panel calls to impose restrictive measures to curb expat...

24ISSUE NO: 17784

28 Pages 150 Fils

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Established 1961 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf

Israel court orders closure of building in Aqsa compound

Liverpool survive Fulham scare to go top of Premier League

RAJAB 11, 1440 AHMONDAY, MARCH 18, 2019

Yarmouk named healthy city due to compliance5 22 28

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Lebanese artist turns shrapnel into sculptures

Govt details mega-projects, development plan, but MPs unimpressed

News in brief

Panel calls to impose restrictive measures to curb expat numbers

Catering van runs over student

KUWAIT: Education Ministry UndersecretarySaud Al-Harbi yesterday ordered an investigationinto an incident in which a primary school studentwas run over by a catering services vehicle nearthe canteen inside his school in Mishref, said edu-cational sources, noting that the boy was immedi-ately rushed to Mubarak Hospital in critical condi-tion. The sources added that Harbi and the Hawallyeducational zone director visited the pupil in hos-pital, where they announced they are awaiting theresults of the investigation to hold those responsi-ble accountable. — Hanan Al-Saadoun

Goa chief minister dies

NEW DELHI: India’s former defense minister and serv-ing chief minister of the western state of Goa, ManoharParrikar, died yesterday, officials said. A technocrat turnedpolitician, 63-year-old Parrikar was a senior member ofthe ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He had been suf-fering from cancer. Parrikar passed away at his residencein Goa, local news channels reported. As defense minister,he oversaw the controversial deal to buy 36 Rafale fighterjets from French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviationfor around $8.7 billion. — Reuters

KD 8 departure tax frozen

KUWAIT: A decision to impose a surcharge of KD 8on air tickets from April 1, 2019 has been frozen, a law-maker said yesterday. MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said hehad contacted the ministry of commerce and industryon the recent ministerial decision imposing the newairport and passenger service charge, stressing thatthe decision has been frozen. “Instead of adding newfees, I urge the government to improve public servic-es,” he said. Notably, the Directorate General of CivilAviation had informed all carriers departing fromKuwait to collect an extra KD 8 from the beginning ofApril to be paid to the DGCA. — A Saleh

KUWAIT: First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah holds a jointpress conference yesterday. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The government’s higher population com-mittee has made a series of recommendations, includinglinking residence permits to education and clampingdown on domestic helpers, with the aim to reduce thenumber of expatriates in the country. The committeerecommended that a residence permit must be linked tothe applicant’s level and type of education which meansthat the profession of an expatriate must match his orher type of university education.

It called for imposing restrictions on dependentvisas for wives and children and also on visit visas forrelatives. It also called for applying certain regulationsand caps on the number of domestic helpers andimposing certain fees on additional maids, raising thefees gradually with the number of maids employed.

The committee, which consists of representativesfrom almost all ministries and government departmentsconcerned with employment and the demographic poli-cy, called for resolving the problem of “absconding”workers by giving them a grace period for up to threemonths, increasing fines and issuing stringent laws topenalize those who employ absconding expats. It calledfor activating fingerprint devices at border points to

prevent barred people from entering the country bychanging their passports.

Other recommendations called for automating thelabor recruitment process to prevent cheating andapply strict measures against employing employees injobs they were not recruited for. The committee calledfor forcing contractors working on government con-tracts to send back all their workers after completingthe project.

Meanwhile, lawmakers criticized the governmentyesterday for not providing significant informationabout the mega projects in the Silk City, the northerneconomic zone and the five islands, which the govern-ment said will require some $600 billion in investments.Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah headed a large government team to provide eco-nomic and financial explanations to the Assembly’sfinancial and economic affairs committee, but lawmak-ers came out of the meeting disappointed.

Sheikh Nasser said the meeting also discussed thedevelopment plan, adding that the government willfinalize the draft law for the Silk City mega projectwithin the coming few weeks and send it to theAssembly.

Continued on Page 24

CHRISTCHURCH: When Afghan refugee Abdul Azizsaw a man brandishing a gun outside his mosque inChristchurch, he ran towards the attacker armed withthe only weapon he could find - a hand-held credit cardmachine. Seven people were killed when a whitesupremacist stormed Linwood Masjid - the secondmosque he attacked on Friday - as worshippers knelt topray. But the death toll could have been much higher ifnot for the heroic actions of Aziz, an Australian citizen,whose efforts to distract and chase the gunman awayhave attracted widespread praise.

“You don’t have much time to think, whatever you

think of, you just do it, youknow,” Aziz told AFP, brush-ing off the “hero” tag as localMuslims gathered to thankhim for saving relatives andfriends. “I just wanted to saveas much lives as I could, evenif I lose my life.” Aziz and hisfour sons were worshippingat the mosque when theyheard the loud cracks ofgunfire outside the building.

Initially thinking someonewas setting off firecrackers,Aziz became suspicious andran out of the mosque, grabbing a small credit card pro-cessing device. Outside, he was stunned to find an armedman wearing military-style fatigues. “At first, I didn’t knowif he was the good guy or the bad guy.


Hero refugee chased gunman from mosque

CHRISTCHURCH: As the bullets tore into worship-pers during Friday prayers, taxi driver Abdul KadirAbabora threw himself to the floor and wedged himselfunder a bookshelf used to hold Holy Qurans, praying hewould see his wife and kids again. Somehow that deci-sion saved his life and he emerged from the carnageunscathed. “It’s just a miracle,” he told AFP on Sundayas he revisited the scene. “When I woke up to the leftand right of me it was just dead bodies.”

Like so many who attended weekly prayers atChristchurch’s Al Noor mosque, Ababora had come toNew Zealand from a troubled overseas homeland hop-ing to find peace and prosperity. The 48-year-old said

he arrived from Ethiopia in2010 and made a life forhimself in the placid city ofCanterbury. Two weeks agohe and his wife celebratedthe birth of their third son.Then on Friday a self-pro-fessed white supremacist,wielding an armory ofsemi-automatic riflesscrawled with racist ideolo-gy, walked into the Al Noormosque and unleashed arampage that left at least50 dead and dozens morewith life-changing injuries.

Ababora said the mosque’s imam had just starteddelivering the English translation of the khutbah - thesermon during Friday prayers - when the gunfire erupt-ed outside.


Survivor says Quran shelf saved his life

Abdul Kadir Ababora

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: The sparring betweenIndia and Pakistan last month threatened to spiral out ofcontrol and only interventions by US officials, includingNational Security Advisor John Bolton, headed off abigger conflict, five sources familiar with the events said.At one stage, India threatened to fire at least six missilesat Pakistan, and Islamabad said it would respond with itsown missile strikes “three times over”, according toWestern diplomats and government sources in NewDelhi, Islamabad and Washington.

The way in which tensions suddenly worsened andthreatened to trigger a war between the nuclear-armednations shows how the Kashmir region, which bothclaim and is at the core of their enmity, remains one ofthe world’s most dangerous flashpoints. The exchangesdid not get beyond threats, and there was no suggestionthat the missiles involved were anything more than con-ventional weapons, but they created consternation in

official circles in Washington, Beijing and London.Reuters has pieced together the events that led to the

most serious military crisis in South Asia since 2008, aswell as the concerted diplomatic efforts to get bothsides to back down. The simmering dispute erupted intoconflict late last month when Indian and Pakistani war-planes engaged in a dogfight over Kashmir on Feb 27, aday after a raid by Indian jet fighters on what it said wasa militant camp in Pakistan. Islamabad denied any mili-tant camp exists in the area and said the Indian bombsexploded on an empty hillside.

In their first such clash since the last war between thetwo nations in 1971, Pakistan downed an Indian planeand captured its pilot after he ejected in Pakistan-con-trolled Kashmir. Hours later, videos of the bloodiedIndian pilot, handcuffed and blindfolded, appeared onsocial media, identifying himself to Pakistani interroga-tors, deepening anger in New Delhi.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi facing a generalelection in April-May, the government was under pres-sure to respond. That evening, Indian National SecurityAdviser Ajit Doval spoke over a secure line to the headof Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), AsimMunir, to tell him India was not going to back off its newcampaign of “counterterrorism” even after the pilot’scapture, an Indian government source and a Western

diplomat with knowledge of the conversations toldReuters in New Delhi. Doval told Munir that India’s fightwas with the militant groups that freely operated fromPakistani soil and it was prepared to escalate, said thegovernment source.

A Pakistani government minister and a Westerndiplomat in Islamabad separately confirmed a specificIndian threat to use six missiles on targets insidePakistan. They did not specify who delivered the threator who received it, but the minister said Indian andPakistani intelligence agencies “were communicatingwith each other during the fight, and even now they arecommunicating with each other”. Pakistan said it wouldcounter any Indian missile attacks with many morelaunches of its own, the minister told Reuters, speakingon condition of anonymity. “We said if you will fire onemissile, we will fire three. Whatever India will do, we willrespond three times to that,” the Pakistani minister said.

The crisis unfolded as US President Donald Trumpwas trying to hammer out an agreement with NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi over its nuclearprogram. US security advisor Bolton was on the phonewith Doval on the night of Feb 27 itself, and into theearly hours of Feb 28, the second day of the Trump-Kim talks, in an attempt to defuse the situation, the


India, Pak had threatened to unleash missiles

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealandersflocked to pay tribute yesterday to the50 worshippers slain in two mosqueattacks, as families clamored for thereturn of their dead. Coroners said theyhoped to let grieving relatives fulfillIslamic burial customs soon, but insistedthey had to move carefully through theirinvestigation into the horrific multiplemurders. As New Zealand grappled tocome to terms with the slaughter - theworst attack on Muslims in a Westerncountry - tales of heroism, suffering andincredible grace began to emerge.

Farid Ahmad, whose 44-year-oldwife Husna was killed as she rushedback into a mosque to rescue him,refused to harbor hatred toward thealleged gunman, Australian-born, self-avowed white nationalist, BrentonTarrant. “I would say to him ‘I love himas a person’,” Ahmad, who uses awheelchair, told AFP. Asked if he for-gave the 28-year-old suspect, he said:“Of course. The best thing is forgive-ness, generosity, loving and caring,positivity.”


Kiwis pay tribute as familiesclamor for return of dead

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Towers display the flag of New Zealand yesterday in solidaritywith the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Abdul Aziz

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Amir receives top officials,National Assembly delegation

Amir offers condolences to Indonesia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe presidents

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met yesterday at BayanPalace His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh NawafAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness the Amiralso received Kuwaiti Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem, and his accompanying delegation that partici-pated in the conference of Parliamentary Union of theOrganization of Islamic Cooperation’s Member States(PUIC). His Highness the Amir later met His Highnessthe Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-HamadAl-Sabah. In addition, His Highness the Amir receivedChairman of Kuwait’s Supreme Judicial Council and theCassation Court, and President of the ConstitutionalCourt, Justice Yousef Jassem Al-Mutawaa.

Meanwhile, His Highness the Crown Prince receivedGhanem and members of the parliament’s delegationwho participated in the PUIC conference. His HighnessSheikh Nawaf also received His Highness the PrimeMinister, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterSheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, DeputyPrime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah and Deputy Prime Minister and StateMinister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh. Moreover, HisHighness received Kuwait’s Ambassador to the UnitedStates Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Also yesterday, His Highness the Crown Princereceived Minister of Information and Minister of Statefor Youth Affairs Mohammad Al-Jabri and Acting

Undersecretary Shafiq Al-Sayed Omar. During theencounter, they presented to His Highness a copy of ayouth national political project. His Highness the CrownPrince thanked them and affirmed that His Highness theAmir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah isinterested in empowering youth and supporting them inorder to achieve Kuwait’s vision of 2035. Minister Jabrialso presented the youth national project to HisHighness the Prime Minister.

CondolencesSeparately, His Highness the Amir sent a cable of

condolences to Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Inthe cable, His Highness the Amir expressed sincere grieftowards victims of the flash floods that swept throughthe country’s easternmost province of Papua. HisHighness wished the injured quick recuperation andhoped the nation would be able to cope with conse-quences of the natural disaster. His Highness the CrownPrince and His Highness the Prime Minister sent similarcables to the Indonesia president, while SpeakerGhanem sent a cable of condolences to the Speaker ofIndonesian People’s Representative Council BambangSoesatyo.

In the meantime, His Highness the Amir sent twocables of condolences to the President of MozambiqueFilipe Nyusi and the President of Zimbabwe EmmersonMnangagwa. In the cables, His Highness expressed sin-

cere sentiments and prayed to Allah Almighty to bestowmercy on the victims of Cyclone Idai that hitMozambique and Zimbabwe, wishing swift recovery forthe injured. His Highness the Crown Prince and HisHighness the Prime Minister sent similar cables, while

Speaker Ghanem sent condolence cables to his coun-terparts in Mozambique Veronica Macamo, andZimbabwe Jacob Mudenda and to the Zanu PFWomen’s League’s Secretary in Zimbabwe MabelChinomona. — KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with His Highness the Crown PrinceSheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. — Amiri Diwan and KUNA photos

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanemand his accompanying delegation that participated in the PUIC conference.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem and his accompanying delegation that participated in the PUIC conference.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahreceives a copy of a youth national political project.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah receives a copy of a youth national political project.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahreceives Kuwait’s Ambassador to the United States Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

RIYADH: Saudi King Salman binAbdulaziz Al Saud received yesterdaythe credentials of newly-assignedKuwaiti ambassador to Saudi ArabiaSheikh Ali Al-Khaled Al-Sabah.Sheikh Ali Al-Sabah said in a state-ment to the press that it is a great

responsibility to work on the develop-ment of bilateral cooperation in allfields. He also stressed the deep-root-ed and historical relations betweenboth countries, expressing his hopefor further prosperity for Kuwait andSaudi Arabia. — KUNA

RIYADH: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud meets with the newly-assignedKuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sheikh Ali Al-Khaled Al-Sabah. —KUNA

Saudi King receives credentialsof new Kuwaiti ambassador

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a letter fromAzeri President Ilham Aliyev, inviting him to attendthe 18th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement(NAM) due in Baku in October. Counselor of theAzeri Embassy in Kuwait Vidadi Hasanov handed theletter to Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh AliJarrah Al-Sabah yesterday. — KUNA

Amir invited toattend NAMsummit in Baku

KUWAIT: Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah receives the letterfrom Counselor of the Azeri Embassy in Kuwait Vidadi Hasanov. — Amiri Diwan photo

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah meets with members ofthe Omani delegation. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign MinisterKhaled Al-Jarallah met yesterday the visitingChairman of GCC Department at Oman’s ForeignMinistry Ambassador Mohammad Al-Wahaibi andChairman of the Diplomatic Institute at Oman’sForeign Ministry Ambassador Zainab Al-Qasemya.The meeting dealt with bilateral relations andways to boost cooperation between Saud Al-Nasser Al-Sabah Kuwaiti Diplomatic Institute andOmani Diplomatic Institute, in addition to issues ofcommon interest and the latest developments. Themeeting was attended by Foreign Ministry’s offi-cials and Omani Ambassador to Kuwait Adnan Al-Ansari. — KUNA

Jarallah meetsOmani diplomaticdelegation

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Kuwaiti charity launches initiativefor New Zealand victims’ families

To help ease out the anguish of ‘martyrs’ families: IICO chief

KUWAIT: The International Islamic CharityOrganization (IICO) has launched a humanitarian initia-tive to alleviate the woes of families of the victims ofrecent mosque shootings in New Zealand. “Out of ourhuman and ethical responsibility, we have launched thisinitiative in order to help in easing out the anguish ofthe affected families whose sons got ‘martyred’ orinjured in this horrible terrorist incident,” IICOChairman Dr Abdullah Al-Maatouq said in a pressstatement.

The Kuwait-headquartered charity’s humanitarianinitiative includes relief programs involving medicineand basic needs in general, said Maatouq, who is anadvisor at Amiri Diwan. At least 50 Muslim worshipperswere killed and over 48 others wounded in attacks ontwo mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand on Friday.Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, on Saturday appearedbefore a court in Christchurch where he was chargedwith murder. The attacks on the two mosques havesparked wide-scale condemnations and denunciations

from world leaders, mainly Arab and Muslim ones.Maatouq condemned the incident as a terrorist attack

on peaceful worshippers and a heinous aggression onhuman values. He stressed that terrorism has no home-land, color, religion or ethical and geographical bound-aries, calling on the international community with all itsorganizations to resolutely fight terrorism. “What hashappened is an appalling terrorist crime that breaks allmoral and human values and that was perpetrated bypeople who have lost their human sentiments andfavored the policy of hatred and extremism,” he lament-ed. He urged the world to exert concerted efforts to fendoff the discourse of racism and intolerance and to uprootterrorism and fight all platforms that instigate hatred,violence and extremism. Instead, the values of people-to-people peaceful coexistence should be observed, theIICO chief emphasized. Maatouq concluded by under-scoring that such criminal and brutal acts against inno-cent Muslims target world destabilize security and sta-bility and trigger off tensions. — KUNA

KUWAIT: New Zealand’s flag is displayed on Kuwait Towers yesterday in solidarity with the victims ofthe Christchurch mosque attacks. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Spring flourished this year due to heavyrains that provided a fertile environment for the migra-tion of butterflies, especially the colorful ‘Painted Lady’.Flying around with distinctive colors, the Painted Lady

butterflies are observed this time of the year in Kuwait,flashing their beautifully elaborate patterns of reddishorange, brown, white and black scales.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait’s spring blooms with ‘Painted Lady’

KUWAIT: First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabahchairs the fifth meeting of the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning andDevelopment in 2019. — KUNA

Defense Minister chairs SCPD meetingKUWAIT: Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister andDefense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah chaired yesterday the fifth meeting of theGeneral Secretariat of the Supreme Council forPlanning and Development (SCPD) in 2019. The

Council reviewed a memo about its human develop-ment and constructional committee’s opinion regardingthe strategy of the National Council for Culture, Artsand Letters , SCPD said in a press release. The meetingwas attended by senior SCPD officials. —KUNA

First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah chairs meeting.

Monday, March 18, 2019

4L o c a l

Established 1961

News in brief

SMEs involved in visa trafficking

KUWAIT: Some owners of small and medium enter-prises (SMEs) have gone against the government’sgoals to eradicate unemployment and support youthby using subsidized government projects and otheradvantages to be involved in visa trafficking, whichhas harmed Kuwait and its reputation. Informedsources said inspection campaigns by the PublicAuthority for Manpower revealed that the majorityof violating workers entered Kuwait due to visa traf-ficking carried out by owners of small and mediumenterprises. The sources said visa traders used facil-ities given by the government to support the youthfor visa trafficking. —Al-Rai

Extremism factors

An educational study found extremism in the Kuwaitsociety is minimal. The study drew attention to 33reasons and factors for extremism in high schools,including the spread of violence, social deviation,sabotaging government facilities, not accepting oth-ers’ opinion and adopting ‘takfiri’ ideologies. Thestudy was conducted by the social services team inJahra Educational Zone and covered 16 schools. Peerinfluence was on top of the reasons with 77.6 per-cent, along with lack of awareness lectures, pooreducational role of some teachers, weak school pro-grams, strict implementation of school rules, lack ofmosques’ role in the issue and lack of dialoguebetween teacher and student. —Al-Rai

Strategic payroll

The oil sector’s labor union was quick to react tonewspaper reports on a government-parliamentarybid to revive the strategic payroll alternative. Afterits statement rejecting it, the union announced asit-in protest with MPs’ participation to demandthe government to negotiate with and give guaran-tees to workers to exclude the oil sector from theplan. — Al-Rai

Fights

A heated fight between an Indian grocer and anunidentified customer resulted in severing the ten-dons of the grocer’s hand, as a sharp object wasused. The dispute erupted after the grocer did notcome out to the customer waiting in the car. Whenthe grocer told him he was busy, the customer sur-prised him with a knife and beat him before escap-ing. The Indian was taken to hospital in critical con-dition, as detectives took over the case. Separately,an Egyptian man failed to rob an Indian driver, so hestabbed him. The Indian stabbed him back. A securi-ty source said the Egyptian stopped a roaming taxi,and as soon as he got in the car, pulled a knife andasked the cabbie to hand over his money. He resis-ted and was stabbed, but was able to snatch theknife and stab the assailant. Passersby intervenedand called police, and prevented the Egyptian fromescaping. —Al-Rai

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Ministry of Education (MOE)Undersecretary Saud Al-Harbi yesterday approved anonline ad to be posted on the ministry’s website to offi-cially declare the ministry’s requirements to recruitteachers, including expatriates, to work in publicschools during the 2019-2020 school year. The ad saidEnglish, French, Science, Mathematics, Chemistry,Physics, Biology, Geology and Physical Educationteachers are needed, said official sources, noting thatonline applications will be possible once the ad isuploaded on the MoE website today.

Logistics warehouses Chairman of Kuwai t Union of Consumers

Cooperat ive Societ ies (KUCCS) Khaled Al-Hudhaiban said construction of the union’s logisticswarehouses located over a total area of 6,000square meters in Suliabiya, the largest in Kuwait,have been completed, adding these warehouses willsecure the supply of food supplies to various co-ops. He said the union’s emergency plan entailsproviding at least six months of supplies in stockand that the new warehouses will use the latesttechnologies and follow the highest internationalstandards.

Tobacco shipmentFinance Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf said that in collab-

oration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the customsdepartment managed to foil an attempt to fake docu-ments needed to release a shipment of 700 cartons ofa tobacco company and referred the matter to thepublic prosecution. Responding to a parliamentaryinquiry from MP Khalil Al-Saleh, Hajraf explained thatcustom inspectors and MoH’s tobacco testing inspec-tors investigated charges of manipulation against theaccused company, filed a citation and referred thematter to the public prosecution to investigate boththe forgery and evasion.

Inactive teamsThe Ministry of Social Affairs’ manager of community

development Nadia Al-Azmi said 30 voluntary teams hadbeen inactive and had not contacted the ministry since theirestablishment, noting that the ministry is currently studyingthe cases pending a decision to write them off or allow themto continue operations after giving them warning notices.Azmi added that the total number of voluntary teams regis-tered with the ministry is 180, in addition to 16 pending onesand four that had been annulled on their requests. Azmi saida meeting will be held tomorrow with various charities andvoluntary teams registered to discuss the system to be fol-lowed in collecting donations during the month of Ramadan.

Ministry to announce teachers’vacancies online; expats can apply

Co-ops union to build ‘Kuwait’s largest’ logistics warehouses

Informationministry buildingcatches fireBy Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Capital and Hilali fire stations battled ablaze at an information ministry building along withthe security and safety and television productiondepartments. The fire was in a room of the graphicsand editing department. The fire did not affect radioand TV broadcast ing . Kuwait F i re ServiceDirectorate (KFSD) lauded the role of the securityand safety department of the information ministryand the support of the National Guard in facilitatingentry of the f i remen to the s i te . Informat ionMinistry Undersecretary Munira Al-Huwaidi was atthe scene.

Drug smugglingCustoms officers busted around 2 kilograms of

hashish hidden in a trailer truck that arrived at Abdaliborder outlet yesterday. The truck’s Asian driver wassent to concerned authorities to face drug smugglingcharges. Meanwhile, a passenger was arrested withpossession of drugs he tried to smuggle throughTerminal 5 (T5) of Kuwait International Airport yes-terday morning. Customs officers found six hashishrolls and 60 drug tablets hidden inside the Arab man’sluggage.

Service center closedThe Interior Ministry’s Relations and Security

Information Department said Naeem service center inJahra was closed starting from yesterday to carry outmaintenance of the building. It said Saad Al-Abdullahservice center will work two shifts, while Jaber Al-Ahmad center will be open on Saturdays.

Preachers finedfor ‘promotingsectarian strife’By Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: The court of cassation yesterday fined twopreachers KD 20,000 each over charges of promotingsectarian strife through their sermons. In its verdictissued against clergymen Hussein Al-Maatouq andOthman Al-Khamees, the court stressed that provokingsectarian conflicts and/or showing contempt towardsany social sect is against the law and subject to legalpenalties. In other news, lawyer Yousif Al-Muhaish, whoran as a candidate in the third electoral constituency inthe parliamentary by-election, filed yesterday a contestquestioning the election’s results.

KUWAIT: Firefighters battle a blaze reported at an Informationministry building yesterday.

Around 2 kilograms of hashish found hidden in a trailer truck that arrived at Abdali border outlet yesterday.

Drugs found with a passenger arrested at Terminal 5 (T5) of Kuwait International Airport yesterday morning.

Palestinian govtreceives $2 millionfrom KuwaitGAZA: The Palestinian government said yesterday ithas received more than $2 million from Kuwait as partof its previous pledge to help in Gaza reconstructionefforts. The $2.150 million sum has been allocated forinfrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip, PalestinianMinister of Public Works and Housing Mufid Al-Hasayna said in a press statement. The minister thankedthe Kuwaiti government and Kuwait Fund for ArabEconomic Development (KFAED) for their relentlesssupport to the Palestinian people. Kuwait had pledged$200 million for Gaza reconstruction efforts during aconference held in Cairo in 2014.

In other news, Secretary General of the Arab RedCross and Red Crescent Society Dr Saleh Al-Suhaibanipraised humanitarian and relief work of Kuwait RedCrescent Society (KRCS). In a statement after hismeeting with KRCS Deputy Chairman Anwar Al-Hasawi, Suhaibani hailed the clear vision of KRCS inhumanitarian work and efforts in facing crises. He alsoexpressed appreciations for efforts and field moves inYemen, Iraq and Syria, and keeping pace with thehumanitarian situation there and dealing with them withhigh responsibility and efficiently. Suhaibani is lookingforward to more strategic cooperation with KRCS toserve humanitarian and relief work. His meeting withHasawi also tackled humanitarian work fields andpreparations for the 44th Arab Red Cross and RedCrescent Society meeting to be held in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, Hasawi said in a similar statement thatKRCS attaches great importance to cooperation withinternational humanitarian organizations, especially theArab Red Crescent and the Red Cross. KRCS is lookingforward to strengthening its partnership with the ArabRed Crescent and the Red Cross to improve the situa-tion of those affected by crises, Hasawi said. During themeeting, they also reviewed the most important Kuwaitihumanitarian activities through KRCS to assist peoplein the Philippines. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah said Kuwait’s achievements in implementinghealth cities initiative contributed to approvingYarmouk city as fist healthy city in Kuwait by WorldHealth Organization (WHO), due to compliance withrelevant standards. This came in Sheikh Dr BasselAl-Sabah’s speech yesterday during a WHO EasternMediterranean Region meeting in Kuwait, and onthe sidelines of handing the accreditation certificateof ‘Yarmouk health city.’

Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah appreciated the min-istry’s role to achieve this accreditation, stressingthe importance of managing the health cities pro-gram within the ministry, government and statedevelopment plan work program. Meanwhi le ,Assistant Undersecretary for National MedicalServices at the ministry, Dr Fatima Al-Najjar, said

this accreditation is success for the ministry repre-sented by the health cities office to achieve itsgoals, adding the ministry chose health cities initia-tive as one of the ministry’s target for 2015-2020development plan. Najjar underlined the ministry’sinterest in implementing the health cities initiative,boasting that Yarmouk was chosen as a health city.

Remote therapyIn other news, Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah

launched on Saturday Kuwait’s first internet-basedremote therapy network for surgeons. The networkmaterialized the keenness of Kuwait Association ofSurgeons (KAS) on leveraging state-of-the-art sys-tems and technologies in medical learning with aview to improving the performance of surgeon, theminister said in his inaugural speech to the KAS

conference on remote therapy.Sheikh Dr Bassel appreciated the efforts of the

KAS board chair and members to share experienceand build the capacity of the medical personnel incollaboration with the Ministry of Health. He reaf-firmed support to the KAS initiatives for organizingthe current conference and launching the remotetherapy network, noting that they are key partnersof the Ministry. “The Ministry continues planningand implementing programs of action to improve thehealthcare system as part of the state plan for sus-tainable development and Kuwait Vision 2035,” hepointed out. Sheikh Dr Bassel reiterated the need ofupgrading the performance of surgeons and updat-ing the healthcare policies to ensure the safety ofpatients.

Meanwhile, KAS Chair Sheikh Dr Salman Al-

Sabah said the Association chose remote therapy asmain theme of the current conference to highlightthe importance of experience sharing in addressingthe challenges facing the medical profession. “Theaccelerated development of modern technology putthe onus on the Association to make better use ofthe hi-tech and provide quality service for patients,”he said. Sheikh Dr Salman reaffirmed the commit-ment of KAS to implement the Ministry’s programsand strategies for development and leverage theremote therapy system across the health facilitycountrywide. The new system will complement thecomprehensive medical coverage, he said, notingthat this initiative coincided with the inauguration ofpromising healthcare projects, including SheikhJaber Al-Ahmad Hospital, Al-Jahra Medical City andthe new Amiri Hospital. — KUNA


5L o c a l

Established 1961

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah receives the accredita-tion certificate of the ‘Yarmouk health city.’ — KUNA

KUWAIT: A group picture of officials attending the symposia.

Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah attends an event to launch Kuwait’s first internet-based remote therapy network for surgeons.

MoH launches first remote therapy network

Minister says Yarmouk namedhealthy city due to compliance

Dasman Institutehosts ‘CollaborativeAdvantage’ symposiaKUWAIT: Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI), foundedby Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement ofSciences (KFAS) has recently hosted a full-day sym-posia titled ‘The Collaborative Advantage,’ in collabo-ration with Mount Sinai and Jaber Al-Ahmad Centerfor Molecular Imaging. The symposia were held in theinstitute yesterday.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, DrMustafa Reda inaugurated the event with an openingspeech welcoming the speakers and participants. DrReda as well expressed his gratitude to the Institute fororganizing important events such as these symposia. DrReda on a final note highlighted the benefits of havingcollaborations with such esteemed organizations like

Mount Sinai. The Undersecretary’s speech was fol-lowed by a presentation delivered by Dr Adnan ShihabEldin, the Director-General of KFAS, where he outlinedthe opportunities for research partnerships with KFAS.The symposia consisted as well of a presentation deliv-ered by Dr Qais Al-Duwairi, Director-General of DDI,titled “State-of-Art Diabetes from Bench to Bedside atDDI,” who emphasized on the benefits of research col-laboration, and the world-standard integrated facilitiesunder DDI’s roof.

The symposia comprised of many other valuable lec-tures and presentations delivered by guest speakersfrom Mount Sinai and Dr Fahad Marafi, Director-Generalof Jaber Al-Ahmad Center for Molecular Imaging. DDIwas honored to have the American Ambassador toKuwait, Lawrence Silverman, who delivered a presenta-tion titled ‘Welcome to International Collaboration.’

At the end, Prof Hilal Al-Sayer, Chairman of the Boardof Trustees at DDI, thanked the distinguished guestspeakers from Mount Sinai, Jaber Al-Ahmad Center forMolecular Imaging and the US Ambassador for makingthis collaboration and symposia a huge success.

Conference recommendslinking hospitals’ labsBy Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: A medical conferenceheld in Kuwait recently stressed theimportance of establishing elec-tronic linking between hospital lab-oratories and primary care centers,in addition to linking reference lab-oratories and hospital labs.

