@bahrainnbt · world 5 end nearing for is caliphate in syria india republic day supplement celebs...

Mail Online demands browser warning U-turnLondon

The Daily Mail’s website is calling for a browser alert that criticises its journal-

ism to be changed.The NewsGuard plug-in cur-

rently brings up a warning that says dailymail.co.uk “generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability”.

It has given this advice since August.

But the matter came to promi-

nence last week, after Microsoft updated its Edge browser app for Android and iOS devices and built in NewsGuard.

This prompted several other media outlets to report the story.

“We have only very recently become aware of the NewsGuard start-up and are in discussions with them to have this egre-giously erroneous classification resolved as soon as possible,” said a spokesman for Mail On-line.

At present, NewsGuard must be switched on by users of Mi-crosoft’s Edge app, but it is un-

derstood that there are plans for it to become the default option in the future.

The New York-based service - which is independent of Mic-rosoft - also has ambitions to in-clude its tool in further products from the Windows developer as well as other tech firms.

But for now, it can be used as an add-on extension in the desk-top version of web browsers in-cluding Edge, Google’s Chrome, Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s

Safari.Steve Brill, a NewsGuard

co-founder, said the Mail On-line verdict had been reached in a transparent manner.

“We spell out fairly clearly in the label exactly how many times we have attempted to contact them. The analyst that wrote this write-up got some-one on the phone who, as soon he heard who she was and where she was calling from, hung up.

02British tech firm to open regional office in Bahrain

03Global Day of Education marked

04 Twins jailed in drugs trial

7

End nearing for IS Caliphate in Syria5WORLD

INDIA REPUBLIC DAY SUPPLEMENTC E L E B S

Jenner can’t wait to welcome Kim and Kanye’s ‘surrogate’ babyAnd while the famous family are certainly excited about the news, it seems Kim’s mum Kris Jenner was feeling reflective about the arrival as the 63-year-old spoke to Aus-tralia’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday. P14

SATURDAYJANUARY 2019

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Turkey ‘to go it alone’ with Syria security zoneJeddah

Turkey may establish its own 32km security zone in northern Syria to keep

Kurdish militias away from its border, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.

The threat by Ankara to “go it alone” with a buffer zone fol-lows silence from Washington on US involvement in the plan.

President Donald Trump pro-

posed the border zone, but has not specified who would create, enforce or pay for it, or where exactly it would be.

“We expect the promise of a security zone, a buffer zone aimed at protecting our country from terrorists, to be fulfilled in few months,” Erdogan said on Friday. “Otherwise we will establish it ourselves.

“Our only expectation from

our allies is that they provide logistical support to Turkey’s effort. Our patience has a limit. We will not wait for ever for the fulfilment of the promises given to us.”

Erdogan said neither the UN nor the international coalition formed to protect the Syrian people were capable of creating a safe zone or maintaining secu-rity in the region.

Our only expectation from our allies is that they provide logistical support to Turkey’s effort. ERDOGAN

Shutdown ends, for now US President Trump announces deal to lift shutdown

• Mr Trump also said he had decided at this time not to resort to “a very powerful alternative”.

• He said federal workers affected by the political imbroglio would receive full back-pay.

Washington, DC

President Donald Trump has endorsed a deal to reopen the US govern-

ment for three weeks, after a record-breaking shutdown of federal agencies.

But the pact does not include any money that Mr Trump has

demanded for a US-Mexico bor-der wall.

The Republican president previously vowed to reject any such bill unless it included $5.7bn (£4.3bn) to fund his sig-nature campaign pledge.

But Democrats, who control

the House of Representatives, have flatly refused.

Speaking on day 35 of the shutdown in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Trump said he was “very proud to announce” the agreement would fund the government until 15 February.

He said federal workers af-fected by the political imbroglio, whom he called “incredible pa-triots”, would receive full back-pay.

Mr Trump also said he had decided at this time not to resort to “a very powerful alternative” - an apparent reference to de-claring a national emergency.

This could divert military funding towards building a

southern border wall, but such a proclamation would provoke constitutional uproar and legal challenges.

However, the president add-ed: “We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier.

“If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress the government will either shut down on Febru-ary 15 again.

“Or I will use the powers af-forded to me under the laws and the constitution of the United States to address this emergen-cy.”

Speaking just after the pres-ident ’s announcement, Re-publican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said on the cham-ber floor he hoped Democrats would negotiate “on good faith” with Republicans about border security.

Trump gestures while speaking about endorsing a deal to reopen the US government for three weeks.

5.7billion American dollars is the amount demanded by Trump from Congress for a US-Mexico border wall.

Mariah Carey to perform in Saudi Jeddah

Mariah Carey is to per-form in Saudi Arabia

for the first time next week.The American singer will

play a show as part of the first in-ternational gol f tou r-nament to b e p l aye d in the King-dom.

The concert will take place on Thursday, Jan 31, at King Abdullah Economic City.

Other performers during the course of the tourna-ment include Dutch DJ Tie-sto, Yemeni-Emirati singer Balqees Fathi and Jamaican rapper Sean Paul.

Two Palestinians killed by Israel Jerusalem

Israeli troops yesterday fatally shot a Palestinian

and wounded another as they threw stones at Israeli motorists in the occupied West Bank, the army said.

Soldiers “responded by firing at the suspects, who received medical treatment. One of the suspects later died of his wounds and an-other was injured,” a state-ment said.

We spell out fairly clearly in the label

exactly how many times we have attempted to

contact them. MR BRILL

02SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019

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British tech firm to open regional office in Bahrain

New venture reflects growing international support for Bahrain’s strengthening digital economy

• Bahrain Economic Development Board welcomes investment from Innervate Technology Solutions to service financial sector.

TDT | Manama

As Bahrain forges ahead with its transformation into a digital economy, leading

UK-based technology company Innervate has chosen the King-dom to open its first regional office servicing the financial sector.

The move is a welcome boost for Bahrain, which sees informa-tion technology and the digital highway as a core pillar of the nation’s Vision 2030 economic diversification plans.

At the official launch event held at the British Embassy in Bahrain’s capital Manama, Zayed Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and senior manage-ment from the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) joined

the British Ambassador, Simon Martin, Innervate CEO Andy Startin, representatives from the Department of UK Trade and In-dustry, Bahrain Fintech Bay and Microsoft, together with members of the local business community welcomed the opening of Inner-vate Technology.

Innervate specialises in de-veloping customer relationship management technology across different sectors, where finance is its core area of expertise. Inner-vate’s main clients in the region include the Saudi British Bank, Mitsubishi Bank, Aspen Insur-ance and Carnival Cruise. With

an initial investment of almost US$ 1m, Innervate plans to recruit employees across various skill-sets ranging from system integrators, data scientists, business analysts and system architects. As a result, Innervate has become the first Mi-crosoft Dynamics 365 Gold part-ner in Bahrain that mainly focuses on the financial services sector.

Bahrain EDB’s Executive Direc-tor – Business Development – ICT John Kilmartin, said: “We are de-lighted that Innervate has chosen Bahrain to establish a permanent office in Bahrain that will service clients across the region. This is indicative of their confidence in

Bahrain’s rapidly-moving strategy to develop as a regional ICT hub and highlights Bahrain’s attractive environment where companies can experience some of the lowest costs of doing business in the Gulf.

“Innervate’s decision follows their attendance of the Gateway Gulf investor forum held in Bah-rain last year, where companies from around the world were invit-ed to learn more about Bahrain’s attractive business incentives, helped by decades of economic policy to drive reform and diver-sification.”

Innervate Chief Executive Of-ficer, Andy Startin explained: “I’m very excited about the opportuni-ties for us in Bahrain and across the Gulf and pleased to have cho-sen the capital Manama as our re-gional headquarters. The Bahrain Economic Development Board, Fintech Bay, Microsoft and the Department of UK Trade and In-dustry have truly been inspiration-al partners to help get our venture off the ground in Bahrain. We are proud to be a part of Vision 2030 and thank the various authorities for their support.”

I’m very excited about the opportunities for us in Bahrain and across the Gulf and pleased to have chosen the capital Manama as our regional headquarters. MR STARTIN

Indian Ambassador Alok K Sinha administered the Voters’ Day pledge to the members of Indian community in the Kingdom during an event organised for overseas Indian voters. Mr Sinha highlighted the need to perform electoral duties for the overall welfare of the nation.

Voters’ Day pledge


Global Day of Education marked 12-year-old Adam Jade Kadia’s book on SDGs released at a special event

TDT | Manama Harpreet Kaur

The role of education sector as one of the key develop-mental areas was empha-

sised as many organisations across the Kingdom marked the Global Day of Education.

The International Peace In-stitute, Middle East and North Africa (IPI MENA) held a special event, where a book on 17 Sustain-able Development Goals (SDGs) written by a 12-year-old boy was released.

The author Adam Jade Kadia, fellow students, friends and youth leaders were present on the oc-casion.

Releasing the book, IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji strongly reaf-firmed the key role of education in IPI’s strategy to promote the Culture and Education for Peace.

“Students, children, and youth are the custodians of peace and culture and it is a fundamental need to nurture them and build on their existing knowledge and practices.

“I call upon educators, nurtures and parents to support children and youth to further building a peace culture from within com-munities and homes, and educa-tional institutional efforts.”

“I urge the educational institu-tions to streamline the Culture of Peace throughout different cur-ricula, from primary and second-ary, to postgraduate endeavours.”

A speech delivered by the 12-year-old author added special charm to the event. “We are the generation of the future and if we do nothing, the world will not change. These Sustainable Devel-opment Goals are like a roadmap, we can use these goals to get to the place we want to be, as they apply to all members of the internation-al community.”

Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery, President of the Gulf Petrochem-icals Industries Company (GPIC) highlighted the key role private and public sector can play by pro-viding a rich and positive envi-ronment to unlock the untapped potential of youth.

Dr Fatima Al Kooheji, Chairper-son of the Shura Council’s Wom-en and Child Affairs Committee, underlined the importance of national legislation in provid-ing opportunities to encourage the youth and the responsibility governments have in supporting

future generations through ed-ucation.

Supreme Council for Women Representative Shaikha Dina bint Rashid Al Khalifa, Director Gen-eral for Policies and Development, stressed the ability of children to think outside the box and how that can build on the efforts and contributions of past generations in addressing the interconnected complexities of the SDGs.

“The main question we will all walk away from is what we can do, how can every one of us in our own lives work towards imple-menting the SDGs and how can we inspire others, how can we make

a difference in our communities and societies,” she stated.

Following the launch, a debate took place where all the chil-dren, representing nine different schools, interacted actively, main-ly on their roles to advocate and implement the SDGs.

Moreover, the United Nations Information Centre for the Gulf Countries (UNIC Manama) and The Lions Club of Riffa co-organ-ised the Lions Club Annual Walk-In Essay and Painting Competi-tion for children to instil peace values among the children.

Students, children, and youth are the custodians

of peace and culture and it is a fundamental need to nurture them

and build on their existing knowledge and

practices. MR FRIJI

Many students took part in the painting competition held as part of the event. Adam Jade Kadia’s book being released at the event.


When interrogated about the source

of money, the accused said that

there were into shrimp trading.

PROSECUTORS

Twins jailed in drugs trial

The 27-year-old twins were arrested by a special team after receiving a tip-off

TDT | Manama

The First High Crimi-nal Court has handed down 15 years sentence

to Bahraini twin brothers con-victed of using and selling drugs.

The court also fined them BD5,000 each.

The 27-year-old twins were arrested by a special team of police after receiving a tip-off.

According to court details, the team raided their house

and found drugs in their pos-session.

The Public Prosecution said that they were also possessing BD14,980.

When interrogated about the source of money, the ac-cused said that there were into shrimp trading and thus ob-tained the amount.

