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THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com emergency number 112

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017 / ZUL-QAADAH 5-6, 1438 AH

NO. 16529

44 PAGES

150 FILS

Kuwait condemns Israel’s practices in Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa

Qatar hires for DC ‘pull’ DUBAI, UAE, July 27, (Agencies): Qatar has hired a Washington influence firm founded by former top campaign aides to US President Donald Trump and another specialized in digging up dirt on US politicians, signaling it wants to challenge Saudi Arabia’s massive lobbying efforts in America’s capital amid a diplomatic dispute among Arab nations. Hiring a firm once associated with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who left it in May over a dispute with his partners, shows Qatar wants access to a White

A fresco of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah was inaugurated in a commercial mall in Qatar in appreciation of his tremendous efforts to solve the Gulf rift and maintain the GCC system, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Newswatch

Kuwait revokes Kout’s ‘license’ over terror ties KUWAIT CITY, July 27, (AP): Kuwait has shuttered a private Shiite satellite television channel, saying one of its owners was involved in a terror group linked with Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The official Kuwait News Agency reported on Thursday that Al Kout TV’s broadcast licenses were revoked. The agency says one of the station’s owners, Bassel Dashti, was sentenced to five years earlier this month on charges of “contributing to bringing weapons and receiving illegal training.” A criminal and an appeals court had found Dashti not guilty but Kuwait’s supreme court overturned those rulings and handed down the five-year sentence. He remains at large. The group that Dashti was allegedly involved in was known as the al-Abdali cell and included 26 people. Kuwait in August 2015 announced it broke up the group. ❑ ❑ ❑

ZURICH: FIFA has fined Qatar’s soccer federation after national team players breached rules against political statements by displaying T-shirts of the country’s Amir at a World Cup qualifier. FIFA says its disciplinary panel imposed a 50,000 Swiss francs ($51,800) fine and reprimanded Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host. The incident happened in Doha on June 13, amid a dispute with regional rivals Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s top court has upheld the death sentences of 14 men convicted of armed attacks, all of them from the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s Shi’ite Muslim minority, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. The Arabic-language Okaz newspaper also reported that another appeals court upheld the death sentences of 15 people convicted of spying for Iran. Spokesmen for the justice ministry and the Supreme Court could not immediately be reached for a comment. The court has the final say on rulings from appeal courts. Death sentences must also be ratified by King Salman. (RTRS) Continued on Page 9

House with close ties to Saudi Arabia. The firm retains Barry Bennett, a Trump campaign adviser, as well as others with ties to the president. But matching Saudi Arabia, which scored a diplomatic coup by hosting Trump’s first overseas trip, could be a tough battle for Qatar, even if it does boast the world’s highest per-capita income due to its natural gas deposits. “The Qataris are belatedly working up to the scale of the challenge they face,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the

US$/KD 0.30180/90



Euro/KD 0.3526



Yen/KD 0.0027



British £/KD 0.3951

WASHINGTON, July 27, (Agencies): The Trump administration is pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites in a bid to test the strength of the nuclear deal that President Donald Trump desperately wants to cancel, senior US officials said. The inspections are one element of what is designed to be a more aggressive approach to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. While the Trump administration seeks to police the existing deal more strictly, it is also working to fix what Trump’s aides have called “serious flaws” in the landmark deal that — if not resolved quickly — will likely lead Trump to pull out. That effort also includes discussions with European countries to negotiate a follow-up agreement to prevent Iran from resuming nuclear development after the deal’s restrictions expire in about a decade, the officials said. The officials weren’t authorized to discuss the efforts publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The inspections requests, which Iran would likely resist, could play heavily into Trump’s much-anticipated decision about whether to stick with the deal he’s long derided. If Iran refuses inspections, the argument goes, Trump finally will have a solid basis to say Iran is breaching the deal, setting up Tehran to take most of the blame if the agreement collapses. If Iran agrees to inspections, those in Trump’s administration who want to preserve the deal will be emboldened to argue it’s advancing US national security effectively. The campaign gained fresh urgency this month following a dramatic clash within the administration about whether to certify Iran’s compliance, as is required every 90 days.