Head of the second scientificconference of medical labs DrNasser Al-Awadhi said experts whoattended the conference called forapplying health ministry rules,which are related to infectious dis-eases’ tests for all pregnant women

in order to reduce fetal deformitiesand infectious diseases of the fetus.They also called for starting theprogram of examining the pre-can-cer stages and early detection ofcancerous cells of the cervix, headded. He also noted the impor-tance of spreading awareness onsexually transmitted diseases such

as AIDS and hepatitis through doc-tors’ intensive workshops.

Dr Awadhi also stressed theimportance of flu and whoopingcough vaccines for pregnantpatients to reduce risks on the healthof both the mother and fetus. He said20 lectures and five workshops by10 advisors were delivered.

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah attends the conference.

High speed, then a failed climb for doomed flightADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Airlines flight 302,which crashed killing 157 people, had anunusually high speed after take-off before theplane reported problems and asked permis-sion to climb quickly, said a source who haslistened to the air traffic control recording. Avoice from the cockpit of the Boeing 737MAX requested to climb to 14,000 feetabove sea level - about 6,400 feet above theairport - before urgently asking to return, thesource told Reuters on condition of anonymi-ty because the recording is part of an ongo-ing investigation.

The plane vanished from radar at 10,800feet. “He said he had a flight control problem.That is why he wanted to climb,” the sourcesaid, adding there were no further details giv-en of the exact problem and the voice sound-ed nervous. Experts say pilots typically ask toclimb when experiencing problems near theground in order to gain margin for manoeu-vre and avoid any difficult terrain.

Addis Ababa is surrounded by hills and,immediately to the north, the EntotoMountains. The New York Times reportedCaptain Yared Getachew’s voice was on the

recording but the Reuters source was notfamiliar with his voice or that of the first offi-cer Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur to verifywhich man was speaking. However, it was thesame voice throughout, the source said.

The US Federal Aviation Administration onWednesday followed other countries ingrounding the 737 MAX, citing satellite dataand evidence from the scene that indicatedsome similarities and “the possibility of ashared cause” with October’s Lion Air crashin Indonesia that killed 189 people. OnSaturday, investigators began studying thecockpit voice recorder. Along with the flight

data recorder, the information will be evaluat-ed by Ethiopian authorities, teams fromBoeing, and US and EU aviation safetyauthorities to try to determine the cause ofthe crash.

The Ethiopian flight was set to follow theStandard Instrument Departure (SID) fromthe airport and followed standard procedurewith a first contact just after departure, thesource said. Everything appeared normal.After one or two minutes, the voice on the airtraffic control recording requested to remainon the same path as the runway and to climbto 14,000 feet, the source said. — Reuters

InternationalFlash floods kill 58 in Indonesia’s Papua province Resist, forgive, submit? Afghan youth on hopes for peace Page 7 Page 7

MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2019

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CHRISTCHURCH: Farid Ahmed, who survived the Al Noor mosque shootings but his wife Husna was killed, speaks to the media in Christchurch yesterday, two days after a shooting incident at two mosques in the city. —AFP

CHRISTCHURCH: In a city battered by quakes,Christchurch’s medics were tragically well-schooledin tackling mass casualty events - but none couldhave prepared for the injuries unleashed by a whitesupremacist with assault rifles bent on mass murder.Doctors, surgeons and nurses have been workingaround the clock at Christchurch Hospital sinceFriday’s mass shooting at two mosques, franticallytrying to stem bleeding, patch up shattered bodiesand save lives.

Yesterday, 34 patients remained in the hospital inChristchurch, twelve of them still in critical condition.Another of the injured - four-year-old girl Alin Alsati- was in intensive care at a specialist children’s hospi-tal in Auckland. Greg Robertson, the chief surgeon atChristchurch Hospital, spoke yesterday of the sheermagnitude of Friday’s massacre.

“Horror, stunned, anger,” he said, describing howhis team of doctors, nurses and surgeons felt as thewounded poured in - initially in private cars and thenin an ever-increasing stream of ambulances. This isnot the first time the city has dealt with mass casual-ties. A series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 killedmore than 180 people and left many more injured,

honing the medical skills of the city’s doctors to dealwith a sudden influx of complex wounds.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt the earthquake didhave a bearing on it — the old adage practice makesperfect works on a lot of things and that’s part of ourprocesses,” he said. But headmitted the horrifying,man-made nature of the lat-est tragedy had a muchgreater psychological impacton staff. “The earthquakewas something that wecouldn’t control,’ he said.“It’s the fact that someonehas done this to our people,our friends, our colleagues,this is just unbelievable.”

Brutal ammunition The kind of injuries surgeons were facing this time

around were also particularly horrifying. Robertsonsaid his teams do sometimes encounter gunshotwounds but never on such a scale. New Zealand usu-ally witnesses only 50 murders a year. Suddenly one

town had that many people murdered in a single dayand dozens more wounded — some struck by multi-ple bullets.

Many of those brought to the hospital have been inand out of operating theatres multiple times, as sur-

geons prioritize the worstparts of the injuries - such asstemming the bleeding, clear-ing blocked airways, tryingto save limbs - before deal-ing with the less severewounds. First responders andparamedics played a crucialrole. “I guess that’s reflectedin the fact we’ve had onlyone death in a patient thatarrived at the hospital. Thosewho got here, have a

chance,” Robertson said.It is likely Pakistani national Mohammed Amin Nas

only survived because of the paramedics. His sonYasir Amin told AFP they encountered the allegedassailant — Australian national Brenton Tarrant -driving outside the Al Noor mosque. “He took out this

big gun and just shot at us as we were running,” Yasirsaid. His father was struck four times. Yasir calledemergency services who spent 10 minutes treating hisfather where he lay before rushing him to hospital.

He has been into surgery three times and remainsin intensive care. On a normal day, Christchurchwould have three acute surgery theatres operating.On Sunday, seven were up and running with peopleworking around the clock. Tarrant appears to havechosen ammunition designed to cause maximum trau-ma, Robertson said. “These are not something thatgoes through,” he said, referring to the type of bul-lets. “We’ve got a lot of fragments, shotgun injuries.”

He said those treating patients would inevitablyhave their own traumatic memories. “There willundoubtedly be, as we saw after the earthquakes, adelayed mental stress type response to this wholething.” For now, he said, people were focused on sav-ing lives. But colleagues would keep a close eye oneach other in the weeks ahead. “Most people arecoping with things pretty well when you’re doingthings,” he said. “It’s when you go home and youthink about it, that’s when the issues start to declarethemselves.” — AFP

‘Horror and anger’ at Christchurch hospital Doctors, surgeons and nurses battle to save lives

34 in hospital; 12 still in critical

condition

ADDIS ABABA: Mourners of victims of the crashed accident of Ethiopian Airlines react beside a funer-al car during the mass funeral at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Organizers of anInternational Women’s Day march inPakistan say they have had death andrape threats on social media over theevent, which prompted complaints fromsome conservative groups. Nighat Daadsaid that the march organizers are look-ing into filing a complaint withPakistan’s Federal InvestigationAuthority about the online harassment.“It has gone too far in terms of deathand rape threats to the organizers andalso to the marchers,” Daad said, addingthat one of the threatening accounts hadbeen suspended by Twitter.

The event, which attracted tens ofthousands of women on March 8, wasonly the second of its kind in Pakistan,which a Thomson Reuters Foundationpoll found to be the sixth most danger-ous country for women in 2018. A HumanRights Watch report last year estimatedthat 1,000 “honor killings”-the practiceof relatives murdering girls or womenbecause they think the victim hasbrought shame or dishonour on the fami-ly-take place in Pakistan each year.

Another march organizer, who askednot to be identified, said the backlash

“shows that this collective organizationof women has threatened the patriarchalforces”. Pakistan has experienced asurge in social media usage with morethan 40 million Facebook users. The rap-id growth has sparked an online debateabout misogyny, with some women high-lighting daily hate and pornographicmessaging. The days following the marchhave seen social media attacks onwomen, while some prominent men havecomplained about “obscene” signs car-ried by protesters.

A member of the country’s largestreligious political party filed a com-plaint with police, seen by Reuters, inthe southern city of Karachi where7,000 women attended the march, say-ing the protesters “provoked religioussentiments” and spread vulgarity. Themarch organizers also said the mediahad focused on the backlash more thanthe original aims of the event. “Themedia played a massively negative rolein this campaign ... they just looked atwhat trolls were saying online andpicked up (on) a few placards that wereprovocative to try and sell their con-tent,” Daad said. — Reuters

Pak women march organizershighlight online death threats

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Monday, March 18, 2019

7Established 1961

Flash floods kill at least 58 in Indonesia’s Papua province

Rescuers battle mud, rocks, fallen trees in the hunt for survivorsSENTANI: Flash floods in Indonesia’s east-ern Papua province have killed at least 58people, an official said yesterday, as res-cuers battled mud, rocks and fallen trees inthe hunt for survivors. The death toll wasexpected to rise as emergency servicesstruggled to reach people in hard-hit areas,with more than 70 people injured and 4,150evacuated.

The floods - triggered by torrential rainand landslides on Saturday - damagednumerous homes in the northeastern townof Sentani, said national disaster agencyspokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. “Thenumber of casualties and impact of the dis-aster will likely increase as search and res-

cue teams are still trying to reach otheraffected areas,” he said. The waters hadreceded but officials were still trying toevacuate people from areas obstructed by“fallen trees, rocks, mud and other material”,Nugroho added.

In Doyo, one of the most affected areas, ahousing complex was littered with hugerocks believed to have rolled down from anearby mountain, an AFP reporter at thescene said. Sediment and waste swept bythe floods piled up on the pavement. Thenon-stop wail of ambulance sirens could beheard, as heavy equipment was used toclear the roads. The government hasannounced a 14-day state of emergency,said Jayapura police chief Victor DeanMackbon.

Video footage showed rescuers adminis-tering oxygen to a victim who appeared to

be trapped beneath a fallen tree. Officersrescued a five-month-old baby who wastrapped for hours under the rubble, Papuamilitary spokesman Muhammad Aidi said.The whereabouts of the parents areunknown. A propel ler plane lay part lycrushed on a runway at the airport of near-by provincial capital Jayapura. “The rainstarted last night and went on until around1:00 am this morning,” said Lilis Puji Hastuti,a 29-year-old mother of two young childrenin Sentani.

“Our house was flooded with thick mud ...we immediately grabbed our valuables andran to a neighbor’s (two-storey) house toseek refuge. “It’s hard to get out of the areabecause many roads are blocked... I’m wor-ried, sad and scared all at once,” she said. In

Sentani, tents have been set up to take inflood victims and treat the wounded. Papuashares a border with independent PapuaNew Guinea on an island just north ofAustralia.

Flooding is common in Indonesia, espe-cially during the rainy season which runsfrom October to April. In January, floodsand landslides killed at least 70 people onSulawesi island, while earlier this monthhundreds in West Java province were forcedto evacuate when torrential rains triggeredsevere flooding. The Southeast Asian archi-pelago of some 17,000 islands is one of themost disaster-prone nations on Earth, strad-dling the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonicplates collide. Earthquakes and volcaniceruptions are common.—AFP

More than70 people

injured

SENTANI: Collapsed houses caused by flash floods are seen in Sentani near the provincial cap-ital of Jayapura, Indonesia’s eastern Papua province yesterday. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: At a mosque on a quietIslamabad street, any reference to theUN-listed terror group which runs ithas been removed as Pakistan - onceagain - comes under pressure todemonstrate its sincerity about elimi-nating militancy. The first wave of mili-tant detentions was announced byIslamabad on March 5, as tensions werestill cooling between India and Pakistanafter their latest confrontation over thedisputed Kashmir region.

New Delhi has long accusedIslamabad of harboring militant groups,which it says are used by Pakistan intel-ligence agencies to attack India. TheFebruary 14 suicide blast in Indian-administered Kashmir - claimed byPakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed - isthe latest example, and the attack whichignited the recent crisis between thenuclear-armed neighbors. Since March5, Pakistani authorities have arrestedhundreds of suspected Islamist militantsand shuttered more than 700 madras-sas, mosques, and clinics linked tobanned groups.

Mosques like the Al-Quba mosquevisited by AFP in Islamabad - which isrun by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), seen bythe UN as a charity front for an anti-India militant group - have had all signsannouncing their links to such organiza-tions removed. Instead, a green signclinging to a post proclaims the newmanagement of the premises by the“Government of Pakistan”. “This gov-ernment will not allow Pakistan’s land tobe used for any kind of outside terror-ism,” vowed Prime Minister Imran Khan

earlier this month. But the crackdown isreminiscent of previous efforts, andPakistan has yet to convince the inter-national community that their latestthrust is sincere. Cracks have alreadybegun to emerge after Pakistan’s long-time ally China this week blocked meas-ures by the UN Security Council toblacklist JeM leader Masood Azhar. Itwas the fourth time China has blockedsuch attempts, reinforcing suspicionsthat it was acting on Pakistan’s behest.If so, observers said, the move under-mined the sincerity of the crackdown.

Had Azhar been blacklisted, Pakistanwould have been morally compelled tohalt his activities, a Western diplomatsaid. “Is Pakistan just trying to foolus?” the diplomat asked. “I would sayyes.” New Delhi also remained skepti-cal. “The widespread presence of ter-rorist camps in Pakistan is publicknowledge within and outsidePakistan,” said Indian foreign ministryspokesman Raveesh Kumar last week.

The crackdown has largely targetedJeM along with JuD, which is linked toLashkar-e-Taiba, the group accused byIndia and Washington of mastermindingthe terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008.Shuttering groups like JuD - which pro-vides widespread and vital services likehealthcare to poor communities in a devel-oping country where government-runsocial services are sorely lacking - risks apotential backlash. “We were ordered toclose the health centres and give ourambulances to the authorities,” AkbarKhan, a JuD official based in the north-western city of Peshawar said.—AFP

Pak crackdown on militantsfails to convince skeptics

KABUL: Sitting in his male beauty shop, 25-year-oldZabihullah longs for peace in Afghanistan-but not one thatwould see religious police beating people in the streets fortheir hairstyles or outfits. He recalled working in a barber-shop as a child under Taleban rule. “I remember theTaleban religious police would every day bring young menfor their hair to be shaven off as a punishment, becausethey dared to style it,” he says, his own hair long and tiedback with a bow.

Today it is a different story, and The Saloon-one ofmany such beauty parlors that have sprung up in urbanAfghanistan since the Taleban were deposed in 2001 -buzzes with trendy customers seeking the latest Westernstyles while loud pop music plays in the background.Afghanistan’s estimated 35 million people are overwhelm-ingly young, with nearly two-thirds of the population underthe age of 25. Millions have grown up in cities swollen byrefugees during the years of fighting.

Zabihullah is part of this urban generation-journalistsand activists, models, hairstylists and social media stars-who have come of age alienated from Taleban rule andideology. But as talks between Washington and theTaleban aimed at ending the long war progress, they facethe prospect of a peace which could hand the militantssome semblance of power in Afghanistan-and they areafraid. “I don’t want a peace where I would lose my free-doms,” Zabihullah says.

Forgiving atrocities Youth activist Mohammad Anil Qasemi was a student at

the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul when theTaleban attacked the campus in 2016. One militant threw ahand grenade in his classroom, killing many of his peers.The blast wave threw him out of the second-floor window.He survived, but with serious head, stomach and legwounds. Now, as he watches the progression of talksbetween Washington and the Taleban in Doha, he fears hisgeneration will not have a say in what comes next. “I amprepared to forgive the Taleban for what they did to meand my classmates... but I can’t bargain on the freedomand achievements of my generation,” he said.

The stance of young urbanites like Qasemi andZabihullah contrasts with some of the older generation,who have simply lived through more years of war-Afghanistan has seen nearly constant conflict since theSoviet invasion of 1979 - and crave any respite. “I am pre-pared to grow back my beard, as the Taleban wants,” says50-year-old Haji Ahmad Shah, a customer in a Kabulshopping mall. “I have lost many friends and family in thiswar, I just want an end to it,” he adds.

Then there is Afghanistan’s rural-urban divide. Someyoung people living in the countryside-where deeply con-servative, patriarchal traditions stand in stark contrast tothe relative cosmopolitanism of places like Kabul-appearmore willing to accept Taleban restrictions to achievepeace. Faridullah, a 23-year-old gardener in ruralKandahar, is relatively liberal, shaving his beard and listen-ing to music. If the Taleban come, he says, he may losethose freedoms-”but it is okay, as I want security. For nowI can’t even go to my gardens, because they have beenheavily mined.”

Resist, forgive andsubmit? Afghans hope for peace

KABUL: Afghan conductor Negina Khpalwak, 22, the firstfemale orchestra conductor in Afghanistan, plays piano at theAfghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul. Afghanistan’spopulation-estimated at 35 million-is overwhelmingly young,with 63.7 percent under the age of 25. — AFP

Adapting for peaceThe Taleban say they have moderated their stance on

some social issues, though those living under their rulehave told AFP otherwise. The group has not spelled outwhat role it wants to play in Afghan governance and civilsociety, other than to say it wants an “Islamic system”.Young women, keenly aware of how their gender was ban-ished behind doors and beneath burkas under Talebanrule, are among the most vocal in warning they will notcompromise their rights. “For the Taleban, seeing a womanpresenter on TV is intolerable, and for me losing my free-dom and rights as a woman is intolerable,” said 21-year-old Diba, a newsreader for Afghanistan’s Zan TV.

“I might have to leave the country or die of depression liv-ing under Taleban rule,” she said. But some urban youth saythey are nonetheless willing to make peace at any price-whilehoping for the best. Farshad, a 23-year-old salesman with atrendy fade haircut who works at a Kabul store sellingWestern suits and fedoras, said he was prepared to turn it intoa shop selling traditional turbans if it meant an end to fighting.“I just hope they don’t touch my haircut,” he says.—AFP


8I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Established 1961

ATHENS: Racist hate crimes come under fresh scruti-ny at an Athens exhibition seeking to map out the“topography of violence” targeting migrants andrefugees. By using QR (quick response) codes-a typeof barcode-which can be opened on a smart phone,the interactive “X them out! A black map of Athens”seeks to take visitors on a trip around the Greek capi-tal to places where violent attacks took place.

The aim is to shed light on the often-unseen crimesof the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, an ultranational-ist party known for its xenophobic violence. Racistviolence hit the global head-lines again on Friday after anAustralian extremist gunneddown 49 people at twomosques in New Zealand,sparking a wave of shockand revulsion.

The Athens exhibitionwas put together by thelocal branch of the RosaLuxembourg Foundation, aGerman organization whichfights fascism and racism,and HumanRights360, aGreek civil society group. “With this campaign, weattempt to establish a topography of racist violence.We seek to make its dark dimensions and its deadlynature more familiar to the general public,” theexhibitors explain, describing it as an antiracist map.“Our aim is to strengthen the collective memory andnever forget these repugnant acts,” explains IlectraAlexandropoulou of the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation.

The map, which is on display at Technopolis, a cul-tural venue near the city centre, includes some 50locations where attacks happened, some of which weredeadly. Most targeted migrants, and were carried outby those affiliated with the Golden Dawn. Walking thestreets in and around Athens, visitors look out for the

brightly-colored sticker bearing a QR code which theythen scan to get a short description of the attack.“Once the code is scanned, the website comes up onthe screen along with an illustrated description,”explains Eleni Takou from HumanRights360.

The project involved working with 25 graphic illus-trators, who contributed artwork depicting the violencemeted out by Golden Dawn activists who could be seenpatrolling the streets of Athens between 2010 and 2014,at the height of the crisis. Dressed in black, their headsshaved and with their trademark swastika armbands,

they would kick and punchand wielded iron bars. Theillustrations were based onphotos that were publishedat the time by many newspa-pers and websites. “Thecampaign.. is designed topinpoint and highlight theunseen criminality related toracist attacks in the publicspace,” explains the exhibi-tion’s website https://val-tousx.gr/en/ .

It was only in 2013 whenan anti-fascist rapper called Pavlos Fyssas wasmurdered by a Golden Dawn activist in Athens thatGreek authorities opened an investigation into theact ions of the violent ly xenophobic and ant i-Semitic group. Fyssas was stabbed outside a cafein the working-class Keratsini district, with hisfather saying he had been ambushed by GoldenDawn members. Witnesses said police stood near-by but did nothing as the group chased Fyssas andhis friends.

Until that point, the police had not cracked downon the faction, despite years of growing concernover its campaign of violence against migrants andpolitical opponents. But the stabbing forced Athens

to open an investigation into the group, with 70 ofits members put on trial on a wide range of charges,including the rapper’s murder. “We have tried tovisualize just a small part of this ‘topography of vio-lence’ that has its origins in Golden Dawn and fas-cism, in order to contribute to acquainting the gen-eral public with their crimes and in punishing theirmurderous activity,” the organizers said.

Founded in the mid-1980s by a Holocaust deniercalled Nikos Michaloliakos, the Golden Dawn party

for years glorified Adolf Hitler and the warrior ethosof Nazi Germany in its publications. Formerly on thefringe of Greek politics, Golden Dawn went from19,000 votes a few years ago to over 426,000 in2012 when it entered parliament for the first timeafter pledging to “scour the country” clean of illegalimmigrants. Today it is the third largest party in theGreek parl iament, with pol ls predicting it wil lsecure nearly eight percent of the vote when thecountry goes to the polls later this year. —AFP

Anti-racist map seeks to expose Athens’ ‘topography of violence’

Racist violence hit the global headlines again

ATHENS: Activist and migrant women take part in Athens during an anti racism and anti-facism demonstration. —AFP

Groups fightracism, fascism,

xenophobic violence

BEIJING: When Chinese legislators recommended theabolition of “education” detention centers where pros-titutes and clients can be held without charge for twoyears, activists hoped the facilities’ days were num-bered. They will have to wait longer. The rubber-stampNational People’s Congress (NPC) passed only onenew law when it ended its annual session on Friday -and it had to do with opening up foreign investment.Under the nearly three-decade-old system, police haveunilateral power to detain sex workers and their clientsfor up to two years in “shelter and education” centers.Critics say the centers have little to do with education.

“There may be resistance inside the regime againstabolition, perhaps by the police, as this would take awaysome of its arbitrary detention powers,” said WangYaqiu, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. In 2013,testimonies of ex-detainees collected by Asia Catalyst -an organization that defends the health of marginalizedgroups in the region-revealed the harsh living condi-tions in the centers. These included ill-treatment, forcedlabor, and the obligation to pay for subsistence andforced medical examinations at prohibitive prices.

“All this is a matter of money, the talk of rehabilita-tion or ideological education is hollow, it is just a way ofextorting money on behalf of the state and the police”,one of the women told the group. Shen Chunyao, chair-man of the NPC Standing Committee’s legislative affairscommission, said in December that “the time has cometo begin the work of abolition”. “In recent years, theuse of the detention and education system has gradual-ly decreased, the number of people in the centers hasclearly diminished and they have been banned in someplaces,” he added.—AFP

China keeps ‘education’ centersfor prostitutes

JERUSALEM: An Israeli was killed yesterday and twoothers wounded in stabbing and shooting attacksbelieved to have been carried out by a Palestinianassailant in the occupied West Bank, the army said. Theattacks come at a sensitive time ahead of Israel’s April 9elections, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuvowed to apprehend the “terrorists” behind it. Hamas,the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, wel-comed the attack, but did not claim responsibility for it.

“One Israeli is dead,” Israeli army spokesmanLieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said of theattacks near the Ariel junction southwest of Nablus,carried out by a “terrorist” who “appears to bePalestinian”. The incident began with the perpetratorattacking a soldier with a knife at the Ariel junction,near an Israeli settlement by the same name, andsnatching his weapon, Conricus said. “That sameassailant fired with that weapon toward three vehicles,”he said, with the third car targeted stopping.

“The terrorist took the vehicle and used it to drive”to the nearby Gitai Avishar junction, where he openedfire and wounded another soldier, Conricus said.

The assailant then continued to the nearbyPalestinian village of Bruqin. “A manhunt is ongoing,”Conricus said. Medics said they evacuated two Israelimen, aged 16 and 20, to hospital with both sufferingbullet wounds and in serious condition. Conricus didnot provide details on the identity of the person killed,nor say if the person had been stabbed or shot. Thearmy also did not say whether the suspected Palestinianassailant was affiliated with a militant group or had act-ed alone.

‘Deal with them’Palestinian gun, knife or car-ramming attacks against

Israeli settlers and soldiers occur sporadically in the

West Bank. Two soldiers were shot dead in a December13 attack in the Ramallah area, and another shootingattack nearby on December 9 resulted in the death of ababy and wounded seven others. Speaking at thebeginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahusaid he was certain Israeli security forces would appre-hend “the terrorists”. “We will deal with them to thefullest extent of the law as we have done in all of therecent incidents,” he said.

Hamas called it a response to Israeli “crimes,”including its actions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosquecompound, the highly sensitive holy site where therehave been scuffles in recent weeks. The compound inIsraeli-annexed east Jerusalem is the third-holiest sitein Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for state-hood. It is also the location of Judaism’s most sacredspot, revered as the site of the two biblical-era Jewishtemples. There have been scuffles in recent weeksbetween Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police overthe use of a side building there known as the GoldenGate. Yesterday, an Israeli court ordered the temporaryclosure of the side building.—AFP

Israeli killed in W Bank attack

BRUQIN: Palestinian women walk past an Israeliarmy soldier and vehicle at a checkpoint outsidethe village of Bruqin near Nablus in the occupiedWest Bank yesterday, following an attack thatkilled an Israeli and wounded two others nearthe Ariel junction southwest of Nablus. —AFP

News in brief

Gunmen storm camp; 8 die

BAMAKO: At least eight people were killed yesterdayin a raid by suspected jihadists on an army camp incentral Mali, military and security sources said, warningthe toll could rise. Driving cars and motorbikes, theattackers stormed Dioura army camp in the Moptiregion at dawn, leaving “many soldiers dead or miss-ing”, a military source said. Separately a Malian securi-ty source spoke of “a heavy toll of at least eight dead”.“There are dead soldiers, others are missing and stillothers are wounded,” he said, but could not confirmreports from local villagers that up to 15 troops haddied. A second military source said the troops had triedto fight off the attackers. —AFP

Mexico journalist shot dead

MEXICO CITY: A Mexican journalist shot dead at hishome has become the third newsman killed so far thisyear in Mexico, authorities said yesterday. The killing ofSantiago Barroso adds to a toll of more than 100 mediaworkers murdered in the country over the last sevenyears, coinciding with a wave of violent crime driven bypowerful drug cartels and fueled by political corruption.“I regret the cowardly attack in which journalistSantiago Barroso was killed,” said Santos Gonzalez,mayor of San Luis Rio Colorado, the town where thejournalist lived, in Sonora state which borders the UnitedStates. The spokesman for the Mexican president’soffice, Jesus Ramirez, voiced “outrage at this attack onfree speech.” Barroso, 47, was shot at home Friday nightand rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead,said Contrasena, the online weekly he worked for.— AFP

Landslide in China kills 10

BEIJING: A landslide in northern China has killed atleast 10 people and left 10 missing, state media report-ed on Sunday, after several buildings were demolishedin the disaster. Seven people were found dead at thescene and another three died in hospital, according toofficial news agency Xinhua. The landslide occurredFriday in northern Shanxi province, Xinhua said. Thelocal government did not immediately respond to AFP’srequest for comment. More than 200 rescuers were atthe scene of the disaster, according to state broadcast-er CCTV, as the search for the missing continued.Footage from CCTV showed debris strewn in heapsalong the mountainside. The landslide took down resi-dential buildings and a public bathhouse.—AFP

Bomb targeting train kills 4

QUETTA: At least four people were killed and seveninjured when a remote-controlled bomb explodedon a railway line in southwest Pakistan as a passen-ger train was passing by, police said. The incidentoccurred in the troubled province of Balochistan, 311kilometers southeast of the provincial capitalQuetta. “The train was going from Quetta toRawalpindi when it came over a remote-controlledbomb and four people were killed while seven oth-ers were injured,” senior police official Irfan Bashirtold AFP. “Three carriages of the train also went offthe track and rescue work is under way,” he said.The incident was confirmed by another senior policeofficial, Rao Munir Zia. —AFP

PARIS: The Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris was a sea ofblack and yellow on Saturday as black-clad anarchistsused a “yellow vest” rally to run amok, looting shops andtorching businesses in scenes reminiscent of the riots thatshook the city late last year. “There are people and thereis action. It reminds me of December!” a young protestershouted triumphantly as flames billowed from a bank andthick black smoke rose from burning barricades erectedalong the famed avenue.

The demonstrator was referring to December 1, whenprotesters went on the rampage in Paris, smearing theArc de Triomphe war memorial in graffiti in a frenzy ofvandalism, looting and arson. The violence promptedPresident Emmanuel Macron’s government to rescindplanned fuel tax hikes and announce billions in measuresto assist the working poor.

But on Saturday, the demonstrators returned in theirthousands to once again transform the Champs Elysees -a symbol of French power and luxury - into a battlefield.Using banners and construction barriers as shields the“black bloc” protesters ripped up paving stones whichthey used to smash shop windows and attack the police.The wooden boards nailed over the windows of storessuch as Boss and Lacoste were ripped off and thrown

onto burning heaps as looters emerged, arms laden withstolen clothes, some of which were used to fuel theflames. Cafe tables and seats also ended up on the fireand the famous Fouquet’s brasserie — favourite locale ofthe rich and famous, including ex-president NicolasSarkozy who controversially used it to celebrate his 2007election - was also sacked in an orgy of anti-capitalistdestruction. “It’s unfortunate but this is the only way wecan make ourselves heard,” a “yellow vest” who travelledfrom the southeastern Bourgogne region for a protestbilled as an “ultimatum” to Macron, said as he looked on.

‘It’s the apocalypse!’ The police, which had erected a ring of steel around

the Arc de Triomphe, battled for over seven hours to dis-perse the protesters, using copious amounts of tear gas,stun grenades and water cannon. But for most of the daythe protesters, who waved French as well as regionalflags and chanted “Macron resign”, held the famousavenue which was shrouded in smoke and teargas.

“It’s the apocalypse!,” one demonstrator shouted withglee. As the day went on, the wave of destruction spread.A bank situated on the ground floor of an apartmentbuilding was set alight. A woman who was evacuatedwith her four children, including a nine-month-old baby,fought back tears as she told AFP of their escape downthe stairs from their third-floor apartment.

“We first smelled the tear gas fumes and then saw thefire from the window,” she said. “They could have killedsomeone,” her partner Reda added. A Longchamp luxuryhandbag store was also set alight, along with a restaurantspecializing in mussels and the terrasse of a large cafeand several of Paris’s iconic green-domed news kiosks.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner blamed the vio-lence on “over 1,500 ultra-violent people who came tosmash things up, do battle and attack.”