The Public Prosecution had charged the accused with pos-sessing hashish with an inten-tion to use and sell.

Switzerland milestone for Twenty14 HoldingsTDT | Dubai

Twenty14 Holdings (T14H), the hospitality investment arm of Abu Dhabi-based

LuLu Group International, has entered into a forward purchase contract with Swiss real estate de-veloper Necron AG for the upcom-ing IntercityHotel Zurich Airport in Rümlang, Switzerland.

The addition of the Intercity-Hotel marks Twenty14 Holdings entry into mainland Europe and joins a portfolio of $750m worth of luxury property across the UK, the Middle East, and India.

The purpose-built, 260-room, 4-star hotel will be located close to the Rümlang station, A1 motor-way and offers fantastic transport links, including access to Zurich International Airport in ten min-utes, while the city centre is just 15 minutes away. The property will include meeting and event spaces, a restaurant, an indoor fit-ness centre, and spa area as well as underground and outdoor parking

facilities. The property is sched-uled to open in 2020.

The hotel will be operated by Deutsche Hospitality (Steigen-

berger Hotels AG) under a 20-year lease contract. The design

of the property will be based on the new Intercity Hotels Matteo

Thun design standards, and keep-ing in mind business travellers and tourists, the property will feature modern guestrooms and public spaces.

The hotel is the first of many development projects planned by Necron AG’s in cooperation with Deutsche Hospitality. HVS Hodges Ward Elliott acted as exclusive advisers to Necron.

Commenting on the acquisition, Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Direc-tor, T14H said, “We are excited to mark our entry into mainland Eu-rope with our first property in Zu-rich. It is an important milestone in our group’s portfolio as we work towards becoming a billion-dollar investment firm by 2020.”

“This is an exciting hotel devel-opment and we are delighted to be working in partnership with both Twenty14 Holdings and Deutsche Hospitality. We very much hope this is the start of a successful long-term partnership with both,” said Gerard van Liempt, CEO, Necron AG.

Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director, Twenty14 Holdings signing the agreement with Necron AG CEO Gerard van Liempt to develop the IntercityHotel Zurich Airport, in the presence of Yusuffali MA, Chairman and Managing Director, LuLu Group International, Thomas Willms, CEO, Deutsche Hospitality and other dignitaries in Zurich, Switzerland.

Leading expo launch announced

• The launch was supported by delegations from business NGOs and association partner; Small and Medium Enterprise Society (SMEs), and Bahrain Business Women’s Society (BBWS).

TDT | ManamaHarpreet Kaur

Under the patronage of Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa,

the Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Tourism and Ex-hibitions Authority (BTEA), in co-operation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO ITPO Bahrain), the Arab International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment (AICEI), the MENA Centre for Invest-ment, the Franchise Asso-ciation of the Middle East (FAME), the strategic partner Tamkeen and other partners, the organisers Quick Media Solutions Company (QMS) announced the launch of the first edition of the Interna-tional Brands and Franchise Expo 2019 (IBFEX 2019) at a press conference held at Bahrain Conference Centre, Crowne Plaza.

The launch was support-ed by delegations from busi-ness NGOs and association partner; Small and Medium Enterprise Society (SMEs), and Bahrain Business Wom-en’s Society (BBWS).

The expo, which is to be held between 11th - 13th February 2019, will play a significant role to the local, regional, and internation-al investment; highlighting franchising as a method towards promoting invest-ment and trade facilitation between countries, while fostering improved eco-nomic development in both target and destination loca-tions through the franchisor and franchisee.

Bahraini woman sentenced for bid to smuggle drugs

TDT | Manama

The First High Crimi-nal Court has handed down three years sen-

tence to a 35-year-old Bahraini lady convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs into the King-dom from Iran.

According to court details, she was having 3,000 psycho-

tropic tablets in her posses-sion when she was arrested at the Bahrain International Airport.

The court also fined the Bahraini woman BD3,000.

“She was bringing drugs from Iran for selling it in the illegal Bahraini drugs market,” said Prosecutors.

Punjabi Divas 2019 was celebrated at the Indian School Bahrain (ISB) with joy and fervour on Tuesday. The programme was organised by the Punjabi Language Department of the school in vibrant colours. Chief Guest Tilak Raj Singh Duaa, (Managing Director, ABIC Group of Companies) inaugurated the programme by lighting the lamp in the presence of Guest of Honour Jasbir Singh (Secretary, Gurudwara Gurumat Vidhya Kendra), ISB Assistant Secretary Premalatha N S, EC Member -Academics Mohammad Khursheed Alam, Principal V R Palaniswamy, Staff Representative Johnson K Devassy, Vice Principals, staff and students.

Punjabi Divas observed

GCC-EU co-operation discussedRiyadh

Gulf Co-operation Coun-cil (GCC) Assistant Sec-retary-General for Po-

litical Affairs and Negotiations Dr Abdul Aziz bin Hamad Al Ouwaishaq held a meeting with the EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Cervoni De Orso.

The two sides discussed re-gional and international issues and the march of cooperation

binding the GCC and the Eu-ropean Union under the joint cooperation agreement.

They also reviewed the out-come of a workshop on address-ing the youth unemployment, which was held at the GCC Gen-eral Secretariat on the 16th of January, in addition to other activities, lined up for 2019.

The upcoming 10th Eco-nomic Dialogue and Business Forum were also discussed.

05

world

SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019

End nearing for IS Caliphate in Syria

AFP | Hasakeh, Syria

Military operations against the Islamic State group in Syria

are wrapping up and the last pocket of the jihadists’ “cali-phate” will be flushed out with-in a month, a top commander said.

“The operation of our forces against IS in its last pocket has reached its end and IS fight-ers are now surrounded in one area,” Mazloum Kobani, the chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said.

With backing from the US-led coalition, the SDF are in the last phase of an operation started on September 10 to defeat the ji-hadists in the Euphrates Valley in eastern Syria.

“We need a month to elim-

inate IS remnants still in the area,” said Kobani, who spoke on Thursday near the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh.

A few hundred IS fighters are defending a handful of hamlets near the Iraqi border, the last rump of a “caliphate” which the jihadist organisation proclaimed in 2014 and once covered territory the size of Britain.

“I believe that during the next month we will officially announce the end of the mili-tary presence on the ground of the so-called caliphate,” Kobani said.

Intense fighting in the area known as “the Hajin pocket” has left hundreds of fighters dead on both sides, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

IS lost the town of Hajin late last year and the subsequent collapse of its defences saw the Kurdish-led SDF conquer one village after another.

Kobani said their battle had been complicated by the ji-hadist group’s shifting strategy after the fall of their de-facto Syrian capital of Raqa in 2017.

New tactics include “sleep-er cells everywhere, secretly recruiting people again, and carrying out suicide operations, bombings, and assassinations”, he said.

“We expect there will be an increase in the intensity of IS operations against our forces after the end of their military presence,” Kobani said.

IS has retained a presence in Syria’s vast Badia desert and has claimed a series of attacks in SDF-held territory.

Mazloum Kobani, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),

Syrian Kurds gather during a demonstration in Qamishli to mark the first anniversary of the takeover of the northern Syrian city of Afrin by the Turkish army and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.Japan’s sprinter

Miyazaki ‘Golden Bolt’ dies at 108Tokyo, Japan

Hidekichi Miyazaki, a Jap-anese centenarian who

set the 100-metre sprint world record for the over-105 age category, has died aged 108, a local sports official said yes-terday.

Miyazaki, dubbed “Golden Bolt” after eight-time Olym-pic gold medallist Usain Bolt, passed away on Wednesday, the official confirmed.

The record breaking athlete was born in 1910 -- the year Japan annexed Ko-rea and when t h e T i t a n i c was still be-ing built.

In 2015, he clocked 42.22 sec-onds in his home city of Kyo-

to to set a 100-metre world record in the over-105 age cat-egory -- one for which no mark previously existed -- a day af-ter reaching the milestone age.

The feat and photos of him striking Bolt’s famous “light-ning” pose made international headlines, prompting even the Jamaican sprinter himself to tweet a shout-out to the elder runner.

But the ageing athlete him-self was less than impressed by his achievement.

“I’m not happy with the time,” Miyazaki said in an

interview right after the record breaking perfor-

mance.“I started shedding

tears during the race because I was going so

slowly. Perhaps I’m get-ting old!”

He took up running in his early 90s

and said he would pre-p a r e f o r races by taking a

sneaky c a t -nap.

Hidekichi Miyazaki, 105, runs with other competitors over eighty years of age during a 100-metre-dash in the Kyoto Masters Autumn Competiton in Kyoto, western Japan.

Indonesia toll touches 59

Makassar, Indonesia

Floods and landslides in In-donesia have killed at least

59 people, the government said Friday, after heavy rain pound-ed Sulawesi island and forced thousands to flee their homes.

“I’ve never seen something this bad -- this is the worst,” Syamsibar, head of South Su-lawesi’s disaster mitigation agency, told AFP, adding that 25 people were still missing.

Lashed by the heavy rain,

rivers swelled and burst their banks, inundating dozens of communities in 11 districts of southern Sulawesi. Parts of the provincial capital Makassar have also been affected.

Gowa district suffered the heaviest casualties, with 44 people found dead, said Syam-sibar, who like many Indone-sians goes by one name.

Some 3,400 people were evacuated from their homes and given refuge in schools, mosques and tents.

A group of Indonesian youngsters eating their lunch in the floodwaters in Makassar

Militia members plead guilty to bombing US mosqueChicago, United States

Members of a militia group, whose alleged leader ap-

plied to build Donald Trump’s border wall, pleaded guilty Thursday to bombing a mosque in an effort to frighten Amer-ican Muslims into leaving the country.

The admissions by Michael McWhorter, 29 and Joe Morris, 23, were through guilty pleas to charges stemming from a crime spree that included two bomb-ing attempts, armed robberies, and the attempted extortion of a railway company.

Police say McWhorter con-fessed that his group, the “White Rabbits,” bombed the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in a Minneapolis suburb in August 2017 in order to “scare (Mus-lims) out of the country” and send the message “you’re not welcome here.”

No one was injured in the bombing, which damaged the office of the mosque’s imam. The damage was repaired as in-terfaith communities rallied to the approximately 200 worship-

pers’ aid, said Jaylani Hussein, the Minnesota chapter chief of the Council on American-Islam-ic Relations.

Hussein said Minneapo-lis Muslims were relieved by the guilty pleas, but con-cerned about members of the group that remain at large, as well as about other militia groups.

“These militia groups have zeroed in on the Muslim com-munity,” Hussein told AFP. “And a number of their blogs are over-

whelmingly talking about the Muslim community as a threat and a threat to be eliminated.”

The bombing happened mere months into Trump’s presiden-cy, with heightened fears of discrimination against Mus-lim Americans and reports of increasing incidents of hate crimes.

The alleged mastermind of the attack was the group’s founder Michael Hari, 47.

US media described him as an ex-law enforcement officer

in the neighboring state of Il-linois whose security firm was among hundreds of vendors that submitted proposals to build a US-Mexico border wall -- Trump’s signature campaign promise.

The proposal was accompa-nied by a bizarre YouTube video claiming the wall would be “a powerful architectural state-ment of the determination of the American people to defend their nation and its Anglo-Sax-on heritage, Western culture and English language.”

Hari, who is in custody, was not party to the plea agreement and faces federal civil rights and hate crime charges.

Members of Hari’s militia group are accused of other crimes, as well.

They allegedly “sabotaged” a section of railroad track belong-ing to the Canadian National Railway, demanding $190,000 in crypto currency to avoid ad-ditional attacks.

They also allegedly threw a pipe bomb into an Illinois abor-tion clinic, which did not det-onate.

