge and skills of textile related arts through lectures, workshops, pres-entations and the annual exhibition.

Humbling“It is humbling to me as President

to work with the talented volunteers who work tirelessly to show the best of their works in textile arts during our annual exhibition,” says Donna Al Shaya. “The exhibition has evolved based on a framework developed by the founders of KTAA over 20 years ago to showcase their work. I believe the exhibition has grown in scope and professionalism and meets the interna-tional standards for textile arts.”

Members of KTAA have this in-teresting ability to weave stories and dreams through fi bre and fabric, and their works speak not just about their perception of the world, but their cul-ture as well. Yan Liu, for instance, is a Canadian Chinese with an academic and professional background in Petro-leum and Marine Geology and Com-puter System Analysis. Yan began quilting when her neighbour in Cal-gary taught her to make a simple appli-qué top in 2003. Work and parenthood kept her busy until she resumed quilt-ing in 2010 when she shifted to Kuwait with her geophysicist husband.

Born and raised in China, Yan’s mother taught her crocheting, knitting, embroidering, painting, paper cutting and sewing clothes as a young girl. “I have now moved towards full-time art quilting,” says Yan, an award-winning quilter. “My academic training and ex-perience help me to think with precision while my analytical skills help design with the right size and values of colour.”

Dr Batoul Hassan Al Sayegh from the Department of English Language at Kuwait University is a new and promising member of KTAA. Quilts have been an integral part of her life. “I grew up with the notion that a quilt is made for every occasion,” says Batoul. “ My fi rst block was a cross stitch pat-tern of a kitty for a baby quilt intended for my niece.

“However, I only started to seri-ously quilt about four years ago after I was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer and needed something to keep me busy

during treatment.” Batoul likes to cre-ate happy quilts that bring joy to peo-ple. “I take mental pictures of happy experiences in my life. I hand embroi-der these images and then piece them together to form the actual quilt. I also want my quilts to bring happiness to the people who get them. To me, col-our refl ects happiness, so my quilts are always full of colour.” Batoul has had an enriching experience with KTAA. “I was ecstatic to fi nd out there was a fi bre arts group in Kuwait and when I fi nally got to meet some of the mem-bers, I was even happier. The group is truly diverse both ethnically and crea-tively. These women are supportive of each other and are always willing to help in any way possible.”

Changed Kuwait Textile Arts Association has

changed over the years. Formed by a group of expatriate wom-en in the mid-nineties, the departure of many long-standing members who left for their permanent homes, and the inclusion of many local members has brought the organi-zation closer to home in many ways. “The ini-tial composition of the membership was pre-dominantly expatriate. Today that balance has shifted to predominantly Kuwaiti,” says Donna Al Shaya. “The talent pool and skills has increased for all members as evi-denced by the complex techniques which will be displayed.”

Hanan Al Kazemi, a long time award-win-ning member of KTAA agrees. “The KTAA has evolved greatly over the

years. More women have joined the group. Our members participate in in-ternational quilt shows, and we invite instructors and judges from around the world, which has helped KTAA gain international recognition.” Batoul is a recent Kuwaiti member of KTAA. “I joined KTAA about three months ago. They offer a supportive and mo-tivating space to do something I love. Quilting can be a lonely endeavour so meeting up with people who are inter-ested in fi bre arts encourages me to create regularly, but more importantly, get projects fi nished!”

This year, art lovers should expect the usual diversity and a lot of promising work, especially from the local artists of KTAA. Suzanne Mannolini, the enter-prising and methodical exhibition coor-dinator who took on the diffi cult task of putting up the event at very short notice will showcase a couple of embroidered pieces, a knitted garment, and a sashiko pocket. Hanan Al Kazemi has decided to challenge herself and try something new, which has led her to be more creative and attempt new techniques. One of Yan Liu’s submissions this year is inspired by her recent visit to Namibia, and her second quilt titled ‘Origami Hanafusha Windmill’ is 100% hand stitched Japa-nese folded patchwork.

Submissions “I collected a dozen of my hus-

band’s hand-me-down cotton offi ce dress shirts, Japanese fi ne printed fat quarter fabrics and used various col-ours of DMC cotton embroidery to make a 100% hand sewn 800 squares’ double sided quilt. I want to give it to my children and grandchildren. I had such a therapeutic and relaxing time making it,” says Yan. Of Batoul Al Sayegh’s two submissions, her fa-vourite is the one titled ‘Power Off: A World Without Pixels.’ “The project started with a scrap piece of fabric, some paint and trying to keep my then fi ve-year-old son busy while I worked at my sewing machine,” says Batoul.

“He painted a ninja holding a sword and an ice-cream. I couldn’t bear to throw it away so for the rest of the year, he would paint random things he saw or did, and I eventually made it into his memory quilt.” Join the members of KTAA at their 20th Textile Arts Exhibi-tion to celebrate and share this creative coming together of fi bre, yarn and fabric at the Ahmed Al Adwani, Al Funoon Hall at Dahiya Abdullah Al Salem from Sunday, April 15 to April 16. The exhi-bition will open on April 14 at 7 pm.

Get set for Ramadan at the Palestinian Cultural Exhibition

‘Children of Palestine Call On Us’By Claudia Farkas Al Rashoud

Special to the Arab Times

Get ready for Ramadan at the Palestinian Cultural Exhibition

from April 16th through April 18th at the Women’s Cultural and Social Society in Khaldiya. In addition to their usual amazing collection of hand-embroidered items, hand-painted ceramics, T-shirts, books, gifts, and tasty Palestinian food, there will be lots of special items for the festive, holy month.

Siham Abu Ghazalah, exhibition organiser and head of the Palestinian Cultural Center’s Folklore Com-mittee, elaborates, “There are many lovely caftans, traditional and modern dresses and jackets, festive thobes, and stylish abayas, that are perfect for evening wear during the holy month. We have selected ceramic items for use during Ramadan such as contain-ers and serving plates for dates, sweets, and fruits, and Arabic coffee cups. By special request, we ordered fi ve different wonderful Palestinian cookbooks, including Palestine On A Plate and Zeitoun. Prayer rugs, robes, and copies of the Holy Quran comple-ment the Ramadan collection.”

Although Siham has been organis-ing this event for the last 45 years, she makes a tremendous effort to intro-duce attractive new products at each exhibition. Palestinian embroidery is an age-old folk art that symbolizes the Palestinian national identity. But Siham and her hard-working team have made sure it’s also an art form that is constantly evolving to meet the needs of modern society. As a result, you’ll fi nd it adorning everything from mobile phone and ipad covers to deco-

rative household items, trendy skirts, shawls, scarves, serving trays, jewelry boxes, and fashion accessories.

Tireless Siham divides her time between Kuwait and Amman, Jordan, where she is a member and co-founder of the Center for Palestinian Culture. The Center employs more than 500 Palestinian women who are com-missioned to produce the traditional embroidery. For these women, many of whom live in refugee camps, embroidery is the only way to earn money to support themselves and their extended families.

ScenesWorking behind the scenes in order

to stage each bi-annual exhibition in Kuwait is a dedicated team of volun-teers that form various committees. Through their efforts to bring the sights, sounds, and tastes of traditional Palestinian culture to the public, they are also educating young Palestinians who have never been able to see their own country.

“During my many years with the Center I have had the pleasure of working with new generations of Pal-estinians who hear about their culture through our programs and exhibitions. They love to learn about their identity and as a result they begin to under-stand who they really are,” remarks Siham.

There is a Food Committee, responsible for importing traditional food items like the famous Palestin-ian olives and olive oil, spices such as sumac and zaatar, pickles, honey, and crushed wheat known as freekeh. On the last day of the bazaar the ladies make and sell fresh Palestinian sweets

and savory dishes.The Book Committee collects

and offers for sale the latest titles on Palestinian themes in English and Arabic. The Information Committee adds to this body of knowledge by researching and highlighting a number of important topics at each exhibition. Their work gives a human face to issues often neglected by the main-stream media. The main theme of this exhibition is “Children of Palestine Call On Us.”

Siham turns to statistics to illustrate the dire situation of children living in occupied Palestine today. “In 2018 alone, 57 Palestinian children were killed by the Israeli forces. Of this total, 42 were killed by live ammuni-tion, seven by drones, three by tank missiles, three by tear gas canisters, one by an air strike, and one by a rubber-coated metal bullet. Five of these children were under the age of twelve, sixteen were aged from twelve to fourteen, and the rest were between fi fteen and seventeen years of age.”

According to statistics supplied by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), 533 injured Pal-estinian children have been treated at their health centers over the last three years. 360 were between fi fteen and seventeen years of age, 150 were aged ten to fourteen, and 23 ranged in age from two months to nine years.

Demonstrations The Great March of Return at the

border of Gaza and Israel has taken a particularly high toll on young Palestinian refugees, with UNWRA reporting that they have not been able to record all those killed and injured by the Israelis during the demonstra-

tions. Findings from the UN Human Rights Council mandated Commis-sion of Inquiry, Resolution S-28/1 state that “Lethal force was used by ISF against children who posed no im-minent threat to soldiers and in several instances it was likely that Israeli snipers shot at children intentionally.”

Siham points out that for those who escape direct physical injury, there remain the ill effects of displacement, deprivation, and psychological dam-age that could last for generations. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is rife among Palestinian children, with some 26,000 currently in need of psychological treatment.

TragicDespite these tragic numbers that

document the sad reality of life for children in Palestine, the exhibition is a stirring celebration that refl ects the Palestinian spirit. In the stunning color combinations and cheerful hues in every shade of the rainbow, in the extremely high quality of the work, you can see not only the incredible resilience and pride of the women who embroider, but also the beauty of their inner selves.

The exhibition is being held in coop-eration with the Embassy of the State of Palestine in the State of Kuwait, at the Kuwait Women’s Cultural and Social Society in Khaldiya, Block 2, Street 28. Exhibition timings are from 10 am to 1:30 pm and from 4:30 to 8:30 pm. On Thursday there will be a performance of the traditional Palestinian dabkah dance at 6:00 pm, with story readings for children in English and Arabic prior to the performance. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Siham Abu Ghazalah (standing fourth from left), with some of the members of her dedicated team.

Many unique gift items are on sale at the exhibition. Photos by Claudia Farkas Al RashoudA volunteer models a silk embroidered shawl next to some of the hand-

painted ceramics.

Donna Al Shaya

Mannolini


14

GS8 SUV at the 2019 St Petersburg International Motor Show.

Feng Xingya, President GAC Group

KFH receives the award

GAC Motor SUV on display Yu Jun, President GAC Motor

Group photo from the event

A combo picture from the event.

Launches new journey in Russian market

GAC Motor debuts at 2019 St Petersburg Int’l Motor Show

KFH wins Kuwait’s Best Bank forAsia ’19 award from Asiamoney

Hyundai announces ‘moniker’ forall-new 2020 CUV: Hyundai VenueKUWAIT CITY, April 13: Hyundai an-nounced the name of its all-new 2020 CUV: Hyundai Venue. The new entry CUV name references a ‘place’ where people want to be seen, or in this case, inside the vehicle. The Venue symbol-izes a trendy, unique style, perfect for Hyundai’s newest and smallest CUV.

Hyundai’s naming theme for CUVs has typically been a city or place. Ven-ue embodies the characteristics of ‘the place to be’, en route to the final desti-nation, wherever that may be.

Global media will see the Venue

for the first time at the New York In-ternational Auto Show on April 17. The global reveal will incorporate an innovative Augmented Reality (AR) element. Augmented Reality is an in-teractive experience of a real-world scenario including computer-generat-ed or augmented objects through simu-lation, without the need for virtual-reality goggles or glasses. Viewers at home can experience the perceptually-enriched experience at the following link: https://www.hyundaiusa.com/ at 10:45 am ET.

KUWAIT CITY, April 13: Kuwait Fi-nance House (KFH) has won Kuwait’s Best Bank for Asia 2019 award from Asiamoney Magazine, a publication of the International Euromoney Group, in a ceremony held in Hong Kong, China.

KFH won the award as the best Ku-waiti bank in offering a varied package of banking services to customers doing financial transactions around the Asian continent.

The prize is a recognition of KFH’s diversified and leading services and products. Equipped with high quality of-ferings and technology, KFH can meet the needs of its customers, achieving the utmost expansion in operations, market share and its geographical spread and developing the human resources. These achievements reflected in its excellence in quality, customer satisfaction, inno-vation and reliability.

On behalf of KFH, Faisal Alsurayye received the award which was cre-ated based on several criteria including KFH’s role and success in the Asian market and its commitment toward its customers and stakeholders in offering suitable and sophisticated Islamic bank-ing financial solutions.

Asiamoney mentioned that KFH is strong to the core; net profit rose, net financing income jumped in addition to all financial indicators. Its Islamic bank-

ing credentials make it a worthy winner of this award.

A global pioneer in its field, in 1977 KFH became the second Islamic bank ever to open its doors to the public. One of the safest banks in the Middle East.

KFH’s network has steadily grown over the years to include 500 branches, of which 14 are in Malaysia, where it offers retail banking services and has participated in some of the country’s more striking and successful real estate projects.

KFH proudly claims to be the only Shariah law-compliant financial pro-vider that serves both Malaysia and the GCC region, as well as Turkey and Ger-many. KFH is also a leading global un-derwriter of Shariah-compliant bonds. In 2018, it underwrote 15 sukuk worth a total of $8.11 billion, edging Kuala Lumpur-based Maybank into second place.

As a subsidiary of Euromoney, Hong Kong-based Asiamoney magazine cov-ers the Asian financial service sector and publishes detailed financial and in-vestment reports on issuers, investment companies and financial decision mak-ers in public and private sectors.

Established in 1969, Euromoney is a leading reference for global financial services markets, money experts and bankers in more than 100 countries.

KUWAIT CITY, April 13: Lead-ing Chinese automaker GAC Motor has made its debut at the 2019 St Petersburg International Motor Show (“the Motor Show”) with nine of the brand’s star models including SUVs, MPVs, sedans and a new energy ve-hicle. The automaker also revealed an update to its plan to enter the Russian market in 2019 with its top-selling product.

“Russia’s automobile market has maintained double-digit growth over the past two years. We believe the surging demand for cars needs to be satisfied with diversified products and

services. That is why we are here; GAC Motor is committed to creating better products of higher quality that offer a pleasant mobile lifestyle for global consumers. We hope that Russian people enjoy the fine design and good quality of GAC Motor’s products,” noted Yu Jun, President of GAC Motor.

GAC Motor is steadily laying out its strategic plan for the Russian market. The automaker first an-nounced that it would enter Russia during its debut at the Moscow International Automobile Salon (MIAS) in August 2018. Its overseas

subsidiary in Russia, GAC Motor RUS, is now in operation to prepare for product releases and the opening of new stores.

QualityEver since its establishment, GAC

Motor has been adopting a path that is “led by brand building, driven by high standards and defined by high quality”, and has been ranked No. 1 in J.D. Power Asia Pacific’s China Initial Quality Study (IQS) for six years in a row. With a world-class car design and manufacturing system, GAC Motor’s stand-out

designs, convenient driving experi-ence and cutting-edge technologies were highly praised by Russian dealers and consumers. During the Motor Show, GAC Motor signed cooperation intention agreements with several Russian dealers.

GAC Motor exhibited the brand’s comprehensive vehicle product lineup at the Motor Show, including the new energy SUV GE3 version 530, the GM8 and GM6 MPVs, GA4 and GA8 sedans, as well as four SUVs – the GS8, GS5, GS4 and GS3. The GM6 and GS5 were shown to the Russian audience for the first time.

GAC Motor will introduce the GS8 this year, and other star models in the near future, which are now being evaluated and certified by relevant Russian government depart-ments:

■ The GS8, the flagship luxury 7-seat SUV, and the first model to the Russian market, will have a special edition for Russia that offers an all-terrain driving mode, smart safety configurations, a state-of-the-art All-Wheel-Drive system, fully-independent suspension system and high-performance chassis shock filters

n The GM8, GAC Motor’s first

MPV product that showcases GAC Motor’s industry-leading technologies in its spectacular design, luxurious VIP seating, smart features and worry-free safety guarantees

■ The GS5, a trendy SUV with an advanced engine and exclusive function which achieves the perfect balance between stability and comfort

After 4 days at the Motor Show, GAC Motor will also join the Rus-sian Association of Auto Dealers (ROAD) annual meeting and host brand promotion events on April 10 to welcome and communicate with more interested dealers.

Group hosts mega event to mark Kuwait, Pakistan national days

IWSK celebrates Pakistan Republic DayKUWAIT CITY, April 13: Insaf Welfare Society Kuwait (IWSK) hosted a mega event to celebrate Pakistan Republic Day (23rd March) and Kuwait Independence and Liberation Day with the col-laboration of Embassy of Pakistan Kuwait for Pakistani community in Kuwait.

Insaf Welfare Society Kuwait (IWSK) hosted a historical and grand program in the recognition of joint celebrations of Pakistan Republic Day (23rd March) and Kuwait Independence and Libera-tion Day with the collaboration of Embassy of Pakistan for Pakistani community residing in Kuwait on Friday, March 29, at Qadsiya Sports Club Hawally, Kuwait. His Excellency, the Ambassador of Pakistan to Kuwait. Ghulam Dastgir was the chief guest of the program.

There were also other respect-able officials from Embassy of Pakistan who attended the program. Other than that the presidents of different Pakistani social and wel-fare societies, Pakistani business-men and women, professionals, famous Pakistani personalities, principals, teachers, students and a large number of families residing in Kuwait attended and celebrated under one umbrella and slogan “We Are One (United) Under The Flag Of Pakistan”.

Relation His Excellency Ghulam Dastgir

said in his statement that “I am very happy to see the all Pakistani community at one platform on this historical day. He said that Pakistan and Kuwait has strong bilateral relation in different fields and we are proud of this friendly relationship.

He further appreciated and admired the efforts of organizers (IWSK) for their great arrange-ments and contributions to make this program successful and to bring all Pakistani community under one umbrella. The President of IWSK Akhlaq Ahmed Malik categorically thanked His Excel-lency Ghulam Dastgir for his kind support for this program.

He also thanked the organizers, the executive members, media representatives and all the Paki-stani community for their active participation and making both the National Days event so beautiful and successful.

He further said that the main pur-pose to celebrate such event was to give awareness among our children about the history of Pakistan and the sacrifices our forefathers made

for our beloved country.The Chairman of Executive

Board of IWSK Peer Amjad Hus-sain said that it was a great idea of HE Ghulam Dastgir to bring all the Pakistani Community especially the families and school children under one umbrella & it was a great honor for us to organise this mega event for our great commu-nity residing in Kuwait. He also stated that best efforts would be made to offer similar rather more beautiful programs for the great Pakistani community and for our beloved country Pakistan in future as well.

The program started with the verses of Holy Quran by Qari Suhaib Anjum, and Ghulam Sarwar Naqshbandi recited NAAT (the poem in praise of Prophet Muham-mad (PBUH)). National anthems of Kuwait and Pakistan were played on screen.

A large number of Pakistani school students presented different tableaux and performed on Kuwaiti and Pakistani national songs. A Quiz Competition was held among different schools students about History of Pakistan, singers sang national songs, and flute player presented beautiful national songs on

flute. Syed Sadaqat Ali (GS-IWSK) and Muhammad Faisal (Org, Insaf Writer’s Forum Kuwait) hosted the program.

Hundreds of Pakistanis attended the program and dozens of gifts distributed by asking educational questions about History of Pakistan from the audience and also four iPhoneX mobiles were distributed through lucky draw among 4 lucki-est winners sponsored by Peer Am-jad Hussain, Akhlaq Ahmed Malik, Hafiz Shabeer Ahmed, Asif Jamal and Ateeq-ur-Rahman. – Pakistan Zindabad


15

Health

US backs off case of FGM

In South Sudan, midwiveslower deaths despite oddsJUBA, South Sudan, April 13, (Agencies): Seated in a stifling hallway in South Sudan’s main hospital, the midwife recounted the day she watched a young mother bleed to death after giving birth.

“She died while holding my hand,” said Aber Evaline, hanging her head. Her patient was one of more than 40 women who died in Juba’s Teaching Hospital in 2016 in a country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.

For every 100,000 live births in South Sudan an estimated 789 mothers die, according to 2015 sta-tistics from the United Nations and the World Bank. Recently, how-ever, despite a civil war that killed almost 400,000 people, South Su-dan’s maternal health has shown improvement. By last year deaths in Juba’s Teaching Hospital, re-garded as the best in the country, had dropped to 21, said Evaline, one of four midwives there.

Trained The decline is attributed to a

concerted effort by South Sudan’s government and partners that be-gan before the civil war erupted in 2013. It has dramatically increased the number of trained midwives from less than 10 when the pro-gram started seven years ago to more than 700 today. The project provides scholarships, training and other support for clinics and schools across the country of some 12 million people.

The initiative has made “sexual and reproductive health and rights closer to reality for the women of South Su-dan,” Mary Otieno, the United Nations Population Fund’s country chief, told The Associated Press.

The effects are seen outside the capital as well. For three consecu-tive years clinics serving the dis-placed persons’ site in Mingkaman registered zero maternal deaths, while the clinic in the UN’s ci-vilian protection site in Wau has had zero deaths since it opened in 2016, the UN fund said.

Immense challenges remain. While 15% of the government’s budget is meant to be allocated for overall health care, less than 2%

is being received, said Felix Lado Johnson, the minister of health for the capital, Juba.

The government estimates that it needs 10 times the number of trained midwives across the coun-try to further reduce the number of deaths. Trained midwives rarely find government jobs, however, leading many to work with inter-national aid groups. State-run hos-pitals need the midwives’ expertise but often cannot pay them.

Zeitun Abdallah, head midwife at Juba’s Teaching Hospital, said she has not been paid since No-vember.

Compounding the problem is the health care system itself, which already was weak before the civil war. About 40% of health care fa-cilities remain functional, accord-ing to the UN, and the clinics that do work are poorly equipped.

Juba’s Teaching Hospital has 13 beds in its delivery ward yet about 25 women give birth there daily, according to staff. Mothers and newborns who are meant to be monitored for 24 to 48 hours after birth are discharged after two hours due to a lack of space, staff-ers said.

At least five babies have died in the past three years from being sent home before they were well enough to leave, according to the hospital’s midwives.

Also:NEW YORK: A decision by the US Department of Justice not to fight to defend a federal law banning female genital mutilation (FGM) sends a “damaging message” to those working to end the practice, advocates said on Friday.

Government lawyers said on Wednesday they would not appeal a decision by a Michigan federal judge who dismissed charges in-volving FGM as unconstitutional, ruling it was a state issue.

Congress in 1996 outlawed FGM, a ritual that involves partial or total removal of external geni-talia, which the World Health Or-ganization has called “a grave vio-lation of the human rights of girls and women.”

A photo from the event

Insomnia common among cancer patients

Youth India Job Fair 2019 concludes

The Youth India Job Fair 2019 conducted by Youth India Kuwait at Mangaf Najath School has concluded. Around thousand shortlisted from the two thousand applicants who had reg-istered at the Youth India website were directly interviewed by representatives of companies like K.D.D., Fawaz, Malabar Gold, Go City, CityBus, Talent Hunt, Global HR Solutions, Red Tag, Sky-dest and Antel.

Events like CV Clinic that provided instruc-

tions on preparing an immaculate CV, career guidance on various ways to improve your ca-reer, mock interviews that explained in detail things to take care of while preparing for as well as during an interview, seminar on dif-ferent topics related to career that were con-ducted in cooperation with CIGI were greatly helpful to the participants.

The applicants also benefited from the instruc-tions provided by WWICS Global Resettlement

regarding emigration clearance and the higher education consultancy conducted by Apachia In-stitute for Private Training. The job fair was led by Youth India Career Convener Niyas, President Mahnas Musthafa, General Secretary Shafeer Aboobackar, Rishdin Ameer, Rafeeq Babu, Amjad, Shafi Koyamma, Haroon, Faheem, Shi-habudeen, Sanoj, Haseeb, Hafiz, Saleej, Nihad, Usama, Khaleel, Sijil, Jafeer, HarisIsmayil and Fawaz.

NEW YORK, April 13, (Agencies): Roughly half of patients with can-cer have symptoms of insomnia, and many may have sleep problems that linger for at least a year, a small study suggests.

Up to 10 percent of adults in the developed world suffer from chronic insomnia, and cancer patients are par-ticularly prone to it, researchers note in Sleep Medicine. Even though sleep disorders have been tied to worse out-comes for cancer patients, research to date on hasn’t offered a clear picture of what circumstances might make sleep problems more likely in people being treated for tumors.

For the current study, researchers examined data on 405 cancer patients in Germany who were 59 years old on average and completed two assess-ments of insomnia severity: once when they joined the study and again twelve months later.

The most common malignancies were breast cancer, tumors of the prostate or testicles, and colorectal cancer.

Most patients – 83 percent – were being treated for a first-time cancer. The rest of them had a relapses or sec-ondary tumors in a different location than the original cancer.

SymptomsAt the start of the study, 49 per-

cent of the patients had insomnia symptoms, and 13 percent had severe enough sleep problems to meet the clinical definition of insomnia, the study found.

After a year, 64 percent of the pa-tients who started out with insomnia were still suffering from symptoms.

“This matters for patients because they may assume that their insomnia will disappear over time, as their can-cer treatment concludes or their mood

improves,” said Eric Zhou of the Da-na-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

“Unfortunately, this is often not the case,” Zhou, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

By the end of the year-long study, 53 percent of women and 39 percent of men had insomnia symptoms.

For women, the only factor that ap-peared to influence whether they had insomnia at the end of the study is whether they had it at the start.

