saturday, march 25, 2017 jamada althani 27, 1438 ah no...

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8Saudi Arabia faces $6bn US lawsuit over 9/11 48

Brazil destroyUruguay 4-1;Messi revives Argentina7

British police widens probe, arrest 10 terror suspects

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017 JAMADA ALTHANI 27, 1438 AH No: 17178

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Egypt’s Mubarak freed, final charges dropped6 years after uprising, Mubarak’s allies regain influence

CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president overthrown in2011 and the first leader to face trial after the Arab Springuprisings that swept the region, was freed yesterday after sixyears in detention, his lawyer said. The 88-year-old wascleared of the final murder charges against him this month,after facing trial in a litany of cases ranging from corruption tothe killing of protesters whose 18-day revolt stunned theworld and ended his 30-year rule.

“Yes, he is now in his home in Heliopolis,” Mubarak’s lawyer,Farid El Deeb said when asked if Mubarak had left Maadi Militaryhospital in southern Cairo where he had been detained.Heliopolis is an upscale neighborhood where the main presiden-tial palace from which Mubarak once governed is located.Mubarak was initially arrested in April 2011, two months afterleaving office, and has since been held in prison and in militaryhospitals under heavy guard.

Many Egyptians who lived through his presidency view it as aperiod of stagnation, autocracy and crony capitalism. Arabswatched enraptured when the first images of the former airforce commander, Egypt’s modern-day Pharaoh, were beamedlive on television, showing him bed-bound in his courtroomcage. The overthrow of Mubarak, one of a series of military mento rule Egypt since the 1952 abolition of the monarchy, embod-ied the hopes of the Arab Spring uprisings that shook autocratsfrom Tunisia to the Gulf and briefly raised hopes of a new era ofdemocracy and social justice.

His release takes that journey full circle, marking what his crit-ics say is the return of the old order to Egypt, where authoritieshave crushed Mubarak’s enemies in the Muslim Brotherhood,killing hundreds and jailing thousands, while his allies regaininfluence. Another military man, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, steppedinto Mubarak’s shoes in 2013 when he overthrew MohamedMorsi, the Brotherhood official who won Egypt’s first free elec-tion after the uprising.

A year later, Sisi won a presidential election in which theBrotherhood, now banned, could not participate. The liberal andleftist opposition, at the forefront of the 2011 protests in Cairo’sTahrir Square, is under pressure and in disarray. Years of politicaltumult and worsening security have hit the economy, just asMubarak always warned. Egyptians complain of empty pocketsand rumbling bellies as inflation exceeds 30 percent and thegovernment tightens its belt in return for loans from theInternational Monetary Fund.

“The economic crisis we are living in and the high prices takepriority over everything, as does the fear of terrorism. That iswhat preoccupies ordinary citizens, not Mubarak,” said KhaledDawoud, an opposition politician who opposed the Islamists butalso condemned the bloody crackdown on them. “When yousee the group of people who show up and cheer and supporthim, you are talking about 150, 200 people,” he said, referring tooccasional shows of support outside the Maadi hospital whenMubarak was there.

In the turmoil of the Arab uprisings, Tunisian President ZineAl-Abidine Ben Ali fled into exile in Saudi Arabia, Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi met an ignominious death at the hands ofrebels and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned. Butearly hopes of democratic change in the region have eroded. InSyria, Bashar Al-Assad still holds the presidency in a countryruined by a civil war that has drawn in global and region powers.Yemen’s Saleh joined his erstwhile enemies in a new battle forpower that has driven into famine a country on the fringes of theGulf, one of the world’s richest oil-producing regions. — Reuters

In this Oct 16, 1016 file photo, ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak waves to his supporters from his room at theMaadi Military Hospital as they celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the Oct 6, 1973 war. An Egyptian security official said yes-terday that the country’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak returned home, after his release. — AP

ISTANBUL: Turkish and Gulf airlines are touting free WiFi and bet-ter in-flight connectivity for smart phones as they scramble tomitigate the impact of a ban on laptops in plane cabins bound forthe United States. The restrictions could deal a blow to fast-grow-ing Gulf airlines, which depend on business-class flyers stoppingover in Dubai or Doha for far-flung destinations, and to TurkishAirlines with its high volume of transit passengers.

A Turkish Airlines official said it was working on rolling out a sys-tem to allow passengers to use 3G data roaming on mobile phonesto connect to the Internet in-flight, and planned to make WiFifreely available on some aircraft from next month. “We’ve sped upinfrastructure work after the latest developments ... If the work iscomplete, we’re planning on switching to free WiFi services in ourBoeing 777 and Airbus 330 aircraft in April,” the official said.

Emirates said on Thursday it was introducing a “laptop andtablet handling service” for US-bound flights which would allowpassengers to use their devices until just before they board. Thedevices would be “carefully packed into boxes” and returned onarrival in the United States, it said. Emirates passengers can accesslimited free WiFi or pay $1 for 500 MB. Fellow Gulf carrier Etihadencouraged passengers to pack their electronics in check-in lug-gage but said it would also allow devices to be handed over atboarding, a spokesman said. Turkish said it had introduced a sim-ilar measure.

Qatar Airways did not respond to questions on how it plannedto mitigate the impact of the new security measures, but in aFacebook posting this week it said its in-flight entertainment was“the only entertainment you’ll need on board”. Royal Jordanianalso took a tongue-in-cheek approach, listing on Twitter “12things to do on a 12-hour flight with no laptop or tablet”, includ-ing reading, meditating, saying hello to your neighbor, or“reclaiming territory on your armrest.” — Reuters

Gulf airlines eye free WiFi Airlines grapple with US laptop ban

BEIRUT: A Syrian woman travelling to the United Statesthrough Amman opens her laptop before checking in atBeirut international airport. — AFP

L O C A LSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

Cairo University honors Sheikha Hessa Al-Sabah

CAIRO: Chairwoman of the Council of Arab BusinesswomenSheikha Hessa Al-Sabah was honored late Thursday by theesteemed Cairo University’s School of Medicine. On the side-line of the 190th anniversary of the school of medicine and110th anniversary of the obstetrics and gynecology depart-ment, a service was held for Sheikha Hessa in honor of her“advance” work for women issues within the GCC and Arabscenes. Speaking to KUNA, Sheikha Hessa, also President ofthe federation of Arab-African businesswomen, said thatArab women have an important role in the development andprogression of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)region. Sheikha Hessa thanked Cairo University for the hon-oring, saying that she dedicated it to the Kuwaiti leadershipand people in addition to all the members of the Arab busi-nesswomen council.

GCC top bankers endorse afirm for settling payments

MANAMA: Governor of Bahrain Central Bank Rashid Al-Mearaj said that governors of GCC monetary institutionsand central banks have adopted technical and executivedetails related to founding a company for settling finan-cial payments among the council member states. He saidin a statement at conclusion of the 67th relevant commit-tee meeting that the company would be owned by theinstitutions and the central banks. The Riyadh-headquar-tered company will function based on a profit-commercialsystem, he said. However, he did not specify its capital. Itwill be tasked with speeding settlement of commercialtrades among the GCC countries, limit costs and time.Money transfer among the member states will be fasterand easier, for they will be processed through a commonand secured network The committee meeting alsoendorsed a system for credit information swap. CentralBank Governor Dr Mohammad Al-Hashel representedKuwait at the meeting.

NewsI n b r i e f

Top Arab attorney calls for safeguarding Arab nations

MANAMA: Chairman of the Arab Lawyers Union SamehAshour said yesterday that the Arab nation is in dire need for“real action” to safeguard security of the GCC states and thewhole nation. Ashour, speaking at the opening of the unionconference hosted in Manama under the theme, “the Gulfsecurity is inseparable from the Arab nation’s security,” saidthe region is “currently at a dangerous crossroad,” alluding to“conspiracies aimed at partitioning the Arab countries forservice of the Zionist entity.” The Arab common security isunattainable without unified industries and remedying crucialissues namely the youth unemployment, he added. He criti-cized reports by international human rights agencies sayingthat they “are selective and tuned to the mood of some politi-cians.” Huda Al-Mehze’, chairperson of the Bahrain BarSociety, said the conference “coincided with plots targetingthe Arabian Gulf to undermine its security and stability andspread sectarian discords.”

Chairwoman of the Council of Arab BusinesswomenSheikha Hessa Al-Sabah is pictured during the honor-ing ceremony.

VIENNA: Kuwait will be hosting, a meet-ing for the joint OPEC and non-OPECmembers’ ministerial committee taskedwith monitoring the decision in late2016 to reduce oil production. Themeeting today will be headed byKuwaiti Minister of Oil and Minister ofElectricity and Water Essam Al-Marzouqand will include the participation ofministers from OPEC members Kuwait,Algeria, and Venezuela in addition tonon-OPEC countries Russia and Oman.

OPEC and other major producerspledged late last year to reduce outputby 1.8 million barrels. Three monthshave passed since the decision tookeffect in mid-January. OPEC’s currentproduction is at 32.5 million barrels perday (bpd). The decision was made tostable the global price. Speaking on theissue, Kuwait’s permanent delegate tothe headquarters of international organ-izations in Vienna and its Ambassador toAustria Sadeq Marafi said that the one-day meeting will be crucial for OPEC and

major states efforts to reduce the sur-plus in the global market.

Choosing Kuwait as the venue for thegrand meeting was a reflectial of theglobal oil community’s trust and confi-dence in the Gulf state, said Marafi whorevealed that his country played an inte-gral role in formulating the decision tocut down production last year.Meanwhile, an OPEC source, preferringanonymity, said that a report-issued inJanuary by the committee monitoringthe output reduction-revealed that com-mitment within the organization was at86 percent and there was still hope tobring the number to 100 percent.

On the upcoming meeting, thesource affirmed that commitmentreflected by the committee’s memberstates was a positive sign, hoping thatthe outcome of the event will furtherbolster aims for a stable price at theglobal market. According to energyexperts, the committee’s meeting inKuwait will look into whether the deci-

sion to reduce production was effectivein stabilizing the prices. The committeehas the authority to call for urgent meet-ings whenever possible if the agreeingparties did not fulfill their output reduc-tion quota. OPEC’s recent monthlyreport revealed that the organization’sbasket price had recorded an increaseby 2 percent, reaching $53.37 per barrelin February.

Kuwait oil price up Meanwhile, the price of Kuwaiti oil

went up by 12 cents to $47.45 per barrelThursday after being at 48.33 pb the daybefore, said Kuwait PetroleumCorporation (KPC) yesterday. Globally,oil prices were down due to investorsconcerns regarding the OPEC-led bid tolower production due to minimize UScrude oil reserves. The price of the Brentcrude was also up 8 cents to $50.56 perbarrel, however the West TexasIntermediate was down 34 cents to$47.70 pb.

Kuwait host meeting for joint OPEC and non-OPEC committee

Kuwait oil price up 12 cents to $47.45 pb

TOKYO: Kuwait’s crude oil exports toChina in February grew 16.5 percentfrom a year earlier on daily basis to 1.07million tons, equivalent to around281,000 barrels per day (bpd), govern-ment data showed. In the first twomonths of this year, Kuwait exported266,000 bpd to the world’s second-largest oil consumer, up 6.6 percent onthe year, according to the GeneralAdministration of Customs. China’soverall imports of crude oil in Februaryincreased 3.5 percent year-on-year ondaily basis to 8.32 million bpd, the sec-ond-highest level on record. SaudiArabia remained country’s top supplier,though its shipments fell 9.8 percent to1.25 million bpd, followed by Russiawith 1.12 million bpd, up 8.2 percent.

Angola became third, with importsfrom the country plunging 29.5 percentto 853,000 bpd. Iraq ranked fourth andOman fifth, respectively. China drasticallyincreased the quota for non-State crudeimports in 2016 as it seeks to attract moreprivate capital in the largely monopo-lized sector. In 2015, the governmentgave private refineries, known as “teapot”refiners, the green light to directly importcrude oil. These private refiners are withrelatively small capacities, ranging from20,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd.

Property sales In another development, Kuwaitis

came third after Iraqis and Saudis inproperty trades in Turkey last February,according to the Turkish Statistical

Institute. Kuwaiti nationals bought 115realty plots in February - ranking thirdafter the Iraqis who bought 282 unitsand the Saudis, 143. Overall, propertysales in the country dropped by 17.6percent compared to the same periodlast year, the institute said, noting thatthe total sales of plots amounted to1,306. Istanbul led Turkish cities in real-estates’ sales in February, with soldunits amounting to 458. Sales to for-eigners rose 49 percent last year in con-trast to 2013, where up to 18,189 plotswere sold, in 2015, compared to 12,181in 2013. However, the sales lastFebruary dropped by 0.2 percent com-pared to the same month last year,where up to 101,468 estates were soldall over the nation. — Agencies

Kuwait’s oil exports to China jump 16.5%

Kuwait ranked third in property trades in Turkey

Photo shows some of the houses in Turkish city. Istanbul led Turkish cities in real-estates’ sales in February, with soldunits amounting to 458. — KUNA


Photoo f t h e d a y

Photo shows the Al-Jahra Gate. Al -Jahra is a town located 32 kilometers west of Kuwait City. — KUNA

MANAMA: Candidates vying for the four available AsianFootball Confederation (AFC) seats on the FIFA councilhave been cleared to stand for election by the world gov-erning body, the AFC said yesterday. The four successfulcandidates at May’s AFC congress in Bahrain will representAsia on the body along with Bahraini vice presidentSheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, also the head of theAFC, and members from Japan and Malaysia. The fourspots include one reserved for women.

Australian Moya Dodd, formerly a co-opted member ofthe old FIFA Executive Committee, will take on MahfuzaAhkter of Bangladesh, Han Un-gyong of North Korea andSusan RA Shalabi of Palestine. Chinese FootballAssociation general secretary Zhang Jian, South Korea’sMong Gyu Chung, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah ofKuwait and Mariano V Araneta Jr of Philippines will con-test for the other three spots.

Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad, whoheads the Association of National Olympic committeesand is an influential International Olympic Committee(IOC) member, has a FIFA Council seat currently, the termof which ends in May. The FIFA Council replaced the large-ly discredited Executive Committee as FIFA’s decision-making body under reforms instituted in the wake of the2015 corruption scandal in soccer’s world governing body.Last September, the AFC extraordinary congress, called toconduct the elections for the FIFA Council, was postponedover the disqualification of a Qatari candidate.—Reuters

DEAD SEA: The Arab Economic and SocialCouncil concluded its senior-level meetinghere on Thursday after working out draftresolutions for the 28th Arab Summit, dueon Wednesday, March 29. The draft eco-nomic and social agenda of the summitwill be submitted to the Council’s minis-ter-level meeting next Sunday for prelimi-nary endorsement ahead of final approvalby the summit, said the Arab League’sAssistant Secretary-General for EconomicAffairs Kamal Hussein.

“On top of this agenda are the report ofLeague’s Secretary General on socio-eco-nomic joint action and review of theimplementation of the relevant resolu-tions adopted by the Nouakchott summitlast July,” he told reporters this evening.“The Secretary General’s report deals withjoint mega projects in the areas of socio-economic development and economicintegration, as well as the progresstowards launching the Greater Arab FreeTrade Area (GAFTA) and the Arab CustomsUnion,” Kamal revealed. Under a draft res-olution, the report tasks the Council withdeveloping a framework strategy for maxi-mizing industrial contributions to theGDPs of the Arab League member coun-tries and increasing the inter-GAFTA tradeexchanges. The planned strategy ensuressufficient financing by Arab financial insti-tutions for trade in products of Arab ori-gin, and facilitating and regulating tradeexchanges, he went on.

Another draft stipulates working out astrategy to implement the Arab CustomsUnion, upgrading the customs outlets,cementing the security of trade amid thecurrent security threats and increasing sup-port to the least-developing Arab coun-tries, particularly Palestine, Yemen andSudan. The Council approved a draft reso-lution for the development of fisheriesunder a recommendation of the ArabOrganization for Agricultural Development

with a view to augment food security.It also approved a draft on the second

stage of the framework executive plan forArab food security (2017-2021), Kamal not-ed. In this connection, the Councilreviewed the initiative of SudanesePresident Omar Al-Bashir for Arab invest-ment in his country to enhance Arab foodsecurity and approved a draft resolution onsetting up a mechanism to implement andfinance this initiative. The Council alsodebated impacts of the large numbers ofrefugees and internally displaced personsin the Arab region on the economies ofhost countries and agreed to support theaffected countries, he added.

Regarding the social dossier, theLeague’s Assistant Secretary General for

Social Affairs Badr-Eddin Al-Alali said theCouncil highlighted commitment to coop-eration to combat poverty, womenempowerment and youth, and enhancehealth and education. “A draft has beendeveloped approving the outcomes of theministerial meeting on ‘terrorism andsocial development - causes and remedies,’hosted by Sharm El-Sheikh last February.“The draft approves the Arab declarationon terrorism and development,” Al-Alalisaid. The Council also reviewed the Arabstrategy for scientific and technologicalresearch, which was developed by theArab League Educational, Cultural andScientific Organization (ALECSO), and thewomen development agenda 2030, headded. —KUNA

Economic and Social Council agrees draft agenda for the Arab summit

AFC candidates cleared forFIFA council elections

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Fund for ArabEconomic Development (KFAED) andIvory Coast have signed a loan agree-ment worth KD five million ($17 million)to finance building a vocational school soas to improve education. The projectaims to support social and economicdevelopment, as well as humanresources in Ivory Coast through improv-ing and expanding vocational education,the Fund said in a press statement lateThursday.

It will meet needs of national laborqualified for commercial and industrialmarkets, it added. The project also seeksto improve education and training voca-tionally and this will positively affect indi-cations of economic and social develop-ment across the country, it noted. Itincludes constructing new buildings, and

providing furniture, equipment and toolsof workshops and training staff of school.

The loan was inked in implementationof the initiative of His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah declared during the Arab-AfricanSummit hosted by Kuwait in 2013, inwhich one billion dollars was allocated tofund projects in African countries withinfive years, the statement said. It is thefifth loan provided by KFAED to thecountry; the previous ones were estimat-ed at KD 19 million ($64.9 million) forfinancing projects in different sectors. Italso provided technical loans and grantsworth KD 250,000 ($850,000). The loanwas inked Minister of Finance AdamaKone of Ivory Coast and KFAED’s deputydirector general Ghanem Al¬Ghunaiman.—KUNA

Kuwait, S Korea agree to enhancing cooperationKUWAIT: Kuwait and South Korea yesterday discussed meansof cementing their bilateral relations at the political, econom-ic, and academic and health levels. The Kuwaiti embassy inSeoul said in a statement the Kuwaiti Assistant ForeignMinister for Asian Affairs ambassador Ali Suleiman Al-Saeedheaded the Kuwaiti delegation that engaged in talks withKorean officials topped by the Deputy Foreign Minister forPolitical Affairs, Lee Jeong-Kyu. The meeting was held in theSouth Korean capital. Ambassador Al-Saeed in remarks,expressed deep satisfaction at outcome of the discussionsthat dealt with cooperation and bilateral relations in the polit-ical, economic, and academic and health sectors.— KUNA

KFAED, Ivory Coast sign KD 5 m loan agreement


Luxury vehicle stolenA Kuwaiti reported that a female citizen stole his luxuryvehicle. The female citizen made away with the vehicleafter depositing KD 250 as a down payment but neverreturned the vehicle. The man told the police that he onlyknew the woman’s mobile phone number.

CrimeR e p o r t

Kidnap attemptKUWAIT: A search is on for an unidentified person who hadtried to kidnap a Filipina in Salmiya area, said security sources.The woman reported that while returning home from work, thesuspect followed her and then stepped out of his vehicle - tryingto kidnap her. She said the suspect ran away when shescreamed. In another development, a 43-year-old female citizenreported that someone driving a 4X4 vehicle with a GCC licenseplate number tried to stop her along Fahaheel expressway andwhen he failed, he started insulting her. A case was filed.

BAGHDAD: ‘Kuwait Besides You Campaign’,funded by the Kuwait Society for Relief, hasdistributed in-kind aid and equipment todisplaced Iraqi widows to help them havetheir businesses. The aid was doled out in aceremony held at Iraqi Ministry of Laborand Social Affairs in the presence of KuwaitAmbassador in Baghdad Salem Al-Zamananand Secretary General of the Iraqi CabinetMahdi Al-Alaq. Addressing the audience, Al-Zamanan pointed out that 2,500 womenfrom the f ive I raqi governorates ofBaghdad, Anbar , Saladin, Diyala , andNineveh benefited from the project. Thegoal is to economically empower the wid-ows and help them have a permanentsource of income for their families, Al-Zamanan said.

He unveiled that the beneficiaries wouldlaunch poultry breeding, beauty salons forwomen, dressmaking, and bakery business-es. The ambassador noted that the programto train the widows and provide them withthe required equipment and kits for their

enterprises have cost $1.045 million. For hispart, the Secretary General of the IraqiCabinet Al-Alaq commended Kuwait’s aid toIraqi widows. He stressed that this aidwould empower the war-traumatized wid-ows and relieve some of their suffering. Heannounced that the international commu-nity with the support of Kuwait would

organize an international conference forrebuilding Iraq in the coming period.

Also, the ‘Kuwait beside you’ campaignyesterday delivered food supplies to dis-placed people in northern city of Mosul inIraq. The United Iraqi Medical Society (UIMS),the local partner of the KRS, said teams deliv-ered 2,600 food baskets to relocated people,

currently settled at Haj Ali camp. Chairmanof UIMS Dr Ahmad Al-Hayti said that the sup-plies were handed over under supervision ofNineveh Governor Nofal Hammadi and Iraqiparl iament member Zahed Al-Khatoni.Kuwait has recently established a number ofhealth centers and schools in Mosul for thedisplaced people there. — Agencies

Kuwait helps Iraqi widows open businesses Kuwait Ambassador in Baghdad Salem Al-Zamanan speaks during the distri-bution ceremony. — KUNA photos

Serious skin burns A female citizen was recently admitted to Mubarak hospitalwith very serious skin burns she sustained after using a so-called slimming ointment she purchased online. The girl saidthat the burns started within an hour after using the cream.

Fugitive nabbedA 69-year-old citizen, who had been wanted for severalcases in which he was sentenced to the total of 99years in prison was recently arrested at his own housewhile trying to escape. Separately, a citizen with a crim-inal record was recently arrested with illicit drugs, saidsecurity sources. — Al-Anbaa/ Al-Qabas

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: KFSD PR Department recent-ly concluded a one week trainingcourse themed ‘A fireman At EveryHouse’. The conclusion ceremony washeld in the presence of the FiremenTraining Center Manager Lit ColonelAbdullah Al-Ansari. KFSD’s PR managerColonel Khalil Al-Amir said that 60civilians took part in the course.Graduating participants were honored.

Fire at a hospitalA limited fire recently broke out at

Al-Salam International Hospital.Firemen rushed to the scene andstopped the fire from spreading toother parts of the hospital. No casual-ties were reported.

4 injured in accidentFour people were seriously injured

yesterday in a road accident along Al-Salmi highway. Security sources saidthree vehicles collided together oppo-site Jahra cemetery. The sourcesadded that one of the injured victimwas trapped and special hydraulicequipments had to be used to releasehim. All the injured were rushed toJahra hospital for treatment.

‘A fireman At Every House’

‘Kuwait beside you campaign’ delivers 2,600 food parcels in Iraq.

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017L O C A L

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait(CBK) has announced its presence at theMarina Mall throughout the weekend. Theaim is to enlighten the mall visitors about

the privileges of the cards jointly issued byCBK and the British Airways including grant-ing holders special awards - through col-lecting Avios points.

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank recently hosted a cere-mony to honor the Kuwait Fire ServiceDirectorate (KFSD) for their continued supportwith in-house safety drills for the Bank’semployees. The ceremony which took place atthe Burgan Bank headquarters was dedicatedto the KFSD for their role in offering theirextended support to the Bank and dedicationto civic duty. Tokens of appreciation were gift-ed to Mohamed Al Shatti- Dean of Kuwait Citybranch, Fahad Al Azmi - Head of FirefightingCenter in the city, Bashar Al Nafe’- Head ofHilali Center, Mishari Al Sahaf - Head ofShuwaikh Industrial Center and Mohamed Al

Kandari - Serving at the General Administrationof Fire Station, respectively.

Burgan Bank applies the highest stan-dards in ensure the health and safety of itsemployees. Through these emergency drills,the bank ensures stringent security proto-cols are in place. The drills assess employeereadiness to quick and efficient responsetime, proper evacuation techniques and firesafety measures in the case of an outbreak.Burgan bank and KFSD will continue to worktogether to maintain the highest standardsof safety and application of sustainable pro-tective measures.

KUWAIT: As part of its ongoing efforts toengage with all segments of the communityand in particular - students, a team from theCorporate Communications Unit at KuwaitInternational Bank (KIB) recently organized avisit to Al-Mulla Sualiman Al-Khenaini PrimarySchool for Boys. Speaking on this occasion,Team Leader of Corporate Communicationsat KIB, Fahad Al-Sarhan, stated: “This visit pre-sented us with the perfect opportunity tointroduce students to the importance of sav-ings and various savings methods.

At KIB we believe that encouraging stu-dents to focus on their studies will help equipthem with the necessary tools to build a

bright future for Kuwait. We wish the studentsa successful academic semester and a brightand fruitful future.” Al-Sarhan also praised theefforts of the Public Relations team at KIB, whopresented a lecture to the students on the val-ues and fundamentals of savings. At the endof the visit, the team presented the studentswith a variety of gifts and mementos.

Through its leading social responsibilityprogram, KIB devotes special attention to theeducation sector. The Bank is keen on support-ing student initiatives and cultural activitiesthat nourish the minds of students and furthertheir knowledge, believing that they are thekey to the development of the community.

KUWAIT: With the presence of the National Guards Chief of Staff and Operations Brigadier Bader Abdullah Hamad, the national Guards recently concluded its training course seniorfor officers and commanders. It was organized by the Moral Guidance Department with participation of officers from Kuwait and Bahrain.

KIB visits Al-MullaPrimary School

Burgan Bank honors theFire Service Directorate

CBK at Marina Mall

8 Russia’s Putin hosts Le Pen in Kremlin 109

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

US-backed fighters reach IS-held dam

IS gunmen hit civilians fleeing Mosul by night

LONDON: British police are combing through“massive amounts of computer data,” havesearched more than 20 sites and have contactedthousands of witnesses in a vast operation totrace how a British man became radicalized andlaunched a deadly attack on Parliament, a seniorofficial said yesterday.

In a briefing outside Scotland Yard, London’stop counterterror officer, Mark Rowley, saidmore “significant” arrests had been made, bring-ing to 10 the number of people in custody overWednesday’s attack, which killed four peopleand the assailant. Police said the attacker, KhalidMasood, was born Adrian Russell Ajao in south-ern England in 1964. He was also known asAdrian Elms and “may also be known by a num-ber of other names,” police said.

The latest arrests were a man and a womandetained early yesterday in Manchester, north-west England. Police believe Masood actedalone but Rowley said police were trying todetermine whether others “encouraged, sup-ported or directed him.”

The Islamic State group has claimed respon-sibility for the attack on Westminster Bridge andat Parliament. Detectives have searched 21properties in London, Brighton, Wales,Manchester and the central English city ofBirmingham in one of Britain’s biggest countert-

errorism operations in years. Wednesday’sattack was the deadliest in Britain since suicidebombers killed 52 commuters on London’s tran-sit system in July 2005.

“We’ve seized 2,700 items from these search-es, including massive amounts of computer datafor us to work through,” Rowley said, addingthat contact had been made with 3,500 witness-es. “We’ve received hundreds of uploads ofvideo images to our online platform. Given thisattack was in the heart of the capital we also, ofcourse, are dealing with statements from a widerange of nationalities.” Masood drove his carinto crowds on Westminster Bridge before fatal-ly stabbing a police officer on Parliamentgrounds. He was shot dead by police.

An American man from Utah, a British retireeand British female school administrator werekilled on the bridge, and police officer KeithPalmer was stabbed to death at Parliament,police said. The latest victim, a man who died ina hospital Thursday, was identified as 75-year-old Leslie Rhodes from south London.

Poignant reminderMore than 50 people of a dozen nationalitieswere wounded in the attack, 31 of whomrequired hospital treatment. “Those affectedinclude a real cross-section of ages from at least

12 nationalities,” Rowley said. “It’s a poignantreminder, I think, that the impact of this attackon the capital will reach around the world. “

Rowley said two police officers targeted inthe attack have significant injuries. Two otherpeople also remain in critical condition, one withlife-threatening injuries. The 52-year-old attackerwas born in southeastern England and had mostrecently been living in Birmingham, where sever-al properties have been searched by police.Police say Masood has had a string of convictions

between 1983 and 2003 for offenses includingassault and possession of an offensive weapon.Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday thatMasood was “investigated in relation to concernsabout violent extremism” some years ago. Butshe called him “a peripheral figure.” The manag-er of a hotel in the beachside city of Brighton insouthern England, where Masood stayed thenight before the attack, said he seemed unusual-ly outgoing and mentioned details about hisfamily, including having a sick father.—AP

LONDON: London Mayor Sadiq Khan looks at floral tributes to victims of Wednesday’s attack outside the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday.—AP

UK police arrest 10 in London attack probeAttacker Masood known in a number of other names

LONDON: Newly published video showingBritish Prime Minister Theresa May beingrushed out of Parliament while an attackunfolded nearby seems to show some con-fusion and delays on the part of her securitydetail.

Yesterday, The Sun newspaper show-cased the 73-second video, taken by abystander in Parliament on Wednesday.May had been voting in Parliament when

the attacker in a SUV ran over a number ofpedestrians on Westminster Bridge andrushed onto Parliament’s grounds, wherehe was shot dead after fatally stabbing apoliceman.

In the video, there are times when May isseen sstanding exposed to possible sniperfire. At one point, she wanders off for a fewmoments without a security escort beforeshe is ushered into her Jaguar sedan.—AP

New video shows confusion in leading May out of Parliament

Khalid Masood

I N T E R N A T I O N A LSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

MOSUL: Displaced Iraqis from Mosul walk towards refugee camps yesterday after fleeing their city during the govern-ment forces ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. —AFP

MOSUL: Islamic State gunmen areopening fire on men, women and chil-dren as they try to flee Mosul under cov-er of darkness, civilians who escaped thebesieged Iraqi city said yesterday.

Hungry and exhausted, thousandssloshed through the mud, past wreckedbuildings and shattered pavements, toreach an army checkpoint. Some carriedsuitcases or bags, others had fled withjust the clothes on their backs. Theycame by foot or piled into carts, andsome pushed relatives in wheelchairs.

A black-uniformed intelligence offi-cer said about 6,000 people had comethrough on Thursday, the most he hadseen at this exit, and a similar flow hadpoured in yesterday since about 4 am.Relieved to reach the safety of thecheckpoint, some of those escapingdescribed running a gauntlet of fire.

“The snipers are professional, they donot care. Anybody that moves, they kill,”said Faris Khader, from Al-Abar district.The battle for Mosul, Islamic State’s lastmajor urban stronghold in Iraq, has nowlasted more than five months.Government forces recaptured the eastside in January and are besieging themilitants on the western side of theTigris river. At least 500,000 civilians aretrapped inside, battered by governmentand US-led air strikes and artillery,caught in the crossfire of ground fight-ing, or targeted by IS gunmen. The mili-tants sometimes use residents as humanshields.

Khader blamed the government andinternational coalition for some of thedeath and mayhem. An IS sniper had

been firing from the roof of his homewhen an air strike hit, he said.

“There are many people dead underthe rubble. Some in my family died.Nobody can take the bodies out. Theywere killed by an air strike.”

‘No food, no water’ Omar, a car mechanic, described life

under IS. “It’s very difficult. There’s nofood, no water. They are killing a lot ofpeople. They kill anyone who goes out,they kill them in the street.

“We have no money. We have suf-fered for three years,” he said, clutchinghis young son to his shoulder. Salwan,19, pushed his sister Noor, 21, who isparalyzed and deaf, for more than twohours in her wheelchair to reach safetyafter their house was blown up. Theywere shot at during the trek, he said.Sweat poured from the face of KhaledKhalil as he trudged up the last stretchof the debris-strewn boulevard with hisyoung son slung on his shoulder and hiswife and three other children behind. Hehad no coat, no bag, and just a pair ofplastic sandals on his mud-spatteredfeet. “I came like this. We had the chanceso we fled,” said the 36-year-old. “Wehave been travelling since yesterday. Weare very tired but now we are safe.”

He was a carpenter but his shop hadbeen destroyed.

Taking the risk Then an army jeep drove up with a

wounded man on a stretcher. He waslaid on the ground by an abandonedbuilding. Bashar Hazem, 43, and Ali, 29,

had carried out their brother Maan, 32,overnight. He was shot in the right thigh20 days ago. He was bandaged up inthe Jamhori hospital inside an IS-heldarea but left for home after three daysbecause it was dangerous. He had nopainkillers and grimaced as his brothersspoke. “We had no food. That’s why wedecided to risk escaping,” Bashar said.

They made a run with a big group inthe early hours of yesterday. But IS gun-men starting shooting at them and thegroup was split up. They saw threewomen shot in the legs. “Even if you areinjured, they shoot at you. Our family isstill inside but they are coming soon,God willing,” Ali said.

At the checkpoint, soldiers separatedthe women and children from the men.They waited, tired but visibly relieved,for buses to take them to a UnitedNations reception camp at Hamman Al-Alil about 20 km (15 miles) away. Themen were gathered in a park, sitting onthe ground under guard by soldiers andawaiting questioning.

“We do a first check here. Anyone wesuspect of working with Daesh (IS), wepull to one side,” the intelligence officersaid. Some IS fighters had tried to leavedisguised as women, their faces con-cealed by veils, he said, scrutinizingarrivals. The men were then loaded ontotrucks and taken to a centre for morethorough checks. An avuncular SergeantHussam Imad told jokes to a group ofwomen and children waiting to betransported to the reception camp. Theyboarded the bus with smiles on theirfaces. — Reuters

IS gunmen target civilians fleeing Mosul by nightFlow picks up as conditions grow more desperate

NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia is facing a renewed $6 billion law-suit by dozens of insurers seeking to hold it responsible forbusiness and property damage caused by the Sept. 11, 2001attacks. The lawsuit filed late Thursday in the US District Courtin Manhattan is the latest effort to hold Saudi Arabia liable forthe attacks. Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked airplanescrashed into the World Trade Center in New York, thePentagon near Washington, DC, and a Pennsylvania field.

Insurers, including Liberty Mutual, Safeco, Wausau andmany Lloyd’s syndicates, accused Saudi Arabia and a state-affiliated charity of providing funding and other material sup-port that enabled Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda to conductthe attacks. The Saudi government has long denied involve-ment. Lawyers for the government and the charity, the SaudiHigh Commission for Relief of Bosnia & Herzegovina, yester-day declined to comment or could not immediately bereached for comment. Saudi Arabia long had broad immunityfrom Sept. 11 lawsuits in the United States.

That changed in September, when Congress overrode aveto by former President Barack Obama and adopted theJustice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, permitting suchlawsuits to proceed.

The insurers said they plan to show that the Sept. 11attacks were an “act of international terrorism” within themeaning of JASTA. They are seeking more than $2 billion incompensatory damages, plus triple and punitive damages. Atleast seven lawsuits were also filed in the Manhattan court onbehalf of individuals. These include a lawsuit on Monday byfamilies of about 800 attack victims, as well as 1,500 peopleinjured after responding to the New York attack.

Until last month, the insurers had been appealing a Sept.2015 dismissal of their case by US District Judge GeorgeDaniels in Manhattan, who oversees many Sept 11 lawsuits.But the appeal was vacated after Saudi Arabia, the insurersand other plaintiffs agreed in a joint court filing that JASTA“was intended to apply” to their cases, and that Danielsshould review its impact. The case is The UnderwritingMembers of Lloyd’s Syndicate 53 et al v. Kingdom of SaudiArabia et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York,No. 17-02129. —Reuters

Saudi faces $6bn US lawsuit by

Sept 11 insurers

London attack bears IS ‘signature’ but no link

CAIRO: The “Islamic State soldier” who killed four people inan attack on the British parliament may have been inspired bycalls to arms against the West but the militant group has giv-en no evidence yet that he acted on specific instructions.