From left, Michael Hari, Joe Morris and Michael McWhorter have been in federal custody since March on charges out of both Illinois and Minnesota (Courtesy of Star Tribune)

Gay Brazilian lawmaker leaves job, country over death threats

Brasília, Brazil

Brazil’s only openly gay lawmaker announced

Thursday he would not serve his third term and had fled the country be-cause of mounting death threats since the election of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

“To preserve threatened life is also a strategy to fight for better days,” Jean Wyl-lys, 44, is a member of the left-wing Socialism and Lib-erty Party (PSOL), wrote on Twitter.

Jean Wyllys

Zimbabwe confers ‘national hero’ status to afro-jazz iconHarare, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean afro-jazz legend Oliver “Tuku”

Mtukudzi, who died this week, has been declared a national hero, President E m m e r s o n M n a n g a g -wa announced Thursday -- a rare honour for a non- politician.

T h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l -ly-acclaimed star died Wednesday at the age of 66 at a hospital in Harare.


The oil-rich but economically dev-

astated country was plunged into uncer-tainty Wednesday when Guaido, the 35-year-old head

of the National As-sembly, proclaimed

himself “acting president” -- earning

swift endorsement from Washington

and a dozen regional powers including

Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

KNOW WHAT

Venezuela’s military backs Maduro• Death toll from days of street protests jumped to 26

• Some 2.3 million people have fled the country since 2015, according to the United Nations

• Leading figures around the world have appealed for calm to avoid a repeat of the bloodshed

Caracas, Venezuela

Venezuela’s powerful mil-itary threw its weight behind President Nico-

las Maduro on Thursday as the US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido pressed a direct challenge to his authority, and the fate of the crisis-wracked country hung in the balance.

As the death toll from days of street protests jumped to 26, a defiant Maduro announced the closure of Venezuela’s embas-sy and consulates in the Unit-ed States, a day after President Donald Trump’s administration declared his regime “illegiti-mate.”

Maduro’s reelection last year was contested by the opposition, and criticized internationally -- but the socialist leader has until now retained the loyalty of the powerful military, whose response was being keenly watched.

Flanked by military top brass, Defense Minister Vladimir Pa-drino, himself a general, de-clared the 56-year-old Maduro “the legitimate president” -- and vowed to defend his authori-ty against an attempted “coup d’etat.”

Following Padrino’s lead, eight generals in turn reiterated their “absolute loyalty and subordi-nation” to the socialist leader in messages carried on state tel-evision.

And the Supreme Court -- made up of regime loyalists -- doubled down by reaffirming its

allegiance to Maduro’s “legiti-mate authority.”

“A coup is brewing in Vene-zuela with the consent of for-eign governments,” charged the court’s president Maikel More-no.

‘Debate is done’In a Skype interview with Uni-

vision, Guaido said he did not rule out including Maduro in an amnesty he is offering for mil-itary and civilian officials who lead a transition in Venezuela. But he said such an option would have to be evaluated because, he said, Maduro is responsible for the death of protesters.

Analysts at the Eurasia Group consultancy noted that while international recognition of Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president cemented his position as the main opposition leader, he had failed to win over senior

elements of the military.In that light, “Maduro’s fall

does not appear imminent,” the analysts wrote.

In Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo kept up the pressure on the leftist lead-er, as the United States called for an emergency UN Securi-ty Council meeting on the crisis.

“The time for debate is done. The regime of former president Nicolas Maduro is illegitimate,” Pompeo said in a speech to the Organization of American States, warning him against the use of force towards demon-

strators.A furious Maduro on Wednes-

day issued US diplomats a 72-hour deadline to leave the coun-try, and on Thursday said he was recalling all Venezuelan diplo-mats from the United States.

The State Department mean-while ordered its non-emergen-cy staff to leave Venezuela but refused to comply with a full expulsion, saying it would main-tain diplomatic ties with “the government of interim President Guaido.”

Trump meanwhile has openly mused about military interven-tion in Venezuela, saying “all

options are on the table,” and analysts suggest he could con-sider further economic sanc-tions against the country, a third of whose oil production goes to the US.

The Republican president has found rare support from the Democratic Party over Venezue-la, but one prominent dissenting voice was independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

“We must learn the lessons of the past and not be in the business of regime change or supporting coups -- as we have in Chile, Guatemala, Brazil and the Dominican Republic,” the 2016 presidential hopeful said in a statement, while also con-demning Venezuela’s crackdown on protesters.

Outside South America, the United States has been joined by Canada and Britain in rec-ognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader, while France has also rejected Maduro’s legitimacy.

But both Russia and China and have thrown their weight behind the embattled Maduro.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Maduro to express support, charging that the “cri-sis has been provoked from the outside.”

China, Venezuela’s main cred-itor, opposed “interference in Venezuelan affairs by external forces.” Maduro has retained the support of Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia, all led by leftist govern-ments.

Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez (C) delivers a press conference in Caracas, along with members of the top military leadership “in support of the constitutional president”, Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela’s National Assembly head Juan Guaido and leader Nicolas Maduro US orders non-emergency embassy staff to leaveWashington, United States

The United States on Thurs-day ordered non-emergen-

cy embassy staff to leave Ven-ezuela but refused to comply with a full expulsion demand-ed by Nicolas Maduro, who Washington says is no longer president. The State Depart-ment mandated the departure of non-emergency US person-nel and their family members “based on our current assess-ment of the security situation

in Venezuela,” a department spokesman said.

“We have no plans to close the embassy. The United States will maintain diplomatic rela-tions with Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido, who has in-vited our mission to remain in Venezuela,” he said.

Amid deadly political clashes in the crisis-torn country, the State Department also said that US citizens “should strongly consider departing Venezuela.”

Being ‘cool’ not enough: Pope in PanamaPanama City, Panama

Pope Francis told a global gathering of young Catho-

lics on Thursday that meaning-ful service was key to attracting a new generation of faithful, rather than trying to make the Church more “fun” or “cool.”

The 82-year-old pope re-ceived a rock-star welcome by tens of thousands of young people when he arrived for the World Youth Day event at a palm fringed park on the shores of Panama Bay.

Dozens of young pilgrims held up a giant yellow, blue and red banner with the legend “Pray for Venezuela”.

After arriving in his Popemo-bile, two young Panamanians accompanied the pope through a replica of the locks of the Pan-ama Canal.

“We want to tell you not to be afraid,” the pope said, urging them instead to go forward with

“fresh energy and restlessness.”“To go forward, not to create

a parallel Church that would be more ‘fun’ or ‘cool’ thanks to a fancy youth event, as if that were all you needed or wanted.

“ T h a t wa y o f t h i n k i n g would not respect either you or everything that the Spirit is saying through you. Not at all!

Instead, in order to reawaken the Church’s “constant fresh-ness and youth” the pope em-phasized “service to our broth-ers and sisters, and concrete service at that.”

Francis earlier spoke out in defense of migrants, blasting “fears and suspicions” over mi-gration in an address to Central

American bishops, and he re-turned to the theme again here.

“By your actions and your ap-proach, your way of looking at things,” he told the young peo-ple, “you discredit and defuse the kind of talk that is intent on sowing division, on excluding or rejecting those who are not ‘like us’.”

Pope Francis (C) takes part in the welcome ceremony and opening of the 34th World Youth Day at the Campo Santa Maria La Antigua in Panama City

Brazil dam collapses, killing ‘several’Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A dam in southeast Brazil collapsed Friday, unleash-

ing a torrent of mud that killed “several” people living in an area close to the city of Belo Horizonte, an official with the local fire service told AFP.

Emergency services were still responding to the situa-tion in and around the town of Brumadinho and did not yet have a precise toll, the official said. “According to accounts that we are receiving, there were several deaths,” he said.

Television images taken from the air showed a wide swath of devastation cut through vegetation and farm-land in which several homes were seen, many damaged and some destroyed, with nothing but their tiled roofs left sitting on mud. A rescue helicopter

was seen hovering close to two survivors trapped up to their waist in mud, with its crew trying to pull them to safety.

An online video showed the moment the river of tons of mud cut across a road.

The dam belonged to Bra-zil’s biggest mining compa-ny Vale, which confirmed its collapse and said “the total priority is to protect the lives of employees and inhabitants.”

Brumadinho’s municipal-ity issued an alert on social media warning residents to move away from the Paraope-ba river that the dam had been holding back.The emergency recalled trauma from a 2015 dam break in a different part of the same state of Minas Gerais, at Mariana, in which 19 people died. That was considered the country’s worst environmental disaster.


The oil-rich but economically dev-

astated country was plunged into uncer-tainty Wednesday when Guaido, the 35-year-old head

of the National As-sembly, proclaimed

himself “acting president” -- earning

swift endorsement from Washington

and a dozen regional powers including

Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

KNOW WHAT

Venezuela’s military backs Maduro• Death toll from days of street protests jumped to 26

• Some 2.3 million people have fled the country since 2015, according to the United Nations

• Leading figures around the world have appealed for calm to avoid a repeat of the bloodshed

Caracas, Venezuela

Venezuela’s powerful mil-itary threw its weight behind President Nico-

las Maduro on Thursday as the US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido pressed a direct challenge to his authority, and the fate of the crisis-wracked country hung in the balance.

As the death toll from days of street protests jumped to 26, a defiant Maduro announced the closure of Venezuela’s embas-sy and consulates in the Unit-ed States, a day after President Donald Trump’s administration declared his regime “illegiti-mate.”

Maduro’s reelection last year was contested by the opposition, and criticized internationally -- but the socialist leader has until now retained the loyalty of the powerful military, whose response was being keenly watched.

Flanked by military top brass, Defense Minister Vladimir Pa-drino, himself a general, de-clared the 56-year-old Maduro “the legitimate president” -- and vowed to defend his authori-ty against an attempted “coup d’etat.”

Following Padrino’s lead, eight generals in turn reiterated their “absolute loyalty and subordi-nation” to the socialist leader in messages carried on state tel-evision.

And the Supreme Court -- made up of regime loyalists -- doubled down by reaffirming its

allegiance to Maduro’s “legiti-mate authority.”

“A coup is brewing in Vene-zuela with the consent of for-eign governments,” charged the court’s president Maikel More-no.

‘Debate is done’In a Skype interview with Uni-

vision, Guaido said he did not rule out including Maduro in an amnesty he is offering for mil-itary and civilian officials who lead a transition in Venezuela. But he said such an option would have to be evaluated because, he said, Maduro is responsible for the death of protesters.

Analysts at the Eurasia Group consultancy noted that while international recognition of Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president cemented his position as the main opposition leader, he had failed to win over senior

elements of the military.In that light, “Maduro’s fall

does not appear imminent,” the analysts wrote.

In Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo kept up the pressure on the leftist lead-er, as the United States called for an emergency UN Securi-ty Council meeting on the crisis.

“The time for debate is done. The regime of former president Nicolas Maduro is illegitimate,” Pompeo said in a speech to the Organization of American States, warning him against the use of force towards demon-

strators.A furious Maduro on Wednes-

day issued US diplomats a 72-hour deadline to leave the coun-try, and on Thursday said he was recalling all Venezuelan diplo-mats from the United States.

The State Department mean-while ordered its non-emergen-cy staff to leave Venezuela but refused to comply with a full expulsion, saying it would main-tain diplomatic ties with “the government of interim President Guaido.”

Trump meanwhile has openly mused about military interven-tion in Venezuela, saying “all

options are on the table,” and analysts suggest he could con-sider further economic sanc-tions against the country, a third of whose oil production goes to the US.

The Republican president has found rare support from the Democratic Party over Venezue-la, but one prominent dissenting voice was independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

“We must learn the lessons of the past and not be in the business of regime change or supporting coups -- as we have in Chile, Guatemala, Brazil and the Dominican Republic,” the 2016 presidential hopeful said in a statement, while also con-demning Venezuela’s crackdown on protesters.