Photo by Bassam Abu Shanab

The 29th Pearl Diving Trip kicked off Thursday at the Kuwait Marine Sports Club under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah. Under the motto ‘One Gulf, One Fate’, a total of 200 youngsters sailed off onboard 13 ships. — See Page 2

Charlie Gard to hospice LONDON, July 27, (AP): A British judge ordered Thursday that critically ill infant Charlie Gard should be moved from a hospital to a hospice, where he will “inevitably” die within a short time. Judge Nicholas Francis made the order after Charlie’s parents and the hospital treating him failed to meet a deadline to agree on an end-of-life care plan that could have seen the baby kept alive for several more days. The judge said that meant 11-month-old Charlie, who has a rare genetic disease called mitochondrial depletion syndrome, should now be transferred to a hospice and have the ventilator that keeps him alive removed. The judge said that “will inevitably result in Charlie’s death within a short period of time thereafter.” Yates He barred identification of the hospice or any of the medical staff treating Charlie, and ordered that there should be no reporting of when Charlie is moved. Charlie has brain damage and is unable to breathe or move his limbs unaided. His parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, spent months trying to persuade London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital to let Charlie go to the United States for an experimental treatment they believed could help him. Charlie’s doctors opposed the idea, saying it would not help and could cause Charlie more suffering. British courts and the European Court of Human Rights all sided with the hospital in its bid to remove life support and allow Charlie to die naturally.

▼ FTSE -9.31 pts at closing July 27 ▲ Nikkei +29.48 pts at closing July 27

3-month $ LIBOR rate 1.31389%

LAS VEGAS, July 27, (Agencies): Hackers believed to be working for the Iranian government have impersonated a young female photographer on social media for more than a year, luring men working in industries strategically important to Tehran’s regional adversaries, according to research published Thursday. The so-called Mia Ash persona has been active on sites including LinkedIn, Facebook Inc, WhatsApp and Blogger since at least April of last year, researchers at Dell SecureWorks said. The campaign showed Iran engaged in a social engineering plot to ensnare its targets with a “honey pot”, a classic espionage trap often involving seduction, more commonly used by criminal hackers. Dell SecureWorks observed Mia Ash sending specific malware, concealed as a “photography survey” with an attachment, to a victim that matched malware sent by Iranian hacking group Cobalt Gypsy during an unsuccessful “spearphishing” email attempt to the same victim’s employer in January. The malware, known as PupyRAT, would give an attacker complete control of a compromised computer and access to network credentials, suggesting government espionage. The researchers did not have visibility into how many targets were compromised or what Mia Ash sought to gain with the access. The fake profile used publicly available social media images of a real photographer based in eastern Europe to create an identity of an attractive woman in her mid-twenties who lived in London and enjoyed travel, soccer, and popular musicians including Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding, Dell SecureWorks Continued on Page 9

Almost half of Raqqa liberated: monitors

▲ Nasdaq +0.93 pts at 20:20 July 27

Brent crude $51.54 per barrel

Honey-pot hackers sourced to Tehran

Putin signs Syria base deal

See Page 36



Asia’s Nobel

Continued on Page 9

▲ Dow +48.85 pts at 20:20 July 27

NYMEX crude $49.16 per barrel

Continued on Page 9

Allies key

See Page 35



RIYADH, July 27, (Agencies): Kuwait signed a funding deal for two water projects at a hospital and a camp for the internally-displaced with Yemeni local authorities in Al-Jawf province on Thursday. The project, dubbed ‘Kuwait is by your side’, is part of a philanthropic relief campaign in the province, located to the northeast of Sana’a, its coordinator Saleh Baqalaqa said. For his part, Yemeni Chairman of the Relief Committee in the province and Director of the governor’s office in Al-Jawf Abdullah Al-Hashidi

Inspection push to test N-deal

▼ KSE -40.45 pts at closing July 27

▲ Gold $1,261.10 per oz (London)

Continued on Page 9

Kuwait funds two Yemen water projects amid cholera outbreak

IRAN SAT-LAUNCH ROCKET ‘SUCCESSFUL’

Continued on Page 9



Continued on Page 9

thanked Kuwait, led by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, for financing relief projects in the province. The Kuwaiti campaign is dispersing emergency relief in Yemen through five sectors, including food, water, education, shelter and healthcare. The Kuwaiti-Yemeni relief organization includes a number of Yemeni and Kuwaiti associations aiming to deliver the assistance to Yemen.

KUWAIT CITY, July 27, (KUNA): The State of Kuwait on Thursday “strongly” condemned the escalating Israeli practices against the Palestinians in Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) and Al-Aqsa Mosque, urging the Israeli authorities to fully reopen the mosque. In a statement, an official at the Foreign Ministry called for removing all restrictions that prevent Muslims from conducting their rituals smoothly and in quietude, and to let them practise their legitimate right in performing prayers, as well as respecting the status quo and all the relevant conventions and charters, refraining from further provocation of Muslims’

KUNA photo

Photo shows Thelma Kouzes, ‘Mom’ of Kuwaiti students, turns 100 years old. Between 1960 and 2004, she and her late husband Tom Kouzes hosted 174 international students from 34 different countries, many from Kuwait and the rest of the Middle East. — See Page 2