With men, however, having depres-sion or using psychiatric medications at the start of the study was associated with a greater risk of insomnia by the end.

Among both women and men, levels of distress, depression and anxiety in-creased over the year.

The study wasn’t a controlled ex-periment designed to prove whether or how cancer might cause insomnia or if sleep problems might impact outcomes

for people with cancer.Another limitation is that study

participants may not have accurately recalled and reported on any symp-toms, lead author Katharina Schieber of Friedrich-Alexander University Er-langen-Nurnberg and colleagues write. Schieber didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Still, the results offer fresh evidence that cancer-related insomnia won’t go away on its own, said Sheila Garland of Memorial University, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador in Can-ada.

“Insomnia may be more prevalent in cancer for a few reasons,” Garland, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

“First, the psychological effects of a cancer diagnosis and the impact of treatments are enough on their own to lead to problems sleeping,” Garland said.


16

bridgebridgeBy Steve Becker

contract bridgebridge

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

26 SecondsYour Working

Time __ Minutes__ Seconds

Friday’s solution

Eugene Sheffer Crossword

Drinking problem?: Friends of Bill W. are available to help. Totally confi dential. Email: [email protected]

❑ ❑ ❑

Narcotics Anonymous: NA can help with addiction problems. Totally confidential: 94087800 English/Arabic.

❑ ❑ ❑

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/

LatestApril 19

Ethnic Food Festival: Maurya Kala Parisar, Kuwait will hold the Ethnic Food Festival on Friday, April 19 at Junior Indian Community School, Salmiya, Block 10. This season again, like the last year, the theme of the culinary has been expanded to cover the whole of India. Food from across the length and breadth of the country will be on display and appreciation.

The event will also have drawing and painting competitions for children in Senior, Junior & Sub-Junior categories. Let your kids display their creativity while you enjoy the festival. Best paint-ings in each category will be awarded. Theme for the drawing and painting competition: Food.

Fashion show and parade competition for kids up to 14 years of age. Dress up your kids, the upcoming models and fashion icons, with the fanciest of dress and let them walk the ramp and win accolades of the audience. Best dressed kids will be appreciated with Gifts & Prizes.

Another attraction of the event is photography contest. On the spot photography entries will be taken. Best photographs clicked will be awarded. Theme for the photography: 6th Ethnic Food Festival 2019.

Entries for the food competition is open to Indian Community in Kuwait including members and non-members both. As the previous years, the event this year is also without any Entry Fee. Categories of Food and basic rules of the competition are as:

1. Food Categories:Category 1: Vegetarian (food from any state

of India)Category 2: Non-Vegetarian (food from any

state of India)Category 3: Street Food (food from any state

of India)Category 4: Dessert (food from any state of

India)Category 5: Ethnic food from Bihar &

Jharkhand [for MKP members]2. Maximum number of entries allowed from

any non-MKP member participant will be two (2). 3. Category 5 “Ethnic Food From Bihar &

Jharkhand” is only for MKP Members. 4. Participants will bring prepared dish for

competition. It’s not on the spot cooking event.5. Judges decision and scores will be fi nal. No

objection will be entertained.6. There is no entry fee. Food brought by the

participants as entries are their contribution to the event. Quantity should be adequate for 3 portion for tasting and for display.

7. Basic food ingredients and recipe shall be disclosed by the participants.

8. Criteria for evaluation: Taste/Presentation/Ethnicity with respect to the region.

9. There will be 3 prizes in each category.Entries should be submitted/ reconfi rmed before

11th April 2019 by Email (Subject line “Entry Food Festival 2019”) to [email protected].

For queries or clarifi cation please contact Bushra Afroz (97235707), Uday Prakash (65705480) Nive-dita (50103983), Nitin (96661632), Manoj Mishra (65032221), Sana (50544539 WhatsApp),

Facebook page of Maurya Kala Parisar or mail: [email protected], www.MauryaKala.org

April 22IEI Kuwait AGM-2019: The Institution of Engineers India (IEI) Kuwait Chapter is pleased to announce 25th Annual General Meeting for the year 2019-20. Details are as follows:

Date: Monday, April 22, Time: 6.30 pm Venue: Copthorne Hotel, Kuwait CityThis meeting will be followed by Election

proceedings for Electing the Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer and 9 EC Members for the year 2019-20.

For any question please contact Engr H.K. Mitra (Mob: 99885280), Engr Sudhir Menghani (Mob: 97987455)

click

Word by Word

Cured ElajWhat can’t be cured must be endured.Mala yomken elajoh yataayan ehtemalo.

Numbers

8142 Eight thousand one hun-dred forty two

Thamaniyat alaaf wa maah wa ethnan wa arbaoun

Conceptis SudokuThe grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3

box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive

Answer to Friday’s puzzle

Tomorrow: Doing what comes naturally

…beverage

Friday’s answer 4-12

Friday’s

Market Movements 12-04-2019

Business Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries +52.90 6,347.00JAPAN - Nikkei +159.18 21,870.56S. KOREA - KRX 100 +11.93 4,639.31INDIA - Sensex +160.10 38,767.11PAKISTAN - KSE 100 +550.23 37,337.87GERMANY - DAX +64.73 11,999.93FRANCE - CAC 40 +16.98 5,502.70

Change Closing ptsPHILIPPINES - All Shares -25.77 4,863.15

GM to reveal next-generation Corvette in July

It’s just the thing to make the hearts of Corvette fans race: A new rendition of the classic sports car is coming.

And General Motors has a big change in store for the eighth genera-tion Corvette being revealed July 18. The engine in the new model is be-ing moved from under the hood, to be tucked between the passenger com-partment and the rear wheels - a “mid-engine” design.

For fans who closely follow any tweak in the venerable car, it’s a big

deal. Chevrolet calls this next-genera-tion model “the most anticipated Cor-vette ever.”

This Corvette will be “the sum of each generation before it,” but will “stand alone as the new standard of performance,” a company press re-lease says.

GM hasn’t said publicly when the new generation Corvette will reach dealerships.

Previewing the reveal, General Mo-tors released a photo showing GM

Chairman and CEO Mary Barra stand-ing next to a camoufl aged, next-gen-eration Corvette on Thursday in New York.

In another sneak peak, GM Presi-dent Mark Reuss posted an image of the next-generation Corvette on his Fa-cebook page.

The new sport car has been pho-tographed undergoing road tests for months. Corvettes debuted in 1953 and are manufactured at a GM plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. (AP)

This image provided by General Motors shows GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra standing by a camoufl aged next generation Chevrolet Corvette on April 11 in New York. A new rendition of the classic sports car is coming. General Motors has a big change in store for the eighth genera-tion Corvette being revealed July 18, 2019. The engine in the new model is being moved from under the hood, to be tucked between the passenger compartment and the rear wheels - a ‘mid-engine’ design. (AP)

MOSCOW, April 13, (RTRS): Rus-sia and OPEC may decide to boost production to fi ght for market share with the United States but this would push oil prices as low as $40 per bar-rel, TASS news agency cited Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying on Saturday.

“There is a dilemma. What should we do with OPEC: should we lose the market, which is being occupied by the Americans, or quit the deal?” An-ton Siluanov, speaking in Washington, said, TASS reported.

“(If the deal is abandoned) the oil prices will go down, then the new in-vestments will shrink, American out-put will be lower, because the produc-tion cost for shale oil is higher than for traditional output.”

Siluanov said oil prices could drop to $40 per barrel or even less for up to one year.

The minister said there had been no decision on the deal yet and he did not know whether OPEC countries would be happy with this scenario.

OPEC, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, are re-ducing output by 1.2 million bpd from Jan 1 for six months. They meet on June 25-26 to decide whether to extend the pact.

The combined supply cuts have helped to drive a 32 percent rally in crude prices this year to nearly $72 a barrel, prompting US President Don-ald Trump to call on OPEC to ease its market-supporting efforts. OPEC has said the curbs must remain, but there are signs that stance is now softening.

Earlier this week, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that OPEC could raise oil output from July if Ven-ezuelan and Iranian supply drops fur-ther and prices keep rallying, because extending production cuts with Russia and other allies could overtighten the market.

Oil prices could drop to $40 per barrel or even less for up to one year

Russia, OPEC may ditch oil deal to fi ght for market share

Chill in global economy ‘prompts’G20 ministers call for trade truce

US at odds with other stakeholders over IMF funding

International Monetary Fund IMF Governors pose for a group photo during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, April 13. (AP)

WASHINGTON, April 13, (RTRS): The risk that global eco-nomic growth could slow more than expected spurred a call on Friday from top fi nance offi cials for countries to overcome trade differences and opt for multilateral cooperation and “timely policy ac-tion.”

Policymakers from the Group of 20 indus-trialized countries are worried that the weak-ness evident in key economies could spread, especially if elevated trade tensions, such as those between the United States and China, escalate further.

“The balance of risks remains skewed to the downside,” Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said at a news conference following a meeting of G20 fi nance ministers and central bankers. “We recognize the risk that growth prospects might deteriorate if weakening in key economies feed into each other.”

Aso’s remarks dovetail with those of other offi -cials gathered in Washington for the spring meet-ings of the World Bank and International Mon-etary Fund, many of whom fret that self-infl icted wounds from protectionist trade policies are to blame for the weakness. The week’s proceed-

ings kicked off with another downgrade of global growth estimates from the IMF.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda em-phasized the need for countries to take steps to foster a more dynamic global economy.

“There was a shared understanding among the G20 members that each country needs to take timely policy action,” Kuroda said at the news conference.

As the chair country of this year’s G20 pro-ceedings, Japan wants to deepen talks on global imbalances - an effort to divert Washington’s at-tention from bilateral trade imbalances and stave off US pressure to negotiate two-way trade deals.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, speak-ing at an event on the sidelines of the meetings in Washington, said the rules-based order of multi-lateralism is increasingly under threat and leaders must uphold international cooperation.

Scholz called on the United States to overcome trade differences with Europe, which erupted again this week when US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on $11 billion worth of European Union products, including commercial aircraft.

“I believe this is a matter of principle, it’s not just about achieving some short-term economic gain. It’s not about the art of the deal,” Scholz said in reference to the best-selling business ad-vice book credited to Trump.

Scholz’s consternation is understandable given the global downshift in growth is most evident

at the moment in Europe, where the outlook has been further clouded by the uncertainty over Brit-ain’s departure from the European Union.

An internal European Central Bank model pre-sented to policymakers on Wednesday indicates euro zone growth was just above 0.2 percent in the fi rst three months of the year and could be somewhat weaker in the second quarter, two sources told Reuters on Friday.

The Trump administration was also at odds with other IMF stakeholders on the need to boost the global lender’s resources and update its gov-ernance, although it does support extending a por-tion of the IMF’s $254 billion crisis fund.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin repeated the US opposition to increasing overall funding and shareholding quotas, likely meaning the ef-fort to lift IMF funding and reshuffl e voting rights was a dead issue at this week’s meetings.

The voting quotas were last altered nearly a decade ago.

“In our view, the IMF currently has ample resources to achieve its mission, and countries also have considerable complementary resources should a crisis emerge,” Mnuchin said in a state-ment for the IMF’s steering committee meeting that was posted on the IMF’s website on Friday.

Without US backing for an update to the IMF’s stakeholding weights, there was little prospect for a change at this week’s meetings.

“There is no majority in sight for any changes regarding IMF quotas,” a German offi cial said on

condition of anonymity.The IMF’s last quota increase was agreed in

2010, boosting the shareholding and infl uence of major emerging markets including China and Brazil.

The IMF has current total lending capacity of about $1 trillion, including the New Arrange-ments to Borrow crisis fund that was greatly ex-panded in 2009 at the depths of the last fi nancial crisis.

That fund is set to expire in November 2022. Mnuchin said it was important for the IMF to maintain suffi cient fi nancial resources to respond to potential crises.

British fi nance minister Philip Hammond ex-pressed concern the lack of a funding boost could hamper the IMF’s ability to step in to help Ven-ezuela respond to its worsening humanitarian and economic crisis.

“This set of meetings is crucial to the debate about IMF quotas and funding for the IMF,” Hammond said.

“We all anticipate that as events unfold in Ven-ezuela, at some point there will be a need for a major programme to support Venezuela. So the UK is very keen to ensure that the IMF in particu-lar is properly funded.”

Oil-rich Venezuela is embroiled in political and economic turmoil as socialist President Nico-las Maduro battles to retain power in the face of US and Western powers’ backing of opposition leader Juan Guaido.

In shale, LNG push

Chevron Corp to buy Anadarko for $33 bnHOUSTON, April 13, (RTRS): Chev-ron Corp doubled down on its bet on surging US oil and gas output on Fri-day, saying it would buy shale produc-er Anadarko Petroleum Corp for $33 billion in cash and stock that will make it the second-largest crude producer in the world.

The combined company will pro-duce an estimated 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), trail-ing only Exxon Mobil Corp among publicly traded companies, up from fourth. It expands Chevron’s reach in two areas where US energy output is breaking records: shale from the Per-mian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico, and liquefi ed natural gas (LNG). These have helped make the United States one of the world’s larg-est energy exporters.

“Chevron now joins the ranks of the ‘ultramajors’ – and the big three becomes the big four,” said Roy Mar-tin, senior analyst at consultants Wood Mackenzie. “The acquisition makes the majors’ peer group much more po-larized. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP are now in a league of their own.”

These companies are turning to shale and its revolutionary techniques of fracking, blasting sand and water into formations to extract oil. This is cheaper and produces oil more quickly than costlier offshore and LNG pro-jects that take years to generate cash.

The shale oil-and-gas boom re-versed a long decline in US crude production and propelled the country to a record 12 million barrels a day (bpd), more than Russia and Saudi Arabia. The United States is also now the third-largest producer of LNG, super-cooled natural gas that enjoys record demand as a cheaper, cleaner alternative than coal for pow-er generation.

The combined companies are ex-pected to produce more than 1.6 mil-lion barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the United States this year and 3.9 million boepd globally, ac-cording to Wood Mackenzie.

Chevron Chief Executive Offi cer Mike Wirth said the deal offers a “compelling and unique fi t” because the companies operate in similar areas, both with holdings in shale, offshore, and LNG projects. Chevron also ex-pects shale to generate profi ts for its pipeline, trading and refi ning units.

“We are the best company to com-bine with Anadarko and Anadarko is the best company to combine with us,” Wirth said in an interview.

Chevron’s pledge to restrain expen-ditures has made it a favorite among energy stocks, with its shares up 13.8 percent this year. It plans to sell some $15 billion in assets over time to offset the Anadarko deal.

Turkey’s reform ‘package’ lacks detail, Moody’s saysISTANBUL, April 13, (RTRS): Ratings agency Moody’s said on Friday that a reform package that Turkey presented this week provided little detail and was vague on a timetable for helping revive an economy plagued by infl ation and recession.

Finance Minister Berat Albayrak’s announcement, including plans for re-capitalisation of state banks, was met with lukewarm reactions from the mar-ket and failed to alleviate longstanding concerns about Turkey’s economy.

Moody’s said the plan did not set out the conditions that state banks must meet to receive the $4.9 billion in sup-port.

Albayrak’s measures should not be “simply a vehicle for freeing up banks’ balance sheets to repeat some of the un-productive lending that has taken place in recent years,” it said.

The government has urged banks to provide cheap credit to counter slow-ing economic activity. It announced a second $4.7-billion package aimed at supporting small-and medium-sized en-terprises as recently as March.

A currency crisis last year saw the lira drop nearly 30 percent against the dollar, driving up the cost of servicing foreign debt for Turkish companies and leading to a build-up of bad loans in Turkey’s banks.

During Wednesday’s presentation Albayrak said that the banking sector believed the current ratio of non-per-forming loans of 4.2 percent was “quite good”. Analysts say that level may near-ly double this year.

Moody’s said a lack of transparency around the ratio of non-performing loans in the banking sector persisted, adding that the banks’ asset risk con-tinue to deteriorate.

The ratings agency also said the re-forms did not include measures to in-crease fl exibility in the labour market or raising education standards to a counter decline in competitiveness and produc-tivity.

“The risk of continued pressure on the lira and wider bond spreads will re-main signifi cant without additional clar-ity and details on the reform measures,” Moody’s said.

Imported gas takes over oil

Kuwait energy consumption at its highestBy Kamel Al-Harami

Independent Oil Analyst

Consumption of energy in Kuwait is hitting 700,000

per day, and gas consumption is edging over oil consumption at a daily rate of 372,000 versus 330,000 per day. Our depend-ence on oil is decreasing and our import of gas from various parts of the world is increasing at a rate higher than the growth of our population. The energy bill is increasing, reaching close to $3 billion per annum in sub-sidies, without any real program or any serious attempts to reduce our consumption.

The rate of consumption, how-ever, is on a rise in most of the Ara-bian Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia where the rate of daily con-sumption is higher than 4.6 million barrels of equivalent oil, of which about 2.7 million barrels is oil while the rest is gas. However, Saudi Ara-

bia is also on the verge of increasing its investments in gas in order for it to be the main feed for energy. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are mainly gas-based and are phasing out of oils.

Kuwait is increasingly depend-ent on gas, due to which its new refi n-ery, which is under con-struction, is causing our oil industry some dif-fi culties in terms of in-vesting in p roduc t ion of fuel oils.

At the same time, Ministry of Elec-tricity and Water is phasing out of oil quickly, as they are becoming addicted to gas because of its low maintenance costs and it is environ-mental friendly.

In addition, the cost for import-ing gas seems much cheaper to the extent that it is less than 10 percent of total amount of subsi-dies, which is currently $1.8 mil-lion.

Of course, Kuwait is surrounded by the biggest gas exporters in the world – Qatar, Iran and Iraq. How-ever, that should not stop Kuwait from searching for other sources in order to put our eggs into bigger baskets globally.

Our oil industry has to think se-riously about switching to gas im-ports, and change and convert from the mode of refi ning units to more export of fi nished petroleum prod-ucts in its three refi neries.

Our energy consumption will not decrease unless a brave joint decision is taken by the govern-ment and the parliament to reduce our energy bills.

❑ ❑ ❑

email: [email protected]

Al-Harami

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019

18

had started to draw up plans to retali-ate over subsidies for US planemak-er Boeing.

Both sides have won partial victo-ries at the World Trade Organization in claiming the other’s planemaker received unlawful subsidies but disagree on the amount involved and whether each has complied with ear-lier WTO rulings.

Some analysts see the aircraft dis-pute as the start of a tit-for-tat con-fl ict to which Trump could add auto

tariffs by mid-May. Meanwhile, France said that

it will vote against the opening of trade negotiations between the Eu-ropean Union and United States be-cause of repeated trade threats from Washington and its decision to quit the Paris climate accord, an Elysee offi cial said on Thursday.

“France does not want a trade war or tension with the United States”, added the source, who declined to be named, adding that it was likely

France would be the only party to oppose opening the talks.

European Union countries gave initial clearance on Thursday to start formal trade talks with the United States, EU sources said, a move de-signed but not guaranteed to smooth strained relations between the world’s two largest economies.

The French move does not block opening of the trade negotiations be-cause the necessary majority of EU member states backs it.

“What we’re saying is we aren’t going to reward the United States in this context,” the offi cial said, refer-ring to threats in recent days to take action over the pricing of European Airbus airliners.

“We have never believed in the idea of showing weakness to win favours from (President Donald) Trump, so the idea that we can im-prove our situation through conces-sions by giving into pressure is not a good one,” the offi cial said.

New Airbus CEO unveils new, tighter management structurePARIS, April 13, (RTRS): New Chief Executive Guillaume Faury imposed his mark on Airbus with a simplified management struc-ture and a manifesto for factory modernisation on Thursday, as Europe’s plane giant enters a new phase in its titanic rivalry with Boe-ing.

The 51-year-old former plane-making head unveiled the changes a day after the retirement of Tom Enders, the last of the company’s founders to leave the scene of re-cent power battles.

“We are in a period of exception-al change in our industry and we need to prepare Airbus for the op-portunities and challenges ahead,” Faury said in a statement.

“We will utilise new digital tech-nologies to optimise our industrial system,” he added.

Airbus was until recently a very public battleground for Franco-German industrial rivalries and

personal power struggles, but Faury stayed out of the spotlight as Enders quarrelled with then plane-making chief Fabrice Bregier.

Faury, who moved over from the helicopters unit to run the planes division when Bregier fell last year, on Thursday eliminated the post from a new 12-person executive panel lifting engineering, communi-cations and sales to the top table.

Airbus celebrates its 50th anni-versary as a planemaker this year and its 20th since the announce-ment of a pan-European merger that resulted in the creation of a wider Franco-German aerospace company, now integrated back into Airbus itself.

The new shake-up effectively completes that transition.

Airbus is expected to shift away from the adventurist spirit and public baiting of U.S. rival Boe-ing of earlier years to a focus on advanced production methods in-

creasingly imported from the car industry, where Faury spent four years in senior manufacturing and research roles at Peugeot maker PSA Group.

The methodical former military flight test engineer set out his pri-orities to shareholders on Wednes-day.

“I see fantastic challenges...we have to invent new production systems and leverage the power of data,” Faury said.

Airbus has a huge list of orders for its A320neo, which competes with Boeing’s currently grounded 737 MAX, but snags and supplier delays are delaying schedules.

Insiders say Faury hopes to pre-pare Airbus for a new type of stra-tegic battle with Boeing and their future competitor China, focusing at least as much on leaner, more robotic production methods as lav-ishly staged order announcements.

His immediate priority will be

to settle and remotivate Airbus’ 130,000 staff after a multi-national bribery probe and internal inves-tigation, now in its fourth year, as well as the recent decision to end production of the flagship A380.

Faury heads a mainly new team following scheduled retirements and an ongoing board-led clearout as Airbus responds to pressure to re-invent itself in order to win a settlement and avoid charges in the bribery probe.

No Airbus executives have been accused of wrongdoing, but a Brit-ish judge said when setting fines for Rolls-Royce in 2017 that firms hop-ing to win such settlements must effectively become a different com-pany with new management.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that more than 100 people were dismissed for ethics and compli-ance reasons last year, fuelling in-ternal accusations of a witch hunt. Airbus declined to comment.

France to vote against opening of trade talks – Elysee offi cial

EU clears way for start of formal trade talks with USBRUSSELS, April 13, (RTRS): European Union countries gave ini-tial clearance on Thursday to start formal trade talks with the United States, EU sources said, a move de-signed but not guaranteed to smooth strained relations between the world’s two largest economies.

The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 28 member European Union, has sought clearance for two negotiating mandates – one to cut tariffs on in-dustrial goods, the other to make it easier for companies to show prod-ucts meet EU or US standards.

The Commission presented its mandates in January and found sup-port from most EU members. France resisted, however, insisting that ag-riculture should not feature in the talks but that climate change provi-sions should – a diffi cult demand given US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

The European Union and the Unit-ed States reached a detente last July when Trump agreed to hold off from imposing punitive tariffs on EU cars as the two sides sought to improve economic ties.

US tariffs still apply to EU steel and aluminium, however, while Trump threatened on Tuesday to impose fur-ther tariffs on $11 billion worth of EU products related to a long-running air-craft subsidy dispute.

A joint EU/US statement in July referred to a goal of removing tariffs on “non-auto industrial goods”.

EU sources said ambassadors agreed to the mandates at a meeting on Thursday.

National ministers will still need to give fi nal approval, although they would normally do so without de-bate. One source said the mandates had been added to the agenda of an agriculture ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The Commission has repeatedly said it will not discuss tariffs or bar-riers to trade in farm products, but is willing to discuss cars, setting it on a possible collision course with Washington. The Trump administra-tion has a wide-ranging wish list, in-cluding comprehensive agricultural market access.

Diplomats say Germany, whose exports of cars and parts to the United States are more than half the EU total, wants to press ahead with talks to ward off tariffs on carmak-ers Volkswagen, Mercedes maker Daimler and BMW.

France, with very few US car ex-ports, had been seeking to push the issue beyond the European Parlia-ment election in May, convinced that dealing with Trump is not a vote winner.

The US Trade Representative has meanwhile proposed targeting a list of $11 billion worth of EU products for tariffs, ranging from large com-mercial aircraft to dairy products and wine, as retaliation against European subsidies for Airbus. A fi nal list is expected this summer.

The European Commission said it

Burgan Bank appoints Masaud Hayat as Group CEO

Burgan Bank is pleased to announce the appoint-ment of Masaud Mahmoud Haji Jawhar Hayat as a Group Chief Executive Offi cer after obtaining the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait and the Board of Directors as of April 11, 2019. This move is a positive step towards facilitating the con-tinuous development of Burgan Bank as one of the pioneering banks in Kuwait, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Masoud has a proven track record in banking, commercial and investment industries and asset management in the region. He has a backing of over

44 years of local and international expertise in execu-tive, leadership, and supervisory positions in fi nancial and banking institutions as well as investment com-panies. Hayat has held key positions in the KIPCO Group since 1997, where he was recognized for his expertise and multidimensional skills.

Hayat – Chief Executive Offi cer of the Burgan Bank Group said, ”I am honored to be handed the most important role of leading such a dynamic brand into the next era of growth through a clear, effective vision and strategy. I am confi dent of the suitable cadres and fi eld qualifi cations of our

teams and look forward to reaching new heights in the group with advanced local and regional bank-ing knowledge.”

Hayat holds a BA degree in Economics from Kuwait University and a General Diploma in Bank-ing Sciences from the Institute of Banking Stud-ies in Kuwait. He also studied at the International Institute for Management Development in Geneva, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he studied the Executive Management Program.

Masaud Hayat, Group

Chief Ex-ecutive Offi cer,

Burgan Bank.