As the evening drew in and the rioters were pushedoff the Champs-Elysees into smaller adjacent streets, thewalls bore their imprint. One slogan mocked the two-month-long “grand national debate” launched byMacron in mid-January to give voters a forum to air theirgrievances. “End of the debate, start of the big clearout,”it read. The smashed window of a store was scrawledwith the words “Open day”. By the early evening 151people had been arrested, of whom 46 were placed incustody.— AFP

‘It’s the apocalypse’: Paris rioters run amokat yellow vest rallies

PARIS: A Yellow Vest protester throws a flag ofEurope towards a barricade burning in front of ashop on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris,during clashes between riot police forces andYellow Vest protesters. — AFP

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Monday, March 18, 2019

9

New Zealand’sMuslims struggle with shock, fearCHRISTCHURCH: A few months ago,Christchurch’s Linwood Mosque proudly laiddown new carpets in its halls. On Friday, the lightbrown carpets were stained red after an gunmanstormed the building, spraying bullets at wor-shippers. “There was blood everywhere.Everything was out of control,” IbrahimAbdelHalim, imam of Linwood Mosque, told AFP.Like the wider Muslim community inChristchurch, Egypt-born AbdelHalim is strug-gling to come to terms with the violencewrought upon worshippers this week as he waitsto bury the dead.

Working together with the local Islamic com-munity, AbdelHalim had sought to refresh themosque after a trust bought it over in early 2018.Some of the seven worshippers who died atLinwood were among the most enthusiastic con-tributors, donating their personal time to help infundraising efforts. One woman, a local Kiwi, felldown beside his wife when she was shot dead,AbdelHalim said. His wife, Falwa El-Shazly, wasshot in the arm but survived the attack.

Another man, a Fijian-Indian New Zealanderwho would regularly bring boxes of food from hisrestaurant during mosque donation drives, wasalso killed. “They are dear to me, these are peo-ple who offer to us work for free,” AbdelHalimsaid. “It was a very bad day, not just all of us, allof New Zealand.” At Hedley College, the mainmeeting centre for the survivors and victims’families, local Muslims from various ethnic andcultural backgrounds shared wordless hugs andfought back tears as they exchanged news abouttheir loved ones.

With Muslims making up just one percent ofNew Zealand’s population, some members of the

close-knit community raced to the mosqueswhen they heard about the shootings. “I did notgo to the prayer yesterday due to work... butreceived a call from my friends and rushed to thespot,” Mohammad Kamruzzaman, originally fromBangladesh, told AFP. “Five of (our Bangladeshifriends) are still missing, only Allah knows wherethey are. We have lost... a guardian lady for ourcommunity, who taught children the Quran forfree. It feels like we have lost a parent.”

‘We are not immune’ Fiji-born Azan Ali, 43, who was in the

Linwood Mosque with his Auckland-basedfather when the attack occurred, trembledwhen he thought back to crack of the gunshots on Friday. “Will I see my parents, mykids, my loved ones again or not? All the peo-ple you pray with, you see beside you...” headded, his voice trailing off. “My kids arescared, you know. You just have to workthrough it as a community.”

His father, Sheik Aeshad, who saw a worship-per shot in the neck, said he could not under-stand how such violence could take part in NewZealand, a small nation better known for itsrolling, green hills and snow-capped mountains.“We never thought in New Zealand, this couldhappen. New Zealand’s so friendly a place, youcan leave your door open and go. But not now,”he added. “I’m thinking what’s going to happenthe next time... it could be more people target-ing somewhere else.”

It was a sentiment shared by Sahra Ahmed,a New Zealander of Somali origin and a nurseactive in her local community. Sahra said theattacks showed the South Pacific island nationcould not escape the global wave of right-wing extremism. “This is a global movement,for better or worst, it’s happened in all parts ofthe world. And some people like to importideas from everyone else. So we’re not immunefrom what’s happening,” she told AFP. “Itdoesn’t matter where you go, the world is verysmall.” —AFP

NEW DELHI: Five Indian nationals were among the 50worshippers killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks, withat least two others reported to be injured, officials said yes-terday. India’s embassy in New Zealand confirmed thedeaths in a tweet, following the devastating shootings attwin mosques in the normally peaceful city. Three of thedead from the mass shooting at Al Noor mosque were fromGujarat state. They were father and son victims Asif andRamiz Vora, and 65-year-old retiree Mahboob Khokhar,who was visiting his son in Christchurch.

Ansi Karippakulam Alibava - a 23-year-old from Kerala,who had lived with her husband in Christchurch since lastyear as she studied for a masters - was also confirmeddead. The fifth victim, Ozair Kadir, was an aspiring commer-cial pilot from Hyderabad city. An Indian foreign ministryofficial in New Delhi told AFP that they are “in process ofascertaining information about all Indians affected by theterror attack”. The official denied Indian media reports thatclaimed seven people were killed in the attack.

Desperate families in India have been trying to confirmthe safety of their relatives after 28-year-old Australianwhite supremacist Brenton Tarrant allegedly launched hismurderous rampage. Mohsin Vora, the brother of Asif, toldAFP that they were initially told his brother and nephewwere injured in the attack, before a family member identifiedtheir bodies when they flew to New Zealand. Vora said his56-year-old brother had gone to meet his new grandchild amonth ago. “I and (the) parents of Ramiz’s wife have beengranted visas. We will be leaving for New Zealand soon,”Vora said.

Death toll mounts The death toll in the attack on two mosques in the city of

Christchurch rose to 50 after investigators found anothervictim as they removed bodies from the crime scenes, thecountry’s police commissioner said yesterday. The bodies ofthe victims in the attack by a suspected white supremacistin Friday’s attacks had not yet been released to familiesbecause investigations were ongoing, but police wereworking as quickly as they could to do that, PoliceCommissioner Mike Bush said at a media conference inWellington.

Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, a suspectedwhite supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday.Tarrant, handcuffed and wearing a white prison suit, stoodsilently in the Christchurch District Court where he wasremanded without a plea. He is due back in court on April 5and police said he was likely to face further charges.Friday’s attack, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardernlabeled as terrorism, was the worst ever peacetime masskilling in New Zealand and the country had raised its secu-rity threat level to the highest.

“It is with sadness that I advise that number of peoplewho died in this event has now risen to 50,” Bush said. “Asof last night we were able to take all of the victims fromboth of those scenes. In doing so we were able to locate afurther victim.” The body of the 50th victim was found atthe Al Noor mosque, where more than 40 people died onFriday after a gunman entered and shot randomly at peoplewith a semi-automatic rifle with high-capacity magazines,before travelling to a second mosque. —Agencies

Death toll in NZ mosque shootings rises to 50

India confirms five nationals killed in Christchurch attacks

CHRISTCHURCH: People gather - hoping to find out information about Zakaria Bhuiyan who is stillmissing after the mosques shootings in Christchurch, days after a shooting incident at two mosquesin the city. —AFP

Mosque massacres reviveold wounds in the BalkansBELGRADE: As the gunman drove to thetwo New Zealand mosques where he car-ried out his mass killings, a Serb nationalistsong was heard playing in the backgroundof the haunting video he broadcast live onFacebook. The mass shooter’s weapons alsobore the names of several historical Serbnationalist figures, revealing an unexpectedinterest in Balkan conflicts that stirred badblood in a region fractured by war. Hoursafter 50 people were gunned down in twomosques by the Australian right-wingextremist in Christchurch, Bosnia’s ambassa-dor went on local television to express con-cern about the song heard in the suspectedkiller’s video that went on to show him mur-der victim after victim.

It was a “Serbian nationalist song inwhich the name of Radovan Karadzic ismentioned and called on to lead Serbs”, hesaid, referring the convicted war criminalwho led Bosnia’s Serbs during the 1992-95war. Karadzic will go before a UN court thisweek to hear the final verdict on his 40-yearsentence for the genocide of Muslims inSrebrenica and other atrocities during theinter-ethnic conflict in Bosnia that left100,000 dead.

According to the Bosnian diplomat, thesong’s lyrics also say “Turks must be killed”,a term hardline Serb nationalists still rou-tinely use to refer to Bosnian Muslims.

Though linked the 1990s war, the songplayed by the 28-year-old suspect BrentonTarrant appears to have more recently beenrevived as an internet meme in the extreme-right circles he circulated in online. ButTarrant also connected his savage act to fig-ures deep into Balkan history, alongside aroster of other right-wing extremists fromacross the globe he paid homage to in hishate-filled manifesto.

Ottoman obsession Among the historical military figures

whose names were scrawled on Tarrant’sweapons were several Serb nationalisticons. They were men who fought infamous battles against the OttomanEmpire’s armies, such as Milos Obilic, aknight in Serb folklore, and Stefan Lazar, a14th-century Serbian prince. The names oftwo other 19th century Balkan militaryleaders against the Ottomans, includingMontenegrin general Marko Miljenov, werealso written on the guns.

During the Ottoman empire the Balkanswas a site of frequent contact and conflictbetween the Muslim and Christian worlds.That history remains a key reference pointfor Serb ultra-nationalists today. Accordingto local authorities, Tarrant travelled to theregion himself in 2016 and early 2017, pass-ing through Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia andCroatia, and then Bulgaria in November2018. He also visited Turkey.

‘Inspired by Serb nationalism’ In Sarajevo, the Islamic Community of

Bosnia said it was alarmed that the “assassinstarted his bloody escapade to the sound ofa song glorifying war crimes in Bosnia”. He“was clearly inspired by this same extremistideology and hatred” of the 1990s, the

group added. The shooter’s Balkan refer-ences also aroused bad memories inKosovo, a mostly Muslim and ethnic-Albanian former Serbian province thatbroke away in a 1998-99 guerilla war. Some13,000, mostly Albanians, were killed in theconflict. Writing on Twitter, Kosovo’s formerforeign minister Petrit Selimi said theAustralian gunman was “inspired by a par-ticular brand of white supremacist national-ism rooted in #Serbia”. He added: “Warsand genocide perpetrated by Serbian ideo-logues, in Kosovo and Bosnia, seem to havebecome a point of inspiration for far rightacross the globe.”

‘Anti-Serb hysteria’Officials in Serbia and Bosnia, whose

Serb community is semi-autonomous, havebeen quick to denounce the finger-pointing.Bosnia’s ethnic Serb Foreign Minister IgorCrnadak condemned the “anti-Serb hyste-ria” he felt seized the region after theChristchurch massacres. “It is dangerousand irresponsible to establish a link betweenthe crazy actions of a disturbed and sickperson and an entire people,” he said in astatement.

The country’s Serb co-president MiloradDodik, who shares the post with a Croat andMuslim counterparts, also criticized the “vilecampaign” against his community.Meanwhile in Belgrade, foreign ministerIvica Dacic insisted “Serbia had nothing todo with” the massacre. And the ultra-nationalist Serbian politician Vojislav Seselj,who was convicted of crimes againsthumanity but still serves in parliament,appeared to see himself as the victim of thestory. “The demonization of the Serbs willcontinue until our country has surrendered,”he told the local channel Happy TV.—AFP


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Duque bid to change peace deal rattles sabers, war unlikely

President Ivan Duque’s call for changes to key peace legis-lation has prompted former rebels to warn he has putColombia on the path to war, but with his government on

a weak footing in Congress, major revisions that could reigniteconflict seem unlikely. Duque last week objected to six out of159 articles in the law implementing a 2016 peace deal with theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillasand said he will return it to congress.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) law - which estab-lished a tribunal to investigate war crimes during Colombia’sfive-decade conflict - has been criticized by Duque for beingtoo lenient on FARC commanders accused of atrocities. Duque,whose 2018 presidential campaign focused on changing thepeace deal, said the law was not clear enough that the FARCmust fully repay its victims. He also criticized the terms ofextradition and rules over sentencing for war crimes.

While Duque’s Democratic Center Party is celebrating, oth-ers say he is damaging the peace process and deliberatelyblunting prosecutions that could reveal murky ties betweenconservative politicians, the military and right-wing paramili-tary groups. Duque’s powerful mentor, hard-line formerPresident Alvaro Uribe, has repeatedly been named by opposi-tion lawmakers as allegedly having ties to far-right paramilitarygroups. Uribe denies the allegations.

While Duque’s proposed changes did not explicitly attemptto stifle the JEP tribunal, critics say they could limit its ability toinvestigate, prosecute and convict. At the very least, they cre-ate uncertainty about the JEP’s jurisdiction and could slowdown investigations for as long as Congress deliberates. “It wasa very long, bloody, barbaric war,” said lower house oppositiondeputy Ivan Marulanda, adding that he had “no doubt”Duque’s move was aimed at avoiding finger pointing for statecrimes. “State crimes were committed. They’re proven.”

There have been more than 2,000 cases of so-called falsepositives reported - where the military allegedly killed innocentcivilians and passed them off as FARC killed in combat. TheJEP tribunal is investigating some of those cases and some mili-tary officials have already been convicted and jailed under theordinary justice system.

Duque’s move will probably spook the roughly 7,000 demo-bilized rebels and prompt some to join dissident FARC fighters -who refused to adhere to the peace accords - as implementationof the agreement may get slowed by efforts to toughen tribunalrules. Indeed, more than two years after the accord was signed,few government reintegration projects to help demobilized fight-ers are running. Of the roughly 22 government-approved proj-ects, only a handful have received money.

“Duque has sent a lousy message to demobilized guerril-las,” said leftist Senator Aida Avella of the Patriotic Union party.“Duque’s government is an enemy of the peace process and isworking to return us to war.” Duque has said he does not wantto return to conflict and his objections aim to improve theaccords and create a “peace that unites us”. Despite toughwords on both sides, Duque’s weak position in Congress -where he has a slender majority in the Senate and less than halfthe seats in the lower house - means he is unlikely to win sub-stantive changes.

“It’s smoke and mirrors because it’s unlikely to beapproved,” said analyst Sergio Guzman, director of ColombiaRisk Analysis, a Bogota-based political risk consultancy. “Itlooks like he’s done this to shore up his base and show that heis not Santos,” he said, referring to former President JuanManuel Santos, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize forclinching the peace deal. Perhaps the biggest impact may be onstalled peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army(ELN) which Duque canceled in January. Guzman noted theprospect of a deal with the group - which carried out a bombattack in Bogota in January that killed 22 police cadets -appeared further away than ever now.

FARC looking for solutionsWhile FARC commanders say he has put peace at risk, they

are not ready to leave the process that ended their part in afive-decade conflict that killed 260,000 people and displacedseven million. “We consider that what has been done is anincitement to war,” said FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, betterknown by his alias Timochenko. “But we’re here looking forsolutions.” Duque’s announcement has also been criticized bySantos’s negotiators and the procurator general. The UnitedNations has called for the JEP, passed in 2017, to be respectedand even strengthened.

While opposition lawmakers have called for a protest marchtoday, others say the FARC has little to fear. “Those who arecomplying with the corresponding regulations on the abandon-ment of arms, the abandonment of crime, and the respect for lawhave absolutely nothing to fear,” said ruling coalition SenatorJhon Milton Rodriguez. Established in 1964 and funded by kid-napping, extortion and cocaine trafficking, the FARC grew to afighting force of 20,000 by 1999 when it reached the mountainsabove the capital, Bogota, and threatened to seize power. But aUS-backed offensive led by Uribe helped bring the rebels to thenegotiating table. Under the peace deal, the group formed apolitical party, kept its famous acronym as the RevolutionaryAlternative Common Force, and was awarded 10 seats in con-gress. The accord allows former rebels who come forward tothe JEP tribunal to receive reduced sentences and avoid prison,but they must confess to any crimes and repay victims.

Duque’s right-wing coalition says former members of therebel group continue to commit crimes, and are incensed thatthey will have seats in congress. They demand jail terms forFARC commanders. “This opens the door ... to put us all in jail,”said Reinaldo Cala, a FARC lower house deputy. “The goal ofthese reforms is to extradite us to the United States.” TheUnited States has sought the extradition of some FARC mem-bers for drug smuggling. —Reuters

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This picture taken on Jan 8, 2019 shows Indonesian officials raiding a bookstore and seizing what they say were communism-related books in Padang, West Sumatra province. —AFP

Vote banks and cash top-ups: Political loyalty up for grabs

In his final days as a “Red Shirt” rabble-rouser Suporn “Rambo Isaan” Attawongurged farmers to take up martial arts in

defense of Thai democracy as a couploomed. Now he is contesting national elec-tions for a party aligned to the junta whichseized power weeks later - a political volte-face in a nation where pragmatism oftentrumps ideology and cash coaxes voter loy-alty. “Politics is a competition,” he says of hispolitical reversal. “We used to be part of pre-vious government and now we are on theother side.” Turbulent Thailand is often cast asa country neatly split between political campsrepresenting the pro-democracy movementand the army-aligned establishment. But aftertwo coups in 13 years - featuring rounds of par-alyzing protests and the demolition of severalparties by the courts - the political landscape ismore roughly hewn. It is tacked together byinfluential local politicians with large vote banksand a knack for backing the winning side.

Suporn was dubbed “Rambo Isaan” bythe media for his tough guy persona and her-itage in Isaan - the poor, rice farming north-east which carries the most votes in parlia-ment. But his fortunes were imperilled by thecoup that took out the civilian government ofYingluck Shinawatra. At the time a lawmakerfor her Pheu Thai ruling party, Suporn wasdetained by the military. He emerged contrite,renouncing his previous affiliations onnational television.

His about-turn will be complete if he winshis district seat in Nakon Ratchasimaprovince on March 24 for the junta-alignedPhalang Pracharat party. Rambo says hispolitical resurrection came after he acceptedhe was “part of the conflict” tearing apart thecountry. His new side “will bring reconcilia-tion”, he added. Early voting began yester-day, with more than 2.5 million reportedly setto cast their ballots.

Playing politics Phalang Pracharat has poached more than

40 other veteran MPs from Pheu Thai in thehope of lassoing in northeastern voters whomostly back Shinawatra-aligned parties.Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha is the party’scandidate for prime minister after the elec-tion, which experts say will at best return astraitjacketed democracy with the militarystill prominent. Thai power is sharply hierar-chical, with patronage networks fanning outfrom Bangkok, through provincial govern-ment and down to village headmen.

The Shinawatra political clan perfectedthe art of pulling in provincial votes.Universal healthcare, farm subsidies and vil-lage funds boosted incomes and aspirationsin long-neglected rural areas of the country,bolstering the popularity of local politicians.Many of the MPs to recently jump ship fromPheu Thai grew powerful under theShinawatras but flipped as the politicaltealeaves augured a long stay in power forthe generals and their allies.

The defectors are “vote magnets in theirconstituencies, because they are the localproviders”, according to ThitinanPongsudhirak, a politics professor atChulalongkorn University. This entrenchedsystem of patronage disadvantages new-comers who choose to “play politics” - asThais describe the dash for office. The task ofconvincing grassroots voters to swap sidesfalls to trusted canvassers who often situnder politicians’ wings.

The Election Commission punishes vote-buying and cash inducements during cam-paign season with up to 10 years in prison,but the system is deeply embedded in localpolitics. “Canvassers are like salesmenapproaching clients,” an experienced practi-tioner of the dark political arts in the north-east told AFP. “No matter how loyal votersare, money can change it,” he added.

The “vast majority” of the country isalready under the control of these can-vassers, analyst Thitinan added, citingBangkok as the exception. “The more up-country and the poorer the area is, the moreit is exposed to vote-buying,” he said.Historically payments can reach up to 1,000baht ($31) for a pledged vote, a large sum inareas where the monthly wage can dip wellbelow $100.

‘Dogs howl’ Thais have not voted in a general election

since 2011. Some fear beefed up laws willthreaten the time-honored election ritual ofpaying voters top-up sums (up to 500 baht)the night before polls open. Dubbed “the nightthe dogs howl” - canvassers normally go door-to-door across remote villages trying to outbidrivals. This year they expect greater monitoringand possible election bans. So “the paymentswill be made a few days before”, one told AFP.

Voters are also wise to the changinggame. “Where candidates are neck-and-neck, parties will employ every tactic,” saidLaddawan Tantivitayapitak of poll monitor-ing group Open Forum for DemocracyFoundation. “But the people know theirpoliticians, they have learned their lesson.”One voter in Nakhon Ratchasima told AFPhe “earned” around 2,000 baht ($62) fromseveral different parties right before the 2011election. But his political loyalty cannot berented, the 33-year-old insisted, requestinganonymity. “We will take the money but willvote for whoever improves the economic sit-uation of our area,” he said. —AFP

Biden, tease of 2020 campaign

What a tease. Veteran DemocratJoe Biden campaigned for presi-dent in all but name Saturday,

declining to announce his 2020 plans butdropping hints, including a significant gaffethat suggests he will soon be all in. As thenumber of White House hopefuls keepsgrowing - at least 14 Democrats are official-ly in the race - Biden is now the last majorpolitician who is contemplating jumping in.

But the former vice president has main-tained the suspense. He received a hero’swelcome in his home state of Delaware,where he told nearly 1,000 party brokersand leaders at a Democratic dinner that itwas time to restore America’s “backbone,”but also that political “consensus” was nec-essary to move beyond the toxic tone of theTrump era. “Our politics has become somean, so petty, so vicious, that we can’tgovern ourselves - in many cases, even talkto one another,” he said.

Then, a startling slip by the notoriouslygaffe-prone Biden - perhaps an accident,perhaps a perfectly placed tease as he inch-es towards a presidential campaign. “I’mtold I get criticized by the new left. I havethe most progressive record of anybodyrunning for the United” - and then he catch-es himself. “Anybody who WOULD run.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd,and within moments his diehardsupporters rose to their feet,chanting “Run Joe run.” “Ididn’t mean it!” he chuck-led, looking down beforecrossing himself as theapplause lingered. “Ofanybody who would run,”he repeated. “Becausefolks, we have to bringthis country back togeth-er again.”

Biden, 76, sounded asif he was rehearsing acampaign speech, repeat-ing lines about the prom-ise of the 21st century andAmerican resolve that hehad used earlier in theweek at a Washingtonspeech to firefighters.“There’s so much at stake,” hesaid about the next election, call-ing it the most important in a century.“Our core values are being shredded.”

The Democratic senior statesmanhas been mulling a challenge againstTrump for months. While he topsnearly all early polls for the

Democratic nominations race, he is underpressure to enter the field soon, or bow out.One of his potential rivals, the former Texascongressman Beto O’Rourke, launched hispresidential bid Thursday and spent threestraight days campaigning in the early vot-ing state of Iowa, sucking up much of thepolitical oxygen.

Biden, a consensus-building pragmatistand Washington establishment fixture, isalmost certain to kick off his campaign bymid-April, sources recently told The NewYork Times. “Folks, as I said, we’re literally inthe battle for the soul of America, and anoverwhelming need to restore the backboneof America: The working class, the middleclass,” he said in the unmistakable rhetoricof a candidate.

Biden mulled a presidential bid aftereight years as Barack Obama’s deputy, buthe declined after his son Beau died of can-cer in early 2015. For many, it was a relief tohear their state’s favorite son sounding like acandidate once again. “He doesn’t just looklike he’s back, he looks like he’s ready for afight,” Delaware Governor John Carney said,firing up the crowd. “In my humble opinion,we have never needed Joe Biden more thanwe need him right now.”

Other Democrats in the audience agreed.“Let me tell you something, it’s Joe time,”Stefanie Thompson, a vice president at afinancial services company, told AFP as sherattled off several Biden attributes she seesas crucial for the next president. “Civility,experience, professionalism, and grace -qualities that only Joe has out of this very

crowded field.” But not every-one agreed that Biden

ought to remain eloquentand above the frayshould he take onTrump. “I think we triedeloquent before. Maybewe need to fight harderthis time,” said JeffreySytsma-Sherman, aDelaware Health andSocial Servicesemployee.

Biden was readywith lines of attack,

assailing Trump for“tearing down the

guardrails of our democracy”by weakening hallowed institu-

tions like the independent judi-ciary. He also slammed the dis-solution of the “basic bargain”of corporations shared theirfinancial successes with theiremployees. Biden wouldn’telaborate, but dropped a final

tantalizing hint: “You’re goingto be hearing a hell of a lot more

about it from me.” —AFP

Indonesia ‘Red scare’ revived ahead of pollsBookseller Yanto Tjahaja was tending to his shop when sol-

diers burst through the door and confiscated a dozen titlesover claims they violated one of Indonesia’s most sensitive

taboos: Communism. Upwards of half a million leftists were mas-sacred across the Southeast Asian nation in the mid-1960s, abloody spectacle that ushered in the long rule of dictatorSuharto, whose fervent anti-communist stance remains decadeson. The killings led to the collapse of the now-banned IndonesianCommunist Party (PKI), once among the biggest in the worldbehind China and the Soviet Union.

Jakarta’s narrative was that any violence was necessary to ridthe Muslim-majority country of a godless ideology. AndIndonesians are still warned from an early age about the dangersof a communist revival in the nation of 260 million, now the world’sthird-biggest democracy. The January raid on Tjahaja’s shop - partof a government-ordered sweep - has been slammed by somecritics as a cynical ploy to win over voters ahead of April’s nationalelections, as it resurrects one of the darkest chapters in Indonesianhistory. “They said the confiscated books were about the PKI. Butwe didn’t know. We just sold them,” Tjahaja told AFP at his shop inPadang city on Sumatra island. “My wife and I are still traumatised.We were treated like criminals,” he added.

‘Election linked’ The images of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara or

communist symbols like the hammer and sickle may adornbooks, t-shirts and posters elsewhere in the world, but such dis-plays can see Indonesians jailed under laws banning communistideology and political representation. Dozens of bookstoresnationwide have been targeted recently with troops taking awaytitles such as “Chronicle 65” and “Children of the Revolution”,which document the violent crackdown.

Rights groups have called on President Joko Widodo, whois running for re-election, to end the raids. “These recent raidswere only done to give the impression that the government isnot ignoring fears that communism is coming back,” said AsviWarwan Adam, a political history professor at The IndonesianInstitute of Sciences. “It’s obviously linked to the elections,”he explained.

There is little evidence that communism - or the defunct PKI- is mounting a comeback. But fears about a PKI resurrectionrun deep in Indonesia. In the runup to elections, AFP foundnumerous false claims online aimed at discrediting Widodo andhis challenger Prabowo Subianto - a former general who marriedone of Suharto’s daughters - by suggesting that they themselvesare communist sympathizers. Ronny Augustinus, head of onlinebookstore Marjin Kiri, said Widodo’s administration is tapping awell-worn, election-time bogeyman because it’s “only concernedabout maintaining power”. The Attorney General’s office did notrespond to requests for comment on the raids.

‘Communist Treachery’ The PKI, which once had millions of members, was prominent

in Indonesia after it won independence from Dutch colonists inthe 1940s. Its power grew as a faltering economy left millionsimpoverished, but the party was blamed for a failed 1965 coupattempt that left top military personnel dead. In response, theSuharto-led military and army-backed paramilitaries massacredPKI members, sympathizers and their families. The bloodshedopened the door for then-general Suharto to seize power fromleft-leaning president and independence hero Sukarno.

In 2017, declassified US diplomatic documents revealed thata communist-fearing White House was well aware of the bloodypurges, which one diplomat described as a “widespread slaugh-ter”. The Act of Killing, an Oscar-nominated 2012 documentary,highlighted the brutality through the eyes of unpunished perpe-trators as they brazenly re-enacted decades-old murders of left-ists. “My friends and I were labelled daughters of the PKI and itwent on for years,” Uchikowati Fauzia, the daughter of a once-imprisoned communist, told AFP. “Even now the stigma has notgone away,” she added. But there is little sympathy at theSuharto-built Museum of the Treachery of the Communist Party,a staple for class trips and domestic tourists. The site in a Jakartasuburb features dozens of graphic dioramas that chronicle grue-some torture and violence carried out by communists, whiledeifying the dead generals. —AFP

Germany’s two top banks launch merger talks BERLIN: Germany’s two biggest lenders,the ailing Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank,said yesterday they would launch formaltalks toward a possible merger that couldcreate a “national champion” in financialservices. Chancellor Angel Merkel’s govern-ment has been urging the two Frankfurt firmsto explore a cross-town tie-up to avoideither one being swallowed up by a foreigncompetitor and to create a muscular playerthat can finance Germany’s export-drivencompanies.

The lenders, both grappling with painfulrestructurings after years of falling profits,have long been the subject of mergerrumors. Deutsche Bank said yesterday it was“reviewing strategic options and confirmsdiscussions with Commerzbank”, adding that“there is no certainty that any transactionwill occur”. Commerzbank said both bankshad “agreed today to start discussions withan open outcome on a potential merger”.

If they did tie the knot, they would create

a European banking behemoth with some 1.8trillion euros ($2 trillion) in assets, close toFrance’s largest bank BNP Paribas.

Deutsche Bank’s market capitalization is16.1 billion euros while Commerzbank’s is 8.9billion euros.

Deutsche Bank’s CEO Christian Sewingsaid in a letter to staff that “we have toassess opportunities as they arise” and that“consolidation in the German and Europeanbanking sector is an important topic for us”.“Our stated aim remains to be a global bankwith a strong capital markets business-based on a leading position in our homemarket in Germany and in Europe, and witha global network.”

‘Two guys on crutches’ A week ago Finance Minister Olaf Scholz

sent up shares in both banks by confirmingthat “there are talks about the situation as itis” between the lenders, with the govern-ment a “fair companion” to the discussions.Yesterday, his ministry said only that it had“taken note” of the start of formal talks andremained “in regular contact with all sides”.

Critics of a potential deal have pointed toboth Deutsche and Commerzbank’s weak-ened state in the wake of the financial crisis,saying combining two ailing firms would notproduce a healthy one.

“Putting two guys on crutches together

doesn’t make a sprinter,” Markus Kienle ofSdK, an association representing small retailshareholders, quipped earlier this year.Commerzbank is still part-owned by theGerman state, after Berlin had to step in fol-lowing its 2009 acquisition of troubledDresdner Bank, and is part-way through atough restructuring.

Deutsche is also reorganizing, and onlyreturned to the black last year after manyyears spent fighting the financial and legalfallout of its breakneck pre-crisis expansion.

Mass job cuts feared Any potential tie-up would have to over-

come a slew of hurdles-from the headacheof marrying the IT systems to dealing withcultural differences between the lenders, andthe potential market challenges of recapital-izing a giant with feet of clay. Two Germanunions last Wednesday firmly rejected theidea of a merger between the top lenders.

Service workers’ union Verdi charged themerger would make the combined banks“more attractive for a ‘hostile’ takeover, forexample from France”.

It warned that “at least 10,000 furtherjobs would be in grave danger” on top ofthousands already slated to go amid the far-reaching restructuring projects.

Nonetheless, marrying off Germany’s twobiggest private banks would fit with Berlin’s

new-found fervour to build up such titans.Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has joinedhis French counterpart Bruno Le Maire incalling on the EU to relax merger rules andallow the creation of world-spanning busi-nesses, after Brussels rejected a tie-upbetween Siemens’ rail division and Frenchtrain-maker Alstom.