RAQQA, Syria, July 27, (Agencies): US-backed Syrian fighters have captured almost half of the Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Raqqa, but the push into the city in northern Syria has slowed due to stiff resistance and large amounts of explosives planted by the extremists, a spokeswoman for the fighters and monitors said Thursday. The assault on Raqqa by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led fighting coalition, began June 6, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes and US troops advising the local forces. Since then, the SDF has made steady advances from the eastern and western sides of the city, reaching the walled old quarter. The fall of Raqqa, IS’ self-proclaimed capital, would be a huge loss for the extremist group, which earlier this month lost the Iraqi city of Mosul. Nisreen Abdullah, the Kurdish spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that the pace of the advance into Raqqa has slowed because of massive amounts of explosives laid by IS fighters. As the extremists become more surrounded, they have increased their suicide attacks against fighters of the

SDF, she added. “Raqqa has become a booby-trapped city and this shows their (IS’) weakness,” said Abdullah, of the Women’s Protection Units or YPJ, speaking from northern Syria. “They are also using civilians as human shields and this is slowing the push as well.” She said the Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes the Kurdish YPJ women fighters, now controls 45 percent of Raqqa. She added that since the offensive began, SDF fighters have fully captured eight neighborhoods. Plumes of smoke could be seen behind buildings in Raqqa a day earlier as the coalition pounded IS targets in the city. Syrian children looked on as US armored vehicles drove by. One American soldier on a vehicle made the victory sign. Mustafa Bali, who heads the SDF media center, confirmed on Thursday that the group now has half of Raqqa and said the most important areas liberated in the past four days were the Nazlet Shehadeh and Panorama Square neighborhoods — both on the southwestern part of the city. Continued on Page 9

‘Magsaysay’ 6 announced MANILA, Philippines, July 27, (AP): A Japanese historian who helped Cambodians preserve the Angkor temples and a Sri Lankan teacher who counseled war widows and orphans to overcome their nightmares are among the six winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize. The other recipients named Thursday are an Indonesian working for the return of large tracts of forest land to indigenous communities, a Singaporean who leads the cooking of 6,000 meals a day for the destitute, a Philippine theater group which stood up to a dictatorship and a Filipino who oversaw the opening of job-generating export processing zones. The awards, named after a Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash, are to be presented in Manila on Aug 31. The winners were unafraid to take on large causes and “refused to give up, despite meager resources, daunting adversity and strong opposition,” said Carmencita Abella, president of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. “Their approaches are all deeply anchored on a respect for human dignity and a faith in the power of collective endeavor.” Yoshiaki Ishizawa, a 79-yearold scholar of Southeast Asian history who has served as president of Japan’s Sophia University, devoted 50 years of his life to help preserve Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, a 162-hectare (400acre) temple, from the ravages of time and conflict, according to the foundation. Conservation work at Angkor Wat was suspended for years under the Khmer Rouge. When the ultra-communist group fell from power in 1979, violence had decimated the pool of Cambodian conservationists. Ishizawa led an effort in Japan and Cambodia to save the temple, putting Cambodians at the center of the effort, Continued on Page 9

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

LOCAL

2

Photos by Bassam Abu Shanab and KUNA

Left: Some of the pearl divers before boarding the ships, and (right) boats set for the pearl diving trip.

13 ships with 200 divers set sail ‘Dasha’ ceremonies held under the auspices of HH Amir KUWAIT CITY, July 27, (KUNA): The traditional “Dasha” ceremonies of the 29th Pearl Diving Trip, meaning the start of journey and farewell of families, took place Thursday in Kuwait Marine Sports Club under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah. Under the motto “One Gulf, one fate”, a total of 200 youngsters sailed off on board of 13 ships, four of them offered by His Highness the Amir, and the other nine offered by late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Above: Some more photos from the start of the 29th Pearl Diving Trip.

Choosing this motto for the trip reflects the deep-rooted relations among Gulf nations, and comes in support of His Highness the Amir efforts in mending rifts, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Mohammad AlFares said in a speech. On his part, Board Chairman of the Kuwaiti Marine Sports Club Major General Fahad Al-Fahad said that the club has always been keen in relating the diving trips to historic relations among Gulf countries. The seventh diving trip organized by the club back in 1995 was held as part of the first GCC maritime festival, he said. Kuwait Marine Sports Club started organizing the pearl diving trips in 1986, as the first trip was launched with five ships offered by the Ministry of Information. Later, late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah offered seven newly-built ships to the club to encourage the youth to take part in such trips, as they revive the memories of ancestors’ sacrifices toiled to offer a proper living to their families.