Outside South America, the United States has been joined by Canada and Britain in rec-ognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader, while France has also rejected Maduro’s legitimacy.

But both Russia and China and have thrown their weight behind the embattled Maduro.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Maduro to express support, charging that the “cri-sis has been provoked from the outside.”

China, Venezuela’s main cred-itor, opposed “interference in Venezuelan affairs by external forces.” Maduro has retained the support of Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia, all led by leftist govern-ments.

Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez (C) delivers a press conference in Caracas, along with members of the top military leadership “in support of the constitutional president”, Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela’s National Assembly head Juan Guaido and leader Nicolas Maduro US orders non-emergency embassy staff to leaveWashington, United States

The United States on Thurs-day ordered non-emergen-

cy embassy staff to leave Ven-ezuela but refused to comply with a full expulsion demand-ed by Nicolas Maduro, who Washington says is no longer president. The State Depart-ment mandated the departure of non-emergency US person-nel and their family members “based on our current assess-ment of the security situation

in Venezuela,” a department spokesman said.

“We have no plans to close the embassy. The United States will maintain diplomatic rela-tions with Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido, who has in-vited our mission to remain in Venezuela,” he said.

Amid deadly political clashes in the crisis-torn country, the State Department also said that US citizens “should strongly consider departing Venezuela.”

Being ‘cool’ not enough: Pope in PanamaPanama City, Panama

Pope Francis told a global gathering of young Catho-

lics on Thursday that meaning-ful service was key to attracting a new generation of faithful, rather than trying to make the Church more “fun” or “cool.”

The 82-year-old pope re-ceived a rock-star welcome by tens of thousands of young people when he arrived for the World Youth Day event at a palm fringed park on the shores of Panama Bay.

Dozens of young pilgrims held up a giant yellow, blue and red banner with the legend “Pray for Venezuela”.

After arriving in his Popemo-bile, two young Panamanians accompanied the pope through a replica of the locks of the Pan-ama Canal.

“We want to tell you not to be afraid,” the pope said, urging them instead to go forward with

“fresh energy and restlessness.”“To go forward, not to create

a parallel Church that would be more ‘fun’ or ‘cool’ thanks to a fancy youth event, as if that were all you needed or wanted.

“ T h a t wa y o f t h i n k i n g would not respect either you or everything that the Spirit is saying through you. Not at all!

Instead, in order to reawaken the Church’s “constant fresh-ness and youth” the pope em-phasized “service to our broth-ers and sisters, and concrete service at that.”

Francis earlier spoke out in defense of migrants, blasting “fears and suspicions” over mi-gration in an address to Central

American bishops, and he re-turned to the theme again here.

“By your actions and your ap-proach, your way of looking at things,” he told the young peo-ple, “you discredit and defuse the kind of talk that is intent on sowing division, on excluding or rejecting those who are not ‘like us’.”

Pope Francis (C) takes part in the welcome ceremony and opening of the 34th World Youth Day at the Campo Santa Maria La Antigua in Panama City

Brazil dam collapses, killing ‘several’Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A dam in southeast Brazil collapsed Friday, unleash-

ing a torrent of mud that killed “several” people living in an area close to the city of Belo Horizonte, an official with the local fire service told AFP.

Emergency services were still responding to the situa-tion in and around the town of Brumadinho and did not yet have a precise toll, the official said. “According to accounts that we are receiving, there were several deaths,” he said.

Television images taken from the air showed a wide swath of devastation cut through vegetation and farm-land in which several homes were seen, many damaged and some destroyed, with nothing but their tiled roofs left sitting on mud. A rescue helicopter

was seen hovering close to two survivors trapped up to their waist in mud, with its crew trying to pull them to safety.

An online video showed the moment the river of tons of mud cut across a road.

The dam belonged to Bra-zil’s biggest mining compa-ny Vale, which confirmed its collapse and said “the total priority is to protect the lives of employees and inhabitants.”

Brumadinho’s municipal-ity issued an alert on social media warning residents to move away from the Paraope-ba river that the dam had been holding back.The emergency recalled trauma from a 2015 dam break in a different part of the same state of Minas Gerais, at Mariana, in which 19 people died. That was considered the country’s worst environmental disaster.

7 SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019

Our country is at a key juncture. Decisions and actions of today will shape the future of India

Saluting the spirit of inclusiveness

My greetings to all of you on the eve of our 70th Republic Day! This is

an occasion to commemorate the values of our democracy and Re-public. Republic Day is an occa-sion to reaffirm our commitment to liberty, fraternity and equality across our society and among all our citizens. And above all, this is an occasion to celebrate In-dia and the spirit of being Indi-an. On October 2, we will mark the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who led us – and who inspired oppressed societies in Asia, Africa and elsewhere – to freedom from colonial rule. Gan-dhiji remains the moral compass of our Republic; his teachings are still the touchstone to measure our policies and initiatives. His 150th anniversary is not for In-dia alone; it is a joy to be shared with the world. On Nov 26, we will mark the 70th anniversary of the adoption of our Constitution. This enlightened and far-reaching document laid the foundations of our Republic. It was the work of men and women of principle and patriotism – the members of the Constituent Assembly.

In particular, we recall the role of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambed-kar, who chaired the Drafting Committee. In his honour, and in our Constitution’s honour, the nation will celebrate Constitution Day this year in an appropriate manner. This year, the people of India – each one of us – have an-other responsibility: of voting in the general election and electing the 17th Lok Sabha. The ideas and idealism of our democracy will come into full force. Once more voters will deliver their verdict

and write their des-tiny. This

year’s election will be the first when voters born in the 21st cen-tury will contribute to electing a new Lok Sabha.

An election is not just a political exercise. An election is a collec-tive call to wisdom and a collec-tive call to action. It represents a renewal and a recommitment to the goals and hopes of a shared and egalitarian society. An elec-tion represents the diverse and yet singular urges of the people of India. This makes the very act of voting a sacred act. Please perform this act. Who the voter chooses to vote for is up to him or her, I would only request all eligible voters to vote.

Our country is at a key junc-ture. Decisions and actions of today will shape the future of India. As such, this is not just a once-in-a-generation moment – it is a once-in-a-century mo-ment. Connectivity is bringing us together as never before. In-dia has been united and integrat-ed – now it is being networked. Leapfrogging technologies and leapfrogging enlightenment are empowering our farmers and

equipping our soldiers. No con-ception of India’s development can be complete without a salute to our spirit of inclusiveness – of access and opportunity for all; of an expansion and an embrace of those whom we consider our own.

India belongs to each of us and to all of us – every group and every community, every region and every identity. It belongs to every citizen and every individu-al. India’s pluralism is its greatest strength and its greatest example to the world. The “Indian model” rests on a tripod of diversity, de-mocracy and development. We cannot choose one above the oth-er; we must have all three and we will have all three. Best indicator of social change in India is change

towards gender eq-uity and

towards pro-viding equal opportunities, under conditions of equality, to every girl child and every woman. Given the chance, our daughters tend to not just equal but outper-form our sons in the classroom.

Young women in our country are moving ahead in every field – from academics to the creative arts, from sports to the armed forces. There is no stopping and no hesitation in this process. It is the route to India’s future. Our Republic has come a long way and we must appreciate how far successive generations have brought us. Equally, we must appreciate that our voyage is far from complete. There are still waters to cover, still gaps to fill and still tears to wipe. We have to recalibrate our yardstick – from quantity to quality; from a literate society to a knowledge society; from a nation that has room for all segments and communities to a family that encourages and celebrates the unique-ness and potential in each person.

The recent constitutional amendment to provide spe-cial facilities for talented chil-dren from poorer families is another step to an India of our dreams – and of Gandhi-ji’s dreams.

Partnerships are the thread knitting together family, na-tion and world – and leading to the treatment of the World as a Family: Vasudhaiva Ku-tumbakam.

Partnerships are en-hanced by open communi-cation, honest conversation and unstinted compassion. This is true with members of our families. This is also true with sections or groups that have been historically disadvantaged and whose grievances must continue to be heard and addressed. It is important to create avenues for such conversations, even if they are inconvenient. In a society experiencing rapid change, we must be prepared for such conversations. And similarly we must be alive to the need for compassion – to those less privileged than us and to the differently-abled, for example.

Our so-

ciety has shown great regard for those who de-vote themselves to people’s wel-fare and go beyond the call of duty. Well-intentioned contributions of individuals, of groups of people, of institutions, whether public or private, or for that matter of the govt, must be acknowledged and appreciated. Our Republic’s vision is of reaching democratic

goals by democratic means, pluralistic goals by plu-ralistic means, enlightened goals by enlightened means, compas-sionate goals by compassionate means – and constitutional goals by constitutional means.

Ram Nath Kovind, President of India

Our country is at a key juncture. Decisions

and actions of today will shape the future

of India RAM NATH KOVIND, PRESIDENT OF INDIA

1950is the year in which the

Indian Constitution came into effect.


The New Millennium School – DPS Bahrain, celebrated the “70th

Republic Day” of India with special assemblies arranged in the school campus on 20th and 21st January 2019.

The Special assemblies con-ducted by the junior and sen-ior sections of the school, wit-nessed the spirit of nationalism through patriotic songs, dances, speeches and skits. Students were made to take a pledge to instill the need of preserving the culture and rich heritage of the motherland. The whole cam-pus reverberated with patriotic fervor and enthusiasm and was bedecked in the colours of the Tiranga.

Principal Arun Kuumar Shar-ma addressed the students and motivated them to imbibe the true meaning of patriotism.

Drawing the attention of the students towards their duties and responsibilities, he advocat-ed them to be brave and face all the challenges with courage as they are the ones who can take

the country to new heights.Chairman Dr. Ravi Pillai,

Chairman and Managing Direc-tor Geetha Pillai extended their good wishes to one and all on the occasion of “Republic Day.”

Patriotic fervor at NMS-DPS Strengthening bilateral ties

On the occasion of the 70th Republic Day of India, I extend my warm greet-

ings and best wishes to the Indi-an Community in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

As we celebrate the 70th Re-public Day, India has recorded a jump of 23 positions in 2018 against its rank of 100 in 2017, as per the World Bank Doing Busi-ness Report 2019. World Bank has also recognized India as the top improvers for the second consecutive year. India has re-corded the highest improvement in two years in the Doing busi-ness assessment by improving its

rank by 53 positions. The signifi-cant improvement in the ranking reflects the commitment of the Government of India to carry out comprehensive reforms and undertake complex measures to facilitate private and foreign in-vestments. Some of the landmark reform measures include the in-troduction of a single country, single market, single tax system i.e., the Goods and Services Tax and resolution of commercial disputes in a transparent man-ner through the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill. Starting a new business in India is now easier than ever before.

Traditionally, India and Bah-rain enjoy excellent ties. This relationship has grown from strength to strength. The year 2018 witnessed significant de-velopments in the bilateral ties in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. With bilateral trade surpassing US$ 1 billion and consistent increase in Indi-an investments in the Kingdom coupled with the developments in both the countries viz. diver-

sification of economy in Bahrain and the flagship schemes in India like Make in India, Digital In-dia, Skill India and Startup India have created new opportunities to further expand our bilater-al economic ties. The existing goodwill between our two coun-tries stands guarantee for further strengthening and diversifying these relations.

An important component of our warm relations with Bahrain is the presence of a large Indi-an Community that continues to remain an important anchor to strengthening of the bilateral ties. Their immense contribution to both the growth and develop-ment of the Kingdom of Bahrain as well as to progress in India have been acknowledged and appreciated by the leadership of the two countries.

I conclude by wishing growth, development and prosperity to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of India.