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves the podium after addressing a media conference at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, April 11, 2019. European Union leaders on Thursday offered Britain an exten-

sion to Brexit that would allow the country to delay its EU departure date until Oct 31. (AP)

Brexit delay would avoid ‘terribleoutcome’, says IMF chief Lagarde

Britain is at a turning point and our future is bright: Hammond

WASHINGTON, April 13, (RTRS): International Mon-etary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday a six-month delay of Britain’s exit from the European Union avoids the “terrible outcome” of a “no-deal” Brexit that would further pressure a slowing global

economy.But Lagarde, speaking at a news conference at the IMF and World Bank

spring meetings in Washington, said the arrangement would prolong un-certainty and would not resolve the issues between Britain and the Euro-pean Union.

Earlier on Thursday, EU leaders gave Britain another six months to sort

out its departure from the 28-mem-ber bloc, but the reprieve offered no clarity on when, how, or even if Brexit will happen.

“At least the UK is not leaving on April 12 without a deal. It gives time for continued discussions between the various parties involved in the UK. It probably gives time for eco-nomic agents to better prepare for all options, particularly industrialists and workers, in order to try to secure their future,” Lagarde said.

“A no-deal Brexit would have been a terrible outcome.”

Brexit is one of the many economic risks that prompted the IMF this week to cut its global growth forecast for 2019 to 3.3 percent, the lowest rate since 2016, with a slight rebound to 3.6 percent expected next year.

“We contend that we are at a deli-cate moment,” Lagarde said.

“This expected rebound ... is pre-carious and subject to downside risks, ranging from unresolved trade tensions, high debt in some sectors and countries – both public and cor-porate – to the risk of weaker-than-expected growth in some stressed economies and, of course, the conse-quences of whatever Brexit will be.”

British fi nance minister Philip Hammond made no mention of Brexit in a statement issued before he departed to Washington, but said he would urge fellow policymakers to fi nd ways to achieve sustainable economic growth and tackle climate change.

“Britain is at a turning point and our future is bright. We must work together with our partners across the world to create a safer, more pros-perous and more sustainable econ-omy for future generations,” Ham-mond said.

Lagarde also said IMF sharehold-ers were still undecided on whether to recognize Venezuelan opposi-tion chief Juan Guaido as the South American country’s leader, a step seen as required for the IMF and World Bank to provide aid.

President Nicolas Maduro’s so-cialist government has not request-ed any aid and Venezuela, which is mired in a deep economic crisis marked by widespread shortages of food and medicine, has shunned the IMF since 2004.

But the IMF is prepared to move quickly on a package once a decision on the leadership question has been made, Lagarde said. Her comments were echoed by David Malpass, the new president of the World Bank.

‘The game is over’

Blackouts ring death knellfor Venezuela’s industriesVALENCIA, Venezuela, April 13, (RTRS): The latest power outage kicked off another tough week for factory owner Antonello Lorusso in the city of Valencia, once Ven-ezuela’s industrial hub.

For the past month, unprece-dented nationwide blackouts have paralyzed the factory and the rest of the country, cutting off power, water and cell service to millions of Venezuelans.

Lorusso’s packaging plant, Dis-tribuidora Marina, had already struggled through years of hyper-infl ation, vanishing client orders and an exodus of employees.

But now the situation was worse.

For the whole month of March, Lorusso said his company pro-duced only its single daily capac-ity: 100 tonnes of packaged sugar and grains.

When Reuters visited on April 8, he was using a generator to keep just one of a dozen packaging ma-chines running to fulfi ll the single order he had received. Power had been on for a few hours, but was too weak to work the machines.

“There is no information, we don’t know if the blackouts will continue or not,” said Lorusso, who has owned the factory for over 30 years. He said the plant had just a day’s worth of power during the previous week.

Power has been intermittent since early March, when the fi rst major blackout plunged Venezuela into a week of darkness. Experts and the opposition have called the government incompetent at main-taining the national electrical grid.

President Nicolas Maduro has accused the opposition and the US government of sabotage.

IndustryVenezuelan industry has col-

lapsed during six years of reces-sion that have halved the size of the economy. What is left is large-ly outside of the capital Caracas, the only major city that Maduro’s government has excluded from a power-rationing plan intended to restrict the load on the system.

In Valencia, a few multinational companies like Nestle and Ford Motor Co hang on. But accord-ing to the regional business asso-ciation, the number of companies based there has fallen to a mere tenth of the 5,000 situated there two decades ago, when Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez became president.

The government said on April 4 that the power rationing plan meant Valencia would spend at most three hours a day without electricity.

But a dozen executives and workers there said outages were still lasting over 10 hours. Genera-tors are costly and can only power a fraction of a business’s opera-tions, they said, and many factories have shut down.

“The game is over. Companies are entering a state of despair due to their inviability,” said an ex-ecutive of a food company with factories in Valencia, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Industrial companies this year are operating below 25 percent of capacity, according to industry group Conindustria. It estimated companies here lost about $220 million during the days in March without power, and would lose $100 million more in April.

Nestle’s factory, which produces baby food, halted production during the fi rst blackout in early March and operations again froze two weeks later, with employees sent home un-til May, according to Rafael Garcia, a union leader at the plant.

lowHe blamed the most recent stop-

page on very low sales of baby food which cost almost a dollar per package, or about what someone earning minimum wage makes in a week.

“My greatest worry is the clo-sure of the factory,” said Garcia, as he sat at a bus stop on Valencia’s Henry Ford Avenue, in the city’s industrial outskirts where ware-houses sit empty and streets are covered in weeds.

Nestle, in a statement to Reuters, said it had “temporarily interrupt-ed its manufacturing activities” at its Valencia factory due to a lack of demand and would resume pro-duction in May.

Ford’s plant had been operat-ing at a bare minimum for several months, union leaders said. In De-cember, the carmaker began offer-ing buyouts to staff after it received no orders for 2019, they said. Ford had said in December it had “no plans to leave the country.”

The outages have idled more than just factories. In the country-side, lack of power has prevented farmers from pumping water to ir-rigate fi elds.

Since January, farmers have sown 17,500 hectares of crops – a third of the area seeded last year – and they fear losing the harvest due to the lack of water, according to agricultural associations.

In the central state of Cojedes, several rice growers have already lost their crops, farmers said.

“In the rural areas, the blackouts last longer,” said Jose Luis Perez, spokesman for a federation of rice producers.

Producers of cheese, beef, cured meats and lettuce told Reuters or-ders had dropped by half in March as buyers worried the food would perish once their freezers lost pow-er in the next blackout.

Back in Valencia, Lorusso was preparing his factory for the new era of scarce power. He has con-verted one unused truck in his parking lot into a water tank. He plans to sell another to buy a sec-ond generator.

Biggest in ten months

China trade data triggers Bund selloffLONDON, April 13, (RTRS): German 10-year yields were set for their biggest daily rise since last June after a rebound in Chinese exports gave investors hope that the global economic outlook is not as bad as expected.

Investors are hoping for signs of eco-nomic recovery in China to temper wor-ries about slowing global growth, after the IMF this week downgraded its 2019 world outlook for the third time.

But even there the picture was mixed. Exports rebounded in March but imports shrank for a fourth straight month. Nev-ertheless, bond investors took heart and dialled up their appetite for risk.

After a slow trading start, Germany’s 10-year government bond yields rose to three-week highs, crossing decisively into positive territory, and were last up 6.5 basis points on the day to 0.058 per-cent.

US 10-year Treasury yields rose to near three-week highs, and were last up over four basis points to 2.55 percent .

Other 10-year bond yields were also about six-seven basis points higher.

Antoine Bouvet, rates strategist at Mi-

zuho, said the trade data from China was the trigger for the yield rise as it added weight to the view that activity is stabilis-ing globally, but he noted that the move was oversized.

“China is a large contributor to global growth, and while in itself it is a fairly decent data print..., the reason why it has had such an oversized market impact is that we have heard from the IMF and two central banks that there is cause for con-cern,” Bouvet said.

“This creates a connotative dis-sonance; investors are positioned for weaker economy and we are seeing bet-ter data.” The move comes despite re-ports of a further downgrade to German growth in 2019 by Der Spiegel news magazine, adding to evidence of a wide-spread economic slowdown in Europe.

The German government is expected to halve its economic growth forecast for 2019 to 0.5 percent from 1.0 percent due to weaker exports in the wake of global trade tensions, Der Spiegel reported late on Thursday.

This is more pessimistic than the 0.8 percent estimate Germany’s leading

economic institutes gave for German growth, down from a previous estimate of 1.9 percent.

Worries about European growth prompted the European Central Bank to maintain its dovish stance at its April meeting on Wednesday. The anticipation of continued accommodative monetary policy in both the euro zone and in the United States kept downward pressure on core yields.

However, European Central Bank policymakers are increasingly leaning towards rewarding banks for lending to households and businesses but are mostly sceptical about giving lenders a reprieve from a charge on their idle cash, four sources told Reuters on Thursday.

“This report should go some way to help dampen market expectations for another rate reduction by the ECB,” Uni-Credit analysts wrote in a note. “Rate-cut expectations have built up modestly since the tiering discussion started in late March.”

Peripheral government bond yields continued to benefi t from the ECB’s dov-ish signals.


19

Indian prime minister’s office to hold talks on Jet Airways

The Indian prime minister’s office has called for an urgent meeting to discuss a crisis at debt-laden airline Jet Airways on Friday, television news channels reported.

The carrier, saddled with more than $1.2 billion of debt, has had to ground more than 80 percent of its fleet over unpaid dues to leasing companies, pushing it to the brink of shutdown and jeopardising hopes of attracting a new investor.

A Jet Airways spokesman said the

airline had suspended all west-bound international flights until Monday.

Government officials have previously expressed concern about the loss of jobs at the airline and on the prospect of higher Indian air fares if Jet Airways col-lapses.

Jet’s lenders, led by State Bank of India, are still trying to seek expressions of interest in the carrier from potential investors.

The banks have received initial bids from five to six companies, television

channels reported, citing sources. Nripendra Mishra, the principal secre-

tary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will chair the meeting at 6pm India time (1230 GMT), the TV channels said, add-ing that the aviation regulator and civil aviation secretary were also expected to attend.

Television news channel ET Now reported late on Friday that India’s avia-tion secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said the company had money to operate only 6-7 aircraft over the weekend.

A Boeing 737 MAX 8 air-plane being built for India-based Jet Airways, (top),

lands following a test flight on April 10 at

Boeing Field in Seattle. The Indian prime minis-

ter’s office has called for an urgent meeting to dis-

cuss a crisis at debt-laden airline Jet Airways on

Friday (AP)

China’s exports rebound from slumpAuto sales sinks in March for ninth month

BEIJING, April 13, (AP): China’s exports rebounded from a slump in March and sales to the United States rose despite President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes.

Exports rose 14.2% over a year ago to $198.7 billion, recovering from February’s 20.8% contrac-tion, customs data showed Friday. Imports fell 7.6% to $166 billion, worsening the previous month’s 5.2% decline.

Exports to the United States rose 3.7% to $31.8 billion, recov-ering from February’s 28.6% decline despite Trump’s tariffs of up to 25% on $250 billion of Chines goods.

Imports of American goods plunged 25.8% to $11.3 billion, hit by Chinese retaliatory duties and orders to buyers to find other suppliers.

The slump has added to pres-sure on Chinese leaders to make peace in a tariff war with Washington over Beijing’s tech-nology ambitions.

“Exports have yet to fully recover from a sharp slowdown late last year,” said Julians Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report.

Chinese government spokes-people said Thursday talks with Washington were making prog-ress after nine rounds of negotia-tions. The latest three-day meet-

ing in Washington last week dealt with technology transfer, intellec-tual property rights, agriculture and enforcement.

Economists say a settlement appears increasingly like. But they say even if that happens, this year’s Chinese exports will be lackluster.

Washington is pressing Beijing to scale back plans for govern-ment-led creation of Chinese competitors in robotics and other technologies. Europe, Japan and other trading partners echo US complaints those violate Beijing’s market-opening commitments.

The fight has disrupted trade in goods ranging from soybeans to medical equipment. The dispute has rattled financial markets and prompted the International Monetary Fund and other fore-casters to lower their outlook for global economic growth.

“The reversal of US tariffs would only provide a small boost to exports of around 1% to 2%,” said Evans-Pritchard. “With glob-al growth set to remain weak in the coming quarters, a strong rebound in exports therefore looks unlikely.”

Chinese exports to the 28-nation European Union rose 23.7% over a year earlier to $33.1 billion. Imports of European goods fell 4.9% to $22 billion.

Exports to the United States grew by double digits through most of 2018 despite Trump’s tar-

In this April 1 photo, tugboats move a container ship at a port in Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province. Data released on April 12 shows that China’s exports rebounded from a contraction in March and sales to the

United States grew strongly despite President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes. (AP)

iff hikes starting in July. But they slid in December once the full impact hit.

Exports to the United States in January and February fell 14.1% from a year earlier.

Also:BEIJING: China’s auto sales fell

again in March but the contraction in the biggest global market was smaller than in recent months, an industry group reported Friday.

Sales of SUVs, sedans and min-ivans in the industry’s biggest global market fell 6.9% from a year earlier to just over 2 million, according to the China Association

of Auto Manufacturers.It was the ninth straight month

of decline but an improvement over the 17.5% contraction in January and February.

Jittery consumers are less will-ing to make big purchases amid a tariff war with Washington and an economic slowdown.

The slump comes at an awk-ward time for global and Chinese automakers that are spending heavily to develop electric vehi-cles under government pressure to boost sales.

Sales of pure-electric and hybrid vehicles rose 85.4% to 126,000 but accounted for only about 6% of total passenger vehi-cle sales.

Beijing has promoted electrics with billions of dollars in research grants and buyer subsidies. But subsidies are due to end next year and regulators are shifting the burden to automakers by impos-ing mandatory sales targets for electrics.

That requires automakers to pour money into developing elec-tric models that can compete with gasoline-powered vehicles.

For the first three months of the year, passenger vehicle sales were off 13.7% at 5.3 million. Sales of SUVs, usually a bright spot for the industry, fell 14.2%.

Last year’s auto sales suffered their first decline in nearly three decades, falling 4.1% from 2017 to 23.7 million.

The downturn has prompted suggestions Beijing will cut sales taxes or offer other incentives.

Sales by Chinese brands fell 16.4% from a year earlier to 833,000 vehicles. Their market share contracted by 4.7 percent-age points to 41.3 percent.

Scrapping India’s trade privileges could hit US consumers, senators sayNEW DELHI, April 13, (RTRS): A US plan to end preferential duty-free imports of up to $5.6 billion from India could raise costs for American consumers, two US senators have told their country’s trade office, urging a delay in adopting the plan, and seeking more negotiations.

If President Donald Trump presses ahead with his plan to end the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for India, it could lose the status in early May, Indian officials have said, raising the prospect of retaliatory tariffs.

India is the world’s largest benefi-ciary of the GSP, dating from the 1970s, but trade ties with the US have widened over what Trump calls its high tariffs and concerns over New Delhi’s e-commerce policies.

“While we agree that there are a number of market access issues that can and should be addressed, we do remain concerned that the withdrawal of duty concessions will make Indian exports of eligible products to the United States costlier,” the senators, John Cornyn and Mark Warner, wrote.

“Some of these costs will likely be passed on to American consumers”.

In their Friday letter, the co-chairs of the Senate’s India caucus of more than 30 senators called for withdrawal

to be delayed until the end of India’s 39-day general elections, which began on Thursday, with results expected on May 23.

Allowing for talks to continue beyond the elections would underscore the importance of the trade ties, pre-senting an opportunity to resolve mar-ket access issues and improve the overall US-India relationship for years to come, they added.

If the United States scraps duty-free access for about 2,000 product lines, it will mostly hurt small and medium businesses in India, such as makers of engineering goods.

Despite close political ties, trade between India and the United States, which stood at $126 billion in 2017, is widely seen to be performing at nearly a quarter of its potential.

Trade relations suffered in the past few months after India adopted new rules on e-commerce reining in how companies such as Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc-backed Flipkart do business.

Last June, India said it would step up import duties varying from 20 per-cent to 120 percent on a slew of US farm, steel and iron products, angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminium tariffs.

Increase despite US sanctions

India’s 2018/19 Iran oil imports up 5 pct yr/yrNEW DELHI, April 13, (RTRS): India imported about 5 percent more oil from Iran in the last fis-cal year through March as com-panies raised purchases ahead of US sanctions against Tehran from November, preliminary tanker arrival data obtained from shipping and industry sources showed.

Despite Washington restricting India’s purchases from Tehran, refiners shipped in about 479,500 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in 2018/19 compared with about 458,000 bpd a year before, according to the data.

The United States introduced sanctions in November but gave a six-month waiver to eight

nations, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.

India was allowed by Washington to continue to buy about 300,000 bpd oil until early May.

In March India’s oil imports from Iran rose to about 405,000 bpd, about 56 percent higher than February, the data showed. March volumes were however about 6 percent lower than the purchase in the same month a year earlier.

A lack of ships delayed lifting of some cargoes to end-Febru-ary, leading to higher arrivals in March, sources said. BPCL could not lift a cargo from Iran as tank-er was not available, a company

source said.Since November, when India

received the sanctions waiver, only state-run Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals have been buy-ing Iranian oil.

India’s overall imports from Iran in 2018/19 were lower than the 500,000 bpd that Iran was hoping to sell to its second-big-gest oil client after China. Indian refiners raised purchases from Iran in April-October 2018, drawn to almost free shipping and extended credit offered by Tehran to boost sales.

In the first quarter of 2019,

India shipped in about 40 percent less oil from Iran at about 313,400 bpd, the data showed.

The sources declined to be identified as they were not autho-rised to speak with media.

Indian refiners have not yet placed orders to lift Iranian oil in May pending clarity on whether Washington will extend a the sanctions waiver.

India wants to keep buying Iranian oil at a level of 300,000 bpd, Indian sources said last month.

Refiners placed orders to buy 8 million barrels in April but India would receive higher volumes as some delayed cargoes of March arrive at Indian ports this month.

investment funds

NBK CAPITALMoney Market Funds Watani KD Money Market Fund II Watani Invesment Company Weekly April 02, 2019 KD 1.063 1.063 Mar 26, 2019 Watani USD Money Market Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly April 02, 2019 USD 10.531 10.526 Mar 26, 2019 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II Watani Invesment Company Weekly April 02, 2019 KD 1.062 1.061 Mar 26, 2019 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II Watani Invesment Company Weekly April 02, 2019 USD 10.349 10.344 Mar 26, 2019 NBK Kuwait Equity Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Mar 28, 2019 KD 0.777 0.733 Mar 14, 2019 Gulf Equity Investment Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Mar 28, 2019 USD 13.174 13.314 Mar 14, 2019 Regional Bond and Sukuk Investment Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Mar 28, 2019 USD 10.526 10.390 Mar 14, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Gulf Bank Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund Kwt. Fin. & Inv. Co. & Gulf Fin. House Monthly Mar 31, 2019 USD 7.545 7.265 Feb 28, 2019 Coast Fund Coast Investment & Dev. Co. Monthly Nov 30, 2018 KD 0.710 0.716 July 31, 2018 Markaz Real Estate Fund Bi-annual Mar 31, 2019 KD 1.349 1.351 Feb 28, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Ahli Bank Al Ahli Gulf Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly March 31, 2019 KD 1.096 1.054 Feb 28, 2019 Al Ahli Kuwaiti Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly March 31, 2019 KD 0.904 0.841 Feb 28, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Boubyan Bank Boubyan KD Money Market Fund II Boubyan Bank Weekly Mar 03, 2019 KD 1.042 1.042 Feb 27, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Capital Investment Co. Boubyan USD Liquidity Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co Mar 03, 2019 USD 10.500 10.499 Feb 27, 2019 Boubyan Multi-Asset Holding Fund Boubyan Bank Mar 03, 2019 USD 11.147 10.884 Jan 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Investment Co.Local Fund Al Raed Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Mar 07, 2019 KD 1.072 1.097 Jan 31, 2019 Kuwait Investment Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.783 0.793 Jan 31, 2019 Al Hilal Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly Mar 04, 2019 KD 0.736 0.736 Feb 11, 2019 Al Atheer Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Feb 28, 2019 KD 1.099 1.097 Jan 31, 2019International Diversified Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Feb 28, 2019 USD 20.150 19.710 Jan 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Investment Co. (NIC) Al-Wataniya Fund NIC Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.625 0.626 Jan 31, 2019 Al-Darij Fund NIC Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.371 0.371 Jan 31, 2019 Mawarid Fund NIC Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.513 0.517 Jan 31, 2019 Zajil Fund NIC Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.769 0.765 Jan 31, 2019 Al Mada Investment Fund NIC Weekly Feb 28, 2019 USD 0.841 0.841 Jan 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) Mumtaz Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Jan 31, 2019 KD 4.526 4.498 Dec 27, 2019 MIDAF Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Jan 31, 2019 KD 3.447 3.433 Dec 27, 2019 Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Jan 31, 2019 KD 1.683 1.687 Dec 27, 2019 FORSA Financial Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Jan 31, 2019 KD 1.080 1.063 Dec 31, 2018 Real Estate Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Jan 31, 2019 KD 1.352 1.359 Nov 30, 2018

Kuwait & Middle East Financial & Inv. Co. Al Rou’yah Fund KMEFIC Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 1.298 1.301 Jan 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Global Investment HouseIndex Funds GCC Large Cap Index Fund Global Weekly Mar 21, 2019 KD 1.536 1.439 Feb 21, 2019Equity Funds Al-Mamoun Fund A Global Weekly Mar 21, 2019 KD 0.758 0.723 Feb 21, 2019 Al-Mamoun Fund B Global Weekly Mar 21, 2019 KD 0.758 0.723 Feb 21 2019 GCC Large Cap Fund Global Weekly Mar 26, 2019 USD 178.907 175.015 Feb 21, 2019 Global Saudi Equity Fund Global Biweekly Mar 26, 2019 SAR 283.501 275.707 Feb 26 2019Sectoral Funds EPADI Fund Global Weekly Mar 26, 2019 USD 105.838 105.221 Feb 21, 2019Islamic Funds Global GCC Islamic Fund Global Weekly Mar 12, 2019 USD 110.251 111.274 Feb 21, 2019 Al-Durra Islamic Fund Global Weekly Mar 21, 2019 KD 1.345 1.313 Feb 21, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Finance & Investment Co (KFIC) Al Wasm Fund KFIC Weekly April 03, 2019 KD 0.529 0.467 Feb 13, 2019 Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund KFIC Monthly Mar 31, 2019 USD 7.545 7.266 Feb 28, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KAMCO KAMCO Investment Fund KAMCO Monthly Dec 30, 2018 KD 1.206 1.253 July 31, 2018 KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund KAMCO Dec 30, 2018 USD 9.070 9.050 Nov 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Wafra International Investment Co. Wafra Equity Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.967 0.963 Jan 31, 2019 Wafra Bond Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 1.063 1.060 Jan 31, 2019 Masaref Investment Fund ISKAN Weekly Feb 28, 2019 KD 1.256 1.201 Jan 31, 2019 Fajir Islamic Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Feb 28, 2019 KD 0.764 0.770 Jan 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al-Tharwa Investment Co. Tharwa Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly Dec 31, 2018 KD 1.182 1.912 Nov 30, 2018 Tharwa Islamic Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly Dec 31, 2018 KD 0.678 0.676 Nov 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bank Al-Bilad Al Seef Fund Bank Al-Bilad Daily Feb 27, 2019 KD 0.458 0.462 Feb 17, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Commercial International Bank CIB Money Market Fund (Osoul) CI Asset Management Weekly Apr 11, 2019 EGP 375.990 374.450 Mar 31, 2019 CIB II Equity (Isthethmar) CI Asset Management Weekly Apr 11, 2019 EGP 224.660 225.420 Mar 28, 2019 CIB and Faisal Islamic Al Aman CI Asset Management Weekly Apr 11, 2019 EGP 117.470 117.520 Mar 28, 2019 Hemaya CI Asset Management Weekly Apr 01, 2019 EGP 227.340 224.780 Mar 03, 2019 Thabat CI Asset Management Weekly Apr 11, 2019 EGP 245.590 244.570 Mar 31, 2019 Takamol CI Asset Management Weekly Apr 11, 2019 EGP 198.260 198.840 Mar 31, 2019 Misr El Mostakbel CI Asset Management Weekly Mar 31 2019 EGP 26.230 25.810 Mar 31, 2019 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————KFH Capital Muthanna Islamic Index Fund (MUDX) KFH Capital Investment Co Daily Nov 30, 2018 KD 0.407 0.406 Oct 31, 2018 Muthanna GCC Islamic Banks Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Daily Nov 30, 2018 KD 0.721 0.737 Oct 31, 2018 Baitak GCC Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Weekly June 29, 2017 KD 0.930 0.916 Feb 28, 2017

Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV)————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV)————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Turkish lira leads declines in EM currencies

Turkey led declines in most emerging mar-ket currencies on Friday, with the lira sliding as investor disappointment over the govern-ment’s economic reform plan unveiled this week left a pall over the currency.

A reform plan released on Wednesday featuring a 28 billion lira ($4.85 billion) capi-tal injection into Turkish state banks did little to soothe frayed nerves as the government tries to gain market credibility and deliver a turnaround for the battered economy.

MSCI’s index of emerging market cur-rencies dipped 0.1 percent, while the de-

veloping world stocks index edged lower.Turkey’s lira was 0.8 percent weaker on

the day after plumbing three-week lows. It is poised to post a 2.6 percent drop on the week.

“If you look at the Turkish lira I don’t see any reason why it would appreciate,” said Guillaume Tresca, senior emerging mar-ket strategist at Credit Agricole. He said “there was really nothing new” with the re-form plan despite investors’ expectations being quite low.