European banking supervisors have long

urged mergers between lenders to create amore resilient financial sector-but prefercross-border marriages to avoid bundlingtogether national problems. A Frankfurtbanking source with close ties to the publicsector has told AFP that Berlin clearly want-ed to avoid the banks, whose low valuationshave made them takeover targets, “fallinginto the hands of a foreign player”. — AFP

Brexit date extended amid solid economic data in UK

KAICO opens first of its kind Mazda Boutique showroom in Avenues

Huawei Mate X’s unprecedented features open up infinite possibilities 1412 13

BusinessEstablished 1961


KUWAIT: National Mobile TelecommunicationsCompany K.S.C.P “Ooredoo” presented its achieve-ments and financial results for 2018 during its annualgeneral meeting, which was held at the company’sheadquarters in Kuwait City last Thursday. Themeeting was attended by the company’s Chairman,Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al-Thani, General Managerand CEO, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al-Thaniand board members Abdullah Ahmed Al-Zaman,Yousuf Al-Sumait, Bader Al-Humaidi, Fahad Al-Saeed, Fatima Al-Kuwari, and Sheikh Falih Ali Al-Thani. The Annual General Assembly saw an atten-dance of 92.803 percent of the shareholders. TheChairman of the Board of Directors declared that theBoard agreed to distribute cash dividends to theCompany Shareholders valued at 50 percent of thenominal value of share, which is equivalent to 50 filsper share.

Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani commented thatOoredoo’s customer base in Kuwait increased to 2.3million in 2018, up by 4 percent compared to 2017.

Revenues for 2018 were KD 240.9 mi l l ion, anincrease of 8 percent compared to KD 222.7 millionin 2017. Higher handset sales led to an increase inrevenue, while at the same time negatively impactingmargins. EBITDA was KD 55.0 million for 2018,compared to KD 54.3 million for the previous year.

The B2B in Kuwait was enhanced by a partnershipwith SAP to provide best in class enterprise cloudservices and by leveraging Ooredoo’s state-of-the-art data centers to provide end-to-end IT solutionsto strategic enterprise clients.

Ooredoo’s Operations in 2018Ooredoo - Tunisia

Ooredoo’s customer base in Tunisia increased 8percent to reach 9.1 million customers in 2018, com-pared to the previous year. Growth was supportedby digital offerings such as Tedallel,’ an in-app multi-platform offering providing users with the flexibilityto choose between voice, data or value-added serv-ices such as music, video and gaming.

The Tunisian dinar depreciated by 9.8 percentyear on year, leading to a decrease in revenues fromKD 127.5 million in 2017 to KD 126.6 million in 2018.In local currency terms, revenues were up by 9.0percent. EBITDA was KD 49.3 million in 2018 com-pared to KD 50.5 million in 2017.

Ooredoo - AlgeriaOoredoo Algeria added 1400 4G sites to its LTE

network creating the first 4G network to serve 48wilayas covering 48 percent of the country’s popula-tion. Data traffic increased 117 percent in 2018 com-pared to the previous year.

Business in Algeria was negatively impacted by thedevaluation of the Algerian dinar, intense price com-pletion and a weak economic environment. Customerbase declined by 3 percent to 13.9 million in 2018,compared to 2017. Revenues also decreased to KD228.9 million in 2018, compared to KD 285.1 million inthe previous year. EBITDA was KD 85.3 million in2018, down from KD 125.5 million in 2017. Algerian

dinar depreciated by 5.5 percent year on year.

Ooredoo - PalestineOoredoo Palestine made good progress in 2018,

with the launch of the 3G network in the West Bank inJanuary 2018 Customer numbers increased by 27percent to 1.3 million, benefiting from the Gaza launchin October 2017. Revenue increased to KD 30.3 mil-lion, up by 17 percent compared to KD 26.0 million in2017. EBITDA was strong, increasing to KD 8.0 mil-lion in 2018 compared to KD 5.7 million in 2017.

Ooredoo - MaldivesOoredoo Maldives reported a 5 percent increase

in revenues to KD 38.2 million in 2018, compared toKD 36.3 million in 2017. EBITDA was stable at KD19.7 million in 2018. Ooredoo Maldives now serves atotal of 440k customers. Ooredoo Maldives enteredthe content space with the launch of Amazon PrimeVideo and OpenMiTV, an application allowing tele-vision to be viewed anywhere.

We achieved great success in digital transformation strategy across Ooredoo Group: Al-Thani

Ooredoo’s revenues soared to KD 240.9m in 2018

KUWAIT: Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al-Thani, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al-Thani and board members Abdullah Ahmed Al-Zaman, Yousuf Al-Sumait, Bader Al-Humaidi, Fahad Al-Saeed and Fatima Al-Kuwari during the annual generalassembly in Kuwait City.

This combination of file pictures taken in Frankfurt am Main shows (left) the logos ofGerman bank Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank. — AFP


12B u s i n e s s

Established 1961

EXCHANGE RATES

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 304.400Euro 348.230Sterling Pound 407.900Canadian dollar 230.080Turkish lira 56.790Swiss Franc 306.850US Dollar Buying 303.200

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.731Indian Rupees 4.409Pakistani Rupees 2.221Srilankan Rupees 1.698Nepali Rupees 2.750Singapore Dollar 226.830Hongkong Dollar 38.779Bangladesh Taka 3.605Philippine Peso 5.786Thai Baht 9.643Malaysian ringgit 77.852

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 81.227Qatari Riyal 83.661Omani Riyal 791.163Bahraini Dinar 808.820UAE Dirham 82.931

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 19.750Egyptian Pound - Transfer 17.467

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY WLL

Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.223Tunisian Dinar 102.840Jordanian Dinar 429.940Lebanese Lira/for 1000 2.030Syrian Lira 0.000Morocco Dirham 32.349

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 304.040Canadian Dollar 228.570Sterling Pound 406.760Euro 346.895Swiss Frank 307.150Bahrain Dinar 808.555UAE Dirhams 83.180Qatari Riyals 84.420Saudi Riyals 81.975Jordanian Dinar 430.115Egyptian Pound 17.461Sri Lankan Rupees 1.701Indian Rupees 4.402Pakistani Rupees 2.184Bangladesh Taka 3.613Philippines Pesso 5.775Cyprus pound 18.090Japanese Yen 3.725Syrian Pound 1.590Nepalese Rupees 2.752Malaysian Ringgit 75.240Chinese Yuan Renminbi 45.755Thai Bhat 10.600

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.398332 0.412232Czech Korune 0.005437 0.014737Danish Krone 0.042170 0.047070Euro 0. 338003 0.351703Georgian Lari 0.132043 0.132043Hungarian 0.001147 0.001337Norwegian Krone 0.031627 0.036827Romanian Leu 0.065231 0.082081Russian ruble 0.004676 0.004676Slovakia 0.009099 0.019099Swedish Krona 0.028921 0.033921Swiss Franc 0.297852 0.308852

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.208083 0.220083New Zealand Dollar 0.202642 0.212142

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.223174 0.232174US Dollars 0.300300 0.305600US Dollars Mint 0.300800 0.305600

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003053 0.003854Chinese Yuan 0.043828 0.047328Hong Kong Dollar 0.036036 0.039786

Indian Rupee 0.003705 0.004477Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023Japanese Yen 0.002647 0.002827Korean Won 0.000258 0.000273Malaysian Ringgit 0.070300 0.076300Nepalese Rupee 0.002610 0.002960Pakistan Rupee 0.001537 0.002307Philippine Peso 0.005768 0.006068Singapore Dollar 0.219647 0.229647Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001363 0.001943Taiwan 0.010160 0.010340Thai Baht 0.009280 0.009830Vietnamese Dong 0.00013 0.00013

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.792857 0.809357Egyptian Pound 0.017573 0.020173Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000086Iraqi Dinar 0.000210 0.000270Jordanian Dinar 0.424432 0.433432Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000157 0.000257Moroccan Dirhams 0.022124 0.046124Omani Riyal 0.784331 0.790011Qatar Riyal 0.079321 0.084261audi Riyal 0.080087 0.081367Syrian Pound 0.001290 0.001510Tunisian Dinar 0.096318 0.104318Turkish Lira 0.049450 0.060950UAE Dirhams 0.081452 0.083152Yemeni Riyal 0.000689 0.001069

Turkish Lira 56.215Singapore dollars 224.919

KUWAIT: The US economy is showing moresigns of slowing growth amid ongoing negotia-tions with China to strike a trade agreement. USPresident Donald Trump and Chinese President XiJinping are not expected to meet to a sign a tradedeal until April at the earliest. Trump commentedon the negotiations process saying “going incred-ibly well” and that he is expecting a conclusion inthe next three to four weeks. The slowing con-sumer prices and producer prices in the US havestrengthened the market’s view of 0 percentchance of an interest rate hike in 2019.

Slowing economic growthUS producer prices increased in February fol-

lowing three months of decline, rising 0.1 percentlast month. The figure has risen from the 0.1 per-cent decline in January however sti l l missedexpectations of a 0.2 percent gain. The year-on-year rate also slowed to 1.9 percent from the 2percent level in January. The data comes just asinflation readings showed consumer prices risingat their slowest pace in two and a half years, andshould reinforce expectations that the FederalReserve will not raise interest rates anytime soon.After raising rates four times in 2018, the centralbank held interest rates steady in January andpledged patience moving forward - pointingmainly to the effects of slowing global growth.

New home sales disappoint Sales of new US homes in January fell to the

weakest pace since October, driven by a declinein the Midwest as still-elevated prices keep buy-ers on the sidelines. In details the single familyhomes dropped by 607K on annualized basisaccording to government data which was delayedby two weeks due to the partial government shut-down. The figure comes way below the econo-mists’ expectations of 622K.

CommoditiesUS oil prices climbed last Wednesday to their

highest level in four months at $58.95 as a sur-prising decline in crude inventories were revealedby the US. The US Energy InformationAdministration showed crude inventories nar-rowed by 3.9m barrels, easing worries of globaloversupply as analysts expected a 2.7m increase

instead. Brent Crude and the West TexasIntermediate both hit their highest closing valuessince November 12.

Lifeline for May’s deal againOn the Brexit front, the UK’s parliament reject-

ed PM May’s deal to leave the EU for a secondtime last Tuesday, setting up the stage for theworst political crisis the country has witnessed ingenerations. Political officials voted against May’sedited Brexit deal by 391 to 242 as her last minutedialogues with EU heads to ease her critics’ con-cerns proved fruitless. The net loss of 149 votes isslightly a better outcome than the initial defeatedof 230 votes. However, since May took on the roleof PM, she has incurred the first and third largestgovernmental defeat in modern times. The follow-ing day, Wednesday, MPs have rejected a no-dealexit from the EU. On Thursday, MPs voted 412 to202 to endorse May’s motion to extend the Brexitdeadline to June 30th 2019. Theresa May will nowattempt to get her Brexit deal through parliamentfor the third time, in hopes that she can secure anagreement before the new deadline.

The pound sterling moved in a volatile mannerlast week moving by 3.34 percent from the low of1.2949 to the high of 1.3381. The market was react-ing to many variables, mainly the vote develop-ments in the House of Commons and the surpris-ingly upbeat economic data produced by the UK.

Solid growth figures in the UKThe UK GDP expanded by 0.5 percent month

to month following a -0.4 percent drop in theprevious reading, and well above the marketexpectations of 0.2 percent growth only. Themanufacturing production reached 0.8 percentgrowth on monthly basis after a contraction of -

0.7 percent in December 2018. Additionally, con-struction output on monthly basis in Januaryincreased by 2.8 percent following a decline of2.8 percent in December of last year as a furtherproof to a healthier economy. Thus, the market iscurrently pricing a 54.2 percent probability, upfrom 30 percent before the data were released, ofan interest rate hike by the Bank of England inJanuary 2020.

Stagnant consumer prices in EuropeFol lowing a dovish ECB last week, the

European Union’s economy is proving rather dif-ficult to stimulate. The consumer price indexreading of February remained constant and in-linewith market consensus of 1.5 percent on yearlybasis. A similar story for core CPI which came ata modest reading of 1.0 percent on yearly basis.This particular index’s readings have been almoststagnant since June of 2018 where the readingsranged from 0.9 percent-1.1 percent.

Slowest growth for China in 29 yearsBank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda

spoke on Friday after the BOJ meeting and ruledout the chance of additional monetary easing,even after heightening overseas risks forced thecentral bank to temper its optimism that robustexports and factory output will support growth.Kuroda also brushed aside growing calls frompoliticians and bank executives to raise interestrates or lighten the BOJ’s 2 percent inflation targetto ease the strain of prolonged ultra-low rates onfinancial institutions’ profits. “I don’t see the needto change the target, or believe that doing sowould be desirable,” Kuroda told reporters afterthe BOJ’s widely expected decision to keep mone-tary policy unchanged. As such, cut probabilitiesfor the December meeting dropped from 63.3 per-cent to 37 percent following Kuroda’s statement.

Kuwaiti dinarUSD/KWD opened at 0.30355 yesterday morning.

US economy slowing as trade talks move on

Brexit date extended amid solid economic data in UK

Fed to hold fire on rates as world economy slowsWASHINGTON: There is virtually nochance the US Federal Reserve willraise interest rates in the coming week,since policymakers have all but prom-ised to hold their fire as the globaleconomy slows.

With inflation still tame as US eco-nomic growth decelerates in 2019, econ-omists also say Fed officials will onceagain lower the number of rate hikes theyexpect this year, from the two projectedin December. Fed Chairman JeromePowell is due to announce the secondpolicy decision of the year on Wednesdayby the rate-setting Federal Open MarketCommittee.

The benchmark interest rates is now ina range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent and futuresmarkets see no more rate hikes in 2019.

And investors now put the odds at one inthree that the central bank will reversedirections and begin cutting rates in thenext 10 months.

Some economists warn that is unlikely:with unemployment falling and eventuallypushing wages higher, inflation might rearits head as soon as the summer, com-pelling the Fed to act.

But in congressional testimony lastmonth, Powell said he anticipates lowenergy prices will drive inflation even fur-ther below the Fed’s two percent target,at least for a “for a time.”

Other influential players on the FOMChave likewise chimed in, calling for caution:New York Fed President John Williamssaid this month he expects economicgrowth to slow “considerably” this year.

And Fed Governor Lael Brainard saidit was time for “a period of watchful wait-ing” on policy. Her remarks marked a sig-nificant change: Six months earlier,Brainard-known as a “dove” who is lessaggressive on raising rates-suggested theFed would continue raising rates through2019, not pausing to stop at “neutral,” therates that neither stimulates nor slows theeconomy.

One hike or none? “It’s a completely different world,”

Kathy Bostjancic, head of US macroinvestors services at Oxford Economics,said. “I think they’ve been surprised thatinflation hasn’t moved higher.”

Wall Street’s December rout, when theS&P 500 lost nearly 10 percent of its val-ue on fears the Fed would keep hiking,was a learning moment, Bostjancic said. “Ithink the markets spooked them a bit andI do think all of that together has led themto say let’s pause for some time,” she said.

Her firm, like many, has cut its forecast toa single rate increase this year-down fromtwo-and expects first-quarter economicgrowth to slow to 0.7 percent, its slowestpace in more than three years. Job growthground to a halt in February but has main-tained a good pace on average and thehousing sector shows signs of recovery.

Meanwhile, manufacturing and con-sumer spending have fallen off sharply. Amajor question mark remains the extentof the slowdowns in China and Europe.

But Joseph Gagnon, senior fellow atthe Peterson Institute for InternationalEconomics, said US growth should bestronger in the rest of the year, meaning

it is unlikely the Fed will cut its medianforecast for rate hikes in 2019 all theway to zero. “They are thinking theslowdown is now below potential,” he

said of Fed policymakers. “If the econo-my keeps going at two percent, thatwould still justify another rate hike atsome point.” —AFP

WASHINGTON, DC: Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell arrives tospeak at a press conference after the Fed announced interest rates wouldremain unchanged, in Washington, DC. —AFP

NBK Money Markets Report

B u s i n e s s Monday, March 18, 2019

13Established 1961

KUWAIT: The management teams of Kuwait Automotive Imports Co WLL (KAICO) (Al Shaya & Al Sagar) and Mazda during the celebration to commemorate their five decades of partnership in Kuwait. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: Kuwait Automotive Imports Co WLL(KAICO) (Al Shaya & Al Sagar), the exclusive dis-tributors of Mazda vehicles in the state of Kuwaitcelebrated their 50th anniversary by commemoratingthe five decades of partnership.

KAICO has grown the Mazda brand in Kuwait asone of the major mobility providers serving threegenerations of customers and a wide customersbase of individuals, companies and the governmentsector, as stated by Yousef Al-Shaya, CEO duringthe opening.

Yousef Al-Shaya, CEO also thanked all the stakeholders who have been part of the Mazda journeyover five decades and re committed KAICO’sendeavor to provide the best products and servicesto our customers.

He also stated that Mazda’s vision of buildinggreat cars with h igher engineer ing, KODOdesigns, JINBA ITTAI handling, powered by fuel-efficient SKYACTIV engines sets the brand apartfrom its peers. We aim to provide a CX experi-ence - a premium customer experience by provid-ing an environment that will encourage browsing,test-driving and finally ownership in an environ-ment, which is a MALL.

H. Inoue, Senior Managing Executive Officer ofMazda Motor Corporation mentioned that he is veryimpressed with KAICO management by their seriousattitude for not only brand building but also deliver-ing their customers high satisfaction through theirinvestment in their facility and their never endingchallenge has just been actualized by their state ofthe art “Mazda Boutique “ at this Avenues Mall.

He also said that Mazda will become a strongbrand chosen by the customers repeatedly and

KAICO and Mazda will enjoy the next prosperitytogether, through the strong collaboration betweenNo 1 Customer satisfaction delivered by KAICO andnext generation Mazda cars or 7G.

Ashish Tandon, General Manager, KAICO,thanked Inoue San and all the visitors from MazdaMotor Corporation, Itochu Corporation, VehiclesMiddle East and His Excellency the Ambassadorof Japan in Kuwait and the Commercial Attachefor sparing their valuable time to be part of thiscelebration. He also mentioned that he looked for-ward to inviting them all for the 60th anniversarycelebrations.

Nader Salmeh, Senior Executive Manager, VSG,mentioned that the Mazda Boutique is a great strate-gic move for the Mazda brand and it will fulfil ourambitions to increase our Market share and providecustomers to buy a Mazda car in a life style concept.

KAICO (Al Shaya & Al Sagar) opens first of its kind Mazda Boutique showroom in Avenues

Celebration marks five decades of successful partnership


14B u s i n e s s

Established 1961

Burgan Bankannounces winners of Yawmi drawKUWAIT: The lucky winners are:

l Mohammad Khajahl Maasoumah Ali Akbar Makhseedl Fatmah Abduljaleel Redhal Waleed Saleh Hasan Al-Alil Aabdulwahhab Hamad BogrisIn addition to the daily draw, Burgan Bank also

offers a quarterly draw with more chances to winhigher rewards, offering the chance to one lucky cus-tomer to win KD 125,000 every three months. TheYawmi Account offers daily and quarterly draws,wherein the Quarterly Draw requires customers tomaintain a minimum amount of KD 500 in theiraccount for two months prior to the draw date.Additionally, every KD 10 in the account will entitlecustomers to one chance of winning. If the accountbalance is KD 500 and above, the account holder willbe qualified for both the quarterly and daily draws.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmiaccount and/or increase their deposit to maximize theirchances of becoming a winner. The higher the level ofthe deposit, the higher the likelihood to win.

KUWAIT: The launch of the HUAWEI Mate X 5G fold-able smartphone was a natural step in today’s directiontowards a more closely connected world with the 5Gtechnologies while being clear demonstration ofHuawei’s deep understanding of today’s consumerneeds, and how the latest innovations can be applied toempower users and improve the quality of their lives.

The smartphone won 31 awards when it firstlaunched in Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2019thanks to its novel design and state-of-the-art techno-logical advancements, becoming a tangible which ush-ers the world into a new digital era.

The HUAWEI Mate X can act as a tablet or smart-phone, depending on users’ needs. Thanks to its highlyintricate Falcon Wing Mechanical Hinge, which enablesit to unfold the same way a falcon extends its wings.Unfolding the smartphone transforms it into an eight-inch tablet, giving users almost double the viewing areafor highly immersive experience.

Designed to be highly durable, the tablet maintainsits aesthetics and practicality by remaining thin (5.4mmthick). It features a new flexible 6.6-inch dual OLEDdisplay equipped with superior heat dissipation for amaximum of safety and practicality. In order for thedisplay to achieve its purpose of giving users the ulti-mate viewing experience, it features Huawei’s bezel-less FullView Display technology, which has annihilatednotches and holes on the panel, leaving nothing but asmooth, uninterrupted screen for users to fully immerse

themselves in work or entertainment. The purpose behind the HUAWEI Mate X was to

create a tool that caters to users’ needs as opposed tojust act in a traditional, ‘mechanical’ way - henceemphasizing on user-device interactivity, making it oneof the device’s most useful features. The larger screengives users the ability to immerse themselves deeper inentertainment, or work more efficiently with a largerviewing area. Users can also they can drag and dropimages from the photo gallery to their email in splitscreen mode. The Mirror Shooting feature displays theuser-device interactivity further through a digital viewfinder being exhibited on both the primary and second-ary displays, allowing the subject to also see them-selves while their photo is being taken, allowing them totake part of the creative process. As for safety andsecurity, the 2-in-1 fingerprint sensor/power buttonoffers an efficient, safe and minimalistic way for useridentity authentication when powered up.

The HUAWEI Mate X features the world’s first mul-ti-mode 5G SoC with 7nm process chip, the Balong5000. It supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G and is highlypowerful and performant, despite its small size - havingthe ability to reduce delay and power consumptioncaused by data exchange between modes, support sub-6G full frequency band support and provide large net-work coverage, becoming one of the device’s main ele-ments, responsible for moving the world through a newdigital age.

The Balong 5000 is the first chip to achieve theindustry’s benchmark in 5G peak download rate, offer-ing 4.6Gbps in Sub-6GHz, and is the world’s firstchipset to support SA and NSA simultaneously, withthe ability to adapt to different hardware requirements

and formats for users and telecom operators. TheHUAWEI Mate X houses four sets of 5G antennasdespite its slim and foldable body, giving users the abil-ity to make the most of 5G connectivity by enjoying itshigh quality along with large volume data transmission.

A revolutionary technology unfolding before our eyes

Huawei Mate X’s unprecedented features opening up a world of infinite possibilities

VIVA’s boardappoints a new CEOAl-Harbi as successorto Al-BadranKUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and mostdeveloped telecom operator, announced that VIVA’sboard has approved during its meeting held on 14March 2019, the appointment of Eng. Mazyad BinNasser Al-Harbi, as Chief Executive Officer, effective 14April 2019.

Dr Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulrahman, Chairman ofVIVA, said: “The appointment of Eng Mazyad Al-Harbimarks the culmination of a series of successes andachievements ten years after the inception of VIVA.” He

added: “The new CEO will receive the torch today fromBadran who has been struggling for over a decade withthe support of a professional team to make VIVA aleading telecommunications company in the region, andwe are confident that Al-Harbi who owns high compe-tency and strong bio will lead the company to rise itsperformance and the quality of services, support thedigital transformation and the launch of 5G commer-cially in Kuwait that will radically transform the conceptof communications and internet.”

Al-Harbi has held numerous positions in prestigiouscompanies in Saudi Arabia, recently the CTO at Mobilysince 2015. At STC, he served as vice president of theresidential sector between 2011 and 2014 and generalmanager of network services solutions between 2007and 2011, and “Al-Jawal Implementation Manager in2007.

He served as Deputy General Manager of Servicesat Huawei from 2005 to 2006, Senior Manager -Worldwide Sales Services at Lucent Technologiesbetween 2003 and 2005, Senior Manager -

Implementation between 1999 and 2003 and SeniorEngineer between 1996 and 1999. In addition to engi-neer at the Saudi Electricity Company between 1995and 1996. He holds a BS in electrical engineering fromKing Saud University in Riyadh in 1995.

KFH: 10 customers win KD 250 each in Hesabi for youth drawKUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House (KFH)announced the winners of the 9th drawof “Hesabi” for Youth. The draw tookplace under the supervis ion of theMinistry of Commerce and Industry. Thedraw is part of Win with Hesabi cam-paign that offers 2 BMW 420i and 120cash prizes worth KD250.

The winners of the KD 250 prize are:Hamda Alrashdan, Abdul lah Alsalmi,Muna alsubaei, Shatha Abo Aljebein,Sarah Alshemaimeri, Kholud Almutairi,Bushra Aldhafiri, Awatef Alsalaili, GhadirAlHajeri, and Sahimaa Alazemi.

KFH offers “Hesabi for Youth” with a

variety of privileges as part of its contin-ued endeavor to provide adequate cus-tomer care, innovate new products andservices and fulfill the needs of all cus-tomers of various age categories andinterests. Services and products are tai-lored to suit customers’ needs and pro-vide distinguished service as per globalstandards regarding quality, accuracyand speed.

Hesabi program has been designed tomeet the needs of youth and aspire fortheir active life style. This program pres-ents for youth many exclusive offers anda wide range of privileges includingHesabi ATM card with a unique design,eligibility to issue Hesabi prepaid card(as per credit regulations of KFH), distin-guished offers and discounts etc.

KFH continues to launch marketingcampaigns to reward youth customers.Hesabi for Youth represents the ambi-tions and expectations of youth categoryand copes with KFH aspirat ions toattract the largest portion of youth who

represents the major part of Kuwaitisociety. Also, the account represents

KFH initiative to diversify banking serv-ices and products.

KFH representatives after the draw

Turkish Airlines and Oman Air extend existing codeshare pactKUWAIT: Turkish Airlines and Oman Air have revisedthe codeshare agreement signed earlier. Under therevised agreement, Turkish Airlines will codeshare onOman Air operating flights to Salalah, while Oman Airwill codeshare on Turkish Airlines operating flights toRome, Copenhagen and Algiers.

The codeshare agreement allows guests to benefitfrom the outstanding products and services offeredby both carriers on these routes. Turkish Airlines’Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Eksi expressed;“Witnessing Oman Air’s direct flights to Istanbulwithin the scope of our existing codeshare agreementhas always pleased us. Now extending this agreementin order to increase the travel opportunities offeredfor our passengers through our networks made usmore delighted. We believe that this codeshare

enhancement with Oman Air will exposure furthercooperation opportunities for both airlines togetherwith growing relations between our countries.”

Abdulaziz Al-Raisi, Chief Executive Officer, OmanAir commented; “Oman Air is happy and proud to beassociating with Turkish Airlines which is a globallyrecognized network carrier. It is an ideal partner forOman Air, which has justifiably attracted a reputationfor offering the highest levels of comfort, luxury andoutstanding service. As we continue to expand glob-ally, codeshare agreements such as this help usspread our wings to newer destinations and bring usmore partners and guests.”

Turkish Airlines and Oman Air currently operateone daily flight each on the Muscat-Istanbul routeunder the reciprocal codeshare agreement. Theschedule of these flights are designed to complementeach other by allowing same day return trip atMuscat and Istanbul, and offer convenient connec-tions at both hubs through the respective airlines’network.

Turkish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance, fliesto more countries and international destinations inthe world than any other airline, currently operatesto 306 cities in 124 countries around the world,comprised of 49 domestic and 257 internationaldestinations.

CBK announceswinners of Al-Najma drawsKUWAIT: Commercial Bank conducted the weekly and monthlydraws on Al-Najma Account and the draw on the “Salary andCash on Top” campaign. The draws were conducted in the pres-ence of Ministry of Commerce and Industry representativeAbdulaziz Ashkanani.

The results of the draw were as follows:1) Al-Najma weekly account - the prize of KD 5000 was for

the shareLafi Monther Lafi Shaher2) The campaign “Salary & Cash on Top “ the prize KD 1000

and was for the share Ahmad Humoud Al-Dhafeeri.The bank stated that the account prizes this year is featured

by the highest cash prize and diversity of prizes throughout theyear clarifying that Al-Najma Account will offer weekly prize ofKD 5000, monthly prize of KD 20,000 and a semi-annualprize of KD 500,000 in addition to the largest prize - linkedbank account payout of KD 1,500,000. Al-Najma Account canbe opened by depositing KD 100, and customer should main-tain a minimum amount of KD 500 to be eligible to enter alldraws on Al-Najma Account prizes. As for the chances of win-ning, the more balance a customer maintains in Al NajmaAccount, the more chances the account holder will get to win,where each KD 25 will give the customer one chance to win, theaccount also offers additional benefits like the ATM card, acredit card against customer’s account and all CBK bankingservices that customer can enjoy.

As regarding “Salary & Cash on Top” campaign designatedfor Kuwaiti and expatriate employees as well as the retirees andwhich is valid until 31 December 2019 and the mechanism of join-ing this campaign for availing its benefits, the Bank explained thatKuwaiti employees with a salary of KD 500 and above whethernewly recruited or in service can transfer their salary to the Bankand avail the benefits of this campaign by getting instant cashgift of KD 250 or an interest free loan 5 times the salary up toKD 10,000, add to this they will automatically enter the weeklydraw on KD 1,000. As for the expatriate customers categorizedunder Premier Banking Account with a salary of KD 1,700 andabove, they will get instant cash gift. The retirees with pensionKD 1,000 and above will also get an instant cash gift of KD 150when transferring their pension to the Bank and automaticallyenter the weekly draw on a prize of KD 1,000 and avail the ben-efits of this campaign designated for Kuwaiti and expatriateemployees working in private and public sector as well as theretirees. Further, the campaign provides customers with theopportunity to get additional benefits and take advantage of theadvanced and unrivalled services and products the Bank pro-vides to its customers to meet their needs and expectations.

US funds focus on media stocks as mid-caps rallyNEW YORK: The S&P 400 Mid-Cap indexhas surged to its best start to a year since1991, both rewarding fund managers andforcing them to work harder to seek outbargains in a group that is now the mostexpensive part of the US market based ontheir historical averages.

The rally in mid-cap stocks - compa-nies with a market valuation between $2billion and $10 billion - has come during abroad rally in global stock markets asinvestors price in a resolution in the tradetalks between the United States and Chinaand fewer interest rate hikes by theFederal Reserve.

Mid-caps are up 14 percent for the yearto date and sport an average price-to-earn-ings ratio of 16.9 times forward earnings, fortheir highest valuation premiums to small-cap stocks since 2017, according to Bank of

America Merrill Lynch research.Yet fund managers from Janus

Henderson, Hotchkis & Wiley, andFairpointe Capital are among those who arestill finding values by concentrating onfinancial, energy and media stocks andeschewing the high-priced real estateinvestment trusts and utility companies thatmake up nearly a fifth of the benchmarkindex. “The window for the big bargain binwas the fourth quarter and that was aboutit,” said Kevin Preloger, a portfolio managerof the $3.3 billion Janus Henderson Mid Cap

Value fund. “We’re looking for companiesthat have good balance sheets and goodcash flow, but the tough part is reasonablevaluations.”