Alok K Sinha Indian Ambassador

R E P U B L I C D A YG R E E T I N G S

th

New Millennium School- DPS

Tel: 17 272700, Fax: 17 275151, Email: [email protected], Website: www.nms.edu.bh

Kingdom of Bahrain

The Management, Staff and the Students of New Millennium School - DPS

congratulate and extend warmest greetings tothe Indian Community in the Kingdom of Bahrain,

on the occasion of the Republic Day of India.

Building 399, Road: 3009, Block: 330, Bughazal, Manama

Al Noor International School has become one of the top international schools in

the Gulf. Recently the nineteenth batch of IGCSE, eighteenth batch of AS Level and seventeenth batch of A Level students successfully completed the Cambridge Inter-national Examinations Board ex-aminations.

In the Cambridge IGCSE Exam-inations 2018, the students of Al Noor International School demon-strated outstanding performance, as the School averages in the IGCSE subjects are well above the respec-tive world averages, in terms of students securing Grades B and above and Grades C and above, particularly in Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, English as a second language, First language English, Foreign language Ar-abic, Foreign language French, ICT, Mathematics and Physics. In IGCSE, 18 students got GPA 4 (100%) in all the subjects they appeared in. Overall, students se-cured 227 A*, 299 A and 359 B grades. Alwaleed Khaled Omar Al Alami secured 7 A* and topped in the cohort.

In the Cambridge AS level Ex-aminations 2018, the students of Al

Noor International School demon-strated exceptional performance, with 72A and 69 B grades. In A level, the performance of students is very high with 31 A*, 41 A and 58 B grades. In a significant num-ber of AS and A level subjects, the school’s averages, for students se-curing Grades between A* and B and between A* and C grades, are well above the respective world averages.

The Al Noor Internation-al School student of Advanced Level, Yousif Abdulla Al Saffi, has demonstrated an exemplary and historical performance in Cam-bridge International Examina-tions by securing straight A* and A in the external benchmarks

in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 and became a history-maker and trend-setter in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

He secured 7 A* in IGCSE, 3 A in Advanced Subsidiary Level and 3 A* in the Advanced Level. This exemplary performance enabled him to receive the merit scholar-ship from the Kingdom of Bah-rain to study at The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bah-rain).

It was the vision of its Found-er and Chairman, Mr Ali Hasan, which saw Al Noor emerge in 1993 from its humble beginnings in Mahooz to the vast institution it is today, supporting the fami-

lies of a very large section of the Bahrain population. At the time, Mr Ali recognized the need for a school which would provide a family ethos and access to a range of curricula, while remaining affordable to those who would otherwise not have the funds for a private education.

With this in mind, he sought the guidance of the University of Cambridge to provide the British Curriculum starting from Kin-dergarten and culminating in Ad-vanced Level qualifications. Al Noor has been recognised as a Fellowship Centre for Cambridge International Exams, a distinction shared by very few internation-al schools in the Gulf. Besides

the British Curriculum, Al Noor offers as other options, both the Bahraini and the CBSE curricu-la. This means that students, on completing their KG years, are able to choose from three curricula, all of which prepare students to enroll at Universities and colleges throughout the world.

Al Noor is also a recognized exam Centre for Ministry of Ex-aminations for Grades 9 to 12. The fact that the eleventh group of Bahraini section Grade 12 students appeared for their final year exams in June 2018 and achieved a 100% pass with high marks, is equally remarkable and noteworthy.

Part of the school’s mission is to provide a comprehensive education

to the students of Indian curricu-lum within a conducive multicul-tural environment, aiming at their all-round development. Being a rec-ognized CBSE Centre, the eleventh batch of Grade 10 and eighth batch of grade 12 students who wrote the exams in March 2018 have achieved an excellent pass rate.

Our school is a Cambridge Pro-fessional Development Centre. Over the years, the school’s man-agement has given prominence to modern trends in education and this focus has resulted in further assistance and commit-ment from Cambridge. Greater emphasis was placed on teacher training and development, recog-nising the need for well-trained, confident teachers. Al Noor has responded positively to the need for greater emphasis in the area of information technology and it is now possible for students throughout the school to qualify for Cambridge ICT diplomas at various levels, in addition to their IGCSE, AS and A Level qualifica-tions. These certificates provide an added incentive to students to improve their proficiency and ultimately keep up with the pace of technological developments.

Al Noor scaling new heights


This is the country of colours and faith in spirituals.Let this Republic Day remind us for the work andlife given by our leaders to a safe and happy life.

(Managed by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan)

January Republic Day GREETINGSrepublic DAY

The Future of our worlddepends on the values

We implant in ourchildren...

AL NOOR INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLP.O.Box: 85, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

Tel : +973 17736773 Fax: +973 17735650 E-mail: [email protected]

A school with a difference

Indian Curriculum: CBSE- KG to grade 12, British Curriculum- KG to A Levels, Bahraini Curriculum- grade 1 to 12


Call +973 39936618or log on to www.licinternational.com

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

CELEBRATINGTHE SPIRIT OF INDIA

R E P U B L I CDay

For Reservations, Call:Umm Al Hassam 17728699

Seef District 17364999

BIS spreading its wings“Educating the mind

without the educa-tion of the heart is no

education at all .”- AristotleBahrain Indian School (BIS)

believes in the ideology stated by Aristotle and it has driven the students to achieve greater heights. The school provides am-ple facilities for students not only, to pursue academic excellence but also explore their co-scho-lastic potential.

The ideologies, vision & mis-sion of BIS has been the guiding factor in all its accomplishments. One such achievement which we would like to accentuate is the af-filiation that has been received by CBSE for making this institution into a Secondary School.

BIS believes in providing stu-dents, a plethora of opportunities so that, each one develops into a competent individual ;with a well-rounded personality ready to face the challenges of the world. The school wishes to in-still within the students good virtues of discipline, dedication, compassion, perseverance, op-timism and endurance without which goodness cannot be ac-quired completely.

The school believes in pro-viding stress free environment thereby, BIS follows ‘No Home-work Policy’ till grade IV. BIS has

highly qualified &dedicated staff and it lays emphasis on person-ality development, life skills and various co-curricular activities along with focus on curricular aspects as well.

BIS students won accolades in first CBSE Cluster chamionships and competed at national level too. Students also won awards in Sastra Pratibha contest, Sci-ence Exhibition Working Mod-el Contest, Vishwa Hindi Di-was Competition, Spectra Art Competition and various other external examinations & Inter school events too.

Regular reinforcement ses-sions help in re- explanation / revision of the taught concepts and clarification of doubts. Re-medial sessions are conducted for students who need extra helping hand in the core sub-jects.

Labs for subjects like Eng-lish, Maths, Physics , Chemistry , Biology, Computer & Social

Science helps children in gain-ing practical knowledge on the taught topics. Regular life skills sessionshelps in inculcating the moral values and team building skills. It also helps in understand-ing the dynamics of life and how to handle various situations apt-ly and intelligently.Workshops by school counselors on age ap-propriate topics are conducted time and again .Smart classrooms

helps in delivering the concept in varied ways to enhance the un-derstanding of Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic learners.

Range of extra-curricular ac-tivities like Hatha Yoga, Cricket, Kalakshetra, Classical Dance and regular club activities helps in honing the skills of students in various fields namely science, maths, public speaking, GK, dance, music and sports. Youth Leadership Programs (YLP) sessions by Toastmasters help-students in becoming excellent orators.

Admissions are open for ses-sion 2019-20 from Pre-KG to Grade IX. Parents can register their wards online by logging on to school website www.bha-vansbahrain.com.

11

business

SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019

‘Seek common ground’AFP | London, United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II has emphasised the need for Britons to come to-

gether to “seek out the com-mon ground”, in what has been viewed as an appeal to overcome divisions over Brexit.

Speaking to members of the Women’s Institute (WI) near her Sandringham estate in eastern England, the 92-year-old said people should never lose sight of the bigger picture.

“Reflecting on a century of change, it is clear that the qualities of the WI endure,” she said, noting the foundation of the institute in 1915, to en-courage contributions to World War One.

“The continued emphasis on patience, friendship, a strong community-focus, and consid-ering the needs of others, are as important today as they were when the group was founded all those years ago.

“Of course, every generation faces fresh challenges and op-portunities.

“As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one pre-

fer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture.

“To me, these approaches are timeless, and I commend them to everyone.”

Her message, delivered in a meeting late on Thursday, comes amid intense argument in parliament about Britain’s exit from the European Un-ion, which is scheduled for March 29.

The royals tend to steer well clear of politics, and as head of state, the queen in particular is careful to stay neutral in public.

In her traditional Christ-mas broadcast to the nation last month, she offered a sim-ilar message of unity, warning against “tribalism”.

“Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding,” she said.

As we look for new answers in the modern

age, I for one prefer the tried and tested

recipes, like speaking well of each other and

respecting different points of view; coming

together to seek out the common ground;

and never losing sight of the bigger picture.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

75 nations launch e-commerce talksDavos, Switzerland

Ministers from 75 coun-tries launched talks

towards drawing up global e-commerce rules amid grow-ing calls for technology to be more closely regulated inter-nationally.

The talks were announced by the EU’s top trade official, Cecilia Malmstrom, on the sidelines of the World Eco-nomic Forum in Davos, and are to include the US and China, the world’s biggest economies.

The launch of the negotia-tions at the World Trade Or-ganization is a rare win for in-ternational cooperation, with Beijing and Washington locked in a trade war and repeated threats to multilateralism by US President Donald Trump.

Trump has specifically blast-ed the WTO for slighting US trade interests to the benefit of China.

Malmstrom in a tweet hailed a “historical morning in Davos” that showed that the WTO “can take on challenges of the 21st century.”

“Electronic commerce is a reality in most corners of the world, so we owe it to our citizens and companies to provide a predictable, effec-tive and safe online environ-ment for trade,” Malmstrom said.

The talks will formally be-gin in March and will seek to achieve a international-ly-agreed framework “to make it easier and safer to buy, sell and do business online”, the statement said.

Embraer announce deal to sell commercial division to BoeingBrasília, Brazil

Brazilian aircraft manufac-turer Embraer on Thurs-

day signed an agreement for the sale of its commercial di-vison to Boeing -- and set the date for a shareholders meet-ing to approve the tie-up on February 26.

Despite initital reservations, Brazil’s President Jair Bolson-aro already gave the deal -- which will create a joint entity valued at $5.2 billion -- his ap-proval earlier this month.

Embraer was privatized in 1994, but Brazil’s government retained a “golden share” that

gave it veto power over strate-gic decisions.

Embraer is the third-big-gest plane-maker in the world, making aircraft in the civilian and military markets.

Under the deal with Boeing, the US company will take 80 percent control of Embraer’s civilian business, putting it in a position to offer commercial planes with up to 150 seats.

Coca-Cola, Pepsi tout plastic recyclingDavos, Switzerland

The bosses of Coca-Cola and Pepsi promised Thursday

that “huge progress” would be made by 2030 to reduce plastic waste, which contaminates hu-mans, wildlife, and oceans.

Soft drink archrivals James Quincey and Ramon Laguarta participated in a panel on the plastic economy, a recurring theme at the World Economic Forum in Davos, alongside Dow Chemical boss Jim Fitterling and others.

These three companies are part of the new Alliance to End Plastic Waste announced with great pomp in mid-January by about 30 multinationals.

“We can reduce the amount of plastics in the system, both in our beverages and in our snack businesses,” said Pepsico’s Laguarta. “I am quite optimistic by 2030 that we will... be solving the problem,” he added.

The new Alliance to End Plas-

tic Waste -- also comprised of big energy, petrochemical and plastic manufacturing firms -- said it would donate $1 billion (880 million euros) to “mini-mise and manage plastic waste and promote solutions for used plastics”.

About eight million tonnes of plastic are thrown into the

sea every year, according to the Earth Day advocacy group -- the equivalent of a rubbish truck-load every minute.