British-born Muslim convert Khalid Masood mowed downpedestrians in his car and stabbed a policeman to death in ahigh-profile killing which echoed other deadly attacks inEurope claimed by the ultra-hardline Islamists. Almost 24hours after the killings the group issued a brief statement call-ing Masood one of its soldiers. But it offered no details to sug-gest that Islamic State’s leadership - losing ground to enemiesin Syria and Iraq - knew of his plans in advance.

That in itself does not rule out coordination betweenMasood and militants in the shrinking, self-styled caliphate.Islamic State frequently delays releasing video footage or oth-er material showing the planning and implementation ofoperations.

But the nature of Wednesday’s killings, carried out by a sin-gle assailant armed only with a hire car and a knife, matched apattern of recent attacks which require no training, militaryexpertise or outside guidance. Islamic State spokesman AbuMohammed Al Adnani called on sympathisers across theworld to carry out exactly those kind of attacks in an appealissued when the group was at the peak of its power in late2014. “If you can kill a disbelieving American or European ...smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, orrun him over with your car, or throw him down from a highplace, or choke him, or poison him,” said Adnani, who waskilled in a US air strike in Syria last August.

British counter-terrorism police say they are still trying toestablish whether Masood, a criminal with militant links, actedalone, with support or under instruction of others. — Reuters


DAMASCUS: A general view shows smoke rising from buildings following an air strike on Jobar, a rebel-held district onthe eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus yesterday. —AFP

BEIRUT: US-backed Syrian fightersreached a major dam held by the IslamicState group in northern Syria yesterdayas Syria’s UN ambassador said hundredsof American personnel are “invading mycountry,” insisting that any effort to lib-erate the city of Raqqa - the de factocapital of the Islamic State group -should be done in coordination with theDamascus government.

The push toward the Tishrin Damcame three days after US aircraft ferriedSyrian Kurdish fighters and allies behindIS lines to spearhead a major groundassault on the IS-held town of Tabqawhere the dam is located. Tabqa is westof the city of Raqqa. Cihan SheikhEhmed, the spokeswoman for the SyrianDemocratic Forces, said the fighting isongoing at the entrance of the dam,adding that there have been casualtiesamong IS fighters. She gave no furtherdetails.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said SDF fighters aremarching slowly toward the buildings ofthe Tishrin Dam because of mines andexplosives planted by IS.

To the east of Raqqa, SDF fightersclashed with IS gunmen inside the vil-lage of Karama, according to theObservatory and Mohammed Khedhr ofSound and Picture Organization, whichdocuments IS violations. Karama isabout 15 kilometers (10 miles) east ofRaqqa, making it a strategic village tocapture.

The attacks on the Tabqa and Karamawere ongoing under the cover ofairstrikes by the US-led coalition, accord-ing to the activists.

SDF fighters have been on the offen-sive since November under the cover ofairstrikes by the US-led coalition withthe aim of eventually surroundingRaqqa and storming it. In France, thecountry’s defense minister said the cam-paign by international forces to takeback IS’ de facto capital will start in thecoming days. Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Raqqa is a “majorobjective” for the US-led coalition tryingto quash IS extremists in Syria and Iraq.

Le Drian spoke on CNEWS televisionyesterday. He said: “Today we can saythat Raqqa is encircled and that the bat-

tle will begin in the coming days. It willbe a very hard battle but it will be anessential battle.” As the coalitionadvances in its battle to retake the ISstronghold of Mosul in Iraq, the US hasbeen intensifying involvement in Syria’sconflict ahead of the battle for Raqqa.

In Geneva, where peace talksbetween the Syrian government andopposition resumed yesterday, Syria’sambassador to the UN Bashar Al-Ja’afariinsisted that “American warplanes” hadbombed a school in the village ofMansourah, west of Raqqa, a day earlierand were responsible for the deaths of237 civilians among some 500 peoplefleeing Raqqa. He did not elaborate.

Al-Ja’afari said any military presencein Syria without government approvalwas “illegitimate.” Using the Arabicacronym for the Islamic State group, hesaid: “Those who are truly fightingDaesh are the Syrian Army with the helpof our allies from Russia and Iran.”

The US has deployed more than 700advisers, marines and Rangers to Syriato support fighters battling Islamic Statemilitants. —AP

US-backed Syrian fighters reach IS-held dam in northPush towards Tishrin Dam to liberate Raqqa

SHARJAH: Captains of small wooden dhows are carrying foodand wares from the United Arab Emirates to war-torn Yemen. Butsupplies are falling even from this centuries-old Arabian sea routethat is one of the last lifelines to a country on the brink of famine.

A two-year-old civil war has severely restricted the flow offood into the main Yemeni cargo ports of Hodeidah and Salif onthe Red Sea, where all the large grain silos are located.

The small wooden boats sailing from souks in the UAE aremoving small but vital supplies by making for the smaller ports tothe south coast that are of little use to larger vessels - and oftensidestepping military inspections that choke traffic by droppinganchor at secluded coves nearby.

The deals originate in the sprawling Al Ras Market, a collectionof dusty alleyways near the Dubai Creek where an array of foodand spices are on display including colourful sacks of Pakistaniand Indian rice. The dhows - plying the ancient trade route thatonce carried the likes of pearls, frankincense and myrrh - supply14,000 to 18,000 tons of foodstuffs a month to Yemen, accordingto traders. That represents a drop of about 30-40 percent overthe past year because of problems with payment, as well asadverse sailing conditions.

“The Yemeni currency is destroyed, sometimes we can’t getpaid enough. We can only go once a month because the seas aretoo rough,” said trader Mohammed Hassan, at a docking stationat nearby Port Khaled in Sharjah “Sometimes we have to wait 40days.” The volumes of food carried on this route represent a smallfraction of the supply to Yemen, which relies on imports for 90percent of its food. But it has become increasingly important asfighting has raged, the economy has collapsed and Yemen hasneeded all the help it can get.

Port damage Thousands of people have been killed in the civil war pits the

Iran-allied Houthi group against a Saudi-backed coalition - whichincludes the UAE - fighting to restore the government ofPresident Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The conflict has chokedimports. Sixty percent of Yemenis, or 17 million people, are in“crisis” or “emergency” food situations, according to the UnitedNations. While vessels seeking access to Houthi-held areas mustface inspections for smuggled weapons, the government-con-trolled south has less restrictions. Food imports into Hodeidahhave fallen relentlessly, with only a few ships arriving each week -compared with dozens before the war - and more shipping linespulling out due to the growing risks, according to aid and ship-ping sources.

In recent weeks damage to infrastructure in the neighboringport of Salif has also cut food deliveries, aid officials said. “Thecountry is l iving on its reserves,” said Robert Mardini,International Committee of the Red Cross regional director forthe Near and Middle East in Geneva this week.

“There is a lack of liquidity, no payment of salaries, whichmeans that the spending power has collapsed and that the priceof food is soaring whenever it is available.”

‘Pay thugs’UAE-based dhow captains avoid these snarl-ups by steering

clear of the big Red Sea ports and instead ply their trade to thesouth, often docking at informal inlets. The average journey takesabout five to eight days, with the boats capable of taking up to2,000 tons of goods, still small fry compared with cargo ships thatcould provide more relief to one of the poorest and most unsta-ble countries in the world. —Reuters

Decline of ancienttrade route deepensYemeni food crisis

AUB in Beirut settles US lawsuit for $700,000BEIRUT: American University of Beirut, a recipientof US government aid, has agreed to pay$700,000 to settle a civil lawsuit over accusationsthat it assisted three organizations linked to themilitant group Hezbollah, federal prosecutorssaid. As part of its deal with the US Attorney’sOffice in Manhattan, a party to the lawsuit, theuniversity also agreed to revise its policies, prose-cutors said in a statement on Thursday. Theagreement resolved a case originally filed underseal by an unnamed complainant. AmericanUniversity of Beirut receives funding from the USAgency for International Development (USAID).

Acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon Kim said inthe statement, “For years, the AmericanUniversity of Beirut accepted grant money fromUSAID, but failed to take reasonable steps toensure against providing material support toentities on the Treasury Department’s prohibitedlist.” The US Attorney’s Office said the universityin the Lebanese capital admitted to training rep-resentatives of Al-Nour Radio and Al-Manar TV,media groups that the US Treasury Departmentlists as branches of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Between 2007 and 2009 the university provid-ed the training in workshops to representatives

from Al-Nour and Al-Manar, who were allowed toparticipate among a larger group of journalists, astatement from the US Attorney’s Office said.

For instance, one workshop was titled“Citizen/Online Journalism” and provided instruc-tion on how to produce blogs, videos and pod-casts, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors saidthe university used its website to connect stu-dents with Jihad Al-Binaa, another organizationthat the US Treasury Department has said islinked to Hezbollah. American University of Beirut(AUB) said in a statement on Friday that its con-duct had been neither “knowing, intentional or

reckless.” “AUB is pleased to have reached thesettlement and looks forward to continuing toprovide a world-class education to students of allbackgrounds,” the statement said. The university,founded in 1866, centers its teaching on theAmerican liberal arts tradition. “With today’s set-tlement, the university is being made to pay afinancial penalty for its conduct, and importantly,it has admitted to its conduct and agreed to putproper precautions in place to ensure that it doesnot happen again,” Kim said in a statement. The$700,000 penalty levied on the university will bepaid to the US government. —Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian President VladimirPutin granted an audience to French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen in theKremlin yesterday, bestowing a level ofinternational recognition that has so fareluded her in the countdown to France’spresidential election. Opinion pollsshow Le Pen, who has said she admiresPutin, getting through to the second,decisive round of France’s presidentialelection on May 7 but then losing tocentrist candidate Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen backs the l i f t ing of theEuropean Union’s economic sanctionsimposed on Russia over its role in theUkraine conflict - a stance she reiter-ated yesterday.

“We attach great importance to ourrelations with France, but at the sametime we try to maintain equal relationsboth with the current authorities andwith representatives of the opposition,”Putin told Le Pen at their meeting. “Wedo not want to influence events in anyway, but we reserve the right to talk torepresentatives of all the country’spolitical forces, just as our partners inEurope and the United States do.” Putinadded that Le Pen represented a rangeof political forces that was gainingmomentum.

Le Pen’s meeting with Putin is likelyto go down well with her core support-ers in France, many of whom admire the

Russian leader’s conservative stance onsocial and moral issues. Other Frenchvoters, however, may be put off by herassociation with a leader widely seen inthe West as autocratic.

‘Fake news’The meeting also showed that the

Kremlin is not shying away from actionsthat could influence foreign elections,even after the storm over US intelli-gence agencies’ allegations that Russiatried to interfere in the US presidentialelection to help Donald Trump win theWhite House. Russia has denied tryingto influence the US vote, and has alsodismissed allegations that Kremlin-funded media outlets are spreading“fake news” in an attempt to interfere inthe French presidential race.

Putin would benefit from getting thesanctions lifted, especially as he isexpected to seek a fourth term in officenext year. They are curbing Russia’srecovery from an economic slowdowncaused by low oil prices. Le Pen’s partytook a 9-million-euro loan from aMoscow-based bank in 2014 and isactively seeking new sources of funding.

Speaking to reporters in a Moscowhotel after her meeting with Putin, LePen denied that she had discussedfinancial aid for her party, echoing anearlier denial from the Kremlin. Le Pensaid the discussion had focused onwhat she said were shared Russian andFrench interests in the fight againstIslamist terrorism. “A new world hasemerged in these past years. It’s theworld of Vladimir Putin, it’s the world ofDonald Trump in the United States, it’sthe world of Mr (Narendra) Modi inIndia, and I think that probably I am theone who shares with these greatnations a vision of cooperation and nota vision of submission.” — Reuters


Russia’s Putin hosts French contender Le Pen in KremlinLe Pen says she, Putin and Trump represent a new world

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) shakes hands with French far-right presidential candidate MarineLe Pen, in the Kremlin in Moscow yesterday. — AP

ICC awards ‘symbolic’ $250 each to Congo

war crime victimsTHE HAGUE: In its first such decision, the InternationalCriminal Court yesterday awarded $250 dollars as “sym-bolic” damages to each victim of a former Congolesewarlord, a sum swiftly dismissed as meaningless bythose who lost homes and loved ones in a militia attackon their village 14 years ago.

The reparations order was a landmark step for the tri-bunal, set up in 2002 to prosecute the world’s worstatrocities, marking the first time it has placed monetaryvalues on the harm caused by such crimes. Presidingjudge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut acknowledged at thetribunal in The Hague that the amount of $250 to eachof the 297 victims of Germain Katanga “does not makeup for the totality of the crimes”, estimating the totaldamage caused at $3.7 million.

But in unveiling the collective and individual repara-tions, he said he hoped it would bring some “measure ofrelief” and help victims in the Democratic Republic ofCongo rebuild their lives.

The ICC sentenced Katanga to 12 years in jail in 2014after convicting him of five charges of war crimes andcrimes against humanity for the February 2003 ethnicattack on Bogoro, a village in troubled Ituri Province. Hewas accused of supplying weapons to his militia whichwent on a rampage, shooting and hacking to death withmachetes some 200 people.

Katanga, who watched the proceedings by video-linkfrom a jail in Kinshasa where he is on trial over separatecharges, was also found liable for $1 million in compen-sation, though the court recognised that he was penni-less, or “indigent”, and had no home or possessions.

It asked that he consider making a public apology orwriting a letter to the victims, or even attending a publicreconciliation ceremony.

‘Two days of beer’ “These individual reparations don’t have any symbol-

ic value. Today $250 doesn’t mean anything in the DRC,”Salomon Kisembo Byaruhanga, a local tribal chief, toldAFP. “Those who will get it will most likely waste it allaway on beer in two days,” he added, saying it would befar better to rebuild a village or construct a memorial.Perrin de Brichambaut said the court had assessed thetotal damage at $3,752,620, and said collective repara-tions should go towards projects to help the victims withhousing, education and “income-generating activities”.

The court asked the Trust Fund for Victims, an inde-pendent body set up under the tribunal’s foundingguidelines, to consider using its resources to pay for thereparations and to come up with a plan by late June.Court officials said the fund could release up to $1 mil-lion for reparations in the case. Legal representatives forthe victims had assessed the damage at $16.4 million ina filing to the court last year. They calculated that 228homes were destroyed, that the school was lost andthat hundreds of cattle and other livestock had fled orbeen killed.

In its ruling, also watched via video-link by victims inBunia, the provincial capital of Ituri Province, the courtset the cost of each destroyed Bogoro home at $600,while the value of each harvest lost that year was $150.Victims who suffered psychological harm after the deathof a loved one were entitled to $8,000 for a close familymember, or $4,000 for a more distant relative.

‘We’ve buried our dead’ “What will $250 change in our lives?” asked Jean

Bosco Lalo, a coordinator for the Ituri Civil Society groupof local associations. “Our communities have alreadyturned the page. Everyone has rebuilt their homes.We’ve buried our dead.”

The Trust Fund for Victims has $5 million available, ofwhich $1 million has been set aside for the case ofThomas Lubanga, sentenced in 2012 to 14 years for con-scripting child soldiers in the DRC. In October, judgesapproved “symbolic reparations” to create a “livingmemorial” to remember and raise awareness about childsoldiers. But a final decision on collective reparations forLubanga’s victims is still awaited. — AFP

BELGRADE: Serbia’s prime ministerpledged yesterday that the Balkancountry will never join NATO or anyother military alliance as Serbiamarked the 18th anniversary of thestart of NATO airstrikes that stoppedits crackdown in Kosovo.

Aleksandar Vucic spoke at a cere-mony near a railway bridge in south-ern Serbia where the Western militaryalliance’s missiles struck a passengertrain, killing at least 28 people andinjuring dozens.

“We will never be part of thealliance which killed our children, norof any other alliance,” Vucic said. “Theywanted to destroy and humiliate smallSerbia and kill its children.”

Anti-NATO sentiments run high inSerbia since the 78-day bombing in1999 over a bloody crackdown by

Serbian forces against KosovoAlbanian separatists. Serbian officialsclaim that more than 2,000 peoplewere killed in the airstrikes while inde-pendent estimates put that figure atabout 800, mostly soldiers and police.

Some 10,000 people died and 1,660are still missing from the 1998-1999Kosovo war that ended with the NATOintervention and the withdrawal ofSerbian troops from its former, majori-ty ethnic Albanian-populated province.Kosovo declared independence fromSerbia in 2008, which Serbia doesn’trecognize. Although it is a member of aNATO outreach program and is formal-ly seeking EU membership, Serbia haslately been boosting its military coop-eration with Russia, which has agreedto deliver fighter jets, tanks and anti-aircraft systems. — AP

Serbia says no to NATO on airstrikes anniversary


KATHMANDU: In this picture taken on February 8, 2017, a worker renovates a heritage site at Durbar Square. — AFP

KATHMANDU: Caretaker DeepakShrestha padlocked shut the quake-rav-aged remains of the Trailokya MohanNarayan temple in Nepal’s capitalKathmandu to keep out the contractorswho are meant to be rebuilding it. The17th century monument’s three-tieredpagoda completely collapsed in a 7.8magnitude earthquake that hit theHimalayan nation in April 2015, leavingthe main statue standing exposed on ahigh plinth.

Shrestha, whose family has looked afterthe Hindu temple for generations, is nowon a mission to protect it from a govern-ment system that grants contracts torebuild the quake-damaged heritage sitesto the lowest bidder. “We had our doubtsabout the contractors but it was con-firmed when they started digging thefoundations haphazardly, disregarding thecommunity’s involvement and our sacredrituals,” Shrestha, 56, told AFP. “We don’tbelieve the cheapest contractors willrebuild our temple sincerely. We demandthat the government dismiss such a sys-tem.” The temple was among more than700 heritage sites damaged in the disasterwhich killed nearly 9,000 people anddestroyed half a million homes. Nepal’slaws state that construction contracts val-ued at more than 500,000 rupees (S4,670)must be granted through a tender processto the lowest bidder — and the same rulesgovern the restoration of ancient templesand buildings.

The system has raised alarm over thequality and techniques being used torebuild historical sites-with experts sayingthe Kathmandu valley’s status as aUNESCO World Heritage site could beunder threat. “The lowest bidder is notnecessarily the best,” Christian Manhart,head of UNESCO in Nepal, told AFP. “Thereare strong chances that it can be in theworld heritage in danger (list),” he added.When the UNESCO World Heritage com-mittee met in July last year, it narrowly

avoided putting the Kathmandu Valley onits “List of World Heritage in Danger”, butwarned it could be added in 2017 ifprogress is not made.

‘Attack on our heritage’ The government estimates that

rebuilding the centuries-old temples andmonuments damaged by the quake willcost over $300 million. Several countrieswho have pledged support to help Nepalrebuild its cultural heritage have alsoexpressed concerns about the tenderprocess and the slow pace of work.

Nearly two years since the earthquakestruck, only ten monuments have so farbeen rebuilt-some totally bypassing thegovernment’s rules. In November lastyear, the Boudhanath stupa-the country’slargest and one of the holiest sites of pil-grimage in Tibetan Buddhism-reopenedhaving been restored with donations frominternational Buddhist groups.

The restoration was largely communi-ty-led and cost $2.1 million, including over30 kilograms of gold. Bhesh NarayanDahal, chief of Nepal’s archaeologydepartment, said he is aware of concernsregarding the construction contract sys-

tem and is hopeful the government willrespond. “The demands of local communi-ties are justified... but we are helpless, wecannot work beyond the limits of the gov-ernment’s laws, acts and rules,” Dahal said.

In deeply religious Nepal, where tem-ples and heritage sites are an integral partof people’s lives, other communities arenow demanding that the governmentprocess be scrapped and they be allowedto take lead in rebuilding. However,dozens of contracts to rebuild culturalmonuments have already been grantedand more are in the process. Experts alsoworry that contractors who lack experi-ence of working on heritage projectswon’t have the contacts to hire traditionalwood carvers, stone sculptors and metalworkers. Birendra Bhakta Shrestha, who isleading a campaign to rebuildKathmandu’s Kasthamandap temple withcommunity involvement, said locals willcontinue to battle against the tenderprocess. “Our ancestors have made it andit is our moral right to rebuild it,” Shresthasaid. “Lowest bidders cannot maintainquality... Residents of Kathmandu can tol-erate anything, but cannot tolerate anattack on our heritage.” — AFP

Lowest bidders threatening Nepal’s quake-hit heritage

Government dismissing community, sacred rituals

WELLINGTON: Pressure mounted on the New Zealand gov-ernment yesterday to call an inquiry into a botched specialforces raid in Afghanistan that reportedly left six civiliansdead, including a three-year-old child. A book published thisweek alleges the SAS staged the 2010 raid as a “revengeattack” after a New Zealand soldier was killed, but faulty intel-ligence meant they targeted villagers rather than insurgents.

“Hit and Run”, written by investigative journalists NickyHager and Jon Stephenson, also claims the Wellington gov-ernment and military covered up the failure, insisting no civil-ians died when they knew otherwise. One of the centre-rightNational government’s coalition partners, United Future,called for an investigation yesterday after several sourcesemerged to challenge the official version of events.

“New Zealanders are rightly proud of the reputation of ourSAS and armed forces generally, and do not wish to see thatdiminished, so they deserve open reassurance that our forceshave not behaved inappropriately,” United Future leaderPeter Dunne said. “The current saga of claim and counter-claim will not provide that, therefore some form of independ-ent inquiry is appropriate.”

Amnesty International has also called for a probe while ateam of New Zealand human rights lawyers announced Fridaythey were representing affected Afghan villagers and wantedan independent investigation. New Zealand sent a reconstruc-tion team and a small special forces contingent to join theNATO-led operation in Afghanistan in 2003.

In early August 2010, Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell becamethe first of New Zealand’s 10 military deaths in Afghanistanwhen his patrol was hit by a roadside bomb . The SAS raid inthe northern province of Baghlan, planned by the NewZealanders and carried out with US helicopter support, tookplace about two weeks later on August 22. In the followingdays Mohammad Ismail, a district chief for Tala Wa Barfak,where the incident occurred, told AFP that eight people diedin the raid, all civilians. The New Zealand military initially keptsilent about its involvement, then when it emerged said nineinsurgents were killed and no civilians harmed. But then-defence minister Wayne Mapp conceded for the first time thisweek that he knew as early as 2014 that civilians died.

“I’m sure everyone is remorseful about that,” he toldNewshub. “At the time of the attack they (New Zealand forces)thought they were being attacked by insurgents.” The book,citing interviews with villagers and unnamed military sources,says six civilians died, including a three-year-old girl namedFatima. It also alleges soldiers failed to provide medical treat-ment to wounded civilians and further punished villagers byreturning 10 days after the raid to blow up their rebuildingefforts. Hager, co-author of the book, has suggested that suchconduct, if true, could constitute a war crime.

Russia denies supplying Taleban In other related news yesterday, Russia denied allegations

by the commander of NATO that Moscow may be assistingthe Taleban as the insurgents fight US and NATO forces inAfghanistan. “These claims are absolutely false,” ZamirKabulov, head of the Russian foreign ministry’s departmentresponsible for Afghanistan and the Kremlin’s special envoy inthe country, told RIA Novosti state news agency. “These fabri-cations are designed, as we have repeatedly underlined, tojustify the failure of the US military and politicians in theAfghan campaign. There is no other explanation.”

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, US General CurtisScaparrotti, who also heads the US military’s EuropeanCommand, told lawmakers in Washington on Thursday thathe had witnessed Russia’s influence grow in many regions,including in Afghanistan. In a statement to the Senate ArmedServices Committee, Scaparrotti said Moscow was “perhaps”supplying the Taliban.

In February General John Nicholson, the US commander ofNATO forces in Afghanistan, testified that Russia is encourag-ing the Taliban and providing them with diplomatic cover in abid to undermine US influence and defeat NATO. Kabulov in2015 said that Russia was exchanging information with theTaliban and saw shared interest with them when it comes tofighting the Islamic State jihadist group. Russia considers theTaleban a terrorist group and it is banned in the country,along with the Islamic State group. Taleban fighters onThursday captured Afghanistan’s strategic district of Sangin,where US and British forces suffered heavy casualties until itwas handed over to Afghan personnel.—AFP

New Zealand SAS raid in Afghanistan under fire

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police haveblocked a rally by clerics in Islamabadseeking to press their calls for the deathof social media activists accused ofinsulting Islam. Security forces sealedoff and surrounded the Red Mosqueand the home of the leader, MaulanaAbdul Aziz, preventing his followersfrom staging the gathering yesterday.Meanwhile, the Center for Inquiry, a US-based advocacy group, has appealed toFacebook not to consider demands by

Pakistan to help identify Pakistanis sus-pected of blasphemy so that authoritiescan prosecute them or pursue theirextradition. Pakistan has harsh blasphe-my laws under which insulting Islam isan offence that carries the death penal-ty. Pakistan’s media have been increas-ingly attacked by religious hard-liners.The government has asked Facebookand Twitter to censor religiously offen-sive material emanating fromPakistan.— AP

Pak police prevent clerics’ rally against blasphemy


An aerial view shows the salvage operation of the Sewol ferry, off the coast of South Korea’s southern island of Jindo. —AFP

JINDO: South Korea’s sunken Sewol ferrywas sailed away from its watery grave yes-terday, beginning its final journey nearlythree years after it went down with the lossof more than 300 lives. A flotilla of powerfultugs towed the wreck, lying on its side on aplatform between two giant salvage barges,towards a semi-submersible that will finallybring it into port.

The 145-metre ship was brought to thesurface in a complex salvage operationbelieved to be among the largest recoveriesever of a wreck in one piece, a key demandof the families of the dead. “The Sewolbegan its move towards the semi-sub-mersible at 16:55,” (0755 GMT) the maritimeministry said in a statement.

The rusted, silted hull stood high out ofthe water, with both its white superstruc-ture and blue bulbous bow exposed as itwas taken towards the Dockwise WhiteMarlin, a huge vessel standing by in deeperwaters to bring it to Mokpo on the main-land, for investigations and a search. Almostall the dead were schoolchildren and it isthought that nine bodies still unaccountedfor may be trapped inside the sunken ship.

“Today is the last day of the neap tideand we must finish loading the Sewol to thesubmersible,” Lee Cheol-jo, a ministry offi-cial in charge of the operation told reportersearlier, referring to when tides are at theirweakest. Around 450 workers were involved

in the painstaking salvage. The Sewol has adisplacement of 6,825 tons but is now esti-mated to weigh between 8,000-8,500 tonsincluding the silt piled up inside.

It came as the third anniversaryapproached of one of the country’s worst-ever maritime disasters, which dealt acrushing blow to now-ousted presidentPark Geun-Hye. Several relatives watchedthe much-anticipated operation unfoldingfrom a boat near the site. “I had seenfootage of the vessel from time to time,but there are no words to describe whatI’m feeling to see it above water,” said JungSeong-Wook, a father who lost his son inthe deadly accident. “I cried. I could onlythink about my son,” he told AFP after aboat trip to the wreck site. Jung is among ahandful of bereaved family members whohave kept watch at a camp on a hilltop onthe nearest island Donggeochado, just 1.5kilometers away.

‘My heart stops’ Other bereaved family members gath-

ered at Paengmok harbor on the nearbylarger island of Jindo, huddled in front of asmall computer monitor for any updates tothe salvage operation. “From time to timewhen the news mentions a possible obsta-cle, my heart stops,” said Yoo Young-Hwa,who lost her daughter on the Sewol.

The vessel was lying more than 40

meters below the waves off southwesternSouth Korea and the operation, originallyscheduled for last year, had been pushedback several times because of adverseweather. The disaster was a crippling blowto the now-ousted leader Park Geun-Hye,whose dismissal over a corruption scandalwas confirmed by Seoul’s top court onlytwo weeks ago. She stayed at her residencefor the first few critical hours after the disas-ter while officials were frantically sendingupdates and asking for guidance.

She has never specified what she wasdoing for the seven hours, sparking wildrumours including a tryst and cosmetic sur-gery. A permanent Sewol protest site target-ing her was subsequently set up in the cen-tre of Seoul. Investigations into the disaster,in which 304 people died, concluded it waslargely man-made-the cumulative result ofan illegal redesign, an overloaded cargobay, inexperienced crew and a questionablerelationship between the ship operatorsand state regulators.

Even though the vessel took aroundthree hours to sink, many of those onboard never heard any evacuation order,while the crew were among the first toescape to safety. Captain Lee Jun-Seok wassentenced to life in prison for “murderthrough wilful negligence” and 14 othercrew members were given terms rangingfrom two to 12 years. —AFP

South Korea’s sunken Sewol ferry starts final journey

CANBERRA: Australia does not have to choose between theUnited States and China, the Australian prime minister saidyesterday as he announced a new beef export deal with theChinese. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and ChinesePremier Li Keqiang oversaw signing of bilateral agreementsthat will expand their two-year-old free trade pact.

China also agreed to remove a cap that allows only 11Australian beef exporters to sell 400 million Australian dollars($300 million) in frozen meat to the burgeoning ranks of theChinese middleclass. China will be open to all eligibleAustralian beef exporters. “Australia is the only country in theworld with this market access,” Turnbull told reporters. “Thisnew agreement will drive significant future growth.”

Turnbull later rejected arguments that Australia mustchoose between its most important security partner, theUnited States, and its most important trading partner, China,as tensions escalate between the world’s two largesteconomies. “We have a staunch, strong ally in Washington - agood friend in Washington - and we have a very good friendin Beijing,” Turnbull told reporters.

“The idea that Australia has to choose between China andthe United States is not correct,” he said.Li, who onWednesday warned Australia against “taking sides, as hap-pened during the Cold War,” agreed with Turnbull. “Webelieve China-Australia cooperation will bring good to othercountries and regions, and this cooperation will not be target-ed at any third party,” he said through a translator, referring tothe United States.

The United States has questioned aspects of the rapidlyevolving commercial relationship between the Chinese andAustralians, including Australia’s decision to allow a Chinesecompany, Landbridge, to secure a 99-year lease over thestrategically important Port of Darwin. Darwin has becometraining hub for US Marines in northern Australia. Yesterday,the two witnessed the signing of a memorandum of under-standing between China State Construction Engineering Corp.and New Zealand-owned BBI Group to build a AU$6 billioniron ore mine in Australia. — AP

Australia won’t choose between China and US

SYDNEY: Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (R)and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) attend the 6thAustralia-China CEO roundtable meeting in Sydney.—AFP

TAIPEI: A Taiwanese NGO worker who pro-moted democracy in China has gone missingafter entering the mainland earlier thismonth, authorities said. Taiwan said yester-day that Chinese authorit ies had notresponded to their enquiries on Lee Ming-cheh’s whereabouts, as his wife pleaded forhelp to locate him. Ties between China andTaiwan have worsened since President TsaiIng-wen took office in May and Beijing hascut off all official communication with Taipei.

Taiwan has been self-ruling since 1949following a civil war on the mainland, but ithas never formally declared independence

and Beijing still claims it as part of its territo-ry. Chinese authorities deeply mistrust Tsai’sDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP), which istraditionally pro-independence.

Lee, 42, works for a community college inTaipei and “lost contact” on March 19 afterhe entered the southeastern Chinese city ofZhuhai from Macau, said the MainlandAffairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top Chinapolicy-making body. A former DPP employ-ee, Lee had been sharing “Taiwan’s demo-cratic experiences” with his Chinese friendsonline for many years and often mailedbooks to them, according to the Taiwan

Association for Human Rights. “It’s unrea-sonable that a Taiwanese citizen has beenunaccounted for in China for more than fivedays for no reason,” his wife Lee Ching-yusaid in a statement.

“If Lee Ming-cheh has been arrested,please tell me on what charges ... whetherhe is alive or dead, and where he is,” shesaid, adding that Lee has been followinghuman rights issues in China. Lee has longsupported civil society organizations andactivists in China, according to AmnestyInternational, which added that he wentthere this time to arrange for his mother-in-

law’s medical treatment.His disappearance “raises serious ques-

tions about the safety of people workingwith civil society in China”, said NicholasBequelin, Amnesty International’s East AsiaDirector. Taiwan authorities say Zhuhaipolice have informed Lee’s family that thereis no record of his arrest . However theTaiwan Association for Human Rights saidthe Chinese government should prove thatLee is not under arrest, citing the incident offive Hong Kong booksellers who went miss-ing in 2015 and resurfaced in detention onthe mainland. —AFP

Taiwan NGO worker ‘missing in China’


Abe redoubles efforts on cash scandalTOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yes-terday again rebuffed allegations that he made adonation to an educator at the centre of an intensi-fying political scandal that has gripped the coun-try. Yasunori Kagoike, a controversial nationalistschool operator, said under oath Thursday he hadreceived a one million yen ($9,000) donation fromAbe, handed to him, he claimed, by the premier’swife in 2015. Kagoike’s nationally televised testi-mony came as his purchase of government land

for the construction of a new school at a huge dis-count has dominated media coverage for weeks.Abe, whose high approval ratings have taken a hit,has repeatedly denied giving Kagoike money andon more than one occasion offered to resign if hewas found to be involved in the land deal.Yesterday he issued a fresh denial, releasing emailsbetween the first lady and Kagoike’s wife.

“There is nothing at all like a one million yentransaction mentioned in the exchanges,” Abe told

parliament, referring to the emails. “I disclosed allthe emails to quash any misunderstandings,” Abesaid, blaming Kagoike for disclosing “only part ofthe information” during his sworn testimony.Analysts say such a donation in itself is unlikely tobe illegal, but if proven could damage the primeminister’s credibility given his steadfast denials.

Abe also denied putting political pressure onbureaucrats to favor Kagoike when he purchasedthe state land for his now scuttled plan to con-

struct a primary school. The scandal has drawnintense interest in Japan largely due to the charac-ter of Kagoike, whose views on education arewidely out of step with mainstream society. Heoperates a kindergarten in the western city ofOsaka that promotes hyper-nationalistic doctrinesimilar to that taught through the end of WorldWar II. The prime minister also rejected calls byopposition parties that his wife be summoned forquestioning. —AFP

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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s startling allega-tion that former President Barack Obama tapped hisphones during last year’s election is pitting the WhiteHouse against U.S. intelligence officials, sparking graveconcern in law enforcement circles and alarmingDemocrats and Republicans alike. A look at the controversy:

Trump’s allegationOn Saturday, March 4, while at his Florida estate, Trump

angrily tweeted that Obama was behind a politically moti-vated plot to upend his campaign. He alleged that the for-mer president conducted surveillance in October at TrumpTower, the New York skyscraper where he ran his cam-paign and transition. He also maintains a residence there.

He compared the alleged surveillance to“Nixon/Watergate” and “McCarthyism.” Moreover, hecalled Obama a “Bad (or sick) guy.” The tweets reflectedthe president’s growing frustration with swirling reportsabout his advisers’ alleged ties to Russia. Questions abouthis campaign’s ties to Russia have been compounded byUS intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia interferedwith the election to help Trump triumph over HillaryClinton, along with disclosures about his aides’ contactswith a Russian official.

Obama denies it’s trueNo president can legally order a wiretap against a US

citizen. Obtaining one would require officials at the JusticeDepartment to seek permission from the ForeignIntelligence Surveillance Act court, which is shrouded insecrecy. Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said a “cardinalrule” of the Obama administration was that no WhiteHouse official ever interfered in Justice Department inves-tigations, which are supposed to be conducted free ofpolitical influence. “As part of that practice, neitherPresident Obama nor any White House official everordered surveillance on any US citizen,” Lewis said, addingthat “any suggestion otherwise is simply false.”

Trump kicks it to committeeA few days later, Trump asked Congress to investigate

his allegations. Without saying where the president got theinformation that lead to his tweets, White House spokes-woman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was “goingoff information that he’s seen.” If the allegation were true,she said, “this is the greatest overreach and the greatestabuse of power that I think we’ve ever seen and a hugeattack on democracy itself.”