Young pearl divers before the start of the 29th Pearl Diving Trip.

American host-mother of Kuwaiti students turns 100 WASHINGTON, July 27, (KUNA): Thelma Kouzes, more commonly called “Mom,” celebrated her 100th birthday on Wednesday with many gathering to reflect on her numerous achievements and fondest memories, including when she hosted Kuwaiti students. Between 1960 and 2004, she and her late husband Tom Kouzes hosted 174 international students from 34 different countries, many from Kuwait and the rest of the Middle East. A former student from Kuwait, who stayed with Kouzes along with her brother, Sundus Al-Sharraf, knew “Mom” since she was born. “We would come and visit throughout our lives then during the war we came here and went to school,” said Al-Sharraf. “She’s very caring and helped us do our homework and reports. She would be there to drop me at the metro and go to school.” She continued, “I was always in touch with ‘Mom’ because she did a lot for us as a family. She helped us and supported us.” Kouzes herself was once treated with a gift to travel to Kuwait. She said she was “treated like royalty.” Today, she still has very fond memories of the country and her Kuwaiti students. At her 100th birthday celebrations, she was presented with a document that was entered into the US congressional record by US House member Gerry Connolly. Connolly’s wife, Cathy, read the note, which listed her list of lifelong accomplishments, including working for President Theodore Roosevelt, marching alongside Martin Luther King for civil rights, and commitment to international students by being elected a national mother. Kouzes was born in 1917 in Iowa and proudly says she is a first-generation

KUNA photo

Thelma Kouzes, ‘Mom’ of Kuwaiti students turns 100.

American, the daughter of immigrants whose parents came to the US from Denmark. After growing up during the Great Depression, she moved to Washington DC in 1938 to work for Roosevelt. She became interested in civil rights after attending a racially-segregated religious service. She was an active member of the American Field Service, UNICEF, the UN, and the American Cancer Society. She also helped to save the public schools in Virginia during desegregation and racial integration along with other mothers in Northern Virginia. She birthed two sons, has three grandchildren, and one great grandson. When asked if she had any words of wisdom Kouzes responded, “I have thousands of them.”

News in Brief PAHW denies rumors on Tunisia visit: A reliable source from Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) denied the rumors that a Kuwaiti delegation representing PAHW is planning to head to Tunisia soon, reports Al-Anba daily. The source affirmed that there is no plan to visit the state in the African continent currently or in the next few months. He stressed that the achievements realized by PAHW in the last three years are clear and obvious to citizens as well as the executive and legislative authorities. ❑ ❑ ❑ Al-Shuaibi to participate in ‘Super Cute’: Kuwaiti actress Haya Al-Shuaibi will travel to Saudi Arabia on July 29 to participate in an all-women drama titled “Super Cute” which will be performed in Al-Moftaha Theater in Abha City. This will be part of the 3rd International Comedy Festival which is due to kickoff on July 28, reports Al-Shahed daily. She expressed her joy in taking part in the festival for the second time. The drama will include actresses Alaa Al-Hindi from Kuwait, Mai Kassab from Egypt, and Mermen Mohsen, Hind Mohammad and Sara Al-Yousef from Saudi Arabia. The drama was written by Sultan Al-Laheebi and targets only female audience as well as children including boys of ages below seven years. Al-Shuaibi explained that the drama focuses on the reality of women sports in the Gulf region as well as the problems women face in practicing sports and exercising to maintain their fitness levels. ❑ ❑ ❑ Kuwaiti singers to take part in ‘Abha Tarabyat’: A number of Kuwaiti singers will participate in the first edition of ‘Abha Tarabyat’ — a musical which will be launched on Aug 1, reports Al-Shahid daily. General Supervisor and Director of Abha Tarabyat Fatees Baqnah revealed the musical is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia and the entire Gulf region.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

LOCAL

3

Al-Shall Report

Call to focus on causes and locations of traffic accidents

Deficit of 3 financial years seen at KD 18-20 bn resources to the service of declared goals of development to create enough jobs. We will not argue too much about whether the target is to turn into a commercial, oil or financial center. We mean we should find alternative uses to crude oil. With these choices comes the promotion of business, medical and education tourism as complementary goals.