Activists and green experts are sceptical about the inten-tions of firms such as Procter & Gamble, Chevron, and Exxon-Mobil, and voiced doubt over the effectiveness of the alli-

ance’s clean-up plan.Coca-Cola CEO Quincey, how-

ever, said the group’s joint com-mitment was already showing benefits. “There are countries where we have already solved the problem,” he said.

The bosses said there was no question of abandoning plastic altogether.

(From L) Viet Nam Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey, French Junior Minister attached to the Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition Brune Poirson and PepsiCO CEO Ramon Laguarta attend a session during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting

India launches pint-sized satellite designed by studentsAFP | Sriharikota, India

A lightweight satellite de-signed by students that can

be held in the palm of the hand has been launched by Indian scientists, burnishing the coun-try’s credentials in miniature design technology.

The 10-centimetre (four-inch) cube satellite, named Kalamsat V2, weighs just 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), accord-ing to students from the private Space Kidz India group who designed the celestial unit.

It was launched from the Sri-harikota space centre in south-

ern Andhra Pradesh state on Thursday, drawing praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Heartiest congratulations to our space scientists for yet another successful launch of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle). This launch has put in orbit Kalamsat, built by In-dia’s talented students,” Modi tweeted.

The launch was another feather in the cap for the Indi-an Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which won Asia’s race to Mars in 2014 when one of its spacecraft reached the Red Planet on a shoestring budget.

The Kalamsat V2 was built at a cost of 1.2 million rupees ($16,900), said Srimathy Kesan,

the CEO and founder of Space Kidz India.

It will serve as a communi-cations satellite for ham radio transmissions used by amateurs for non-commercial activities.

In 2017 an even smaller sat-ellite, weighing just 64 grams and designed by the same group, was launched in the US aboard a NASA rocket, but never reached orbit.

The main payload on Thurs-day’s launch was the 740-kilo-gram Microsat-R that will be used to take high-resolution photos of Earth for defence r search.

Representative picture

Madagascar’s new president unveils streamlined cabinet

Antananarivo, Madagascar

Madagascar’s new Pres-ident Andry Rajoelina

on Thursday unveiled his first government, a stream-lined cabinet that he said would help the poor Indian Ocean state tighten its belt.

The lineup includes 21 ministers and one deputy minister, compared with a 30-strong team in the pre-vious government.

“This measure was tak-en with a view to austerity and a reduction of public spending,” Rajoelina told reporters. “The leadership should be an example for the Madagascan people.”

He demanded “rapid re-sults” from the team to be led by PM Christian Ntsay, who headed an interim uni-ty govt in the runup to the December election.

Andry Rajoelina


The only reason bad content remains is because the people

and artificial-intelligence systems we use to review it

are not perfect -- not because we have an incentive to ignore

it,” he said.MARK ZUCKERBERG

World’s cheapest car nears end of the road after 10-year ride Mumbai, India

It was billed as the world’s cheapest car and shaped like

a jelly bean -- but after a bumpy 10-year ride India’s Tata Nano is nearing the end of the road.

Tata Motors, India’s top auto-maker, said on Thursday that it could stop manufacturing and selling the vehicle from April next year due to new safety and emissions rules that would re-quire major investment.

“We may not invest in upgrad-ing all the products and Nano is one of them,” Mayank Pareek, president of passenger vehicles at Tata, told reporters in Hy-derabad.

Tata launched the Nano, a compact four or five-door hatch-back, with great fanfare in 2009 when its first edition went on the market for around $2,200.

It was the brainchild of the former boss of the tea-to-steel Tata Group conglomerate Ratan Tata, who wanted a budget car for the masses.

Tata, now 81, was sure that aspirational lower-class Indian families would trade in their two-wheel motorcycles for the prestige, and comfort, of owning a car.

Analysts were similarly convinced, believing the Nano would transform how millions of Indians travelled, and it quickly became known around the globe as “the world’s cheapest car”.

It was a tag that would prove to be the vehicle’s undoing, how-ever, as sales of the car failed to take off.

“It was a marketing failure,” Hormazd Sorabjee, the editor of Autocar India magazine, told AFP Friday.

“The car was positioned as a poor man’s car and India is very status conscious.

“The whole thing about it be-ing an alternative to a motorcy-cle was great as a concept but not as a marketing slogan,” he added.

The car was also plagued by

safety concerns after a number of high-profile cases of engines bursting into flames.

Tata, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, had initially hoped to sell 25,000 units a month but within a couple of years they were shift-ing just a few hundred.

In 2013 Tata Motors unveiled a new version in a bid to reverse the sales slump but the following year the Nano and several other small models from India failed independent crash tests.

A spokesperson for Tata Mo-tors said yesterday that a final decision on whether to upgrade the Nano so that it meets the new regulations coming into force next year, or kill it off, had yet to be taken.

But Indian media said Pareek’s comments, carried by the Press Trust of India news agency, sounded the death knell for the Nano.

“The end of a dream,” ran a headline in Mint, a business daily. Tata Nano’s new GenX car is seen on display during its launch in Mumbai

Microsoft ‘waiting to find out’ why Bing went offline in ChinaBeijing, China

Microsoft is still trying to figure out why its Bing

search engine temporarily went offline in China, the company’s president said following spec-ulation that it could have been blocked by censors.

The US firm’s Chinese web-site, cn.bing.com, was accessi-ble again late Thursday, one day after it suddenly went offline, temporarily taking away the most prominent foreign search engine in China.

The disruption raised fears among social media users that it was the latest foreign website to be blocked by China. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter have long been blocked by authorities using a censorship apparatus known as the “Great Firewall”.

“This is not the first time it’s

happened. It happens periodi-cally,” Microsoft president Brad Smith told Fox Business News at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“There are times when there are disagreements, there are times when there are difficult negotiations with the Chinese government, and we’re still wait-ing to find out what this situa-tion is about,” he said.

Bing’s temporary disruption came as a surprise because the search engine has followed Chi-na’s censorship rules.

On Friday, for example, a Bing search for Liu Xiaobo, the dis-sident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who died of cancer while still in custody last year, returned one message: “Results are removed in response to a notice of local law requirement.”

Smith said it was understood

that Bing did not have the same legal freedoms in China that it enjoyed in other countries.

“But at the same time, we stick to our guns. There are certain principles that we think it’s im-portant to stand up for, and we’ll go at times into the negotiating room and the negotiations are sometimes pretty darn direct,” he said.

While its rival Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010 after rows over censor-ship and hacking, Bing has con-tinued to operate in the country, along with Microsoft-owned Skype.

Bing, however, has struggled to catch up to China’s own Baidu search engine, which dominates the market even though many people in the country complain about the quality of its search results.

Smith said Microsoft took se-riously its obligations to custom-ers regarding censorship.

“I think what is interesting today is technology and sort of human rights, free expression, these issues are really intersect-ing and on certain days col-liding more than in the past,” he said.

“There’s deals that we’ve turned down for things like facial recog-nition technology because we felt that people’s rights will be put at risk.

“And I think more than ever, tech companies really need to think about these things, they need to be princi-pled and

you have to have a little moral courage, in my view, if you’re going to be in this business and really take care of your custom-ers.”

‘We don’t sell people’s data,’ says ZuckerbergSan Francisco, United States

Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday renewed his

defense of the social network’s business, arguing that target-ing ads based on interests was different from selling people’s data.

“If we’re committed to serv-ing everyone, then we need a service that is affordable to everyone,” Zuckerberg said in an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal.

“The best way to do that is to offer services for free, which ads enable us to do.”

2018 was a horrific year for Facebook, marked by a series of scandals over data protection and privacy and concerns that the leading social network had been manipulated by foreign interests for political purposes.

Despite the scandals, Face-book revenue and user numbers

have continued to grow.Making ads relevant, and less

annoying, involves understand-ing people’s interests, according to Zuckerberg.

Facebook uses “signals” such as pages users “like” and what

they share about themselves to target advertising.

“Sometimes this means peo-ple assume we do things that we don’t do,” Zuckerberg said of the business of support-ing the social network with

targeted ads.“For example, we don’t sell

people’s data, even though it’s often reported that we do.”

Selling user data would not only undermine essential trust in the social network, it would go against Facebook’s business interests because rivals could use it to compete for advertis-ing, he reasoned.

Facebook also provides users with controls regarding infor-mation used for ad targeting and lets them block advertisers, Zuckerberg pointed out.

“Clickbait and other junk may drive engagement in the near term, but it would be fool-ish for us to show this inten-tionally, because it’s not what people want,” Zuckerberg wrote.

“Another question is whether we leave harmful or divisive content up because it drives en-gagement. We don’t.”

ECB likely to trim growth forecasts, says top official

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

The European Central Bank will “probably ”

downgrade its growth fore-casts soon, a senior official said yesterday, a day after the Frankfurt institution warned that economic risks to the euro area had worsened.

“The near-term growth will probably be reduced in our forecast published in March,”

Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told Bloomberg TV from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

ECB chief Mario Draghi on Thursday said risks to the eurozone “have moved to the downside” as mounting pro-tectionism, sluggish Chinese growth and Brexit uncer-tainty weigh on the region’s outlook.

The ECB is due to unveil its latest quarterly projections for growth and inflation on March 7, following a meeting of the governing council.

In December, the bank said it expected the eurozone econ-omy to expand by 1.7 percent in 2019.

Draghi stressed that the ECB still had tools left to sup-port the euro area, even af-ter the bank ended a major bond-buying stimulus scheme last month.

Many economists have in-terpreted Draghi’s dovish stance as a sign that interest rates will be kept unchanged at record lows well beyond the ECB’s current horizon of “at least through the summer of 2019”.

Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB)

Brad Smith

M o v i e R e v i e w


I, RENU, W/O RAJKUMAR BHARGAV, holding Indian Passport No. K3685813 dated 11/06/2012 issued at BAHRAIN having permanent residence at (full address in India) W. NO. 2 BHARGAW COLONY, RAMGARH SHEKHAWATI, SIKAR, RAJASTHAN presently residing at BUILDING 642, ROAD 702, BLOCK 307, MANAMA, BAHRAIN will henceforth be known as (Given name) RENU DEVI (surname) BHARGAV. Objection(s) if any may be forwarded to Embassy of India, P.O Box 26106, Al Seef, Kingdom of Bahrain.