Trump stands aloneWith Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill

refusing to embrace Trump’s wiretap allegation, the presi-dent was out on a limb. Sen John McCain, R-Ariz, chairmanof the Senate Armed Services Committee, pressuredTrump to provide the public with more information abouthis allegation. “The dimensions of this are huge. It’s accus-ing the president of the United States of violating the law.That’s never happened before,” he said.

For a while, it appeared that the White House was walk-ing back Trump’s tweets. White House press secretary SeanSpicer tried to clarify Trump’s comments, saying the presi-dent wasn’t using the word wiretapping literally. “Thepresident used the word wiretap in quotes to mean broad-ly surveillance and other activities,” Spicer said. He alsosuggested Trump wasn’t accusing Obama specifically, butinstead referring to the actions of the Obama administra-tion. But Trump himself didn’t back down. He predicted inan interview with Fox News that there would be “somevery interesting items coming to the forefront over thenext two weeks.” He didn’t elaborate. It remains unclear ifhe’s holding onto some evidence that justify his tweets.

Comey talksIn testimony Monday at a politically charged congres-

sional hearing, FBI Director James Comey brought the cur-tain down on speculation about the wiretap. “With respectto the president’s tweets about alleged wiretapping direct-ed at him by the prior administration, I have no informa-tion that supports those tweets, and we have looked care-fully inside the FBI,” Comey said. The same was true, headded, of the Justice Department. With the denial by thenation’s top enforcement official, the controversyappeared dead. — AP

The wiretap flap from tweets to Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON: President DonaldTrump’s daughter Ivanka Trump willhave a security clearance, a West Wingoffice and the ear of her father onimportant policy matters. But don’t callher an employee. When it comes to gov-ernment work, “employee” is more thanjust a word. That designation triggers anarray of transparency and ethical provi-sions, including a law prohibiting con-flicts of interest. Government watch-dogs are concerned that by refusing tocall Ivanka Trump an employee, WhiteHouse counsel Don McGahn could beattempting to give her a loophole if sheimproperly mingles her governmentpolicy roles with her business and finan-cial interests.

In a letter yesterday to McGahn, theyask him to reconsider, saying the posi-tion as designed “creates a middle spacethat does not exist.” It is signed by twoformer White House lawyers and threeother transparency and ethics advo-cates, all of whom have been highly crit-ical of the Trump administration’sapproach to ethics. “On the one hand,her position will provide her with theprivileges and opportunities for servicethat attach to being a White Houseemployee,” they write. “On the otherhand, she remains the owner of a pri-vate business who is free from the ethicsand conflicts rules that apply to allWhite House employees.” The WhiteHouse rejects that notion.

An unprecedented situationAs an adult first daughter with an

interest in politics and a clothing andlifestyle brand of her own, Ivanka Trumpis in an unprecedented situation. There’sno protocol for this, said a senior WhiteHouse official who requested anonymityto discuss a personnel matter. She’s fam-ily, not an employee. Another personclose to Ivanka Trump earlier told TheAssociated Press that Ivanka believesshe can offer more independent per-spective to her father by not serving as aWhite House staffer.

Richard Painter, one of the letter’ssignatories and President George WBush’s chief ethics counselor, said hecannot recall a White House that hadsuch high-powered “non-employees.”One of the most politically active closerelatives of a sitting president wasHillary Clinton. And she successfullyfought to be considered a federalemployee because of the privacy bene-fits it involves. A June 1993 ruling by afederal appeals court enabled Clinton tokeep secret the details of the health carereform panel that she led.

Ivanka Trump is choosing to be in aless formal role than her husband, JaredKushner, who is a senior adviser to thepresident and, as an employee, must fol-low the rules. She has relinquished con-trol of her brand but, like her father, con-tinues to own and financially benefit fromher businesses. She will “voluntarily com-ply with the rules that would apply if shewere a government employee, eventhough she is not,” her attorney JamieGorelick said this week. Gorelick, who alsohelped Kushner through the White Houseappointment process, said McGahn’soffice agreed with the decision. IvankaTrump and Kushner have said they willnot accept government pay.

Fred Wertheimer, one of the authorsof the letter to McGahn and president ofthe Washington watchdog Democracy21, said Ivanka Trump “should not betreated differently than any other gov-ernment employee just because she isthe president’s daughter.” “This isuntenable. She can make a decision atany time not to comply and there’s nopenalty or sanction whatsoever,” hesaid. “We don’t normally have WhiteHouse employees voluntarily complyingwith rules that were enacted to protectthe American people.”

The senior White House official leftopen the possibility of altering theIvanka Trump arrangement at somepoint - again stressing that this is newterritory. Others in Trump’s White Househave drawn outside scrutiny for govern-

ment work without the usual set of rulesthat accompanies it. Billionaire CarlIcahn, a special adviser to the presidenton regulatory reform and one of hisclose friends, merited a 700-word pressrelease when he agreed to join theadministration. The announcement con-cluded that “he will not be serving as afederal employee or a special govern-ment employee and will not have anyspecific duties.”

Sprawling portfolio Icahn has a sprawling business port-

folio that is directly affected by govern-ment regulations, and at the same timeTrump has tasked him to help fulfill hiscampaign promise of reducing regula-tions. Since Icahn isn’t technically aWhite House employee, he’s had to donothing to clear out potential conflictsof interest. Bloomberg News reportedearlier this month that Icahn is alreadymaking his mark on policy. He’s lobby-ing the Trump administration to changea government rule that forces refineries- including his own - to buy renewablefuel credits.

Icahn’s energy interests and his advo-cacy for Scott Pruitt as head of theEnvironmental Protection Agencyprompted seven Democratic senators towrite in February to McGahn demand-ing a fuller explanation of what exactlyhis White House role is. “Publicly report-ed facts suggest a conflict of interestbetween Mr. Icahn and advice he gavePresident Trump on the nomination ofMr. Pruitt,” the senators wrote. Havingreceived no answer, they followed upwith a second letter to McGahn thismonth. Wertheimer calls the Icahn situa-tion “possibly the worst conflict of inter-est I’ve ever seen.”

White House spokeswomanStephanie Grisham said Icahn is in noway a government employee or official.“He is simply a private citizen whoseopinion the president respects andwhom the president speaks with fromtime to time,” she said. — AP

NEW YORK: This file photo taken on January 11, 2017 shows US President-elect Donald Trump whispers to his daughterIvanka during a press conference at Trump Tower. — AFP

Ivanka Trump: A White House force, just not an ‘employee’

A brand all to her own

BusinessSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

20Eurozone economy lights way for ECB pull-back

17

WASHINGTON: New orders for key US-made capital goods unexpectedly fellin February, but a surge in shipmentsamid demand for machinery and elec-trical equipment supported expecta-tions for an acceleration in businessinvestment in the first quarter.

The Commerce Department saidyesterday that non-defense capitalgoods orders excluding aircraft, aclosely watched proxy for businessspending plans, dipped 0.1 percentlast month after rising 0.1 percent inJanuary. Shipments of these so-calledcore capital goods jumped 1.0 percentafter declining 0.3 percent in January.Core capital goods shipments areused to calculate equipment spend-ing in the government’s gross domes-tic product measurement.

Economists polled by Reuters hadforecast core capital goods ordersrising 0.6 percent last month. Ordersfor machinery inched up 0.1 percentwhile shipments increased 0.9 per-cent. Orders for electrical equipment,appliances and componentsadvanced 2.2 percent, the biggest

increase in seven months, and ship-ments rose 1.5 percent. US financialmarkets were little moved by the dataas investors awaited the outcome of avote later on Friday on a Republican-sponsored bill to replace DemocraticPresident Barack Obama’s 2010Affordable Care Act. The vote is seenas the first significant policy test forPresident Donald Trump.

Manufacturing A recovery in oil prices from mul-

ti-year lows is driving demand forequipment in the energy sector,helping to lift the manufacturingsector after a prolonged slump.Manufacturing, which accounts forabout 12 percent of the US econo-my is also being underpinned by aburst of confidence amid promisesby the Trump administration toslash taxes for businesses, boostinfrastructure spending and repealsome regulations.

Details of the fiscal stimulus pack-age, however, remain vague, result-ing in only a modest increase in busi-

ness spending on equipment out-side the energy sector. The FederalReserve last week described businessinvestment as appearing to have“firmed somewhat.” Economistsexpect business spending on equip-ment to pick up in the first quarterafter a 1.9 percent annualizedgrowth pace in the fourth quarter.

Still, that will likely be insufficientto offset the drag on GDP from slowerconsumer spending and a widertrade deficit. The Atlanta Fed is fore-casting the economy growing at a 0.9percent rate in the first quarter afterexpanding at a 1.9 percent pace inthe final three months of 2016. Lastmonth, a 4.3 percent jump in demandfor transportation equipment offsetthe dip in core capital goods book-ings, and hoisted overall orders fordurable goods, items ranging fromtoasters to aircraft that are meant tolast three years or more, 1.7 percent.

Durable goods orders hadincreased 2.3 percent in January.Civilian aircraft orders soared 47.6percent in February. Boeing reported

on its website that it had receivedorders for 43 aircraft last month, upfrom 26 in January. Orders for motorvehicles and parts fell 0.8 percent inFebruary, while orders for defenseaircraft declined 12.8 percent.

There were increases in ordersfor primary metals, but orders for

fabricated metal products fell asdid those for computers and elec-tronic products. Unfilled orders forcore capital goods increased 0.2percent last month after rising 0.5percent in January. Inventories ofoverall durable goods rose 0.2 per-cent last month. — Reuters

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP: Real estate signs mark the lots near one of the new homes for sale in a development for new homes in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pa.Americans retreated from buying existing homes in February, a pullback after sales in January had surged to the fastest pace in a decade.—AP

16Shell sells Gabon onshore energy assets 19Trump govt approves

Keystone XL pipeline

US core capital goods orders dip

NBK launches foreigncurrency prepaid card

Capital goods shipments edge higher marginally

PITTSBURGH: Washers and dryers appear on display for sale at a JCPenney store in Pittsburgh. The Commerce Department released itsFebruary report on durable goods. —AP

B U S I N E S SSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell has sold its onshore oiland gas interests in the central African nation ofGabon for $587 million to private equity firm CarlyleGroup, it said yesterday.

The Anglo-Dutch energy giant announced in astatement that it has sold the assets to Carlyle forthe equivalent of 544 million euros in a deal expect-ed to complete in mid-2017. Carlyle will also take ondebt of $285 million as part of the deal. It will makeextra payments up to a maximum of $150 milliondepending on production performance and com-modity prices.

Shell will however retain exploration licenses fortwo offshore blocks west of Gabon, a companyspokesman added. “Shell is very proud of the stronglegacy we have built in Gabon over the past 55years,” said Upstream Director Andy Brown in thestatement. “The decision to divest was not takenlightly, but it is consistent with Shell’s strategy toconcentrate our upstream footprint where we can bemost competitive. Shell will continue to pursueopportunities in Sub Saharan Africa. “Together withrecent divestments in the UK, Gulf of Mexico andCanada, this transaction shows the clear momentumbehind Shell’s $30-billion divestment program, and ithelps us to high-grade and simplify our upstreamportfolio following the acquisition of BG.”

The downstream business includes refining, mar-keting and distribution, while upstream comprisesexploration and production. Yesterday’s sale is part ofa huge $30-billion divestment plan as Shell stream-lines its portfolio and cuts debt following the vasttakeover of rival BG Group last year.

“I think it illustrates management’s ongoing suc-cess of pivoting the company toward a more sustain-able future, and their commitment to normalizingdebt levels,” Cantor analyst David Donnelly told AFP.“It’s notable that the disposals tend to be focused onmature, oil based assets, thereby boosting the promi-nence of natural gas within Shell’s portfolio, particu-larly following the BG deal.” —AFP

Shell sells Gabononshore energy assets

TUNIS: Tunisia is drafting an “economic emergency” billthat will allow the government to bypass bureaucratic hur-dles and speed up large-scale projects as it seeks to boostgrowth and create jobs, a senior official said.

Administrative delays and bureaucracy are one of thebiggest obstacles for local and foreign investors in Tunisia,which has struggled economically since its 2011 uprising.

The move comes amid increasing pressure from interna-tional lenders to reform the state sector and cut a bloatedpublic sector wage bill. “In two or three weeks the parlia-ment will start debates on a new ‘economic emergency’ billaimed at reducing the obstacles on major projects,” RidhaSaidi, an economic advisor to Prime Minister YoussefChahed, told Reuters.

The bill will allow the government to take rapid deci-sions and short-circuit some bureaucratic procedures onbig infrastructure projects and other new investment.

“The new law will give a strong message for all investorsthat Tunisia is committed to providing a better investmentclimate,” Saidi said. Opposition parties have raised con-cerns that by reducing bureaucratic checks, the proposedbill could increase corruption, already a major problem inTunisia’s economy. Saidi said anti-corruption controlswould not be weakened.

Chahed’s government has been pushing a raft ofreforms aimed at ending years of stagnation and highunemployment. It expects the economy to grow between2.5 percent and 3 percent this year.

Previous attempts at reform have been frustrated bypolitical infighting and resistance from powerful tradeunions and other interest groups. — Reuters

KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK)successfully concluded its ‘Update yourCivil ID’ February promotion, as it heldits fourth and last draw earlier this

month at the Bank’s Head Office in thepresence of a representative from theMinistry of Commerce.

The lucky customer for the fourth

‘Update Your Civil ID’ draw was MeshalAbdullateef, from Jahra 2 Branch, win-ning an Apple iPhone7. ABK rolled outthis campaign to encourage its cus-tomers to make the necessary updatesto their Civil ID details, while rewardingthem for doing so. It also aimed to raiseawareness of the different services thatcan be completed through ABK’s ATMmachines, which include withdrawingand depositing money, requestingaccount balances and mini-statements,changing a PIN number and transferringfunds to other ABK accounts.

The Bank’s activities and initiativesultimately stem from its ‘SimplerBanking’ strategy, which aims to offercustomers a simpler banking modelwhile ensuring speed, security and con-venience. ABK will continue to capitalizeon this strategy and ensure that cus-tomers are receiving superior servicesthat cater to their different needs.

ABK announces final winner of its ‘Update

Your Civil ID’ campaign

LONDON: World markets wobbled inunsteady trading as investors looked toa key vote on US healthcare reformwhose passage is seen as crucial to thefuture of Donald Trump’s growth agen-da. The four-month rally in global stockscame to a juddering halt this week asthe new president struggled to garnerenough support from his ownRepublican party for a bill repealingObamaCare.

There are fears the bill’s failure wouldthrow a spanner in the works for his oth-er big-ticket pledges on infrastructurespending, tax cuts and deregulation-keydrivers of the markets’ surge. A vote onthe reforms pencilled in for Thursdaywas put back a day, with the WhiteHouse saying it would definitely pass.Nevertheless Trump turned up the pres-sure on lawmakers yesterday.

“After seven horrible years ofObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums &deductibles, bad healthcare), this isfinally your chance for a great plan!,”Trump tweeted. Wall Steet equitiesopened to the upside, while Londonand Frankfurt treading water in after-noon trading.

“The threat of a rejection in Congressfor Trump’s Obamacare replacementhas brought about significant doubtsover his ability to pass his corporate taxcut this week,” noted IG analyst JoshuaMahony.

Move on to tax “However, Trump has indicated that

should the healthcare reforms not pass,he would simply move on to his otherplans, such as cutting corporate taxes.”The administration gave lawmakers anultimatum Thursday, warning that if the

bill failed then Obamacare-whichRepublicans have vilified since its incep-tion seven years ago-would stay in placeand Trump would move on to the rest ofhis agenda.

Greg McKenna, chief market strate-gist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader,added that the bill’s success would be amajor positive for Trump, who is strug-gling with a fractious Republican party,controversy over alleged links to Russiaand record low popularity ratings. AndToshihiko Matsuno, head of investmentinformation at SMBC Friend Securities,told AFP: “Even though the vote was

delayed, the fact that it will take placeFriday probably means the Republicanplan will pass.”

However, McKenna added: “If it failsthen the whole house of cards that’s beenbuilt up since the election can comecrashing down as traders and investorswonder what the heck will happen to taxand infrastructure plans.” Tokyo ended0.9 percent higher, with exporters liftedby a weaker yen against the dollar, havingadvanced on the US unit all week. HongKong added 0.1 percent, Sydney was up0.8 percent and Shanghai closed 0.6 per-cent higher. — AP

Markets on edge before key US healthcare vote

Axe on corporate tax looming

NEW YORK: Traders work on the Mizuho Americas trading floor in New York.Stocks opened higher on Wall Street yesterday led by gains in technologycompanies and banks. —AP

Tunisia pushing ‘economic emergency’bill to spur growth


KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) hasrecently launched NBK Foreign CurrencyPrepaid Card; as part of its ongoing efforts tofacilitate customers’ banking transactionswhile traveling abroad, enabling cardholdersto pay using the hosting country’s currency.This new innovative card is the safest andmost convenient means of payment, as itdelivers a more secure and convenient experi-ence for NBK customers during their travel,and gives them peace of mind knowing thatthey have recharged their prepaid cardsbefore leaving home, thus avoiding anyexchange fluctuation.

NBK Foreign Currency Prepaid Card is avail-able in seven currencies: US dollar, euro, poundsterling, UAE dirham, Egyptian pound, Indianrupee, and the Jordanian dinar. Customers can

recharge their cardsthrough NBK OnlineBanking, NBK’s IVR, NBKCall Center, or any ofNBK branches.

Commenting onthe newly launchedcard, NBK AssistantGeneral Manager-Consumer BankingGroup, Hanadi Khazalsaid that this card isideal for frequent travelers as it provides a fullrange of benefits to NBK customers and facili-tates their purchase transactions outsideKuwait. The new card is an example of lever-aging innovation to deliver on client needs,and builds on NBK’s ongoing efforts to provid-

ing frequent travelers with the flexibility andsecurity while paying for their purchases inany of the currencies provided by the card, be

it for online shopping, point-of-sale, or ATMwithdrawals.

Moreover, NBK Foreign Currency PrepaidCard offers a range of benefits including:Travel insurance of up to $100,000, exclusiveoffers and rewards from Visa, SMS Service, inaddition to easy login to your account viaNBK Online Banking, and other benefits thatmeet travelers’ lifestyle and needs. In addi-tion, customers can apply for the card withease and convenience through NBK OnlineBanking or NBK Call Center, and the bank willdeliver the card to them free of charge any-where in Kuwait. NBK Credit Cards are widelyaccepted worldwide and are the safest, mostconvenient and rewarding way to pay, offer-ing value added features, numerous dis-counts, and excellent rewards.

NBK launches foreign currency prepaid card

PARIS: The European Investment Bank has asked Frenchinvestigators to find out whether 800 million euros ($863million) of EU-backed loans to Renault could have beenused to develop test-cheating diesel engines, according todocuments seen by Reuters.

The European Union lending arm wrote to judges lead-ing a fraud investigation into preliminary findings thatRenault diesel engines - like Volkswagen’s - had been con-figured to manipulate nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissionstests. Renault, which has consistently denied breaking anylaws or emissions rules, had no immediate comment yes-terday. The Paris prosecutor’s office did not respond torequests for comment.

Since 2009, the European Investment Bank (EIB) hasgranted more than 8 billion euros in preferential loans toback development of vehicles with lower carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions by carmakers including VW, exposed in2015 for using software “defeat devices” to dupe US regu-latory tests. Technologies funded by the EIB have includeddiesel engines, because they emit less CO2 than gasolineequivalents. More recently, however, diesels have beenshown to produce many times the legal limit of toxic NOxin real driving.

“The EIB has granted Renault several loans to financeprojects including research and development to reducevehicle CO2 emissions (amounting to more than 800 mil-lion euros),” the bank’s chief fraud investigator told theFrench judges. The Jan. 30 letter also proposes a follow-upmeeting “in order to establish whether our financing isimplicated in your investigations and to offer you all possi-ble assistance.” It adds: “The EIB enforces a zero-tolerancepolicy towards fraud and corruption and strives to ensurethat no illegal activity tarnishes its business.” A spokes-woman for the Luxembourg-based bank declined to com-ment on the contact with French prosecutors. Two 400million-euro loans granted to Renault in 2009 and 2013have since been reimbursed, she said, and a third out-standing 180 million-euro facility did not cover any dieseldevelopment.

Market fallout Renault shares fell 7.8 percent in three days to end last

week at 78.65 euros after excerpts of a November reportby France’s DGCCRF consumer fraud watchdog appearedin newspapers, wiping 2 billion euros off the company’svalue. The stock has since recovered some ground to80.68 euros, as of 1235 GMT. Based on the agency’s find-ings, prosecutors opened an investigation in January intofraud allegations against Renault and its Chief ExecutiveCarlos Ghosn. If found guilty, the group could be fined upto 10 percent of annual revenue, or 3.58 billion euros.

The DGCCRF report, also seen by Reuters, cites enginesoftware parameters from Renault’s own technical docu-mentation that partially or entirely deactivate anti-pollu-tion functions such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and“lean NOx traps” (LNT) outside predictable regulatory testconditions. —Reuters

Hanadi Khazal

LONDON: Big bond funds are becomingincreasingly reluctant to lend to theeurozone’s weakest members, lookingpast a crowded electoral calendar to aneventual winding down of the EuropeanCentral Bank’s ultra-loose monetary pol-icy. In recent months, the funds havebeen hiking the premiums they demandto buy bonds from highly-indebtedsouthern European states such asPortugal and Italy.

Many analysts have put much of thatto fears that the anti-establishment wavebehind Brexit and Donald Trump’s USpresidential election win could sweepanti-establishment parties to power in aseries of European elections this year.

But the first of those votes in theNetherlands last week threw into sharprelief that for many investors there aremore risks facing the bloc’s weakest debtmarkets than just politics. There was lit-tle change in relative borrowing costsafter Prime Minister Mark Rutte fendedoff a challenge from the far-right pop-ulist Geert Wilders in the Dutch election.

Top of the risks list is whether theEuropean Central Bank will soon with-draw the life support that has kept manyof the weaker economies functioningand compressed government bondyields. “The better the political outcomein all of these European elections, themore flexibility the ECB has to one daywithdraw the stimulus,” said MichaelKrautzberger, the head of Europeanfixed income at the world’s biggestasset manager, BlackRock.

“I would expect that we have muchmore country differentiation in a scenariowhere the ECB finally withdraws from themarket because that uniform factor fallsaway.” At the start of April, the ECB willscale back the billions of euros its spendseach month on a bond-buying schemedesigned to prop up growth and infla-tion. That may be just the start. At itsMarch meeting, ECB President MarioDraghi said its sense of urgency was over.Investors have begun to anticipate inter-est rate rises by the end of this year.

‘Drugs don’t work’Some analysts warn that if the ECB

tries to wind down its program quickly,borrowing costs for so-called peripheral

countries relative to Germany-known asthe spread-could widen by as much as1-2 percentage points. For the likes ofPortugal that would put borrowingcosts back towards levels seen as unsus-tainable for managing debts.

In a similar way that some emergingcountries suffered in the backdraft of UShints it would scale back monetary eas-ing in 2013, the bloc’s weakest links maybe punished by markets.

“The drugs don’t work already andwhen you take steps towards pricing inless drugs - QE - then you price in spreadwidening,” said Richard McGuire, headof rates strategy at Rabobank. Spain andItaly have been among the poorest per-forming bond markets in the euro areathis year. The German/Italian 10-yearyield gap this week rose above 200 basispoints to its widest in three years. Therewas little change in these spreads lastweek’s Dutch election. Investors sayFrench bonds could win some respite ifthe eurosceptic Marine Le Pen is defeat-ed in May’s presidential vote.

But it is unclear whether the same istrue for the debt of Italy and Portugal,where governments have struggled toimplement structural reforms and shore

up a fragile banking sector. “As the ECBgradually withdraws monetary stimulusthis year and next, that will place a dis-proportionate challenge on the weakercountries to grow under the tightermonetary stance,” said AndrewBosomworth, head of portfolio manage-ment in Germany at PIMCO, one of theworld’s largest bond investors. “Hencewe see valuations in peripheral countriesas vulnerable, especially if they do not orcannot compensate for less monetarystimulus with stimulative fiscal policy orgrowth-enhancing structural reforms.”

Election uncertainty in the eurozonehas also been weighing down marketinflation expectations in the bloc.Analysts say those expectations shouldsnap back once the political hurdles arecleared, meeting the ECB’s near 2 per-cent target and supporting the case fortighter policy. For the currency market,some argue the prospect of tighter poli-cy is set to prove as least as importantas politics over the next six months.Bets against the euro hit their lowest innearly a year after this month’s ECB’smeeting and major banks have aban-doned predictions for a fall to paritywith the dollar. —Reuters

EIB asks French diesel inquiry to probe

Renault’s use of loans

Splintering eurozone debt market down to DraghiMarkets anticipating policy change at ECB

ROME: Demonstrators hold a banner reading: “Who sold his people is not wel-comed. Tsipras out of the University” as they shout slogans against theplanned visit of Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras at the Economy faculty in Romeon Thursday.—AP


LONDON: One afternoon in mid-January,Prime Minister Theresa May walked into ameeting room in the Swiss resort of Davos toface Wall Street’s most powerful bankers. Mayhad delivered her vision two days earlier forpulling Britain out of the European Union’ssingle market. Now the Wall Street banks,fearing Britain was headed for trouble, want-ed to hear more about her strategy.

At stake was London’s future as a globalfinancial centre. Among those present wereLloyd Blankfein, chief executive of GoldmanSachs, Jamie Dimon, chief executive ofJPMorgan Chase, and James Gorman, chiefexecutive of Morgan Stanley. Blankfein, a for-mer gold trader raised in the Bronx whoworked his way up to lead one of the world’smost powerful investment banks, was themost direct during the talks, according to twobankers and a government official withknowledge of the meeting.

“Lloyd asked where does the financial serv-ices industry stand in her list of priorities,”according to one senior banking executivebriefed on the discussion by his boss. “Wecontribute a double-digit percentage toBritain’s GDP. We’re the biggest taxpayer inthe country.”

QuestioningMay gave a reply about the importance of

financial services but declined to answer thequestion directly, the sources said. Some ofthe bankers left questioning her commitment.

May and the banks declined to commenton the meeting. Over the past two decades,Goldman, like many of the other 250 foreign-owned banks in Britain, has consolidated itsEuropean operations in London to takeadvantage of the EU’s $16.5 trillion-a-year sin-gle market. They are set to lose this wide-open access to a market of 500 million peopleafter May signalled her main priority is torestrict immigration, which can only beachieved by leaving the trading bloc.

Senior bankers expected special treatmentfrom the government after Britain voted toleave the EU. They expected ministers tochampion their cause, above other industries,to retain unrestricted access to the singlemarket for financial services. It isn’t workingout that way. A series of other meetingsbetween bankers and government ministershave also ended badly, Reuters has learned.

Bankers say May’s ministers don’t under-stand the industry and what is at stake, anddon’t want to hear negative news aboutBrexit. “We have entered a period of severedanger,” said a Wall Street executive who runsthe European operations of a global invest-ment bank. “Parts of the government arebeing way too complacent.”

May’s office, in a statement responding tothe findings of this article, said the governmentdidn’t “recognize this version of events.” Thegovernment is engaging intensively with thefinancial services industry, the statement said.

Politicians say the bankers are exaggerat-ing the threat. Some rebalancing of the econ-omy away from financial services - whichaccounts for about 12 percent of Britain’s eco-nomic output - will be good in the long run,they say. “It is all just lobbying. They make abrouhaha,” said Peter Lilley, a pro-BrexitConservative politician and former financier,who sits on the parliamentary committee

examining Britain’s exit from the EU. “Theyalways massively exaggerate.”

The rift is in marked contrast to what’shappening in the United States. There thepopulist backlash that made Donald Trumppresident has brought at least four formerGoldman Sachs executives into senior posi-tions in the new administration. But in Britain,the nationalist drive that produced Brexitdelivered a prime minister determined not tobe in thrall to bankers.

The result is that banks are preparing tomove large numbers of staff from London, andGermany and France are trying to lure jobs totheir financial capitals. Some bankers believethe big winner from Brexit will be New Yorkbecause some business currently carried out in

London would naturally revert to US headquar-ters. HSBC, UBS and Morgan Stanley havedecided to move about 1,000 staff each fromLondon in the next two years, according tosources familiar with their plans. This weekGoldman Sachs said it would begin movinghundreds of people out of London as part ofcontingency plans for Britain leaving the EU.

Not crying wolfSince Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s

“Big Bang” financial deregulation triggered amassive expansion of the industry 31 yearsago, bankers have relied on being a power-house of Britain’s economy to find a receptiveear in government. But in the aftermath of thevote to leave the EU, the sector is grapplingwith a new reality. Last year’s vote triggered achange in leadership and tone at the heart ofBritain’s government. May pledged an industri-al revival and to build an economy that worksfor everyone, not just the elite.

Reuters spoke to more than 40 seniorbankers from big British and internationalbanks, politicians, government officials andlobbyists to piece together how the relation-ship between these pillars of Britain’s establish-ment became strained. Those people say thereare conflicting opinions about what the long-

term results of Brexit will be for the world’s fifthlargest economy and whether finance shouldremain the biggest driver of its wealth.

NegotiatorsThe government is making two calcula-

tions, these people say. The first is that bankexecutives are bluffing over moving jobs. Thesecond: The EU is so dependent on London toservice its debt that EU negotiators will giveUK financial services a special deal to contin-ue to operate unrestricted across the singlemarket. EU officials counter that finance ismobile and business will move to other loca-tions. Britain’s finance industry contributed arecord 71.4 billion pounds ($88.7 billion) incorporate and employee taxes to the govern-

ment last year, according to the City ofLondon Corporation. That is an amount equalto Britain’s annual spending on primary edu-cation, the police, and the army. Put anotherway, finance contributes almost as much intax as all taxpayers in Scotland and Walescombined. Nevertheless, May’s ministersbegan telling bankers in the autumn theywould not get any special treatment in theBrexit negotiations. The second most power-ful executive at one of Britain’s biggest bankssaid he and his colleagues felt wrong-footed.The executive said that he no longer receivesphone calls from British cabinet ministers orinvitations to Downing Street receptions ashe did under previous governments.

“With May there is almost no interest oraffection. She is keeping us at arm’s length,”the executive said. “I will probably never meetMay.” Brexit minister David Davis, who willdecide the industry priorities in the upcomingBrexit talks, rammed home the message thatthe government’s relationship with the finan-cial sector was changing in his first few meet-ings with bankers.

Davis, a Eurosceptic from a working classbackground, bristles at being told what to doby bankers, according to colleagues and peo-ple who interact with him. Davis declined to

comment. In an early phone conversation, hetold one executive that the finance industryhad damaged its relationship with the gov-ernment by saying the economy would sufferfrom reduced immigration. The EU vote haddelivered a clear message that immigrationmust be curbed, he said.

Davis publicly attacked banks in October inparliament. He accused them of “an extraordi-nary outpouring almost of grief, a ‘blameBrexit’ festival,” and of lying that they weregoing to fire staff because of Brexit. Davis’saides also warned executives they need to bemore positive about the opportunities ofBrexit if the government is going to listen tothem, two banking sources said.

Bank executives complain they feel theycan’t speak freely. “Everyone is worried aboutstoking up the Brexiteers, fuelling the flames,”said the chairman of one of Britain’s biggestinsurance companies.

A government official said the bankers’portrayal of the relationship doesn’t accurate-ly reflect the character of the meetings or thetone of the Davis team’s engagement withfinancial services firms. The official declined togo into specifics. The appointment of SimonKirby as minister responsible for financialservices further raised concerns among somebankers. They doubted that Kirby, whofounded a radio station and a chain of night-clubs before going into politics, was suitableto be the main government liaison to theindustry, these bankers said.

In November, many of the most seniorexecutives and chairmen of Britain’s financecompanies met him for the first time. Kirbyfailed to answer basic questions about thegovernment’s policy towards financial servic-es, according to people who attended. “It wasalmost like he didn’t know what a bank is orwhat it does,” said one of the people present.Kirby declined to comment. A few weeks agoKirby was quietly removed from his Brexitrole. He will continue to work in the financeministry, with responsibility for areas includ-ing regulation. The Treasury said it wanted anew minister to focus on assessing Brexit’simpact on financial services.

Masters of the universeJacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative lawmak-

er and financier, says the government isrelaxed about bankers’ threats because thevote was a rejection of an economic systemthat benefited the banks. “It’s condescensionfrom the clever people, the masters of theuniverse,” he said. “They don’t like the factthat they’ve been overruled by the peoplewho voted for Brexit.”

He said banks historically don’t followthrough on their threats. At the turn of thecentury, some financial sector executiveswarned the failure to join the euro would leadto a withering in London’s role as a hub forbusiness. And after the 2007-09 financial crisismany banks also threatened to move opera-tions overseas. On both occasions, Britain’sfinance sector expanded. Shanker Singham, atrade expert who has held meetings with theBrexit department, told Reuters the govern-ment has also been frustrated with the banksbecause they exaggerated how much theydepended on EU “passporting,” a set of regu-latory agreements that allowed them to sellservices across Europe. — Reuters

How banks lost the ear of Britain’s govt over Brexit

‘We have entered a period of severe danger’

LONDON: A European and British Union flags hang outside Europe House, the EuropeanParliament’s British offices in London. Britain’s government will begin the process ofleaving the European Union on March 29, starting the clock on the two years in which tocomplete the most important negotiation for a generation. —AP


LISBON: Portugal slashed its public sector deficit by morethan half in a single year, when measured as s proportion ofGDP, the national statistics bureau said yesterday, takingthe shortfall comfortably below eurozone limits. The deficitdropped to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2016, astaggering reduction from its 4.4 percent level a year earlier.

This confirms Finance Minister Mario Centeno’s predic-tion last month that the deficit would be “not more than2.1 percent,” its lowest share of GDP since the advent ofdemocracy in 1974. Eurozone members are required tokeep their public deficits to below three percent of GDP,but some are struggling to do so. Portugal’s public deficitshot up into the double digits during the global economiccrisis, and despite an international bailout it had difficultybringing it back down to 4.4 percent in 2015. Portugal’seconomy expanded by 1.4 percent in 2016, the nationalstatistics institute said in February, after growing by 1.6percent the previous year on the back of stronger exportsand private consumption. — AFP

WASHINGTON: The Trump administra-tion issued a permit yesterday to buildthe Keystone XL pipeline, reversing theObama administration and clearing theway for the $8 billion project to finallybe completed.

The decision caps a years-long fightbetween environmental groups andenergy industry advocates over thepipeline’s fate that became a proxy bat-tle over global warming. It marks one ofthe biggest steps taken to date by theTrump administration to prioritize eco-nomic development over environmentalconcerns. The State Department,responsible for reviewing the projectbecause it crosses an international bor-der, determined that building it servesUS national interests.

That conclusion followed a review ofenvironmental, economic and diplomat-ic factors, the department said. It wasn’timmediately clear what, if anything, hadchanged since the State Departmentreached the opposite conclusion twoyears ago, other than the election of anew administration. President DonaldTrump planned to address Keystoneduring an announcement yesterdaymorning, White House spokesman SeanSpicer said on Twitter.

Presidential permitTransCanada, the Calgary-based

company that first applied for a presi-dential permit in 2008, called the deci-sion a “significant milestone.” “We great-ly appreciate President Trump’s admin-istration for reviewing and approvingthis important initiative,” saidTransCanada CEO Russ Girling. “We lookforward to working with them as wecontinue to invest in and strengthen

North America’s energy infrastructure.”But Greenpeace, one of the pipeline’smost vocal opponents, said it sent a sig-nal to the world that the US is “movingbackwards” on climate and energy, andpledged to keep fighting it nonetheless.

“Keystone was stopped once before,and it will be stopped again,” said AnnieLeonard, the group’s US director. The1,700-mile (2,735 kilometers) pipeline,as envisioned, would carry oil from tarsands in Alberta, Canada, to refineriesalong the Texas Gulf Coast, passingthrough Montana, South Dakota,Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. Thepipeline would move roughly 800,000barrels of oil per day, more than one-fifth of the oil Canada exports to the US.