Preloger’s fund is finding them in financialcompanies such as M&T Bank Corp andHartford Financial Services Group Inc thatare increasing their stock buybacks at thesame time they have been beating analysts’earnings expectations. Shares of M&T, forinstance, are up 20.8 percent since the startof the year and trade at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 11.8. —Reuters


15W h a t ’ s O n

Established 1961

Horeca 2019made significantprogress

Horeca Kuwait exhibition for hospi-tality, catering, hotel and restau-rant equipment has become one of

the most important regional exhibitionsin terms of a market share and value itannually attracts in hundreds of millionsas well as in terms of its strategic foodsecurity and the number of participants,said the head of the committee andLeaders Group company general man-ager, Nabila Al-Anjeri.

Al-Anjeri added that Horeca recentcycle held in January had made signifi-cant sales for various vendors display-

ing their products, which made aneven larger number of companiesdemand larger spaces for the 2020cycle. She added that analytical stud-ies about Horeca 2019 showed grow-ing participant satisfaction and trustadding that the eight past cycles ofthe exhibition had enhanced the par-ticipating sectors’ performance, oper-ation and competitiveness.

Further, Al-Anjeri stressed that thecoming years would also witness morequalitative and quantitative growth in therestaurants and hospitality sectors,especially since Kuwait hotels had beenmaking substantial regional operationand performance levels over the pasttwo years. “According to Ernest &Young’s April report about hotels andhospitality in the Middle East, Kuwaitihotels occupancy was amongst the sixthhighest in the region while 9 others haddeteriorated rates”, Al-Anjeri explained.

Adelegation of Kuwait ientrepreneurs vis-ited Bahrain to participate in an ecosys-tem tour and major startup innovation

festival during the 2019 StartUp Bahrain Week.This was a community-led festival, focusing onthe full range of grassroots support that isessential to help founders flourish. It was also anopportunity to encourage innovation andgrowth in the startup ecosystem - not just in

Bahrain but across the region and beyond. Theweek-long gala included a variety of talks, pitchcompetitions and practical classes. Foundersnetworked with investors, incubators, accelera-tors and educational institutions. The eventswere held in partnership with the BahrainEconomic Development Board (EDB) andTamkeen.

Connecting with other ecosystemsAs with other Gulf countries, the startup

ecosystem in Kuwait has been motivated to

look beyond traditional business landscapes.The support of government initiatives, such asthe National Fund for SME Development, ishelping, and Rocket Internet’s acquisition ofTalabat is a further indicator of a growingstartup ecosystem.

The Kuwaiti entrepreneurs who attendedStartUp Bahrain Week were part of CubicalServices’ Fikra Program, which accepts a num-

ber of entrepreneurs every six months and pro-vides them with the tools and resources theyneed to start their own businesses. The eventallowed them to get more practical, hands-onadvice, network with other entrepreneurs andbe inspired by connecting with accelerators,investors and thought leaders. The Kuwaiti dele-gation included other members interested in thestartup community, including Ministry of YouthAffairs, Al Hamra Real Estate Company, GulfBank, Markaz Financial Centre, KFAS andKuwaitnet.

Pakiza Abdulrahman, Manager - BusinessDevelopment, Startupsat the EDB said, “StartUpBahrain Week was a real community-led effortand the visit by the Kuwaiti delegation was vitalas both communities came together to furthercollaborate on the opportunities available inBahrain. We look forward to continuing to forgecloser links, share ideas and drive progressbetween our two ecosystems.”

With its low cost of operations, talentedworkforce, strong presence of regional acceler-ators and incubators, and the growth of accessi-ble venture capital - to name a few - Bahrain isstrongly placed to support Kuwaiti startupslooking to scale up. Mariam Hisham Al Rayes,Executive Vice President of Cubical Services inKuwait, said, “We are delighted to be part ofBahrain Startup Week and to help pave the wayfor Kuwaiti entrepreneurs to expand their busi-nesses to Bahrain. The 21 delegates found thistrip inspirational and gained greatly from it, andwe look forward to further collaborationsbetween Kuwait and Bahrain.”

A successful StartUp Bahrain WeekStartUp Bahrain week attracted an interna-

tional line-up of speakers and industry expertswho discussed next generation technologies, thepower of disruptive startups and the importanceof diversity in the workplace. There werehackathons, networking events and pitchingcompetitions, and an ‘Ecosystem Tour’ allowedfounders to meet key members of the Bahrainstartup scene such as StartUp Bahrain, EDB andTamkeen. At the GCC Startup Meetup, majorplayers in the GCC startup scene gathered toexchange expertise, discuss common problemsand compare products and services. At theheadline event, Unbound Bahrain, over 100influential speakers in the fields of AI, FinTech,blockchain, sustainability, investment, addressedan audience drawn from across the region.

Daya Bai boostsmorale of students in ICSK

Daya bai, dressed in a simple cotton saree with col-orful necklaces and clinking bangles looked nomore than a tribal from India. “And this attire has

made me face a lot of discrimination. But I have not givenup my desire to serve those exploited in life and live likethem.” she said. She was interacting with the students atthe Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior onFebruary 17, 2019.

Ms Mercy Mathew, commonly known as Daya Bai is awell-known social activist. From the age of sixteen, shehas been working for the upliftment of tribal and otheroppressed communities in different parts of India.Fighting and striking for the rights of the endosulphanvictims in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India. She is also

active in their treatment. She was in the war zoneBangladesh serving the war victims. A noted environ-mentalist, she participated in enormous agitations likeNarmada Bachao Andolan.

“From a young age I has been keen on understandingwhy there was inequality in our society? When I hadlaborers working at my house in Pala, Kerala I wonderedwhy couldn’t they eat with my own family? After gradua-

tion, I decided to go and live with the tribal people forsome time. That’s where I realized my way of life.” sheanswered a student who asked her about the motivationfor living her life for tribes.

She felt that fighting for equality and to give voice forsuch people is what she had to do. She advised the stu-dents to follow the preamble of the Constitution of India.According to the constitution, every citizen has equal

status and rights. “Tribes didn’t trust me and accept mewhen I started working with them. I felt it difficult andhard to adapt their lifestyle in the beginning. But as timepassed by I loved it. After monitoring my actions for afew months, they accepted me”, she said.

She explained how she has always been discriminated.She was asked to alight from the compartment of a trainor bus before the destination is reached. “But when DayaBai became famous, people started to greet and evenclick a selfie”, she said while answering a student whoasked her on discrimination. Even after years of suchexperiences she never felt giving up.Through a real lifestory, she explained how conflicting experiences in child-hood had helped a man work for the needy in life.

“She is an epitome of humanity. She is an inspirationto umpteen number of people.” said Dr V Binumon, thePrincipal of ISCK senior while welcoming her. Dr Sam TKuruvilla, the Vice-Principal, ICSK senior honored herwith a memento. Ms Susan Rajesh, the deputy vice prin-cipal, ICSK Senior proposed the vote of thanks. Themanagement of ICSK, aiming at the holistic education ofthe students has always been motivational in a discoursewith such inspirational models.

Kuwaiti entrepreneurs at Bahrain startup innovation festival

Lulu Hypermarket, the leading retailer inthe region, opened Lulu Express FreshMarket, a new concept store at Al-

Sharqia Commercial Complex in Khaitan yes-terday. The first Lulu Express Fresh Marketstore in Kuwait was inaugurated by Chairman& Managing Director of Lulu GroupInternational Yusuffali MA & Mariam IsmayilJumaah Alansari in the presence of govt offi-cials and dignitaries as well as large gatheringof shoppers.

Lulu Express Fresh Market is a new storeformat that adds to Lulu’s growing retail port-folio, taking the number of branches in the

country to eight and the total branches acrossthe world to 163. The convenience-focusedstore, spread across a 25,000 sq. ft. area, hasdedicated sections for fresh fruits and vegeta-bles, chilled and frozen fish and meat, a deli-catessen, grocery, dairy, roastery, bakery andhot-foods, as well as non-food items and, healthand beauty products. The new Lulu ExpressFresh Market store’s easy accessibility, its mod-ern ambiance, clear layout, wide aisles andwell-stocked shelves are focused on providingthe utmost convenience to shoppers.

Speaking to media Yusuffali said “it is ourconstant endeavor to bring world-class shop-

ping experience to our valued shoppers bygoing nearer to them rather than making themdrive long distance to reach us. This new con-cept is one such step in that direction. From thetime we opened our first store in Kuwait, wehave received great response from bothKuwaiti as well as expat shoppers and we willcontinue to invest more in further strengtheningour presence here”. The store delivers a com-fortable shopping environment while providinga wide range of high-quality goods at competi-tive prices, further entrenching Lulu’s positionas one of the finest customer-oriented retailersin the region.

Lulu Hypermarket launches new concept store in Khaitan

KAICO celebrates 70th anniversary with ExxonMobilKUWAIT: 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of successfulrelationship between KAICO (Kuwait Automotive ImportsCompany) and ExxonMobil in Kuwait. Both companies cele-brated their longstanding relation at ExxonMobil’s office inCairo. The celebration was attended by Yousef Al-Shaya,KAICO CEO and Eng Hesham El Amroussy, ExxonMobilEgypt Chairman and Managing Director and Africa & MiddleEast lubricants Manager, among other delegates from bothcompanies. Eng El Amroussy, reflected on this event: “TodayI am delighted to celebrate ExxonMobil’s long-lasting dis-tributorship with KAICO. We are proud of our heritage andwe look forward for a future full of success serving theKuwaiti people. I would like to express my sincere apprecia-tion for KAICO’s relentless efforts to grow the Mobil brand.We look forward to continue our relation with KAICO fordecades to come.”

“KAICO has played an integral part of Kuwait’s growthfor 70 years. Our history dates back to 1949 when westarted marketing Mobil lubricants and Kerosene. We areglad that our relation with ExxonMobil enabled us to con-tinue our commitment and create a positive impact to theeconomy of Kuwait. Today KAICO is one of the leading

lubricants marketers” noted Al-Shaya.Ashish Tandon KAICO General Manager, added “I am

optimistic about our relation with ExxonMobilin Kuwait.We have succeeded throughout our history to overcome allchallenges, and our continuous collaboration withExxonMobil paves the way for further growth within the

Kuwaiti market.” From his side, Sadiq Aly KAICO DivisionManager noted: “Today, we celebrate the success of astrongly founded distributorship with ExxonMobil. I wouldlike to take the opportunity to thank all KAICO andExxonMobil teams for their commitment and hard work toachieve such remarkable milestone.”

GENEVA: On the surface, this looks like a terrible moment for theworld’s major military powers to negotiate a deal on preventingan arms race in space. Last month, UN chief Antonio Guterreswarned that the global disarmament architecture was “collaps-ing,” citing various diplomatic failures, including Washington’sdecision to scrap a crucial nuclear weapons treaty with Russia.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has drafted plans for a new “SpaceForce” on orders from President Donald Trump who hasdeclared space a “war-fighting domain”. Despite those head-winds, experts from 25 countries — including China, Russia andthe US — open a 10-day meeting in Geneva today aiming to laythe groundwork for a treaty to keep space peaceful. Evenagainst the grim diplomatic backdrop, experts say there may bereasons for optimism. “I hope I am not just indulging in wishfulthinking here but I do see some positive initiatives against thisrather dark background,” said Paul Meyer, Canada’s former dis-armament ambassador and an expert on space security at TheSimons Foundation in Vancouver. The closed-door Geneva talksinvolve a UN panel called a Group of Governmental Experts(GGE). Chaired by Brazilian ambassador Guilherme de AguiarPatriota to the UN Conference on Disarmament, the space GGEworks on consensus and will only issue a report if all partiesagree on its content.

Diplomatic efforts to forge a space treaty have been dead-locked for more than a decade. A main problem, experts said, isthat China and Russia have insisted on preventing certain devicesfrom being deployed in space. This has been a non-starter for theWest which has instead favored language that emphasises“behavior” or “actions” in outer space that could be restricted.Patriota told reporters the level of dialogue at the first GGE meet-ing in August was “several notches” better than in the past, withChina and Russia indicating an openness to new ideas. —AFP

H e a l t h & S c i e n c e Monday, March 18, 2019

16 Established 1961

Trump calls for ‘Space Force’, nations talk space peace deal


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CROSSWORD 2160

ACROSS1. A state-chartered savings bank owned

by its depositors and managed by aboard of trustees.

4. A vessel made of material that does notmelt easily.

12. (music) The pace of music measured bythe number of beats occurring in 60seconds.

15. South American wood sorrel cultivatedfor its edible tubers.

16. An open automobile having a front seatand a rumble seat.

17. A plant hormone promoting elongationof stems and roots.

18. A workplace for the conduct of scien-tific research.

19. The cardinal number that is the sum ofthree and one.

20. Make more attractive by adding orna-ment, colour, etc..

22. Small buffalo of the Celebes havingsmall straight horns.

24. Type genus of the Ardeidae.26. (Sumerian) Water god and god of wis-

dom.27. Capital of the state of Washington.28. A histamine blocker and antacid (trade

name Zantac) used to treat pepticulcers and gastritis and esophagealreflux.

30. A hard gray lustrous metallic elementthat is highly corrosion-resistant.

32. A member of the majority people ofPunjab in northwestern India.

33. Type genus of the family Arcidae.35. Call upon in supplication.36. Any of several plants of the genus

Camassia.40. Entangled or hindered as if e.g. in mire.42. A person who believes that God creat-

ed the universe and then abandoned it.45. Enlarged prostate.46. A fatal disease of cattle that affects the

central nervous system.47. Appear again.50. A member of an Indian people former-

ly living along the Gulf coast ofLouisiana and Texas.

54. The domain controlled by an emir.55. Annual and biennial herbs of

Mediterranean to central Asia.57. Given or having a specified name.58. Obsolete terms for legal insanity.61. Something contrived to meet an urgent

need or emergency.66. Type genus of the Artamidae.70. Any of various dark heavy viscid sub-

stances obtained as a residue.71. Extinct order of jawless vertebrates.74. Title for a civil or military leader (espe-

cially in Turkey).75. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about

2.75 pounds.76. Uttered in a shrill scream as of pain or

terror.77. A three-year law degree.78. Having undesirable or negative quali-

ties.79. A river in northeastern Brazil that flows

generally northward to the AtlanticOcean.

80. Brief episode in which the brain getsinsufficient blood supply.

DOWN1. Among the largest bony fish.2. The act of scanning.3. Used as a Hindi courtesy title.4. A vacuum tube in which a hot cathode

emits a beam of electrons that passthrough a high voltage anode and arefocused or deflected before hitting aphosphorescent screen.

5. European strong-scented perennialherb with gray-green bitter-tastingleaves.

6. Not subjected to tapping.7. A railcar where passengers ride.8. A large Yoruba city in southwestern

Nigeria.9. indicate by signs.10. A trivalent metallic element of the rare

earth group.11. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.12. A discrete unit of living matter.13. A kind of heavy jacket (`windcheater' is

a British term).14. Affected with or marked by frenzy or

mania uncontrolled by reason.21. Close-fitting pants of heavy denim for

casual wear (usually in the plural).23. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly

aquatic eukaryotic organisms lackingtrue stems and roots and leaves.

25. An antibiotic (trade name Azactam)used against severe infections.

29. A loose sleeveless outer garment madefrom aba cloth.

31. Bristlelike process near the tip of theantenna of certain flies.

34. Thick like cream.37. At right angles to the length of a ship or

airplane.38. (often followed by `of') A large number

or amount or extent.39. A tiny or scarcely detectable amount.41. Tropical woody herb with showy yel-

low flowers and flat pods.43. A heavy brittle metallic element of the

platinum group.44. The seat within a bishop's diocese

where his cathedral is located adv.48. Pearl oysters.49. Colonial siphonophore of up to 130 ft

long.51. The financial means whereby one lives.52. Small voraciously carnivorous freshwa-

ter fishes of South America that attackand destroy living animals.

53. An associate degree in nursing.56. A silvery ductile metallic element found

primarily in bauxite.59. A Dravidian language spoken in south

central India.60. A unit of dry measure used in Egypt.62. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.63. Toward the mouth or oral region.64. A short labored intake of breath with

the mouth open.65. Queen of England as the 6th wife of

Henry VIII (1512-1548).67. A milkshake made with malt powder.68. Large sweet juicy hybrid between tan-

gerine and grapefruit having a thickwrinkled skin.

69. A island in the Netherlands Antilles thatis the top of an extinct volcano.

72. Estrangement from god.73. Seed of a pea plant.

Yesterday’s SolutionDaily SuDoku

Wordsearch Puzzle Yesterday’s Solution


18S t a r s

Established 1961

Yesterday’s Solution

With your making new plans for your life, you’re taking a more conser-vative approach than you’d ever have thought. Friends and family find this refreshingbut almost off putting too because they know you and you generally rush in wherefools fear to tread. It’s okay to be thoughtful instead of thrill-seeking sometimes evenif loved ones get alarmed. You don’t want to live forever on the razor’s edge. You con-template and realize the best way to be secure with your new life. That generallyinvolves real estate. Are you ready to shop? In town or out, think about it and go for itAries. Now’s the time to dream.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

An older family member or friend could cause upset with your plans fortoday. Though you’re unsure whether you want to act upon what you envisioned any-way, you don’t need someone else telling you what a failure you are before you evenstart. To make it worse, you’re in conflict with yourself over goals you’ve set fortoday’s pleasures. So, how can you get upset with another who is questioning younow? You generally look so secure and confident in your decisions yet you appear tobe wrestling with something that shouldn’t take up this much time. Try to enjoy yourday with those you love or not. Just enjoy.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You feel like working on you today. Diet, exercise, and appearance are allpart of the thoughts on which you seem to be doting. Perhaps a friend has found agood place to purchase clothing and offers to go with you for a complete makeover.You may go to the gym or figure a way to work out from home without the expendi-ture of major dollars, Cancer. Your health should come first but you generally put your-self last because those you love may need to be tended first. Go for a massage or takedance lessons, anything that gives you a pleasant sensation and makes you feel better.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Appealing to others on an instinctual level is part of your good qualities.You want to talk and really express how you feel to someone who appreciates yoursoulful expressions. Deep communication brings you fulfillment but also gives you thechance to learn of work that may manifest money. If you’re thinking of selling yourhome now or buying one, this is a good time to approach someone in the know.Engaging others could give you the ability to learn about appropriate advertising andmore to assist you in encouraging your own wealth. Make sure you get with friendsand friends of friends today for a great wealth enhancement project for your group.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

There is an overwhelming need for independence welling up in you now.You want to try new things and you don’t want to be told “No.” Breaking away fromthe norm is part of your mood and is weighing heavily upon your soul. Religion may bea source your reexamining now too. Spirituality may be your motive. You’re thinking ofmaking changes in your home, possibly even with those who live there. You’re a helperto most all who ask, Libra. Others may come to you for your ideological thoughts andto assist them in some major challenges for their lives. You’re ready and willing to help.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Instead of enjoying this nice Sunday, you’re making plans to increaseyour income, giving attention to your home, perhaps not your home life though andhow you’ll achieve all of this. Be watchful that you don’t allow another to ruin yourmood for making the best of your life in a material fashion. That is a need right nowand you have the tools to get your needs met. Mentally, you’re at your best just asyou were yesterday when you started thinking about all this. Clear-headed, practicaldecisions are easily made now. Get them ready to put into practice.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

You’re exhausted from rehashing the same thoughts again and again butif you have to do this, today is the day. Be considerate of yourself though

and don’t give in to self-doubts. You know you generally make good decisions onyour life and assisting those you know. You’ve had too many folks come back and tellyou that you give the greatest, most logical advice, Sagittarius. That’s why friends andfamily want to be around you and trust you with their secrets. You’re a good personwho is worldly in some sense and totally logical in others.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

It’s a good day to be off work. Let’s hope you are. This day could lead tosome major misunderstandings because you’re not apt to keep your mouth shutwhen offended. You can see how this might really upset the applecart at work. Athome it’s another thing. You’re supposed to be nice to the one you love but he orshe might be on your last nerve. It’s the stars. This too shall pass. Give it some timeand try to remain silent, Pisces. Your lover might not say the nicest things eitherleaving both of you in a communication vortex and you with very hurt feelings.Things that happen then aren’t the nicest. “Take time to be with you today, alone,”is the best advice.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

If you’re in competition with others at work you shine in your work ethicand in getting the job done in a satisfactory manner. Your mental capacity is at a highand your ability to get others onboard is excellent too. You have refined sensitivity toothers now both at work and at home. That only makes your better at reading people.At home you have desires that are being met. You need the attention you get fromthose you love. This is a great time to be alive for you.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

The best thing you could do for yourself now is to think your life over.Decide what is best for you. Take into consideration how you feel about family andfriends but also look to them for advice. You want what you consider is the good lifeand you’re unsure how this new feeling you have will relate in that. You’re deep intothe appreciation for all you’ve gotten in this life so far. Reign in any frivolous spend-ing you may be thinking of now, Leo. Be thankful.

Getting together with family, swapping stories about growing up andgood food gets your attention today. Emotionally you need this time to wind downafter the week of hard work. Generally working hard is what you consider best for youand it’s very unusual for you to need those you love close but today you do. Enjoyyour comradery with those you’ve known all your life. Though it’s hard to let downyour guard, this is a time of recharging your motor so to speak. You may even inviteold neighbors and make it a reunion of sorts.

Gossip isn’t always the best thing to listen to but today when you hear alittle tidbit about a family member you can’t help but take notice. Questions becomethe topic of the day as you explore the seamier side of life about this family memberor friend. Remember everyone has a touch of the dark side in them. Be careful you’renot the next topic of conversation when family or friends gather, Gemini. The reasonyou’re listening to this type conversation is because you’re feeling unsatisfied withyour own life. You may find it boring right now. Your thoughts may invite events youdon’t won’t to explore. Think good thoughts.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

MONDAY, MARCH 18 , 2019

Established 1961

Lifestyle

Gamers play the Ubisoft “Rainbow Siege” game at the Los Angeles Convention center on day one of E3 2017, the three-dayElectronic Entertainment Expo, one of the biggest events in the gaming industry calendar, in Los Angeles, California.

In this file photo Videogamers play on an alpha version of French video gamedeveloper Ubisoft’s last installment of “Assassin’s Creed”, titled “Assassin’sCreed Syndicate”.

Gamers crowd the Microsoft Xbox One exhibit at the Los Angeles Convention center on day one of E3 2017, the three-dayElectronic Entertainment Expo, one of the biggest events in the gaming industry calendar, in Los Angeles, California.

Google is looking to transforminternet-age game play, with anexpected launch of a streamingservice which uses the tech

giant’s power in the internet cloud.Expected Tuesday is the debut of aramped-up version of a cloud gamingplatform Google tested recently in part-nership with Ubisoft.

A video clip teasing a keynote presen-tation at an annual Game DevelopersConference in San Francisco invites peo-ple to “Gather around as we unveilGoogle’s vision for the future of gaming.”The clip cycles through an acceleratingcollage of scenes one might find in videogames, but says nothing about whatGoogle will announce at the event, whichwill be live-streamed at YouTube. Googlecollaborated with French video gamecolossus Ubisoft to use the hit “Assassin’sCreed” franchise to test “Project Stream”technology for hosting the kind of quick,seamless play powered by in-home con-soles as an online service.

A select number of people in the USwere able to play “Assassin’s CreedOdyssey” streamed to Chrome browsers ondesktop or laptop computers. A recentlyuncovered patent that Google filed for avideo game controller hinted that the techfirm might be planning to release its ownconsole and controller to go along with astreaming service.

‘xCloud’ on horizon Video games are following television

and music into the cloud, with console-quality play on its way to being a streamingservice as easy to access as Netflix orSpotify.Computing power in data centers

and devices from televisions to smart-phones has surged and streaming technolo-gy has advanced, providing tools to breakblockbuster titles from confines of consolesor personal computers. Google, whoseYouTube video service operates an eSportsplatform for viewing game competitions,will be entering a sector with other power-ful competitors including Sony andMicrosoft.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadellasaid late last year that a keenly anticipated“xCloud” streaming service was in “earlydays.” Microsoft’s Xbox consoles andgames unit are big business for theRedmond, Washington-based technologytitan, which has been adapting to modernlifestyles in which software is hosted as aservice online and tapped into usingwhichever gadgets people prefer. Videogame titan Electronic Arts also has laid outa vision of streaming video gamesenhanced with artificial intelligence to cre-ate “living, breathing worlds that constantlyevolve.”

Bigger world of play Wedbush Securities analyst Michael

Pachter sees Amazon, Apple and Google aspotential big players in the space givenhuge investments they have made in datacenters that provide cloud services to mil-lions of people. Amazon, a major cloudoperator through its Amazon Web Services,also owns popular game play-streamingservice Twitch. Console quality video gameplay streamed online as a service, hostedon servers in the internet cloud, faces chal-lenges including moving data quicklyenough to avoid lags in action or imagery.

Improvements in internet bandwidth,computing power and data storage capabil-

ities are enabling “disruptive technologies”such as streaming that can change the waygames are created as well as played,according to Ubisoft. While streaminggame services might nibble at consolessales, they are more likely to broaden theaudience of players to anyone with aninternet connection, according to analysts.

The US video game industry generateda record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, up18 percent from the prior year, according todata released by the EntertainmentSoftware Association (ESA) and NPDGroup. “Console, PC, and mobile platformsall saw significant growth, while developingportions of the market like subscription andstreaming services gave us a peek into afuture full of possibilities for the industryand gamers,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatellasaid in a release. — AFP

With streaming move, Google eyes future of gaming

In this file photo Videogamers play on an alpha version of French video gamedeveloper Ubisoft’s last installment of “Assassin’s Creed”, titled “Assassin’sCreed Syndicate”, during the Madrid Games Week 2015 in Madrid.

Ted Price introduces thecoming release of the game

‘Sunset Overdrive’ at theXbox media briefing where

new games were introducedon the eve of the annual E3

video game extravaganza inLos Angeles, California.

— AFP photos

A Vietnamese girl poses for photographs amidst the “The Parting of the Plastic Sea” art installation, made out of plastic straws by Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong, at a mall in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday. “The Parting of the Plastic Sea” built with some168,000 straws collected from streets around Vietnam, won the Guinness World Record for largest art installation made from plastic straws. — AFP

L i f e s t y l e Monday, March 18, 2019

20 Established 1961

G o s s i p

Tom Walker won’t sing at his own wedding.The 27-year-old musician popped the ques-tion to his long-term partner Annie last yearbut he’s dismissed suggestions he provide the

entertainment on their big day, insisting he can’t imagine“anything worse”. Asked by Britain’s OK! magazine if hewas going to be singing on his wedding day, he replied:“At my wedding? Are you joking? I can’t think of any-thing worse. Imagine, it’d be like, ‘Everybody come andlook at me!’ “I am trying to get James Taylor and then

Flux Pavilion to do the after-party! Absolute class!” Butthe ‘Leave a Light On’ hitmaker and his wife-to-be arestill in early stages of planning the wedding as they havebeen so busy. He said: “I have found a few potential ven-ues and me and my missus have had a couple of discus-sions about it. She just finished a masters degree and hasstarted a new job and I have just been hectically busy aswell. So hopefully when it all dies down a bit we’ll getsome time to plan.” The ‘Angels’ musician had been dat-ing Annie for five years before he opened a bottle of

champagne and popped the question to her in Sri Lanka.He previously said that she loves being with his sweet-heart because she has been unfazed by his fame andstood by him all through his journey. He said: “When Imet my missus, Annie, I didn’t even have a job. She justlikes me for me and nothing has changed between us,which is really nice because a lot in my life has changedbut she’s stayed the same.”

Walker won’t sing at his wedding A

Michael’s artcollection sold

at auction eorge Michael’s art collection has soldfor £11.3 million at auction. The collec-tion of the chart-topping pop star -who died in 2016, aged 53 - featured

pieces from the likes of Tracey Emin and DamienHirst, and some of his most cherished artworkshave been sold at Christie’s in London to raisemoney for causes he supported. Damien Hirst’s2006 piece ‘The Incomplete Truth’ was sold for aneye-watering £911,250, whilst another Hirst piece,‘Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain’, fetched as muchas £875,250 at auction. A 1982 Bridget Rileypainting known as ‘Songbird’ was sold for£791,250, and Tracey Emin’s ‘Hurricane’ wasbought for £431,250. Meanwhile, Andrew Ridgeleyrecently announced he is writing a book about hisfriendship with the late pop star. The duo met atschool and went on to form Wham! in 1981,achieving huge stardom in 1984, before going theirseparate ways later in the decade. PenguinRandom House imprint Dutton will publish ‘Wham!George & Me’ in October and have promisedAndrew will reveal all in “wonderful detail”. Thepublishers said in a statement: “They made andbroke iconic records, they were treated like gods,but they stayed true to their friendship and ulti-mately to themselves. “It was a party that seemedas if it would never end. And then it did, in front oftens of thousands of tearful fans at WembleyStadium in 1986. “Andrew’s memoir covers in won-derful detail those years, up until that last iconicconcert: the scrapes, the laughs, the relationships,the good and the bad. It’s a unique and one-and-only time to remember that era, that band andthose boys.”

G

Aalto’s fans feel ‘accepted’

at concerts aara Aalto thinks her fans feel “accepted”when they attend her concerts. The 31-year-old Finnish singer - who came second on ‘TheX Factor’ UK in 2015 - is not planning on

slowing her career down anytime soon and has a lot of“ideas” in the pipeline that she wants to achieve in thefuture. However, the star also wants to continue makingher fans feel like they are part of her “family” when theycome to her gigs. Speaking to Diva magazine, she said: “Iwant to do a musical. I want to write a book. I have allthese ideas and I can’t get away from them. “When peo-ple come to my gigs, they feel accepted as they are andthey feel part of this family. It’s amazing what we can dotogether. When I sing, when we’re together in that bub-ble, I feel we can change the world.” And the ‘Monsters’hitmaker also admitted that she is excited to head on tourwith a new “intimate” show, which she describes as “LizaMinnelli meets Lady Gaga.” She added: “I want to bringpeople closer to me so it’s more intimate, An EveningWith Saara Aalto. I tell stories and talk with the audienceThe ‘Dancing On Ice’ finalist - who is engaged to her tal-ent manager partner Meri Sopanen - also opened upabout her “wellbeing” and the values she has instilled inherself to make sure she never puts her health in jeop-ardy at the “risk” of her career. She said: “I have my val-ues and I always stick with them. I won’t sell my soul toplease people. Because of that, things might be a bitharder for me. Industries are used to controlling people,but I don’t want that energy. I will never risk my wellbe-ing for my career and it’s always worked out well for meand led me to the right places.”