CHANGE OF NAME

OASIS JUFFAIR1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ANNE HATHAWAY, DIANE LANE

DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 4.00 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMDAILY AT (VIP I): 1.00 + 5.45 + 10.30 PM

2-NADI ELREGAL EL SERI (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW KARIM ABDULAZIZ, GHADA ADEL, MAJDE ALKIDDAWI

DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 6.00 + 11.15 PM

3-THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING (PG) (ADVENTURE/ACTION/FANTASY) NEW

LOUIS ASHBOURNE SERKIS, PATRICK STEWART, REBECCA FERGUSON

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KANGANA RANAUT, DANNY DENZONGPA, SURESH OBEROI

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SEAN SCHEMMEL, CHRISTOPHER SABAT, CHRIS AYRES

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FROM FRIDAY 25TH: 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PM

9-VIJAYSUPERUM POURNAMIYUM (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW

ASIF ALI, AISHWARYA LAKSHMI

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11-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN

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CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER

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RANVEER SINGH, AJAY DEVGN, SARA ALI KHAN

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VICKY KAUSHAL, KIRTI KULHARI, PARESH RAWAL

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CITY CENTRE1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW


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2-NADI ELREGAL EL SERI (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW

KARIM ABDULAZIZ, GHADA ADEL, MAJDE ALKIDDAWI

DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)



DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM



DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PM


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6-CLOSE (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW NOOMI RAPACE, INDIRA VARMA, EOIN MACKEN

DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 3.00 + 7.30 PM + 12.00 MN

7-ON THE BASIS OF SEX (PG-15) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

FELICITY JONES, ARMIE HAMMER, JUSTIN THEROUX

DAILY AT: 12.30 + 5.00 + 9.30 PM

8-MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (15+) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY)

SAOIRSE RONAN, MARGOT ROBBIE, JACK LOWDEN

DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PM



DAILY AT (JAPANESE): 5.00 + 9.00 PMDAILY AT (ENGLISH): 7.00 + 11.00 PM

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DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 PM

11-BTS WORLD TOUR LOVE (PG) (MUSICAL/CONCERT) NEW

J-HOPE, JEONG-GUK JEON

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14-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN

DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PM



DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM DAILY AT (IMAX 3D): 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 PM

16-THE MULE (PG-15) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) CLINT EASTWOOD, BRADLEY COOPER, TAISSA FARMIGA

DAILY AT: 1.30 + 6.30 + 11.30 PM

17-JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN (PG) (COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE)

ROWAN ATKINSON, OLGA KURYLENKO, EMMA THOMPSON

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JOHN C. REILLY, SARAH SILVARMAN, GAL GADOT

DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM

19-SPIDER MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE)

HAILEE STEINFELD, NICOLAS CAGE, MAHERSHALA ALI

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20-MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G) (ADVENTURE/MUSICAL/FAMILY)

EMILY BLUNT, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, BEN WHISHAW

DAILY AT: 1.45 + 6.30 + 11.15 PM

SEEF (II)1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW


DAILY AT: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 PM + 11.45 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)



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5-CLOSE (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW NOOMI RAPACE, INDIRA VARMA, EOIN MACKEN

DAILY AT: 1.00 + 5.30 + 10.00 PM

6-ON THE BASIS OF SEX (PG-15) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

FELICITY JONES, ARMIE HAMMER, JUSTIN THEROUX

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7-MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (15+) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

SAOIRSE RONAN, MARGOT ROBBIE, JACK LOWDEN

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DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 PM


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6-MR. MAJNU (PG-13) (TELGU) NEW AKHIL AKKINENI, NIDHI AGERWAL, IZABELLE LEITE, V.VIJAYA

PRAKESH


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AL HAMRA1- VIJAYSUPERUM POURNAMIYUM (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW


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WADI AL SAIL1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW


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Close is a 2019 action thrill-er film directed by Vicky

Jewson and starring Noomi Rapace. Rapace’s character is based on that of Jacquie Da-vis, one of the world’s leading female bodyguards, whose cli-ents have included members of the British royal family.

Noomi Rapace is the stoic centre of “Close,” a down-and-dirty thriller about bodyguards trying to prevent kidnappers from abducting an heiress. From the opening set piece showing Rapace’s charac-ter, a private security expert named Sam, protecting jour-nalists against rifle-wielding soldiers, to its many scenes of the character thwarting would-be killers with guns, fists, feet,

and the knife strapped to her boot, it’s clear that cowriter-di-rector Vicky Jewson has con-

ceived this project in the spirit of a no-nonsense, female-led bone-cruncher like “Hay-

wire” or “Atomic Blonde”—movies whose heroines would drive cross-country alongside a crusty old Clint Eastwood character without a word pass-ing between them, then tell friends it was the best vacation they ever had.

From the minute the open-ing sequence ends and the film whisks us back to the first meeting between Sam and her client Zoe (Sophie Nelisse), Ra-pace holds the screen simply by appearing on it. This actress is no stranger to intensely phys-ical roles; this is clearly one of the most demanding, but neither Rapace nor the movie makes the character’s prowess seem like anything other than the byproduct of good training

and discipline. Sam is loosely based on bod-

yguard Jacquie Davis, whose high-profile clients include Nicole Kidman, J.K. Rowling, and the British royal family. Davis is an expert in surveil-lance and rescue operations, skills that come into play here, along with the ability to stab a man with your right hand while using your left to blind a second man with wasp spray.

It’s a generic action thriller whose lasting impact on view-ers will depend to a large ex-tent on how tolerant they are of scenes involving women get-ting smacked around repeated-ly before eventually getting the better of their attackers.

Close: A down-and-dirty thriller about bodyguards

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Singer Pink will be hon-oured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

on February 5, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce an-nounced.

The artist is recognised in the recording category and will receive the 2,656th star on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Hollywood and Highland complex, reports va-riety.com.

“We are thrilled to honour one of the world’s most pop-ular entertainers, Pink!” Ana Martinez, producer of the Hol-lywood Walk of Fame said.

Martinez added: “She is a unique performer who leaves you in a state of joy and sur-prise at the same time. She mesmerizes the audience with her voice and her ac-tion-packed performances! Fans worldwide will join us in droves in Hollywood to see her honored on her special Walk of Fame day.”

TV personality Ellen DeGe-neres will help honour Pink at the ceremony and will be joined by actress Kerri Ken-ney-Silver.

Pink entered the music in-dustry as a member of Choice, the 1995 all-girl R&B group.

She soon began a solo career and released her debut studio album “Can’t Take Me Home” in 2000.

The album went dou-ble-platinum in the US and featured two Billboard Hot 100 top ten songs -- “There You Go” and “Most Girls.”

Since 2000, P!nk has won three Grammys, three Bill-board Music Awards, seven MTV Video Music Awards, two People’s Choice Awards, two MTV Europe Video Music Awards, one Daytime Emmy, and was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2013.

Her discography has sold more than 50 million album equivalents, 75 million sin-gles and more than 2.4 million DVDs worldwide.

Chris Hemsworth to launch his own health appLos Angeles

Actor Chris Hemsworth will be coming out with

his own health and fitness app named Centr.

O n We d n e s d a y, t h e “Thor” star announced the launch his own app, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Centr boasts meal plans, daily workouts, medita-tions and access to a “24/7 community offering sup-port, extra tips and ex-clusive behind-the-scenes extras”.

The app, which will launch globally in February, can be customised to suit any fitness level, dietary preference or lifestyle.

Hemsworth promised that the app will “help you develop a healthier body, stronger mind, and a hap-pier life”.

Baldwin pleads guilty in parking tussleLos Angeles

Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded guilty to sec-

ond-degree harassment in a case related to a fight over a parking spot.

The 60-year-old actor appeared in court and was sentenced to a conditional discharge on Wednesday.

He has agreed to take a short-term anger manage-ment class. He will also pay a fine of USD 120.

The actor initially faced a misdemeanour assault charge, which he denied in court and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of har-assment in the second de-gree (a violation), Variety reported.

The incident occurred in the West Village area of Manhattan in last Novem-ber.

Ed Sheeran earns rare second Diamond certification with ‘Shape of You’Los Angeles

Ed Sheeran re-ceived his second

‘Diamond’ certification for ‘Shape of You.’

The Recording Indus-try Association of America (RIAA), known for issuing the gold and silver plaques, designates over 10 million units in sales and streams for the award, reported Variety.

This makes Sheeran the fourth artiste ever to score multiple Diamond-certi-fied songs since the RIAA implemented the catego-ry 20 years ago. Sheeran’s song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ reached the ranking in 2017.

Diamond is the highest level of RIAA certification, above multi-platinum, plat-inum, and gold, which is 5,00,000 units.

William says no celebrity wanted to join his mental health campaignLondon

During a panel discussion on

the subject of mental health issues at the World Economic Fo-rum in Davos, Switzer-land, on Wednesday, Prince William shared that work-ing with veterans, disadvantaged children and other groups of peo-ple led him to realise that many problems fell under the umbrella of mental well-being.

However, according to a story

published in People, Prince William revealed that

the stigma surrounding mental health issues was enough to make stars turn down a campaign

started by Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince

Harry.Prince Harry, together with

his wife and younger brother launched the Heads Together in-itiative to focus on mental health three years ago - but even the royal trio had trouble getting famous faces to join their cause.

Sugarless diet JLo’s

health secret• Fans were quick to praise her efforts, with one saying she looked like “a whole snack”.

Los Angeles

Jennifer Lopez has one of the most famous six-packs in the world.

Now the 49-year-old mum has revealed exactly how she gets them so pop-pin’ in a selfie that flaunts her incredible muscles.

The mum-of-four told her 85 million Instagram fans that she’d recently giv-en up sugar and carbs and as a result was “feeling a lil better”.

Revealing she was four days into a ten day chal-lenge, she then gave fans a glimpse of her new sug-ar-free diet on her Stories.On the menu was as Asian

bowl, comprising of cauliflower fried rice, seared tuna, shaved brussel sprouts, yellow pepper, avocado and cucumber.

While the meal looked deli-cious, all eyes were on Jennifer’s stunning physique.

Clearly impressed with her re-sults, the I’m Real singer posed in front of a mirror wearing a pale blue sports bra and multi-colour-ed yoga pants.

Her sportstar partner Alex Rodriguez has joined the singer on the strict 10-day challenge too, with both adhering to the intense lifestyle.

It sure is paying off.Earlier in the day she was

snapped leaving a fitness stu-dio in the ensemble, where she’d been working out during her challenge.

Fans were quick to praise her efforts, with one saying she looked like “a whole snack”.

“If I knew that I was going to look EXACTLY like you, then giv-ing up carbs and sugar will be worth it,” one Instagram follower exclaimed.

Jenner can’t wait to welcome Kim

and Kanye’s ‘surrogate’ baby

And while the famous fam-ily are cer-

tainly excited about the news, it seems Kim’s mum Kris Jenner was feeling reflective about the ar-rival as the 63-year-old spoke to Australia’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show

on Friday.On the show, she

joked that she’s turned on a baby “faucet” while

preparing to welcome her 10th grandchild, as she quipped that she is responsible for her kids - Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Rob and Kylie - showering her with grandchildren.

The star, who also shares Kendall

Jenner with ex-husband Caitlyn Jenner, who was

known as Bruce before under-going gender reassignment -

said: ‘Isn’t that exciting It’s number 10. My tenth grandchild!...

‘I used to complain, like, “Isn’t somebody going to have a baby? A grandchild?” And then all of a sudden there was a whole bunch of them. What have I done? I’ve turned on a faucet?’

As well as Chicago, Kim and Kanye already have daughter North West, five, and three-year-old son Saint West. Hudson

Los Angeles

Luisa Zissman has hit out at Kate Hudson after the Hollywood star revealed she

plans to take a ‘genderless’ approach to raising her daughter. Taking to Instagram on Thursday,

the 31-year-old entrepreneur claimed that the A-lister was merely being ‘fashionable’ with her

decision in a shocking rant. Sharing a picture of Kate with her daughter

Rani Rose, three months, Luisa asked ‘what is the world coming to’?

She penned: Raise them with no identity, no gender, let them be a nothing. Because

that’s a really secure nurturing thing to do for a child.

Luisa is a mother of three daugh-ters, Dixie, eight, with ex-husband

Oliver Zissman, and Indigo, two, and Clementine, 15

months.

William

Kanye and Kim

Lopez


KNOW WHAT

The pair have never met and Osaka said

she would have to ad-just her game against the lanky left-hander.

Japan Olympic kit to feature recycled clothesTokyo, Japan

Japanese athletes com-peting at the Tokyo 2020

Olympics will wear an offi-cial kit made in part from recycled clothes collected from across the country, sports firm Asics said on Friday.

The project was a way to engage the Japanese public in the run-up to the Olym-pics, the firm added.

“This is something we didn’t want to do alone. We wanted to bring the Japa-nese public into it as well,” Asics spokesman Keisuke Harada told AFP.

“We will use these clothes that people are attached to and make the products for the Japanese teams togeth-er.”

Pandya to join India team in New Zealand New Delhi, India

All-rounder Hardik Pan-dya is set to join India’s

touring squad in New Zea-land after his suspension over sexist comments on a TV show was lifted by the country’s cricket board.