Portions of Keystone have alreadybeen built. Completing it required a per-mit to cross from Canada into the US.Yet even with a presidential permit, thepipeline still faces obstacles - mostnotably the route, which is still beingheavily litigated in the states. NativeAmerican tribes and landowners havejoined environmental groups in oppos-ing the pipeline.

TransCanada said yesterday it wouldcontinue engaging with “neighborsthroughout Nebraska, Montana andSouth Dakota to obtain the necessarypermits and approvals to advance thisproject to construction.” In an unusualtwist, the presidential permit was signedby Tom Shannon, a career diplomatserving in a senior State Departmentrole, rather than by Secretary of StateRex Tillerson.

The former CEO of oil companyExxon Mobil recused himself afterprotests from environmental groupswho said it would be a conflict of inter-

est for Tillerson to decide the pipeline’sfate. Canadian Natural ResourceMinister Jim Carr said the Canadiangovernment is pleased with the deci-sion. Ninety-seven percent of Canada’soil exports go to the US.

“Nothing is more essential to theAmerican economy than access to asecure and reliable source of energy.Canada is that source,” Carr said. Oilindustry advocates say the pipeline willimprove US energy security and createjobs, although how many is widely dis-puted. Calgary-based TransCanada haspromised as many as 13,000 construc-tion jobs - 6,500 a year over two years -although the State Department previ-ously estimated a far smaller number.The pipeline’s opponents contend thejobs will be minimal and short-lived,and say the pipeline won’t help the USwith energy needs because the oil isdestined for export.

A Trump presidential directive alsorequired new or expanded pipelines tobe built with American steel “to themaximum extent possible.” However,TransCanada has said Keystone won’t bebuilt with US steel.

The company has already acquiredthe steel, much of it from Canada andMexico, and the White House hasacknowledged it’s too difficult toimpose conditions on a pipeline alreadyunder construction. Environmentalgroups also say the pipeline will encour-age the use of carbon-heavy tar sandsoil which contributes more to globalwarming than cleaner sources of energy.President Barack Obama reached thesame conclusion in 2015 after a nega-tive recommendation from then-Secretary of State John Kerry. — AP

MOSCOW: Russia’s central bank cut its key rate yesterday forthe first time in six months and said more cuts were coming,offering a welcome boost to the country’s struggling econo-my. Falling inflation gave the central bank the leeway to shavea quarter-point off its headline rate and to promise more eas-ing down the road. The central bank announced the cut to9.75 percent from 10 percent after a regular monetary policymeeting. Russia’s economic activity is in sore need of a boostas it struggles to emerge from two years of recession causedby the slump in oil prices and Western sanctions imposedover Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

The central bank last cut its interest rate in September, byhalf a percentage point to 10 percent. Yesterday’s move cameas the “inflation slowdown overshoots the forecast, inflationexpectations continue to decline and economic activity recov-ers,” the central bank said. It said inflation had dropped to 4.3percent from 5 percent in January. “Inflation risks have slightlydropped but remain elevated. In these circumstances, giventhe moderately tight monetary policy, the 4 percent inflationtarget will be achieved by the end of 2017,” the central banksaid. It said it was considering “the possibility of cutting thekey rate gradually” in the second and third quarters.

More to come Previous to yesterday’s meeting, many economists had

expected the status quo to continue while others had predict-ed a softening of the very restrictive monetary policy followedby the central bank since the ruble collapsed at the end of2014. William Jackson, Senior Emerging Markets Economist atCapital Economics, said falling inflation and a stronger rublemean that Russia’s easing cycle “has much further to run”.

Jackson himself had even predicted a 0.5 point reductionat yesterday’s central bank meeting. Inflation was set to fallfurther “and more quickly than the central bank anticipates,”Jackson said. “That should provide substantial room for fur-ther easing.” The ruble rose against the dollar after the ratemove, trading at 57.10 against the greenback around 1200GMT, compared to 57.40 just before the cut. A number of keyindicators have improved recently, favoring easier credit,especially inflation, which is now approaching the centralbank’s four-percent target for this year. — AFP

Trump govt approves Keystone XL pipeline

Decision cap years of long fight

STEELE CITY: In this Nov 3, 2015, file photo, the Keystone Steele City pumping station, into which the planned KeystoneXL pipeline is to connect to, is seen in Steele City. The State Department recommended approval of the Keystone XLpipeline, clearing the way for the White House to formally approve it.— AP

Russia cuts key rate in boost to economy

MOSCOW: Russia’s Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullinagives a press conference in Moscow yesterday. — AFP

Portugal cuts deficit to lowest ratio since democracy


FRANKFURT: For companies in the European Union,London is the chief gateway to finance. Rerouting thefinancial lines that run through London will be com-plex, experts say.

London dominates wholesale banking in Europe, a5.8 trillion euro ($6.2 trillion) industry that includesfinancing for companies from big multinationals tofamily-owned firms that are the backbone of Germany’seconomy. London is also the first port of call for compa-nies, such as Italian lender UniCredit, selling shares orraising debt. This is because many fund managers andasset managers have a base in Britain. The Bank ofEngland estimates that half of the debt and equityissued by EU borrowers involves financial groups inBritain. This could be a London bank organising a saleof European company bonds, for example.

And London houses the bulk of Europe’s derivativesmarket, where car makers buy protection againstswings in the US dollar or airlines guard themselves

against a spike in the price of oil. More than 7 trillioneuros of trading in such instruments is processed inLondon daily.

Experts expect EU firms and banks gradually toreduce their reliance on London. Governments inFrance and Germany want to establish alternatives toLondon in Paris and Frankfurt.

Over time, some of London’s wholesale funding willmove to other centres in Europe. Thinktank Bruegelpredicts that London’s share of this market will eventu-ally shrink from 90 percent to 60 percent. If misman-aged, however, the migration could raise the cost offunding for European companies, the thinktank said.

Bruegel’s Dirk Schoenmaker said that if wholesalefunding operations are spread across several locationsthat could lift costs by between 6 billion and 12 billioneuros each year because of the expense of using multi-ple financial centres. That is equivalent to up to 0.1 per-cent of the remaining 27 EU countries’ economic out-

put. Shifting the multi-trillion euro derivatives businesswould be difficult, regulators and bankers said. Somederivatives have a term of many decades. It is unclear,bankers said, what will happen when Britain, where thecontracts were drafted, leaves the European Union.

They said that the cost of holding such instrumentscould rise sharply for European banks if a clearinghouse in London that processes the deal, for example,is not recognised in the European Union. A transitionperiod, after initial exit talks of two years, could winextra time. But many bank executives, speaking private-ly, have said they are working on the assumption thatthere will be no transition.

EU officials familiar with the bloc’s preparations fornegotiations have told Reuters that they too fear a“cliff-edge” departure of Britain from the bloc. They arepinning their hopes on banks moving to the continentin time and believe this will minimize any fallout fortheir economies. — Reuters

Europe’s financial lifeline from London in doubt

LONDON: If the latest surveys of businessintentions are to be believed, the euro-zone economy is sparkling, growing at apace that easily explains the hints fromsome European Central Bank policymak-ers of a pull-back from their easy-moneyregime. IHS Markit’s euro zone FlashComposite Purchasing Managers’ Index(PMI), an influential guide to the buyingplans of businesses and hence growth, hita near six-year high this month.

It climbed to 56.7 from February’s56.0, its highest reading since April2011 and better than any predictions ina Reuters poll. At the same time, flashsurveys for the currency bloc’s twolargest economies-Germany andFrance-also stormed past expectationsto register near six-year highs, condi-tions likely to play into elections in bothcountries this year.

“This is a really solid rate of expansion.It’s an economy firing on all cylinders,”Chris Williamson, chief business econo-mist at IHS Markit, said of the euro zone.

He added that it implied first quartereconomic growth of 0.6 percent quarteron quarter, which would be the joint high-est reading since the first quarter of 2011.

One immediate impact may be to putpressure on the ECB to begin rolling backits historically easy monetary policy, acombination of zero to negative interestrates and a large asset-buying program.

Earlier this month the ECB pledged toextend its bond-buying program to atleast the end of the year, citing weakunderlying inflation and lacklustregrowth in the euro zone. It will, however,reduce its monthly spend from April. Italso highlighted that it no longer felt a“sense of urgency” to take further action.Since then some ECB policymakers,notably Austria’s Ewald Nowotny andItaly’s Ignazio Visco, have spoken of a ratehike within or just after the period of thebond-buying program.

“These (PMI) numbers will likely rein-force the ECB’s view that downside risksare diminishing. But the central bank willonly tighten gradually,” Morgan Stanleysaid in a note. The key will be inflation,control of which is the ECB’s primary man-date. Markit’s euro zone PMI sub-indexmeasuring prices charged by businessesrose to a near six-year high of 53.3.

Inflation in the euro zone was 2.0 per-cent in February- around the ECB’s target.

“What we are picking up is an increasein suppliers’ ability to hike prices due tostrong demand. If that continues to inten-sify the ECB should become more wor-ried,” Markit’s Williamson said.

Fracturing the forecasts All nine of yesterday’s PMI reports-

manufacturing, services and compositefor the eurozone, France and Germany-beat even the most optimistic forecastsin Reuters polls of economists. France’scomposite registered 57.6 in Marchfrom 55.9 in February, a particularly sig-nificant rise given the country’s econo-my is generally lagging and this put itabove Germany. How such data playsinto the French presidential election,the first round of which is in April ,remains to be seen.

National Front candidate Marine LePen will be hoping to capture votes fromthose angry with their economic lot. Butthe two other leading candidates,Emmanuel Macron and Francois Fillonare both calling for economic reform. Ahefty chunk of the electorate has yet todecide who to vote for, if the polls areanything to go by. — Reuters

Eurozone economy sparkles, lights way for ECB pull-back

France, Germany heading for Q1 growth

PARIS: French Junior Minister for Budget Christian Eckert (right) listens to Finance minister Michel Sapin speaking during apress conference to present the latest figures on France’s public deficit yesterday at the Economy ministry in Paris. — AFP

Sri Lanka raises rates as growth slows, inflation spikes

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka raised its key interest rate by 25basis points yesterday as inflation spiked and foreignreserves fell, compounding problems caused by slowingeconomic growth.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said it raised the bench-mark lending rate from 8.5 percent to 8.75 percent asyear-on-year inflation increased to 8.2 percent last month,sharply up from 6.5 percent in January. Sri Lanka enjoyedblistering economic growth rates averaging more than8.0 percent for two years after a prolonged civil war end-ed in 2009.

But growth has been slowing ever since, hitting 4.4 per-cent last year, according to central bank data. Foreignreserves fell to $5.6 billion at the end of February comparedto $6.0 billion in December 2016. “The Monetary Board wasof the view that further tightening of monetary policy isnecessary as a precautionary measure, in order to containthe buildup of adverse inflation expectations,” it said.

A drought gr ipping parts of the is land andunfavourable external conditions were hurting the econ-omy, the bank said. Last June, the government received a$1.5 billion bailout from the IMF after facing a balance ofpayments crisis.

Earlier this month, the IMF said Sri Lanka’s currentaccount remained stable, but the financial account weak-ened with the resumption of capital outflows. The IMFalso warned that a prolonged drought in the island couldraise food and oil imports with adverse impacts on eco-nomic growth, inflation, and the country’s balance ofpayments. — AFP

UK consumers spend more in February

LONDON: Official figures show retail sales in Britainbounced back strongly in February but that theunderlying picture remains gloomy as the countryprepares to start two years of discussions to leave theEuropean Union. The Office for National Statistics saidThursday that retail sales rose 1.4 percent in Februaryfrom the previous month. An increase had beenexpected following three monthly declines. On athree-month basis, however, retail sales are still downby 1.4 percent. That’s the worst three-month perform-ance since March 2010.

Analysts say the underlying picture suggests thathouseholds are reining in spending ahead of PrimeMinister Theresa May’s upcoming triggering of thetwo-year Brexit process as well as rising inflation large-ly related to higher energy prices. — AP

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A model presents acreation by Iraqi

designer Zead Al-Athary during a

fashion show at BasraInternational Hotel in

Basra, 340 miles southeast of

Baghdad, Iraq,Thursday, March 23,

2017. — AP

www.kuwaittimes.net


Corden ‘humbled’ by the success

of his showThe 38-year-old British actor first launched the

American talk show in March 2015, and the funny-man is “very proud” of the program because he

believes it has “surpassed” everybody’s expectations,although he was “nervous” at first about setting it up.Speaking to E! News about the channel, which has seencelebrity guests including Sir Patrick Stewart, Idris Elbaand Allison Williams quizzed by the former ‘Gavin andStacey’ star, he said: “I don’t know that there was any-thing I could read that would make me more nervousthan I was or want to make a better show. I just wantedto make the best show I could, you know? I felt like wehad a good team and the only positive you can take isyou’re not starting on a negative. “I feel very, very hum-bled by it. I’m very proud of the two years we’ve had. Ithink it surpassed anybody’s hopes or estimations ofwhat we could have achieved. “Now that people knowwhat the show is [it’s easier]. I think when we launchedour first week, we didn’t have anyone booked for weektwo because people were like ‘Idon’t know who this guy is.Slowly but surely, we’ve beenable to turn that around and Ifeel like we’re now a placewhere people want to comeand they want to comeback and that’s lovely.”

The 20-year-old model can’t wait to start having children as she wants herkids to be teenagers by the time she is 40. Asked where she’d like to be in20 years, she said: “I think 20 years is a lot to think about, but by that time I

would like to have a couple of children and be married and raising a family.“There’ll definitely be some kiddos in the picture by then. I want to be a youngparent, so I want to be 40 and have teenage kids.” And Hailey feels lucky to haveher famous family - including father Stephen and uncles Alec, William and Daniel- to talk to about her career and is keen to follow in their footsteps and try herhand at acting. She added: “I can talk to any of my uncles or my dad about any-thing. I can call up my uncle [Alec Baldwin] and be like, “hey I need your help, or Ineed to talk to you about this”, and he’ll give me his advice or opinion or tell me ifthat happened to him or if he had to go through that. It’s good. I enjoy thataspect ... “I think it has to be the right project and I think it has to be the rightthing. I think it would be unfortunate if no one in our family, none of the kids,decided to carry that on, because it’s a whole entire family ... All things consid-ered, I’m not bad at it either!” And the blonde beauty has started her actingcareer by securing herself a cameo in the upcoming ‘Ocean’s Eight’ movie.

Hailey Baldwinwants to have

children at a young age

Kim and Kanyeattends

self-help seminar

The couple - who share North, three, and Saint, 15months - were seen at the Unleash The Power Withinseminar, run by Tony Robbins, alongside Kim’s sister

Khloe Kardashian and their mother Kris Jenner. The groupsplashed out on the Diamond Premiere VIP pack, giving themfront row seats to Tony’s inspiring talks. Taking to Instagram,Kris shared a video of the day, captioning it: “So this hap-pened today!!! Thank you @tonyrobbins for the amazing daytoday!! You are truly so remarkable and my family and I appre-ciate you so very much. #lifechanging #gamechanger #best-dayever #tonyrobbins #bestenergy (sic)” Kim and Kanye havehad a tough time of it recently after the ‘Keeping Up With TheKardashians’ star was robbed at gunpoint in Paris last Octoberand the ‘Only One’ rapper was hospitalised with exhaustion acouple of months later. And Kim is understandably still shakenby all that happened in Paris as she admitted reliving it all isstill “very tough” for her. Referring to the recent episode of herE! reality show where she opened up about the robbery, shesaid: “Tonight’s episode is going to be very tough for me.However, I thought it was important to share this storythrough my eyes & not in an interview where my own wordscould be twisted. I have always shared so much & I’m notgoing to hold back when this was probably one of the mostlife changing experiences for me. “I would never wish thisexperience upon anyone, but have learned some valuable les-sons &feel so blessed to be safe home w my babies & hus-band. To my friends, family, and loved ones I can’t thank youenough for being there when I needed you the most. To theFrench police, thank you for your incredible hard work (sic).”

Amy Schumer’sboyfriend is

‘very protective’

The ‘Trainwreck’ star has been dating furnituredesigner Ben Hanisch - who relocated from Chicagoto live with her in New York City - for over a year

and she is thankful he is always “really cool” with theattention that comes with life in the public eye. She said:“He’s very protective of me. Like, not overprotective, butif someone’s taking pictures of me or filming in a restau-rant, he’ll start taking pictures of them. “He’s really cool;it’s not a problem to be around any of the sorts of peoplewho are at these events. He takes it all in his stride. “Butwhen I say, ‘Shall we get out of here?,’ he’s like, ‘Yes!’”Amy feels “so lucky” to be with Ben, and claims he hadnever seen any of her work before they met. She addedto the upcoming new issue of Britain’s Glamour maga-zine: “I’m so lucky that I met him. And he hadn’t seen anyof my work before we met...” Despite being a householdname, the 35-year-old star insists she never wanted to befamous and was “terrified” at the thought of everyoneknowing who she is. She said: “No, I did not ever want tobe famous, honestly. It didn’t occur to me until it wasalready happening. The fame aspect is not somethingthat appealed to me at all. And I was really kind of terri-fied of it.” However, Amy insists she is “grateful” for eventhe downsides of fame, though it can be “distracting” and“embarrassing for everyone” she’s with when her pres-ence draws attention. She said: “I wouldn’t trade it to waittables or whatever. I live my life; I’m grateful for every-thing. It’s mostly just really annoying. “I’m conscious forthe people I’m with. Now when I go outside, I get pho-tographed by the paparazzi. “I’m not to the level of somepeople some actresses where it’s constant tabloids, butit’s enough that it’s really uncomfortable.”


Netflix/Marvel’s ‘Iron Fist’ epic fail,say viewers, critics

If your web connection seems sluggish while you’re watching“Iron Fist,” don’t blame your internet provider. The problem isthe listless pace of this new Netflix series. But such languor

isn’t the only failing of this latest offering from the Marvel factory,judging from critical pans and fan unrest since the 13-episodeseason was unveiled last week.

Any Marvel project (and this is Netflix’s fourth, following“Daredevil,” ‘’Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage”) is breathlesslyawaited by fans. “Iron Fist” was no different. But even before any-body saw it, it was already drawing accusations of “whitewash-ing.” The series centers on Danny Rand, the scion of a corporatetitan who returns to New York 15 years after he and his parentsdied in a plane crash over the Himalayas. Well, actually, Dannydidn’t die. He was rescued by a mysterious order of monks. Andin this intervening period, he trained in martial arts and gainedthe mystical power of the Iron Fist. Now he returns to New Yorkto reclaim the corporate empire that was hijacked by brother-and-sister baddies (and his childhood friends) Ward and JoyMeachum. He is also, of course, on a quest to “get answers.”

Cultural problems“Iron Fist” stars Finn Jones, who is best known for playing

Loras Tyrell on “Game of Thrones.” But casting him as Danny wasa missed opportunity, according to disgruntled fans who arguethat an Asian-American actor should have been chosen. Maybe,maybe not. But that would seem to be the least of the ills plagu-ing “Iron Fist.” For instance, the Polygon website wielded ironfists of its own in declaring that the series’ “problems with deliv-ering exposition, crafting consistent characters, and even basicdialogue writing run right alongside ... problems with its portray-al of Asian cultures and Asian-Americans.”

“Not one element of this plodding piece works,” railedVariety, adding that the story line “is about as exciting as a sliceof Velveeta cheese left out in the sun too long.” The New YorkTimes complained about “the dawdling featureless” of the earlyepisodes. And how many viewers could be expected to stick withthe series beyond those first installments? Calling it “the firstcomplete misfire of Netflix’s Marvel shows,” the Uproxx websiteposed the question: “Why would anyone but the most devout,masochistic Marvel completist want to watch?”

The Twitterverse has been no kinder, with one typical postcalling it “a great show if you’re looking to sit back, relax andstare at your phone as it plays in the background.” Another tweetlikened the series’ fight scenes to “an awkward junior high schooldance.” Even a forgiving Marvel neophyte who samples “IronFist” is likely to be put off. The conspicuous lack of action and ofvisual effects, at least in its early episodes, serves as a starkreminder of how lavish production values, unrelenting actionand eye-popping visual effects are taken for granted by today’saudience and jarring when they’re absent.

Granted, the epic failure of “Iron Fist,” now installed for eterni-ty on the Netflix site, will register as just a blip on theNetflix/Marvel landscape. And since Netflix never discloses audi-ence figures, no one will ever know how many viewers choose toavoid or abandon the series who might have watched a better“Iron Fist” faithfully. But every potential viewer is advised to notean exchange between two characters in an early episode:

“We need to know more before we can decide how weshould proceed.”

“So we just wait?”“Yeah. And watch.”Such patience by “Iron Fist” viewers is doomed to go unre-

warded. — AP

This image released by Netflix shows Finn Jones, left, ina scene from the Netflix original series, “Iron Fist.” —AP

Grammywinning

DJ-producerTiesto(R) signs

the arm of afan Willem De

Vries, on March22, 2017 at the

opening of Tiesto

Miami.

From his early raves to massive clubshows, Tiesto has spent the past 20years guiding the ebbs and flows of

each audience. He finds the connection sointimate he has a ready comparison.“Basically it’s like making love,” he said. Tijs“Tiesto” Verwest, who is the world’s secondhighest-paid DJ on the list of Forbes maga-zine, made his name in the trance scene ofthe 1990s, with his tension-building syn-thesizer flows and mid-tempo beats work-ing sweaty crowds into literal trances.

Electronic dance music, or EDM, is nolonger just for ravers. It is a constant onmainstream radio, with pop stars from KatyPerry to Enrique Iglesias setting their voic-es to electronic beats. For Tiesto, the dancesubculture has evolved rather than ended,with the EDM on the radio remaining dis-tinct from DJ sets at festivals.

“I think a lot of DJs adjust to pop music.The stuff on the radio is still pop music; it’snot dance music as we know it at the festi-vals,” he told AFP in Miami. “It’s a good bal-ance between DJs making pop music andthen in the live sets they have differentdrops and make it more for the festivals,”he said. The Dutch artist was visiting Miamifor the Ultra Music Festival, a premier elec-tronic music party that runs from Friday toSunday. He is taking advantage of his visitto open a pop-up store in Miami Beach.

Tall and youthful for his 48 years, Tiestospoke at the store that sells knapsacks,caps and T-shirts bearing his signature, asfans pressed their faces against the win-dow to get a look at the world-famous DJ.“Music and fashion and merchandise aremore one than ever before,” said Tiesto,who has a residency in Las Vegas andbecame the first DJ to play the Olympics atthe 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

Not too quick or too slow DJs, according to Tiesto, have a unique

relationship with crowds as they mix infront of thousands of people in joyous,fast-changing motion. “I think that the onlyart in the world that gives you that withthe audience is pretty much the DJ.Because there’s always the surprise factor,”he said. “You never know what you’regonna get from the audience, so that’swhy I think there is a very special feeling.”

But how can he manage the lows in eachperformance, bringing audiences down alevel so they can take a breather ratherthan keeping them constantly on over-drive? “You’ve got to feel it out. That’s anexperience you learn with DJing over theyears,” he said. Like sex, “it has to be theperfect timing for everything: you don’twant to be too quick or too slow.” Tiestolaughed and blushed a little bit. “It’s a verymagical feeling,” he said.

Changing sound In the world of EDM connoisseurs,

Tiesto has generated controversy with hisshift from his trance roots to a more main-stream house sound.

Tiesto was hesitant when asked abouthis sound but acknowledged his rising suc-cess. He said his break started in 2009 withhis collaboration-heavy album “Kalei-doscope” and then “Red Lights,” his 2013radio hit with acoustic guitar off his album“A Town Called Paradise.”

“I just always follow my gut feeling. Ido what I like and I just play what I like,”he said, without elaborat ing on hischanging style. As for picking music tosample in his sets, Tiesto said he haddiverse tastes from indie rock to R&B tosoul, although he admitted he was lessinterested in hip-hop.

Nonetheless he said he could sampleeverything from rappers Kanye Westand Drake to alternative rockers TheKillers or more obscure indie bands. “Mytracks always start to build from theunderground. And then if they becomemainstream that’s a bonus, but I’m notfocusing on it,” he said. — AFP

Grammy-winning DJ-producerTiesto speaks to the media, onMarch 22, 2017, at the opening ofTiesto Miami. — AFP photos

The rap mogul Jay Z is partneringwith the Weinstein Company toproduce a feature film and docu-

mentary series about the kill ing ofTrayvon Martin, the teen whose death in2012 set off nationwide protests. Theywill make the film and six-part docu-series after winning a bidding war forthe rights to two books about the killingof the unarmed black teenager byGeorge Zimmerman, a neighborhoodwatch volunteer, the trade magazineVariety reported on Thursday.

The case ignited civil unrest acrossthe country and a debate about racialprofiling. It also gave birth to the BlackLives Matter movement. Zimmerman,who claimed he shot Martin in self-defense, was acquitted of a charge of

second degree murder in 2013 by ajury in Florida. The film and series proj-ects wil l be based on the books“Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story ofthe Trayvon Martin Injustice and WhyWe Continue to Repeat It” and “Rest inPower: The Enduring Life of TrayvonMartin,” Variety said.

“Suspicion Nation” recounts theexperience of a reporter who coveredthe trial for NBC. “Rest in Power” is byMartin’s parents. Another docu-seriesproduced by Jay Z and WeinsteinTelevision that touches on race rela-tions-”Time: The Kalief Browder Story”-was aired last month. The six-part seriesfollows the story of a teen arrested in2010 while walking home for allegedlystealing a backpack. — AFP

Jay Z to make feature on Trayvon Martin


The director of Warsaw zoo and his wifealways carried cyanide during WorldWar II. Danger was ever-present but

they were ready to take their secret to thegrave. The couple hid nearly 300 Jews andresistance fighters on zoo grounds duringmost of the war, under the noses of theGerman Nazis occupying Poland.

It sounds like a Hollywood movie, andnow it is. But “The Zookeeper’s Wife”, whichopens in Polish cinemas this week beforerolling out internationally, is based on actu-al events. Inside the zookeeper’s villa,whose windowless cellar had a secret tun-nel leading to the garden, Jan Zabinski andhis wife Antonina gave refuge to the mostlyJews smuggled out of the city’s ghetto.

“I remember squatting under this con-crete shelf in the basement and keeping myhand over my sister’s mouth to muffle hercries because she was constantly crying,day and night,” said Moshe Tirosh, aged fiveat the time. “When someone slammed thedoor upstairs, fear would pass through me,lest they find us,” the 80-year-old told AFPin a telephone interview.

The retired businessman and grandfather-of-seven, who has lived in Israel since 1957,still cannot believe what he lived through. “Isaw children’s dead bodies on the street.Terrible things... I remember wondering whyeveryone wants to kill us. I couldn’t under-stand it,” he said. All but two of the zoo’s hid-den guests survived the war and Nazi troopsstationed on the bombed-out zoo groundsnever unearthed the subterfuge.

Piano warning “My parents figured that it’s always dark-

est under a lamppost,” the zoo couple’sdaughter Teresa Zabinska said, citing aPolish saying according to which it is bestto hide in plain sight. “My father knew thatit wouldn’t occur to the Germans that somany people could be hiding in a place likethis with open windows and no curtains,”the 73-year-old told AFP.

Most hid in empty animal enclosures orthe villa’s basement. Others were able tostay with the family upstairs by taking onfake identities as Antonina’s tailor or theirson Ryszard’s tutor. Between 1940 and

1944, nearly 300 people found refuge,some for just a few hours or days, but oth-ers remained months or even years.“Around 30 people would stay here atonce,” said Olga Zbonikowska, 38, whoworks for the Panda Foundation that takescare of the villa now. The stakes were high.In occupied Poland, even offering Jews aglass of water was punishable by death.

‘Remember the feeling’ Whenever a Nazi soldier got too close

for comfort, Antonina would warn every-one by playing an operetta on the piano.The hidden guests would escape throughthe tunnel or hide in a wardrobe upstairsthat opened on both sides like a magician’strunk. The couple also hid the Jews fromtheir housekeeper out of fear she couldgive them away.

“The hardest was explaining away theincrease in daily meals” to the housekeeper,Antonina wrote in her 1968 memoirs, say-ing the family fed the extra mouths by fak-ing ravenous appetites. “I can’t believe howmuch they eat! I’ve never seen anything likeit!” she recalled the housekeeper muttering.Tirosh had suffered two years in the ghetto,marked by hunger, typhus and near depor-tation to the Treblinka death camp.

To escape Warsaw’s Jewish quarter, hisfamily paid off the guards and Tirosh andhis sister were thrown over the wall in sackswhile their parents climbed over. On arriv-ing at the zoo, Antonina’s empathy andreassuring calm told them they were ingood hands. “She was extraordinary. I was asmall boy who was very afraid of every-thing. But when I saw her face, I calmedright down. I still remember that feeling,”Tirosh said.

Helping animals and people Before the family moved on, Antonina

tried to make them “look less Jewish” bybleaching their hair lighter. “She lockedherself in the bathroom with us and dyedour hair. She rubbed and rubbed and whenwe came out of the bathroom, Rysiek (nick-name for the Zabinskis’ son) cried out,‘Mum! What did you do? That’s squirrelcolour,’” Tirosh said, of the inadvertent red-dish colour.

The family became known as TheSquirrels. Others also had animal nick-names, including The Starling, TheHamsters and The Pheasants. “Theirs was ahouse where both animals and peoplealways found help,” said Teresa, who wasborn at the zoo and had a raccoon-like coatifrom Mexico as a childhood playmate.Aptly, her mother’s memoirs-to be repub-lished this month-were entitled “Peopleand Animals”. They describe how Antoninapushed to raise funds to reopen the zooafter the war while Jan was in a NaziGerman prisoner-of-war camp, havingfought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

American author Diane Ackerman reliedheavily on the memoirs when writing herown 2007 nonfiction book “TheZookeeper’s Wife”, which inspired themovie. Directed by Niki Caro, it starsGolden Globe winner Jessica Chastain. TheZabinskis died in the early 1970s. The villa isnow a museum where visitors can make anappointment to see the life-saving secrettunnel and basement. — AFP

War film shows Warsaw zoo couple who hid Jews

Teresa Zabinska, daughter of JanZabinski, attends the screening galaof “The Zookeeper’s Wife” in Warsawon March 7, 2017. — AFP

In this image released by Sony Pictures, Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and Rebecca Fergusonappear in a scene from, “Life.” — AP photos

Life is a box of chocolates, a highway and,alas, a mediocre science-fiction thriller.In Daniel Espinosa’s “Life,” an interna-

tional space station orbiting the Earth inter-cepts an automated capsule returning fromMars with samples: rocks, dust and, as it turnsout, a tiny monocellular organism that provesthe existence of life on another planet. Thething, though, about those monocellularorganisms from Mars is that they grow up.

When Dr Hugh Derry (Arioyon Bakare)injects the cell with glucose, it begins rapidlygrowing bigger, beyond its petri dish. (Yes,“Life” is, above all, a lesson in the dangers oftoo much sugar.) The crew - including JakeGyllenhaal’s troubled veteran, Ryan Reynolds’cocky engineer, Rebecca Ferguson’s microbi-ologist and Hiroyuki Sanada’s new father - cel-ebrate their remarkable discovery and observeits development. “You’re going to be a dad-dy,” Reynolds’ astronaut tells the proud Derry.

Derry, the biological expert of the bunch,hopes the organism - dubbed “Calvin” - willteach the scientists about the origin, thenature “and maybe even the meaning of life.”Such glories, however, aren’t in store. Theharsh revelation that Calvin brings is that life -violently striving for survival - finds a way.

Unfortunately, “Life,” the movie, doesn’t.Once the alien lifeform strengthens and getsloose, “Life” surrenders to a tiresome chaseaway from not just its ravenous creature butfrom the movies “Life” so obviously takes itcues from. “Life” certainly can’t come any-where near the well-earned horrors of “Alien,”nor does it boast anything like the silky splen-dor of “Gravity.”

Espinosa (“Safe House,” “Child 44”) claus-trophobically encloses the drama in a fairlyrealistic space station that, lacking sufficientlycinematic production design, doesn’t allow

for much movement. Unlike Hollywood’srecent, more ambitious sojourns into space,“Life” is a grittier, clunkier B-movie monstermovie in zero gravity. An extraterrestrialFrankenstein is hunted with implausibledimwittedness by a bickering human crew.

Calvin (sadly there is no Hobbes in sight)grows in size and shape, but he mostly lookslike a super-powerful, fearfully smart starfish. As

he slithers this way and that, he almost resem-bles the alien cousin of Hank, the equallyresourceful octopus of last year’s “FindingDory.” Penned by Rheet Reese and PaulWernick (“Deadpool,” “Zombieland”), “Life”doesn’t have much of the sarcastic wit thescreenwriters have shown before. Instead, it’smerely a terse, prickly cheap-thrill. Not until thefilm’s final moments - finally free of the spacestation - does the movie find its own bite.

“Life,” a Columbia Pictures release, is ratedR by the Motion Picture Association ofAmerica for “language throughout, some sci-fi violence and terror.” Running time: 102minutes. Two stars out of four. — AP

Film Review

Ryan Reynolds appears in a scene from, “Life.”

Jake Gyllenhaal appears in a scene from “Life.”


Before he staged a professional comebacklast week, the rapper Kayem had disap-peared from public life for two years. A US

citizen by birth who remembers his relatives’suffering at the hands of Moamer Kadhafi’sregime in Libya, he was lying low on legal adviceafter the US authorities crippled his career byputting him on a no-fly list. He blames profilingfor the scrutiny he receives at airports.

“I’ve been on lockdown,” the rapper-whoused to go by Khaled M.-said at South bySouthwest, the pre-eminent global media andcultural festival in Texas where he made hisreappearance. After initially planning to waituntil summer, he changed his mind afterPresident Donald Trump issued a ban on travel-ers from seven Muslim-majority countries inJanuary, raising fears of future travel headaches.

Although courts subsequently suspendedthe ban-along with a second revised version thismonth-the new culture under the Trump admin-istration is seriously complicating many travel-ers’ lives. At least eight foreign performers wereturned away attempting to travel to the UnitedStates for South by Southwest. And amongthose artists who were able to play, worries aregrowing about how tougher immigration ruleswill affect their careers and the music worldmore broadly.

Inconsistencies on border Despite the suspension of Trump’s travel

bans, the president has vowed to ramp up

enforcement of existing rules. “One of the majorproblems with the ban is that even if it’s stayed,it’s very difficult to consider working with artistsfrom those countries,” said Matthew Covey, animmigration lawyer who produced a South bySouthwest showcase, ContraBanned, featuringmusicians with ties to countries on Trump’s list.“It isolates those nations,” he said. “So the ques-tion is, ‘How do we counteract the narrative thatwe are receiving about the Muslim-majoritycountries?’”

Covey is executive director of Tamizdat, anon-profit cultural support organization that setup a free hotline in 2015 for artists encounteringproblems at the US border. He described anespecially stubborn customs officer aboutwhom Tamizdat documented six cases: “Five-foot-six (1.7 meters), moustache, bald, didn’t likeDJs, didn’t think they were real artists.” Customsofficers at New York’s John F. KennedyInternational Airport are more friendly to foreignartists, reflecting the kind of crossing-by-cross-ing, officer-by-officer unpredictability foreignartists can run into at the border, Covey said.

Handcuffed at airport Another group on its way to South by

Southwest, the Italian post-punk band SovietSoviet, said its three members were handcuffedand detained overnight with common criminalsafter being refused entry at Seattle-TacomaInternational Airport. It’s not clear to whatextent Trump has affected such decisions. The

United States requires visas for performers ontour-even if they come from visa-exempt coun-tries-but has traditionally made exceptions forappearances at showcases such as South bySouthwest.

Cherine Amr, lead singer of the Egyptian-Canadian metal band Massive Scar Era, whichwas turned away at the border, said being

denied access to US events represents a massiveimpediment for artists. “Any musician hereknows that in order to make it in the music busi-ness-especially for the metal scene-you have tomake it in US,” she wrote on Facebook. The festi-val itself was not immune from criticism. Southby Southwest’s artist contract said festival offi-cials would potentially work to deport thosefound violating visas it sponsored.