“It’s not a real market ... you don’t take the

risk on TRY, or if you do it is just for one, two or maybe three days,” Tresca said, referring to Turkish authorities recent squeeze on lira short-sellers in the offshore market.

Turkish stocks fell 0.7 percent on broad-based losses, while the country’s dollar bonds dipped across the curve.

Turkey has stood its ground against the United States in recent weeks over pro-curing a Russian missile defence system, saying it would look elsewhere if it cannot get Patriot missile shields and F-35 jets from Washington. (RTRS)


20

Dollar weighed by euro strength

Oil rises as supply cutsoutweigh China ‘fears’LONDON, April 13, (RTRS): Oil prices rose on Friday as in-voluntary supply cuts from Ven-ezuela and Iran plus conflict in Libya supported perceptions of a tightening market, already under-pinned by a production reduction deal from OPEC and its allies.

Brent crude oil futures were at $71.47 a barrel at 1332 GMT, up 64 cents or 0.90 percent and heading for their third weekly gain in a row.

US West Texas Intermedi-ate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.20, up 62 cents or about 1 percent.

“For the momentum to con-tinue next week, WTI needs to close today above $64 a barrel and preferably break the resis-tance of $65 a barrel. Volume has been very strong throughout the week,” Petromatrix’s Olivier Jakob said.

Oil markets have been lifted by more than a third this year by supply cuts led by the Organiza-tion of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, US sanctions on oil exporters Iran and Venezuela, plus escalating conflict in fellow OPEC member Libya.

The head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation warned on Fri-day that renewed fighting could wipe out crude production in the country.

“We see Brent and WTI prices averaging $75 per barrel and $67 per barrel respectively through the rest of this year, but risk is asymmetrically skewed to the up-side,” RBC Capital Markets said in a note.

“Geopolitically infused ral-lies could shoot prices toward or even past the $80 per barrel mark for intermittent periods this sum-mer.”

OPEC and its allies meet in June to decide whether to contin-ue withholding supply. Though OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, is considered keen to keep cutting, sources within the group said it could raise output from July if disruptions continue elsewhere.

On the demand side, most of the world’s growth in fuel con-sumption is coming from Asia, where China’s economic growth is expected to slow to its lowest in nearly 30 years at 6.2 percent this year, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

However, concern over such a slowdown was muted on Friday.

“While macro fears of an eco-nomic hard landing may be over-blown, the concentration risk of global oil demand (in Asia) re-mains underappreciated,” RBC Capital Markets said.

Meanwhile, the dollar weak-ened against the euro as the common currency climbed in a move dealers said may have been driven by anticipated currency

demand arising from a Japanese bank’s plans to purchase a Ger-man multi-billion dollar aviation finance business. Signs of eco-nomic stabilization in China and a strong start to US corporate earnings season boosted demand for riskier assets, leaving the dol-lar to turn in its worst weekly per-formance against the euro in four weeks. The euro was 0.4% higher against the dollar at$1.1295, its highest since March 26. Specula-tors were buying the euro in re-sponse to reports on Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s planned purchase of the aviation financ-ing business of Germany’s DZ Bank, dealers said. The transac-tion was announced on March 1 and MUFG said it was expected to close after June. “The euro was well-supported in the Asian session on Japanese demand on the crosses but the euro has also looked quite ‘cheap’ in broader terms in recent weeks and still looks – in our opinion – a relative bargain around the 1.12 area,” Shaun Osborne, chief FX strate-gist at Scotiabank in Toronto, said in a note. Investors’ appe-tite for riskier currencies got a boost after Chinese data showed exports rebounded last month, helping offset weaker imports, and reports of another reduction in Germany’s growth forecasts, analysts said. Data from Europe was encouraging. Eurozone in-dustrial output declined by less than expected in February. US stocks climbed back to near re-cord highs on Friday after the largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, soothed worries that the first-quarter earnings season would pour cold water on Wall Street’s big rally back from last year’s slump. “It’s a party-like atmosphere for markets. Good news from China and US earn-ings off to an auspicious start,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Busi-ness Solutions in Washington. “This has safe-havens on their back foot, that’s why the dol-lar is underperforming,” he said. Against the Japanese yen , which tends to benefit during geopoliti-cal or financial stress as Japan is the world’s biggest creditor na-tion, the dollar rose 0.35%. The Australian dollar , which is sen-sitive to shifts in risk sentiment, jumped 0.69%. The British pound rallied as the immediate risks around Brexit receded after the postponement of the departure date and as the dollar suffered a broad selloff, although collapsing volatility signalled a reluctance to bet big. Sterling was up0.13% at $1.3071. Turkey’s lira was 0.5% weaker on the day after plumbing three-week lows, as investor ex-pressed disappointment over the Turkish government’s economic reform plan unveiled this week.

China’s economic data, JPMorganresults buoy stocks, riskier assets

S&P 500’s Total Return Index posts record closing high

NEW YORK, April 13, (RTRS): Global stocks rose on Friday after JPM-organ’s results kicked off the US corporate earnings season in style, while signs of stabilization in China’s economy helped riskier assets amid talk that the growth outlook worldwide is better than thought.

Chinese data showed exports re-bounded in March, lifting US and eurozone bond yields to three-week highs and helping offset weaker im-ports and reports of another cut to German growth forecasts.

Investors are looking for signs of a Chinese economic recovery to temper global growth worries, especially after the International Monetary Fund this week downgraded its 2019 world eco-nomic outlook for the third time.

MSCI’s gauge of equity market performance in 47 countries gained 0.46%, while the EURO STOXX 50 index rose 0.36%.

JPMorgan’s quarterly earnings eas-ily beat analyst estimates, easing fears that slowing economic growth could weigh on results. JPMorgan’s shares rose 4.69% and led a broad rally in bank stocks, with the KBW banking index gaining 1.94%.

Regional lenders in Europe, includ-ing StanChart, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse, also rallied on JPM’s results, taking the European bank index up 1.9 percent to a five-month high.

USUS stocks closed near record highs

on Friday after the largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, soothed wor-ries that the first-quarter earnings sea-son would dampen Wall Street’s big rally back from last year’s slump.

The S&P 500 is now within a per-cent of September’s record closing high, and the S&P 500 Total Return Index, which includes reinvested divi-dends, in fact regained record levels, recovering ground lost after a punish-ing sell-off in the closing months of the year which brought the benchmark index within a rounding error of bear market territory.

Since then, the three major indexes notched their best quarterly gains in nearly a decade in the first quarter, but have spent April in a holding pattern ahead of first-quarter earnings season.

JPMorgan, effectively jump-starting the quarterly earnings reporting season that will dominate investor sentiment in coming weeks, blew past analyst estimates, easing fears that slowing economic growth could weigh on its results. Its stock rose 4.7% and led a broad rally in bank stocks.

Analyst now expect S&P 500 com-panies to show a 2.3% year-on-year decline in earnings, slightly improved from their last reading, per Refinitiv

Trader Tommy Kalikas works on the fl oor of the New York

Stock Exchange on April 12, 2019. US stocks moved

broadly higher in early trading Friday on Wall Street, putting the market on track for gains at the end of a shaky week.

(AP)

Investors await first quarter earnings

Industrial stocks gains put to testNEW YORK, April 13, (RTRS): In-vestors betting on industrial stocks this year have been rewarded, with the group among the best-performing sectors so far, but that strength will be tested in the coming weeks as compa-nies report results.

Industrials have outperformed the broader market this year, thanks in part to optimism that the United States may soon have a trade deal with China, as well as expectations the Federal Re-serve will not raise interest rates again any time soon.

As fi rst-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies ramp up, investors will hear from Honeywell International, Union Pacifi c Corp and Kansas City Southern next week.

The S&P 500 industrials index is up more than 19% for the year so far, compared with a roughly 15% gain in the S&P 500.

While industrial stocks and the rest of the market have risen on hopes that a China trade deal is near, excecutives have warned about the confl ict’s im-pact, with the industrials space seen as one of the most sensitive.

Costs for certain raw materials have increased as the United States imposed tariffs on imports from China and oth-er countries.

Investors will likely hear more this earnings period about the effects of the tariffs, and weakness in China and the rest of the global economy, on US

companies.“Industrials and tech have been two

of the sectors that have called out the risks from trade frequently on earnings calls,” said Jill Carey Hall, equity and quant strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

“Some of them have seen valuations or estimates come down substantially on those risks.” Because of that, in-dustrial companies could have further to gain if there is a trade deal or any reversal to existing tariffs, she said. The bank has an overweight rating on industrials this year.

The sector has continued to outper-form even with problems for one of its leaders. Boeing shares were pum-melled last month after its popular 737 MAX jet was involved in a second fa-tal crash and the aircraft was grounded worldwide.

Results and comments from Boeing, airlines and aerospace suppliers also are likely to generate investor atten-tion.

Wall Street analysts have been try-ing to gauge the fi nancial hit to Boeing since the March deadly plane crash in Ethiopia.

At the same time, Southwest Air-lines Co has cut its fi nancial outlook for the year after being forced to pull its new fl eet of 34 Boeing 737 MAX planes out of service, and United Air-lines has said it would see an adverse effect on its operations if the jets re-

mained grounded heading into the peak summer travel season.

“There’s certainly risk at companies that sell into Boeing planes, although what we’re hearing is Boeing hasn’t so far cut back on any supplier orders. That could be in second-quarter fore-casts,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief in-vestment strategist at Inverness Coun-sel in New York.

Boeing’s results are due April 24. Lockheed Martin and other aerospace and defense names are due the same week.

Those bullish on the industrials sector also argue that its valuation remains attractive despite this year’s strong gains.

The S&P 500 industrial index is trading at 15.9 times forward 12-month earnings, still among the lowest of the 11 S&P sector and below the benchmark S&P 500’s 16.8 price-to-earnings ratio, according to IBES data from Refi nitiv.

First-quarter earnings for the sec-tor are expected to have increased just 1.6% from a year earlier, though that’s better than the expected 2.3% decline in overall S&P 500 earnings, based on Refi nitiv’s data.

Analysts see General Electric Co as the largest drag on the industrials sector’s fi rst-quarter earnings, based on Refi nitiv’s data. If GE’s results are removed, the sector’s earnings are ex-pected to have increased 4.0%. GE is due to report April 30.

data. But first-quarter profit is still seen logging its first annual contraction since 2016.

However, of the 29 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported thus far, 79.3% have come in above analyst ex-pectations.

Walt Disney Co jumped 11.5% to an all-time high, providing the biggest boost to the Dow and the S&P 500 after pricing its upcoming streaming service.

Streaming rival Netflix Inc slid 4.5%.

The Nasdaq and the Dow are both about 1.5% below their previous re-cord highs.

For the week, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq showed their third straight gains, while the Dow posted a nominal weekly loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Aver-age rose 269.25 points, or 1.03%, to 26,412.3, the S&P 500 gained 19.09 points, or 0.66%, to 2,907.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 36.81 points, or 0.46%, to 7,984.16.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but healthcare ended the ses-sion in positive territory.

Financials were the largest percent-age gainer, rising 1.9% on the back of JPMorgan Chase earnings.

Healthcare stocks extended their

slide, with UnitedHealth Group down 5.2%, Anthem Inc dropping 8.5% and Humana Inc off 2.8%. The S&P 500 Healthcare index slipped 1.0%.

In the largest energy deal since 2016, Chevron Corp said it would buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp for $33 bil-lion in cash and stock.

Chevron’s stock dipped by 4.9% following the announcement, while Anadarko shot up 32.0%.

UKGains in financial stocks and min-

ers after some promising data from China and positive US bank earnings led Britain’s FTSE 100 higher on Fri-day, while a plunge in revenue took down mid-cap online trading platform Plus500 and its peers.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent and the FTSE 250 rose 0.5 percent to cling to a six-month high hit in the pre-vious session to cap off a third straight week of gains.

Plus500 slumped more than 31 per-cent on its worst day in almost four years after its quarterly revenue plum-meted to below a fifth of a year earlier. It took a hit from less market volatility creating fewer trading opportunities and new rules affecting retail clients.

Its peer CMC Markets gave up 4.3

percent.Mining companies Rio Tinto and

Glencore added 1.2 percent and 3 per-cent, respectively, and were among the biggest boosts to the main index as copper prices rebounded. Spreadex an-alyst Connor Campbell also attributed the rise to data showing China’s iron ore imports rose in March after touch-ing a 10-month low in February.

Mid-cap Games Workshop Group jumped 12.1 percent on its best day since June 2017 after it guided to high-er annual pretax profit.

EuropeEuropean shares finished higher for

a third straight day on Friday, with in-vestor sentiment getting a boost from JP Morgan setting a strong start to US earnings and amid signs of stabiliza-tion in China’s economy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 in-dex closed up 0.16 percent, but ended the week lower after two weeks of gains. Banks and the auto sector were the biggest boosts to the benchmark on the day.

Spain’s MIB led gains in the region with its 0.8 percent rise, having hit an eight-month high earlier the session, while German shares closed up 0.5 percent.

exchange rates – April 12

US dollar

BEC

Muzaini

Commercial Bank

Gulf Bank

NBK

Burgan Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellSell

BEC

Muzaini

Commercial Bank

Gulf Bank

NBK

Burgan Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuy

Cash.300650.305950

——

.299000

.306450——————

.303700

.305800

.301660

.307170—

Draft.302400.304750.304750

—.302600.306200.303350.305450.302850.305950

——

.301200

.307300

.302350

.305450—

Danish krone

Cyprus pound

BEC Muzaini

Gulf Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BECCommercial BankGulf BankAl-Ahli Bank

BECMuzaini Exchange

BuySellBuySell BuySellBuySellBuySellSell

US dollar ————

Gold 999 kg— —

Gold 999 10 tola——

Gold ounce——

Gold gm 22k——

Gold gm 21k——

Gold gm 18k——

100 gm 999——

10 gm 999——

Transfer.302400.304750.304750

—.302600.306200.303350.305450.302850.305950

——

.301200

.307300

.302350

.305450—

Cash.041866.046866

———————————————

Draft.041866.046866

——

.045831

.046377

.045501

.046886

.045640

.046350————

.045402

.046432—

Cash———————————

Draft——— ————————

Transfer——— ————————

Sterling pound

Cash.392262.406162

— —

.395000

.404000——————

.398060

.406220

.392796

.404451—

Draft.391761.402761.402120

—.396043.400755.393217.405154.392520.402970

——

.395020

.406200

.391150

.404477—

Indian rupee

Yemeni riyal

Transfer.391761.402761.402120

—.396043.400755.393217.405154.392520.402970

——

.395020

.406200

.391150

.404477—

Cash.003786.004558

——

.004000

.006500———————————

Draft.004333.004413.441000

——

.004436—

.004494

.004332

.004447——

.004350

.004450

.004343

.004485—

Transfer.004333.004413.441000

——

.004436—

.004494

.004332

.004447——

.004350

.004450

.004343

.004485—

Cash.000991.001071

—————————

Draft.009807.001080.001224

—————

.001200

.001234—

Transfer.009807.001080.001224

—————

.001200

.001234—

Euro

Cash.337641.351341

——

.340000

.348000——————

.339700

.347430

.338229

.348761—

Draft.339640.348640.345280

—.342528.346603.339603.350042.338620.348510

——

.337160

.347160

.336455

.349099—

Pakistani rupee

Thai baht

Transfer.339640.348640.345280

—.342528.346603.339603.350042.338620.348510

——

.337160

.347160

.336455

.349099—

Cash.001510.002280

——————————————

Draft.002605

.002780 .220100

——

.002169—

.002198—

.002179————

.002118

.002173—

Transfer.002605

.002780 .220100

——

.002169—

.002198—

.002179————

.002118

.002173—

Cash.009254.009804

—————————

Draft.009237.009652 .096080

—————

.009361

.009768—

Transfer.009237.009652 .096080

—————

.009361

.009768—

Japanese yen

Cash.002644.002824

———————————————

Draft.002643.002823.002772

—.002704.002736.002680.002762.002681.002760

——

.002710

.002760

.002661

.002813—

Sri Lankan rupee

South African rand

Transfer.002643.002823.002772

—.002704.002736.002680.002762.002681.002760

——

.002710

.002760

.002661

.002813—

Cash .001400.001980

——

.002000

.003500———————————

Draft .001702.001746.001741

——

.001756—

.001781

.001718

.001769————

.001723

.001757—

Transfer.001702.001746.001741

——

.001756—

.001781

.001718

.001769————

.001723

.001757—

Cash——————————

Draft————— ——————

Transfer————— ——————

Swiss franc

Cash.298050.309050

——

.301000

.312000———————————

Draft.299050.306050.307210

—.302509.306108.299948.309062.298870.308320

——

.302530.30910

.295813

.311144—

Bangladesh taka

Korean won

Transfer.299050.306050.307210

—.302509.306108.299948.309062.298870.308320

——

.302530.30910

.295813

.311144—

Draft.003584.003613.036010

——

.003668—

.003716——————

.003542

.003665—

Cash.003057.003858

— ——————————————

Transfer.003584.003613.036010

——

.003668—

.003716——————

.003542

.003665—

Cash.000259.000274

—————————

Draft———— ———————

Transfer———— ———————

Canadian dollar

Cash.223695.232695

——

.225000

.233000———————————

Draft.221695.231695.230700

—.227126.229828.225130.231965.222680.230580

——

.227140

.231220

.223005

.232175—

Philippine peso

Syrian pound

Transfer.221695.231695.230700

—.227126.229828.225130.231965.222680.230580

——

.227140

.231220

.223005

.232175—

Cash.005820.006120

——

.005000

.007900———————————

Draft.005424.005893.005888

——

.005937—

.006007

.005690

.005950————

.005642

.005973—

Transfer.005424.005893.005888

——

.005937—

.006007

.005690

.005950————

.005642

.005973—

Cash.001292.001512

——— — —————

Draft.001292.001512

——— ——————

Transfer.001292.001512

——— ——————

Swedish krona

Cash.028761.033761

———————————————

Draft.028899.033899

——

.032650

.033039

.032400

.033392

.032540

.033010————

.032492

.033121—

Australian dollar

Iranian Riyal

Transfer.028899.033899

——

.032650

.033039

.032400

.033392

.032540

.033010————

.032492

.033121—

Cash.210764.222764

——

.215000

.223000———————————

Draft.208764.221764

——

.217358

.219943

.215296

.221878

.212780

.221390——

.214370

.217610

.210375

.224903 —

Transfer.208764.221764

——

.217358

.219943

.215296

.221878

.212780

.221390——

.214370

.217610

.210375

.224903 —

Cash———————————

Draft———————————

Transfer———————————

Saudi riyal

Cash.080180

.081573 ——

.078000

.082000————————

.080511

.081556—

Draft.080680.081320.813210

—.080708.081669.080837.082058.080820.081580

——

.080010 .082070.080511.081556

—

Hong Kong dollar

Lebanese pound

Transfer.080680.081320.813210

—.080708.081669.080837.082058.080820.081580

——

.080010 .082070.080511.081556

—

Cash.037081.039831

———————————————

Draft.036581.039681.038854

—.038581.039040.038273.039436

—————————

Transfer.036581.039681.038854

—.038581.039040.038273.039436

—————————

Cash.000157.000257

—————————

Draft.000191.000211.002030

——— ——

.000197

.000206—

Transfer.000191.000211.002030

——— ——

.000197

.000206—

UAE dirham

Cash.081547.083247

——

.082339

.083167————————

.082205

.083267—

Draft.081502.082998.830270

—.083167.082407.082079.083785.082530.083300

——

.082110

.083480

.082205

.083267—

Singapore dollar

Malaysian ringgit

Transfer.081502.082998.830270

—.083167.082407.082079.083785.082530.083300

——

.082110

.083480

.082205

.083267—

Cash.219972 .229972

——————————————

Draft.216086 .222086 .227000

—.223635.226295.221706.228537.221740.226830

——

.223100

.226160

.221778

.227422—

Transfer.216086

.222086 .227000

—.223635.226295.221706.228537.221740.226830

——

.223100

.226160

.221778

.227422—

Cash.070522.076522

—————————

Draft.069339.076339.077941

—————

.072750

.075012—

Transfer.069339.076339.077941

—————

.072750

.075012—

Bahraini dinar

Cash.793785.810285

——

.802202

.810264 ————————

.801458

.815621—

Draft.801284.809784.809750

—.803079.812639.799599.816296.803470.811500

——

.797790

.813010

.801458

.815621—

Jordanian dinar

Indonesian rupiah

Transfer.801284.809784.809750

—.803079.812639.799599.816296.803470.811500

——

.797790

.813010

.801458

.815621—

Cash.424927.433927

——

.420000

.440000———————————

Draft.424056.431556.430560

——

.434234—

.437144

.422970

.436450——

.426570

.433770

.425246

.432281—

Transfer.424056.431556.430560

——

.434234—

.437144

.422970

.436450——

.426570

.433770

.425246

.432281—

Cash.000017.000023

—— ———————

Draft.000016.000023

—— —

.000022—————

Transfer.000016.000023

—— —

.000022—————

Omani riyal

Cash .785240.790920

——

.786427

.794331————————

.784876

.793748—

Draft .780150.791150 .792073

—.786219.795573.783019.799377.787410.794610

——

.784400

.796660

.784876

.793748—

Egyptian pound

New Zealand dollar

Transfer .780150.791150 .792073

—.786219.795573.783019.799377.787410.794610

——

.784400

.796660

.784876

.793748—

Cash.017747.020347.020850

—.012000.023000

——————————

Draft.016877.017690.017578

——

.018259—

.018707

.016970

.018050——

.016550

.018030

.017101

.018095—

Transfer.016877.017690.017578

——

.018259—

.018707

.016970

.018050——

.016550

.018030

.017101

.018095—

Cash.200298.209798

—— ———————

Draft.198297.209297

——

.202716

.208949—————

Transfer.198297.209297

——

.202716

.208949—————

All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

travellers cheques local gold Sterling————

Euro————

Transfer.041866.046866

——

.045831

.046377

.045501

.046886

.045640

.046350————

.045402

.046432—

iflix secures Yoshimoto Kogyo investment

Japan’s largest talent agency, Yoshimoto Kogyo has made an investment in regional video streaming platform ifl ix. The two companies will also cooperate on showcasing Yoshimoto’s content across Asia, the Middle east and Africa.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Nor was the size of the equity stake, though the two companies described it as “strategic” and “signifi cant”.

Founded by Malaysia’s Catcha group, ifl ix already has investment from European satellite broad-caster Sky ($45 million in 2016). Publicly disclosed funding rounds in March 2017 brought in $90 million and Liberty Global, while a $133 round in August 2017 brought in Hearst Entertainment.

Their new joint-venture will be based in Singapore and pro-duce versions of Japanese con-tent formats, especially in the

animation, drama, movies, vari-ety, and comedy genres that are localized for Asian audiences. In the future, it hopes to develop original Japanese programs and movies for the Asian market.

Yoshimoto is already active in Indonesia, one of ifl ix’s key trerritories. In 2014, it established MCIP Holdings and began the “Living in Asia Comedians” pro-gram, which now has Yoshimoto comedians living and working in 7

different countries in Asia. Hideaki Shimizu, VP of Yoshimoto Ko-gyo, called the latest move: “A big step for Yoshimoto Kogyo’s Asian strategy.”

“We have an incredible op-portunity to deliver a uniquely lo-calized product for ifl ix audienc-es based on proven Japanese comedy formats with mass ap-peal through this joint venture,” said Mark Britt, ifl ix co-founder and group CEO. (AP)

Business PlusPlus

Son is the true emperor of future mobility.‘ ’

A year ago, the country was experiencing slow-

ing rental markets and tighter for-sale markets.

Today, most of the country is experiencing

the opposite.

‘

’

Services range from ride hailing and car sharing to delivery robots and self-driving vehicles

Inside SoftBank’s push to rule the road around the worldmuch more lucrative than those that offer just one core business or service.

But the fact that many of Soft-Bank’s companies are rivals can complicate the investor’s ambi-tions. Uber and Ola, the Indian ride-hailing company, remain fi erce competitors and are never in the same room when SoftBank discusses ride-hailing strategies, Claure said.

Traditionally in venture capital, funds do not invest in direct com-petitors.

“There are tremendous syner-gies, but on the other hand there is signifi cant risk of tremendous confl icts of interest,” said Paul Asel, managing partner at NGP Capital and a longtime mobility investor.

There are limits to the investor’s infl uence, however. For example, SoftBank encouraged Cruise to acquire or take a stake in self-driving startup Nuro, but talks between the companies never led to a deal, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

So SoftBank made its own, $940 million investment in Nuro.

In his fi ve-year transportation push, Son’s stakes in ride services startups now look like bargains. In late 2014, SoftBank joined Alibaba, China’s internet giant in which SoftBank also has a stake, in a $600 million funding round in Kuaidi Dache, the forerunner of China’s Didi.

That investment has grown to more than $11 billion in Didi, in which SoftBank now holds more than 20 percent.

SoftBank’s partnerships with major automakers are also prov-ing to be a boon to transportation startups. Toyota invested in Uber in 2016, then boosted its stake seven months after SoftBank’s investment. Honda followed SoftBank with an investment into Grab, and last year committed $2.75 billion to Cruise’s self-driving project, aiding SoftBank’s ambitions.

But the SoftBank portfolio is not without risks, particularly for companies dependent on the Japa-nese fi rm to sustain them fi nan-cially for years to come. SoftBank faces fi nancial pressures, includ-ing an obligation to pay an annual 7 percent dividend on a portion of the invested capital and has burnt through the majority of the Vision Fund.