Pandya talked about his encounters with multiple women in a chat show ear-lier this month as teammate K. L. Rahul sat next to him, that led to the duo being suspended pending an in-quiry. The Board of Con-

trol for Cricket in In-dia (BCCI) Thursday allowed Pandya to

participate in the ongoing one -

day interna-tional series in New Zealand

and Rahul to join the I n d i a A squad in T h i r u -v a n a n -t h a p u -ram.

Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya

Olympic champ Adrian has cancer

Los Angeles, United States

Five-time Olympic cham-pion swimmer Nathan

Adrian said Thursday he has testicular cancer but is confident of recovery and wants to compete at the 2020 Tokyo games.

In a statement on Twitter, the 30-year-old 2012 100m freestyle gold medallist said he expects to be back swim-ming within “weeks” after starting treatment.

“We caught it early, I have already started treatment and the prognosis is good,” Adrian wrote. “I will be back in the water in a few short weeks with my sights fully set on Tokyo.”

Nathan Adrian

Messi makes plea for Sala search to resumeBarcelona, Spain

Lionel Messi urged investi-gators yesterday to resume

the search for missing strik-er Emiliano Sala after police called off rescue operations and admitted the chances of finding him were “extremely remote”.

Police from Guernsey aban-doned the search on Thursday after the light aircraft taking the 28-year-old Argentinian to Wales following his signing with Cardiff City from Ligue 1 side Nantes disappeared from radar near the British island on Monday.

“While there is the possibili-ty, a shred of hope, we ask that you please #NoDejenDeBus-car (don’t stop searching) for Emiliano. All my strength to

your family and friends,” said the Barcelona attacker on Instagram, with the hashtag “#PRAYFORSALA”.

Messi’s plea comes after Sa-la’s father and other players,

including Bordeaux’s Valentin Vada and Leganes’ Uruguayan attacker Diego Rolan, begged authorities to continue the search.

Sala’s family have asked that Nantes not to commemorate their former teammate at this weekend’s French Cup clash with third-tier Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien.

“We ask you to respect the family who absolutely refuse to talk about mourning and ask us to keep believing,” Nantes cap-tain Valentin Rongier told more than 300 Nantes fans who came to an open training session on Thursday.

“It is for this reason that we are not going to have a minute’s silence or a minute’s applause because we still have hope.”

Kvitota aims early onslaught in final • The final will determine the world number one ranking

• Neither Osaka nor Kvitova has held the top spot before.

• Osaka is currently sitting on a career-high ranking of four

AFP | Melbourne, Australia

Czech Petra Kvitova is aiming to rock Japan’s ‘on fire’ Naomi Osaka

with an early onslaught in the Australian Open final, predict-ing the decider will be more slugfest than tactical master-class.

The final today features two of the game’s biggest hitters in a showdown for both the Aus-tralian crown and the world number one ranking.

Two-time Wimbledon cham-pion Kvitova is on an 11-match winning streak and has been in imperious form at Melbourne Park, where she is yet to drop a set or even be stretched to a tie-break.

The 28-year-old is jubilant about making a Grand Slam final for the first time since a burglar sliced her racquet hand in a terrifying attack in late 2016 at her home in the Czech Re-public.

“It’s probably a bit more spe-cial because of everything I’ve been through,” said Kvitova, who feared she would never rejoin the game’s elite after suf-fering permanent nerve dam-age.

But to make her comeback complete, the eighth seed needs to overcome US Open champion Osaka, one of the few players who can match Kvitova’s pow-erful serve and blazing ground-strokes.

The Czech said she must start strongly against the 21-year-old, whose meek off-court demean-

our belies a ferocious competi-tive instinct.

“Naomi is on fire. She’s in very good form,” Kvitova said. “She’s an aggressive player, which I am, as well.

“So I think it will be about who’s going to take the first point and push the other a little

bit.”Osaka has battled through

three-setters three times on her way to the final and said advancing at Grand Slam level was sometimes more about the ability to outlast an opponent than outthink them.

“I’m playing the best players in the world, and I’ve been play-ing three sets most of the time,” she said.

“It’s more like a battle of wills at this point.”

Kvitova’s coach Jiri Vanek said both finalists played in a similar manner.

“(Osaka) goes for winners, Petra goes for winners. You don’t have time to come up with great tactics” he said.

“Both of them play so fast, I think it’s going to be about who has the bigger heart.”

Japan’s Naomi Osaka celebrates after victory over Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova

Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova celebrates her victory against Danielle Collins of the US during their women’s singles semi-final match

Double upset Korea, Aus crash out of Asian Cup

Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

Asian Cup hosts UAE and rival Qatar pulled off titanic upsets as

they sent defending champi-ons Australia and Son Heu-ng-min’s South Korea crash-ing out in the quarter-finals yesterday.

Ali Mabkhout poached a 1-0 win for UAE over Australia and the Qataris ousted South Korea by the same scoreline to set up a semi-final buzz-ing with regional tensions be-cause of the Gulf blockade of Qatar.

Milos Degenek’s defensive mistake allowed UAE sharp-shooter Mabkhout to pounce for a win that was greeted by joyous drumming and a sea of smartphone torches at a packed Hazza Bin Zayed Sta-dium in Al Ain.

Japan and Iran, with sev-en Asian Cup titles between them, will play the other semi as the 24-team continental showpiece nears its final in Abu Dhabi on February 1.

Graham Arnold’s Australia will feel aggrieved by their de-feat after having the best of it against UAE, only to be undone by a single defensive error on 68 minutes.

Degenek, who this week signed for Saudi giants Al Hi-lal, rolled a casual ball to Ryan but Mabkhout nipped in and rounded the ‘keeper before scoring into an empty net.

Earlier, in Abu Dhabi, Ab-

delaziz Hatim fired a late winner as Qatar stunned ti-

t l e - c h a s i n g S o u t h Ko re a

1-0 to reach the semis for the

first time.South Korea

were looking to end 59 years of hurt

in the tournament but the two-time winners missed a string of second-half chances before Hatim’s hammer blow after 78 minutes.

“There are some big emo-tions today, but it’s no mira-cle,” said Qatar coach Felix Sanchez.

“We deserve to be in the semis. I feel like the happi-est coach in the world -- it’s a big step forward.”

Aussie pain in Al Ain It took the Koreans until

three minutes into the second half to register a shot on target, Hwang Ui-jo forcing a low save from Saad Al-Sheeb from the edge of the box.

Lee Chung-yong then blazed wide and captain Son Heu-ng-min was denied by Al-Sheeb before Kim Jin-su’s free kick smacked against the post. That wastefulness came back to haunt them when Hatim smashed a long-range rocket past goalkeep-er Kim Seung-gyu to give the 2022 World Cup hosts a fa-mous victory.

“We didn’t create too many opportunities but we created more than them,” protested South Korea coach Paulo Ben-to.

In Al Ain, Trent Sainsbury flashed a header over as Aus-tralia proved an early threat but UAE were also looking sharper than their previous games. Mabkhout nearly con-nected with a header with the goal at his mercy, and Ismail Al-Hammadi forced a reac-tion save from Mat Ryan when one-on-one with the Brighton goalkeeper.

Apostolos Giannou saw a shot palmed away as Australia finished the first half strong-ly, but Mabkhout was inches away when his header just cleared the bar.

The second half was one-way traffic as Degenek and Jackson Irvine went close with headers, and Giannou had the ball in the net but the goal was chalked off for offside.

All Australia needed was a goal and there was disbelief when it went the other way as Mabkhout, a peripheral figure for most of the half, pounced on Degenek’s misplaced back pass.

Asian CupSouth Korea 0 - 1 Qatar

UAE 1 - 0 Australia

Rain halts South Africa’s pursuit of 318-run targetCenturion, South Africa

Rain stopped play during the third one-day inter-

national between South Africa and Pakistan at SuperSport Park on Friday.

The interruption came after 16.5 overs of South Africa’s in-nings as the home side chased

down a 318-run target. A minimum of 20 overs a

side is necessary for a result.

Scores in brief:Pakistan 317-6 in 50 overs

(Imam-ul-Haq 101, Babar Azam 69, Mohammad Hafeez 52) v South Africa 88-2 in 16.5 overs (Q. de Kock 33).

UAE forward Ali Mabkhout celebrates his opening goal

Messi


Blockbuster Djokovic thrashes Lucas Pouille to set up Nadal final

AGP | Melbourne, Australia

Novak Djokovic yesterday continued his quest for a record seventh Aus-

tralian Open crown by swatting aside French 28th seed Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 to set up a final against Rafael Nadal.

It was a flawless display on Rod Laver Arena by the world number one who moves into a first Melbourne decider since 2016.

“It is definitely one of the best matches I’ve ever had on this court, defi-nitely,” said D j o k o v i c , who hit 24 w i n n e r s a n d h a d just five un-forced errors

“You know, e v e r y t h i n g worked the way I imagined it be-fore the match and even more so.

“Tough one for Lucas, but he had a great tour-

nament, and I wish him all the best for the rest of the season,” he added.

Djokovic lost in the fourth round last year, followed by el-bow surgery and poor form

until he won Wim-bledon and turned his season around.

“It was highly unlikely 12 months ago that I would be

where I am today, a year later,” said the Serbian top seed.

“But I’ve said it before, and I always have plenty of be-

lief in myself, and I think the self-belief is something that al-ways prevails.”

Djokovic will face second seed Nadal in a 53rd career meet-ing and eighth in the final of a Slam.

In 2012 the pair contested the long-est Grand Slam fi-nal in terms of time at the Australian Open when Djok-ovic edged an

epic battle 7-5 in the fifth set after 5hr 53min.

Djokovic, in his 34th Grand Slam semi-final, took just 83 minutes to outclass his regular practice partner Pouille, who was appearing in his first.

Total controlThe 14-time Grand Slam title

winner was fresh because quar-ter-final opponent Kei Nishikori had quit after 51 minutes and he jumped all over the world number 31 right from the start.

Djokovic was in total control against the Frenchman who had needed more than three hours to see off Milos Raonic.

The Serb ran Pouille ragged so effectively that he dished out a dreaded 6-0 “bagel” in a first set that lasted just 21 minutes.

Pouille held his first service game of the second set to a huge ovation from the centre court fans, but it was a brief respite as

Djokovic, a picture of precision on serve and return, would not allow him any chance to get back into the match.

Nadal holds a 4-3 win-loss record against Djokovic in Grand Slam finals, including all three meetings since their Melbourne Park mar-athon seven years ago.

A win for Nadal will see him become the first play-er in the Open era to win all four Grand Slam titles twice, while victory for Djokovic will take him clear of six-time Mel-bourne winners Roger Federer and Roy Emer-son.

DjokovicNadal

Stosur, Zhang win Aus Open women’s

doubles title

Melbourne, Australia

Unseeded pair Samantha Sto-

sur and Zhang Shuai took out the Aus-tralian Open wom-en’s doubles title yesterday to be crowned Grand Slam champions a t Melbourne Park for the first

time.T h e A u s t r a l i -

an-Chinese combi-nation battled past Hungarian-French s e c o n d s e e d s Timea Babos and

Kristina Mlade-novic -- last year’s

champions -- 6-3, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.

“Today, it is a dream true for me,” said Zhang, who won her first Grand Slam doubles title.

Stosur added: “Shuai, it is always a pleasure being on court with you, we have a great friendship.” It was their maiden Slam crown as a team, although Stosur had previous-ly won the 2005 US Open and 2006 French Open in a part-nership with Lisa Raymond that earned them 20 titles al-together.

En route to the title, Sto-sur and Zhang knocked out reigning French Open and Wimbledon champions Barb-ora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

Scoreboard

Novak Djokovic (SRB x2) 6-0, 6-2, 6-2

bt Lucas Poiulle (FRA x28)

Stosur (L) and Zhang Shuai celebrate with the championship trophy

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