Some artists criticized the clause in an openletter for being tone-deaf to the political momentat best. “In light of recent attacks on immigrantcommunities, this practice is particularly chilling,”they said. South by Southwest said it has neverassisted in the deportation of any artist andwould review its artist contract for 2018.

Diminishing boundaries Artists say music provides emotional connec-

tions with people who might not otherwise beexposed to foreign cultures-especially under thecurrent climate. Dena El Saffar, who was born inthe United States and explores her Iraqi heritagethrough music, says it provides a way to “dimin-ish boundaries between people and cultures.”For rapper Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldierfrom South Sudan-which is not affected byTrump’s travel ban-music helps “represent thevoices of those people who are not gettingheard.” “My country’s still at war. People are stilldying, kids are in refugee camps,” he said. “If Irun away from representing their voice, I runaway from a responsibility.”— AFP

As US takes aim at immigration, musicians feel the pinch

US-born Libyan-American rapper KhaledAhmed, better known as Kayem, posesahead of his live performance at theContraBanned: MusicUnites South bySouthwest (SXSW) music showcase at ThePalm Door on Sixth on March 17, 2017 inAustin. — AFP

A“breathing” Fidel Castro is among several ex-communistleaders gathered in Hong Kong this week-one of theworld’s centers of capitalism-as part of a cheeky exhibi-

tion at Art Basel. Lifelike replicas of Mao Zedong, VladimirLenin, Kim Il-Sung, Ho Chi Minh and the former Cuban leaderare lying in state in the city’s harbor front convention centre,drawing curious, smartphone-snapping art enthusiasts.

Made from acrylic and silica gel and dressed in their signa-ture uniforms, all lie in glass coffins, except for Castro, who canbe seen “breathing” almost imperceptibly on his deathbed. Theinstallation, called “Summit”, was created by Chinese artistShen Shaomin who said the work was conceived as a responseto the global financial crisis of 2008.

It was originally commissioned for the Sydney Biennale con-temporary art festival in 2010 — when Castro was still alive-asan imaginary meeting of former dictators to parody the nowdefunct G8 grouping of wealthy industrialized nations. “ManyWestern scholars have become suspicious about capitalism,and compared and discussed theories of communism, so I havecreated the ‘G5’,” Shen told AFP at the Hong Kong fair. “Peoplefrom different countries, different cultural backgrounds, differ-ent experiences have their own ways to interpret it,” said Shen,

who jokingly inserted his iPhone into Castro’s hand. GalleristAgnes Lin, who is representing the work at Art Basel, said she

had been doubtful whether the exhibit would be allowed intosemi-autonomous Hong Kong, where concerns are growingthat China is tightening its grip.

Mao remains a controversial figure on the mainland andthere is general sensitivity about his image there. Despite that,Mao’s replica and the other bodies were made in Beijing, whereShen has a base. “(Art Basel) really fought hard to have thispiece in,” Lin said. “I think Hong Kong is still free... we can stillhave the freedom to show this work and I’m so happy aboutthat.” Shen said the bodies took a team of seven to eight arti-sans six months to create after intensively studying the leaders’appearances, from their moles to their hair.

“It makes people want to learn more about them,” saidTiernan Breen, 18, a student from Fiji browsing Art Basel. “Youask yourself questions which you wouldn’t ask if you hadn’tactually seen them.”

Shen is not expecting a private collector to take home thebodies, but hopes the work finds a place in a museum. Sincethe Sydney Biennale, the installation has toured museums inSingapore and France. “It’s very unique, I love it... You getgoosebumps, you know?” said Nesli Vetter, 54, visiting Art Baselfrom Germany. “All good old boys.” — AFP

Visitorswalk pastChineseartist ShenShaomin’sMao.

A womantakes photos ofChineseartist ShenShaomin’sHo ChiMinh.

In this picture taken on March 22, 2017, visitors sit behindChinese artist Shen Shaomin’s Fidel Castro, part of his‘Summit’ project, at Art Basel in Hong Kong. — AFP photos


Once a hugely popular working man’s sport,Saturday marks the final demise of grey-hound racing in London, closing a chapter

of British social culture in the capital. More than 20dog tracks have been dotted around Londonsince modern greyhound racing was introducedto Britain in the 1920s, drawing in punters for acheap evening’s entertainment.

Wimbledon Stadium is the last one standing,but it, too, now faces the bulldozers-a victim ofcultural shifts and the city’s housing crisis. Thetimeworn ground, built in 1928, is set to bereplaced by around 600 flats to service the soar-ing London property market, and a new 11,000-seater home for third-tier football team AFCWimbledon. At the penultimate racing event, fol-lowers of the competitive sport lamented theclosure.

Dressed in a flat cap, a beige overcoat, a bluespotted silk scarf and a yellow tie with grey-hounds on, trackside bookmaker John Henwood,68, has taken bets at almost every Wimbledonrace meeting for 34 years. “It will be a really, reallysad loss,” he told AFP. “In days of yore, it was per-ceived as a cloth-cap sport enjoyed by the work-ing man,” he said. “But now we have a cosmopoli-tan clientele right across the age and social spec-trum. And a big proportion of female attendees,which you didn’t get before.”

Value of land Once the mechanised hare was introduced

from the United States in 1926, greyhound rac-ing in Britain boomed in now-demolished, giantLondon stadiums like White City and the originalWembley. Catford closed in 2003 andWalthamstow in 2008, leaving Wimbledon-homeof the English Derby, the most prestigious race-as the last venue with a London address.

An all-round cheaper alternative to horse rac-ing, dog race meetings traditionally drew theworking class as they took place in the city afterwork. Elsewhere in Britain, around 30 groundsare still going, although the sport has been indecline since betting shops were legalised in1961, meaning greyhound tracks were no longerone of the few places to bet legally. “None of thetracks closed because they weren’t popular; theyall closed because of the value of the land,”Henwood said. London land is at a premium. Theaverage property price in the wider Wimbledon

area surpassed £500,000 ($625,000, 575,000euros) in December.

Fizzypop Hazard, Mystical Charlie Around 1,500 people filled the stadium’s only

remaining open stand to watch the penultimateset of 12 races, run every 15 minutes, for theentry price of £7. The racegoers are a mixture ofold-timers, newcomers, hipsters, groups on atipsy night out and families, some with babies.Many dressed up for the occasion, with menwearing blazers and shiny shoes and women inevening dresses.

“It’s the whole vibe. It’s cheap, sweet and fun.You have your £2 bet and have a laugh andyou’re so close up,” said Theresa Ajid, who wastrackside with her husband and young children.A fanfare announces each race and the six grey-hounds are then paraded along the finishingstraight. Punters size them up and rush to thebookmakers’ stands to place bets, pint of beerand race card in one hand, banknote in the oth-er.

They choose between greyhounds withcolourful names such as Tashas Wee Nasty,Lenson Rambo, Oo Wants It, Jumeirah Maximus,

Art of Illusion, Fizzypop Hazard and MysticalCharlie. Once in the traps, the stadium lightsdrop and some dogs bark in anticipation. A bellrings, the traps snap open and the dogs burstout, chasing after the artificial hare, flicking upthe sand off the track as they sprint past. Pressedright against the trackside fence, people cheeron their favourites as the greyhounds complete a480-metre lap in 30 seconds.

‘Chunk of history’ Most bets are small-scale but in the last race

of the night, a stag party piles in all their remain-ing cash on 10/1 outsider Office Hazard, pickedby the groom-to-be. As it triumphs, they eruptwith joy, wildly bounce around cheering withbeer flung in the air, before heading off into thenight with their £850 winnings. “The excitementis unreal. I’m totally addicted,” said pensionerFred, 78, with the Racing Post newspaper tuckedunder his arm.

Fred, who declined to give his surname, said:“It’s a crying shame. Eight million people andthere’ll not be a dog track in London. That’s it;end of the line.” Darren, 40, said he had beencoming to the stadium for 20 years. “We’re losing

a chunk of history here. Once it’s gone, you won’tget it back.”

Online betting shift “This is an institution, not just a greyhound

track,” said the stadium’s general manager KeithHallinan. “Fewer people are coming to the tracks.People can watch on their phone and bet,” hesaid. “But people don’t realize if they don’t cometo the tracks, there’s not going to be greyhoundracing.” Around 100 people work at the stadiumand have been looking for new jobs. Hallinan saidSaturday’s farewell would be “very emotional”.“We’re not looking at it as a celebration but weare looking at it as a night to remember.” — AFP

Greyhounds compete on the track during an evening of greyhound racing at Wimbledon Stadium in south London. — AFP photos

London greyhoundracing goes to the dogsLondon greyhoundracing goes to the dogs

Race goers watch the track during an evening of greyhound racing at Wimbledon Stadium.

A race goer checks the odds at thegreyhound racing track.


He’s been hailed a “fresh new voice” byVogue, won admiration from GiorgioArmani and bagged an award: Mitsuru

Nishizaki is hot fashion talent in Japan. Butthat doesn’t guarantee international stardom.Loud applause and uncharacteristic cheerserupted from the usually restrained Japanesefashion crowd at the 38-year-old’s packedautumn/winter 2017 collection for brand Ujohat Tokyo Fashion Week.

The models strode out to upbeat technotempo, tearing up a multi-lane catwalk in ahigh-energy show starring preppy-grunge,sporty-tailored chic that would not look out ofplace in New York. It was eminently wearablewith bright high-necked ribbed sweatersslashed at the side, a deconstructed pale pinktrench coat and crisp shirts that button frontand back to be styled how the wearer desires.

Shoes were trainer-meets-loafer-black withwhite soles and a yellow serrated grip, whichhe calls shark soles, worn with gypsy-styleskirts, pin-stripped suits or slouchy velvettrack bottoms. Nishizaki set up Ujoh in 2009after seven years as a Yohji Yamamoto pat-tern cutter. Six years later he won a designaward sponsored by DHL and then in 2016staged a show in Milan.

Armani provided his theatre for the venue,though Nishizaki didn’t meet the veteranItalian designer in person. Vogue wrote after-wards: “this is how cool girls dress now” andpredicted a bright future for him. But whatdoes it take to make it outside Japan? To fol-low in the footsteps of Issey Miyake,Yamamoto-Nishizaki’s former boss-and ReiKawakubo, 20th century masters who haveflown the nest to take their place among thegreats in the fashion pantheon of Paris?

What are the hurdles that need to be over-come in a country where the fashion industryis embedded in exacting standards of tailor-ing, where creativity at times can take a backseat to doing it the right way? Ujoh is alreadystocked in more than a dozen foreign citiessuch as Barcelona, New York and Seoul. Still,Nishizaki’s chief ambition is to expand furtherabroad. But it’s a tough road to take domesticsuccess to the next level.

‘Give me ideas’ In an interview at his showroom in

Omotesando, a chic neighbourhood heavingwith high-fashion boutiques, he was polite andearnest, but also shy and nervous behind thewide brim of a black floppy hat. Nishizakiappears reluctant to present a compelling per-sonal narrative in the rags-to-riches or fashion-ruled-my-childhood style that has helped manycelebrated US designers market pret-a-porter toa mass audience.

When it comes to his collections, he says heworks in the style to which he became accus-tomed at Yamamoto: having an open mind anddesigning freely without pre-selecting a particu-lar inspiration. “It is a difficult question to answerand I wish you could give me some ideas,”Nishizaki ventured when asked if he thought itwas harder to break through as a designer fromJapan than from Europe or America.

But he does admit that the Japanese calen-dar is stacked against quick success on the inter-national circuit. Tokyo’s bi-annual style fest inMarch and October comes several weeks afterthe main fashion merry-go-round in New York,London, Milan and Paris comes to an end. Bythen most international editors and buyers aretoo exhausted and saturated to board a long-haul flight to Tokyo. “What I really should donow is rearrange my brand schedule for pressand sales not only in Japan but overseas,”Nishizaki said. Misha Janette, a Tokyo-based styl-ist, creative director and blogger who has livedin Japan since 2004, said a major challenge formany Japanese designers trying to cut it in theWest are different tastes.

She summed up the Japanese market as con-servative and casual, rather than expensive andhigh fashion, warning that simple clothes were“not going to sell” in Paris.

“I think the most important thing is to have abalance of show pieces, interesting things thatshow their viewpoint with simple off the rack tosatisfy both. That’s hard,” she told AFP. “MostJapanese brands don’t have the investment, it’sjust girls and boys doing it alone out of theirgarage,” she said. “Instead of having this balanceof show pieces and wearable pieces it becomeseither or.” — AFP

Japan fashion’s ‘lost in translation’ challenge

Models present creationsfrom Ujoh by Japanese

designer Mitsuru Nishizakiduring his 2017

Autumn/Winter Collectionshow at Tokyo Fashion Week

in Tokyo. — AFP photos


Models present the creations of Japanese designer YumaKoshino during the 2017 Autumn/Winter Collection showof the Tokyo Fashion Week. — AFP photos

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T E C H N O L O G YSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla: Astronauts ventured out on aspacewalk Friday to prep the International SpaceStation for a new parking spot. NASA’s ShaneKimbrough and France’s Thomas Pesquet emerged ear-ly from the orbiting complex, then went their separateways to accomplish as much as possible 250 miles up.

“We are ready to get to work,” Mission Controlinformed them. Their main job involves disconnect-ing an old docking port. This port needs to be movedin order to make room for a docking device compati-ble with future commercial crew capsules, and pro-vide more clearance. The new docking device - thesecond of two - will fly up late this year or early nextand hook onto this port.

If all goes well, flight controllers in Houston willrelocate the old docking port tomorrow, using the

station’s robotic arm. Then next Thursday, the crewwill conduct another spacewalk to secure the unit.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing capsules capa-ble of flying astronauts to and from the space station.Until the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing Starlinercome on line - possibly next year - US astronauts willhave to keep riding Russian rockets to orbit. Beforeworking on the docking port, Kimbrough replaced acomputer-relay box with an upgraded version.Pesquet, meanwhile, looked for signs of a smallammonia coolant leak in outdoor plumbing. He pat-ted and tugged at hoses, but did not spot any frozenflakes of ammonia. A GoPro camera caught his everymove for playback later.

“No flakes. All good,” Pesquet reported. Also onthe spacewalkers’ to-do list Friday: replace a pair of

Japanese cameras and grease latching mechanismson the end of the big robot arm.

NASA wants to cram in two and possibly threespacewalks before Kimbrough, the station’s com-mander, returns to Earth on April 10. Before a thirdspacewalk can be conducted, however, Orbital ATKneeds to launch a cargo ship to the space stationwith replacement parts. That shipment was sup-posed to be there by now, but repeatedly has beendelayed because of rocket concerns. It’s unclearwhen the Atlas V rocket will be ready to soar fromCape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA has been contracting out cargo deliveriessince the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.The space agency is counting on private companiesto do the same with astronauts. — AP

Spacewalking astronauts prep station for new parking spot

WikiLeaks: CIA hackedApple devices in ways

users can’t fix NEW YORK: New documents from WikiLeaks point to anapparent CIA program to hack Apple’s iPhones and Mac com-puters using techniques that users couldn’t disable by reset-ting their devices.

Security experts say the exploits are plausible, but suggestthey pose little threat to typical users. They say that many of thetricks are older - the iPhone hack involves the 3G model from2008, for instance. The techniques also typically require physicalaccess to devices, something the CIA would use only for target-ed individuals, not a broader population. “The most notablepart of this latest WikiLeaks release is that it shows the CIAdoing exactly what we pay them to - exploit specific targetswith limited attacks to support our national interests,” said RichMogull, CEO of the security research firm Securosis.

Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment. The CIA hasnot commented on the authenticity of this and earlier WikiLeaksrevelations, but has previously said it complies with a legal pro-hibition against electronic surveillance “targeting individualshere at home, including our fellow Americans.” The agencydeclined further comment Thursday.

Document dump The leaks Thursday come about two weeks after WikiLeaks

published thousands of alleged CIA documents describinghacking tools it said the government employed to break intocomputers, mobile phones and even smart TVs from companieslike Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.

The latest disclosures are much more focused and consist ofjust 12 documents, all involving Apple products. The docu-ments describe techniques for rewriting devices’ firmware inways that would maintain a hacker’s access even if a user resetsa phone or computer to factory settings. Doing so wipes out allapps and the operating system and installs a clean version; it isan extreme measure sometimes used to deal with technicalproblems, but is also the sort of step that someone suspicious ofsurveillance might take when getting a brand new phone.

A December 2008 document describes “NightSkies,” a toolapparently designed to target the iPhone 3G; the documentclaims it can retrieve files such as contact lists and call logs andexecute other commands. WikiLeaks suggested in a pressrelease that the “CIA has been infecting the iPhone supply chainof its targets since at least 2008.”

However, the document describes only how to install themalware on a “factory fresh” version of the 3G - specifically, theiPhone 3G running the 2.1 version of Apple’s operating system,both of which are now nine years old.

But infecting all phones somewhere in the manufacturingprocess would be extremely difficult, said Mogull, especially giv-en multiple layers of inspections conducted by Apple and its con-tractors. At most, he said, the CIA might have shipped a roguephone individually to a target. And while it’s possible that the CIAdeveloped similar techniques for later iPhone models, Mogullsaid iPhones from the past few years have much greater security,including digital security certificates that cannot be overwritten.A flag would be raised during the setup process if certificates donot match. Johannes Ullrich, director of the Internet Storm Centerat the SANS Institute, said NightSkies might not even be a currentproject given that the document was last updated in 2008, whilethe leaks appear to have come in 2016. — AP

SEOUL: Shareholders of SamsungElectronics praised the company yester-day for big gains in its share price whilelamenting its involvement in a massivecorruption scandal that brought thearrest of the company’s de facto leader.

Kwon Oh-hyun, Samsung’s chiefexecutive, told an annual shareholdersmeeting the scandal was regrettable,but the company did nothing illegal.Five Samsung executives, including itsvice chairman and founding family heirapparent Lee Jae-yong, have beenindicted on bribery and other charges.

The scandal resulted in the impeach-ment of President Park Geun-hye earlierthis month.

Calls to reform Samsung and otherconglomerates are gaining momentumafter Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG and oth-er major businesses made big dona-tions to foundations controlled by afriend of Park’s who has been chargedwith meddling in state affairs. Someshareholders expressed concern overgrowing public hostility to Samsung,South Korea’s biggest company.

The company’s image has also takena big hit from cases of overheating andsometimes exploding batteries of itsflagship Galaxy Note 7 smart phones.Samsung ended up discontinuing theproduct just weeks after it waslaunched in August. Shin Jong-kyun, aSamsung president, promised share-holders the company will put “flawless”products through extensive safetychecks. The precautions would be per-fect, he said.

Samsung is due to unveil the GalaxyS8 smartphone next week, its first majorsmartphone launch since the batteryfiasco. But the main focus of attentionduring yesterday’s meeting was thescandal.

Some found fault with the compa-ny’s apologies. One shareholder, whosaid he worked at the company for 26years, demanded an explanation forhow Samsung’s board of auditors,which included a former national chiefprosecutor, could have allowed corpo-rate funds to be misused.

Kwon, the chief executive, denied

Samsung did anything unlawful in mak-ing the donations to Park’s associate. “Itwas a donation that was traditional andcustomary,” Kwon said. “The auditingcommittee found it was executedthrough normal procedures.”

Samsung says it will require its boardof directors to approve any donationsof over 1 billion won ($89 million) toprevent future scandals. A newly creat-ed committee to improve the compa-ny’s governance structure wil l beappointed by next month, the companysaid. It is still searching for a global busi-ness leader to join its board. Whileshareholders were shaken by the scan-dal and resulting damage to the com-pany’s image, many praised the compa-ny for delivering strong results overall.

Samsung stock jumped more than60 percent from a year ago thanks tostrong performance of its semiconduc-tor business, which offset the damagefrom the Note 7 battery troubles.

“I can’t help rejoicing over how thevalue of my asset has gone up,” saidone shareholder surnamed Park. — AP

Samsung shareholders hail stock price gains

Some lament corruption scandals

SEOUL: Shin Jong-kyun, president and co-chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co, left, and Yoon Boo-keun,attend the company’s annual general meeting at the Seocho office building in Seoul yesterday. — AP

COLUMBIA: Federal officials took a stepThursday toward increasing safety inprisons by making it easier to find andseize cellphones obtained illegally byinmates. The Federal CommunicationsCommission in Washington voted 3-0 toapprove rules to streamline the processfor using technology to detect and blockcontraband phones in prisons and jailsacross the U.S.

The vote doesn’t make it legal to jamcellphone signals in prison, which correc-tions directors across the country say iswhat they need to shut down inmate cell-phone use, once and for all. But commis-sioners including Chairman Ajit Pai saidthe step was one that could hopefullybegin to combat the phones that officialssay are the No. 1 safety issue behind bars.

The vote came after powerful testimo-ny from Robert Johnson, a former SouthCarolina corrections officer who wasnearly killed in a shooting that authoritiessaid was the first in the country orches-trated by an inmate using an illegal cell-phone inside prison. “I bled out threetimes,” Johnson recalled, telling commis-sioners how he was shot six times at hishome early one morning in March 2010.“My doctor said I should be dead. ... LastWednesday, I had surgery Number 24,but who’s counting?”

At the time, Johnson was the lead offi-cer tasked with keeping contrabanditems like tobacco, weapons and cell-phones out of Lee CorrectionalInstitution, a prison 50 miles east ofColumbia that houses some of the state’smost dangerous criminals. The items aresmuggled inside, tossed over fences oreven delivered by drone.

Jamming signalsSince then, Johnson has become an

advocate on the issue, saying prisons

need to be able to jam cell signals, butthat would require congressionalchanges to a decades-old communica-tions law.

Previously, the FCC has said its handsare tied by a law that says the agency cangrant permission to jam the public air-waves only to federal agencies, not stateor local ones. South Carolina CorrectionsDirector Bryan Stirling accompaniedJohnson to Thursday’s hearing, tellingThe Associated Press this week the pairwould meet with members of Congresson ways they can address the issue.

The cellphone industry has been vocalin its opposition to the notion of jam-ming, arguing that legitimate cellphoneusers near prisons could be affected ifjammers were in use. Officials with wire-

less trade group CTIA did not immediate-ly respond to email message seekingreaction to Thursday’s ruling.

Pai came to South Carolina last yearto see the issue up close, touring theprison where Johnson worked and hold-ing a field hearing at which the formeroffice testified. On Thursday, Pai said theapproval of reforms to streamline theprocess so prisons can more easilybegin using technology to find contra-band cellphones was his way of makinggood on a promise to Johnson to takethe issue seriously and do what he couldto find a solution. “For far too long, theFCC did not move forward,” Pai said. “Isaid then that it’s time for the FCC totake action. . . . We are finally doingsomething.” — AP

T E C H N O L O G YSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

BRACKNELL, UK: Dell EMCand Intel have announced anew web-based CloudEcosystem Hub, to provideEMEA Cloud Service Providers(SPs) and end users with anonline one stop site to unifyand simplify access to DellEMC’s cloud proposition andresources. The hub will con-nect customers with SPs tohelp establish stronger mar-keting efforts, enabling digital transformation and sig-nificantly growing long term Cloud business.

This new unified platform demonstrates Dell EMC’scommitment to providing choice and unique solu-tions to every customer and removing obstacles tocloud adoption through hosting an online cloud por-tal for Dell EMC Technology, making it easier for cus-tomers to select the right SP to address their needs.For SPs, the hub will be a platform to launch key initia-tives and drive new business through the marketplace.With sales revenues in the hardware market decreas-ing and much of the Cloud market set to transitionover to hybrid Cloud, it is expected that Cloud SPs willacquire a considerably larger market share over thenext five years and Dell EMC and Intel will act as keybusiness enablers to all parties.

“As a European leader in the secure managementof online documents, Oodrive addresses the needs ofthe modern business by placing its expertise in secu-rity, ergonomics and innovation at the core of eachof its solutions,” said Cedric Mermilliod, Co-founderand Managing Director, Oodrive. “We are looking forbusiness partners with the ability to deliver signifi-cant business impact and offer comprehensive sup-port to the customer. With its state-of-the-art tech-nologies, Dell EMC is certainly one of the key playersand the Cloud Ecosystem Hub will allow us to facili-tate new business more effectively whilst preservingthe customer intimacy cherished by Oodrive.”

New development“Historically, vendors have failed to support

Service Providers in their campaigns and the DellEMC Cloud Ecosystem represents a game-changingdevelopment for both Service Providers and cus-tomers alike,” said Eric Velfre, senior vice president,Compute and Networking Sales Dell EMC EMEA. “Bysimplifying access to the Dell EMC Cloud valueproposition and offering content and support forco-marketing projects, we can generate awarenessand enable new capabilities to achieve greater prof-itability for our partners. Through the Dell EMCCloud Community we can also drive demand fromthe customer towards Service Providers and capture

feedback to help develop future Dell EMC Cloudtechnologies.”

One Stop Site for enterprise customers, the CloudEcosystem Hub promises to help them understandhow to transform their businesses, with a dedicatedrepository of up-to-date resources and assets explain-ing the value proposition and benefits offered by DellEMC’s Cloud technologies. Customers will be able toselect SPs through bespoke searches to find the mostrelevant solutions for their businesses, with options tocontact providers directly through the platform. TheCloud Ecosystem Hub will also allow customers to dis-cover and register for broader industry events organ-ised by SPs and Dell EMC.

One stop shop for lead generation The Cloud Ecosystem Hub includes an array of new

tools for SPs, including LeadPool demand generation,allowing partners to identify ‘hot’ vendor agnosticleads, along with additional resources to help promoteofferings directly to customers.

The platform also provides the latest insights andinformation around Dell EMC’s and Intel’s Cloud tech-nology offerings to help SPs build a stronger portfolio.In addition Dell EMC will allow SPs to run co-marketingcampaigns with tools to assist in the creation of mar-keting assets, campaign building and client and influ-encer networking, featured within the marketplace.

Dell EMC launches Cloud Ecosystem Hub Hub to enable cloud transformation, business growth

No laptop on board? Jordanairline gives light-hearted tips

AMMAN: Say hello to the person next to you. Reclaim terri-tory on the armrest. Think of the reasons why you don’thave a laptop or tablet with you. This is some of the light-hearted advice dispensed by Royal Jordanian on socialmedia Thursday, a day before the carrier is to enforce a newUS ban on most onboard electronics on US-bound flightsfrom 10 cities in Muslim-majority countries. RoyalJordanian flies to New York, Chicago and Detroit.

The US ban took effect Tuesday, with a today morningdeadline for compliance. Britain announced similar restric-tions. Earlier this week, Royal Jordanian was among the firstto announce the US was banning most electronics, includ-ing laptops, on board certain flights. The airline later delet-ed the tweet because Washington hadn’t announced theban at the time. Since then, the carrier has been trying tocheer up passengers and potential customers with humor-ous Twitter messages. It posted a list of “12 things to do ona 12-hour flight with no laptop or tablet.”

In another post, it took up rhyming, with a five-linepoem that begins: “Every week a new ban. Travel to the USsince you can.” It promises that “No one can ruin our in-flight fun.” — AP

Eric Velfre

BEIJING: In this file photo, customers try out Apple iPhone 6s models on dis-play at an Apple Store in Beijing. New documents from WikiLeaks, posted onThursday point to an apparent CIA program to hack Apple’s iPhones and Maccomputers such that the exploits persist even after the devices are reset to fac-tory conditions. — AP

FCC okays measures intended to combat prison cellphones

Twitter eyes paid ‘premium’ service for power users

WASHINGTON: Twitter has begun surveying members on apaid subscription service that would give frequent users moretools for using the social network for marketing, journalism andother fields. The survey this week showed Twitter is looking atbuilding a more powerful version of Tweetdeck, the dashboardthat many use to manage their accounts. An upgradedTweetdeck would put Twitter in competition with third-partyservices for social media accounts such as Hootsuite or SocialFlow, which allow users to manage multiple accounts andmeasure the impact of their messages.

“Twitter is considering offering a more advanced TweetDeckexperience, with more powerful tools to help marketers, journal-ists, professionals, and others in our community find out what ishappening in the world quicker, to gain more insights, and seethe broadest range of what people are saying on Twitter,” surveyparticipants were told. “This premium tool set will provide valu-able viewing, posting, and signaling tools like alerts, trends andactivity analysis, advanced analytics, and composing and postingtools all in one customizable dashboard.” — AFP

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00:20 Football: A Brief History By AlfieAllen 01:10 Ultimate Wheels 02:00 Lost In Transmission 02:50 Pawn Stars 03:15 Pawn Stars UK 03:40 Pawn Stars UK 04:05 Pawn Stars UK 05:00 Mankind The Story Of All Of Us 06:00 Storage Wars Miami 06:25 Storage Wars Miami 06:50 Pawn Stars Australia 07:15 Pawn Stars Australia 07:40 American Pickers 08:30 American Restoration 09:20 Ultimate Wheels 10:10 Lost In Transmission 11:00 Shipping Wars 11:25 Shipping Wars 11:50 Ice Road Truckers 12:40 Ax Men 13:30 Lost Worlds 14:20 Hunting Hitler 15:10 The Curse Of Oak Island 16:00 Storage Wars Miami 16:25 Storage Wars Miami 16:50 Counting Cars 17:15 Car Hunters 17:40 Pawn Stars 18:05 Pawn Stars Best Of 18:30 Ice Road Truckers 19:20 American Pickers 20:10 Forged In Fire 21:00 The Curse Of Oak Island 21:50 Hunting Hitler 22:40 Outlaw Chronicles: HellsAngels 23:30 Gold Hunters: Legend Of TheSuperstition...

00:50 In Search Of The King Cobra 01:45 Bondi Vet 02:40 Biggest And Baddest 03:35 Tanked 04:25 Stranger Among Bears 04:50 Stranger Among Bears 05:15 Gator Boys 06:02 In Search Of The King Cobra 06:49 Biggest And Baddest 07:36 Call Of The Wildman 08:25 Biggest And Baddest 09:15 Rugged Justice 10:10 Restoration Wild 11:05 Gangland Killers 12:00 Life At Vet University 12:55 Bondi Vet 13:50 In Search Of The GiantAnaconda 14:45 In Search Of The King Cobra 15:40 Weird Creatures With NickBaker 16:35 The Jeff Corwin Experience 17:30 Devoured: Man-Eating SuperSnake Returns 18:25 In Search Of The GiantAnaconda 19:20 Village Vets 19:45 Village Vets 20:15 Biggest And Baddest 21:10 Restoration Wild 22:05 Pit Bulls & Parolees 23:55 Gator Boys

00:00 Monster In My Family 01:00 50 Ways To Kill Your Lover 02:00 My Haunted House 03:00 The First 48 04:00 Monster In My Family 05:00 50 Ways To Kill Your Lover 06:00 My Haunted House 07:00 Crime Stories 08:00 The First 48 09:00 Killers: Behind The Myth 10:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 11:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 12:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 13:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 14:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 15:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 16:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 17:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 18:00 Crimes That Shook Australia 19:00 It Takes A Killer 19:30 It Takes A Killer 20:00 I Didn't Do It 21:00 The First 48 22:00 Killers: Behind The Myth 23:00 Nightmare In Suburbia

00:40 Mythbusters01:30 How Do They Do It?01:55 Food Factory02:20 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow02:45 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow03:10 Alien Encounters04:00 Da Vinciʼs Machines04:48 Mythbusters05:36 How Do They Do It?06:00 Food Factory06:24 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow06:49 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow07:12 Alien Encounters08:00 How Do They Do It?08:26 Da Vinciʼs Machines09:14 Mythbusters10:02 Alien Encounters10:50 How Do They Do It?11:14 Food Factory11:38 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow12:03 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow12:26 Da Vinciʼs Machines13:14 Mythbusters14:02 How Do They Do It?14:26 Food Factory14:50 Alien Encounters15:38 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow16:03 You Canʼt Lick Your Elbow16:26 Da Vinciʼs Machines17:14 Mythbusters18:02 Alien Encounters18:50 How We Invented The World19:40 Mythbusters20:30 Mythbusters21:20 How Do They Do It?21:45 Food Factory22:10 Alien Encounters23:00 Mythbusters23:50 How We Invented The World

00:10 Hank Zipzer 00:35 Binny And The Ghost 01:00 Violetta 01:45 The Hive 01:50 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 02:15 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 02:40 Hank Zipzer 03:05 Binny And The Ghost 03:30 Violetta 04:15 The Hive 04:20 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 04:45 Sabrina Secrets Of A TeenageWitch 05:10 Hank Zipzer 05:35 Binny And The Ghost 06:00 Violetta 06:45 The Hive 06:50 The 7D 07:00 Jessie 07:25 Jessie 07:50 Eco Club 07:55 Austin & Ally 08:20 Rolling To The Ronks 08:45 The Zhuzhus 09:10 Miraculous Tales Of LadybugAnd Cat Noir 09:35 Elena Of Avalor 10:00 Stuck In The Middle 10:25 Disney The Lodge 10:50 Bunk'd 11:15 Disney Cookabout 11:40 Teen Beach 2 13:20 Girl Meets World 13:45 Girl Meets World 14:10 Girl Meets World 14:35 Girl Meets World

15:00 Girl Meets World 15:25 Jessie 15:50 Jessie 16:15 Austin & Ally 16:40 Austin & Ally 17:05 Descendants Wicked World 17:10 Elena Of Avalor 17:35 Stuck In The Middle 18:00 Disney The Lodge 18:25 Finding Nemo 20:00 Eco Club 20:05 Disney Cookabout 20:30 Bizaardvark 20:55 Bunk'd 21:20 Shake It Up 21:45 Disney The Lodge 22:10 Best Friends Whenever 22:35 Kirby Buckets 23:00 Kirby Buckets 23:25 Sabrina Secrets Of A Teenage

00:20 Henry Hugglemonster 00:35 The Hive 00:45 Loopdidoo 01:00 Henry Hugglemonster 01:15 Calimero 01:30 Art Attack 01:55 Zou 02:05 Loopdidoo 02:20 Henry Hugglemonster 02:35 Calimero 02:50 Zou 03:05 Art Attack 03:30 The Hive 03:40 Loopdidoo 03:55 Henry Hugglemonster 04:10 Art Attack 04:35 Loopdidoo 04:50 Calimero 05:05 Art Attack

05:30 Henry Hugglemonster 05:45 Zou Discovery HD 01:10 Wheeler Dealers 02:00 Diesel Brothers 02:50 Deals, Wheels And Steals 03:15 Deals, Wheels And Steals 03:40 How Do They Do It? 04:05 How Do They Do It? 04:30 How Do They Do It? 05:00 How Do They Do It? 05:30 How Do They Do It? 06:00 Storage Hunters 06:25 Storage Hunters 06:50 Storage Hunters 07:15 Storage Hunters 07:40 Storage Hunters 08:05 How Do They Do It? 08:30 How Do They Do It? 08:55 How Do They Do It? 09:20 How Do They Do It? 09:45 How Do They Do It? 10:10 Gold Rush 11:00 What On Earth? 11:50 Made By Destruction 12:15 Made By Destruction 12:40 Fast N' Loud 13:30 Fast N' Loud 14:20 Fast N' Loud 15:10 Fast N' Loud 16:00 Fast N' Loud 16:50 The Wheel: Survival Games 17:40 Running Wild With Bear Grylls 18:30 Impossible Engineering 19:20 Treasure Quest: Snake Island 20:10 Racing Extinction 21:50 Dark Woods Justice 22:40 Alaskan Bush People 23:30 Gold Rush

00:00 The Universe 01:00 WWII: Europe's Secret Army 02:00 Cities Of The Underworld 03:00 America's Book Of Secrets 03:50 Ancient Aliens 04:40 True Monsters 05:30 The Universe 06:20 WWII: Europe's Secret Army 07:10 The Universe 08:00 Cities Of The Underworld 09:00 America's Book Of Secrets 10:00 Ancient Aliens 11:00 The Universe 12:00 The Universe 13:00 Ancient Aliens 14:00 Ancient Aliens 15:00 Ancient Aliens 16:00 Ancient Aliens 17:00 Ancient Aliens 18:00 Ancient Aliens 19:00 Ancient Aliens: The UltimateEvidence 20:00 Ancient Aliens: The UltimateEvidence 21:00 Ancient Aliens: The UltimateEvidence 22:00 Ancient Aliens: The UltimateEvidence 23:00 Ancient Aliens: The UltimateEvidence

T V l i s t i n g sSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

00:05 Hollywood Medium With TylerHenry 00:55 Hollywood Medium With TylerHenry 01:50 E! News 02:50 Catching Kelce 03:40 Catching Kelce 05:30 Celebrity Style Story 06:00 Hollywood Medium With TylerHenry 06:55 E! News 07:10 Hollywood Medium With TylerHenry 08:10 E! News 09:05 Botched 09:55 Botched 10:45 Mariah's World 11:35 Mariah's World 12:25 Mariah's World

13:15 E! News 13:45 Celebrity Style Story 14:15 Celebrity Style Story 14:45 Celebrity Style Story 15:15 Keeping Up With TheKardashians 16:10 Keeping Up With TheKardashians 17:05 Rob & Chyna 18:05 Rob & Chyna 19:00 E! News 20:00 Celebrity Style Story 20:30 Celebrity Style Story 21:00 So Cosmo 22:00 So Cosmo 23:00 E! News 23:30 Celebrity Style Story

00:15 World's Best Beaches 01:05 Bangkok Airport 01:55 Confucius Was A Foodie 02:45 Testing The Menu With NicWatt 03:10 Testing The Menu With NicWatt 03:35 Testing The Menu With NicWatt

00:30 What Could Possibly GoWrong? 01:20 Battle Bots 02:10 Breaking Magic 02:35 Breaking Magic 03:00 What Happened Next? 03:25 What Happened Next? 03:50 Ultimate Survival 04:40 How It's Made 05:05 How It's Made 05:30 Dirty Jobs 06:20 Mythbusters 07:00 Dick 'n' Dom Go Wild 07:25 Dick 'n' Dom Go Wild 07:50 Awesome Adventures 08:15 Awesome Adventures 08:40 Bondi Vet 09:30 Bondi Vet 10:20 Bondi Vet 11:10 Bondi Vet 12:00 Bondi Vet 12:50 Mythbusters 13:40 Mythbusters 14:30 Mythbusters 15:20 Mythbusters 16:10 Mythbusters 17:00 Prototype This 17:50 Prototype This 18:40 Battle Bots 19:30 Kids Do The Craziest Things 19:55 Kids Do The Craziest Things 20:20 Now That's Funny 21:10 Breaking Magic 21:35 Breaking Magic 22:00 What Happened Next? 22:25 What Happened Next? 22:50 What Happened Next? 23:15 What Happened Next?