And it is compelled by a new US law cracking down on foreign investment in technology to sub-mit many of its mobility invest-ments to a government regulatory agency for approval. Should that regulatory group block a deal, it could be catastrophic to a startup.

But there is some safety for Son given the size of his portfolio.

“He’s shooting for big game,” Roger Lanctot, global automotive practice director at Strategy Ana-lytics, said of Son. “He only needs to bag one or two and he will do just fi ne.” (RTRS)

In this file photo, representative Director and CTO of SoftBank Corp, Junichi Miyakawa (left), and Executive Vice-President of Toyota Motor Corporation Shigeki Tomoyama (right), shake hands during a press conference in Tokyo. SoftBank is placing a $60 billion bet in more than 40 companies in a bid to steer the $3 trillion global automotive industry. (AP)

It’s a great time to be a landlord in America

Apartment rents climbing, and poised to go higherNEW YORK, April 13, (AP): It’s a great time to be a landlord in America, not so much if you’re a renter.

Apartment rents are continuing to rise this year, fueled by higher demand from millennials looking for a place of their own, strong job growth and rising wages.

The US median rent climbed 3.4% in March from a year earlier to $1,535, according to data from on-line rental housing portal HotPads.

While apartment construction surged in the years after the housing bust, it hasn’t kept up with demand, giving landlords the upper hand. Years of rising home prices, mean-while, have made it more difficult for many would-be homebuyers to save up for a down payment.

“Even though mortgage rates are sliding a little bit and are lower than the historical average, you still have a huge amount of people who are

not able to afford homes right now,” said Joshua Clark, an economist at HotPads. “That’s keeping people renting and that’s going to keep people competing against each other for the same units.”

The national median rent has risen annually since at least Decem-ber 2012, the earliest data available from HotPads.

That trend has developed against the backdrop of a steady increase

in rental households and a sharp decline in the home-ownership rate for much of the last two decades.

The number of renter-occupied US housing units climbed from a low of around 32.9 million in 2004 to a high of about 44.08 million in 2016. It’s been mostly flat ever since, reaching around 43.11 million at the end of last year, according to Census data.

At the same time, the nation’s home-ownership rate has tumbled from a high of 69% in 2004. It bot-tomed out at 63.4% in 2016 and has since crept higher, reaching 64.4% last year.

HotPads’ March report shows rents are rising in all of the nation’s top 50 most populous metropolitan areas.

Phoenix notched the biggest gain, with its median rent vaulting 6.7% from a year earlier to $1,520. On the opposite end of the scale, the me-

dian rent in Houston rose just 1.3% in March to $1,585. New York’s median rent also rose slightly, increasing 1.5% to $2,380.

“A year ago, the country was experiencing slowing rental markets and tighter for-sale markets,” Clark said. “Today, most of the country is experiencing the opposite.”

Steady job growth and demographic trends, namely more of the younger millennials coming of age and seeking to move out on their own, are expected to continue to drive more demand for rental housing, pushing rents higher.

“What I’m confident about right now is that over the next few months we’re going to see rents continue to rise,” Clark said. “The fact that we have been accelerat-ing in these winter months a little bit, that’s a really strong signal that we’re going to have higher rent ap-preciation this year than last year.”

By Heather Somerville and Paul Lienert

SoftBank Group Corp leader Masayoshi Son has much

bigger ambitions for transpor-tation than simply seeing his investment in Uber Technolo-gies Inc turn into more than $13 billion when the company goes public next month.

The Japanese entrepreneur is placing a $60 billion bet in more than 40 companies in a bid to steer the $3 trillion global automo-tive industry now dominated by vehicles people own and drive to a spectrum of transportation services available at the touch of a smartphone app. Those services range from ride hailing and car sharing to delivery robots and self-driving vehicles.

The extent of those investments, based on a Reuters analysis of pub-licly available data and interviews with a dozen sources familiar with SoftBank’s investment strategy, has not previously been reported. They show how Son has emerged as one of the power players trying to infl uence how people and goods move about the world in the coming decades.

Key partners in Son’s quest are Uber, the US ride services leader, and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp.

Uber’s planned initial public stock offering in May is expected to value the company at $90 bil-lion to $100 billion, representing a potential windfall to SoftBank,

which put $8 billion into Uber for a 15 percent stake in January 2018. The rising value of that investment will further super-charge Son’s growing clout in the sector, and eventually provide him with additional capital to invest in mobility.

Closer to home, Toyota ap-proached Son more than a year ago about a partnership, and SoftBank in February 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding with the automaker to consider how they might jointly develop mobility services, according to sources familiar with the document. The agreement was followed by the launch of a joint venture dubbed Monet Technolo-gies, designed to set up automated mobility services.

SoftBank and Toyota are also in talks to co-lead a $1 billion invest-ment in Uber’s self-driving unit, Reuters reported in March. While the deal is close to being fi nalized, discussions remain ongoing around issues such as how much of the unit SoftBank would control, sources told Reuters.

Toyota declined to comment for this story.

In an interview with Reuters, Soft-Bank Group Chief Operating Offi cer Marcelo Claure said that the two Japanese companies “have a lot ses-sions in which we think and we try to redefi ne the future of mobility.”

Central to those sessions are discussions about how Toyota and SoftBank can collaborate to bring

autonomous vehicles to Japan, he said.

Son has been working since 2014 to weave together a tapestry of diverse transportation bets. His deep portfolio of investments range literally from A to Z: From Arm, a British semiconductor maker that Son acquired in 2016 for $32 billion, to Zume Pizza, a Silicon Valley startup that aims to automate pizza delivery and raised $375 million last year from SoftBank.

SoftBank has used at least fi ve investment vehicles, including the $100 billion Vision Fund, from which to make its mobility invest-ments, public records show. Its deep pockets, aggressive investing tactics and sweeping vision of the future of transportation give SoftBank and its leader Son an outsized infl uence in shaping the entire industry.

The Vision Fund has more than 30 investment professionals who work to promote cooperation and integration among the portfolio companies, which they refer to as a “family.”

“We can create this web where companies talk to each other and they help each other because they are part of the same family and they do joint ventures and they do joint in-vestments,” Claure said.

SoftBank and its affi liates have focused some of their biggest investments on self-driving fi rm Cruise, a unit of GM, and four

global ride-services giants – Uber, Didi Chuxing, Ola and Grab. Soft-Bank is the largest shareholder in the four ride-services companies and the largest outside shareholder in Cruise.

Son “is the true emperor of future mobility,” said Tom De Vleesschauwer, senior director of long-term planning and sustain-ability at IHS Automotive.

To help implement his vision, Son also allied with General Motors Co and Honda Motor Co, each of which is investing heavily in self-driving vehicles and ride services.

Son laid out his future of transportation vision in an Octo-ber press conference alongside Toyota, where he talked about building a “cluster” of leading mobility companies in different sectors, which “can collaborate with each other.”

Toyota a year ago introduced e-Palette, an electric shuttle designed for self-driving ride and delivery services, and quickly signed up Uber and Didi as development partners. The e-Palette is also the centerpiece of Monet Technologies, which added Honda as a minority partner in March. All are tied back to SoftBank.

That collaboration is expected to enable some SoftBank com-panies to become “superapps”, or applications where customers go for a range of services, such as transportation, shopping and payments. Such companies can be

This file photo shows the Netflix app on an iPad in Baltimore. There are more TV streaming services than ever before and more people are opting to drop cable in favor of streaming services. But monthly subscriptions can add up fast. A little research on which services are best for you can help save big bucks. (AP)

This file photo shows a ‘For Rent’ sign outside an apartment building in Sacramento, Calif. (AP)

SPORTSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019

22

Argentina Basketball

ResultsEstudiantes 99 Quilmes 75H. Americano 79 Quimsa 82Libertad 79 Penarol 81Regatas 74 W. Bahia 56

Standings P W L PCT%San Lorenzo 24 21 3 0.875I. Cordoba 27 18 9 0.667O. Sanitarias 28 18 10 0.643Regatas 30 19 11 0.633Gimnasia 29 18 11 0.621Ferro 30 18 12 0.600Quimsa 30 17 13 0.567Estudiantes 30 16 14 0.533C. Mercedes 30 16 14 0.533Libertad 30 15 15 0.500Boca Juniors 29 14 15 0.483Olimpico 28 13 15 0.464San Martin 28 13 15 0.464La Union 28 13 15 0.464H. Americano 27 12 15 0.444Weber Bahia 29 11 18 0.379Penarol 29 10 19 0.345Quilmes 29 9 20 0.310Atenas 29 8 21 0.276Argentino 30 8 22 0.267

AustraliaBasketball Results – Men

Dandenong 73 Ballarat 80S. Sabres 78 Knox 100Kilsyth 100 Bendigo 90Albury 124 D. Valley 81H. Huskies 95 NW Tasmania 102Waverley 84 M. Tigers 81

Standings P W L PCT%Nunawading 5 4 1 0.800Albury 3 3 0 1.000Ballarat 3 3 0 1.000Kilsyth 3 3 0 1.000Waverley 4 3 1 0.750BA CoE 5 3 2 0.600NW Tasmania 3 2 1 0.667Dandenong 4 2 2 0.500Ringwood 2 1 1 0.500M. Tigers 3 1 2 0.333Knox 3 1 2 0.333Geelong 3 1 2 0.333Frankston 3 1 2 0.333H. Huskies 3 1 2 0.333Eltham 3 1 2 0.333Bendigo 4 1 3 0.250D. Valley 4 0 4 0.000S. Sabres 4 0 4 0.000

Results – WomenDandenong 90 Ballarat 73Sandringham 67 Knox 92Kilsyth 64 Bendigo 70Albury 92 D. Valley 81H. Huskies 95 Launceston 104Waverley 69 M. Tigers 72

Standings P W L PCT%Dandenong 4 4 0 1.000Bendigo 4 4 0 1.000Nunawading 5 3 2 0.600Ringwood 2 2 0 1.000Knox 3 2 1 0.667Geelong 3 2 1 0.667H. Huskies 3 2 1 0.667Albury 3 2 1 0.667M. Tigers 3 2 1 0.667Eltham 3 2 1 0.667Kilsyth 3 1 2 0.333Launceston 3 1 2 0.333Frankston 3 1 2 0.333Waverley 4 1 3 0.250D. Valley 4 1 3 0.250Sandringham 4 1 3 0.250Ballarat 3 0 3 0.000BA CoE 5 0 5 0.000

SoccerResults

City 0 Adelaide 0

Standings P W D L GF GA PtsPerth Glory 24 16 6 2 50 22 54Sydney FC 25 15 4 6 42 27 49Melbourne Victory 24 13 5 6 47 30 44Adelaide United 25 10 8 7 31 29 38Wellington Phoenix 25 10 7 8 43 36 37Melbourne City 25 10 7 8 32 29 37Newcastle Jets 24 8 5 11 32 34 29W.S. Wanderers 25 6 6 13 41 50 24Brisbane Roar 25 4 6 15 34 60 18C.C. Mariners 24 2 4 18 27 62 10

BelarusIce Hockey

ResultsBrest 1 Baranavichy 2

Novopolotsk 1 Bobruisk 3P. Yastreby 4 Belarus U-20 2Vitebsk 1 Gome 2

Standings P W L PtsGomel 8 6 1 20Baranavichy 8 4 3 14P. Yastreby 8 4 2 14Novopolotsk 8 3 3 13Bobruisk 8 4 4 12Belarus U-20 8 3 4 11Brest 8 2 4 8Vitebsk 8 1 6 4

ChinaSoccerResults

Lifan 2 Hebei 1Shenzhen 0 Jiangsu 2Tianjin 1 Tianhai 1

Standings P W D L GF GA PtsBeijing Guoan 4 4 0 0 9 0 12Evergrande 4 4 0 0 7 0 12Chongqing Lifan 5 3 1 1 8 9 10Shanghai SIPG 4 3 0 1 11 6 9Jiangsu Suning 5 3 0 2 9 9 9Shandong Luneng 4 2 2 0 8 5 8Tianjin Teda 5 2 1 2 9 9 7Shenzhen 5 2 1 2 6 6 7Shanghai Shenhua 5 2 0 3 9 10 6Guangzhou R&F 5 1 2 2 10 12 5Hebei 5 1 1 3 5 8 4Wuhan Zall 3 1 0 2 2 3 3Henan Jianye 3 0 2 1 4 5 2Dalian Yifang FC 4 0 2 2 5 7 2Tianjin Tianhai 5 0 2 3 4 10 2Beijing Renhe 4 0 0 4 1 8 0

DenmarkHandball

Women’s Standings P W D L GF GA PtsSilkeborg-Voel 2 2 0 0 60 44 6EH Aalborg 2 2 0 0 54 46 4Skanderborg 3 1 0 2 72 80 4Ajax Kobenhavn 3 1 0 2 66 80 3Randers 2 0 0 2 51 53 1

IndiaIPL T20 Cricket

Standings P W L T NRR PtsChennai Super Kings 7 6 1 0 0.299 12Kolkata Knight Riders 7 4 3 0 0.434 8Mumbai Indians 6 4 2 0 0.29 8Delhi Capitals 7 4 3 0 0.197 8Kings XI Punjab 7 4 3 0 -0.057 8Sunrisers Hyderabad 6 3 3 0 0.81 6Rajasthan Royals 6 1 5 0 -0.725 2RC Bangalore 6 0 6 0 -1.453 0

JapanBaseball

ResultsHanshin 2 Chunichi 10Nippon-Ham 3 Lotte 0Rakuten 0 Fukuoka 1Seibu 3 ORIX 10Yokohama 1 Hiroshima 6Yomiuri 6 Yakult 11

StandingsCentral Division

P W D L PCTYakult Swallows 14 9 0 5 0.643Yomiuri Giants 13 8 0 5 0.615Y. BayStars 14 8 0 6 0.571Chunichi 13 7 0 6 0.538Hanshin 14 5 0 9 0.357Hiroshima 14 4 0 10 0.286

Pacific Division P W D L PCTRakuten 13 8 1 4 0.654Fukuoka Hawks 14 8 2 4 0.643Nippon-Ham 14 6 2 6 0.500Seibu Lions 13 6 0 7 0.462ORIX 13 4 3 6 0.423Lotte 13 4 0 9 0.308

SoccerResults

Cerezo 0 Sapporo 1 Marinos 1 Nagoya 1

Standings P W D L GF GA PtsHiroshima 6 4 2 0 7 1 14FC Tokyo 6 4 2 0 9 4 14Nagoya 7 4 1 2 15 6 13Yokohama 7 3 3 1 11 8 12Oita 6 4 0 2 8 5 12Kashima 6 3 2 1 9 6 11Kobe 6 3 1 2 10 8 10Shonan 6 3 0 3 9 8 9Sapporo 7 3 0 4 10 13 9Urawa 6 2 2 2 4 7 8K. Frontale 6 1 4 1 6 5 7

C. Osaka 7 2 1 4 5 7 7Yamaga 6 2 1 3 4 6 7Iwata 6 1 3 2 5 5 6G. Osaka 6 2 0 4 12 15 6Vegalta Sendai 6 1 1 4 6 9 4Sagan Tosu 6 1 1 4 1 10 4Shimizu 6 0 2 4 8 16 2

MexicoBaseball

ResultsAguascalientes 10 Monterrey 6Durango 11 T. Tijuana 1Laguna 5 Monclova 8Saltillo 8 Dos Laredos 10Campeche 4 Puebla 7Quintana Roo 1 Mexico 6Tabasco 7 Leon 5Yucatan 3 Oaxaca 0

StandingsNorth Conference

P W L PCTDos Laredos 7 6 1 0.857Monterrey 7 5 2 0.714Monclova 7 5 2 0.714Aguascalientes 7 4 3 0.571T. Tijuana 7 4 3 0.571Durango 7 3 4 0.429Saltillo 7 2 5 0.286Laguna 7 1 6 0.143

South Conference P W L PCTOaxaca 7 5 2 0.714Puebla 7 4 3 0.571Mexico 7 4 3 0.571Campeche 7 3 4 0.429Quintana Roo 7 3 4 0.429Leon 7 3 4 0.429Yucatan 7 2 5 0.286Tabasco 7 2 5 0.286

NetherlandsVolleyball

Standings P W L PtsOrion 9 8 1 22Draisma 9 7 2 21Groningen/Lycurgus 9 7 2 21Sliedrecht 9 2 7 7Taurus 9 3 6 7Zaanstad 9 0 9 3

NigeriaSoccer

ResultsSunshine Stars 3 Lobi Stars 0Kwara 1 Enugu Rangers 2Lobi Stars 1 Sunshine Stars 0Akwa Utd 2 Gombe 0Enugu Rangers 1 Katsina Utd 0Enyimba 0 Bendel 0Go Round 1 Abia Warriors 0Kano Pillars 2 El Kanemi 1Kwara 1 MFM FC 0Nasarawa 1 Ifeanyi Ubah 0Plateau Utd 0 Heartland 0Rivers Utd 1 Tornadoes 0Wikki Tourist 2 Remo Stars 1Yobe Stars 0 Delta Force 0

StandingsGroup A

P W D L GF GA PtsEnugu Rangers 11 7 3 1 14 6 24MFM FC 14 7 2 5 15 11 23Enyimba 14 5 6 3 13 8 21Lobi Stars 13 5 5 3 16 15 20Sunshine Stars 14 5 4 5 13 11 19Wikki 14 6 1 7 14 15 19Rivers Utd 13 5 4 4 10 11 19Katsina Utd 14 5 3 6 12 14 18Kwara 14 5 3 6 11 14 18Bendel 13 3 7 3 8 8 16Remo Stars 14 3 3 8 12 18 12Tornadoes 14 1 7 6 10 17 10

Group B P W D L GF GA PtsAkwa United 14 7 4 3 21 14 25El Kanemi 14 8 1 5 16 11 25Ifeanyi Ubah 14 7 3 4 10 8 24Kano Pillars 14 7 2 5 20 12 23Nasarawa 14 7 1 6 16 16 22Go Round 14 6 3 5 9 11 21Delta Force 14 6 2 6 13 19 20Heartland 14 5 3 6 13 13 18Plateau Utd 14 3 7 4 8 10 16Abia Warriors 14 4 3 7 10 13 15Gombe 14 3 5 6 12 14 14Yobe Stars 14 3 2 9 8 15 11

PhilippinesBasketball

ResultsSan Miguel 100 Phoenix 88Magnolia 77 Rain or Shine 84

Standings P W L PCT%Phoenix Fuelmasters 11 9 2 0.818Rain or Shine 11 8 3 0.727Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 11 7 4 0.636TNT KaTropa 11 7 4 0.636

San Miguel Beermen 11 7 4 0.636Magnolia Hotshots 11 6 5 0.545Global Port 11 5 6 0.455NLEX Road Warriors 11 4 7 0.364Alaska Aces 11 4 7 0.364Columbian Dyip 11 4 7 0.364Meralco Bolts 11 3 8 0.273Blackwater Elite 11 2 9 0.182

South KoreaBaseball

ResultsHeroes 5 Hanwha Eagles 3LG Twins 5 Doosan Bears 2NC Dinos 7 Lotte Giants 5Samsung Lions 3 Wiz Suwon 5

Standings P W D L PctSK Wyverns 18 12 1 5 0.694NC Dinos 18 12 0 6 0.667Doosan Bears 18 11 0 7 0.611LG Twins 18 10 0 8 0.556Kiwoom Heroes 18 10 0 8 0.556KIA Tigers 17 7 1 9 0.441Hanwha Eagles 18 7 0 11 0.389Samsung Lions 18 7 0 11 0.389Lotte Giants 18 7 0 11 0.389KT Wiz Suwon 19 6 0 13 0.316

SpainHandball Standings

P W D L GF GA PtsGran Canaria 22 18 1 3 598 516 37Bera Bera 21 16 1 4 615 473 33Elche-Mustang 21 14 2 5 560 510 30Guardes 22 14 1 7 642 536 29Feve Gijon 21 12 3 6 554 504 27BM Granollers 21 12 2 7 580 529 26Malaga 22 12 2 8 622 584 26Aula Valladolid 21 11 2 8 549 507 24Zuazo Barakaldo 21 9 1 11 539 536 19Porrino 22 7 0 15 498 572 14Alcobendas 21 3 4 14 447 550 10Valencia 21 4 1 16 433 582 9Morvedre 21 4 1 16 470 560 9Castellon 21 2 1 18 446 594 5

TaiwanBaseball

ResultsFubon Guardians 1 Lamigo Monkeys 4Uni Lions 9 Chinatrust Brothers 6

Standings P W D L PctChinatrust Brothers 14 10 0 4 0.714Lamigo Monkeys 16 8 0 8 0.500Uni Lions 15 7 0 8 0.467Fubon Guardians 13 4 0 9 0.308

USASoccerResults

Fire 1 Whitecaps 1

StandingsWestern Conference

P W D L GF GA PtsLAFC 6 5 1 0 19 5 16Sounders 5 4 1 0 11 3 13LA Galaxy 5 4 0 1 9 6 12Dynamo 4 3 1 0 10 5 10FC Dallas 6 3 1 2 10 7 10Minnesota Utd 5 3 0 2 11 8 9Sporting KC 5 2 2 1 12 5 8Real Salt Lake 6 1 1 4 5 13 4Earthquakes 5 1 0 4 5 14 3Whitecaps 6 0 2 4 5 10 2Rapids 6 0 2 4 9 16 2Timbers 5 0 1 4 5 15 1

Eastern Conference P W D L GF GA PtsC. Crew 6 4 1 1 7 4 13D.C. United 6 3 2 1 9 5 11Toronto FC 4 3 1 0 12 5 10Philadelphia Union 6 3 1 2 9 7 10Cincinnati 6 2 2 2 8 8 8Orlando City 6 2 2 2 10 11 8Impact 6 2 2 2 7 11 8Chicago Fire 6 1 3 2 8 10 6NY Red Bulls 5 1 1 3 6 6 4NE Revolution 6 1 1 4 5 10 4NYCFC 5 0 4 1 4 8 4Atlanta Utd 4 0 2 2 2 6 2

Super RugbyResults

Chiefs 33 Blues 29Brumbies 31 Lions 20

StandingsNew Zealand Conference

P W D L PtsCrusaders 9 7 1 1 34Hurricanes 8 5 1 2 23Blues 8 4 0 4 20Chiefs 8 3 1 4 16Highlanders 8 2 1 5 14

Australian Conference P W D L PtsRebels 8 5 0 3 23

Waratahs 7 3 0 4 16Reds 7 3 0 4 14Brumbies 7 2 0 5 11Sunwolves 8 2 0 6 10

South African Conference P W D L PtsSharks 7 4 0 3 21Bulls 7 4 0 3 18Stormers 8 4 0 4 18Lions 7 4 0 3 18Jaguares 7 3 0 4 14

All Conferences P W D L PtsCrusaders 9 7 1 1 34Hurricanes 8 5 1 2 23Rebels 8 5 0 3 23Sharks 7 4 0 3 21Blues 8 4 0 4 20Bulls 7 4 0 3 18Stormers 8 4 0 4 18Lions 7 4 0 3 18Chiefs 8 3 1 4 16Waratahs 7 3 0 4 16Highlanders 8 2 1 5 14Reds 7 3 0 4 14Jaguares 7 3 0 4 14Brumbies 7 2 0 5 11Sunwolves 8 2 0 6 10

TennisATP Rankings as of April 13, 2019:

Rank Player Points1 Novak Djokovic 11,0702 Rafael Nadal 8,7253 Alexander Zverev 6,0404 Roger Federer 5,5905 Dominic Thiem 4,7656 Kei Nishikori 4,2007 Kevin Anderson 4,1158 Stefanos Tsitsipas 3,2409 Juan Martin Del Potro 3,22510 John Isner 3,085

WTA Rankings as of April 13, 2019:Rank Player Points1 Naomi Osaka 5,9672 Simona Halep 5,7823 Petra Kvitová 5,6454 Karolina Plíšková 5,5805 Angelique Kerber 5,2206 Elena Svitolina 5,0207 Kiki Bertens 4,6408 Sloane Stephens 4,3869 Ashleigh Barty 4,27510 Aryna Sabalenka 3,595

GolfPGA Rankings as of April 8, 2019:

Rank Name Average1 Justin Rose 9.552 Dustin Johnson 9.413 Rory McIlroy 8.474 Brooks Koepka 8.325 Justin Thomas 8.146 Bryson DeChambeau 7.247 Francesco Molinari 7.118 Jon Rahm 5.939 Rickie Fowler 5.9210 Xander Schauffele 5.82

LPGA Rankings as of April 8, 2019:Rank Player Average1 Jin-Young Ko 7.192 Sung Heung Park 6.833 Ariya Jutanugarn 6.094 Minjee Lee 5.655 Nasa Hataoka 5.596 Lexi Thompson 5.277 Inbee Park 5.088 Nelly Korda 4.799 So Yeon Ryu 4.7810 Carlota Ciganda 4.77

CyclingUCI World Ranking – Individual

Rank Rider Team Points1 Julian Alaphilippe Deceuninck-Quick Step 3,706.62 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team 3,4823 Tom Dumoulin Team Sunweb 3,145.44 Thibaut Pinot Groupama-Fdj 2,7125 Primoz Roglic Team Jumbo-Visma 2,648.66 Michael Matthews Team Sunweb 2,611.87 Greg Van Avermaet CCC Team 2,570.88 Elia Viviani Deceuninck-Quick Step 2,5629 Simon Yates Mitchelton-Scott 2,53710 Miguel Ángel López Astana Pro Team 2,522

Motor RacingConstructor Standings as of April 13,

2019:Rank Team Points1 Mercedes 872 Ferrari 483 Red Bull Racing Honda 314 Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 105 McLaren Renault 86 Haas Ferrari 87 Renault 68 Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 39 Racing Point Bwt Mercedes 310 Williams Mercedes 0

Global Sports Results/Standings/Rankings

Dustin Johnson hits a drive on the third hole during the third round for the Masters golf tournament on April 13 in Augusta, Ga. (AP)

Chelsea hope Pulisicwill expand fan baseNEW YORK, April 13, (AP): Chelsea hopes Christian will help the London club expand its US fan base and assist the team’s campaign to combat anti-Semitism.