Public Finance Deficit and General Reserves Withdrawals Every now and then, financial and economic issues are brought, and we share an opinion about them as much knowledge we have about which might not be enough, and even if it was enough, we might mistake the diligence. That is fine because our purpose has always been to encourage interaction, promote transparency, intensify public debate on such issues, and then try to steer debate towards top priorities instead of addressing some details that are not equally important to those. One of those hot issues at present is declared withdrawals from the general reserve estimated at KD 28.575 billion as raised by some deputies at the “National Assembly”, “Al-Qabas” newspaper and the “Kuwaiti Economic Society,” and many others, which is a worthy effort that deserves appreciation. On our opinion - conscientiousness we believe that it is more important to contain this if it was presented precisely by the authorized bodies and its future projections remain the most important, more than just the figure and its interpretation which is consistent with laws and governing accounting rules of the Kuwaiti public finance, albeit weak. says AlShall Economic Report prepared by Al-Shall Consulting Co headed by Jassem Al-Saadoun. According to the Ministry of Finance spokesman, and the Ministry’s response is a commendable development, the amount is not entirely to pay the budget deficit because such deficit was only for two fiscal years 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 out of the three years. It was covered by withdrawing KD 10.808 billion in two installments from the general reserve. The amount is equivalent to 38% only of the above amount. If we consider the actuary deficit in the Social Security Institution as financial deficit, an additional amount of KD 1.413 billion shall be added to the said deficit transferred from the general reserve to cover it, making withdrawals to cover the financial and actuary deficits about KD 12.221 billion, or about 43% of said withdrawals from the general reserve. Most of the remainder, about KD 15.548 billion, was, according to the Ministry’s statement, an accounting entry imposed by law to transfer the general revenues surplus to future generations reserve, which is just transfer of funds from one fund to another and has nothing to do with the deficit. The Ministry spokesman’s figures are inaccurate such that if we add all figures mentioned in the statement, the total number will be KD 27.769 billion, which is less by about KD 0.806 billion than the controversial issue of KD 28.575 billion. This matter needs clarification or/and detail. Last Thursday, “AlQabas Newspaper” has published three complementary numbers, the first is an adjustment adding KD 195 million to the transferred reserve future generations reserve to be KD 15.743 billion instead of KD 15.548 billion as reported by the official Ministry spokesman’s statement. Second number is KD 253 million as repayment of “Kuwait Airways” losses. And the third is KD 358 million transferred to the Ministry of Defense and should have been already mentioned within the statement. The second observation is that the total transferred amount to the future generations reserve for the three fiscal years 2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, was KD 15.548 billion according to the Ministry of Finance statement, and became now KD 15.743 billion. But the figure is much higher than what is required by law which provides for transferring 25% of total public revenue to the future generations reserve in the fiscal year 2014/2015, or about KD 6.2 billion, according to total revenues in the final account. The percentage was adjusted to be 10%, KD 1.4 billion, in the subsequent two fiscal years for the fiscal year 2015/2016, and about KD 1.4 billion also for the fiscal year 2016/2017. This means that the transferred amount to the future generations reserve for the three fiscal years is supposed to be about KD 9 billion while the transferred amount according to the Assistant Undersecretary of Finance is KD 15.743 billion. A positive difference of about KD 6.743 billion and the transferred was extra, which is a good thing, but it needs explanation because it is not consistent with the provision of the law and its source is unknown unless it includes the investment income which is not usually transferred to the general reserve. The third observation is that withdrawals from the general reserve in each fiscal year differ substantially in their values between the contents of the two Ministry of Finance officials: the early statement of the Minister and what came later by the Assistant Undersecretary, the Ministry Spokesman. Which of the two

Photo by Bassam Abo Shanab

File photo shows traders on Boursa Kuwait floor. Thursday’s trading ends mixed. – See Page 35

is the correct one, the former or the subsequent one? We are inclined more to the latest statement. On the other hand, what remains more important than all the foregoing is that the public deficit has become increasingly real. It scored KD 5.071 billion in the financial year 2015/2016 and became KD 5.737 billion in the fiscal year 2016/2017 (KD 5.9 billion from the final account); it will range between KD 6-8 billion in the FY 2017/2018. If we add the actuary deficit, especially after the tampering with the social security system by populist decrees and resolutions. That means that the deficit of only three financial years will be around KD 18-20 billion, and will increase over time. The debate and controversy should focus on the need to adopt preventive policies to avoid an incoming and devastating fire to public finance. If that happens, then any financial and economic reforms would be in vain and social and political stability would not be achieved.