S

he Raconteurs have told fans they’ve “finishedmaking the rock ‘n’ roll album you’ve beenwaiting for”. The rock supergroup - whichfeatures Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack

Lawrence and Patrick Keeler - have confirmed via a shortvideo that their long-awaited new album has just beencompleted. The group also released a statement, saying:“Just finished making the rock & roll album you’ve beenwaiting for.” The Raconteurs released their debut studioalbum, ‘Broken Boy Soldiers’, in 2006 and have notreleased a new record since 2008’s ‘Consolers of theLonely’. Meanwhile, Jack previously revealed he consid-ers it an artist’s responsibility to “show something that noone else is doing”. The 43-year-old star - who is bestknown for his work with The White Stripes - explainedhis outlook while discussing the rise of digital music. Heshared: “If it was 1999 and I was asked: ‘What do youthink about digital music?’, it was my job to say: ‘Is thatwhat everyone else is doing? Then I don’t like it.’ “If theworld had been into analogue, I would’ve said I loveddigital. As an artist it is your job not to take the easy wayout. I want to be turned on when I listen to an artistspeak: I want them to show something that no one else isdoing.”

The Raconteurs finish making their new album T

Migos torelease new

album next year new Migos album will be released

next year. Fans have been eagerlyawaiting a follow-up to 2018’s ‘CultureII’ and while the trio have all beenworking on individual projects -

Quavo’s ‘Quavo Huncho’, Takeoff’s ‘The LastRocket’ and Offset’s ‘Father of 4’ - Offset hasrevealed that a new album is on the way. In aTwitter chat with fans this week, he was askedwhen Migos plan to drop a new record andreplied: “next year”. He also revealed that he willrelease ‘Without Warning 2’, a sequel to his jointalbum with 21 Savage. Meanwhile, Offset recent-ly insisted he tried not to “offend anyone” withhis solo album ‘Father of 4’. The Migos rapper -who has eight-month-old daughter Kulture Kiariwith his wife Cardi B, as well as Jordan, nine, andKody and Kalea, both three, from previous rela-tionships - wrote a song on his record whichdetails the absent role he played in the first yearsof his daughter Kalea’s life, and says the lyricswere “hard” to write. When asked which lyrics oftitle track ‘Father of 4’ were difficult to write, the27-year-old rapper said: “The lyrics about mybeautiful daughter Kalea, and not really having a

relationship with her or knowing her mom well.My first daughter. The situation was a tight situa-tion for me but I had to step up, like I said in thesong. How it happened was a little rockstar-ish,but I still faced it. I wasn’t there for some time,but I faced it, and I’m there now.” Offset ispleased people have “embraced” the song, as hewas concerned he could have “offended” thoseinvolved, or people in similar situations. Headded: “Those were the hardest bars, though. It’sthe truth. I didn’t want to offend anyone becauseit’s a very sensitive topic. I didn’t offend anyoneand I appreciate how the people took it. Theyembraced it. It’s understanding the baby daddy’sside of it, who’s trying. It ain’t no excuse if you’renot trying, but there’s so much to fatherhood thateven when you try, they try to play with it like itain’t enough. I was just trying to let the feelingsgo, and say, ‘If you and your kids see eye-to-eye,and y’all got the relationship and y’all can under-stand, then it’s all good.’”

Foals’ Jack Bevan says the band were “raringto go” with their new album. The indie rockband recently dropped their first release since2015, ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part

1’ - with’ Part 2’ coming this spring - and the group’sdrummer admitted that, following a year-long hiatus, thegroup has a “creative build up” and so were able to pro-duce content “quicker than normal”. In an interview withMusic Feeds, Jack said: “Yeah, it was kind of exactly that.After we finished our last album, we were so tiredbecause we’d basically played back-to-back tours of‘Holy Fire’ (2013) and ‘What Went Down’ (2015). “Wetook a whole year off and I think when we came back, itwas the first time we’d really had a break so we wererearing to go. “I think having that time off gave us a bit ofa creative build up. So when we went into the studio, it

just came quicker than normal. Jack added that thegroup - which also includes Yannis Philippakis, JimmySmith, and Edwin Congreave - “never set out” to make adouble album however they felt like they “couldn’t edit”their tracklist down. He said: “We never set out to makea double album but I think we got to a point where wehad finished 20 tracks and we were like ‘I don’t think wecan edit this down to 12 or whatever to put on a record’We felt like we wanted to put it all out. “I think we alsofelt that in the past, as we only tend to make a recordevery three or four years, like ‘Great! We get to put moretracks out, the fans get to hear more music and we get toplay more songs live’. It’s really satisfying for us to havethat extra output.”

Foals were ‘rearing to go’ with their new album

Gabrielle wantsfans to vote

on her setlist abrielle wants fans to vote for which songsthey want to hear. The 48-year-old singerthinks an online poll - as used by the RollingStones, who began asking their fans to select

tracks for their setlists - is an “incredible idea” and wouldhelp “accommodate a lot of peoples wishes”. Speakingto BANG Showbiz, she said:” I think a Twitter poll is anincredible idea, it’s definitely something to think about, itwould work. I should definitely do something like that.We could accommodate a lot of people’s wishes forsongs, sometimes it’s good to give people what theywant. “We’re going to have a party, we’re going to havefun. I’ve got the new album to play and the old stuff it’sgoing to be great. “It’s getting hard, it’s got to the pointwhere we’re asking the audience what they want to hearand what I want to add to that. “ The ‘Out Of Reach’ hit-maker went on to explain that some fans go as far assending their own set playlists to her and insisted thatalthough she love her new material, she needs to makesure she includes her biggest hits or her fans would “killme”. The ‘Dreams’ hitmaker continued: “It was so funnybecause people have been sending their own playlist andsaying what songs should follow the others. Right nowI’m whittling down the songs, I kind of know what thesetlist is but it is changing a bit because there are onesthat I hadn’t considered. “But I love my new material soit’s a case of deciding how many from my new album I’mgoing to sing and how many hits from the back catalogueare going. “The audience want the hits otherwise they’dkill me and I love singing them too, I just need to findenough time to do all the songs I want to do, I’m reallyexcited and I can’t wait.” Gabrielle kicks off her ‘UnderMy Skin’ tour on March 20 at the Old Fruitmarket inGlasgow, Scotland, and includes a date at London’s O2Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

A

G F

Monday, March 18, 2019L i f e s t y l e G o s s i p

Established 1961 21

he makers of ‘Wonder Woman1984’ don’t consider theupcoming movie to be asequel. The much-anticipated

film follows 2017’s ‘Wonder Woman’ -which stars Gal Gadot as the titular char-acter - and veteran producer CharlesRoven has explained how the new movieis being approached by the studio. He toldVulture: “[Director Patty Jenkins] was justdetermined that this movie should be thenext iteration of Wonder Woman but not asequel. And she’s definitely delivering onthat. “It’s a completely different timeframe and you’ll get a sense of whatDiana/Wonder Woman had been doing inthe intervening years. But it’s a completelydifferent story that we’re telling. “Even

though it’ll have a lot of the same emo-tional things, a lot of humor, a lot of braveaction. Tugs at the heart strings as well.”Earlier this year, meanwhile, Pattyrevealed she had no plans to helm a DCteam movie in the near future. She said:“The ‘Justice League’ movie, I find thosemovies to be extremely challenging. Ithink they are fantastic when they are welldone. “But taking on all of those charac-ters at the same time in the timeline ... Isort of hope that we don’t do a ‘JusticeLeague’ movie for a little while becauseI’m excited to see all of their movies. Iwant to see ‘Aquaman 2’, I want to see‘Flash’.”

Wonder Woman 1984 ‘isn’t a sequel’

Cara Delevingne:I hope to inspire girls

who aren’t normalara Delevingne wants to become “an inspira-tion to girls who aren’t normal”. The model-turned-actress has developed a strong bondwith her fans through her various social media

accounts, and Cara has insisted she wants her followersto see the ups and downs of her day-to-day life.Reflecting on her social media activity, Cara - who hasstarred in movies like ‘Paper Towns’ and ‘Suicide Squad’ -told Elle: “I think it’s important to express yourself. “Ihope I can be an inspiration to girls who aren’t normal orfeel like they [don’t] belong, because I definitely don’t alot of the time.” Despite this, Cara previously admitted tofinding aspects of social media to be “creepy”. The 26-year-old star shared: “I was just in Scotland, and theyknew: ‘Oh, you were in Inverness this weekend.’ I waslike: ‘How did you know that?’ and they said: ‘Becausesomeone who was in the bathroom with you tweeted it.’It’s just creepy, things like that, someone in a bathroomstall. “When I was growing up, I was fans of so manypeople in music and acting, but it’s a different kind offandom now, it’s like they’re obsessed. “They find oneperson they obsess over and they follow them - theyhave to know everything about their lives, because youhave that access, Instagram and Twitter, you can literallybe a part of their lives. So they get one person and that’sit. It’s really changed things. It’s kind of scary, really.”

eira Knightley took “solong” to “completelyignore” cameras whenshooting a movie. The 33-

year-old actress - who has three-year-old daughter Edie, with Klaxonsfrontman James Righton - is keen tobranch out into directing in the futurebut knows it takes a very differentapproach to starring on screen. Askedif she wants to direct said: “I don’tknow, at the moment with a three yearold, no. But maybe further down theline. I’ve worked on a lot of films, I’veworked with a lot of wonderful direc-tors and I’m really interested in howit’s all put together and I really likeworking with scripts and storylines. Ithink there’s certain areas that I’mconfident I’d be okay in, and certainareas where I’m not as confident.“The problem is, as an actor what I’mmeant to do is completely ignore thecamera is there, so it’s taken me solong to completely ignore the camerathere that now if you’re thinkingabout directing you need to be think-ing ‘why are you there and what lensare you on’.” The British star playsRachael Morgan in James Kent’s new

drama ‘The Aftermath’ and was drawnto the film because there were somany “interesting” and thought-pro-voking factors that she was left to“think about” when she read her char-acter’s script. Speaking to Collider,she added: “I’d never seen a film setexactly in this, I want to say period,but that’s not right, it’s the aftermathand what that looked like, that kind ofpost-apocalyptic world and I thinkthat sense of rebuilding, that sense ofloss, and that very real sense therewas a winning side and a losing side.“But ultimately, if you’ve lost some-body that you loved, there is no win-ning, and what does that look like andhow do you get past that. “It’s a very,very grown-up love story becausewhat happens as a couple you’vebeen through a great tragedy andsuddenly you are completely differentpeople and it should be the personthat you know best in the world andyet you don’t recognize them in anyway, how do you reach them, how doyou come back together. I thought allof these things were interesting thingsto think about.”

Keira Knightley took‘so long’ to ignore

camera on set

he new ‘Suicide Squad’ movie will be a “totalreboot”. Producer Peter Safran has confirmedthat the James Gunn-directed project will be acomplete reboot of the much-discussed origi-

nal film, which was released in 2016. Asked how excitedfans should be about ‘Suicide Squad 2’, Peter explainedto JoBlo: “First of all, we don’t call it ‘Suicide Squad 2’because it’s a total reboot, so it’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ andI think people should be extremely excited about it. “It’severything you would hope from a James Gunn scriptand I think that says a lot and that promises a lot and I

know that we will deliver a lot.” The original ‘SuicideSquad’ movie boasted a star-studded cast that includedthe likes of Margot Robbie, Will Smith and CaraDelevingne. The film performed well at the box office, butwas also widely panned by critics. Meanwhile, JamesGunn was recently rehired for ‘Guardians of the GalaxyVol. 3’. The acclaimed filmmaker - who previously helmedthe first two movies in the money-spinning series - wasinitially axed by Disney following the emergence of oldoffensive tweets, but he was rehired for the role earlierthis month. Following the announcement, James wrote on

the micro-blogging platform: “I am tremendously gratefulto every person out there who has supported me overthe past few months. I am always learning and will con-tinue to work at being the best human being I can be. “Ideeply appreciate Disney’s decision and I am excited tocontinue making films that investigate the ties of love thatbind us all. I have been, and continue to be incrediblyhumbled by your love and support. From the bottom ofmy heart, thank you. Love to you all. (sic)”.

New Suicide Squad movie is a ‘total reboot’

lexander Skarsgard says‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ is “visuallyextraordinary”. The 42-year-old actor stars in the upcoming

monster head-to-head blockbuster -scheduled for release in 2020 - and he hasteased that the role is big and fun andcompletely different to the characters hehas portrayed onscreen in the last twoyears. Speaking to Collider about theproject, he said: “We’ve been shooting fortwo months, we were in Hawaii for amonth we were in Australia for a monthand I fly back tomorrow morning to con-tinue. I’m having so much fun, I’m loving itI really am. “It’s quite different for TheAftermath, and from most movies I’ve

been doing the past two years I’ve done alot of slightly more cerebral, emotionallyintense dramas. So in that way it was quitecathartic and it was exciting to somethingbig and fun and I love the character I playin it and visually it’s pretty extraordinary.”The Adam Wingard-directed movie fol-lows on from Gareth Edwards’ ‘Godzilla’and Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ ‘Kong: SkullIsland’ and ‘Godzilla: King of theMonsters’, which is slated for release in2019. Skarsgard will be joined in the filmby Julian Dennison - who starred in‘Deadpool 2’ - and Brian Tyree Henry, aswell as the Oscar-nominated DemianBichir and Millie Bobby Brown.Meanwhile, the Swedish star also playsKeira Knightley’s [Rachael Morgan] loveinterest Stefan Lubert in the James Kentdirected drama ‘The Aftermath’, which isset in 1946 postwar Germany, and heinsisted that it was the “complexity” of thescript that attracted him to the role. Headded: “Well I’ve read quite a few postworld war two movies, what made meexcited about this one is it felt very differ-ent. That world where two narratives isoften quite good versus bad, everyonethis side is a hero and everyone inGermany is a villain. “I thought it wasinteresting to read something that had abit more complexity and I read the noveland thought it was fascinating. This guy isnot your stereotypical evil Nazi, but he’salso not a hero, he’s trying to survive inGermany during the war, trying to protecthis daughter. There’s a complexity thereand it made it very interesting to me.”

Alexander Skarsgard:Godzilla Vs. Kong is‘visually extraordinary’

aley Lu Richardson initially turned down‘Five Feet Apart’. The 24-year-oldactress stars opposite ‘Riverdale’s ColeSprouse in the new romantic drama,

which tells the story of two teenagers with CysticFibrosis - the genetic condition resulting in mainlyrespiratory and gastrointestinal problems - butHaley admitted her character’s controlling naturemade it difficult for her to connect at first. She toldThe Hollywood Reporter: “Fun fact: I actuallypassed on this movie. I wasn’t super into this scriptthe first time I read it, to be honest. Not because ofwhat these characters go through, but because therewere things about Stella that were hard for me toconnect to. And I think that aspect of being so inneed of control, that was scary for me because youcan’t fake that innate need or pressure or whateverit is to have these control issues. Her whole life isbuilt around that. The majority of it is because of hersituation and her CF, so honestly it was hard. It washard to picture that happening in this big, magicalteen romance world and it was scary to imaginedoing justice to that and making that grounded andreal in this big genre teen movie. “Honestly, I think it

scared me at first because I didn’t know if it waspossible, but then it’s also a challenge and excitingbeing as grounded and real of a character and hav-ing conversations and saying words that a teenagercan actually relate to with this magical, high-stakessituation happening around them.” Haley alsopraised her co-star Cole, 26 as “awesome” and saidtheir work in the movie was a real partnership. Shesaid: “Cole’s awesome. I didn’t really know what toexpect. It’s always a bummer when you show up andyou meet someone that you’re gonna be doing amovie with and you get the sense that they don’treally care as much as you do about doing a goodjob and about doing the best they can or they’re notinvested in the creative or collaborative aspect ofmaking a movie, and Cole is so not that. He’s sodeeply artistic and caring and thoughtful, whichmade it possible to create those scenes and workwith him on making these characters real and takingthe time they need to make them real, well-roundedpeople. I just felt like I had a real partner in him, andI appreciated that.”

Haley Lu Richardson turned down Five Feet Apart

achary Levi “always dreamed” of being givena role where he gets “paid” to get in the bestphysical shape of his “life”. The 38-year-oldactor - who is set to play the titular role in the

upcoming DC and Warner Bros superhero flick ‘Shazam!’- has a new found respect for Dwayne ‘The Rock’Johnson and the “incredible” workout regime he sticks towhen working, and hopes one day he can be on thatsame “level”, despite being the “strongest” he’s everbeen. Speaking to Collider about The Rock’s fitness rou-tine, he said: “I still don’t know. It takes a village I’ll saythat, and he’s got an incredible village around him to beable to stay on that schedule because even with every-thing that I’m doing, I’m still not able to reach ‘The Rock’level, but maybe one day! “I hope I’m able to continue inthis journey that I’m on right now of strength and well-ness and health and the happiness that its brought from

that and just transforming my body and being strongerthan I’ve ever been. “I always dreamed that I’d get paidto be in the best shape of my life and that’s essentiallyhappening so I’m happy about it.” Levi’s DC alter-egohas been brought to life with a red suit, which features aniconic red cape and gold lightning bolt across the chest,however, the star admitted that if there was going to be asequel, he’d want to make a few “adjustments” on theoutfit to make it more “comfortable”. He added: “I’d wantto make some adjustments on the suit just to make it a lit-tle more comfortable, the suit’s amazing and it’s beautifuland lights up and everything, but I was freezing, we shotin Toronto in the middle of winter and it didn’t keep mewarm at all and then we’d go on the stage inside and I’dbe burning up. I want to work with wardrobe designersand find a happy medium!”— Bang Showbiz

Zachary Levi dreamed he gets paid to get in shape

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Established 1961 22L i f e s t y l e

Puerto Rican stariLe confronts rapeculture with defiant new song

Arising Puerto Rican star whostruck a chord with a song lam-basting US oppression of her

homeland is back with a provocativetrack tackling rape culture and society’smachismo. The singer iLe (pronouncedEEE-Lay) — whose career kicked off asa singer for her brothers’ renownedreggaeton rap band Calle 13 — imbuesthe traditional Latin bolero style that’soften reserved for romance yet withdark, poignant lyrics, calling attention tosensitive issues she says society prefersto ignore.

Speaking in New York ahead of herperformance at the festival “Migrations:The Making of America”-put on by theacclaimed Carnegie Hall-the edgy bal-ladeer said news of the sexual assaultand murder of a Puerto Rican womaninspired her to pen the vulnerable“Temes,” which unravels the emotionalaftermath of a rape.

It’s “a song trying to portray so manythings that we go through as womenthat are very unfortunate,” iLe, realname Ileana Cabra, told AFP of thesong, whose title translates in English to“You’re Afraid.” “It’s a struggle that Ican’t believe that we’re stil l goingthrough-but it’s important to talkabout,” she said. “My best way ofspeaking about it is through music.”

The 29-year-old singer who beganperforming with her superstar brothers

as a teenager has since stepped into herown, winning a Grammy for her debutsolo album “Ilevitable” that saw her riffon Latin standards. Now she’s repur-posing her old-school sultry voice totake on contemporary affairs, first with2018’s “Odio” (“Hate”), which unpacksthe colonial relationship between theUS and Puerto Rico, and now with thestriking “Temes.” The disturbing-yet-dreamlike video for the song opens withthe shoes of a man leaving a room as awoman, played by iLe, slowly composesherself, pulling up her underwear andremoving ropes from her neck andwrists to reveal raw wounds.

‘A little change’ As of 2012 Puerto Rico-a Caribbean

island US territory-had the highest percapita rate in the world of women over14 killed by intimate partners, accordingto an American Civil Liberties Unionstudy, with 107 women murdered from2007 to 2011. And in the aftermath ofHurricane Maria-which in 2017 rippedthrough the island home to approxi-mately three million people-the problemhas only worsened, advocates say,though a lack of telecommunicationsand bookkeeping infrastructure hasmade quantifying the problem difficult.

“I always think that these type of sit-uations, like rape and killings-it’s some-thing that could happen to me as well,”iLe said of her inspiration for “Temes.”“If you pull out all the air I breathe/Andmy voice is leaving you withoutsound/If you believe that I can’t survivewithout you/Why do you fear me?” shesings in her native Spanish. By the endof the video the woman stands back up,adjusts her sea green dress and boldlyleaves the warehouse-esque scene ofthe crime.

“The song is pretty defiant. It’s asong that defies patriarchy,” said iLe,whose second album is set for releaselater this spring. The idea, she said, ispushing people to stop viewing rampantmachismo as a normalized fact of life, aneffort she says the #MeToo movementhas lent steam to. “I’m a little hopefulwith younger generations,” she said.“Things are always slow. Things that wehave now, it took time. We still haven’tmade that much progress.” “But at leastwe feel a little change.”—AFP

Long relegated to providing comicrelief or playing supporting parts,plus-size actresses are finally getting

their due with juicy front-and-center rolesin a sign of shifting attitudes towardsdiverse body types. New Hulu series“Shrill ,” which debuted Friday and isadapted from the best-selling autobiogra-phy of Lindy West, is the latest example ofstudios willing to depart from the tried andtested formula of slender leading ladieswho have dominated the small screen sinceits creation. To be sure, curvy actresseslike the Oscar-winning Octavia Spencerand Mo’Nique, or hip hop icon QueenLatifah, blazed an early trail starting morethan decade back with a string of starringfilm and television roles.

In more recent years, Chrissy Metz hasgotten attention for “This Is Us,” DanielleMacdonald starred in the Netflix movie“Dumplin’,” while in cinema, Rebel Wilson(“Pitch Perfect”) and Melissa McCarthy(“Spy,” “Ghostbusters”) have made them-selves regular fixtures. “I think theAmerican public, and probably the publicin general, is not used to seeing fat womenon TV,” Aidy Bryant, the star of “Shrill”who has been a regular on late night com-edy show “Saturday Night Live” recentlytold Elle magazine. “I do think we arestarting to see somewhat of a shift,” saidRebecca Puhl, a professor at the Universityof Connecticut where she is deputy direc-tor Rudd Center for Food Policy andObesity. Heavier actresses are also takingon new types of roles.

“In the past, people with obesity wereoften cast in more of that comedic role

than a serious one,” said James Zervios, ofthe Obesity Action Coalition, which fightsagainst weight bias. “As of very recently,we have begun to see people with obesi-ty, such as Chrissy Metz, cast in moredramatic roles.” But, he adds, the progressis more marked for women than it is formen, who struggle to find leading rolesoutside of comedic performance.According to Puhl, research conducted byher institution has found decades worth ofevidence documenting weight stigma inthe entertainment industry, where charac-ters with a larger body size “are oftenridiculed, depicted engaging in stereotyp-ical behavior like eating or binge eating.“They’re also less likely to be shown hav-ing positive social interaction,” she adds.That bias is even more pronounced inchildren’s television, with large charactersportrayed as “as being aggressive or anti-social or unfriendly.”

Not there yet The phenomenon both mirrors and

reinforces real word discrimination, addsPuhl, with studies showing that stigmatiz-ing images in the media increase bias.Today, Melissa McCarthy is one of the fewplus-size actresses whose weight andphysical appearance is barely remarkedupon during a film.

For others, like Metz and Macdonald,their characters’ obesity may be comment-ed on or are part of the wider story with-out dominating it. In “Shrill,” Annie, playedby Aidy Bryant, is constantly reminded ofher obesity through a series of micro-aggressions in the opening scene. But theshow grows in its complexity, as Anniefinds herself becoming increasingly com-fortable in her skin despite the inability ofothers to look beyond her weight.

“In a lot of ways, this is a really tradi-tional television show,” Bryant said in herElle interview, adding: “It’s a girl with herjob and her boss and her boyfriends andher friends. “But the person at the center isthe thing that makes it different. That pointof view is what is important.” Thoughrecent developments suggest a step in theright direction, “I don’t think we’re all theway there yet,” said Puhl. “Diversity ofbody sizes needs to be just a standard partof what we see in the media.” “We knowthat two thirds of Americans are eitheroverweight or obese so it makes sense tosee these people on screen.”—AFP

In movies and TV, plus-size actresses finally

assume leading roles

Puerto Rican singer iLe is interviewed by AFPon March 15, 2019 in New York City. — AFP

Aidy Bryant attends Hulu’s “Shrill” New YorkPremiere at Walter Reade Theater in NewYork City. — AFP

Lebanese Artist Charles Nassar inspects one of his sculp-tures made out of artilley shrapnels in the village ofRemhala, South of Beirut.

These pictures show sculptures by Lebanese Artist Charles Nassar made out of artilleyshrapnels in the village of Remhala, South of Beirut. — AFP photos

There is a violinist, a farmer tilling his field,and a cockerel with a propeller for a head.All were once rockets, artillery shells, or bul-

lets falling on Lebanon’s battlefields. ArtistCharles Nassar has been transforming their dark,wrangled remains into sculptures to celebratetradition and memory. “I hate shrapnel, but I alsolove it at the same time,” said the 54-year-oldwith a neat salt-and-pepper beard, in a gardensouth of Beirut. A series of conflicts have rockedthe tiny multi-confessional country in recentdecades. Metal rained down during the 1975-1990 civil war, the 2006 conflict betweenLebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Israel,and during clashes in a Palestinian camp the fol-lowing year.

Nassar was forced to flee Lebanon during thecivil war, and his grandmother was killed in theviolence. But she and other characters of theartist’s past live on, displayed in the nooks andcrannies of his garden in the village of Remhala.

In one corner, a metal version of his grandmothercollects snails, while his father milks a cow near-by. In another sculpture, a woman bakes crispyflatbread slapped inside a traditional outdoorstove. “The shrapnel takes on shapes in my mind...They guide me to what I should do with them,”said the artist. Nassar first created his metalsculptures in Beirut, but after the war he decidedto display them on land he owned in Remhala.

He has worked the war detritus into 250 cre-ations so far, selling 150 that he is now workingto replace. “I don’t want to remind people ofwar,” Nassar said. Instead, the idea is that “any-body who was bothered by an artillery shellstarts to like it,” he added. “I’m trying to turnblack into white, something negative into some-thing positive.”— AFP

Lebanese artist

turns shrapnelinto sculptures

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Departure Flights on Monday 18/3/2019Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 982 Ahmedabad/Chennai 00:05FDB 072 Dubai 00:40JAI 571 Mumbai 01:15JZR 111 Doha 01:45KAC 363 Colombo 01:50KAC 677 Dubai 01:50KAC 285 Dhaka 01:55KAC 417 Manila 02:20DLH 625 Frankfurt 02:25THY 773 Istanbul 02:30PGT 859 Istanbul 02:30IGO 1758 Kochi 02:55THY 767 ISL 03:05UAE 854 Dubai 03:40OMA 644 Muscat 03:55THY 765 Istanbul 04:00QTR 1087 Doha 04:00KKK 1269 Istanbul 04:00ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05MSR 613 Cairo 04:15JZR 701 Asyut 04:30PGT 861 Istanbul 04:55IGO 1752 Chennai 05:10QTR 1077 Doha 05:30FDB 070 Dubai 05:50JZR 215 Jeddah 06:00JZR 713 Sohag 06:15JZR 121 Dubai 06:35THY 771 Istanbul 06:40UAE 874 Dubai 06:50KAC 167 Paris 07:10RJA 643 Amman 07:15GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15KAC 413 Bangkok 07:20JZR 115 Doha 07:30KAC 173 Munich 08:20KAC 163 MXP 08:40FDB 054 Dubai 08:50KAC 501 Beirut 09:00KAC 161 Geneva 09:00IGO 1756 CNN 09:00KAC 787 Jeddah 09:05JZR 731 Cairo 09:10BAW 156 London 09:10KAC 541 Cairo 09:30KAC 561 Amman 09:40KAC 101 London 09:45KAC 671 Dubai 09:45ABY 126 Sharjah 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 10:00KAC 773 Riyadh 10:10ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:10KAC 617 Doha 10:35FDB 056 Dubai 10:35JZR 211 Jeddah 10:40IGO 1754 Ahmedabad 10:40KAC 155 Istanbul 10:45QTR 1071 Doha 10:45KAC 117 New York 11:25GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25AXB 396 Kozhikode 11:50JZR 213 Jeddah 12:00JZR 221 Riyadh 12:00AXB 890 Mangalore 12:10MSC 416 Sohag 12:15MEA 405 Beirut 12:55QTR 1075 Doha 13:00JZR 113 Doha 13:30

JZR 123 Dubai 13:40UAE 872 Dubai 14:15JZR 103 Bahrain 14:40RBG 554 Alexandria 14:45QTR 1079 Doha 15:00KNE 382 Taif 15:00IRA 666 Esfahan 15:10FDB 060 Dubai 15:10GFA 222 Bahrain 15:25KAC 673 Dubai 15:40SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45KAC 775 Riyadh 15:50KAC 743 Dammam 15:55KNE 530 Jeddah 16:00KAC 615 Bahrain 16:05KAC 619 Doha 16:10KAC 563 Amman 16:10ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20OMA 646 Muscat 16:35KAC 785 Jeddah 16:40ABY 128 Sharjah 16:45SAW 706 Damascus 17:00SYR 342 Damascus 17:00KAC 361 Colombo 17:35FDB 052 Dubai 17:40UAE 858 Dubai 17:45KAC 283 Dhaka 17:45QTR 1073 Doha 17:50KAC 331 Trivandrum 18:00JZR 721 Alexandria 18:00JZR 733 Cairo 18:10SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20KAC 621 Doha 18:25JZR 127 Dubai 18:35JZR 253 Amman 18:40JZR 403 Hyderabad 18:40KAC 381 Delhi 18:55FDB 064 Dubai 19:20MSR 621 Cairo 19:30UAE 876 Dubai 19:30QTR 1081 Doha 19:55ABY 124 Sharjah 20:05KAC 357 Kochi 20:30FDB 058 Dubai 20:35KAC 301 Mumbai 20:35KAC 345 Ahmedabad 20:40KNE 232 Riyadh 20:50JZR 709 Luxor 20:50KAC 353 Bengaluru 20:55JZR 401 Mumbai 20:55OMA 648 Muscat 21:20DLH 624 Dammam 21:30DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50QTR 1089 Doha 22:00ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:10KAC 1543 Cairo 22:15KAC 203 Lahore 22:15MEA 403 Beirut 22:20JZR 715 Sohag 22:20ALK 230 Colombo 22:25GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30KAC 303 Mumbai 22:30KAC 383 Delhi 22:30KLM 445 Bahrain 22:50KAC 783 Jeddah 22:55UAE 860 Dubai 23:00ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05QTR 1083 Doha 23:25SVA 515 Riyadh 23:30SVA 503 Jeddah 23:45

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Medapati Samelu S/oMedapati Rama Rao (oldname) residing at 5-24,Kolmanpeta, Kumudavalli,West Godavari, AndhraPradesh - 534210. Solemnlydeclare that my name (previ-ously called) MedapatiSamelu (old name) changedas Medapati Raju (newname). (C 5501) 18-3-2019

Monday, March 18, 2019N e w s

Established 1961 24

Continued from Page 1

He said the meeting discussed progress made in thenorthern economic zone and that discussions are stillongoing on this issue, adding that the draft law to regu-late the area does not violate the constitution.

Head of the panel MP Salah Khorshid said the meet-ing also discussed Kuwait’s 2035 vision and a numberof projects to diversify sources of income, providedthey do not violate the constitution. MP Al-Humaidi Al-

Subaei said the government did not provide any cohe-sive project based on a well-defined strategy, but most-ly verbal information. MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said that ifthe draft laws for the mega projects include violationsof the constitution, he will grill the defense minister. MPSafa Al-Hashem said the government did not provideany concrete proposals or any legislation on the issue.