00:30 Baby Daddy01:00 Baby Daddy01:30 Difficult People02:00 Difficult People02:30 The Big C03:00 Telenovela03:30 Telenovela04:00 According To Jim04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon05:30 Cougar Town06:00 George Lopez06:30 The Bernie Mac Show07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers08:00 According To Jim08:30 Cougar Town09:00 Telenovela09:30 Son Of Zorn10:00 The Mindy Project10:30 The Bernie Mac Show11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon12:00 George Lopez12:30 According To Jim13:00 Cougar Town13:30 The Bernie Mac Show14:00 Telenovela14:30 Son Of Zorn15:00 The Mindy Project15:30 Baby Daddy16:00 Baby Daddy16:30 George Lopez17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 Black-ish18:30 Kevin Can Wait19:00 The Goldbergs19:30 Fresh Off The Boat20:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon21:00 Baby Daddy21:30 Baby Daddy22:00 High Maintenance22:30 High Maintenance

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS ON OSN MOVIES HD

00:00 Tommy Boy 02:00 Twins 04:00 How Do You Know 06:00 Perfect Match 08:00 Twins 10:00 How Do You Know 12:15 Perfect Match 14:00 Shanghai Noon 16:00 All About Steve 18:00 Pixels 20:00 Hits 22:00 Superfast

00:30 The Babadook 02:15 Four Brothers 04:15 X-Men: First Class 06:30 October Sky 08:30 Steve Jobs 10:45 X-Men: First Class 13:15 The Chronicles Of Narnia:Voyage Of The Dawn... 15:30 Twister 17:45 Casino Royale 20:15 A Walk Among TheTombstones 22:15 Swordfish

00:10 The Chase01:00 Emmerdale01:30 Coronation Street02:30 Couples Come Dine With Me03:25 Donʼt Tell The Bride04:25 The Jonathan Ross Show05:15 The Trials Of Jimmy Rose06:10 The Chase07:05 Couples Come Dine With Me08:00 Donʼt Tell The Bride09:00 The Jonathan Ross Show10:00 The Trials Of Jimmy Rose10:55 The Chase11:50 Couples Come Dine With Me12:45 Emmerdale13:45 Coronation Street14:15 The Chase15:10 Couples Come Dine With Me16:00 Donʼt Tell The Bride17:00 Tonight At The LondonPalladium17:50 The Trials Of Jimmy Rose18:45 Emmerdale19:45 Coronation Street20:10 Couples Come Dine With Me21:00 Donʼt Tell The Bride22:00 Tonight At The London Palladium

00:10 Apocalypse: The Battle OfVerdun01:00 Apocalypse: The Battle OfVerdun02:00 Locked Up Abroad02:55 Ultimate Airport Dubai03:50 Apocalypse: The Battle OfVerdun04:45 The Numbers Game05:40 Car SOS06:35 Classified: Terror/CounterTerror07:30 Dirty Rotten Survival08:25 Battleground Brothers09:20 The Numbers Game10:15 Locked Up Abroad11:10 The Border12:05 Wingsuit Daredevil13:00 Battleground Brothers14:00 Dirty Rotten Survival15:00 Classified: Terror/CounterTerror16:00 Locked Up Abroad17:00 The Border

00:15 Team Umizoomi00:38 Louie00:53 Olive The Ostrich01:03 Max & Ruby01:26 Wanda And The Alien01:35 Ben & Hollyʼs Little Kingdom01:46 The Day Henry Met01:57 Blaze And The MonsterMachines02:19 Blaze And The MonsterMachines02:41 Zack & Quack03:03 Team Umizoomi03:25 Olive The Ostrich03:35 Paw Patrol03:58 Little Charmers04:10 Ben & Hollyʼs Little Kingdom04:22 Dora The Explorer04:44 Max & Ruby05:07 Bubble Guppies05:31 Shimmer And Shine05:54 Dora And Friends06:17 Zack & Quack06:29 The Day Henry Met06:38 Blaze And The MonsterMachines07:00 Paw Patrol07:37 Dora The Explorer08:00 Zack & Quack08:22 Dora And Friends08:46 Blaze And The MonsterMachines09:10 Paw Patrol09:35 Shimmer And Shine09:58 Dora The Explorer10:21 Paw Patrol10:45 Little Charmers10:57 Bubble Guppies11:20 Fresh Beat Band Of Spies11:40 Zack & Quack11:52 Team Umizoomi12:38 Louie12:53 Olive The Ostrich13:03 Max & Ruby13:26 Wanda And The Alien13:35 Ben & Hollyʼs Little Kingdom13:46 The Day Henry Met13:57 Blaze And The MonsterMachines14:19 Blaze And The MonsterMachines14:41 Zack & Quack15:03 Team Umizoomi15:25 Olive The Ostrich15:35 Paw Patrol15:58 Little Charmers16:10 Ben & Hollyʼs Little Kingdom16:22 Dora The Explorer16:44 Max & Ruby17:07 Bubble Guppies17:31 Shimmer And Shine17:54 Dora And Friends18:17 Zack & Quack18:29 The Day Henry Met18:38 Blaze And The MonsterMachines19:00 Paw Patrol

00:00 28 Weeks Later 02:00 Age Of Ice 04:00 Dracula Untold 06:00 Con Air 08:00 Legendary: Tomb Of TheDragon 09:45 Dracula Untold 11:45 Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV 13:45 Seventh Son 15:30 Con Air 17:30 Hitting The Apex 20:00 Spooks: The Greater Good 21:45 Die Hard

01:30 The Lone Ranger 04:00 The Education Of Little Tree 06:00 Tuck Everlasting

00:45 The Tale Of Despereaux 02:30 Albert 04:15 Rugrats Go Wild 06:00 Jetsons: The Movie 07:30 Big Baby 09:00 Yellowbird 10:45 The Tale Of Despereaux 12:30 Albert 14:00 Rugrats In Paris: The Movie 16:00 Yellowbird 18:00 Hey Arnold! The Movie 19:45 Curious George 21:30 Rugrats In Paris: The Movie 23:15 Big Baby

00:00 American Horror Story:Roanoke01:00 Lethal Weapon02:00 Star03:00 Mr. Robot04:00 Suits05:00 Good Morning America07:00 Criminal Minds: BeyondBorders08:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 Drop Dead Diva10:00 Containment11:00 Criminal Minds: BeyondBorders12:00 Suits13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show14:00 Drop Dead Diva

01:00 Falsely Accused03:00 Wildlike05:00 The Yellow Handkerchief07:00 Matters Of The Heart09:00 No God No Master11:00 Wildlike13:00 The Yellow Handkerchief15:00 Donʼt Wake Mommy17:00 No God No Master19:00 The Disappearance Of EleanorRigby: Her21:00 The Zero Theorem23:00 Madame Bovary

00:20 Hippo vs Croc 01:10 Ultimate Animal Countdown 02:00 World's Deadliest Animals 02:50 The Invaders 03:45 Nature's Greatest Talents 04:40 Survive The Wild 05:35 Safari Brothers 06:30 Monster Fish 07:25 Monster Fish 08:20 Unlikely Animal Friends 09:15 Snakes In The City 10:10 World's Weirdest 11:05 Call Of The Baby Beluga 12:00 Sharkatraz 12:55 World's Deadliest Killers 13:50 Strangest Bird Alive 14:45 Nature's Greatest Talents 15:40 Survive The Wild 16:35 Savage Kingdom 17:30 Africa's Hunters 18:25 Dangerous Encounters 19:20 Nature's Greatest Talents 20:10 Survive The Wild 21:00 Savage Kingdom 21:50 Africa's Hunters 22:40 Dangerous Encounters 23:30 Sharkatraz THE LONE RANGER ON OSN MOVIES FAMILY HD

01:30 Go For Sisters 03:45 The Lobster 06:00 Crouching Tiger, HiddenDragon 08:00 Boychoir 09:45 Brooklyn 11:45 Jappeloup 14:00 50 To 1 16:00 Seabiscuit 18:30 Cake 20:15 Little Accidents 22:00 Jayne Mansfield's Car

T V l i s t i n g sSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

07:30 Treasure Planet 09:15 Because Of Winn Dixie 11:15 Tuck Everlasting 13:00 Brave 15:00 Black Beauty 17:00 Emma's Chance 19:00 Storm Rider 21:00 Secretariat 23:00 Black Beauty

15:00 Live Good Morning America17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 Blindspot19:00 Once Upon A Time20:00 Greyʼs Anatomy21:00 Frequency22:00 Timeless

04:00 The Food Files 04:25 The Food Files 04:50 Poh & Co 05:20 Grandma's Boy 05:45 Grandma's Boy 06:15 Charlie Luxton's Homes ByThe Med 07:10 Food Lover's Guide To ThePlanet 07:35 Street Food Around The World 08:05 Restoration Man 09:00 The Wine Show 09:55 Croatia's Finest 10:20 The Food Files 10:50 The Food Files 11:15 Lyndey Milan - Taste OfAustralia 11:45 Dog Whisperer 12:40 Bangkok Airport 13:35 Confucius Was A Foodie 14:30 Chasing The Sun 14:55 Chasing The Sun 15:25 Cesar Millan: Viva Las Vegas! 16:20 The Food Files 16:45 The Food Files 17:15 Grandma's Boy 17:40 Grandma's Boy 18:10 Food Lover's Guide To ThePlanet 18:35 Food Lover's Guide To ThePlanet 19:05 Chasing The Sun 19:30 Cesar Millan: Viva Las Vegas! 20:25 The Food Files 20:55 The Food Files 21:20 Grandma's Boy 21:45 Grandma's Boy 22:10 Food Lover's Guide To ThePlanet 22:35 Food Lover's Guide To ThePlanet 23:00 Bangkok Airport 23:50 Confucius Was A Foodie

W H A T ’ S O NSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

Burgan Bank recently sponsored to the 2017 GulfStudies Symposium organized by the Center for GulfStudies at the American University of Kuwait. Themed

under ‘Mobilities and Materialities’ of the Gulf and ArabianPeninsula, the third edition bi-annual event was held from17-19 March at the central garden campus.

Renowned local, regional and international scholarsgathered together under one roof to examine the long his-

torical development of people in the Gulf through an analy-sis of historical and archaeological evidence that ties thepatterns of migration and settlement in the region to widerpatterns of integration, globalization, and trade.

The bank’s continued contribution to the annual sympo-sium reflects the brand’s mission to improve every segmentof the Kuwaiti community as part of its full-fledged CSRprogram entitled ‘ENGAGE’ - Together to be the change.

This program sheds light on important aspects affectingevery segment of the society by promoting social welfarethrough educational, cultural, social and health initiatives.Burgan Bank’s approach to ‘ENGAGE’ begins with a vitalprinciple that as a Kuwaiti financial institution, its conductand policies should be aligned with the needs and interestsof its community.

Burgan Bank sponsors the third Gulf studies symposium at AUK

The Ambassador of theRepublic of Indonesia,Tatang Budie Utama

Razak officially closed the“Indonesian Soccer League2017” that was held from 22January until March 18,2017, the participants of thetournament are Indonesianexpatriates working in vari-ous fields such as engineers,petroleum, aviation, IT andnurses. The football leaguewas organized jointly by theIndonesian embassy inKuwait with the IndonesianCommunication Forum inKuwait (FKMI). TheIndonesian NurseAssociation in Kuwait(INNA-K FC) became thechampion after beatingthe Sundanese CommunityIn Kuwait (Bobotoh PPK FC)1-0 in the final”

Indonesian Soccer League 2017 concludes

W H A T ’ S O NSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

Global coatings supplier Hempel inaugurated a newfactory in Mina Abdullah in Kuwait last week. Thefactory, which meets ISO 9000 quality management

guidelines, will meet growing demand for Hempel coatingsand consolidate its position as market leader in the region.

Hempel is the number one coatings supplier in Kuwait.Over the years, its coatings have been used to protect anddecorate some of the country’s most iconic buildings,including the Kuwait Towers and the Kuwait Opera House,as well as numerous schools, mosques, hospitals, shoppingmalls and other important civil structures.

With a 40 percent higher capacity than Hempel’s exist-ing production facility in Safat, Kuwait, the new EUR 13million factory in Mina Abdullah will help the companymeet growing demand for its coatings in Kuwait and oth-er countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.The new factory will be fully up and running bySeptember 2017, and Hempel’s existing factory in Safatwill close later in the year.

Karsten Pedersen, Group Vice President of HempelMiddle East (West), comments: “The new factory is a state-of-the-art facility that will produce coatings that are trustedacross the region to provide long-term protection to indus-trial assets, large buildings, homes and infrastructure. Weare looking forward to continuing to be the market leaderin the region, while increasing production and making ouroperations cleaner, faster and more energy efficient.”

Built to ISO 9000 quality management guidelines,Hempel’s Mina Abdullah factory is designed with sustain-ability in mind. It includes a solvent distillation unit thatrecycles solvents to reduce hazardous waste, as well as awater treatment plant that ensures much of the factory’swastewater can be reused for vegetation and cleaning.

The factory is also the first coatings production unit inKuwait to include a regenerative thermal oxidiser unit,which removes volatile organic compounds during produc-tion to prevent atmospheric pollution.

The factory was opened at a ceremony attended byH.E. Ole Frijs-Madsen, the Danish Ambassador to the Stateof Kuwait, senior Hempel executives and employees,media representatives and other guests. At the ceremony,Khaled Al-Rashed, Board Member of DPME, Hempel’s part-ner in Kuwait, said:

“We are proud that Hempel has grown to become thenumber one paint company in terms of production and dis-tribution in Kuwait. This is a clear sign of our customers’trust in the quality of our products, which has now become

a benchmark for companies worldwide. Today, as we inau-gurate the opening of this state-of-the art factory, we arealso celebrating a story of enduring partnerships that havelasted over 51 years.”

Hempel’s new factory in Mina Abdullah, Kuwait is thelatest edition to its comprehensive global supply chain. In2016 alone, the company completed a capacity expansionproject in Malaysia and opened new factories in Russia andVietnam, adding more than 28 million litres to its annualproduction capacity.

Hempel’s new Mina Abdullah factory at a glance:• Will produce marine, protective and decorative coat-

ings for Kuwait and other GCC countries• Built to ISO 9000 quality management guidelines• Includes a solvent distillation unit, wastewater treat-

ment plant, and regenerative thermal oxidiser unit toreduce waste and water use

• Capacity: Up to 25 million litres per year • Cost: EUR 13 million• Inaugurated: 22 March• Full production: By September 2017.

New factory reiterates Hempel’s commitment to Kuwait and the region

H E A L T HSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

WASHINGTON: Cancer patients oftenwonder “why me?” Does their tumor runin the family? Did they try hard enoughto avoid risks like smoking, too muchsun or a bad diet? Lifestyle and heredityget the most blame but new researchsuggests random chance plays a biggerrole than people realize: Healthy cellsnaturally make mistakes when they mul-tiply, unavoidable typos in DNA that canleave new cells carrying cancer-pronegenetic mutations.

How big? About two-thirds of themutations that occur in various forms ofcancer are due to those random copyingerrors, researchers at Johns HopkinsUniversity reported Thursday in thejournal Science. Whoa: That doesn’tmean most cases of cancer are due sole-ly to “bad luck.” It takes multiple muta-

tions to turn cells into tumors - and a lotof cancer is preventable, the Hopkinsteam stressed, if people take provenprotective steps.

Thursday’s report is an estimate,based on a math model, that is sure tobe hotly debated by scientists who saythose unavoidable mistakes of natureplay a much smaller role. But whateverthe ultimate number, the research offersa peek at how cancer may begin. And itshould help with the “why me” questionfrom people who have “done everythingwe know can be done to prevent cancerbut they still get it,” said Hopkins’ DrBert Vogelstein, a pioneer in cancergenetics who co-authored the study.“They need to understand that thesecancers would have occurred no matterwhat they did.”

What causes mutations?You might inherit some mutations,

like flaws in BRCA genes that are infa-mous for causing aggressive breastand ovarian cancers in certain families.More commonly, damage is caused bywhat scientists call environmental fac-tors - the assault on DNA from theworld around us and how we live ourl ives. There’s a long l ist of r isks :Cigarette smoke, UV light from the sun,other forms of radiation, certain hor-mones or viruses, an unhealthy diet,obesity and lack of exercise. Thenthere are those random copy errors incells - what Vogelstein calls our base-line rate of genetic mutations that willoccur no matter how healthy we live.One way to think of it: If we all havesome mutations lurking in our cellsanyway, that’s yet another reason toavoid known risks that could push usover the edge.

How cells make typosNew cells are formed when an exist-

ing cell divides and copies its DNA, onecell turning into two. Every time DNA iscopied, about three random mutationsoccur, Vogelstein said. We all harborthese kinds of mutations and mostdon’t hurt us because they’re in genesthat have nothing to do with cancer orthe body’s defense mechanisms spotand f ix the damage, said Dr. OtisBrawley of the American CancerSociety, who wasn’t involved in thenew research. But sometimes theerrors hit the wrong spot and damagegenes that can spur cancerous growthor genes that help the cell spot and fixproblems. Then the damaged cells cansurvive to copy themselves, allowingimportant mutations to gradually buildup over time. That’s one reason the riskof cancer increases with age. —AP

WASHINGTON: The frigid top of the Earth just set yet anotherrecord for low levels of sea ice in what scientists say is a signalof an overheating world. The extent of floating ice in theArctic hit a new low for winter: 5.57 million square miles (14.42million square kilometers). That’s about 35,000 square miles(97,000 square kilometers) - an area about the size of Maine -below 2015’s record. Last year had a shade more than 2015,but nearly a tied record.

This puts the Arctic in a “deep hole” as the crucial spring andsummer melt season starts and more regions will likely be ice-free, said Mark Serreze , director of the National Snow and IceData Center in Colorado, which released the findingsWednesday. “It’s a key part of the Earth’s climate system andwe’re losing it,” he said. “We’re losing the ice in all seasons now.”

At the other end of the world, Antarctica, where sea icereaches its lowest point of the year in March, also hit a recordlow mark. Antarctic sea ice varies widely unlike Arctic sea ice,which has steadily decreased. The ice data center measureshow wide sea ice extends based on satellite imagery. It’s hard-er to measure the thickness and overall volume, but data fromthe University of Washington show that as of late last monthice volume levels were down 42 percent from 1979, said polarscience center chief Axel Schweiger .

Several scientists called the sea ice loss disturbing. “It’s evi-dence that the climate at the top of the world continues tochange faster than anywhere else on Earth with impacts to usthat are still frankly unknown,” Pennsylvania State Universitymeteorology professor and retired admiral David W Titley ,said in an email. Scientists blame a combination of naturalrandom weather and man-made global warming from theburning of coal, oil and gas. The winter of 2016-2017 wasunusually toasty and the Arctic saw three “extreme heatwaves,” Serreze said.

A new study earlier this month in the journal NatureClimate Change found that natural causes can explainbetween 30 and 50 percent of plunging September sea icelows, while Serezze and others give climate change an evenbigger role in sea ice loss. A relatively new idea - that stilldivides meteorologists - links the shriveling ice cap at theNorth Pole to a weaker polar vortex and weak and ambling jetstream, which can mean more extreme weather for a goodpart of the rest of the world. “Recent cold spells and big snow-storms that we have experienced over the past few wintershave occurred when the polar vortex is weak,” top winterweather forecaster Judah Cohen , of the private AtmosphericEnvironmental Research in Lexington, Massachusetts, said inan email. It’s not just the weather. As more regions becomefree of ice, shipping lanes will open in the Arctic, there will bemore drilling for oil and gas and more overall economic activi-ty. And that may mean rising tensions between countries overnewly available resources, Serreze said. — AP

PARIS: For the 11th year running, cities worldwide will turntheir lights off Saturday to mark Earth Hour in a global call toaction on climate change. But the moment of darknessshould also serve as a reminder, activists say, of anotherproblem that gets far less attention: light pollution. Morethan 80 percent of humanity lives under skies saturated withartificial light, scientists recently calculated. In the UnitedStates and western Europe, that figure goes up to 99 percentof the population, most of whom cannot discern the MilkyWay in the night sky.

Artificial lighting has been shown to disturb the reproduc-tive cycles of some animals and the migration of birds thatnavigate using the stars, and to disorient night-flying insects.For humans, circadian rhythms that regulate hormones andother bodily functions can also be thrown out of whack bytoo much light at night. Even the most ardent critics of lightpollution are not saying cities should go dark, or that lightingis not an essential element of urban life. But society needs toaddress a growing list of concerns, they suggest.

“In general, it’s getting worse,” Diana Umpierre, presidentof the International Dark-Sky Association, said of light pollu-tion in her home state of Florida. And things are moving inthe wrong direction, she said. “We are predicted to have 15million more residents in the next 50 years” with all the extra

lighting that entails. By contrast, in Chad, the Central AfricanRepublic and Madagascar-not coincidentally among thepoorest countries in the world-three quarters of people havea clear view of the heavens. Arguably, no-one suffers morefrom light pollution than astronomers whose telescopes areblinded by the glare of urban glow. In 1958 Flagstaff,Arizona-more than 2,100 metres (nearly 8,000 feet) abovesea level-became the first sizeable city to curb night lighting,mainly to shield a major observatory.

Not taken lightly One of the biggest challenges in fighting light pollution is

convincing people that “brightness” is not synonymous with“safety”, said Umpierre. “Sometimes it’s just the opposite,” sheargued, citing studies showing that people drive more careful-ly-and more slowly-on roads with less or no lighting at night.Over the last 15 years, biologists, doctors, non-governmentalorganizations and even UNESCO have joined the fight againstlight pollution by detailing negative impacts to health andwell being-for humans and other animals. In 2012, theAmerican Medical Association (AMA) concluded that exposureto “excessive” night light “can disrupt sleep and exacerbatesleep disorders”. And it called for more research into possiblelinks to cancer, obesity, diabetes and depression. —AFP

Unavoidable typos in DNA help fuel cancer

Gene mutations cause cancer but what causes mutations?

This undated fluorescence-colored microscope image made available by theNational Institutes of Health in September 2016 shows a culture of humanbreast cancer cells. Environmental risks and heredity get the most blame forcancer, but new research released suggests random chance may play a biggerrole than people realize. — AP

Another reason to flip the off switch: Light pollution

Photo shows how low sea ice levels were in the Arctic thiswinter, alarming climate scientists. During the winter,Arctic sea ice grew to 5.57 million square miles at its peak,but that’s the smallest amount of winter sea ice in 38years of record keeping, beating the record set in 2015and tied last year. — AP

Arctic sea ice dipsto a record low

H E A L T HSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

ROGERSVILLE: Maribeth Coote says shehates Obamacare, but it’s the only health cov-erage option she can afford in this remote,hardscrabble corner of southwesternPennsylvania. The government should “justback off and let me figure it out, and get outof the whole industry” of health care, the 52-year-old Chicago transplant to the tiny townof Rogersville said as she cleaned up herwoodworking shed from recent flooding.Donna Himelrick is uninsured and priced outof the market, despite being the mayor ofHundred, a small town 20 miles south inneighboring West Virginia.

“I make too much for Medicaid and notenough that we can afford insurance. It’s a diffi-cult situation,” Himelrick, 62, said at a clinic innearby Burton, where she pays for medicaltreatment in cash, according to what she canafford. Like millions in Appalachia, both womenvoted for Donald Trump in last November’selection seeking to upend the political system.The Affordable Care Act, they insist, is not theanswer to their health woes. But both wouldface dramatic changes to their health care —probably for the worse, at least at first-ifObamacare is replaced by the plan beinghashed out by Republican lawmakers inWashington, a cultural and political world away.

Local clinics are a lifeline for many in thiseconomically stagnant, overwhelminglywhite region. Ambulance coverage is spotty,and rough roads with rougher weather canleave insular communities even more isolatedin emergencies. Now that Trump is president,the reforms installed by his predecessorBarack Obama are under threat, potentiallyspelling disaster for several community healthcenters in Pennsylvania and neighboringWest Virginia. “There are a lot of things thatneed to be straightened out” with health care,but shuttering local clinics “would be a con-cern to me,” Himelrick conceded. Lawmakersshould “tread lightly.”

Safety nets The Cornerstone Care CHC in Rogersville,

which treats Coote, and several other facilitiesserve an area where coal mines have recentlyclosed, pushing up unemployment, andwhere health facilities can be 20 miles ormore apart. “We are the safety net for thiscommunity,” Janice Morris, chief executive ofthe Clay-Battelle CHC in Blacksville, WestVirginia, said in an interview.

Under Obamacare, several states haveexpanded Medicaid, the federal health pro-gram for the poor and disabled, to include resi-dents whose income is at or below 138 percentof the poverty level. But with some 670,000people in Pennsylvania and 175,000 in WestVirginia eligible for Medicaid through theexpansion, a rollback of the program as pro-posed in the Republican plan would “have aterrible impact there,” Senator Bob Casey, a

Democrat from Pennsylvania, told AFP back inWashington. At Clay-Battelle clinic, nearly halfof the patients are either on Medicaid orMedicare, the coverage program for the elderly.

Many of the clinic’s 300 to 400 weeklypatients pay on a scale according to theirfinancial ability-a system known as “theslide.” The clinic covers the slack throughMedicaid and commercial insurance reim-bursements, federal and state funding, andgrants. Obamacare has helped Clay-Battelleand Cornerstone lower the rate of unin-sured who get treatment there. The result-ing increase in reimbursements have trans-lated into expanding staff and hours ofoperat ion. That could crumble i fObamacare disappears. “A lot of peopledon’t recognize that the health coveragethey have was made possible through theAffordable Care Act,” Morris said.

‘Getting whipsawed’ Don Humbertson, 64, says he owes his life

to Clay-Battell doctors who discovered he hadlung cancer. The retired concrete worker isinsured through his wife’s bus-driver job, buthe has grown to appreciate how Obamacarehas given those in need a chance.“Obamacare when it first came out, I wastotally against it,” said Humbertson, who hashad difficulty breathing and speaking sincepart of his right lung was removed. “But I’veseen how it was helping some people.”Instead of pulling it out by its roots, he said,Republicans and Democrats should cometogether and fix the current law. That is notwhat’s happening. Republican leaders arekeen to keep popular provisions that barcompanies from refusing to insure peoplebecause of pre-existing conditions.

But in a bid to provide more free-marketchoice and competition, they want to slashthe amount of subsidies that would be pro-vided for Americans to buy health care,potentially putting insurance out of reach formillions. The bill is hanging by a thread, withthe House of Representatives likely to vote onthe measure. “We feel like we’re just gettingwhipsawed around,” Cornerstone Care chiefexecutive Richard Rinehart said. “We’re in thetrenches, we’re dealing with these healthissues that are real.”

Cornerstone operates another clinic in thelarger town of Waynesburg, where coal silos,conveyors and green buildings of the shut-tered Emerald Mine stand as ghostlyreminders of better days. In Trump country,many health workers are aware of the irony ofa Republican law appearing likely to hurthealth centers’ ability to care for the very peo-ple who voted the president into office. “I seeit very personally,” Morris said. “Many of ourstaff people are Trump supporters.” But healthoutcomes of Americans are “at risk” because ofthe Republican plan, he added. —AFP

Painful choices await if Obamacare goes

LOS ANGELES: Hundreds of people march through downtown Los Angeles protesting USPresident Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, his predecessor’ssignature health care law. — AP


Sabah Hospital 24812000

Amiri Hospital 22450005

Maternity Hospital 24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700

Chest Hospital 24849400

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010

Adan Hospital 23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9

Kaizen center 25716707

Rawda 22517733

Adaliya 22517144

Khaldiya 24848075

Kaifan 24849807

Shamiya 24848913

Shuwaikh 24814507

Abdullah Salem 22549134

Nuzha 22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764

Qadsiya 22515088

Dasmah 22532265

Bneid Al-Gar 22531908

Shaab 22518752

Qibla 22459381

112

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TOWEDNESDAY (23/03/2017 TO 29/03/2017)

SHARQIA-1AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 1:15 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 1:30 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 3:30 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 5:15 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 7:15 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 9:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-2COLLIDE 11:30 AMLIFE 1:30 PMLIFE 3:45 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 2:00 PMCOLLIDE 6:00 PMCOLLIDE 8:00 PMCOLLIDE 10:00 PMCOLLIDE 12:05 AMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 10:00 PMCOLLIDE 1:00 AM

SHARQIA-3SLEEPLESS 11:45 AMPOWER RANGERS 1:45 PMPOWER RANGERS 4:15 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 4:15 PMPOWER RANGERS 7:15 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 7:15 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 10:15 PMLIFE 10:15 PMSLEEPLESS 1:15 AMLIFE 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-1SLEEPLESS 11:30 AMPOWER RANGERS 1:30 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 4:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 4:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 7:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 7:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 10:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 10:00 PMSLEEPLESS 1:00 AM

MUHALAB-2AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 12:30 PMLIFE 2:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 5:00 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 7:15 PMLIFE 9:45 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 9:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 12:30 AMMUHALAB-3COLLIDE 11:45 AMCOLLIDE 2:00 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 4:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 1:45 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 5:45 PMCOLLIDE 7:30 PMCOLLIDE 9:30 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 9:45 PMCOLLIDE 12:30 AM

FANAR-1POWER RANGERS 11:30 AMPOWER RANGERS 2:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 4:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 7:00 PMLIFE 9:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 11:45 PM

FANAR-2KONG: SKULL ISLAND 1:15 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 1:45 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 3:45 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 3:45 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 6:45 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 9:45 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 9:45 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 12:45 AM

FANAR-3AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 11:45 AMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 2:15 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 4:00 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 5:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 8:15 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 10:30 PM

AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 12:45 AM

FANAR-4COLLIDE 11:30 AMCOLLIDE 1:30 PMCOLLIDE 3:45 PMLIFE 5:45 PMCOLLIDE 8:00 PMCOLLIDE 10:00 PMCOLLIDE 12:15 AMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 10:00 PMCOLLIDE 1:00 AM

FANAR-5LIFE 12:15 PMLIFE 2:30 PMLIFE 4:45 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 7:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 9:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 11:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 12:45 AM

MARINA-1POWER RANGERS 12:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 2:30 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 1:30 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 3:15 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 5:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 6:45 PMPOWER RANGERS 9:15 PMPOWER RANGERS 11:45 PM

MARINA-2COLLIDE 11:45 AMCOLLIDE 1:45 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 3:45 PMCOLLIDE 6:15 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 8:15 PMCOLLIDE 10:45 PMCOLLIDE 12:45 AM

MARINA-3AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 1:00 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 3:15 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 5:30 PMLIFE 7:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 10:00 PMLIFE 12:15 AM

AVENUES-1THE WINDMILL MASSACRE 1:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 3:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 5:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 7:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 9:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 11:00 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 1:00 AM

AVENUES-2POWER RANGERS-2D-4DX 12:00 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND -3D-4DX 2:30 PMPOWER RANGERS-2D-4DX 5:00 PMPOWER RANGERS-2D-4DX 7:30 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND -3D-4DX 10:00 PMPOWER RANGERS-2D-4DX 12:30 AM

AVENUES-3KONG: SKULL ISLAND 1:30 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 4:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 4:00 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 7:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 7:00 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 10:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 10:00 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 12:45 AM

360º- 1POWER RANGERS 12:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 2:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 5:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 7:30 PMPremier Show “Smurfs: The Lost Village” 7:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 10:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 12:30 AM

360º- 2BARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 11:45 AM

AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 1:30 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 3:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 6:00 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 8:15 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 10:30 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 12:45 AM

360º- 3THE WINDMILL MASSACRE 11:30 AMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 1:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 3:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 5:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 7:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 9:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 11:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 1:15 AM

AL-KOUT.1POWER RANGERS 12:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 3:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 5:30 PMCOLLIDE 8:00 PMCOLLIDE 10:00 PMCOLLIDE 12:05 AMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 10:00 PMCOLLIDE 1:00 AM

AL-KOUT.2AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 12:15 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 2:30 PMSLEEPLESS 4:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 6:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 9:00 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.3POWER RANGERS 11:30 AMPOWER RANGERS 2:00 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 1:30 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 4:30 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 4:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 7:15 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 9:45 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 9:45 PMPOWER RANGERS 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.4THE WINDMILL MASSACRE 1:00 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 1:30 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 3:00 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 4:45 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 6:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 8:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 10:30 PMTHE WINDMILL MASSACRE 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-1POWER RANGERS 12:00 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 2:30 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 4:15 PMPOWER RANGERS 6:00 PMPOWER RANGERS 8:30 PMPOWER RANGERS 11:30 PM

BAIRAQ-2LIFE 11:45 AMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 2:00 PMLIFE 4:30 PMKONG: SKULL ISLAND 6:45 PMLIFE 9:30 PMLIFE 12:05 AM

BAIRAQ-3AKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 1:00 PMBARBIE VIDEO GAME HERO 1:30 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 3:30 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 5:45 PMAKHER DEEK FE MASR -Arabic 8:00 PMCOLLIDE 10:15 PMCOLLIDE 12:15 AM

PLAZAKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 3:30 PMORU MEXICAN APARATHA 3:30 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 6:30 PMORU MEXICAN APARATHA 6:30 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 9:45 PMKATAMARAYUDU - Telugu 9:30 PM