Traffic Accidents – Street War Whenever a human’s safety, education, health, work and services are the ultimate goal in any country, the more advanced and stable that country is. There is no successful development if the human is neither its purpose nor its means. We criticize Kuwait’s development experience because it lagged in development project measurement indexes, such as corruption, transparency and competitiveness, education, health services and infrastructure indexes. The Ministry of Interior adds another index for backwardness, namely, excessive waste of human souls. The Ministry of Interior published traffic accidents statistics -street war- in the last five years 2012-2016, estimated. They contain appreciated detail with a formidable fatalities number in proportion to the number of the population, perhaps the highest in the world. Number of accidents deaths for the years 2012-2016 scored between 424 deaths as the lowest and 461 deaths as the highest. This gives an annual average of 443 deaths, i.e. an average of 1.2 death cases every day, or 6 death cases every 5 days. 2016 statistics show that 83% of death cases belong to the younger group of 11-50 years old, 47.4% of the total are for youths between 2140 years, the beginning activity and forming a family age. These losses are too costly to be compensated, neither in its human part nor in the economic. Statistics do not indicate any effort to reduce it substantially though there was some reduction in the level of accidents in 2016 but with increase by 11% in the number of human injuries vis-a-vis 2015. 2016 statistics show that per cap-

ita deaths are 4.1 per 100 injuries. This means the number of injuries is about 25 times of deaths, noting that some of those injuries are like living-dead, i.e. total or serious disability. In other words, there were 10,219 human injuries in 2016. The Traffic Department announces regrettably its inability to provide details of the level of injury because the Ministry of Heath Medical Ambulance Department does not provide details. In addition, the waste is also significant in both public and private material losses of those accidents, the extent of waste for health services and so is the resulting traffic congestion. The situation being as such, it is required to give top priority to preserve the lives and health of people and dealing with those statistics not as an end in itself, despite its importance, but to employ it in the public policy to reduce the cost of street war. Originally, these statistics should be used to diagnose this pathological phenomenon and then to build a set of goals of fixing a time to reduce them to the minimum by focusing on the causes and locations of the accidents, such as the age, sex, and nationalities of doers as well as places and timings of their intense occurrence. Eventually, the human being is the most important value.

Energy Consumption Despite the sharp disagreement on which comes first, the economic growth or the preservation of the environment, which the focal concern of the “G-20” last meeting after the withdrawal of the United States from Paris Agreement, announcement kept coming on the gradual shift from using fossil fuel led by oil to clean oil. Britain and France were the last announcers about preventing manufacturing gasoline vehicles by the year 2040. Other companies like “Volvo” and “Tesla” and countries like Norway announced advanced and early steps on the same path. It is well known that transportation sector is the most oil-consuming sector. Energy Information Administration in the United States, the largest energy consumer, monitors changes in energy components there. It mentioned in a report issued on July 3, 2017 that the percentage of fossil fuel in energy components scored 81% of the total in 2016, the lowest in a century. In contrast, the contribution of clean energy sources formed about 10.5% of total energy consumption in 2016, the highest contribution since 1930 . Change in consuming energy components in the United States reduced fossil fuel consumption, the lowest among advanced countries, and it was uneven. While coal bore almost all reduction, natural gas

increased its share of consumption steadily in 9 out of the last 10 years since 2006. While coal and gas contribution in energy components was equal in 2006, clean gas contribution has become twice the contribution of coal in 2016. Oil consumption contribution in the United States dropped from its highest level by about 41% of energy consumption components to its lowest level in recent years at about 34%, but it rose steadily again to about 36% in the last four years, perhaps influenced by the sharp decline in prices and the significant increase in shale oil production there. What do we infer from the above? It is a warning that growth in energy consumption has become at the expense of fossil fuel, starting by its pollutant component, or coal, and the turn is coming to its largest contributor and the second major pollutant, namely oil. That should not scare us if we dealt with those facts with adequate awareness. The bigger harm to economic competitiveness and the human in oil-producing countries happened in the oil market boom era and its abundant revenues. The fading of the oil age will not happen tomorrow. Time and resources are enough to achieve the goal of safe landing from the consequences of its scarce revenues; however, achieving this is almost impossible if we are unaware of the importance of time factor and prudent management. The required action involves two stages. The first one is to extinguish the likely public finance burning, i.e. adopting a financial policy which is completely different from what we used to. Without the assurance of sustainable public finance, any economic construction process would never succeed. The second stage, the economic reconstruction, and there is no harm if it starts in parallel with the drawing and adopting rules of extinguishing the public finance fire, aims at devoting all human potentials and financial