In the meantime, two independent candidates elect-ed in the by-election held on Saturday to fill the seatsof former MPs Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Jamaan Al-Harbash will take the oath in tomorrow’s session andserve the remaining one and a half years in this term.Bader Al-Mulla and Abdullah Al-Kandari, both lawyers,were elected in the second and third constituencies,respectively defeating their nearest Islamist rivals - for-mer MPs Hamad Al-Matar and Ammar Al-Ajmi.

Panel calls to imposerestrictive measures...


Husna Ahmad was among four women believed tohave been killed by Tarrant, who documented his radi-calization and two years of preparations in a lengthy,meandering and conspiracy-filled far-right “manifesto”.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her office and some30 other officials had received the document by emailabout nine minutes before the attack. “It did not includea location, it did not include specific details,” she said,adding that it was sent to security services within twominutes of receipt.

Earlier yesterday, the prime minister, wearing a blackheadscarf, appeared visibly moved as she greeted andhugged members of the Muslim community inWellington, and laid a floral tribute to the victims ofFriday’s atrocity. Around Christchurch, New Zealandand the world there have been vigils, prayers, memori-als and messages of solidarity. “We stand together withour Muslim brothers & sisters” were the words on alarge red banner, above a sea of flowers at one of thesites in what one resident dubbed the “city of sorrow”.

An emotion-filled haka - the Maori war dance - wasperformed by a New Zealand biker gang to honor theChristchurch dead. The country remained on high alertyesterday, with police closing an airport in the southerncity of Dunedin - where Tarrant had lived - after anunidentified package was spotted on the airfield.

The dead from Friday’s attack span generations,aged between three and 77, according to a somber listcirculated among relatives. Some victims came from theneighborhood, others from as far afield as Egypt or Fiji.At least two of the dead came from the same family - afather and son. Delhi said yesterday that five of itsnationals were killed in the attack, while Pakistan saidnine of its citizens were among the dead.

“It’s a massacre, what else do they need to know?”said school principal Sheikh Amjad Ali, expressing frus-tration over the wait for loved ones’ remains. Islamiccustom dictates that the dead should be buried within24 hours, but strained authorities, desperate to makesure no mistakes are made or the complex investigationharmed, said a quick process was difficult. “All of thedeceased have had a CT scan, their fingerprints aretaken, the property they were wearing or had withthem is removed,” said Chief Coroner DeborahMarshall, adding that dental impressions were takenand post-mortems performed. Ardern said she expect-ed all the dead would have been returned to their fami-lies by Wednesday.

Authorities said 34 people remained in hospital.Among those fighting for their lives is four-year-oldAlin Alsati. The preschooler was praying alongside herfather Wasseim at the Al Noor mosque when she wasshot at least three times. Her father, who was also shot,recently emigrated to New Zealand from Jordan.“Please pray for me and my daughter,” he pleaded in aFacebook video message from his hospital bed beforeundergoing surgery.

The mosque attacks have shaken this usually peace-ful country, which prides itself on welcoming refugeesfleeing violence or persecution. Today, Ardern willgather her cabinet to discuss changing the country’sgun laws. That could include a ban on semi-automaticweapons of the type used by Tarrant. A series of reformattempts in recent years have failed. Ardern also wantsanswers from social media giants over the livestreamingof the carnage. Facebook said it had removed 1.5 mil-lion videos of the attack around the world in the first 24hours. The video has been classed as “objectionable”under New Zealand law, meaning that anyone whoshares it could face prosecution and jail.

Meanwhile after days of lockdowns, security warn-ings and fear, police have urged Kiwis to go back totheir normal business. When they return to work, schooland hobbies today however, they will find a high policepresence, said commissioner Mike Bush. “This is foreveryone’s safety, to reassure the public.” — AFP

Kiwis pay tribute as families clamor...


But when he started swearing, I knew he was not thegood guy,” he said.

Aziz hurled the machine at Tarrant and then duckedbetween cars as the self-confessed fascist unleashed abarrage of shots at him. Aziz then heard one of his sonscall out, “Daddy, please come back inside!” Unhurt, hepicked up an empty shotgun the gunman had discardedand shouted “come on here” repeatedly in an effort todraw him away from his sons and the other worshippers.“When he see the gun in my hands, I don’t know whathappened, he dropped the gun and I chased him withmy own gun... I managed to throw the gun on his carand smash the car window, and I could see he was a bitfrightened.”

The 48-year-old kept chasing the attacker as he spedoff in his car. The gunman was apprehended by twoarmed police officers soon afterwards. Aziz returned tothe mosque where he was met by scenes of carnage.

Dead bodies were strewn around the mosque, amongthem his close friends. “When I close my eyes, I still seebodies everywhere,” he said. “We are all still in shock,but what can you do. You cannot bring them back.”

Then came another shock. Aziz said police whoarrived after the shooting blocked him from re-enteringthe mosque, thinking he might have been the gunman ashe was seen earlier with the weapon. “For a long time, Ididn’t know if my kids were alive or dead or injuredbecause I couldn’t go inside the mosque,” Aziz said. Helater found out all his sons had survived. Aziz arrived inAustralia as a child refugee. He lived in Sydney foralmost three decades before moving to Christchurchtwo-and-a-half years ago.

He says he has nothing but contempt for the attack-er. “A lot of people tell him he is a gunman. But... a mannever hurts anybody. He is not a man - he is a coward,”Aziz said. He said he was overwhelmed by the out-pouring of support from his neighbors after theattacks. “There’s very nice people around here. When Iwent home last night, my wife told me all the neigh-bors, they sent flowers... cards, foods, cakes. Theyshowed all their love. “That’s why I love New Zealand -you won’t get that sort of love and that sort of respectanywhere.” — AFP

Hero refugee chased gunman...


The first person he saw struck was a Palestinian, a manwho was an engineer by training but who, like Abobora, alsodrove a taxi in the city. “He walked up just to see what isgoing on and then he saw the attacker. When he tried to runhe shot him somewhere here,” Ababora recalled, pointing tohis side. “I saw him falling down.”

Soon Brenton Tarrant, the 28-year-old Australian policesay carried out the massacre, was inside the prayer hall,pumping round after round into the defenseless worshippers.Ababora said he instinctively fell to the ground and managedto squeeze himself against a bookshelf that held the Qurans.Crucially, it made his body a slightly smaller target. “I justpretended as if I am dead,” he said. Ababora said he wassickened at how methodical the killer was, firing round afterround into the crumpled pile of bodies in a well-plannedattack he later learned was broadcast on Facebook.

“This guy started to shoot randomly, left and right, auto-matic. And then he finished the first box (magazine) and thenhe changed it, again automatic. Then he finished the secondone, he put the third box, again start automatic in the otherroom again.” He could feel the shockwaves from the bulletspass by his body. “I was waiting (for) my moment, when everysecond (a) shot comes I was saying ‘This is for me. This is forme’. And I lost hope,” he said. He began to silently pray and

think of his family.The horror was far from over when the gunman departed

after emptying a fourth magazine before driving across townto commit a second atrocity at the Linwood mosque. For anagonizing number of minutes afterwards, no one at the AlNoor mosque dared make a sound. But as the pain got toomuch for the wounded, people started crying out. The scenein front of Ababora was hellish. “There was blood every-where,” he said. A friend called out, saying he had been shotin the leg. He tried to help him up but the leg was shatteredby the bullet.

Ababora staggered outside to find another worshipper -whose son is friends with his eldest son - alive but with hor-rific injuries. He had been shot in the jaw, his hand and hisback. It was only after laying the man down he noticed twomore bodies - two women lying in a pool of blood. “Theywere latecomers,” he explained. “When he (the gunman) fin-ished everyone in the mosque and he came out to escape,these ladies were late, and he shot them. Bang. Bang.”

Close by was one of the gunman’s discarded rifles andAbabora said he instantly recognized “Nazi” symbols writtenon it as well as historic places and dates celebrated by thefar-right such as the Battle of Vienna in 1683. “He wrote allthe places where Muslims were attacked on the gun, all overthe gun.” Like most of Christchurch’s inhabitants, Ababorasaid he never believed such hatred would arrive on hisdoorstep. “We used to say New Zealand is safe, especially inChristchurch we say we are safe, it’s a trusting system here.The Muslims here, we are the most quiet people,” he said,adding the mosques in the city don’t even broadcast the callto prayer. “New Zealand is not safe anymore,” he concluded.“This is brutal.” — AFP

Survivor says Quran shelf...


Western diplomat in New Delhi and the Indian offi-cial said. Later, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,who was also in Hanoi, also called both sides to seek away out of the crisis. “Secretary Pompeo led diplomaticengagement directly, and that played an essential role inde-escalating the tensions between the two sides,” StateDepartment deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino saidin a briefing in Washington on March 5. Pompeo spoketo Doval, the Indian and Pakistani Foreign MinistersSushma Swaraj and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, respec-tively, Palladino said.

US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Phil Davidsontold reporters in Singapore last week that he had sepa-rately been in touch with the Indian navy chief, SunilLanba, throughout the crisis. US efforts were focused onsecuring the quick release of the Indian pilot by Pakistanand winning an assurance from India it would pull backfrom the threat to fire rockets, the Western diplomat inNew Delhi and officials in Washington said.

“We made a lot of effort to get the international com-munity involved in encouraging the two sides to deesca-late the situation because we fully realized how danger-ous it was,” said a senior Trump administration official.The Pakistani minister said China and the United ArabEmirates also intervened. The government of the UAEsaid Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin

Zayed Al-Nahyan held talks with both Modi andPakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

India has not given details, but has said it was intouch with major powers during the conflict. On themorning of Feb 28, Trump told reporters in Hanoi that heexpected the crisis to end soon. “They have been goingat it and we have been involved in trying to have themstop. Hopefully that is going to be coming to an end.”

Later that afternoon, Khan announced in Pakistan’sparliament that the Indian pilot would be released, andhe was sent back the next day. “I know last night therewas a threat there could a missile attack on Pakistan,which got defused,” Khan said. “I know, our army stoodprepared for retaliation of that attack.” The two coun-tries have gone to war three times since both gainedindependence in 1947, the last time in 1971. The twoarmies are trading fire along the line of control that sep-arates them in Kashmir, but the tensions appear con-tained for now.

Diplomatic experts said that the latest crisis under-lined the chances of misread signals and unpredictabili-ty in the ties between the nuclear-armed rivals, and thehuge dangers. It still was not clear whether India hadtargeted a militant camp in Pakistan and whether therewere any casualties, they said. “Indian and Pakistanileaders have long evinced confidence that they canunderstand each other’s deterrence signals and candeescalate at will,” said Joshua White, a former WhiteHouse official who is now at Johns Hopkins. “The factthat some of the most basic facts, intentions andattempted strategic signals of this crisis are still shroud-ed in mystery ... should be a sobering reminder that nei-ther country is in a position to easily control a crisisonce it begins.” — Reuters

India, Pak had threatened to...

JERUSALEM: An Israeli court yesterday ordered thetemporary closure of a side building at a highly sensi-tive Jerusalem holy site that has been the source of ten-sions in recent weeks. The Jerusalem magistrates courtsaid the building known as the Golden Gate at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the TempleMount, should be closed while the case continues. Thesite’s administrator, the Waqf religious organization,was given 60 days to respond to the court case involv-ing the building. Israeli police have called for the build-ing to be closed.

Waqf spokesman Firas Dibs said it did not intend toabide by the court’s decision, adding that the buildingremained open yesterday. Jordan, the custodian of theholy site, condemned the court ruling, with its foreignministry adding that Israel would bear “full responsibili-ty for the dangerous consequences” of the decision.There are believed to be discussions ongoing betweenIsrael and Jordan over the status of the building.

There have in recent weeks been scuffles betweenPalestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the sitein Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem over the use of theside building. Palestinian worshippers have beenentering the site and praying there despite an Israeliorder that it should stay closed. Israel shut access tothe Golden Gate in 2003 during the secondPalestinian intifada over alleged militant activitythere. Palestinian officials argue that the organizationthat prompted the ban no longer exists and there isno reason for it to remain closed.

The larger compound is the third-holiest site inIslam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for state-hood. It is also the location of Judaism’s most sacredspot, revered as the site of the two biblical-era Jewishtemples. Jews are allowed to visit but cannot pray thereand it is a frequent scene of tension. Israeli officials areconcerned tensions at the site could boil over and setoff wider clashes ahead of April 9 Israeli elections.

The site has served as a rallying cry for Palestinians.Ofer Zalzberg, a senior analyst for the InternationalCrisis Group, said “we are seeing a hardening of the

negotiating positions of both sides” concerning accessto the side building. However, the court order gives theIsraeli authorities some leeway in enforcement, he said.“The court did not give the police a deadline for imple-menting its order,” said Zalzberg. “It introduces clarity,

and now it’s at the discretion of the government interms of the timing and manner of the enforcement.”

The Waqf said in a statement on Saturday that itwants to carry out renovations at the building, butkeep it open during that time for Palestinians who

wish to pray there. It alleged that far-right Israeliswere seeking to take over the side building, butIsraeli authorities say they are committed to enforc-ing the current rules in place at the site that preventsuch moves. — AFP

Israel court orders closure of building in Aqsa compound

JERUSALEM: Palestinian Muslims walk past the Golden Gate in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on March 1, 2019. — AFP

INDIAN WELLS: The 39th match between RogerFederer and Rafael Nadal failed to materialize onSaturday as the world No. 2 Spaniard hobbled out ofIndian Wells to send Federer into a title clash withDominic Thiem.

Nadal, whose longstanding right knee trouble flaredup in his quarter-final victory over Karen Khachanov,couldn’t take the court for the blockbuster semi-finalwith Swiss great Federer.

“I wanted to try my best to be competitive today,” adejected Nadal said. “I warmed up today in the morning,and I felt that my knee was not enough good to competeat the level that I need to compete, to play semi-finalsmatch of this event.” Federer, seeded fourth as he pur-sues a record sixth title in the California desert, will bat-tle 25-year-old Austrian Thiem, who is seeking his firsttitle in one of the ATP’s prestigious Masters 1000 events.

Thiem, ranked eighth in the world, was rock-solid in a7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 victory over 14th-rankedCanadian Milos Raonic.

Thiem, who advanced to the semis on a walkoverwhen Gael Monfils withdrew with a Achilles tendoninflammation, was locked-in from the start, firing 10 win-ners without an unforced error in the opening set.

He couldn’t convert his only break point againstRaonic in the second, and Raonic managed to seize thetiebreaker aided by a favorable netcord bounce for a 5-3lead. Thiem gained the first break of the match for a 3-2lead in the third and after saving the only break point hefaced all day as he served for the match wrapped it upwith a sparkling backhand volley.

“It was an amazing day,” said Thiem, who will beplaying in his third Masters 1,000 final. “His serve is just

unreal so even though I played amazing it was so closethe first two sets.” The Austrian said it would “mean theworld” to break through for a Masters crown, but notedit would be a tall order against 20-time Grand Slam win-ner Federer-who is coming off a remarkable 100thcareer title in Dubai last month.

“It’s not going to be easy,” said Thiem, who has splitfour prior meetings with Federer 2-2. Federer was look-ing forward to the match and the chance to break out ofa tie with Novak Djokovic for most Indian Wells titles,but was sorry to miss a meeting with Nadal.

Their rivalry stretches back 15 years, and Federercouldn’t help wondering how many more chances theymight have. “We’ve had so many epic battles,” Federer,38, said. “I know that every one that we have now couldbe our last. So was this our chance at a last one-I hopenot and I believe at the level he’s playing and the level I’mstill going there’s definitely going to be more.”

The injury was devastating news for Nadal, whose runto the Australian Open final in January marked a return tocompetition for the first time since similar knee troubleforced him out of his US Open semi-final against JuanMartin del Potro in September.

He had ankle surgery in November, and only returnedto training in December. “For me it’s not about onlytoday. It’s about what it means for me to have to pull outin a tournament that I love so much like this one, and inthe semi-finals after playing well during the whole tour-nament,” Nadal said. “You can imagine that I can’t behappy.” Nadal confirmed he would also skip the upcom-ing Miami Masters and aim to recover and prepare forthe claycourt season, targeting a return at Monte CarloApril 14-21. — AFP

S p o r t s Monday, March 18, 2019

25

Federer, Thiem into Indian Wells final as Nadal hobbles out

Nadal confirmed he would skip upcoming Miami Masters

Established 1961

Bring on the WorldCup! Wales believeafter Grand SlamCARDIFF: Wales were hailed yesterday for theenergy, drive and belief that powered them to theSix Nations Grand Slam, legendary fly-half BarryJohn saying the World Cup could not comearound quick enough.

The Welsh thumped Ireland 25-7 at Cardiff’sPrincipality Stadium on Saturday to follow victo-ries over France (24-19), Italy (26-15), England(21-13) and Scotland (18-11). It was also a 14thconsecutive win, based around an iron-clad,swarming defence and an ever-strengtheningsquad coach Warren Gatland has forged aroundtalismanic captain Alun Wyn Jones.

“You can see the camaraderie that Gatlandand Alun Wyn have built so superbly,” ex-Walesand British and Irish Lions icon John said in hisWales on Sunday column. “It’s resulted in theGrand Slam. Bring on the World Cup.”

Wales, John continued, “are getting more andmore confident and need fear nobody out inJapan”, where the World Cup runs fromSeptember 20 until November 2. Former Welshand Lions prop Graham Price said Wales werethriving on the winning momentum that has seenthem rise to second in World Rugby standings.

“Get to the World Cup and anything can hap-pen!” Price said, with Wales drawn in Pool Dalong with Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Uruguay. “Iam optimistic we are going to do well at theWorld Cup and, if we were to face the All Blacks,the later the better.”

Sam Warburton, who was named Welsh skip-per at the age of 22 by Gatland and led Wales totheir 2012 Grand Slam, hailed the “fairytale finish”for his former coach, who steps down from hisjob after the World Cup.

“It will be the most rewarding of his threeGrand Slams because it is almost a fairytale to dothis in his final Six Nations campaign,”Warburton said in the Sunday Times.

“To do it in a World Cup year too - the lastteam to complete the clean sweep in such a yearwere England in 2003 and look how that pannedout (they won the World Cup) - makes it extraspecial.” Warburton maintained that the soleteam in world rugby he would worry about Walesplaying were double defending world championsNew Zealand.

“If it was anyone else at the moment, I wouldback Wales,” said the flanker who retired fromrugby last year after a succession of injuries.

“If somebody else beat New Zealand andknocked them out of the tournament, as a Welshfan you would be thinking, ‘Oh my God, this ison’.” Ian McGeechan, the former Scotland andLions centre who was Gatland’s predecessor asLions coach, hailed the New Zealander as a “fan-tastic servant” to Wales and northern hemisphererugby in general.

“What I liked about this (Grand Slam) was thespirit Wales showed when they were under thecosh,” McGeechan said in the Sunday Telegraph.“They never panicked. You cannot fake that.”

There can be no denying the pressure hasbeen ramped up on Wales, where the public arenotoriously fickle and every family, as the jokegoes, has an international selector in their ranks.But Warburton said Gatland had “simply changedthe psychology of the nation”.

“Wales are now a team of achievers and thenation wants and believes that the team canachieve,” he said. — AFP

INDIAN WELLS: Dominic Thiem of Austria plays a backhand against Milos Raonic of Canada during their men’ssingles semifinal match on day thirteen of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday inIndian Wells, California. — AFP

Bottas upstagesHamilton at AustralianGrand PrixMELBOURNE: Valtteri Bottas upstagedhis Mercedes world champion team-mateLewis Hamilton yesterday to win the sea-son-opening Australian Formula OneGrand Prix in a sizzling performance thathe called his “best ever”.

The flying Finn started second on thegrid but got a jump on the polesittingBriton at the first corner and never lookedback, scorching round the Albert Park cir-cuit to take the chequered flag a massive20.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Red Bull’s precocious Max Verstappencame third to join them on the podiumafter audaciously overtaking Ferrari’sSebastian Vettel midway through the race.“How about that! Yes!” said Bottas overthe team radio after also taking the newbonus point for the fastest lap.

“I don’t know what just happened. Idon’t know what to say. It was definitelymy best race ever,” he said after. “I felt sogood and the car was so good. Four-timeworld champion Vettel had to settle forfourth, trailing in 57.1 seconds behindBottas. Ferrari partner Charles Leclercwas fifth, with Kevin Magnussen in a Haassixth. Bottas, whose last triumph was atthe Abu Dhabi season finale in 2017, wasovershadowed last year by Hamilton, fail-

ing to win a race, hampered by mechani-cal problems and bad luck but was fast inqualifying and only narrowly edged out ofpole position.

“In the beginning it was all about man-aging the race and building the gap,”Bottas said. “I knew I could do it, I’vedone it before, it was about being at mybest level.” Bottas, now in his third yearwith Mercedes, knows he must performwith promising Frenchman Esteban Ocon,22, waiting in the wings as the team’sreserve driver. He delivered in spades onSunday for his fourth Grand Prix win inhis 119th race.

“It’s a good weekend for the team,”said Hamilton. “Valtteri drove an incredi-ble race today so he deserved it. “Wehave some work to do, (but) it is morethan we could have hoped for as a team.”Starting on soft tyres on a fine day, Bottasgot an electric start and built a gap of1.153 seconds on Hamilton after the open-ing lap, with Vettel, Verstappen andLeclerc trailing in their wake.

The gap kept growing, and whenVettel pitted on lap 14 to swap for medi-um tyres Mercedes called in five-timechampion Hamilton soon after. Bottasstayed out, pumping out fastest laps, andwhen seven laps later he pitted heemerged more than 10 seconds ahead ofhis team-mate, who was clearly bemused.

“What was the reason for stopping soearly?” Hamilton asked over the teamradio, to be told it was to cover Vettel’searly stop. With Bottas having an unsur-mountable lead the battle was on for sec-ond, with Verstappen hounding Hamiltonbut unable to find a way through. “I had

to overtake Sebastian to get onto podiumwhich is not easy here but was happy topull that move off,” said Verstappen, whowas ecstatic at beating the Ferraris.

Mercedes have been in a class of theirown all weekend, turning the tables onpre-season testing when Ferrari lookedlike the team to beat. The Italian team’sperformance will be a source of worry,especially as they haven’t won the con-structors’ title since 2008 and their lastdriver to become world champion wasKimi Raikkonen in 2007.

In contrast, Mercedes and Hamilton

have been dominant, winning the drivers’and constructors’ titles five years in a row.Carlos Sainz Jr was the first casualty,forced to stop his McLaren with smokeand flames billowing out of his engine onlap 10 while he was running 14th.

It was also a day to forget for localhero Daniel Ricciardo in his first race forRenault after switching from Red Bull. Helost his front wing after running onto thegrass before the first corner and had topit for a new nose. He finally retired onlap 30 of the 58-lap race. The next GrandPrix is in Bahrain on March 31. —AFP

MELBOURNE: Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas celebrates on the podium afterwinning the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne yesterday. —AFP

DisappointedLewis saysrace was overby first turnMELBOURNE: A disappointedLewis Hamilton said yesterday hisAustralian Grand Prix was “doneand dusted” by the first corner ashe was left searching answers afterfai l ing to match the pace ofMercedes team-mate Valtter iBottas.

The five-time world championstarted from pole at the season-opening race but was pipped atturn 1 by the Finn and was never incontention as he quickly pulledaway to beat the Briton by almost21 seconds.

To rub salt in his wounds,Bottas also picked up an extrapoint for the fastest lap.

Hamilton, who was quickest inall three practice sessions and dur-ing qualifying, was gracious indefeat, but also struggling to knowwhat went wrong.

“I had a pretty straightforwardrace today; I lost position at thestart and my race was pretty muchdone and dusted after the firstcorner,” he said.

“Afterwards it was really aboutbringing the car home and bagging

the points. “I had to pit early to cover the

pit stop from Ferrari, so I had along second stint and drove supercarefully to make sure I had tyresleft at the end of the race.”

Autosport.com said Mercedeshad discovered damage to thefloor of Hamilton’s car followingpost-race checks, possibly causedby hitting debris or running acrossa kerb.

Team chief Toto Wolff had noimmediate answers. “For Lewis, itwas a harder afternoon-the startwas not as good as Valtteri, then wehad to pit him earlier than ideal tocover the risk of being undercut by(Sebastian) Vettel,” he said.

“That gave him a long stint onthe tyres and none of us knew ifthey would make it to the end, so itwas hard to judge the right paceand he wasn’t happy with the carbalance. “My feeling is that it canbe tricky to find the sweet spotwith these new cars and tyres, andprobably we didn’t manage thattoday with Lewis.”

Despite not getting the win he asaiming for, Hamilton said it was “anincredible weekend for the team”.“I’ll bag the 18 points I got today,keep working and come backrecharged for the next one,” hesaid. “It was a really great weekendfor the team and I’m really happyfor everyone. We showed a greatperformance today and we need tocontinue to build on this-we have along season ahead of us.” — AFP

Ali Al-Khorafi wins showjumping competition

KUWAIT: Upcoming and promising rider Ali Al-Khorafi won the Kuwait EquestrianSports Club show jumping competition of the 105cm.

The winners are: 1st Ali Al-Khorafi and Catalana, 2nd Judy Alayash and Alberto,3rd Ali Al-Saqer and Armani, 4th Bassam Al-Shemali and Willy, 5th Saud Al-Marshood and Trigger, 6th Abdulrahman Al-Madahka and Dicale.

Khan takes five, Afghanistan set 147 to win maiden TestDEHRADUN: Spinner Rashid Khan claimed five wick-ets to put Afghanistan in sight of their maiden Test vic-tory after bowling out Ireland for 288 on day three ofthe one-off game yesterday. Chasing 147 to win,Afghanistan were 29 for one at stumps. IhsanullahJanat, on 16, and Rahmat Shah, on 11, were batting atclose of play in Dehradun.

Spinner Andy McBrine had opener MohammadShahzad caught behind for two before Janat and Shah,who made 98 in Afghanistan’s first innings total of 314,played out the last few overs of the day.

Ireland batsmen Andy Balbirnie and Kevin O’Brienhad earlier hit half-centuries before Khan returnedcareer-best figures of 5-82 to bowl out Ireland in thefinal session of play. “Feeling happy to get some wick-ets for the team when the team needed me,” Khan, whohas taken seven wickets in the match, told reporters.

“It was tough to grip the new ball because I had afinger injury and tough for me to pitch it on the rightlength as was paining a lot,” he said, referring to theinjured middle finger of his bowling arm. Balbirniemade 82 and O’Brien 56 before a 10th-wicket 58-runpartnership between James Cameron-Dow and TimMurtagh set up a potentially tricky chase for theAfghans.

Cameron-Dow was left unbeaten on 32 after number11 Murtagh, who hit 54 not out in Ireland’s first inningsscore of 172, was the last man out on 27. “I am not sur-prised, if you have seen Test cricket even tailendershave records,” said Khan.

“Plan was to bowl as many good deliveries as possi-ble. But they chose the right deliveries to score andthat’s how they made runs.”

Earlier Balbirnie put on 104 runs for the third wick-et with James McCollum, who made 39, to frustratethe Afghanistan bowlers in the first session. An umpir-ing howler cost Ireland their first wicket of the daywith Paul Stirling adjudged lbw off paceman YaminAhmadzai for 14 after the opener got a thick edgeonto his pad.

Balbirnie, who resumed the day on 14, stood firmto register his maiden Test half-century with aboundary off Mohammad Nabi. Ireland took lunch at

124-2 but a batting collapse in the second sessionsaw them slip to 157-6, with Khan and Salamkheilsharing the spoils. — AFP

SOLDEU: Mikaela Shiffrin capped her phenomenalseason with victory in the giant slalom at the WorldCup finals in Soldeu yesterday for her 17th win and arecord-equalling fourth globe. The all-conqueringAmerican ski queen added the giant slalom to thesuper-G and slalom titles having already been crownedthe overall champion for the third straight season at thestart of March by securing the crystal globe.

That drew her alongside Lindsey Vonn and TinaMaze, the only other two women skiers to capture fourtitles in the one season. Only former Swiss ski greatPirmin Zurbriggen has bettered that tally when he end-ed the 1987 season with five titles.

Shiffrin, who turned 24 this week, has maintained herimpressive run of form right to the end, even thoughshe only had to finish in the first 15 on Sunday to beassured of winning the overall giant slalom title.

On Saturday the unstoppable skier from Coloradowon the slalom, these two wins coming after last week’sexploit in the Czech Republic when she set a newrecord for most World Cup victories in a season withher 15th. That pulled her clear of the previous bench-mark of 14 set by Swiss legend Vreni Schneider whoachieved the feat in 1988-89. Yesterday was Shiffrin’s60th World Cup win. Vonn, who is 10 years older,retired with 82 career wins in February.

Vonn claimed four globes twice, in 2010 and 2012,while Maze achieved the same feat in 2013. Shiffrinended her season at the top of the podium after beatingNew Zealander Alice Robinson, the 17-year-old invitedto the World Cup finals as junior world champion in thediscipline, by 0.30sec.

Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova took third at 0.41s. If Shiffrin

is able to maintain her rate of success, she will threatenthe outright record of 86 World Cup wins held bySwedish legend Ingemar Stenmark in two seasons time.

The one record that escaped her clutches this cam-paign was the points record of 2,414 set by Maze in2013. She winds up the 2018/2019 season with 2,204.Aside from Shiffrin, it was the precocious performanceof teenage New Zealander Robinson that caught theeye in Andorra, the youngster climbing the podium forthe first time, aged just 17 years, three months.

The Kiwi left a cluster of established stars in herwake, including France’s double world champion TessaWorley and Viktoria Rebensburg, Germany’s 2010Olympic champion who was penalised for a major mis-take on her second run.

Earlier, Sweden’s 2018 Olympic slalom championFrida Hansdotter competed in her final race Saturday.To mark her retirement, she came down the slopewearing traditional Swedish costume, basket in hand todistribute bread rolls, followed by a champagne showerwith her teammates at the finish.

Later, Marcel Hirscher trailed in out of the top 10behind Clement Noel in the season-closing men’sWorld Cup slalom having already secured the disci-pline’s small globe. Marcel Hirscher trailed in out of thetop 10 behind Clement Noel in Sunday’s season-closingmen’s World Cup slalom having already secured thediscipline’s small globe.

The Austrian, who finished 14th, was receiving hissixth slalom title to add to his eighth successive overallcrystal globe. For Noel it was a third win of the seasonand it left him in second place in the slalom standings,more than 300 points behind Hirscher.