Automated enquiryabout

the Civil ID card is

1889988

PRAYER TIMINGS

Fajr: 04:27Shorook 05:47Duhr: 11:54Asr: 15:23Maghrib: 18:02Isha: 19:19

BMW 2003 Model registeredtill March 2018, lady drivenexcellent condition, done134,000 km, blue color. Call:66711141. (C 5288)25-3-2017

FOR SALE

CHANGE OF NAME

I, Shaik Mushtaaq s/o ShaikYousuf holder of Indian PassportNo. G3955355 Civil ID No.276030802124 has changed myname to Shaik Mukthar Ahmed

ACCOMMODATION

Partition for rent shuon, Hawally,Tunist st. Only for Filipino. Ph:55195488. (C 5287)

Accommodation available for aCatholic bachelor at Abbassiyanear Unique store No. 2, opp BestBakers from 1st of April 2017.Contact: 66110593 or 24313908.(C 5286) 19-3-2017

herein after in all my dealingsand documents. (C 5289)22-3-2017

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Arrival Flights on Saturday 25/3/2017Airlines Flt Route TimeKLM 413 Amsterdam/Dammam 00:25JZR 267 Beirut 00:30JZR 539 Cairo 00:40THY 772 Istanbul 00:55RJA 642 Amman 01:05QTR 1086 Doha 01:15SAI 441 Lahore 01:30THY 764 Istanbul 01:50DLH 635 Doha 01:55MSC 511 Alexandria 02:00PGT 858 Istanbul 02:00ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:05GFA 211 Bahrain 02:30UAE 853 Dubai 02:30KAC 412 Bangkok 02:50KAC 364 Colombo 06:05KAC 384 Delhi 06:05KAC 206 Islamabad 06:20KAC 346 Ahmedabad 06:25BAW 157 London 06:40PAL 668 Manila/Dubai 07:00FDB 5061 Dubai 07:15KAC 204 Lahore 07:15KAC 284 Dhaka 07:35FDB 053 Dubai 07:50KAC 302 Mumbai 08:20UAE 855 Dubai 08:40KAC 382 Delhi 08:45ABY 125 Sharjah 09:05ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:05KAC 352 Kochi 09:10QTR 1070 Doha 09:30FDB 055 Dubai 09:40SVA 512 Riyadh 10:00AVV 653 Sohag 10:10GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40KAC 774 Riyadh 11:05RBG 553 Alexandria 11:15JZR 165 Dubai 11:30FDK 801 Damascus 11:45KAC 286 Dhaka 12:25MSC 401 Alexandria 12:30JZR 239 Amman 12:45UAE 871 Dubai 12:50MSR 610 Cairo 13:00IAW 157 Al Najaf 13:25JZR 779 Jeddah 13:35KAC 564 Amman 13:40KAC 788 Jeddah 13:45KNE 231 Riyadh 13:55KAC 672 Dubai 14:00QTR 1078 Doha 14:10FDB 059 Dubai 14:20KAC 692 Muscat 14:30GFA 221 Bahrain 14:40KAC 542 Cairo 14:45KNE 529 Jeddah 14:55KAC 618 Doha 15:00KNE 683 Madinah 15:05ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:15OMA 645 Muscat 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45ABY 127 Sharjah 15:50MSR 575 Sharm el-Sheikh 15:50KAC 154 Istanbul 15:55SAW 705 Damascus 16:00SVA 504 Madinah 16:00KNE 531 Jeddah 16:05JZR 535 Cairo 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:10JZR 787 Riyadh 16:25FDB 051 Dubai 16:25KAC 662 Abu Dhabi 16:35RJA 640 Amman 16:55KAC 118 New York 17:00SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 777 Jeddah 17:45JZR 325 Al Najaf 17:50NIA 251 Alexandria 17:55SVA 500 Jeddah 18:00UAE 875 Dubai 18:00FDB 063 Dubai 18:10JZR 177 Dubai 18:20MSR 620 Cairo 18:30IRA 669 Mashhad 18:55KAC 512 Mashhad 19:20ABY 123 Sharjah 19:25GFA 217 Bahrain 19:30

KAC 502 Beirut 19:30KAC 674 Dubai 19:45FDB 057 Dubai 19:50KAC 104 London 19:50KNE 381 Taif 19:55KAC 166 Rome 19:55MSR 618 Alexandria 20:05OMA 647 Muscat 20:10JZR 189 Dubai 20:15QTR 1088 Doha 20:35KAC 562 Amman 20:40DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:45FDB 5053 Dubai 20:50KAC 616 Bahrain 20:50KAC 786 Jeddah 21:15ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:20MEA 402 Beirut 21:20ALK 229 Colombo 21:25UAE 859 Dubai 21:40GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45KAC 676 Dubai 21:45QTR 1082 Doha 22:00KAC 174 Munich 22:00JZR 125 Bahrain 22:05KLM 415 Amsterdam 22:10NIA 151 Cairo 22:10ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15FDB 8053 Dubai 22:15AIC 987 Chennai/Hyderabad 22:25KNE 533 Jeddah 22:45JZR 241 Amman 22:45KAC 1544 Cairo 22:55KAC 164 Paris 22:55JAI 574 Mumbai 23:00JZR 185 Dubai 23:15

Departure Flights on Saturday 25/3/2017Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05JAI 573 Mumbai 00:30PIA 240 Sialkot 00:40FDB 072 Dubai 00:40BBC 044 Dhaka 01:30KLM 413 Amsterdam 01:50KAC 417 Manila 02:00THY 773 Istanbul 02:25SAI 442 Lahore 02:30DLH 635 Frankfurt 02:55MSC 512 Alexandria 03:05ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05PGT 859 Istanbul 03:35KAC 103 London 03:40UAE 854 Dubai 03:45KKK 6505 Istanbul 03:55OMA 644 Muscat 03:55THY 765 Istanbul 04:00MSR 613 Cairo 04:10ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:10QTR 1077 Doha 04:40QTR 1087 Doha 05:50FDB 070 Dubai 06:30CLX 853 Hong Kong 06:50THY 771 Istanbul 06:50KAC 153 Istanbul 06:50KAC 165 Rome 06:55JZR 164 Dubai 06:55RJA 643 Amman 07:05JZR 238 Amman 07:10GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15KAC 541 Cairo 07:15KAC 163 Paris 07:25KAC 773 Riyadh 07:30KAC 787 Jeddah 07:45FDB 5062 Dubai 07:55JZR 778 Jeddah 07:55KAC 563 Amman 08:00BAW 156 London 08:40KAC 173 Munich 08:50FDB 054 Dubai 08:55KAC 691 Muscat 09:00KAC 117 New York 09:00KAC 671 Dubai 09:15JZR 534 Cairo 09:15KAC 101 London 09:35ABY 126 Sharjah 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:55ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:10KAC 411 Bangkok 10:30FDB 056 Dubai 10:35QTR 1071 Doha 10:40SVA 513 Riyadh 11:00

AVV 654 Asyut 11:10KAC 617 Doha 11:10GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25RBG 554 Alexandria 11:55

KAC 501 Beirut 11:55VIZ 203 Baghdad 12:00KAC 661 Abu Dhabi 12:05JZR 776 Jeddah 12:05FDK 802 Damascus 12:45JZR 786 Riyadh 13:10KAC 511 Mashhad 13:15MSC 402 Alexandria 13:30JZR 176 Dubai 13:45MSR 611 Cairo 14:00UAE 872 Dubai 14:15IAW 158 Al Najaf 14:25JZR 324 Al Najaf 14:25KNE 382 Taif 14:50KAC 673 Dubai 15:00KAC 561 Amman 15:00FDB 060 Dubai 15:10KAC 785 Jeddah 15:15PAL 669 Dubai/Manila 15:20GFA 222 Bahrain 15:25QTR 1079 Doha 15:40JZR 188 Dubai 15:40KNE 530 Jeddah 15:55KAC 1543 Cairo 15:55KNE 684 Madinah 16:00ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20KAC 357 Kochi 16:20ABY 128 Sharjah 16:30OMA 646 Muscat 16:35MSR 576 Sharm el-Sheikh 16:50SAW 706 Damascus 16:55KNE 532 Jeddah 16:55SVA 505 Madinah 17:00KAC 675 Dubai 17:00JZR 266 Beirut 17:05JZR 240 Amman 17:15FDB 052 Dubai 17:25KAC 615 Bahrain 17:35QTR 1073 Doha 17:40UAE 858 Dubai 17:45JZR 538 Cairo 17:45RJA 641 Amman 17:55SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15KAC 353 BLR 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20KAC 283 Dhaka 18:30JZR 184 Dubai 18:40NIA 252 Alexandria 18:55JZR 554 Alexandria 18:55FDB 064 Dubai 19:05JZR 124 Bahrain 19:15UAE 876 Dubai 19:30SVA 501 Jeddah 19:30MSR 621 Cairo 19:30IRA 666 Esfahan 19:55ABY 124 Sharjah 20:05GFA 218 Bahrain 20:15KAC 383 Delhi 20:30FDB 058 Dubai 20:35KAC 361 Colombo 20:35KAC 775 Riyadh 20:45KNE 232 Riyadh 20:55MSR 607 Luxor 21:05OMA 648 Muscat 21:10KAC 205 Islamabad 21:25KAC 345 Ahmedabad 21:30QTR 1089 Doha 21:35DLH 634 Doha 21:35KAC 741 Dammam 21:45DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50FDB 5054 Dubai 21:50KAC 351 Kochi 22:00ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15MEA 403 Beirut 22:20ALK 230 Colombo 22:25GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30KAC 301 Mumbai 22:45KAC 381 Delhi 22:45UAE 860 Dubai 22:55ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05NIA 152 Cairo 23:10FDB 8054 Dubai 23:15QTR 1083 Doha 23:20KLM 415 Dammam/Amsterdam 23:20KNE 534 Jeddah 23:35

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

i n f o r m a t i o nSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

ACROSS1. A hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.4. The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.12. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing.15. An adherent of any branch of Taoism.16. Any of various widely distributed beetles.17. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-likeincisors and feet with hooflike toes.18. First in order of birth.20. A naturally occuring glyceride of oleic acid that is found in fats and oils.21. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).22. A flourish added after or under your signature (originally to protect againstforgery).23. Type genus of the family Myacidae.24. Moth having nonfunctional mouthparts as adults.26. Being or occurring in fact or actuality.28. The 11 southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861.30. In the direction against a stream's current.34. United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters.37. The dialect of Sotho spoken by the Tswana people in Botswana.39. Affectedly dainty or refined.41. A purgative made from the leaves of aloe.42. A native of ancient Troy.44. An ugly evil-looking old woman.45. A colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube.47. A Native American who lived in what is now southern Colorado and Utah andnorthern Arizona and New Mexico and who built cliff dwellings.49. A United States liquid unit equal to 8 fluid ounces.50. A unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise one pound ofwater one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure.51. German engineer and automobile manufacturer who produced the first high-speed internal combustion engine (1834-1900).52. A radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium withneutrons.54. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.56. A piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed.60. A nurse who has enough training to be licensed by a state to provide routinecare for the sick.63. A short introductory essay preceding the text of a book.65. Bearing or marked with a label or tag.70. A jaunty rhythm in music.71. Genus of widely distributed agarics that have white spores and are poisonouswith few exceptions.74. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.75. Type genus of the Amiidae.76. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).77. Characteristic of a mob.78. The basic unit of money in China.79. Genus of beetles whose grubs feed mainly on roots of plants.80. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

C R O S S W O R D 1 5 5 8DOWN

1. Any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal.2. The basic unit of money in Western Samoa.3. A blind god.4. A planet (usually Venus) seen at sunset in the western sky.5. Any of various plants of the genus Althaea.6. Informal terms for a mother.7. (physics and chemistry) The smallest component of an element having thechemical properties of the element.8. Have confidence or faith in.9. A step in walking or running.10. Being one more than two.11. An accessory or adjoining anatomical parts or appendages (especially of theembryo).12. A condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of expe-rience that is taken as true by many people.13. Kamarupan languages spoken in northeastern India and western Burma.14. A male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917).19. Made of earth (or baked clay).25. Having the deep slightly brownish color of gold.27. Soviet physicist who worked on low temperature physics (1908-1968).29. Large herbivorous tropical American arboreal lizards with a spiny crest alongthe back.31. A king of the Myrmidons and father of Achilles.32. The quantity a scoop will hold.33. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.35. Any of several herbs of the genus Dipsacus native to the Old World havingflower heads surrounded by spiny bracts.36. Encircle or bind.38. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.40. A very large person.43. Marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly expe-rience.46. A language spoken by the Atakapa people of the Gulf coast of Louisiana andTexas.48. A facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth.53. A woman's dress style that imitates the caftan cloaks worn by men in the NearEast.55. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.57. Type genus of the Meliaceae.58. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.59. A republic on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula on the IndianOcean.61. A folded part (as a fold of skin or muscle).62. Relating to or accompanying birth.64. Tall New Zealand timber tree.66. A small cake leavened with yeast.67. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.68. Very dark black.69. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.72. A rapid bustling commotion.73. Game in which matchsticks are arranged in rows and players alternatelyremove one or more of them.


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S P O R T SSATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

KINGSTON UPON HULL: Nicol David, thesquash great whose nine-year stint as worldnumber one may never be surpassed, wantsto follow the example of women’s sportspioneer Billie Jean King when her playingdays are done.

Although the 33-year-old Malaysianreached the quarter-finals of the BritishOpen on Thursday and may still challengefor titles, she has been inspired by the tennislegend who led the fight for prize moneyparity and campaigned for women’s rights ina wider way. “I really hope I can do some-thing a little like what she has done for hersport,” said David, who spent an hour withthe American before the Windy City Opensquash tournament in Chicago last month.“She is the power of women’s sport. Withouther pushing the cause women wouldn’t bewhere they are now,” she added, acknowl-edging King’s influence beyond sport.

“She has paved the way in all sports at

various levels and in every field to give theirbest. Billie Jean fought for a lot of otherrights as well. She is very motivating.”

David follows King’s philosophy thatwomen have to prove they are just as goodat entertaining as anyone, and need tobelieve in themselves that they can makethis happen-by envisioning it, dreaming itand working every day towards that dream.

‘PUSH FOR RECOGNITION’ “Billie Jean asked me what do you see?”

David said. “How do you see squash pro-gressing in the future? Where will be a goodplace to start?” David spoke of her conversa-tion with King during a week in which theBritish Open is offering women equal prizemoney for the first time in its 88-year history.

“It just shows that there is a push forrecognition we deserve and we are goingforward in the right direction.

“I am very honoured and grateful that

Doctor (Assem) Allam (the British Opensponsor, who took the tournament to thenorthern city of Hull, where he is the ownerof Premier League football club Hull) is pro-moting this cause, and gives us more poten-tial to push this cause, men and womentogether.” Whilst David is not in any wayattempting to compare herself with the vast-ly experienced King, 73, she certainly seemswell-placed to promote the cause ofwomen’s equality in other areas.

Not only has she become one of Asia’smost famous sportswomen, she is alreadywell-known for fund-raising campaigningwell beyond sport. She has joined cam-paigns by UNICEF, the United Nations chil-dren’s charity, and devoted her time andcelebrity to raise funds for many causes,including aid for Japanese tsunami andearthquake victims. Whilst campaigningmore diligently than any other squash playerfor improved prize money for women, David

has spoken with corporate executives, pro-moters, and organisations around the world.

Right now David feels America is not justwhere equal prize money for women began,it is where squash can accelerate its take-off,as tennis did. “They have more facilities andground-work with their policies,” she said.“If we approach major corporations and theywant parity in what they specialise in, ithelps.” The US Open became the first squashtournament with equal prize money in 2013,after which the Tournament of Champions inNew York and the Windy City Open followedsuit. Next year parity is likely to be mandato-ry at all World Series squash tournaments.

“It’s a difficult job to manage both menand women together, so it’s a matter of for-mulating what’s needed for the women,”said David. “But Billie Jean showed that it’sall logical. It’s nothing new, but everythingmakes sense. It’s true that we deserve whatwe are trying to do. We can do it.”— AFP

David eager to follow in Billie Jean’s footstepsSQUASH

CHRISTCHURCH: The Christchurch,New Zealand-based Crusaders main-tained their unbeaten start to theSuper Rugby season when they beatthe Perth-based Western Force 45-17yesterday to open the tournament’sfifth round. In contrast to their lastthree matches in which they camefrom behind to win - after trailing by18, 21 and 19 points respectively - theCrusaders led throughout Friday’smatch to win by seven tries to two.

But after leading 28-17 at halftime,the Crusaders struggled to drive hometheir advantage in the second half andtheir winning margin was only inflatedby two tries in the last 10 minutes.

The Force, who have been competi-tive but have won only one of theirfirst four matches, put pressure on the

Crusaders, especially at scrums n theearly part of the second half. But theywere unable to capitalize on a periodof intense pressure early in the secondspell and the Crusaders were able tore-establish control and post a con-vincing victory.

Rain late in the match made ball-handling difficult and the game lostmost of its structure after halftime.“We can’t make the weather anexcuse,” Crusaders captain SamWhitelock said. “We’ve got to trust ourball skills and make better decisions.They came out and really tested us.”

The Crusaders took the lead in thematch after only five minutes with atry to former Wallabies winger DigbyIoane, converted by flyhalf MitchellHunt. After a penalty by Jono Lance for

the Force, the Crusaders extendedtheir lead with a try to All Blacksflanker Matt Todd after another strongrun by Ioane.

Todd then made an uncharacteris-tic error, throwing a pass which wasintercepted by Alex Newsome, whoran more than 50 meters to score forthe Force, cutting the lead to 14-10.

Hard-working flanker Scott Barrettscored for the Crusaders to make thelead 21-10 and lock Luke Romanoplunged on a loose ball over the Forceline for a 28-10 lead. The Force hit backwith a try before halftime to ChancePeni. Hooker Codie Taylor opened thesecond half with a try which put theCrusaders ahead 22-17, and late triesto David Havili and Ben Funnell madethe margin convincing. — AP

Crusaders beat Force 45-17 in Super Rugby

RUGBY

PARIS: A botched Parisian club merger, a strike, rape allega-tions against three Grenoble players and the federation atapparent war with Top 14 officials. It is fair to say that it hasnot been the best couple of weeks for French club rugby. Fansand players will attempt to put all that aside for the nextround of matches this weekend with particular interest in keygames for Racing 92 and Stade Francais. A mooted mergerbetween the two clubs, winners of the last two Top 14 titles,was promptly booted into touch. Their owners were forcedinto a swift backtrack after a deluge of criticism from players,fans, rugby officials and even the Paris city administration.

The proposed merger saw the body running professionalrugby in France, the LNR, postpone both Racing and StadeFrancais’ matches last week, against Montpellier and Castres.

It was a decision that will no doubt cause a schedulingnightmare with just five weekends of the regular seasonremaining before play-offs start on May 20, and Europeanaction filling in the rest.

The French Rugby Federation (FFR), now headed by formerFrance coach Bernard Laporte, waded into the row onWednesday by symbolically cancelling the LNR decision.

The action highlighted wider rifts between the LNR andFFR over federal contracts — 11 of the Top 14 clubs havecome out against Laporte’s proposal to have a 40-player coreon central contracts to try to improve the French nationalteam’s performance. As it is, Racing and Stade have twomouthwatering games awaiting them, against Clermont (inLille) and Toulon respectively. “We’re not going to hide it, it’sbeen tough, complicated for everyone,” said Racing’sArgentine lock Manuel Carizza. “But we knew how to separatethe paddock from all the off-the-field stuff. Even last week wetrained really well. “That’s great because it shows that even ifwe haven’t had an outstanding season thus far, there remainsa strong bond between the squad, like last season.”

GRENOBLE IN TURMOIL While Racing have had problems off the pitch, with ex-All

Black lock Ali Williams sacked after being caught in possessionof cocaine and flagship signing Dan Carter caught drink driv-ing, they pale into insignificance when compared to Grenoble.

With Irish coach Bernard Jackman shown the door lastweek after a string of poor results, three players-Irish propDenis Coulson, Kiwi backrower Rory Grice and French hookerLoick Jammes-remained in custody as of Thursday afternoonas French police investigate a rape allegation. Three otherplayers were released the same day after helping police withtheir enquiries, including twice-capped former Wallaby lockPeter Kimlin. Grenoble, who sit in 13th place three pointsahead of rock-bottom Bayonne and 11 behind Stade Francais,responded to their off-field crises with an impressive last-gaspdraw with Toulon last weekend. — AFP

DUBLIN: This file photo taken on February 24 shows England’s forwards failing to claim the ball from a line-out duringthe 6 Nations Rugby union game between Ireland and England at Croke Park stadium, Dublin. — AFP

Top 14 aims to put sparkle back into

French club rugby


GOLF

MOTOR RACING

AUSTIN: With a big lead on the back nine, Jordan Spieth putthe ball in water again. Gulp. This time, there was no collapse,just a grind-it-out “must win” to beat Japan’s Yuta Ikeda inThursday’s second round at the Dell Technologies Match Playin gusty wind that lived up to the legendary tough conditionsof Texas golf.

Spieth beat Ikeda 4-and-2 at the Austin Country Club a dayafter losing his first-round match by the same score to Japan’sHideto Tanihara.

Thursday’s victory, coupled with the draw betweenTanihara and Ryan Moore, leaves Spieth needing to beatMoore and for Tanihara to draw or lose to Ikeda if Spieth is tomove on to today’s knockout rounds.

“I’ve got to play better than I did the last two days and Iknow that. I’ve just got to have complete trust because whynot at this point. It’s a win or go home situation,” Spieth said.Beating Ikeda took some work in conditions that saw guststop 30 mph, often blowing straight in the golfer’s faces.

The pair made the turn with Spieth 2-up before he stuckhis tee shot to within 18 inches on the par-3 11th and tappedin for birdie to win the hole. But Spieth hit a wild tee shot onNo. 13 that plunked into the Colorado River - much widerthan Rae’s Creek at Augusta - and he peeled out of the shotin disgust.

Instead of seizing the opening for a rally, Ikeda’s tee shotsplashed as well. They halved the hole and Spieth steadilyclosed out the match without any mistakes the rest of theway. “We both made a mess of the 13th, but all in all, it was astep in the right direction after yesterday,” Spieth said, refer-ring to his opening-round 4-and-2 loss to Tanihara.

As a Texas native, playing in the Lone Star State providesboth a comfort zone and an emotional pressure cooker forSpieth. He plays in front of adoring galleries who cheer hisbig shots and groan over his mistakes. Youngsters plead forautographs or high-fives whenever he’s within reaching dis-tance. And the Austin Country Club, where he played severaltimes during his short college career at the University ofTexas provides a familiar layout of rolling hills and windyriverside greens.

‘CHEERS AT EVERY HOLE’ The pressure of his week also comes from what awaits him

in two weeks: a return to the Masters, where he won in 2015but blew a five-shot lead on the back nine last year in an epiccollapse as England’s Danny Willett won.

Willett, playing in Spieth’s home territory, has had a ragged

tournament with two losses already. A 6-and-5 loss to Bill Haasyesterday eliminated Willett from playing on the weekend.

Before he’d even teed up in Austin, Spieth said he’s readyfor this year’s Masters and the questions about the collapse tobe behind him. Then he opened the match play tournamentwith the loss to Tanihara.

Needing a win Thursday just to give himself a chance toget to the championship rounds, Spieth was greeted with alarge crowd at the first tee and “Hook’em Horns!” cheers atevery hole. Spieth was 3-up after eight holes as the wind belt-ed the players on every swing.

A bogey on the par-4 10th allowed Ikeda an opening untilSpieth’s laser tee shot into the 11th put him back in control.“(Conditions) were about as tough as I think I’ve ever seen it. Icouldn’t really fall back on much from school,” Spieth said. “Inmatch play, you’re not upset with these conditions. One-on-one, I think the tougher conditions are better for us. We’vekind of always believed that so I kind of hope tomorrow ismore of the same.” — AP

Jordan Spieth grinds out ‘must win’ over Ikeda

MELBOURNE: Lewis Hamilton delivered the fasterspeeds that Formula One rule changes had promisedyesterday, going under the racing lap record in thesecond practice session for the season-openingAustralian Grand Prix.

The three-time world champion had the fastesttime in morning practice and his afternoon time of 1minute, 23.620 seconds was quicker than the racinglap mark Michael Schumacher set in winning the2004 title at the 5.303-kilometer (3.295-mile) AlbertPark Circuit.

It was only one-tenth slower slower than the bestever lap of Albert Park, which Sebastien Vettel set totake pole position in 2011.

“I’m super happy to be back in the car - particular-ly after a first day like that. It was 99 percent perfect,”Hamilton said. “We’ve shown good form so far onboth the long and short runs and we got every lapdone that we wanted to.”

Ferrari driver Vettel split the Mercedes cars ofHamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who posted the fastesttwo times in the opening practice earlier yesterday,with his 1:24.167 in the afternoon session.

Kimi Raikkonen’s afternoon run meant the Ferrariswere second and fourth - a reflection of their positivepres-season testing in Barcelona - and pushed the

Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappenback from third and fourth in the morning session tofifth and sixth in the afternoon.

Vettel was less than one-tenth of a second in frontof Bottas, who replaced Nico Rosberg at Mercedesafter the reigning world champion retired.

Hamilton, who won back-to-back world champi-onships in 2014 and ‘15 and narrowly lost to Rosberglast season, completed 22 laps in the morning ses-sion and 34 in the afternoon and used three tire com-pounds across the day. The first practice was almostprocessional with the Mercedes cars followed by thetwo Red Bulls and the Ferraris.

Hamilton predicted ahead of the Australian GPthat Ferrari would be the team to beat. He said Fridaywas indicative of how his rivals have improved andsaid qualifying on Saturday would be the first gen-uine test. “We knew from FP1 that the Ferrarisweren’t at their maximum. Of course, in FP2 all of asudden they were quick,” Hamilton said. “We’ll seetomorrow how it really stands.”

Four-time world champion Vettel completed only10 laps in the morning session but had 35 in the sec-ond session. “We had a mixed day, this morning was-n’t so good but then we had a better afternoon,”Vettel said. “I think the balance of the car is not yet

where we want it to be, but I’m sure we can take astep forward on that.”

Ricciardo and Verstappen, who only ran eight lapsin the afternoon, were followed by Carlos Sainz ofToro Rosso, Romain Grossjean - who drove his Haasthrough the gravel during the second session - andRenault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

The new regulations for 2017 allowed for widertires with more grip and durability, greater aerody-namics, bigger fuel loads and increased downforceand were designed to increase speed. The first twosessions have confirmed that is the case among thetop contenders.

Williams rookie Lance Stroll set the first time ofthe season, the 18-year-old Canadian momentarilyon top of the time sheets after his first flying lap in anF1 Grand Prix event. He was 13th in the opening ses-sion and dropped to 16th in the second, almost threeseconds off the pace. His teammate Felipe Massa wasseventh-quickest in the morning but slipped to 14thin the afternoon, reporting mechanical problems ashe slid off and stopped on the grass at turn 10. Massacompleted six laps in the second session, which wasstaged in sunny, mild conditions and was only 10minutes old when Jolyon Palmer spun his Renaultrear-first into the barrier. — AP

Hamilton fastest in first practice sessions for Australian GP

Johnson stays perfect, McIlroy eliminated

AUSTIN: World number one Dustin Johnson continued his per-fect record at the WGC-Dell Match Play on Thursday while num-ber two Rory McIlroy was eliminated without even setting footon the course.

On an extremely windy afternoon at Austin Country Clubwith gusts of up to 35 miles per hour (56 kph), Johnson copedmanfully with the elements to beat German Martin Kaymer 3&2.

“Putting is the hardest part,” Johnson told Golf Channelafter improving to 2-0-0 overall with his second straight winover a major champion. “It’s very breezy and then really gustyat times.”

Despite two wins from two matches, Johnson was not guar-anteed of advancing out of the group stage. He must win orhalve his match against compatriot Jimmy Walker to be certainof advancing to the final 16. The format divides the 64 playersinto 16 four-man groups, with the winner of each group enter-ing the knockout stage today.

After losing to Dane Soren Kjeldsen on Wednesday, McIlroygot a win on Thursday when his scheduled opponent GaryWoodland withdrew, citing personal family reasons.

Even with that walkover, however, McIlroy still neededKjeldsen to lose his second match to have any chance ofadvancing out of the round-robin group stage.

But Kjeldsen duly shut the door on the Northern Irishman,beating Argentine Emiliano Grillo 4&3 on Thursday toimprove to 2-0-0.

Kjeldsen said he relished the tough conditions. “I’m broughtup in this,” he said. “The way I play golf, I like to shape shots, liketo change the trajectory. When I saw it being windy today I wasreally happy.”

Swede Alexander Noren is also guaranteed of being part ofthe sweet 16, after beating Austrian Bernd Wiesberger 3&2.

McIlroy was not the only highly-ranked player eliminatedfrom the final 16 with world number four Hideki Matsuyamaalso making an early exit after losing to Englishman RossFisher 2&1.

The wind caused all sorts of problems and a watery grave formany a ball, even a shank by American Charles Howell, who hadno problem assigning the blame to the conditions.

“(It was) difficult enough to cause a shank,” he said afterescaping with a 1-up win over Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello.

Phil Mickelson, who improved to 2-0-0 thanks to a 5&4thumping of fellow American Daniel Berger, said it was fortu-nate that the match play format was being used rather thanstroke play, given the conditions.

“Given the severity of the greens and so forth, certainly thereare holes we’re going to look ridiculous on,” he said after chip-ping clean across a green into a water hazard. “I think it’s funand it’s great for match play because you don’t worry about thestroke. It’s just relative to your opponent.” — Reuters

AUSTIN: Jordan Spieth of the USA tees off on the 14thhole of his match during round two of the World GolfChampionships-Dell Technologies Match Play at theAustin Country Club on Thursday in Austin, Texas. — AFP


TENNIS

KUWAIT: Kuwait International Bank (KIB) recentlyconcluded its sponsorship of the 8th Kuwait OpenTennis Tournament, which took place under thepatronage of the President of the Kuwait and ArabTennis Federations, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.The tournament kicked off on March 2nd and tookplace at Al-Yarmouk Sports Club and the KuwaitTennis Federation (KTF) courts, featuring around 500participants of all ages.

The tournament was the largest organized by KTFthroughout the entire season, as it included 302matches overall. The closing game was attended byvarious sponsors, KTF members, parents of the play-ers, as well as a huge audience of local sports fans.During the closing ceremony, over 50 players fromall age groups and winners of the tournament wererecognized for their sportsmanship and performancethroughout the tournament.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Nawaf Najia,Manager of the Corporate Communications Unit atKIB, stated: “The Bank pays special attention to pro-moting a culture of sports across the communityand, for that reason, actively seeks to support com-munity-based sports initiatives and activities. We areproud of KIB’s sponsorship of this tournament, as itreflects our ongoing belief in the importance ofsports and our role in encouraging regular exerciseamong people to achieve a healthy lifestyle, enhanc-ing both physical and mental well-being.”

Najia also congratulated international tennis player,

Mohammad Al-Ghareeb, who was honored duringthe closing ceremony for his outstanding athleticperformance. He lauded Al-Ghareeb’s sportsmanshipin boosting Kuwait’s standing internationally andsuccessfully representing Kuwait in Davis Cup, TheWorld Cup of Tennis, over the course of 20 years; hisperformance successfully placing Kuwait amongstinternational rankings.

KIB considers sports a cornerstone of its socialresponsibility program and so, the Bank is keen on pro-viding its full support to athletes and local talents with-in various different sports. The Bank continues to be anadamant supporter of local athletes who have acted asa true inspiration to the community, as well as thosewho have played a role in strengthening Kuwait’sstanding, within the region and internationally.

MIAMI: Bernard Tomic’s woes contin-ued Thursday as he pulled out of theMiami Open due to a back injury, thelatest setback in a disappointing yearfor the Australian.

Ranked 17th in the world as recent-ly as November, Tomic has tumbleddown the rankings to 44th. Since athird-round Australian Open exit, the24-year-old has lost four first-roundmatches to lowly ranked opponents.The most recent setback came atIndian Wells, where he was beaten by112th-ranked Bjorn Fratangelo of theUnited States. At Acapulco inFebruary, Tomic retired from his open-ing match citing “unbearable heat”and the fact that he withdrew fromfour ATP matches last year has led tosome questioning of his attitude.

Tomic was due to face Kazakh quali-fier Mikhail Kukushkin at Crandon Parkon Thursday but pulled out shortlybefore the contest was due to begin.Lucky loser Mikhail Youzhny of Russiatook Tomic’s place in the first-roundcontest, but was ousted 6-4, 6-1.

US teen Frances Tiafoe downedRussia’s Konstantin Kravchuk 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 to book a second-round matchagainst 18-time Grand Slam championRoger Federer. It will be the 19-year-oldAmerican’s first match against a top-10foe. “The guy has about a million GrandSlams and done everything. I can’t tellyou how excited I am to play,” Tiafoesaid. “Seeing the draw was partly proba-bly why up a set and 4-1, I started rush-ing and thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m goingto play Roger.’ “He’s my idol, everyone’s

idol.” World number 41 MarcelGranollers of Spain fell 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-3to promising 62nd-ranked CroatianBorna Coric in a testing two hours, 51minutes contest.

Coric tired towards the end andoffered some openings to Granollerswhile missing three match points butwas able to recover well to hold on and

set up a meeting with sixth seedDominic Thiem of Austria.

Russian 19-year-old Andrey Rublevmade short work of world number 46Florian Mayer of Germany, winning 6-1,6-1 in just 44 minutes. Rublev will nowface a tough challenge against 2010Miami finalist and 10th seed TomasBerdych. — AFP

Pliskova eases through in Miami

MIAMI: Second seed Karolina Pliskova cruised into thethird round of the Miami Open, the Czech beatingAmerican qualifier Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3 on Thursday.

While her serve was not at its best, the 25-year-oldPliskova never looked in danger, comfortably dominat-ing while winning 78 percent of return points.

“There were a few tight games but I think I was prettysolid. It went quite easy and I was really happy to spendonly an hour out there because its pretty hot and humidand so I am happy to save some power for the latermatches,” said Pliskova.

“The serve wasn’t really great and hasn’t been for thelast few weeks but I think my game from the baselinewas better, it’s improving, my backhand is better, I wasfeeling pretty good just want to improve the serve a bitnow,” she added.

Pliskova reached the semi-finals of Indian Wells lastweek and she said she was keen to avoid a repeat of lastyear when she made the last four in California but fell atthe first hurdle in Miami.

“It’s a big tournament and I wanted to make it betterthis year. I will be ready for the next one,” said the Czech,whose twin sister Kristyna is also in the Miami field.

Slovakian fourth seed Dominika Cibulkova needed todig deep to fight past Paraguayan qualifier VeronicaCepede Royg. The 90-minute encounter was far tougherfor Cibulkova than the 6-3 6-2 scoreline suggests and shewas relieved with the win. “I just stayed aggressive,” shesaid. “It was my first match here, so it was pretty hot andit wasn’t easy conditions. But I made it through. I’d neverplayed her before, so that’s always a new experience. I’mglad I got the job done.”

Cibulkova faces another tough test, though, againstBelgian Kirsten Flipkens, who fought her way pastCroatian 29th seed Ana Konjuh 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-2.

Agnieszka Radwanska beat China’s Wang Qiang 7-6,6-1 and Caroline Wozniacki comfortably went through 6-1, 6-2 against Varvara Lepchenko.

Sixth-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza wastrounced 6-0 in the first set by American opponentChristina McHale and was down 3-2 on McHale’s serve inthe second when rain began. Play was eventually can-celled for the day and McHale will look to complete theupset today. — AFP

KIB concludes sponsorship of 8th Kuwait Open Tennis tournament

KEY BISCAYNE: Milos Raonic, of Canada, prepares to serve during a tennismatch against Viktor Troicki, of Serbia, at the Miami Open, yesterday in KeyBiscayne, Fla. — AP

Tomic pulls out at Miami with injury


NEW YORK: The NHL may be nearing a dead-line to decide whether to allow the world’sbest hockey players to participate in theWinter Olympics next year in South Korea.