Chelsea bought the 20-year-old midfielder from Borussia Dortmund in January for 64 million euros (then $73 million), by far a record price for an American player, then loaned him back to the German club for the rest of the season.

Pulisic can’t play for Chelsea for a May 15 charity exhibition at the New England Revolution dubbed the “Final Whistle on Hate”, but will play a role in Chelsea’s promotional efforts after he joins in July.

“He’s a personable boy. He’s well-liked in this country,” Chelsea chair-man Bruce Buck said during an inter-view Thursday with The Associated Press. “So of course I would expect him when we come here and play some friendly matches, which is what our objective is in the summer of 2020. Then yes, I think he will he will be helpful.”

Manchester United has the highest average US viewers among Premier League clubs this season at 630,000 on NBC, NBCSN and their digital streams, topping Arsenal (573,000), Liverpool (563,000) Chelsea (534,000), Manchester City (494,000) and Tottenham (477,000). Kickoff times and appearances on the late Saturday NBC match impact audi-ence.

“The surveys tell us that we’re very strong on the two coasts,” Buck said. “We have some work to do in Middle America. I think we’re doing in round terms as well as any other big club.”

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 13, (AP): With as few as six weeks left to save boxing’s place at the 2020 Olym-pics, the governing body’s new interim president is now in the IOC’s home city for the fi nal rounds of lobbying.

A long-time ringside doctor, Mohamed Mous-tahsane stepped into the arena last month as the International Boxing Associa-tion’s (AIBA) tem-porary leader after elected president Gafur Rakhimov stepped aside.

Rakhimov’s status on a US Treasury

Department sanctions list – with alleged links to international heroin traffi cking which he denies – is part of an Interna-tional Olympic Committee inquiry ex-amining boxing’s place on the Tokyo Games program, and the AIBA’s right to run the sport.

“Mr Rakhimov did a great job since he was interim president (in January 2018) and we thank him for that,” Moustah-sane told The Associated Press on Fri-day. “But AIBA is now going forward.”

The Morocccan doctor said he had not yet met Nenad Lalovic, the IOC ex-ecutive board member chairing a three-member inquiry, nor the Olympic body’s president Thomas Bach.

“We are confi dent they are working for the best interests of the sport,” Mous-tahsane said in an interview.


23

Japan fi nish 2nd, Russia 3rd

Tuktamysheva wins free skate but US bag World Team TrophyFUKUOKA, Japan, April 13, (AP): Russia’s Elizaveta Tuk-tamysheva won the women’s free skate but the United States held on to its huge overnight lead to win fi gure skating’s World Team Trophy for the fourth time on Saturday.

The US topped the team standings with 117 points, own-ing to one-two fi nishes in the men’s short and free programs in recent days by two-time and reigning world champion Nathan Chen and world bronze medalist Vincent Zhou. Defending champion Japan fi nished second overall with 104 points and Russia was third with 102.

Tuktamysheva opened her free skate with a fl awless triple axel, followed it up with a triple lutz-triple toe loop combina-tion and added three more triples, two more combinations and a variety of maxi-mum level-four spins and steps to earn 153.89 points.

The 2015 world champion and the runner-up to Japan’s Rika Kihira in the short program on Thursday, Tuktamysheva skated

to a medley that included “You Don’t Love Me” by Caro Em-erald. American Bradie Tennell fi nished second with 150.83 points and Kaori Sakamoto, Japan’s national champion, was third with 146.70.

Kihira, 16, won the Grand Prix Final and Four Continents ti-tles this season but fi nished fi fth with 138.37 points after falling in her opening triple axel and during a triple-triple combination halfway through.

“This was an extremely successful event for Team USA,” said US captain Madison Hubbell, who combined with Zach-ary Donohue to fi nish third in both the short and long ice dance programs. “Everyone had beautiful performances including today, the highlight of course being Bradie Tennell’s season’s best. An absolutely great way to fi nish the event for us.”

European champions Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France won the pairs free skate with 152.52 points. The Rus-sian pair of Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert fi nished second with 141.32 and Canada’s Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, the Four Continents silver medalists, were third with 131.84.

FIGURE SKATING

Tuktamysheva

Falcon International Cargo team Asian Air Safari team UNIMONI team

BOWLING

KRAHS, ‘X’ Strikers advance, NUSANTARA ousted

Despite loss Falcon Int’l Cargo retrieve ‘Super 8’ seatKUWAIT CITY, April 13: The Falcon International Cargo perceived “pleasure mixed with sadness” after they lost the game against the top rank UNIMONI Exchange while KRAHS and “X” Strik-ers advanced in the fi fth week elimination round of the First Philippine Bowling As-sociation in Kuwait – Kuwait Bowling Federation Cup 2019 Tenpin Bowling League in the newest bowling center, the Kuwait Bowling Sporting Club Complex at Salmiya. The six teams that registered victory were Asian Air Safari, KRAHS, Pin Pals, UNIMONI Exchange, Jordan Elite Bowlers and Swooping Eagles while “X” Strikers played bye.

The KRAHS team crushed the Incredi-Bowlers in their three-game series 962-849, 1,032-942, 873-790 (2,892-2,581). With an upset win, the pin crushers ad-vance from fourth to second place while the defeat of the IncrediBowlers did not affect their present standing, still with

nineteen pins difference from the cliff hanger. The sharp pin monsters registered four wins and one loss while the Incredi-Bowlers posted four losses and a bye game. Moises Amahan led his team with 556 points followed by Joel Tizon (517), Mar Evangelista (506), Sam Behbehani (447), Eddie Pena (297) and Rene Mar-zan (145) whereas for the impaired In-crediBowlers, Lito Michael fi nished with 515 points assisted by Melvin Alabado

Dragon Bowlers team Bowler of the Week – Christine Moreno

(445), Adolfo Prena (435) and Chat Sarne (300). Playing bye, “X” Strikers hauled 1,012, 937, 963 (2,937) and Bima Nitiku-sumo recorded his fi rst career high game with 504 points, Cris Carungay added 495 points and Reygan Percy scored 422 points followed by Ceddie Faa (367), Abel Nitikusumo (328), Rocky Castil (184) and Joe Presenta (150). With their big points after the game, “X” Strikers moved up from seventh to fi fth place.

Despite devastating defeat for three consecutive weeks, Falcon Int’l Cargo were fortunate to claw the last seat in the ‘Super 8’ standings. The cargo shippers won the fi rst two games against the top ranked UNIMONI Exchange 944-884, 839-807 who played with a depleted line up. The ‘remittance kings’ came alive in the fi nal game to escape the gritty oppo-nents and remain unbeaten. Showing their

winning style, the tandem of two prolifi c scorers, Sulaiman Al Shuabi who scored 263 points, so far the recorded individual highest game of the league and the late-comer Faisal Saleem who chipped in 214 points, outscored the Falcon Cargo 1,003-885. After the fi nal tally UNIMONI sur-prised Falcon 2,719-2,668 and registered their fi fth winning streak. The ‘remittance kings’ top grosser was Sulaiman (610) followed by Rashid Akeer Ali (481), Ahmad Fadhil Karam (458), Rudy de Lima (441) and Faisal Saleem (214). For the lucky Falcon, who rose from tenth position, the high pointer was Gener Calingasan (479), Jason Gamba (472), Mohammad Othman (461), Imelda Cal-ingasan (443), Jess Tolentino (275), and Jhun Narvasa (156).

The Swooping Eagles edged the NU-SANTARA after an emphatic show-

down that infl uenced their fall-out from their respective realms due to low output 2,656-2,310. The victory of the Eagles became useless when they nosedived from fi fth to seventh position while the Indonesian team were ousted from eighth to tenth place. On her maiden game, My-rah Manalo was the highest pointer with her 523 points assisted by Jessica Balagat (503), Cinton Cathers (407), Riz Roque (406), Benjie Roque (238) and Alonzo Bush (134). The absence of two classy Arab bowlers and below-average scores of the husband and wife tandem Ganto-sori, failed to solidify their hold and they lost the membership from the elite group. Tanjung scored 451 points while Erlisa contributed 422, Ahmad Fahmi Husen (392), Saleh Faraj (344) and Nuki Winu-ka (198). The Pin Pals snapped a four-game losing skid with a 2,603-2,364 win

over Dragon Bowlers. With the win-lose results, both teams favored nobody but continuously sank to their respective cel-lar dwellings. The only importance of the rivalry was the announcement of Vasant Sharhan as bowler of the week when he spearheaded Pin Pals with his 522 points to the victory while Dragons top scorer was Valerio Lopez.

Finally, the Asian Air Safari return to their winning ways at the expense of the IBL Tigers (2,917-2,684) who continued to veer from second to fourth place due to two consecutive losses. Asian Air big pointer was Aqeel Al Farisy (582), sup-ported by Farid Gabriel (547), Moham-mad Karam (532), Fadhi Al Masri (501), Mohammad Abdullah (377) and Sonia Mathews (157) while the Tigers top scor-er was Ulysses Manezes (525) followed by Fatima Sequiera (476), Rudolph

Castelino (452), Nadine Dias (419) and Amam Agarwal (371). For three weeks the Jordan Elite Bowlers kept hold-ing the third highest post after erasing the SKARZ team in their 3-game series (2,771-2,464) collision. Jordan’s highest scorer was Ali Arqoub (547), followed by Ali Hikmat (517), Yousef Waleed (481), Waleed Boloushi (438) and Basma Amar (405) while SKARZ top scorers were Melwin Isaac (476), Stephen Sequiera (448), Lionel Mendes (280), Kathy Fer-nandes (251), Ignatius Fernandes (238), Solomon Moras (236) and Fatima Fer-nandes (105).

Meanwhile, the Philippine Bowling Association in Kuwait’s Executive Board and members wishes to congratulate the Ladies Division winners: Champion – Myrah Nicole Manalo, First Runner-up – Sonia Mathews, Second Runner-Up – Nikshita Shelly and Third Runner-Up – Wassan Al Oun of the just concluded bowling tournament sponsored by the Kuwait Bowling Federation. Also to oth-er lady bowlers who comprised the Top 8 – Altaf Karam, Neveen Wasel, Fatima Sequiera and Nadine Dias.

Fifth Round Results: 1. UNIMONI Exchange (14,215); 2. KRAHS (13,827); 3. Jordan Elite Bowlers (13,718); 4. IBL Tigers (13,702); 5. “X” Strikers (13,635); 6. Asian Air Safari (13,629); 7. Swoop-ing Eagles (13,485); 8. Falcon Int’l Cargo (13,059); 9. IncrediBowlers (13,040); 10. NUSANTARA (12,923); 11. SKARZ (12,499); 12. Pin Pals (12,479) and 13. Dragon Bowlers (11,715).

Myrah Manalo – Champion Ladies Division

Sonia Mathews – 1st Runner-up – Ladies Division

Lomachenko ‘fl oors’ Crolla in4th, defends lightweight belts

BOXING

LOS ANGELES, April 13, (AP): Vasyl Lomachenko wanted a bigger challenge and a more prominent op-ponent than Anthony Crolla for this Hollywood show-case.

When he couldn’t get one, the lightweight kingpin took it out on his over-matched foe.

Lomachenko defended his WBA and WBO 135-pound belts with a vio-lent fourth-round stoppage of Britain’s Crolla on Friday night, demonstrating his pound-for-pound excellence with an-other virtuosic display.

“For me it was very comfortable, be-cause I worked with two hands,” Lom-achenko said. “By the second round, I knew it was going to be good for me.”

Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs) brutal-ized the mandatory challenger for his WBA belt throughout their brief fi ght, and the Ukrainian nearly ended it late in

Ramírez remains unbeaten

Vasiliy Lomachenko (middle), celebrates defending his WBA/WBO lightweight titles after knocking out Anthony Crolla in Los Angeles on April 12. At left is

promoter Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank. At right is referee Jack Reiss. (AP)

the third round when he knocked Crolla into the ropes. Lomachenko started to celebrate by leaping on the ropes, but referee Jack Reiss allowed the fi ght to

continue to the bell. Lomachenko shook it off and fi nished crisply after the break, ending it with a right hand that dropped Crolla face-fi rst onto the canvas with an

apparently broken nose.“I thought it will be very hard for me,

because his style is always in defense,” said Lomachenko, still smiling despite a cut near his left eye from a fourth-round head butt. “I always need to fi nd a key for his defense. After the second round, I understand him, and it is what it is.”

Even when Lomachenko can’t get an ideal opponent, he still puts on a show – and the raucous crowd of 10,101 at Sta-ples Center enjoyed it.

While he waits for the promotional stars to align for a big-money showdown with Mikey Garcia, Lomachenko had hoped to take on Richard Commey in a three-belt unifi cation fi ght in this match-up. Commey’s injured hand forced Lo-machenko’s promoters to make this fi ght with Crolla, rather than surrender his WBA belt. Lomachenko then showed why it was a bad idea for Crolla (34-7-3), whose toughness wasn’t enough.

Although Crolla retreated and dodged Lomachenko’s attacks from the opening minute onward, Lomachenko picked apart Crolla’s defense with his peerless combination of athleticism and tech-nique, working the body and head with equal aplomb.

New boxing leader steps intofi ght to keep Olympic status

Moustahsane


24

Hamilton completes Mercedes front row lockout in China

Bottas on pole for Formula One’s 1,000th race

Custer pulls away to win Xfi nity race at Richmond

SHANGHAI, April 13, (RTRS): Valtteri Bottas will start Formula One’s 1,000th world championship race from pole position after leading Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton in a front row lockout at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel qualifi ed third, ahead of 21-year-old Monegasque team mate Charles Leclerc who was unable to repeat his Bahrain Grand Prix pole of two weeks ago.

Bottas, who won the season opener in Australia and leads defending champion Hamilton by one point in the standings, was the third different driver to take pole this season in three races.

“The lap was OK, not completely how I wanted. Luckily it was good enough for pole,” smiled the Finn, who pipped Hamilton by 0.023 seconds after setting a best time of one minute 31.547.

“Lewis also managed to improve a lot during the qualifying and it was super-close.”

The pole was a fi rst for Bottas since Russia last September and the seventh of his career. It was also his fi rst in China where Mercedes have won fi ve of the last seven races.

Hamilton sounded happy just to be on the front row, despite six previous poles in Shanghai, after looking out of sorts in practice.

“I didn’t give up, I kept pushing right to the end. Big congratulations to Valtteri, he’s been stellar all

weekend and I’ve been struggling and fi ghting the car,” said the Briton.

“To be as close as we are at the end is fantastic. An incredible result for the team. There was a little bit more time left on the table there but that’s cool, I’ll try and get it tomorrow,” added Hamilton.

Ferrari had arrived in China as favourites after showing their speed in Bahrain, particularly on the straights, with Leclerc on pole and leading until a loss of engine power in the closing laps.

While unable to match the quick-cornering Mer-cedes cars for overall pace in Shanghai, Vettel hoped

to be closer on Sunday thanks to the track’s main straight being more than a kilometre long.

“I think there was maybe a little bit more but over-all not enough to beat these guys today,” said the 31-year-old German, a four times world champion.

“If we get close we could have an advantage in a straight line.” The top 10 positions went two-by-two in team order, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly fi fth and sixth and ahead of the Renault pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg – the Australian just 0.004 ahead of the German.

With the fi eld of cars bunching up, Verstappen was unable to cross the line to start his fi nal run before the clock ran down, which prompted a frustrated outburst over the radio from the 21-year-old Dutchman.

“I was trying to follow the Ferrari in front of me and trying to overtake him, this time it caught me out and I’m not happy about that,” he said. “It’s annoying because we could have fought for third today.

“Everyone in front of me is starting with the same tyres so we’ll see what happens in the race. For sure we’ll try to get a podium.”

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean completed the top 10 qualifi ers.

Kimi Raikkonen, the former Ferrari driver and 2007 world champion, failed to make the fi nal phase of qualifying for the fi rst time since 2016 and will start 13th for Alfa Romeo ahead of McLaren’s Car-los Sainz and Lando Norris. Raikkonen’s Italian team mate Antonio Giovinazzi failed to set a time due to engine problems and starts 19th and last on the grid.

Thailand’s Alexander Albon did not take part in qualifying after a crash in fi nal practice left his Toro Rosso mechanics with plenty of work to do. The rookie will start from the pit lane on Sunday.

“I am OK. More angry and disappointed than any-thing else. It was a big one and silly one,” said Albon. “We had a good chance of being in Q3 (the top 10 shootout). We had a good car.”

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland (right), and FIA President Jean Todt (left), pose for a photograph after taking pole position for the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai,

China on April 13. (AP)

Riley Herbst (18) leads the fi eld at the start of the NASCAR Xfi nity Series auto race at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Va. (Inset): Cole Custer (right), holds the trophy along with track president Dennis Bickmeier, as he celebrates winning the NASCAR Xfi nity Series auto race at Richmond Raceway in

Richmond, Va on April 12. (AP)

Cindric fi nishes 2nd, Allgaier 3rd

RICHMOND, Virginia, April 13, (AP): Cole Custer was openly hoping for rain to shorten the NASCAR Xfi nity race at Richmond Raceway on Friday night.

Then, he was desperately hoping for the rain to stay away. Custer passed Austin Cindric with 20 laps to go and earned his second victo-ry of the season.

“At that last restart, I tried some-thing a little bit different and it didn’t work out. I knew I had like 25 laps, but then it started raining a little bit and I was like, ‘Man, we might not even make it to the end so I have to get by quick here,’” Custer said.

Cindric had grabbed the lead on a restart with 25 laps to go, but Custer regained the lead five laps later and

pulled away for his second victory of the season. The victory also earned Custer a $100,000 bonus as the top finisher among four drivers who qualified. The top four finishers in this race will be eligible for the bonus when the series races next at Talladega Superspeedway in two weeks.

Justin Allgaier dominated the first half of the race and finished third, followed by Tyler Reddick and Ryan Sieg.

Allgaier had the lead until Custer passed him on the inside after he pit-ted for tires under a green flag and Allgaier opted to stay out. It was a calculated risk for Allgaier, who won the first stage and was hoping that rain in the forecast and on the radar might arrive in time to shorten the race with him in the lead. By NASCAR rules, if the first two stages of a race are complete, the race is official.

But while some rain came, it was not enough to cause the race to be stopped.

“It was so frustrating. They kept telling me it was 20 laps away,” Custer said of the rain. “It never came. ... This one means a lot. We haven’t had a short track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks. This helps. This definitely means a lot.”

Cindric said he had some raindrops on his windshield after he took the lead and “I turned into the most reli-gious person you’ll ever know pray-ing for it to downpour.”

Allgaier started seventh but worked his way to the front to win the 75-lap first stage, his third stage victory in the last two races. Custer won the second stage when he pulled away on a restart with four laps to go in the stage.

Custer led 122 laps and Allgaier led 86.

“The pit call that we made at the end of the (second) stage, it worked out obviously in our favor, but I pushed really hard to try to get back up to the front and just didn’t have quite enough there are the end to do anything,” Allgaier said.

The race was especially hard on Christopher Bell, who was running near the front in search of his second consecutive victory when he spun, bringing out a caution 10 laps before the end of the second stage. Stopping for repairs put Bell back to 16th posi-tion, but when the race went green with 90 laps to go, he very quickly worked his way into contention, run-ning third behind Custer and Allgaier.

But when David Starr spun with under 40 laps to go and everyone pit-ted, Bell dropped from third to 10th. He finished 16th. Virginia native Elliott Sadler of Emporia came out of retire-ment for the race and finished 12th.

Rossi eager to grab 1stwin of IndyCar seasonLONG BEACH, California, April 13, (AP): Alexander Rossi has been quietly “collecting points” through the first three races of the IndyCar season.

There’s been nothing spectacular about his start to the season – finishes of fifth, ninth and fifth and five total laps led – but it could be the strategy that leads him to his first IndyCar champion-ship. Rossi learned last year in losing the title to Scott Dixon that salvaging decent finishes on mediocre days is the clearest path to a title.

“The big thing is minimizing the bad days,” Rossi said Friday. “Last year, if we look at us compared to Scott, we were pretty much the same across the board except the days where I had a 12th or 15th, he’d have a fifth or a ninth.”

Next up is Sunday’s race on the tem-porary street course in downtown Long Beach. Rossi won from the pole last season, the first of three victories that put him in a race to the finale with five-

time champion Dixon.Rossi had a small setback at the start of

his weekend when a cut tire in Friday’s first practice session shortened his track time because Andretti Autosport didn’t want to burn another set of tires. He understood the need to look at the bigger picture, which he’s done through the first three races. He thought his fifth-place fin-ish at Barber last week was close to a victory for him because of his previous struggles at the Alabama track, and he’s fourth in the standings.

Only problem? Dixon, also winless so far this season, is second in the stand-ings and was fastest in Friday’s second practice. Rossi was sixth in that session, behind teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was fastest in the morning and right behind Dixon in the afternoon.

The second session was competitive with 19 of the 23 drivers separated by less than a second. “It’s a lot closer than I thought,” said Hunter-Reay, a previ-ous Long Beach winner.

Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler bats during the VIVO IPL T20 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai on April 13.

(AP)

Rajasthan beat Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets

Royals’ Buttler continues rampant form with quickfi re 89MUMBAI, India, April 13, (RTRS): England batsman Jos Buttler show-cased his big-hitting talent once again by cracking 89 off just 43 balls in

Rajasthan Royals’ win over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.

Chasing 188 to win in Mumbai, Royals rode on the opener’s fierce knock, which included seven sixes and eight fours, to seal a four-wicket victory with three balls remaining.

Earlier, South Africa batsman Quin-ton de Kock scored 81 while India’s

Rohit Sharma made 47 to help three-times champions Mumbai post 187-5 in 20 overs. “I’m playing the best cricket I’ve played over a prolonged period of time. I was disappointed to get out when I did... we’ll take a lot of confi dence from this win,” man of the match Buttler, who has three half-centuries this season, said.

The 28-year-old has enjoyed his fi ne IPL campaign after also hammering a career-high 150 off 77 balls in the fourth ODI against the West Indies during England’s recent tour of the

Caribbean. World Cup hosts England are set to name the in-form Buttler among their provisional squad for the

tournament next week. They begin their campaign against South Africa at The Oval on May 30.

MUMBAI, India, April 13, (RTRS): Scoreboard at close of play of match 27 between Mumbai Indians and Ra-jasthan Royals.

MUMBAI INDIANSR. Sharma c Buttler b Archer...........47Q. de Kock c Buttler b Archer ..........81S. Yadav b Kulkarni .........................16K. Pollard c Gopal b Archer ...............6H. Pandya not out ............................28I. Kishan c Buttler b Unadkat .............5Extras: (1lb, 3w).................................4Total: (20 overs, 5 wkts) ................187

Fall of Wickets: 1-96 (Sharma), 2-117 (Yadav), 3-136 (Pollard), 4-163 (de Kock), 5-175 (Kishan)

Did not bat: Pandya, Behrendorff, Chahar, Joseph, Bumrah

Bowling: Gowtham 3-0-39-0, Kulkar-ni 4-0-38-1, Archer 4-0-39-3, Unadkat 4-0-36-1, Gopal 4-0-21-0, Livingstone 1-0-13-0

RAJASTHAN ROYALS A. Rahane c Yadav b K. Pandya .....37

J. Buttler c Yadav b Chahar.............89S. Samson lbw Bumrah ...................31S. Smith c Kishan b Bumrah............12R. Tripathi c H. Pandya b K. Pandya .1L. Livingstone b K. Pandya ................1S. Gopal not out...............................13K. Gowtham not out ...........................0Extras: (2lb, 2w).................................4Total: (19.3 overs, 6 wkts) .............188

Fall of Wickets: 1-60 (Rahane), 2-147 (Buttler), 3-170 (Samson), 4-171 (Tripathi), 5-174 (Livingstone), 6-174 (Smith)

Did not bat: Archer, Unadkat, KulkarniBowling: Behrendorff 3-0-31-0, Jo-

seph 3-0-53-0, Chahar 4-0-34-1, Bum-rah 4-0-23-2, K. Pandya 4-0-34-3, H. Pandya 1.3-0-11-0

Match result: Rajasthan Royals win by 4 wickets

Umpires: Nitin Menon, Ammana-brole Kishore

TV Umpire: Marais Erasmus Match Referee: Javagal Srinath

IPL Scoreboard

Chiefs end Blues’ winning streak

Orlando blooms as Jaguares stun Sharks 51-17 in DurbanDURBAN, April 13, (Agencies): Centre Matias Orlando scored a hat-trick of tries as the Jaguares stunned the Sharks with a comprehensive 51-17 Super Rugby victory at King’s Park on Saturday.

The Argentine side claimed back-to-back wins on their South Africa tour, and a first-ever success in Durban, to storm back into conten-tion for top spot in the conference as they overwhelmed their hosts by seven tries to two.

Flanker Pablo Matera scored two tries, while scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli and wing Matias Moroni also crossed over as the Jaguares proved clinical with ball in hand while also putting up a stout defen-sive effort to keep their hosts at bay.

The Sharks crushed the Lions last weekend at Ellis Park, but their inconsistency showed again as they were always second best, scoring only the two tries via lock Hyron Andrews and replacement back Aphelele Fassi.