Noel dominated the first run but could muster onlythe 20th fastest time on the second yet he had enoughin hand to take the win from Manuel Feller and DanielYule. Germany’s Felix Neureuther was showered with

champagne after his final race before retirement.Last weekend Hirscher raised the prospect of his

own retirement at the age of 30 after making certain ofthe overall title in Slovenia. — AFP


26 Established 1961

Shiffrin ends sublime season on a high with record-equalling fourth globe

Noel wins as Hirscher claims slalom globe

ANDORRA: General overall FIS Alpine ski winners Austria’s Marcel Hirscher (L) and US Mikaela Shiffrin (R) celebratewith their crystal globe trophies during the podium ceremony after competing in the Men’s FIS Alpine ski world cupchampionship and in the Women’s FIS Alpine ski world cup championship yesterday, in Grandvalira Soldeu - ElTarter, in Andorra. — AFP

DEHRADUN: Afghanistan’s Ihsanullah Janat (L) plays a shot during the third day of the Test cricket match betweenAfghanistan and Ireland at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun yesterday. — AFP

SCOREBOARD

Ireland second innings (overnight 22-1)W. Porterfield c Khil b Ahmadzai 0P. Stirling lbw b Ahmadzai 14A. Balbirnie c Khil b Salamkheil 82J. McCollum lbw b Khan 39K. O’Brien lbw b Khan 56S. Poynter c Janat b Salamkheil 1S. Thompson c Janat b Khan 1G. Dockrell lbw b Khan 25A. McBrine st Khil b Khan 4J. Cameron-Dow not out 32T. Murtagh c Rahmat b Ahmadzai 27Extras: (b4, lb2, w1) 7 Total: (all out, 93 Overs) 288 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Porterfield), 2-33 (Stirling), 3-137 (Balbirnie),

4-141 (McCollum), 5-150 (Poynter), 6-157 (Thompson), 7-220(Dockrell), 8-229 (O’Brien), 9-230 (McBrine), 10-288 (Murtagh) Bowling: Ahmadzai 14-1-52-3, Nabi 20-1-58-0, Khan 34-7-82-5,Salamkheil 17-2-66-2, Momand 8-0-24-0 (w1).

Afghanistan second innings (target 147)M. Shahzad c Poynter b McBrine 2I. Janat not out 16R. Shah not out 11Total: (1 wicket, 16 overs) 29Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Shahzad)To bat: A. Afghan, H. Shahidi, I.A. Khil, M. Nabi, R. Khan, Y.Ahmadzai, W. Momand, W. SalamkheilBowling: Dockrell 7-4-18-0, McBrine 8-4-8-1, Cameron-Dow 1-0-3-0.

Scoreboard at stumps on the third day of the one-off Test between Afghanistan and Ireland in Dehradun yesterday:Ireland first innings 172 (T. Murtagh 54 not out, G. Dockrell 39; Y. Ahmadzai 3-41, M. Nabi 3-36)Afghanistan first innings 314 (R. Shah 98, A. Afghan 67; S. Thompson 3-28)

South Africa pinWorld Cup hopeson bowlersCAPE TOWN: South Africa finished their one-dayseries against Sri Lanka with a clear idea of boththe team and the tactics they will use in the upcom-ing Cricket World Cup. Sri Lanka, after their fourth5-0 series defeat in less than two years, appearedto be in disarray.

South African captain Faf du Plessis said afterthe fifth match on Saturday night that he was “98 to99 percent” sure who would go to England. He saidthe “one or two percent” was to allow for “guyswho are really red hot or striking good form”.

Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga said form in aforthcoming domestic tournament would be impor-tant, while he expected experienced players likeAngelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal - who didnot play in South Africa - to be in contention.

Du Plessis indicated that South Africa were pin-ning their hopes on a potent bowling line-up to winmatches, even if meant that the team might have alengthy tail. South Africa’s fast bowlers, backed byleg-spinner Imran Tahir, dominated the Sri Lankanbatsmen, who were unable to bat out a full 50 oversin any of the matches.

Du Plessis cited the example of Pakistan, whowon the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. “I’vebeen in teams that have had a very long battingline-up and it didn’t prove successful,” said DuPlessis.

“You can learn from your mistakes and you canlook at other teams where they have got it right.Pakistan had a very average batting line-up but itdidn’t matter to them because they kept bowlingteams out.”

Du Plessis said that if the bowlers performed, itwould be up to the top six in the batting order tomake sure they scored enough runs. Malinga, whohas captained Sri Lanka to nine one-day losseswithout a win, said at the post-match presentation:“We tried hard in the last five matches but wedidn’t get enough runs on the board.”

Malinga said his players had fought hard and thebowlers had stuck to their plans without luck. Butevidence of the fight claimed by Malinga was sel-dom in evidence during the matches. With coachChandika Hathurusingha recalled to Sri Lankaahead of the remaining matches on tour - threeTwenty20 internationals - it seemed Sri Lanka hadmuch to sort out before the World Cup starting onMay 30.

But the same was said before last month’s Testseries in South Africa, which Sri Lanka won againstthe odds under the captaincy of DimuthKarunaratne. Seven of South Africa’s likely WorldCup squad will be playing in the Indian PremierLeague, which starts on Saturday. The fixtures havenot been finalised but it is likely the IPL will onlyfinish about two weeks before the start of theWorld Cup.

Key bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi andTahir, as well as promising fast bowler AnrichNortje, will be playing in the IPL - as will DuPlessis, Quinton de Kock and David Miller. DuPlessis said he had no power over IPL decisions,“but if we can get some guys even a week’s breakbefore we join up together that will be great for us.We’ll see if that can be a possibility”.

Du Plessis, Rabada, Ngidi, Tahir and De Kockwere all named on Sunday in South Africa’s squadfor the first Twenty20 international against SriLanka at Newlands on Tuesday but will not play inthe last two matches. — AFP

Rahm takes leadat Players asMcIlroy,Fleetwood battleMIAMI: Jon Rahm stormed into the lead atthe Players Championship in Florida onSaturday, firing an eight-under-par 64 to takea one-shot advantage into the final round ashe chases his first win of the year.

The 24-year-old Spanish ace surged intocontention after taming TPC Sawgrass’sStadium Course at Ponte Vedra Beach with ascintillating exhibition of accurate iron shotsand solid putting.

The world number 10 only narrowlymissed out on equalling the course record 63after finishing the third round with a 15-under-par aggregate of 201. Rahm took solepossession of the lead after overnight leaderRory McIlroy endured a mixed round. TheNorthern Ireland star recovered from abogey-bogey start to card a two-under-par70 to finish the day at 14 under.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood will also startthe fourth round one off the pace. Fleetwoodrecovered from a double-bogey on the first,and two more bogeys on the front nine, to

card a two-under-par 70 for 14 under.Rahm meanwhile is hoping to claim his

first win of the year after a remarkably con-sistent start to 2019 which has included top-10 finishes in five of six starts. The Spaniardattributed his success on Saturday to a new-found mental durability.

“For the past year or so, I’ve been workingso hard in the mental aspect of my game, try-ing to keep myself in check a little bit more,”Rahm said after his round. “That’s been thekey this week. I’ve been so balanced, nothinglike I used to be, not getting frustrated when Imiss shots.

“I’ve been really proud the way I’ve han-dled. Hopefully tomorrow I can continue itand get a good round.”

Rahm’s fireworks on Saturday came on theback nine, which he completed in six under tomove clear of the field. A birdie on the 10thwas followed by an eagle on the par-five 11th,when he drilled a magnificent second shotfrom the fairway to three feet from 244 yards.

A laser-guided tee shot to three feet onthe par-three 13th yielded a further birdie,and then two more birdies on the 16th and17th took him to eight under for the day.

McIlroy meanwhile was in trouble fromthe start, carding bogeys at the first and sec-ond to immediately give the chasing packhope. But he responded to that early setbackon the par-three third hole, draining a 14-footbirdie putt to pick up a shot. — AFP

Smith, Warner meet withAustralia team as bans near endSYDNEY: Steve Smith and David Warner have met with theirAustralia team mates in the United Arab Emirates to smooth theground for their return to international cricket when their bans expireat the end of the month.

The former test captain and vice-captain were suspended for 12months for their roles in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa lastMarch and have not been allowed to play top-level cricket since. WhileAustralia have struggled without their two best batsmen, questionshave been raised over how easily they would re-integrate into thesquad for the one-day World Cup and Ashes tour of England.

Coach Justin Langer appeared to have no such qualms after meet-ing with the pair ahead of the one-day series against Pakistan thatstarts on Friday in Sharjah. “They have been received really well,”Langer said. “They have gone through a really tough time, a 12-monthsuspension ... it’s great to have them back in the team.

“They’re excited and ... as a coach when you have got two guys withas many runs and experience as they’ve got coming back into a teamthat’s playing well, that’s very exciting.” While the bans end in time forthe pair to play the final two matches of the Pakistan series, neither wasincluded in the squad as they are both recovering from recent elbowsurgery. Langer said the duo had been briefed on the new team ethosthat was put into place after independent reviews identified a “win-without-counting-the-cost” mentality in Australian cricket. — Reuters


27

CAIRO: Little more than three months before it hoststhe Africa Cup of Nations, Egyptian football has beenplunged into its latest crisis with major clubs squab-bling, games regularly called off and security servicesintervening amid ongoing safety concerns.

“This is the hardest season in the history ofEgyptian football,” Amer Hussein, chairman of thedomestic league’s competition committee whichschedules matches, told AFP. With leading top-flightclubs also involved in African and pan-Arab competi-tions, the knock-on effect on the domestic calendarhas this year thrown the Egyptian league into disar-ray. It does not augur well for June and July, whenEgypt will host the Cup of Nations for the fifth time,with 24 teams participating for the first time in anexpanded format. Egypt was chosen ahead of SouthAfrica after Cameroon was stripped of its hostingduties by the Confederation of African Football. Thetournament is due to take place during the searingEgyptian summer, from June 21 to July 19.

The domestic league is set to run on well beyondthe end of the Cup of Nations, with the possibility ofextended runs in international competitions for Cairogiants Al Ahly and Zamalek potentially making thingseven more complicated.

The hasty preparations for the Cup of Nationshave compounded the league’s woes at a time whenAhly and Zamalek have been hitting out at organisersalong with their new, Saudi-funded rival Pyramids FC.

In February, Pyramids FC publicly accused thefederation of favouring their rivals. The club calledthe scheduling of fixtures an “injustice” to them andthreatened to complain to FIFA. Turki Al Sheikh, aninfluential Saudi businessman and a close politicaladvisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman,has bankrolled the club after buying it last summer.

He has completely rebranded it with an aggressivemarketing campaign and gone on a signing spree,bringing in foreign players from the likes of Brazil andSyria. Al-Ahly, Egypt’s and Africa’s most successfulclub, have even refused to comply with the packeddomestic schedule. They implicitly hit out at PyramidsFC, saying they would not bow to “pressure from acertain party”.

“Tensions are running high and that frightens foot-ball officials in Egypt with the Africa Cup of Nationsaround the corner,” said Amir Abdel Halim of popularEgyptian football website Fil Goal. He said footballauthorities were trying to contain the “anger of Ahlysupporters”, while also encouraging new “invest-ments in Egyptian football embodied in PyramidsFC”. In the face of this wave of postponements andgrowing fan impatience, Egypt’s powerful securityservices have stepped in, in a country where footballand politics have made for a lethal mix.

The country is still scarred by the deadly clasheswhich caused nearly 100 deaths on the sidelines ofmatches involving Ahly and Zamalek in 2012 and 2015respectively. “Ninety-five percent of postponementsare because of the security services” Husseinexplained. “There is no football without security.”

In the politically turbulent period after the 2011uprising that toppled long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak,some fan groups attached to the two powerhouseclubs were instrumental in mobilising demonstrationsand rallying supporters to political causes.

Last month, after weeks of media mudslingingbetween Ahly and Pyramids, the EFA announced thatthe match between both teams would be postponed“on orders from security services”. “The EFA shouldhave stuck to its original schedule” instead of “wanti-ng to please everyone,” said Marwan Ahmed frominfluential website King Fut.—AFP

Africa Cup of Nationshost Egypt boggeddown in domesticfootball crisis

Wolves shock ‘poor’ Manchester United to reach FA Cup semis

‘We’re in a great position in the league, we’ve got the Champions League’WOLVERHAMPTON: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admittedManchester United produced the poorest performanceof his reign as Wolves sent them crashing out of the FACup on Saturday with a 2-1 quarter-final win.

But United’s interim manager was remarkably upbeatdespite his side’s flat performance, saying they had plen-ty more to fight for as they aim for a top-four finish inthe Premier League and look forward to a ChampionsLeague last-eight tie against Barcelona.

United were well beaten by an eager Wolves side whoscored two goals in the space of six minutes in the sec-ond half through Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota, withMarcus Rashford’s injury-time effort a consolation.

Solskjaer had presided over a run of just two defeatsin 18 games since replacing Jose Mourinho in December,progressing to the quarter-finals of the ChampionsLeague and the FA Cup. But they now go into the inter-national break with back-to-back defeats after losing toArsenal last week, with Rashford’s goal their only realchance of the game.

“Today was the poorest performance we’ve had sinceI’ve been here,” said Solskjaer. “It was a big step back-wards. There was a lack of urgency going forwards and alack of forward passing and a lack of regains. “We felttoo comfortable in possession and we never put theirkeeper under pressure or their defenders under pres-sure.”

But Solskjaer delivered a positive message to fans.“We’re in a great position in the league, we’ve got theChampions League,” he said. “You can’t sulk for toolong. We’ve got so much to play for. Man United in Apriland May always find their form. We can’t wait for the

challenge when Barcelona come.”Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was delight-

ed after his side reached the club’s first FA Cup semi-final for 21 years. “It means a lot of course. The FA Cup isthe oldest competition and we played well,” he said. “Weachieved it with the amazing support of our fans believ-ing in us and the noise was fantastic. “When we achievedit, we achieved it together. Now we have to prepare forthe next one.” Wolves had the best chance of the firsthalf, two minutes before the break. Ruben Neves sentJota galloping clear for a one-on-one with SergioRomero, but the United goalkeeper beat his curling shotaway. After the break Romero kept United in the gamewith two superb saves to deny a bullet header fromJimenez and a rising chip from Joao Moutinho as Wolvesgot on top. Wolves scored the goal they had beenthreatening in the 70th minute.

Jimenez was forced backwards with his back to goalafter being crowded out following a superb run byMoutinho, who breezed through three challenges cuttingin from the left. But the Mexican swivelled 180 degreesafter getting a lucky bounce off Paul Pogba and drilled alow shot past Romero.

Six minutes later Wolves put the tie beyond Unitedwhen Neves sent Jota racing clear on the counter andthe Portuguese left Luke Shaw in a heap before firing anunstoppable left-foot drive inside Romero’s near post.Referee Martin Atkinson showed United defender VictorLindelof a red card for lunging in on Jota but it was over-turned by VAR. Rashford pulled one back with a shot onthe turn in the fifth minute of the five added one, but itwas too little, too late. — AFP

WOLVERHAMPTON: Manchester United’s English forward Marcus Rashford (2nd R) vies with WolverhamptonWanderers’ Moroccan midfielder Romain Saiss during the FA Cup quarter-final football match betweenWolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton, central England onSaturday. — AFP

BERLIN: Marco Reus admits Borussia Dortmund arestruggling to pick up wins in the Bundesliga title race,even as his late goal sent them top by sealingSaturday’s dramatic 3-2 victory at Hertha Berlin.

Dortmund’s win leaves them three points clear ofdefending champions Bayern Munich, who must bounceback from their Champions League exit to Liverpool bybeating Mainz. Ivorian striker Salomon Kalou twicebreached Dortmund’s defence in a poor first half by thevisitors, who have taken 12 points from a possible 21 intheir last seven league games.

Danish midfielder Thomas Delaney and defenderDan-Axel Zagadou twice equalised for Dortmundbefore Reus’ late strike at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

Hertha had defender Jordan Torunarigha and substitutestriker Vedad Ibisevic sent off in the final few minutesof a bad-tempered match.

“The most important thing was the three points wetook,” Dortmund captain Reus told Sky. “We dominatedthe second half and played better football the first.“We’re struggling to win, but that’s the only way we’llget more confidence,” he added, after Dortmund alsoneeded two late goals to beat strugglers Stuttgart lastweekend. Kalou capitalised on a mistake by Dortmundgoalkeeper Roman Burki with just four minutes gone togive Hertha the lead. Delaney equalised by chargingthrough a huge gap in midfield and firing home, his 14th-minute shot deflecting off Hertha defender Karim Rekik.Kalou restored Hertha’s lead by drilling home a penaltyafter a Julian Weigl handball 10 minutes from the break.Dortmund drew level again when Zagadou, 19, headedhome a Jadon Sancho corner two minutes after thebreak. With five minutes left, Torunarigha was sent offfor a second yellow card after fouling Dortmunddefender Achraf Hakimi, just before Delaney hit thecrossbar. With time running out and Dortmund growingdesperate after wasting a string of chances, Sancho

supplied the cross for Reus to convert to claim the threepoints. In the dramatic closing moments, Kalou’sreplacement Ibisevic was also dismissed for throwingthe ball in the face of the Dortmund goalkeeper.

Earlier, Schalke’s miserable run was extended to sixstraight defeats after losing 1-0 at home to RB Leipzigin Huub Stevens’ first game back as caretaker coach.The Dutchman has been hastily hurried back for histhird stint in charge after predecessor DomenicoTedesco was fired on Thursday, two days after the 7-0thrashing at Manchester City in the Champions League.

However even Stevens, who lifted the UEFA Cup asSchalke coach in 1997, could not arrest their dreadfulrun, which has seen them fail to win any of their lasteight league games. Timo Werner stabbed homeLeipzig’s winner with 14 minutes gone in Gelsenkirchenafter Yussuf Poulsen had rattled the crossbar.

The defeat saw Schalke drop to 15th in the table,leapfrogged by Augsburg who enjoyed a 3-1 comebackwin at home to second-from-bottom Hanover. SergioCordova equalised for Augsburg to cancel out HendrikWeydandt’s shock early goal for Hanover to make it 1-1at the break.—AFP

Reus sendsDortmund top withlate winner

GENOA: Juventus fell to their first Serie A defeat of theseason yesterday as Genoa ran out 2-0 winners days afterthe Turin club’s Champions League heroics againstAtletico Madrid. Stefano Sturaro, who joined Genoa onloan from Juventus in January before the deal was madepermanent, put the home side in front in the second halfbefore fellow substitute Goran Pandev secured the shockresult with 10 minutes remaining.

Cristiano Ronaldo inspired a remarkable Europeancomeback for the Italian champions on Tuesday when hescored a hat-trick to overturn a 2-0 first-leg defeatagainst Atletico and send his side through to the quarter-finals with a 3-2 aggregate win.

However, the Portuguese was left out of the matchdaysquad for the trip to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris and Juvecoach Massimiliano Allegri was left frustrated as Genoatook points off his side for the second time this season,having drawn 1-1 in Turin in October.

“I expected a different Juventus,” Allegri told Italian

broadcasters. “We did not put in a good performance, wemade some mistakes and then this goal came out ofnowhere. “Much like the Coppa Italia defeat to Atalanta,we picked the right game to lose, because it’s just beforethe break for international duty, so we have time to unplugand rest.

“I am actually happy for Stefano, because if anyone hadto score against us, I’m glad it was Sturaro. He’s a lovelyguy and suffered so much, out of action for practically ayear with that tendon injury, so he deserves it.”

Juve had dropped points just three times this seasongoing into the game, with draws against Genoa, Atalantaand Parma, while they were unbeaten overall in the top-flight for the last 31 rounds, since losing 1-0 to Napoli on22 April 2018.

However, the hosts started the brighter as ChristianKouame forced a good save from former Genoa goalkeep-er Mattia Perin before Cesare Prandelli’s side were award-ed a penalty for handball, only for a Video AssistantReferee (VAR) review to overturn the decision.

Juventus thought they had gone in front after the breakwhen Paulo Dybala swept home a finish, but VAR chalkedthe goal off for an offside in the build-up. Sturaro thencurled a finish into the corner against his parent club justminutes after coming on, before Pandev made sure of thethree points with a powerful finish. Despite the result,Juventus remain 18 points clear of second-placed Napoliat the summit of the table, while Genoa climbed aboveSassuolo into 12th place on 33 points. — Reuters

TAMPA BAY: Alex Killorn recorded his first career hattrick, Tampa Bay set a franchise record for wins in a sea-son, and the Lightning beat the visiting WashingtonCapitals 6-3 on Saturday in the first meeting this seasonbetween the Eastern Conference’s two division leaders.The Lightning notched their 55th victory and became justthe fourth team in NHL history to win 54 games or more inconsecutive seasons. Tyler Johnson, Erik Cernak and YanniGourde also tallied, and Nikita Kucherov notched twoassists for the Lightning, who won their fourth straight.Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots and won for the 13thtime in his past 14 starts. Alex Ovechkin had two goals, andJohn Carlson added a marker and an assist for Washington,which lost for just the third time in its past 15 games.Braden Holtby allowed four goals on 33 shots.

OILERS 3, COYOTES 2 (OT)Connor McDavid scored his second goal of the game

58 seconds into overtime as Edmonton claimed a victoryin Glendale, Ariz. Mikka Koskinen made 28 saves for theOilers, and Matthew Benning added a goal. AlexGalchenyuk scored twice for Arizona. Coyotes goalieDarcy Kuemper stopped 22 shots.

BRUINS 2, BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)Brad Marchand scored at 3:30 of overtime as Boston

returned home and snapped a three-game losing streakwith a victory over Columbus. Patrice Bergeron alsoscored for Boston, and Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves. TheBruins put together a streak of 19 straight games with apoint, the longest in the NHL this season, before going 0-3-0 on a three-game trip to Pittsburgh, Columbus andWinnipeg. Matt Duchene scored the lone goal for the BlueJackets, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.Columbus’ Joonas Korpisalo stopped 31 shots.

BLACKHAWKS 2, CANADIENS 0Corey Crawford made a career-high 48 saves in his

hometown as visiting Chicago won its fifth in a row, beat-ing Montreal. Connor Murphy and Brendan Perlini werethe goal-scorers, both on assists from Alex DeBrincat.Crawford, who missed 28 games in the middle of the sea-son due to concussion issues, posted his second shutout of2018-19. He owns a 1.48 goals-against average during afive-game winning streak. The Canadiens are 6-10-1 fol-lowing an impressive 8-1-1 stretch.

BLUES 5, PENGUINS 1Vince Dunn scored twice, and Pat Maroon had a goal

and an assist as St. Louis ended a three-game losingstreak by winning at Pittsburgh. Oskar Sundqvist and JayBouwmeester also scored, and Colton Parayko andRobert Thomas each had two assists for St. Louis, whichbuilt a 4-0 lead through the game’s first 23 minutes.Jordan Binnington made 40 saves and is 17-4-1 in his first22 NHL starts. —Reuters

Juventus suffer first league defeat of the season at Genoa

GENOA: (From L) Genoa’s Danish midfielder Lukas Lerager, Juventus’ Brazilian defender Alex Sandro andJuventus’ Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur go for a header during the Italian Serie A football Match Genoavs Juventus yesterday at the Luigi-Ferraris stadium in Genoa. — AFP

Killorn, Lightning crush Capitals

SportBottas upstages Hamilton at Australian Grand Prix

Shiffrin ends sublime season on a high with record-equalling fourth globe

Juventus suffer first league defeat of the season at Genoa2725 26

Established 1961


Liverpool survive Fulham scareLiverpool go top of Premier League with a two-point lead over City

LONDON: Fulham’s Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic (C) vies with Fulham’s Belgian defender Denis Odoi (R) during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Liverpool at Craven Cottage in London yesterday. — AFP

LONDON: Liverpool usurped Manchester City to taketop spot in the Premier League but needed a JamesMilner penalty nine minutes from time to see off lowlyFulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage yesterday.

The on-form Sadio Mane put the visitors in frontmidway through the first half, but a rare defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker allowedRyan Babel to give his former club a huge scare 16minutes from time. Fulham’s awful defending all seasonis the reason they are heading back to theChampionship after just one season back in the topflight, and the hosts gave Jurgen Klopp’s men a much-needed gift when goalkeeper Sergio Rico bundled overMane and Milner secured all three points from thespot. Liverpool now hold a two-point lead over City,but the champions have a game in hand. The league

leaders completed a clean sweep of four English sidesinto the quarter-finals of the Champions League with ahighly impressive 3-1 win at Bayern Munich onWednesday.

But they nearly suffered a very costly Europeanhangover against a Fulham side still 13 points adrift ofsafety. Most of the visitors’ attacking threat camedown their left side in the first half and that proved thesource of the breakthrough on 26 minutes.

Mane scored twice in Munich in midweek and tookhis hot streak to 11 goals in 11 games with a simple fin-ish after exchanging passes with Roberto Firmino.

At the other end, Babel was Fulham’s biggest threatall afternoon and Tom Cairney fired wastefully overafter the Dutchman outpaced Trent Alexander-Arnoldjust before the break.

Liverpool started the second half with greater intentto try and put the game to bed.

Andy Robertson was the provider as GeorginioWijnaldum headed a good opportunity over at the farpost before Rico was called into action to deny VanDijk. However, as a torrential rain shower swept overthe banks of the Thames to make playing conditionshazardous, Liverpool’s slender lead proved a danger-ous one. Floyd Ayite was rightly flagged offside as heheaded a deflected shot past Alisson before theBrazilian number one got down well to save fromAndre Zambo Anguissa.

Mane was inches away from securing the points anddoubling his tally for the day with a deft header from acorner that clipped the top of the crossbar.

But disaster seemed to have struck for Liverpool

when Van Dijk’s header back towards Alisson didn’thave enough purchase and Babel stepped in with thebreak of the ball to tap into an empty net.

However, the league leaders showed why they are inthe running to end a 29-year title drought to get a vitalthree points with the help of some erratic goalkeepingfrom Rico. Mohamed Salah’s goal drought continued asthe Egyptian has scored just once now in his last 10games, but it was his shot that Rico spilled before theSpaniard unnecessarily pulled down Mane.

Milner took responsibility from the penalty spot andcalmly sent Rico the wrong way to restore Liverpool’slead, which this time they never looked like letting go.

Salah should have got a much-needed confidenceboost when released clean through by Mane, but Ricosaved low to his left. — AFP

SAN ANTONIO: DeMar DeRozan’s 21 pointsled seven San Antonio players in double fig-ures as the Spurs made all the big plays in thefourth quarter to beat the visiting PortlandTrail Blazers 108-103 on Saturday for theireighth straight victory. The sixth-place Spursare a season-best 12 games over .500 andwithin a game and a half of Portland for fourthplace in the Western Conference standings.Rudy Gay and Derrick White added 13 pointseach for San Antonio, with LaMarcus Aldridgeand Patty Mills scoring 12 points each.DeRozan and Aldridge had eight reboundsapiece, Gay had seven, and Jakob Poeltlblocked five shots. Portland’s Damian Lillardled all scorers with 34 points, and Jusuf Nurkicadded 24 points and 16 rebounds. CJ

McCollum, who finished with 10 points, left inthe third quarter with an apparent left kneeinjury during a drive to the basket.

WARRIORS 110, THUNDER 88Stephen Curry scored 33 points and Klay

Thompson added 23 as Golden State scored40 points in the first quarter in defeating hostOklahoma City. DeMarcus Cousins added 12points, eight rebounds and six assists for theWarriors, who also got eight rebounds and sixassists from Draymond Green. Paul George ledOklahoma City with 29 points but hit only 9 of25 shots overall. Dennis Schroder added 15points off the bench, and Russell Westbrookshot only 2 of 16 in finishing with seven points.

NUGGETS 102, PACERS 100Paul Millsap hit a running layup with seven

seconds left as host Denver edged Indiana tostay a game behind Golden State for the No. 1seed in the Western Conference. Millsap fin-ished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. NikolaJokic scored 26 points before being ejectedfor arguing a foul call on a loose ball play.Jamal Murray and Will Barton scored 17 pointseach for Denver. Thaddeus Young had 18

points and 10 rebounds, Darren Collisonscored 17 points and Domantas Sabonis andBojan Bogdanovic finished with 16 each for thePacers.

JAZZ 114, NETS 98Rudy Gobert totaled 23 points, 17 rebounds

and three blocked shots, and Utah took controlby early in the second quarter to defeatBrooklyn in Salt Lake City. Gobert recordedhis 55th double-double. He shot 9 of 12 fromthe floor and had six more dunks, increasinghis league-leading total to 249. DonovanMitchell led Utah with 24 points and added sixrebounds and four assists. Spencer Dinwiddiescored 22 points off the bench, but the Netsdropped to 0-2 to start a season-high, seven-game road trip. D’Angelo Russell added 20points but shot 8 of 25 for Brooklyn.

CELTICS 129, HAWKS 120Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and Jaylen

Brown added 23, with two key baskets in afourth-quarter stretch, as host Boston held offAtlanta to win for the fifth time in its past sixgames. Irving fell just short of his secondstraight triple-double with 11 rebounds and

nine assists. Boston also got 19 points-four inthe crucial fourth-quarter run-and 11 reboundsfrom Marcus Morris while Jayson Tatum had18 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Smartscored 16 points. Atlanta was led by TraeYoung, who had 26 points, including 5-for-8shooting on 3-pointers, and John Collins, whohad 20 points and 11 rebounds.

WIZARDS 135, GRIZZLIES 128Bradley Beal led six players in double fig-

ures with 40 points-his second straight nightreaching 40 — as host Washington defeatedMemphis. Jabari Parker had 20 points and 11rebounds, and Bobby Portis scored 18 pointsas Washington, 11th in the EasternConference, moved to within three games ofeighth-place Miami. Mike Conley had 28points and 12 assists for Memphis. JonasValanciunas amassed 22 points, and AveryBradley scored 21.

MAVERICKS 121, CAVALIERS 116Tim Hardaway Jr. led seven players in dou-

ble figures with 22 points as host Dallas ran offto a big lead before holding on to beatCleveland and end a seven-game losing streak.

Maxi Kleber finished with 18 points and 12rebounds for the Mavericks, and Jalen Brunsonand Dwight Powell added 16 points apiece.Dirk Nowitzki contributed 14 points and sixrebounds. Rookie Collin Sexton scored agame-high 28 points, and Kevin Love and CediOsman added 22 apiece. Love also had 12rebounds and four assists.

SUNS 138, PELICANS 136 (OT)Phoenix scored five points in the final 2.2

seconds of overtime, helped along when hostNew Orleans drew a technical foul for calling atimeout when it had none remaining. DevinBooker led the Suns with 40 points and 13assists, and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 32 points. ThePelicans lost their sixth straight despite getting aNew Orleans-record fourth consecutive triple-double from Elfrid Payton. The former Sunspoint guard finished with 16 points, 13 reboundsand a career-high 16 assists, tying the assistmark he set one night earlier against Portland.Three of his teammates had double-doubles.Julius Randle finished with 21 points and 11rebounds, Anthony Davis had 15 points and 11rebounds, and Cheick Diallo came off the benchto add 10 points and 10 rebounds. — Reuters

Spurs knock off Blazers for 8th straight win

panel calls to impose restrictive measures to curb expat...

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