“I hope we can find a compromise in thenext two or three weeks,” International IceHockey Federation President Rene Fasel toldThe Associated Press on Thursday in a tele-phone interview from Russia. “We need toknow by the end of April if they’re coming, ornot.” Fasel said leaders of national teams,including those in Canada and Russia, haverecently told him they need to know nextmonth if it is time for them to assemble theirPlan B rosters. The IIHF is the game’s interna-tional governing body and runs hockey tour-naments, including those at the Olympics.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hasmade it clear league owners don’t want tostop their season for three weeks again and

put their stars at risk of injury without whatthey consider a tangible return. The reluc-tance has come up in the past and yet theNHL has participated in every WinterOlympics since 1998. Four years ago, the dis-cussions weren’t settled until midsummer2013 ahead of the Sochi Games.

This time, however, there seems to be animpasse. After the International OlympicCommittee indicated it did not want to covercosts for travel and insurance expenses to getNHL players to South Korea as it did in thepast, including about $14 million for the 2014Olympics, the IIHF came up with the $10 mil-lion necessary to do it. That, however, doesnot appear to be enough to appease the NHL.The league seems to want more, includingthe rights to put Olympic highlights on its TVnetwork, website and social media platforms.

“In the absence of any material change to

the current status quo, NHL players will not beparticipating in the 2018 Winter Olympics,”NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly wrote inan email to AP. Don Fehr, the head of the NHLPlayers’ Association, said all players in theleague want to participate. He believes theNHL should choose to take advantage of thechance to market the game in Asia, which willhost the next two Winter Olympics.

“Playing in an Olympic games is funda-mentally different than playing in other tour-naments, other hockey events, because it’s anopportunity to play for your country on aglobal stage with fans watching who neverotherwise watch hockey games,” Fehr said.“There’s a patriotic element, too, which play-ers feel and feel very strongly and it’s some-thing we should applaud and be proud of forthem. And to take that opportunity awaywould be most, most unfortunate.” The NHL

has acknowledged it isn’t excited about theprospects of marketing the sport in SouthKorea, but it is very interested in being part ofthe 2022 Olympics in China.

Fasel suggested that might not be anoption. “If they don’t go to Korea, it will be verydifficult for them to go to Beijing,” Fasel said.“The IOC will be in a different position and itwould be a totally different deal on the table forthe NHL. The NHL has more to lose than to winif they don’t come to Pyeongchang. If theydon’t come, they will isolate themselves. Thefans will not be happy and the players won’t behappy and then I would say, ‘Good luck withnegotiations to go to China.’” Even if the NHLdoesn’t set up next season’s schedule with anOlympic break, Washington Capitals and Russiansuperstar Alex Ovechkin has vowed to go to the2018 Olympics and he may not be the only oneto test the league’s stance. — AP

NHL asked for decision on Olympics by end of April

WASHINGTON: T.J. Oshie scored theshootout winner as the Washington Capitalsovercame a stellar performance fromColumbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky tobeat the Blue Jackets 2-1 in the NHL onThursday night. Despite 44 saves fromBobrovsky, the Capitals reached 104 pointsand extended their lead atop theMetropolitan Division and NHL standings.Oshie engendered memories of his SochiOlympic shootout performance by againbeating Bobrovsky, the goalie he scored onfour times in six chances that day. DmitryOrlov finally cracked Bobrovsky early in thethird period on Washington’s 35th shot of thegame. Orlov’s goal tied the score after SethJones beat Braden Holtby on a wild scrambleearly in the third for his first goal since Feb 7.Holtby had 29 saves in regulation and over-time and three more in the shootout to pickup his 38th victory of the season, one shy ofBobrovsky for the league lead.

SENATORS 2, PENGUINS 1Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan scored in the

shootout to lift the Ottawa Senators over thePittsburgh Penguins. Mike Hoffman scored inregulation for the Senators and Mike Condonfinished with 34 saves, including two incredi-ble point-blank stops in overtime to keep thegame going. Nick Bonino had the goal in reg-ulation for the Penguins and Matt Murraystopped 29 shots. After being outplayed formuch of the first two periods, the Senatorswere much better in the third and tied thescore 1-1 on the power play at 9:43 asHoffman beat Murray over the shoulder witha wrist shot just 14 seconds after Matt Cullenwas penalized for holding.

LIGHTNING 6, BRUINS 3Nikita Kucherov had his third career hat

trick to lead Tampa Bay past the BostonBruins, snapping the Lightning’s three-gamelosing streak. Jonathan Drouin had a goaland two assists, Brayden Point had a goal andan assist and Anton Stralman also scored tohelp the Lightning pull three points behindthe Bruins for the second wild card in theEastern Conference. Peter Budaj finished with28 saves for the Lightning to earn his 29thwin of the season. Ondrej Palat had threeassists, and Jake Dotchin and Victor Hedmanadded two each. Riley Nashy had a goal andan assist for Boston, and David Pastrnak andZdeno Chara also scored. Tuukka Raskstopped 23 shots as Boston, which won sev-en of the first eight games under interimcoach Bruce Cassidy, has now lost fourstraight and six of 11.

PANTHERS 3, COYOTES 1Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals

and James Reimer made 22 saves to lift theFlorida Panthers over the Arizona Coyotes.Shawn Thornton also scored a goal as thePanthers snapped a two-game losing streak.The Panthers are seven points behind theBoston Bruins for the final wild-card spot inthe Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.Tobias Rieder scored for Arizona, and MikeSmith stopped 36 shots. The Coyotes lost forthe fourth time in five games.

HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 1Lee Stempniak scored twice and the

Carolina Hurricanes defeated the MontrealCanadiens to extend their point streak to ninegames and keep their playoff hopes alive.Elias Lindholm and Jeff Skinner also scored forthe Hurricanes, while Eddie Lack stopped 21shots. Carolina, undefeated in regulation timein nine straight games (6-0-3), is five pointsout of the final wild-card spot in the EasternConference with 10 regular-season gamesleft. Alex Galchenyuk scored the lone goal forMontreal. Carey Price stopped 19 of 22 shots.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, DEVILS 2Auston Matthews had two assists and

William Nylander had a goal and an assist asthe Toronto Maple Leafs topped the NewJersey Devils for their seventh win in ninegames. Nylander set a franchise rookie markby extending his points streak to 10 games,while equaling another team record for pow-

er-play points with 25. Mitch Marner alsomatched a club rookie record for assists with his40th, setting up James van Riemsdyk’s 23rd ofthe season. Josh Leivo and Connor Brown alsoscored for the Leafs, and Curtis McElhinneymade 30 saves to earn the win. John Moorescored both goals for the Devils, with KeithKinkaid allowing three goals on 29 shots.

LUES 4, CANUCKS 1Magnus Paajarvi scored twice to lead the

St. Louis Blues past the Vancouver Canucks.Kyle Brodziak and Alex Pietrangelo alsoscored for the Blues, who won their fourthstraight to give them nine wins in their last 10.Jake Allen made 27 saves for his seventh winin eight starts while allowing just nine goals inthe stretch. Henrik Sedin scored for theCanucks, who have lost seven of their lasteight to fall to 11-22-3 on the road. RyanMiller stopped 30 shots. Brodziak snapped an11-game goal-scoring drought when heroofed a slap shot by Miller late in the secondperiod for his eighth goal of the season to putthe Blues up 2-1.

PREDATORS 3, FLAMES 1Pekka Rinne made 24 saves to lead the

Nashville Predators over the Calgary Flames. CalleJarnkrok, Colton Sissons and Ryan Ellis scored,and Colin Wilson had two assists for Nashville,which has won five of six. Dougie Hamilton hadthe lone goal for Calgary. After winning 17 of 21,the Flames have lost two straight.

FLYERS 3, WILD 1Matt Read scored the tiebreaking goal in

the second period and Steve Mason stopped24 shots as the Philadelphia Flyers beat theMinnesota Wild. Sean Couturier and JakubVoracek also scored for the Flyers, who wonfor the third time in their last eight games (3-5-0). Zach Parise scored for Minnesota andDevin Dubnyk stopped 24 shots for the Wild,who have lost six of their last seven.

BLACKHAWKS 3, STARS 2, SOPatrick Kane scored his team-leading 33rd

goal in regulation and connected again in theshootout as the Chicago Blackhawks beat theDallas Stars to open an eight-point lead forfirst place in the Central Division. ArtemiPanarin also scored in the shootout as Chicagorode a 42-save effort by Corey Crawfordthrough overtime to improve to 6-0-1 in itslast seven. It was also the Blackhawks’ 18thwin in their last 22 games. Marian Hossascored his 24th goal of the season midwaythrough the third period. Crawford was beat-en only by Tyler Seguin in the shootout andtwice in regulation by Ales Hemsky as herebounded from giving up four goals on 10shots to Vancouver on Tuesday night.

OILERS 7, AVALANCHE 4Drake Caggiula and Jordan Eberle scored

1:10 apart to break a tie late in the third peri-od as the Edmonton Oilers rallied to beat theColorado Avalanche. Eberle scored twice inEdmonton’s five-goal third period and alsoadded an assist. Zack Kassian and LeonDraisaitl also scored in the rally that movedEdmonton into a tie with Anaheim for secondin the Pacific Division with 89 points. AndrejSekera had a goal and two assists, Milan Lucicalso scored and Laurent Brossoit had fivesaves in relief of Cam Talbot to leadEdmonton to the win. Mikko Rantanen hadtwo goals, J.T. Compher and Rene Bourquehad a goal each and Nathan MacKinnon fin-ished with two assists for Colorado.

KINGS 5, JETS 2Drew Doughty, Marian Gaborik and Anze

Kopitar each scored a power-play goal as theLos Angeles Kings kept their slim playoffhopes alive with a win over the Winnipeg Jets.Ben Bishop made 19 saves and TannerPearson and Jake Muzzin also scored for theKings, who trail Nashville for the second wildcard in the Western Conference by eightpoints with nine games to play. Gaborik putthe Kings ahead 2:01 into the third period,and Doughty doubled the lead 1:56 later asLos Angeles emphatically broke out of a 1-for-13 slump with the man advantage. —AP

Capitals beat Blue Jackets in shootout

WASHINGTON: Lukas Sedlak #45 of the Columbus Blue Jackets checks Marcus Johansson#90 of the Washington Capitals during the second period at Verizon Center on Thursdayin Washington, DC. — AFP


DHARAMSALA: India’s Shashank Manohar hasdeferred his resignation as the chairman of theInternational Cricket Council to see through a reformprogramme, the game’s world governing body saidyesterday.

Manohar quit earlier this month in the middle ofan overhaul of the ICC’s governance designed toreduce the power of cricket’s most powerful nations-India, Australia and England. He agreed to withdrawhis resignation temporarily after the ICC board askedhim to see through the restructuring.

“In a significant show of support for Manohar theboard asked him to withdraw his resignation or atthe very least defer it until the ongoing process relat-ing to governance and financial restructuring are

completed,” the ICC said in a statement. Manoharended his two-year stint as ICC chairman just eightmonths into the job after the divisions between thepowerful Indian board and most of the rest of thegame erupted into the open.

India had last month voted against a proposedshake-up of the ICC, fearing a curb of its earningsand clout as a result of the changes to the organisa-tion’s financial and governance structure.

Manohar had argued that the reforms wouldensure “a more equitable distribution of revenues”and greater equality in the game by attaching thesame weight to each member nation’s vote in boardmeetings.

The ICC statement yesterday quoted the 59-year-

old former head of the Indian board as saying it washis duty to ensure a smooth transition.

“I respect the sentiments expressed by the direc-tors and the confidence they have reposed in me,”he said. “In the light of this, and although my deci-sion to depart due to personal reasons has notchanged, I am willing to continue as chairman.”

The Indian cricket board said it had shared its con-cerns over the new financial model with Manoharprior to his resignation. “It is important that the cur-rent issues are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction,”said Vikram Limaye, an administrative member ofthe Board of Control for Cricket in India. “We arecommitted to working with ICC for a satisfactory res-olution of these issues.” —AFP

India’s Manohar to stay on as ICC chairman

CRICKET

DHARAMSALA: Injured Indian skipper Virat Kohli said yester-day he would play the fourth Test against Australia only if hewas 100 percent fit, keeping up the suspense over his participa-tion in the series decider.

Kohli, who injured his shoulder during the drawn third Testin Ranchi, said he would undergo fitness tests before taking afinal call on whether to take the field in the fourth and final Testwhich begins Saturday.

“Obviously if I am 100 percent fit for the game (that) is theonly condition on which I will take the field,” Kohli, 28, said atthe pre-match press conference in Dharamsala.

“The physio can explain better (the risks of playing despitecarrying an injury). I don’t know the magnitude of the risk but allI know is the fitness tests, if I go through them I will take thefield.” On Thursday the Indian team management rushed inuncapped batsman Shreyas Iyer as a cover for Kohli, who hasled India to victory in nine of their last 12 Tests at home.

Kohli has had a disappointing series against Australia, man-aging just 46 runs in the first three Tests of a series between theworld’s top two sides which is tantalisingly poised at 1-1 as itreaches its climax.

Kohli, who batted in the nets Friday, said the full extent of aninjury could only be known in match conditions and that hewould strictly follow the advice of the physiotherapist. “Thoseare the things you need to keep in mind, the physio wants togive it a bit more time till I test myself,” said the right-hander.

“And probably we will take a call on it later tonight or tomor-row (Saturday) so I think we will have to give that much timemore for me to make that call with the physiotherapist.”

‘RAHANE MORE CHILLED OUT’Rival captain Steve Smith said India would still be in very

good hands if Kohli was forced out of action, with AjinkyaRahane having proved his credentials as a stand-in during theRanchi Test.

Kohli was off the field during most of Australia’s first inningsin Ranchi but he did come out to bat at his usual number fourposition and took the field during Australia’s second innings.

“He (Rahane) is probably a bit more chilled out on the field,probably not as emotional but I think he understands the gamereally well,” said Smith. “I have been fortunate enough to play afair bit of cricket with Ajinkya and I think he reads and under-stands the game really well.”

Smith and Kohli have been at loggerheads since the Indianskipper accused his opposite number of systematically abusingthe Decision Review System (DRS) during the second Test inBangalore. Kohli, who has been compared in the Australianpress to US President Donald Trump, has especially come underscrutiny both over his form and his conduct under pressure.

Smith however sought to put the controversies on the backburner, saying the team was focused on playing good cricketover the next five days.

“As I said, it’s an exciting time for this team. For me it’s notabout worrying about the end or the result,” said Smith, asAustralia chase their first Test series win in India in 13 years.

“It’s about focusing on our process and making sure we dothose really well. If we can do again and do it for a little bitlonger than we did it in Ranchi or Bangalore, then hopefully theresult will take care of itself.” — AFP

India’s Kohli in doubt for Australia showdown

West Indies look to revive fortunes against Pakistan

BRIDGETOWN: World champions West Indies will beseeking to erase the recent memory of a pitiful showing inthe United Arab Emirates when they commence a T20International series against Pakistan at Kensington Oval inBarbados tomorrow. With their strife-torn squad obliterat-ed in all three matches at the start of the campaign in theUAE last September, Carlos Brathwaite’s team has theopportunity to make an immediate statement on homesoil against a Pakistan side that has also been inactive as anational unit since those comprehensive triumphs inDubai and Abu Dhabi.

However, a cloud hangs over the visitors in the aftermathof a corruption scandal that emerged during last month’sPakistan Super League with five players, including regularinternationals Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Irfan, prevent-ed from leaving their homeland as investigations continueinto spot-fixing allegations.

Their absence presents an opportunity, either for playersemerging from a period in the wilderness, like opening bats-man Ahmed Shehzad and veteran all-rounder MohammadHafeez, or newcomers like Shadab Khan and Fakhar Zamanto stake their claims to regular international duty.

Sunday’s match is the first of four-a rarity in bilateral T20International series-with the remaining three at the Queen’sPark Oval in Trinidad at the end of the week.

Yet for all the excitement and hype generated by crick-et’s most abbreviated and lucrative format, it is fair to sug-gest that both teams will have a greater level of focus andintensity in the three-match One-day International seriesthat follows in Guyana, especially with the West Indies des-perate to stay in the hunt for an automatic qualifying spotfor the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.

HUMILIATION Trounced 3-0 in their own backyard by the English just

two weeks ago, including a 186-run humiliation atKensington Oval in the final match, the two-time formerWorld Cup winners continue to languish in ninth spot in therankings on 84 points, five behind the Pakistanis, who willwant to ensure they maintain that eighth spot and evenimprove to advance automatically to the World Cup.

Pakistan have already pipped the West Indies for the lastavailable spot at June’s Champions Trophy in England, andalthough the Caribbean side will still have the chance to getto the World Cup via the qualifying tournament inBangladesh next year, failing to qualify as one of the topeight teams will be seen as yet another embarrassment forthe one-time undisputed kings of the game. In what isbelieved will be his final series before bowing out of theinternational game, Misbah ul Haq will then lead Pakistan inthree Tests at the conclusion of the ODI duel as the visitorsseek to make history by winning a Test series in theCaribbean for the first time.

Pakistan briefly reigned at the top of the Test rankingsduring the series against the West Indies in the UAE lastNovember, although defeat to Jason Holder’s men in thefinal Test in Sharjah not only halted their quest for a cleansweep of the entire campaign but triggered a decline withthe Pakistanis being swept in two Tests in New Zealand andthree in Australia. — AFP

DHARMSALA: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama talks with Australian cricket team captain Steven Smith during aninteraction with the team at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India, yesterday. — AP


Portland 110, NY Knicks 95; Dallas 97, LA Clippers 95; SanAntonio 97, Memphis 90; Brooklyn 126, Phoenix 98; Toronto101, Miami 84.

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L PCT GBBoston 46 26 .639 -Toronto 43 29 .597 3NY Knicks 27 45 .375 19Philadelphia 26 45 .366 19.5Brooklyn 15 56 .211 30.5

Central DivisionCleveland 46 24 .657 -Milwaukee 36 35 .507 10.5Indiana 36 35 .507 10.5Chicago 34 38 .472 13Detroit 34 38 .472 13

Southeast DivisionWashington 43 28 .606 -Atlanta 37 34 .521 6Miami 35 37 .486 8.5Charlotte 32 39 .451 11Orlando 26 46 .361 17.5

Western ConferenceNorthwest Division

Utah 44 28 .611 -Oklahoma City 41 30 .577 2.5Denver 34 37 .479 9.5Portland 33 38 .465 10.5Minnesota 28 42 .400 15

Pacific DivisionGolden State 57 14 .803 -LA Clippers 43 30 .589 15Sacramento 27 44 .380 30Phoenix 22 50 .306 35.5LA Lakers 20 51 .282 37

Southwest DivisionSan Antonio 55 16 .775 -Houston 49 22 .690 6Memphis 40 32 .556 15.5Dallas 31 40 .437 24

NBA Results/Standings

DALLAS: Mavericks forward Harrison Barnesburied the go-ahead jumper and made a bigsteal with 3.9 seconds to go to give Dallas a 97-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers onThursday. It was a critical loss for the Clippers,who saw their three-game win streak end andalso saw their chances to take over the No. 4seed in the Western Conference playoff chasediminished. Los Angeles returns home for aSaturday matinee against No. 4 seed Utah, whichholds a 1 1/2-game lead over the Clippers. BlakeGriffin had a chance to regain the lead in the finalseconds, but as he made his move in the paint,Barnes managed to swipe the ball away. TheClippers were afforded one last chance to winwith 0.9 seconds to go, but guard J.J. Redick’sleaning three-point attempt just missed off theback iron.

NETS 126, SUNS 98Brook Lopez scored 12 of his 19 points in the

third quarter as Brooklyn rallied from an early 15-point deficit and pulled away for a rout ofPhoenix. Lopez saw his string of 20-plus-pointgames end at six as he sat out the fourth quarter.His showing helped the Nets win consecutivegames for the first time since home wins over theCleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers on March24 and 26, 2016. Reserve KJ McDaniels added aseason-high 16 points and Jeremy Lin added 13after sitting Tuesday’s win over the DetroitPistons with a sprained right ankle. TrevorBooker contributed 14 while Quincy Acy chippedin 12 as the Nets outscored the Suns 111-68 inthe final 38:08 and received a season-high 81points from reserves.

RAPTORS 101, HEAT 84DeMar DeRozan scored 40 points, and the

Raptors rallied from an early 15-point deficit todefeat the Heat. DeRozan shot 14-of-25 from thefield and made 12 of 13 free throws as Torontowon its fourth straight. In one first-quarterstretch, DeRozan scored 14 consecutive pointsfor a Raptors lineup still without starting pointguard Kyle Lowry, who remains sidelinedbecause of an injury to his right wrist. Miami got16 points and 14 rebounds from HassanWhiteside.

SPURS 97, GRIZZLIES 90LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 23 points and

Kawhi Leonard added 19 as San Antonio finallyfound a way to beat Memphis. With Memphiswithin 92-87 in the final 30 seconds, the Spurs’Tony Parker hit a ringing three-pointer with theshot clock winding down to give San Antonio afinal bit of breathing room. The win was the thirdstraight for the Spurs but just the first in threegames this season against Memphis, which alwaysgives San Antonio fits.

TRAIL BLAZERS 110, KNICKS 95Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined

for 50 points as Portland swept past New Yorkat Moda Center. Lillard scored 30 points andMcCollum added 20 for the Trail Blazers, whowon for the ninth time in 12 outings. JusufNurkic contributed 16 points and 10 reboundsfor Portland. Kristaps Porzingis scored 18points and Courtney Lee chipped in 16 for theKnicks, who have lost seven of their last eightcontests. — Reuters

STOCKHOLM: Sweden stalwartSebastian Larsson may have missed theautumn internationals due to a kneeoperation but there is no end in sightfor the 31-year-old who is back in thesquad aiming to increase his haul of 87caps. With his contract at EnglishPremier League club Sunderland set torun out in June, and a top flight clubhaving relocated to his Swedish hometown of Eskilstuna, talk has been rifethat Larsson was set to either movehome or quit the game entirely.However, the midfielder has no plans toend his career and is set to continueplaying for the foreseeable future.“Honestly, I don’t see the end of mycareer any time soon and I hope to playon for another few years,” he toldReuters following a training session inthe Swedish capital ahead of the WorldCup qualifier against Belarus today.

“I feel motivated and hungry, butwhere that will be we’ll have to wait andsee. I’m not too stressed about it.

“You’ve got to keep your optionsopen. I’ve loved England throughoutmy career. The Premier League hasbeen great for me. Obviously, Iwouldn’t be against playing in England,but you have to keep your optionsopen. “I’ll have a look in the summer,see what’s available and make a deci-sion from there.”

Larsson was his usual industrious selfat Euro 2016, appearing in all threegroup games, but could not preventSweden finishing bottom of the sectionwith one point.

But unlike other senior squad mem-bers, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, KimKallstrom and Andreas Isaksson, hechose not to hang up his internationalboots after Sweden’s early exit.

With coach Erik Hamren having beenreplaced by Jan Andersson, Larsson isadapting to a new way of working buthe won’t be quitting the national teamany time soon.

“I haven’t been here long enough tonotice any changes yet, as the days goby I’m sure there will be,” he said. “Eachmanager has his own way of doingthings, so I’ll just have to try to pick it usas I go along.”

FATHER FIGUREHe returns to a team who are third in

World Cup qualifying Group A with sev-en points from four games, three offleaders France and behind second-placed Netherlands on goal difference.After playing Belarus, who are fifth withtwo points, Sweden face Europeanchampions Portugal in a friendly nextTuesday,

Larsson is the second-oldest playerin the squad and smiles at the sugges-tion he is a father figure for the youngerplayers. “I don’t see myself as the grand-dad just yet, so we’ll have to see howwe go. Obviously, I’ve got a lot of expe-rience and I have to use that to help theyounger lads when that is needed,” hesaid. Having spent the best part of sixyears at Sunderland, who are againinvolved in a relegation battle, the inter-national break provides Larsson with achance to get away from the pressure oftheir struggle at the bottom of thetable. —Reuters

Sweden veteran Larsson has no plans to retireSOCCER

DALLAS: Dallas Mavericks guard Seth Curry (30) goes up for a shot between Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan (6) and Austin Rivers, right,in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Thursday. Curry scored 23 points in the 97-95 Mavericks win. — AP

BASKETBALL

Barnes’ late basket steal put Mavs past Clippers


DOHA: An angry Carlos Queiroz accusedQatar’s coaching staff of verbally abusing hismother following an explosive end to Iran’s1-0 World Cup qualifier win in Doha onThursday. The Portuguese coach said mem-bers of the Qatar bench made rude remarksin Spanish about his mother and accused hisopponents of “a lack of ethics” throughoutthe match. “Two staff insulted me inSpanish, I can’t understand it,” he said.

Asked to clarify, he said they had madeoffensive remarks about his mother. “Peopledon’t have the right to spend the gameinsulting and offending other people,” saidQueiroz. “I have never seen this in my life

before,” said the former Real Madrid coach.He added: “One thing I am sure, the coach-ing staff is not at the level of the Qatarnational team. “The Qatar national teamdeserves much better.”

He said Qatar’s antics were “embarrass-ing”. Queiroz also accused the oppositebench of trying to influence the refereethroughout the game, which saw Iran take agiant step towards qualification for theWorld Cup in Russia next year while Qatar’shopes virtually vanished. The two benchesclashed at the end of the match, confrontingeach other and Queiroz was booed from thepitch by home fans. That bad-tempered

ending came after tensions had simmeredbetween the coaching staff prior to the cru-cial qualifier.

Before the match, Qatar’s coach JorgeFossati said he was upset by remarks attrib-uted to Queiroz about the number of for-eign-born players in the squad.

The remarks were allegedly made whenthe teams met in Tehran last Septemberwhen Iran secured a 2-0 victory with goals inthe 94th and 96th minutes.

That match too ended with angry clashesafter the final whistle between players andofficials. Queiroz however denied makingthe remarks. In response to the accusations

of abuse, Fossati said he did not believeQueiroz and accused the Portuguese coachof being a “Hollywood artist”.

Talking about the remarks over natu-ralised players, he said Queiroz had accusedthe media of being “liars”.

“If he doesn’t take responsibility for whathe said (about naturalised players), how canwe believe what he says?”

“Mr Queiroz is a good artist,” Fossati toldreporters. He added that Queiroz had notraised the issue when the pair had metimmediately after the final whistle. “He isnot the kind of man that I l ike,” addedFossati. — AFP

Qatar coaches verbally abused my mother: Queiroz

GENEVA: Swiss head coach Vladimir Petkovic, speaks to his players during a training session of Switzerland’s squad atthe stade de Geneve stadium, in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday. Switzerland will play Latvia today, for a 2018 WorldCup group B qualification soccer match. —AP

SOCCER

As World Cup 2018 hope fades, Euro turn to Nations League

GENEVA: For European teams fadingout of the 2018 World Cup picture, anew opportunity opens if they lose theirqualifying match this weekend.

Meet the Nations League. The com-plex format created by UEFA to replacemost unloved national team friendlieskicks off in 18 months’ time.

By tomorrow night, for teams withslim-to-none World Cup hopes, theirnext meaningful match with qualifica-tion at stake might be their NationsLeague debut.

It offers a second-chance path tomajor tournaments - the 2020 EuropeanChampionship for sure and, UEFAintends, the 2022 World Cup - for teamswhich have not been in in a generation,or ever. For teams failing to finish in thetop two of a traditional Euro 2020 quali-fying group, a subsequent playoff roundis based on Nations League standings. Itwill send at least one of UEFA’s lowest-ranked teams to the 24-team tourna-ment. For fans of Norway and Scotland,Armenia and Kazakhstan, it’s almosttime to learn to love the Nations League:

WHY CREATE THE NATIONS LEAGUE?“The friendlies really don’t interest

anybody, neither the audience at large,neither the journalists nor the players,”UEFA’s then-president Michel Platini

said in launching the competition inMarch 2014. Top-ranked teams wantedgames against each other, middle-ranked teams wanted winnable compet-itive games, low-ranked teams wantedhope of playing at tournaments.

Norway helped draft the NationsLeague plan. Its most recent tourna-ments were Euro 2020 and the 1998World Cup, where it played Scotland,also enduring a two-decade tournamentdrought. Tomorrow, Norway andScotland are fifth-place teams in WorldCup qualifying groups facing anotherearly exit if they lose against second-place opponents, Northern Ireland andSlovenia, respectively. “The whole land-scape of football has changed since(1998),” said Scotland federation presi-dent Alan McRae, who was at the 1-1draw with Norway in Bordeaux 19 yearsago. “(The Nations League) is veryimportant for the smaller nations.”

WHAT IS THE NATIONS LEAGUE?A new competition for all 55 UEFA

members with three parts. A groupstage from September

November 2018; Final Four mini-tournament in June 2019 for high-ranked teams; playoffs in March 2020 tofill the last four Euro 2020 qualifyingplaces. The group stage is the compli-

cated bit. League A has the 12 top-ranked teams playing in three-teamgroups. Group winners advance to theFinal Four at a venue to be decided. Thatwill crown the Nations League champi-on. League B is another 12-team tier forteams ranked Nos. 13-24. Group winnersare promoted to League A in the nextNations League groups two years later.Last-place teams are relegated toLeague C. League C is for 15 teamsranked Nos. 25-39, also with promotionand relegation. League D is for the 16lowest-ranked teams, and group win-ners are promoted.

WHAT HAPPENS TO EURO 2020 QUALIFYING?

It starts late in March 2019 andgroup-stage games are completed thatyear.

The draw - with five groups of fiveteams and five six-team groups - is influ-enced by Nations League results. Teamsset to play in the Final Four are placed ina five-team Euro 2020 qualifying group.With fewer matches, their schedule isclear for the June 2019 mini-tourna-ment.

The top two teams in each group willfill 20 places at Euro 2020, being playedin 13 different countries with no auto-matic entries for hosts.—AP

BARRANQUILLA: Real Madrid star James Rodriguez bundledin the rebound from a late penalty as Colombia defeatedBolivia 1-0 on Thursday to boost their 2018 World Cup qualifi-cation campaign. Rodriguez rammed home his finish at thesecond attempt after Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe hadsaved the playmaker’s spotkick on 83 minutes.

The goal gave Colombia a precious three points andmoved them up into fourth spot in the South American stand-ings ahead of other matches being played Thursday, with 21points from 13 games. Until Rodriguez’s late winner, it lookedas if Bolivia had done enough to earn a point, defending indepth and frustrating the hosts at every turn.

The Colombians almost opened the scoring after eightminutes when Pablo Armero’s cross into the area was met bySampdoria striker Luis Muriel, who clipped his left-foot shotagainst the bar.

Mateus Uribe rattled Bolivian nerves next after 17 minutes,shooting low after a deft layoff from MacNelly Torres only tosee his effort parried and gathered by Lampe.

Colombia were forced into a reshuffle just after the half-hour mark when Muriel limped off with what looked like aninjury to his right hamstring.

Rodriguez threatened to open the scoring on 34 minutesbut Cristian Coimbra did just enough with his covering tackleto throw the Real Madrid star off balance and his shot wentwide. Rodriguez almost created an opening for JuanCuadrado on the stroke of half-time but his chip into the boxwas directed just wide by the Juventus winger.

Colombia cranked up the pressure in the second half andcarved out a series of good chances in quick succession whichbegan when Carlos Bacca’s header was turned around thepost by Lampe in the 63rd minute.

Centre-back Yerry Mina crashed a thumping header off theunderside of the bar from the ensuing corner and Torres thensent a low shot from just outside the area skidding wide of thepost. Bolivia continued to ride their luck and Coimbra was for-tunate not to concede a penalty for handball as the minuteswound down. But Bolivia’s luck ran out when Coimbrabrought down Cuadrado, allowing Rodriguez to score fromthe spot at the second attempt. —AFP

Rodriguez atthe double as

Bolivia pay penalty

BARRANQUILLA: Bolivia’s defenders Ronald Raldes (2nd-R), Mario Cuellar (2nd-L) and Cristian Coimbra (L) vie forthe ball with Colombia’s midfielder James Rodriguez (R)during their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier football matchin Barranquilla, on Thursday. — AFP

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SAO PAULO: Brazil was not intimidated bymore than 60,000 raucous fans at the EstadioCentenario in Montevideo, beating second-place Uruguay 4-1 in South America’s WorldCup qualifying group to retain the lead in thestandings after 13 matches. MidfielderPaulinho scored a surprising hat trick, withBarcelona star Neymar adding another, to keeptheir team firmly on course for football’s mainevent in Russia next year.

Brazil is still to lose a point under coach Tite,who took over in September and secured onThursday his seventh straight win in the SouthAmerican qualifiers. Now the five-time WorldCup champions total 30 points, seven morethan Uruguay and 10 above the lowest placethat could guarantee a berth in the next WorldCup. With five games to play, Brazil could quali-fy next Tuesday with victory over Paraguay ifEcuador and Chile fail to win their games.

Argentina beat Chile 1-0 thanks to a penaltyscored by Lionel Messi and managed to stay inthe chase for a spot in the tournament, goingthird with 22 points. Chile is in sixth, outsidethe qualification zone. Fourth-place Colombia

also needed a penalty to score a 1-0 home vic-tory against Bolivia. Elsewhere, seventh-placeParaguay beat fifth-place Ecuador 2-1 and bot-tom team Venezuela drew 2-2 with eighth-place Peru.

BRAZILFor the first time since September, a team

scored against Brazil. A blunder by defenderMarcelo led goalkeeper Alisson to foul strikerEdinson Cavani only 7 minutes after kick off.That allowed the Uruguayan to score his ninthgoal in South American qualifiers, more thanany other player.

It was the first time coach Tite saw his teamtrail, and that happened against a team thathad won all six home games.

Ten minutes later midfielder Paulinho lev-eled the game with a blast from the edge ofthe box into goalkeeper Martin Silva’s left cor-ner. Scores remained level at halftime, butBrazil’s dominance was evident. At 52 minutes,Paulinho scored again to put the visitors infront. The Estadio Centenario went silent.

Uruguay stepped up the pressure to level,

but Brazil was countering dangerously. On 74minutes, Neymar’s genius appeared. Afterdefender Miranda cleared the ball from hisbox, the Barcelona star beat Uruguayan Coatesin a quick race and lobbed Silva to make it 3-1and score his first goal against Uruguay. Bythen the Montevideo stadium, which hostedthe 1930 World Cup final, sounded more likethe Maracana in Rio, with only Brazilian voicesbeing heard.

But that was not all. At 92 minutes, afterBrazil wasted a series of other opportunities,Paulinho completed his hat-trick with his chest,after a cross from the right from Dani Alves.“Not in my wildest dreams I expected some-thing like this,” the Guangzhou Evergrandemidfielder said after the match.

Asked about the historic performance,coach Tite said it was “more than the expect-ed.” “I was happy about the 90 minutes ... ourcapacity to absorb a goal against us and keep

playing based on one idea. Our team is veryself-aware that it has to triangulate. We didmore than controlling the match, we weredominant,” he said in a post-match press con-

ference. Uruguay resented the absence of sus-pended targetman Luis Suarez, while Brazilmissed teenage sensation Gabriel Jesus, whohas a broken toe. Brazil will miss defender DaniAlves in the clash against Paraguay on Tuesdayin Sao Paulo the match that will likely secure itsspot in the next World Cup. Uruguay will travelto face Peru.

ARGENTINAMessi’s goal at 16 minutes gave Argentina a

valuable victory, putting Edgardo Bauza’s sideonce again in the qualification zone. TheChileans complained about the penalty deci-sion, but failed to take advantage of anunimaginative Argentine team that managedto get few opportunities to score at theMonumental de Nunez in Buenos Aires.

The result takes pressure off Argentina, ateam whose players have refused to talk to themedia because of criticism they have enduredover recent games. Bauza had to speak somewords, but they were not too encouraging forthe team’s future. “What matters is that wewon,” the coach said. —AP

Brazil destroys Uruguay, Argentina survives

SportsSports

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi (2nd-R) vies for the ball with Chile’s midfielder Charles Aranguiz (C) during their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier football match at theMonumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Thursday. — AFP

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