National Bank of Kuwait Financial Results – First Half 2017 NBK announced results of its operations for the first half of 2017 which indicate that the bank’s net profits, after deducting taxex, scored KD 173.9 million, rise by KD 15.5 million, or by 9.8% visa-vis KD 158.5 million in the first half of 2016. The bank achieved net profits relevant to the shareholders about KD 164.7 million, compared with KD 150.6 million in the same period the previous year, a rise by KD 14.1 million. The rise in the bank’s profits is due to the rise in total operational incomes by a higher value than the rise in total operational expenses. In details, net operational incomes increased by KD 36.7 million, or by 10.1%, and scored KD 398.8 million, compared with KD 362.1 million in the same period of the previous year. It resulted from the rise in all items of operational incomes, except for the item of net gain from dealing in foreign currencies which dropped by 5.1%. Item of interests’ income (excluding income from Islamic financing) rose by KD 35.5 million and with it rose expenses (excluding murabaha expenses) by KD 12.7 million. Therefore, net interests incomes increased by KD 22.7 million. The bank achieved net incomes from Islamic financing by KD 53.2 million versus KD 45.8 million for the same period of previous year. Therefore, the net interests’ incomes increased (traditional and Islamic components) to KD 305.2 million compared with KD 275.1 million, a rise by KD 30.1 million. Likewise, item of net investment income rose by KD 6 million and scored KD 10 million compared with KD 4.1 million. Total operations expenses increased by a lower value than the rise in total operational incomes by about KD 2.9 million, or by 2.3%, and scored KD 125.7 million, compared with KD 122.8 million in the first half of 2016. Percentage of total expenses to total incomes scored 31.5% versus 33.9%. According to AlShall estimations, assuming the exclusion of the impact of consolidating Boubyan Bank’s results on operational expenses, we note a decrease in operational expenses from about KD 101.3 million to about KD 100.5 million or decreased by 0.8%. Total provisions scored KD 85.8 million, rose by KD 19.2 million compared with KD 66.6 million. Financial statements of the bank indicate the bank’s total assets increased by KD 1.248 billion, or by 5.2%, and scored KD 25.453 billion compared with the end of 2016. It rose by KD 1.385 billion, or by 5.8% growth rate, if compared with the total in the end of the first half of 2016. Excluding the impact of consolidating Boubyan Bank, it would increase by 5.1%. Portfolio of loans, advances and Islamic financing to customers, the largest contributor of the bank’s assets, increased by 5.3%, or about KD 715.1 million, raising the total portfolio to KD 14.327 billion (56.3% of total assets) versus KD 13.611

The Weekly Performance of Boursa Kuwait The performance of Boursa Kuwait for last week was more active compared to the previous one, where all indexes showed an increase, the traded value index, the traded volume index, number of transactions index, and the general index, AlShall Index (value weighted) closed at 397.9 points at the closing of last Thursday, showing an increase of about 11.3 points or about 2.9% compared with its level last week, and it increased by 34.9 points or about 9.6% compared with the end of 2016. Description

Week 30 Week 29 Diff 27/07/2017 20/07/2017 % Working days 5 5 AlShall index (34 Companies) 397.9 386.6 2.9% Boursa Kuwait index (price) 6,805.3 6,781.0 0.4% Value Trade (KD) 101,602,276 72,196,545 Daily average (KD) 20,320,455 14,439,309 40.7% Volume Trade (Shares) 633,833,038 435,075,202 Daily average (Shares) 126,766,608 87,015,040 45.7% Transactions 19,647 15,862 Daily average (Transactions) 3,929 3,172 23.9%

Most Active Sectors & Companies Value Traded Companies KD Kuwait Finance House 17,800,230 Alimtiaz Investment Co. K.S.C.C 12,016,484 National Bank Of Kuwait 11,524,755 Mobile Tele Company K.S.C (Zain) 7,785,774 Ahli United Bank B.U.C 6,180,443 Total 55,307,685 Description Value Traded Sectors KD Banks Sector 44,000,937 Financial Services Sector 22,744,042 Real Estate Sector 11,125,147 Industrials Sector 9,421,172 Telecomunnications sector 8,356,205 Al Shall Index Week 30 27/07/2017 Increased Value (# of Companies) 22 Decreased Value (# of Companies) 8 Unchanged Value (# of Companies) 4 Total Companies 34

% of Total Market 17.5% 11.8% 11.3% 7.7% 6.1% 54.4% % Of Total Market 43.3% 22.4% 10.9% 9.3% 8.2% Week 29 20/07/2017 16 11 7 34