It was also another example of the failure of a South African side to build any momentum this season, as the Sharks slipped to a 21-10 half-

time deficit and never looked as though they would be able to fight back.

“Very happy with that, it was a very tough match,” Jaguares captain Jeronimo De La Fuente said at the post-match presentation.

“It has been a great two weeks (in South Africa), but we need to keep winning in Argentina against the Brumbies next time to make sure we can have a good tourna-ment.”

The visitors were in front inside two minutes when number eight Tomas Lezana showed great pace to sprint away from the defence and present the opportunity to Cubelli to score.

Andrews replied for the home side, but the Jaguares led again when Matera showed deft skills to chip the ball over the defence and collect his own kick to score.

Orlando, who now has 12 Super Rugby tries this season, added another try for the visitors as they extended their lead before the break.

Matera crossed again to all but seal the win for the Jaguares, but they did not take their foot off the gas as Moroni and Orlando, with two more to complete his hat-trick, punished the home team.

“Very disappointed, nothing went right,” Sharks captain Louis Schreuder said. “To get 51 points

against you, you have to look at your defence.

“We did not play in the right areas and made stupid mistakes.”

In Hamilton, New Zealand, the Chiefs ended the Blues’ four-match winning streak in Super Rugby on Saturday, beating their neighbors 33-29 in a lively New Zealand derby.

The teams matched each other almost try for try throughout the match, scoring three apiece in the second half. But the Chiefs had a vital 14-10 lead at halftime and it endured throughout the second half to give them their third consecutive win, lifting them off the bottom of the New Zealand conference.

The Blues came into their match with wins over the Sunwolves, Highlanders, Stormers and Waratahs, giving them their first four-match winning streak in six years.

The Blues attacked again from the final kickoff but turned over posses-sion and the Chiefs were able to run

down the clock before kicking to touch to end the game.

“It was a clas-sic New Zealand derby,” Chiefs captain Brodie Retallick said. “It was very physi-cal and fast.

“I was very proud of the

boys. We wanted to come out on hour home ground and prove a point, fix up the first few rounds. I’m extremely happy with the effort and the way we played tonight.”

The Chiefs led 33-22 after a 72nd-minute try to Jesse Parete, but Nonu’s second try put them under severe pressure in the dying moments.

“When we scored that final try, we talked about not letting them back in as we had every time we scored before that,” Retallick said. “We were hanging on there at the end, hoping to put the ball down their end and hoping they made a mistake – which they did.”

Elsewhere, the ACT Brumbies beat the Lions 31-20 at Canberra, Australia.

The Brumbies’ third win from eight games kept them within touch-ing distance in the Australian con-ference but still seven points behind the leading Melbourne Rebels.

David Pocock was a late scratch but the Wallabies played strongly without him against a physical Lions forward pack.

The loss was the Lions’ fourth in eight matches.

RUGBY

Orlando

CAR RACING

MOTOR RACING

CRICKET


25

Jackets stun Lightning to take 2-0 series leadIsles top Pens 3-1 in Game 2

TAMPA, Florida, April 13, (AP): Matt Duchene had a goal and three assists, Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves, and the Columbus Blue Jackets stunned the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Friday night to take a 2-0 fi rst-round series lead.

Columbus also got goals from Cam Atkinson, Zach Werenski, Riley Nash and Artemi Panarin. The Blue Jack-ets started the postseason last season by win-ning the fi rst two games of the fi rst-round series with eventual Stanley Cup Washington, which won the next four games.

Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots for the Lightning, who lost two games in a row just twice in the regular season. Tampa Bay matched the 1995-96 De-troit Red Wings for the most wins in a regular season with 62.

Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov, who led the NHL with 128 points, was held off the scoresheet for the second consecutive game and picked up tripping, boarding and 10-minute misconduct pen-alties late in the third period. Game 3 is in Columbus on Sunday night.

Islanders 3, Penguins 1In Uniondale, New York, Jordan

Eberle and Josh Bailey scored in the third period and New York beat Pitts-

burgh for a 2-0 lead in their fi rst-round playoff series.

Anthony Beauvillier also scored and Robin Lehner stopped 32 shots to help New York open a postseason series with two wins for the fi rst time since sweep-ing Edmonton in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final for the Islanders’ fourth straight championship. Mathew Barzal had two assists in a chippy, physical game that featured a lot of hard hits and some skir-mishes, especially in the fi rst two peri-ods – and also after the fi nal buzzer.

Erik Gudbranson scored and Matt Murray fi nished with 31 saves for the

Penguins, who have lost the fi rst two games of a postseason series for the fi rst time since the 2013 Eastern Conference fi nals against Boston.

Game 3 is Sunday at Pittsburgh.Blues 4, Jets 3

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Oskar Sundqvist scored twice to lead the St Louis Blues over the Jets.

Pat Maroon and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the Blues, who lead the best-of-seven matchup 2-0 and host Game 3 on Sunday night. Rookie Jordan Bin-nington made 26 saves.

Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and one assist for the Jets, Patrik Laine also scored and Dustin Byfuglien had a pair of assists. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots.

Golden Knights 5, Sharks 3In San Jose, California, Mark Stone

scored the tiebreaking goal on a power play created by a penalty that negated an apparent San Jose goal and the Vegas Golden Knights responded after blow-ing a three-goal lead in the fi rst period to beat the Sharks and tie their playoff series at one game apiece.

The teams packed an entire game into the opening minutes with the Golden Knights scoring three goals in the fi rst 6:11 and the Sharks rallying for three more in the fi nal 3:01 to become the fi rst team in NHL history to tie a play-

off game in the fi rst period after falling behind 3-0. The craziness continued at the start of the second period when the Sharks briefl y celebrated an appar-ent goal in the opening minute by Brent Burns. That quickly turned to frustra-

tion when the offi cials waved off the goal because Logan Couture interfered with Marc-Andre Fleury, giving the Golden Knights the power play. Cody Eakin, Colin Miller and Max Pacioretty all scored in the fi rst period to stake the

Golden Knights to the big lead after los-ing the opener 5-2. William Karlsson added a short-handed goal in the third to ice it. Couture, Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks. Game 3 will be Sunday night in Las Vegas.

New York Islanders center Casey Cizikas (53) is sandwiched between Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71), of Russia, and defenseman Justin Schultz (4) while competing for possession of the puck during the second period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey fi rst-round playoff series on April 12 in

Uniondale, NY. (AP)

Level B Winners

Level C Winners Level D Winners

Level A Winners

San Francisco Giants pitcher Drew Pomeranz works against the Colorado Rockies during the fi rst inning of a baseball game on April 12, in San Fran-

cisco. (AP)

FBC concludes 109th regular tourney

Winx wins 33rd straight in fi nal race

By Michelle Fe SantiagoArab Times Staff

The Filipino Badminton Commit-tee in Kuwait (FBC) concluded

its 109th Regular Tournament on Friday at the Kuwait Disabled Sports Club in Hawally with veteran and amateur badminton players participating in the event

All players displayed their best form as they battled it out with the best players. The veteran smashers from Levels A & B, the equally ag-gressive players from Level C and the new and upcoming badminton

players of Level D showcased in-tensifi ed performances aiming to bag the championship cup.

Registration is now open for the 110th regular tournament. FBC is inviting all badminton enthusiasts to register in its regular tourna-ments from 8 am to 1 pm and and 1PM Challenge Fun Games as well as adults/kids badminton coach-ing/tutorial and court rental from 2 pm to 5 pm. For inquiries please contact FBC on (Viber/Whatsapp) 65606820 or personally come at the Kuwait Disabled Sports Club in Hawally.

SYDNEY, April 13, (RTRS): Aus-tralia’s favourite racehorse Winx de-livered another dominant performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Sat-urday to win her 33rd successive race and head into retirement with a world record 25 Group One victories.

Attracting a huge amount of backing despite prohibitive odds of 50/3 on, a 37th career win from 43 starts for the seven-year-old bay mare never looked in doubt and she stormed across the line

a length-and-a-half clear of Kluger. There were tears aplenty as the sell-out crowd of 42,000 at Royal Randwick gave her a standing ovation as she rode around her home racecourse, venue of 20 of her wins, for the fi nal time. “It’s just an amazing experience,” said Chris Waller, his voice breaking from the emotion as he celebrated what was his 100th Group One win as a trainer.

“It’s great for our sport, it’s great for Australia.” Her 37 victories matched the career record of Phar Lap, while

Jockey Hugh Bowman waves after riding Winx to victory in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Rand-wick Racecourse in Sydney on

April 13. (AP)

HORSE RACING

she extended the record of Group One wins she took sole possession of last month with her 23rd win.

Comparisons with Phar Lap have abounded this week with some sug-gesting Winx’s record meant she had now surpassed the champion thor-oughbred of the 1920s and 1930s as Australia’s greatest racehorse.

It was Winx’s third straight victory in the 2,000 metre Group One race and came on the back of four straight victo-ries in the Cox Plate – Australia’s rich-est weight-for-age race.

Her regular jockey Hugh Bowman sustained a split lip when Winx raised her head as he attempted to kiss her af-ter dismounting but nothing was going to ruin his day.

“There’s not much more to say,” he said. “To have had a horse like her come into my life ... I’m so proud of her. “The amazing horse Winx has continued to deliver. I’ll be forever thankful to her. “Maybe we’ll never know how good she really is.”

Astros blast two slams, snap Mariners’ win streak

Giants slide past Rockies in 18th inningSAN FRANCISCO, April 13, (RTRS): Brandon Belt opened the 18th inning with a double, and he slid home on Erik Kratz’s bases-loaded ground ball one out later, giving the San Francisco Giants a 3-2 victory over the Colora-do Rockies in a game that started on Friday night and ended on Saturday morning.

The win was the Giants’ second in two games in the four-game series and gave them their fi rst winning streak of the season. Colorado, which led 2-0 but did not score in the fi nal 14 in-nings, dropped its seventh straight.

Left-hander Travis Bergen (2-0) got the win for the Giants after pitching two scoreless innings, striking out fi ve.

Astros 10, Mariners 6In Seattle, Jose Altuve and Yuli

Gurriel hit grand slams as Houston defeated host Seattle. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Altuve has gone deep, and he has fi ve home runs over that span.

George Springer also homered for the Astros, who extended their winning streak to seven games. The Mariners had their six-game winning streak snapped. Tom Murphy hit a solo homer in the ninth inning to extend the Mariners’ major league record of consecutive games with a home run to start a season to 16.

Mets 6, Braves 2In Atlanta, Brandon Nimmo belted

a two-run homer to highlight his three-hit performance as visiting New York won. The Mets matched a franchise re-cord by scoring at least six runs in their sixth straight game.

Jeff McNeil ripped a two-run double and Robinson Cano and Michael Con-forto each had an RBI double for the Mets, who also scored at least six runs in six straight games in 1997, 1998 and twice in 2007.

fi ve-run defi cit for a win.It was Davis’ fi fth home run in his

last three games and his 10th of the season. His grounder to third base in the sixth inning scored Mark Canha as part of a four-run rally that included an RBI double from Stephen Piscotty that shrunk a 6-1 Rangers lead to 6-5.

Padres 2, Diamondbacks 1In Phoenix, four San Diego pitchers

retired the fi nal 19 batters, Fernando Tatis Jr doubled home the tie-breaking run in the seventh inning, and the Pa-dres beat Arizona.

Padres rookie Chris Paddack al-lowed three hits and one run in 5-1/3 innings. He was pulled after 88 pitches despite retiring eight consecutive bat-ters following an RBI single by David Peralta in the third inning. Paddack struck out fi ve and walked one in out-dueling Arizona’s Luke Weaver (0-1).

Royals 8, Indians 1In Kansas City, Kansas City hit for the

cycle its fi rst time through the order and grabbed its biggest lead of the season in a six-run fi rst inning en route to a vic-tory over visiting Cleveland. The Royals snapped a 10-game losing streak.

Brad Keller (2-1) gave up one run on three hits and fi ve walks over 6-2/3 in-nings, with a career-high 10 strikeouts. He has now pitched at least six innings in nine straight starts, the longest ac-tive streak in the majors.

Alex Gordon had four hits, includ-ing three extra-base hits, and three RBIs for the Royals.White Sox 9, Yankees 6, 7 Innings

In New York, Eloy Jimenez snapped a tie with his fi rst career home run, a

two-run shot in the fi fth inning, then homered in his next at-bat in the sev-enth as Chicago halted a fi ve-game losing streak with a rain-shortened vic-tory over hosts New York.

In his 46th career at-bat, the rookie left fi elder gave the White Sox a 7-5 lead by leaving no doubt about his milestone. Jimenez slugged a 2-1 four-seam fastball by Jonathan Holder over the center fi eld fence and on to the net-ting above Monument Park.

Brewers 8, Dodgers 5In Los Angeles, Yasmani Grandal

had three hits, including a two-run home run that gave visiting Milwaukee the lead for good against Los Angeles.

Hernan Perez also hit a two-run homer for the Brewers to erase an ear-ly one-run defi cit in the opener of the three-game series. Matt Albers (1-0) got the win in relief.

The Dodgers received home runs from Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson.

Cubs 5, Angels 1In Chicago, Willson Contreras had

three hits, including two solo home runs, and Chicago won the opener of the three-game series against visiting Los Angeles, who had their six-game winning streak halted.

Cole Hamels (2-0) gave up one run and four hits over eight innings, strik-ing out six without walking a batter. Hamels improved to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.63 in his career against the Angels. Anthony Rizzo and David Bote also homered for the Cubs, who have won two straight for the fi rst time this season.

Tigers at Twins, ppdThe game between Minnesota and

Detroit at Target Field was postponed due to a snow storm. The contest will be made up as part of a day-night dou-bleheader on May 11.

Red Sox 6, Orioles 4In Boston, Eduardo Rodriguez be-

came the fi rst Red Sox starter to win a game this season as Boston held off visiting Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series.

Rodriguez, who entered the seventh having allowed just one hit, gave up a two-run home run to Dwight Smith Jr with two outs in the inning, ending his night. He yielded the two runs on three hits, striking out eight and walking none. Entering the game, Boston start-ers had been 0-8 with a league-worst 8.79 ERA this year.

Phillies 9, Marlins 1In Miami, Andrew McCutchen

went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer as Philadelphia routed host Miami. Jean Segura also had three hits, and J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper each had two hits and one RBI as the Phillies snapped a two-game losing streak.

This was Realmuto’s fi rst game against the Marlins, the team that drafted him. Marlins catcher Jorge Al-faro – who arrived from the Phillies in the Realmuto trade this spring – went 2-for-3 with a run.

Pirates 6, Nationals 3, 10 InningsIn Washington, pinch-hitter Colin

Moran hit a three-run homer in the top of the 10th off Justin Miller on an 0-2

pitch as Pittsburgh prevailed in a back-and-forth contest with Washington.

Miller has now allowed four homers this year in seven outings. Moran was batting for Jung Ho Kang after Melky Cabrera and Adam Frazier got on base against Matt Grace (0-1).

The winner was Nick Burdi (1-1), who allowed a double by Howie Ken-drick in the ninth but didn’t give up a run. Former Nationals pitcher Felipe Vazquez pitched the last of the 10th for the Pirates to earn his fourth save of the season.

Rays 11, Jays 7In Toronto, Austin Meadows and

Brandon Lowe each homered twice – including one each into the 500 level – and visiting Tampa Bay defeated Toronto.

The blasts were the 21st and 22nd home runs hit to the 500 level of Rog-ers Centre since it opened in 1989. Willy Adames added a two-run homer for the Rays. Luke Maile homered for the Blue Jays, who rallied from an 8-0 defi cit to draw within one run before the Rays scored three in the ninth.

Athletics 8, Rangers 6In Arlington, Texas, Khris Davis

continued his slugging ways with an eighth-inning solo homer that com-pleted visiting Oakland’s rally from a

WASHINGTON, April 13, (RTRS): Results and standings from the MLB games on Friday.Chic Cubs 5 LA Angels 1Pittsburgh 6 Washington 3Chic W. Sox 9 NY Yankees 6Tampa Bay 11 Toronto 7Boston 6 Baltimore 4

Philadelphia 9 Miami 1NY Mets 6 Atlanta 2Oakland 8 Texas 6Kansas City 8 Cleveland 1San Diego 2 Arizona 1Milwaukee 8 LA Dodgers 5Houston 10 Seattle 6San Francisco 3 Colorado 2

American LeagueEast Division

W L PCT GBTampa Bay 11 3 .786 –NY Yankees 5 8 .385 5-1/2Boston 5 9 .357 6Baltimore 5 9 .357 6Toronto 4 10 .286 7

Central Division W L PCT GBCleveland 8 5 .615 –Detroit 8 5 .615 –Minnesota 6 4 .600 0-1/2Chic W. Sox 4 8 .333 3-1/2Kansas City 3 10 .231 5

West Division W L PCT GBSeattle 13 3 .813 –Houston 9 5 .643 3Oakland 10 8 .556 4LA Angels 7 7 .500 5Texas 6 7 .462 5-1/2

National League

East Division W L PCT GBNY Mets 9 4 .692 –Philadelphia 8 4 .667 0-1/2Atlanta 7 6 .538 2Washington 6 6 .500 2-1/2Miami 3 11 .214 6-1/2

Central Division W L PCT GBMilwaukee 9 5 .643 –St Louis 8 5 .615 0-1/2Pittsburgh 7 5 .583 1Chicago Cubs 5 8 .385 3-1/2Cincinnati 4 8 .333 4

West Division W L PCT GBSan Diego 10 5 .667 –LA Dodgers 8 7 .533 2Arizona 6 8 .429 3-1/2San Francisco 6 9 .400 4Colorado 3 11 .214 6-1/2

MLB Results/Standings

BASEBALL

Duchene

ICE HOCKEY


26

OM still chasing Champions League after Nimes win

Makeshift Barca draw with basement club HuescaHUESCA, Spain, April 13, (RTRS): La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a goalless draw by basement club Huesca on Saturday after coach Ernes-to Valverde made sweeping changes to his line-up ahead of Tuesday’s Cham-pions League quarter-fi nal decider against Manchester United.

The draw means second-placed Atletico Madrid could close the 12-point gap with Barcelona, who are on 74 points, if they beat Celta Vigo later on Saturday.

With the title practically assured af-ter last weekend’s 2-0 win over Atleti-co, Valverde fi elded a radically dif-ferent side to the team that won 1-0 at Old Trafford in Wednesday’s fi rst leg, making 10 changes and giving three players their league debuts.

Top scorer Lionel Messi was left at home for the game after being struck in the face by United defender Chris Smalling while Ivan Rakitic and Ser-gio Busquets were also rested and Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez were suspended.

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the only player who started at Old

Trafford to make the starting line-up against Huesca, although Barca were boosted by the return of France for-ward Ousmane Dembele after a month out injured.

Barca midfi elder Arturo Vidal was happy to admit that his side’s minds were more focused on getting beyond the Champions League quarter-fi nals for the fi rst time since 2015 than on the game they were playing on Saturday.

“I think everyone that was playing today was thinking about Tuesday’s game, just like the guys who stayed at home. The Champions League is what everyone is dreaming about,” said the Chilean.

Midfi elder Riqui Puig was one of Barca’s debutants and the 19-year-old produced the best moment of an une-ventful fi rst half, picking out Dembele with a wonderful pass but the French-man dragged his shot wide.

Brazilian forward Malcom struck the post early in the second half and teammate Carles Alena missed the tar-get from the rebound in Barca’s best spell after the interval, while substi-tutes Philippe Coutinho, Jordi Alba and Arthur Melo could not improve the leaders’ attacking threat when they came on.

“There were a lot of changes and a few debuts so we’re happy in general with the game though we could have been more ambitious in attack,” added Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.

“It was a diffi cult situation with so many new players but I understood it was what we needed to do today.”

❑ ❑ ❑

Olympique de Marseille kept alive their slim hopes of clinching a Cham-pions League qualifying spot when two late goals by Valere Germain and Luiz Gustavo earned them a 2-1 home win against Nimes in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Gustavo and Germain netted in the space of two minutes to put OM up to fourth on 51 points from 32 games, fi ve points behind Olympique Lyon-nais who occupy the last qualifying spot for Europe’s elite competition.

SOCCER

Barcelona’s Carlos Alena (left), vies for the ball with Huesca’s Juan Pablo Anor during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Hues-ca and Barcelona at the Alcoraz stadium in Huesca on April 13. (AP)

Fulham dent Everton’s EuropaLeague hopes with 2-0 victory

Redmond double helps Southampton beat timid Wolves 3-1

LONDON, April 13, (RTRS): Relegated Ful-ham dealt Everton’s hopes of Europa League action next season a heavy blow at Craven Cottage on Sat-urday as they beat their visitors 2-0 with goals from captain Tom Cairney and Ryan Babel.

After an action-packed but goal-less fi rst half, Cairney broke the deadlock just seconds after the re-start when Ryan Babel raced down the left and into the area before cutting the ball back to him.

Cairney, one of the Cottagers’ pro-motion-winning heroes last season, lashed his fi rst Premier League goal in low past Everton keeper Jordan Pick-ford, putting his side on track for only their fi fth win of an otherwise miser-

able campaign in the top fl ight.Dominic Calvert-Lewin came near-

est for Everton, hitting the post soon after the goal, but Babel sealed the win in the 69th minute, taking off on a solo run from the halfway line before coolly chipping the ball over Pickford.

Everton’s loss means they stay ninth on 46 points. The Merseysiders have been climbing back into contention for Europa League action next season with their recent run of strong results, but need to reach seventh place to secure that.

Fulham’s win leaves the already-rel-egated Londoners second from bottom on 20 points.

Southampton 3, Wolves 1 Southampton made a big step to-

wards securing Premier League football next season after two fi rst-half goals from Nathan Redmond steered them towards a 3-1 home win over Wolver-hampton Wanderers on Saturday.

The result left the Saints 16th on 36 points from 33 games, eight points above the relegation zone, while Wolves stayed eighth on 47 points from 33 games.

Delighted Southampton players

saluted their fans on the fi nal whistle after closing in on top-fl ight survival and their coach Ralph Hasenhuettl was also pleased with the outcome.

Still reeling from Sunday’s 3-2 FA Cup semifi nal defeat by Watford when they threw away a two-goal lead at Wembley, Wolves put in a turgid per-formance, creating precious little up front even with 70 percent of the pos-session.

They fell behind in the second minute when Redmond poked the ball into the roof of the net at the near post after James Ward-Prowse released Josh Sims on the right fl ank and the winger delivered a sharp low cross.

The visitors piled on the pressure after falling behind and drew level in the 28th minute as central defender Willy Boly rose above his marker to head home a Joao Moutinho corner, but their joy was short-lived.

Redmond restored the home side’s lead barely two minutes later with a dinked fi nish after a defense-splitting pass from Danny Ings, who again carved the visitors open in the 32nd minute only

for Sims to drag his shot wide. Second-half substitute Shane Long

sealed the contest in the 71st minute with an opportunist fi nish from three metres out, steering in a scrambled Maya Yoshida effort after the Japanese defender saw his initial overhead kick blocked.

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo criticised his players.

“We left too many spaces and we al-lowed them to play. Today they were better than us and we have to regroup and bounce back immediately,” he said.

Burnley 2, Cardiff City 0Chris Wood scored twice as Burnley

virtually assured Premier League safe-ty with a 2-0 win over fellow strug-glers Cardiff City on Saturday which left the Welsh club deep in relegation trouble and their manager Neil War-nock fuming.

Cardiff, occupying the fi nal relega-tion slot in 18th place, are on 28 points, fi ve behind 17th-placed Brighton with fi ve games remaining. Burnley, who have won three in a row, move up to 14th place on 39 points — 11 ahead of Cardiff.

But for the large travelling Welsh support the game will be remembered for a second half penalty incident when, with the score at 1-0 to Burnley, referee Mike Dean changed his mind after initially pointing to the spot.

New Zealander Wood, who had struck the post in the second minute, put the Clarets in front in the 31st minute with a fi ne header from a Dwight McNeil corner.

Bournemouth 5, Brighton 0 A humiliating 5-0 defeat to Bourne-

mouth on Saturday left Brighton & Hove Albion embroiled in a Premier League relegation battle.

Having won just twice all year in the Premier League, Brighton have been dragged into the scrap at the bottom and they fell behind to Dan Gosling’s 33rd-minute strike — his fi rst league goal of the season.

Ryan Fraser’s fi ne fi nish after a swift Bournemouth counter attack 10 minutes into the second half doubled the visitors’ advantage.

Brighton’s miserable afternoon con-tinued as Anthony Knockaert was giv-en a straight red card for a nasty lunge in the 68th minute.

There was no way back for Bright-on after that, with goals from David Brooks, Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas making sure of a fi rst win in four league games for Bournemouth.

The home defeat means Brighton remain fi ve points clear of Cardiff in 18th, having played a game less, with the pair meeting on Tuesday in a cru-cial relegation battle, while Bourne-mouth moved on to 41 points and are all but safe.Newcastle United 1, Leicester City 0

Newcastle United recovered from two consecutive defeats to beat Leices-ter City 1-0 with an Ayoze Perez head-er on Friday and moved 10 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

The Spaniard glanced the ball into the top right corner of the net from Matt Ritchie’s cross to put Newcastle ahead after 32 minutes despite Leices-ter having dominated possession.

“It was a good game against a good team,” said Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez. “We did very well. Our play-ers worked so hard. This relationship between the players and fans means a lot to us. The players and fans tried to do their best.”

Leicester, looking to secure a Euro-pean spot next season under new coach Brendan Rodgers, had striker Jamie Vardy back.

Vardy had scored six goals in the club’s fi ve matches under Rodgers, who joined from Celtic, but apart from an early chance that was saved he had little impact on the game.

Salomon Rondon almost put the visitors ahead when he hit the bar with a free-kick from 30 metres but they did not have to wait long for Perez to strike and they held on for the win.

Brighton’s Bernardo (left), and Bournemouth’s David Brooks battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Bournemouth at the AMEX Stadium, Brighton, England on April 13. (AP)

Cardiff City’s Joe Bennett (left), and Burnley’s Ashley Barnes confront each other during the English Premier League soccer match between Burnley

and Cardiff City at Turf Moor, Burnley, England on April 13. (AP)

SOCCER

British Soccer Results/Standings

LONDON, April 13, (Agencies): British soccer results on Saturday.

English Premier LeagueTottenham 4 Huddersfi eld 0 Bournemouth 5 Brighton 0 Burnley 2 Cardiff City 0Fulham 2 Everton 0 Saints 3 Wanderers 1 Man Utd 2 West Ham 1

Championship Aston 2 Bristol 1 Derby 4 Wanderers 0

Ipswich 1 Birmingham 1 M’boro 1 Hull City 0 Nott Forest 1 Rovers (1) 2 QPR 4 Swansea 0 Reading 2 Brentford 1 Sheffi eld 1 Millwall 1 Stoke 2 Rotherham 2 West Brom 4 Preston 1 Leeds 1 Sheffi eld 0

Scottish ChampionshipAlloa 1 Queen of South 0Falkirk 1 Dunfermline 0Ross County 0 Thistle 0

British Soccer StandingsEnglish Premier League

P W D L GF GA Pts Liverpool 33 25 7 1 75 20 82 Man City 32 26 2 4 83 21 80 Tottenham 33 22 1 10 64 34 67 Chelsea 33 20 6 7 57 34 66 Arsenal 32 19 6 7 65 40 63 Man Utd 32 18 7 7 61 43 61 Leicester 34 14 5 15 46 45 47 Wolves 33 13 8 12 41 42 47 Everton 34 13 7 14 46 44 46 Watford 32 13 7 12 47 47 46 WHU 33 12 6 15 41 50 42 B’mouth 34 12 5 17 49 61 41 Palace 33 11 6 16 39 43 39 Burnley 34 11 6 17 42 60 39 Newcastle 34 10 8 16 32 43 38 Saints 33 9 9 15 39 54 36 Brighton 32 9 6 17 32 51 33 Cardiff 33 8 4 21 28 63 28 Fulham 34 5 5 24 32 76 20 H’fi eld 34 3 5 26 19 67 14

Championship P W D L GF GA Pts Norwich 41 25 10 6 84 50 85 Sheff Utd 42 23 10 9 69 39 79 Leeds 41 24 7 10 68 42 79 WBA 42 21 10 11 81 56 73 Villa 42 18 15 9 77 58 69

Bristol 41 18 11 12 55 46 65 M’boro 42 17 13 12 44 36 64 Derby 41 17 12 12 59 50 63 Hull 42 17 9 16 61 59 60 Sheff Wed 41 15 14 12 52 54 59 Nott Forest 42 14 15 13 56 52 57 Preston 42 15 12 15 60 59 57 Swansea 41 16 8 17 55 54 56 Brentford 42 14 12 16 66 58 54 Blackburn 42 14 11 17 57 64 53 Stoke 42 11 19 12 41 47 52 QPR 42 13 9 20 50 65 48 Birmingham 42 13 16 13 58 54 46 Reading 42 10 14 18 47 63 44 Millwall 41 10 12 19 46 59 42 Wigan 41 10 11 20 44 61 41 Rotherham 42 8 16 18 46 72 40 Bolton 42 8 8 26 29 72 32 Ipswich 42 4 16 22 33 68 28

Scottish Championship P W D L GF GA Pts Ross County 33 19 8 6 54 30 65Dundee Utd 33 17 8 8 45 39 59Ayr United 32 14 8 10 46 32 50Inverness 32 12 13 7 43 35 49Dunfermline 33 11 8 14 32 36 41Alloa 33 10 8 15 36 48 38Greenock 32 8 12 12 30 43 36Queen 33 8 11 14 39 40 35Falkirk 33 8 11 14 34 43 35Thistle 32 9 7 16 36 49 34

Note: Standings read as played, won, draw, lost, goals for, goals against and points.


27

Sports PlusPlus

I think a fair point from fans could be if ulti-

mately the science sug-gests that 82 games is

too many games for these players, maybe

you shouldn’t have an 82-game season

This is really not acceptable. Racism has

no place in football

‘

‘

’

’

Walton out as Lakers coach after 3 losing seasons

Shorter season? Shorter games? Silver ponders NBA format

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka announced Walton’s departure Friday, three days after the abrupt resignation of president of basketball operations Magic Johnson. Pelinka called Walton leaving a mutual decision.

The former Lakers forward went 98-148 after getting his fi rst permanent head coaching job with the 16-time NBA champions. The former Golden State assistant never led the Lakers to the playoffs, not even after the arrival of LeBron James last summer.

Walton leaves three days after the Lakers’ fi nal game of their 37-45 season was upstaged by the shocking pregame resignation of Johnson, who inherited Walton when he took over the Lakers’ front offi ce in February 2017. Johnson attributed his decision in part to his de-sire and reluctance to fi re Walton, who is close to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss.

A potential power struggle instead ended with both men out of their jobs after this wild week. Pelinka, who was hired along with Johnson, announced the move in a possible sign of the increased organizational power of Kobe Bryant’s former agent.

“I want to thank Jeanie Buss and the Buss family for giving me the op-portunity to coach the Lakers,” Walton said in a statement issued by the Lakers. “This franchise and the city will always be special to me and my family.”

Walton joined the Lakers with fan-fare in 2016 after his successful tenure alongside coach Steve Kerr with the powerhouse Warriors. Walton stepped in as Golden State’s interim coach when Kerr was sidelined by health issues to start the 2015-16 season, and he led the Warriors to a 24-0 start and a 39-4 record before Kerr returned to the bench.

The Lakers improved their record in each of Walton’s three seasons, but never fi nished higher than third place in the Pacifi c Division. The current Lakers were the franchise’s most successful team since their playoff drought began in 2013, but it wasn’t enough to save Walton’s job.

“I think Luke did a hell of a job with what he had, the cards he was dealt,” point guard Rajon Rondo said. “The guys fought every night.”

Los Angeles was in fourth place in the Western Conference at 20-14 after beating Golden State last Christmas, but James and Rondo were injured during the game. The Lakers’ season fell apart during the longest injury absence of James’ career, and they ended the sea-son with nearly every important player in their young core sidelined by injuries.

Walton was tasked with one of the most diffi cult jobs in the NBA this season. Johnson and Pelinka gave him an oddly constructed roster of idiosyn-cratic NBA veterans on one-year deals playing alongside James and several talented youngsters including Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart.

In this March 12, 2019 fi le photo, Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton gestures to players during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. The Lakers say they have mutually agreed to part ways with Walton after three losing seasons. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka announced Walton’s departure on April 12. (AP)

Klopp calls alleged racist abuse of Liverpool’s Salah ‘disgusting’

FIFA urges federations, leagues to take hard line on racismMANCHESTER, England, April 13, (Agencies): FIFA has urged national football federations and leagues to adopt their own tough rules on deal-ing with racism, including allowing referees to stop or abandon matches.

Football’s global governing body issued a statement on Saturday in response to recent incidents in the game with president Gianni Infantino saying the cases were “sad”.

“This is really not acceptable. Rac-ism has no place in football, just as it has no place in society either,” said Infantino.

FIFA has a “three-step procedure” for games under its control, a system which allows referees to stop and later abandon a match in case of discrimi-natory incidents.

“FIFA urges all member associa-tions, leagues, clubs and disciplinary bodies to adopt the same procedure, as well as a zero-tolerance approach to incidents of racism in football, and to apply harsh sanctions for any such kind of behaviour,” said the state-ment.

England’s Danny Rose and Ra-heem Sterling said they suffered racist abuse during England’s Euro 2020 qualifi er in Montenegro in March, while there have been other cases in

English football in recent months.Arsenal have launched an investi-

gation after Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly was allegedly racially abused by a supporter during their Eu-ropa League match on Thursday.

Anti-racism monitoring group FARE said earlier this month that Italy was suffering from an “epidem-ic” of racism inside stadiums.

England’s Rose also said recently that he could not wait to leave football because he had had enough of the

racism in the game and was frustrated by the response of the authorities to the abuse.

Meanwhile Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp described alleged racist abuse directed at striker Mo-hamed Salah by some Chelsea fans as “disgusting” and called for those responsible to be banned from all soc-cer stadiums for life.

Three fans were stopped from entering Slavia Prague’s stadium for Thursday’s Europa League clash after

a video emerged on social media with an alleged racist chant about Egypt international Salah.

Chelsea, who visit Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, con-demned any form of discriminatory behaviour while Merseyside Police said they were investigating the pub-lication of offensive tweets made in relation to a Liverpool player.

“It’s disgusting. It’s another exam-ple of something that should not hap-pen,” Klopp told a news conference.

“It’s another sign that something is going wrong a little bit outside. The stronger the reaction, the more it will help. If you do something like that you should not be able to enter a stadium again, from my point of view, for life.”

Former Chelsea player Salah, last season’s Player of the Year in England, won the African Footballer of the Year award for the second time in a row in January.

“Football is the best example of how different races can work so well together. Nobody cares where you are from or who your parents were or whatever,” Klopp added.

Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany said diversity in club boardrooms and institutions of power

could help in tackling racism in soc-cer more effectively, rather than just punishing individual offenders.

“The upturn in racist abuse is worrying but at the same time it’s something that is good to be dis-cussed so much, to ask ourselves the right questions,” Kompany told Sky Sports.

Earlier this season, Kompany’s team mate Raheem Sterling accused sections of the British media of fuelling the problem with a negative portrayal of young black players.

Sterling also encountered racist abuse during England’s Euro 2020 qualifi er in Montenegro in March, while there have been other cases in English soccer in recent months.

Arsenal launched an investigation into racist abuse suffered by Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly during their Europa League victory on Thursday.

Three Chelsea fans were stopped from entering Slavia Prague’s sta-dium for Thursday’s Europa League game after a video of a racist chant about Liverpool’s Egypt international Mohamed Salah circulated on social media.

However, Kompany said the focus should not lie only on individuals who directed abuse at players.

NEW YORK, April 13, (AP): The future of NBA basketball could look like European soccer.

Tournaments that take place during the season along with league games in-trigue Commissioner Adam Silver as a way to change the format of the NBA’s 82-game season.

If it even keeps an 82-game season.Silver mentioned everything from

shorter games to a shorter season Friday as ways the NBA could make its future product better for players and fans.

“The format we have in place now – I’m a traditionalist on one hand, but on the other hand it’s 50 years old or so, presenting an 82-game season, and there’s nothing magical about it,” Silver said.

“I think it’s on the league offi ce to always be challenging the way we do things, to be paying attention to chang-ing viewer habits, a changing market-place, a new world of the way media is presented, often on smaller devices,

less on screens, people having shorter attention spans, and saying, ‘This is an incredible game, it’s never been more exciting, the athleticism has never been greater, fantastic players coming from all around the world, but what’s the best way to put the season together?’”

Silver has focused on player health as commissioner, opening the regular season earlier to reduce the frequency of back-to-back games, and lengthening the All-Star break.

But players are still sitting out games throughout the season – either by their choice or because their teams are requir-ing it – often for reasons being listed as load management.

“I think a fair point from fans could be if ultimately the science suggests that 82 games is too many games for these players, maybe you shouldn’t have an 82-game season,” Silver said. “I accept that, and that’s something we’ll continue to look at.”

Fewer games could mean less rev-

enue, unless they could be replaced by something that would generate as many or more viewers. Tournaments could be an answer, even if 82 games remains the format.

Silver has pointed to European soccer as something that could bring new inter-est to the NBA by offering teams more opportunities to win something, instead of just having one champion.

“That’s why I’m particularly inter-ested in looking at different kinds of for-mats – at mid-season tournaments, for example, play-in tournaments – because even accepting that players have so many miles on their bodies, there may be better ways to present it,” Silver said. “Assuming guys are going to play 82 games, maybe there should be a certain number of games in the regular season and then there should be two tourna-ments throughout the season.”

He acknowledged that model would require a change of thinking in Ameri-can fans, who are used to only caring

about the winner of the NBA Finals.Silver also mentioned the possibility

of trimming games from 48 minutes to 40, which is the length of college and international games.

He cautioned that none of the changes he discussed after the league’s Board of Governors meetings were close to being implemented, and would continue to be studied within the league, perhaps for a few years.

“Part of it is just the formality that they need to be negotiated with the Players Association, but even if the Players Association came to us and said, ‘You guys know best, what is it you want,’ I wouldn’t know how to answer it,” Silver said. “I think it’s going to require a lot more research, a lot more thoughtfulness on behalf of the teams, players and the league working together.”

Meanwhile, Luke Walton is out as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers after three losing seasons.

Liverpool’s Naby Keita (left), celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League quarter-fi nal, fi rst leg, soccer match between Liver-

pool and FC Porto at Anfi eld stadium, Liverpool, England on April 9. (AP)

NFL to enforce ban on certain helmets, including Brady’s

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be wearing a different helmet for the 2019 season, although it will have noth-ing to do with fi nding a new team.

Brady’s model of helmet was banned from the NFL because it did not meet nec-essary safety standards in laboratory test-ing, according to ESPN. In total, 32 players from 2018 were wearing a helmet that no longer met NFL standards, the league an-nounced Friday.

Brady’s model was actually deemed in-adequate before last season, but players

using substandard models were given a one-year grace period to make a change.

The NFL and the NFL players Associa-tion announced 11 new helmets that were added to the approved equipment list. There were no additions to the banned list this time around.

Team equipment managers will be sub-ject to discipline if they facilitate the use of a banned helmet, or know of a player using one, according to ESPN.

The NFL and the NFL Players Associa-tion have been putting helmets through new

testing standards since 2015. The tests, conducted in Canada, include crash test dummies outfi tted with helmets that are subjected to various impacts to record how much force is transferred.

Meanwhile, Forrest Gregg, the great Hall of Fame lineman for the mighty Green Bay Packers of the 1960s that Vince Lombardi called the “fi nest player I ever coached,” died Friday at age 85. Barbara Gregg said her husband of 59 years died in Colorado Springs from complications of Parkinson’s disease. (Agencies)

Kentucky tight end Brenden Bates (80) is tackled by safety Tyrell Ajian (23) at the goal line during the NCAA college football team’s annual Blue and White spring scrimmage on April 12 in Lexington, Ky. (AP)

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Sports09:00 marathon . ................. ............. bein sports hd09:50 basketball ........................... bein sports 10hd12:00 cycling ................................. bein sports 10hd13:20 cricket .................................. bein sports 13hd13:30 boxing .................................... bein sports 7hd14:30 triathlon .................................. bein sports hd15:50 soccer ...................................... bein sports hd17:20 cricket .................................. bein sports 13hd

Two penalties earn sluggish United winLucas hat trick helps Spurs to thrash Huddersfield

MANCHESTER, Eng-land, April 13, (RTRS): Two Paul Pogba penalties earned lethargic Manches-ter United a 2-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Having lost fi ve of their previous six matches in all competitions, United looked short on confi dence early on against West Ham, who had a goal ruled out in the 10th minute when Felipe Anderson was adjudged to be offside when fi nd-ing the net.

That tight call went United’s way, and soon after they were in front when Pogba hammered home a 19th minute penalty, much to the relief of home crowd.

Even with the lead, United re-

mained sluggish and did not muster another shot on target for the rest of the fi rst half during which they saw less of the ball than their visitors.

The interval did little to rejuvenate United with Anderson’s fi rst goal in 14 league games drawing the visitors level just four minutes into the sec-ond period.

Michail Antonio twice went close to completing the turnaround for West Ham, but United stole all three points after Pogba again converted from the spot 10 minutes from time.

The win ensured United climbed above Arsenal into fi fth place, two points behind Chelsea, while West Ham stayed 11th.

Tottenham 4, Huddersfi eld 0Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazil for-

ward Lucas Moura struck a superb hat trick in a 4-0 win over relegated Huddersfi eld Town to bolster the home side’s hopes of a top-four fi n-ish in the Premier League.

Spurs were without the injured Harry Kane and Dele Alli but Lucas’ treble, which included two goals in the fi nal few minutes, and an early Victor Wanyama goal, were just re-ward for a dominant display against the league’s bottom side.

Lucas, who celebrated with his one-year-old son Miguel on the pitch at the end, said: “I practise all the time and I’m so happy to-day because I did very well, good passes, good finishes and if we play like this as a team we can win a lot of things.”

The win in the early game took Spurs up to third place, a point ahead of Chelsea and four points clear of fi fth-placed fellow London rivals Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

Tottenham made seven changes from the side that beat Manchester City 1-0 at home in the Champions League in midweek, with an eye

Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure (center left), and Adrian Mariappa (center right), jump for the ball during the English FA Cup semifi nal soccer match between Watford and Wolverhampton Wan-derers at Wembley stadium in London on April 7. (AP)

on the quarter-fi nal second leg on Wednesday.

“It’s so important because seven changes I think builds up confi dence in the squad and confi dence in the team,” Spurs manager Mauricio Po-chettino told reporters. “It’s going to be a tough race to the end (to fi nish in the top four)”.

Wanyama put Spurs ahead after 24 minutes with a fi ne individual goal after dribbling around goal-keeper Ben Hamer and tucking the ball into an empty net from a Ben Davies pass.

Three minutes later the hosts scored again thanks to a fi erce right-foot drive by Lucas that fl ew un-derneath Hamer after the excellent Moussa Sissoko set him up on the break.

Spurs’ Fernando Llorente hit the bar after halftime and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet after a lively display. Huddersfi eld’s Junin-ho Bacuna had a late free kick tipped on to the bar before Christian Erik-sen hit the post on the counter.

Six minutes later Lucas con-trolled Eriksen’s cross and fi red into the bottom corner past the helpless

Hamer before rounding off the win by smashing into the top corner in stoppage time after being fed by sub-stitute Son Heung-min.

Results/Standings on Page 26

Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo fi ghts for the ball with West Ham’s Felipe Anderson (left), during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester Unit-ed and West Ham United at Old Trafford in Manchester, England

on April 13. (AP)

Italian Old Ladies suffer shock defeat to SPAL

Juventus title celebrations put on iceMILAN, April 13, (RTRS): Juventus missed the chance to clinch an eighth consecutive Serie A title on Saturday as SPAL stunned them by coming from behind to win 2-1 at the Stadio Paolo Mazza, their fi rst victory over Juve in 62 years.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side, already on 84 points, knew a draw would be

enough to wrap up the championship with six rounds remaining and took the lead in the fi rst half through Moise Kean.

However, the home side fought back after the break as goals from Kevin Bonifazi and Sergio Floccari se-cured their fi rst win against the Italian champions since February 1957.

The Turin club can still be named champions this weekend if second-placed Napoli fail to win away to rock-bottom Chievo on Sunday.

Allegri stood by his decision to pick a heavily rotated side, with an eye towards Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Ajax in Turin, after the first leg ended 1-1.

“It would’ve been easy to fi eld the fi rst choice XI today and get the Scu-detto but we’ve had such a remarkable run of results this season that it was more important to focus on the Cham-pions League game coming up,” he told Sky Italia.

“The key to Juventus winning the Scudetto is that we do well in the head-to-head clashes but above all bring home the points everywhere else.

“You usually win the Scudetto with 84-86 points but last term Napoli had 91 – a club record – and still fi nished second, so our performance that sea-son was extraordinary.”

It was Juventus’ second defeat of the league season and they remain 20 points clear of Napoli, while SPAL have risen to 13th place on 35 points, seven clear of the relegation zone.

Andrea Barzagli and Juan Cuadrado returned for Juve after injury lay-offs, while 17-year-old defender Paolo Goz-zi and midfi elder Grigoris Kastanos

made their Serie A debuts for the club, as did substitute Stephy Mavdidi.

“We had a lot of young players and

they did well but above all the second goal showed a lack of experience,” Al-legri added.

Juventus’ Leonardo Spinazzola (left), and SPAL’s Manuel Lazzari vie for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between SPAL and Juventus at

the Paolo Mazza stadium in Ferrara, Italy on April 13. (AP)

Egypt face Congo at AfconGIZA, Egypt, April 13, (AP): Mo-hamed Salah and host Egypt will face Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe in the group stage of an historic African Cup of Nations this year, the fi rst time the tournament will fi eld 24 teams and be held in the European summer.

As host, Egypt was one of six seeded teams for Friday’s draw and will open the tournament against Zimbabwe in Group A in Cairo on June 21.

The toughest test for Salah’s Liver-pool teammate Sadio Mane and Sen-egal, another seeded team, will likely come from Algeria in Group C, which also includes Kenya and Tanzania.

Defending champion Cameroon and Ghana were grouped together in Group F with Benin and Guinea-Bissau. Group D is arguably the toughest, with Morocco, 2015 champion Ivory Coast and South Africa drawn together with Namibia.

Nigeria will face Guinea and two tournament debutants in Madagascar and Burundi in Group B.

Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania - another fi rst-time qualifi er - and Angola make up Group E.

Egypt is hosting after Cameroon lost the right because of poor preparations and security concerns. Eight teams have been added and the tournament, which is usually held at the start of the year, has been shifted to June and July, the European offseason. That means

Africa’s Europe-based stars won’t be faced with the dilemma of leaving their clubs midseason to play at their conti-nental championship.

Salah will undoubtedly be the face of this African Cup, which will be played at six stadiums in four cities: Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Ismailia. Friday night’s draw was held in front of the iconic Sphinx and pyramids of Giza, which were lit up by laser lights.

Salah and Egypt reached the fi nal two years ago in Gabon and led Cam-eroon before losing 2-1 to an 88th-minute goal. That was the fi rst time Egypt had qualifi ed since winning a record-extending seventh title in 2010.

Senegal, Africa’s top-ranked team, starts against Tanzania, then plays Algeria and fi nishes the group stage against Kenya.

Draw:Group A: Egypt, Congo, Uganda,

Zimbabwe.Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Mada-

gascar, Burundi.Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya,

Tanzania.Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast,

South Africa, Namibia.Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Maurita-

nia, Angola.Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin,

Guinea-Bissau.

Sancho double sends nervous Dortmund back on topBERLIN, April 13, (Agencies): Borus-sia Dortmund teenager Jadon Sancho scored twice in seven minutes on Sat-urday to help his team to a nervous 2-1 victory over Mainz 05 that sent them provisionally back to the top of the Bundesliga.

Sancho’s goals were enough to lift Dortmund, who were dominant in the fi rst half but inexplicably eased off after the break, to 66 points with fi ve games left to play. They are two points ahead of champions Bayern Munich, who face Fortuna Duesseldorf on Sun-day.

Dortmund, eager to make amends for last week’s 5-0 demolition by Bayern, put in a whirlwind start and Mainz almost scored an own goal when Danny Latza deflected a Mario Goetze cutback onto the post in the sixth minute.

Jacob Bruun Larsen twice came close before Goetze tried it again in the 17th minute and found England in-ternational Sancho at the far post who drilled in for the lead.

The 19-year-old doubled the score in similar fashion in the 24th minute, fi ring in a Thomas Delaney assist for his 10th goal of the campaign.

Instead of scoring again, the hosts slackened after the break, allowing Mainz, who had hit the post on the stroke of halftime, to come forward.

The visitors hit the woodwork again with Karim Onisiwo in the 63rd minute and cut the defi cit with Robin Quai-

son’s deserved goal in the 83rd before Dortmund keeper Roman Buerki made a triple point-blank save in the 87th to protect Dortmund’s three points.

Leipzig closed in on Champions League qualifi cation, and Werder Bremen boosted its hopes of European soccer, with Bundesliga wins on Satur-day.

Leipzig consolidated third place after stretching their unbeaten league run to 11 games with a 2-0 win over

Wolfsburg.Kevin Kampl got the home side un-

derway with a curling shot inside the far post in the 15th and Timo Werner headed the second goal in the 28th.

Two late goals from Davy Klaas-sen and Theodor Gebre Selassie gave Bremen a 2-1 win at home over Frei-burg.

Bremen remain unbeaten in 2019 - six wins and six draws in the Bun-desliga, two German Cup wins over Borussia Dortmund and Schalke - and climbed to sixth, the last qualifi cation place for the Europa League with fi ve rounds remaining.

Florian Kohfeldt’s team is one point above seventh-placed Bayer Leverkus-

en, which ended a run of three defeats with a 1-0 win at Stuttgart thanks to Kai Havertz’s second-half penalty. Stuttgart’s Santiago Ascacibar was sent off after lashing out at Havertz in injury time.

Fifth-placed Borussia Moencheng-ladbach won 1-0 at bottom side Han-nover.

Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho cel-ebrates after scoring during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FSV Mainz 05 in Dortmund, Ger-

many on April 13. (AP)

Hoffenheim vs Hertha beIN SPORTS 5HD14:30 local

Düsseldorf vs Bayern beIN SPORTS 5HD16:30 local

Frankfurt vs Augburg beIN SPORTS 2HD, 11HD

19:00 local

Torino vs Cagliari beIN SPORTS 4HD13:30 local

Fiorentina vs Bologna beIN SPORTS 12HD16:00 local

Chievo vs Napoli beIN SPORTS 4HD19:00 local

Frosinone vs Inter beIN SPORTS 4HD21:30 local

Atalanta vs Empoli beIN SPORTS 4HD21:30 local (Monday)

Crystal Palace vs Man City beIN SPORTS 2HD 11HD

16:50 local Liverpool vs Chelsea beIN SPORTS 2HD

11HD19:30 local

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