30/06/2017 30/06/2016 Change (Thousand KD) (Thousand KD) Value % ▲ Total Assets 25,452,523 24,067,309 1,385,214 5.8% Total liabilities 22,051,683 20,705,943 1,345,740 6.5% ▲ Total Equity attributable to the equity ▲ holders of the bank 2,877,515 2,847,676 29,839 1.0% Total Operating Incomes 398,813 362,129 36,684 10.1% ▲ Total Operating Expenses 125,651 122,795 2,856 2.3% ▲ Provision 85,848 66,623 19,225 28.9% ▲ Taxation 13,366 14,222 )856( 6.0% ▼ Net income 173,948 158,489 15,459 9.8% ▲ Ratios **Return on Average Assets (ROA) 1.4% 1.3% ▲ **Return on Average Equity Relevant To ▲ The Bank Shareholder (ROE) 11.4% 10.8% **Return on Average Capital (ROC) 60.2% 59.4% ▲ Earnings per share (EPS) – (Fils) 27 26 1 3.8% ▲ Closing price – (Fils) 675 590 85 14.4 ▲ *Price to Earnings Per Share Multiplies (P/E) 12.5 11.3 ▲ Price to Book Value Multiplies (P/B) 1.2 1.0 ▲ *Indicators Ended June 30, 2017 on an annual basis ** Calculated based on the average rate of the financial data at the end of December 2016 and 30, June 2017

From April 20, 2017 to April 26, 2017

Al-Shall Index Thu Thu Company Name 27/07/2017 20/07/2017 1 The National Bank Of Kuwait 414.4 404.0 2 The Gulf Bank 199.9 195.8 3 Commercial Bank Of Kuwait 328.4 300.2 4 Al-Ahli Bank Of Kuwait 209.5 208.9 5 Kuwait International Bank 253.2 253.2 6 Ahli United Bank 399.4 384.2 7 Burgan Bank 353.9 325.9 8 Kuwait Finance House 1331.1 1242.3 Banking Sector 426.2 409.0 9 Commercial Facilities Co 128.5 126.3 10 International Financial Advisors 308.8 285.3 11 National Investments 142.2 134.6 12 Kuwait Investment Projects 824.5 757.7 13 Coast Investment & Development 60.1 56.0 Investment Sector 270.1 252.3 14 Kuwait Insurance Company 57.3 57.3 15 Gulf Insurance Company 342.2 290.8 16 Al-Ahleia Insurance Company 161.5 161.5 17 Warba Insurance Company 64.3 64.8 Insurance Sector 132.1 123.3 18 Kuwait Real Estate Company 98.6 93.6

billion (56.2% of total assets) in December 2016. It increased by KD 623.7 million, or by 4.6% growth rate, if compared with the first half of 2016. If we exclude the impact consolidating Boubyan Bank in its Islamic finance part, growth rate would score 1.8%. Percentage of non-performing loans to the total credit portfolio scored 1.2% in the end of June 2017, compared with 1.4% in the end of 2016. The coverage percentage of the non-performing loans increased by 371%, compared with 330%. Figures indicate that the bank liabilities (without including total equities) increased by KD 1.252 billion, or by 6%, and scored KD 22.052 billion, compared with the end of 2016. It increased by KD 1.346 billion, or by 6.5%, compared with the total in the end of first half of the previous year. Excluding the impact of consolidating Boubyan Bank, the growth rate would score about 5.9%. Percentage of total liabilities to total assets scored 86.6%, compared with 86%. Results of analyzing financial statements calculated on annual basis indicate that all bank’s profitability indexes rose compared with the same period of 2016. The average return on assets (ROA) increased to 1.4% versus 1.3%. The average return on equities relevant to the bank’s shareholders (ROE) rose to 11.4%, compared with 10.8%. Likewise, the average return on capital (ROC) rose to about 60.2% versus 59.4%. (EPS) rose to 27 fils, compared with 26 fils for the same period in 2016. (P/E) scored 12.5 times compared with 11.3 times, due to the rise the market value per share by 14.4%, a lower rise in the earning per share (EPS) by 3.8% on June 30, 2016. (P/B) scored 1.2 times compared with 1 time.

Diff % 2.6 2.1 9.4 0.3 0.0 4.0 8.6 7.1 4.2 1.7 8.2 5.6 8.8 7.3 7.1 0.0 17.7 0.0 (0.8) 7.1 5.3

Close 2016 362.9 195.0 349.7 196.4 214.7 361.0 283.4 1172.1 379.3 112.6 251.3 119.5 1114.2 52.6 311.7 61.7 382.1 170.9 83.6 145.0 100.1

Diff % 14.2 2.5 (6.1) 6.7 17.9 10.6 24.9 13.6 12.4 14.1 22.9 19.0 (26.0) 14.3 (13.3) (7.1) (10.4) (5.5) (23.1) (8.9) (1.5)

19 United Realty Company 179.3 20 National Real Estate Company 288.9 21 Salhiah Real Estate Company 1498.0 Real Estate Sector 208.3 22 The National Industries 125.1 23 Refrigeration Industries Co 655.8 24 Gulf Cable & Electrical Industries 171.5 Industrial Sector 187.7 25 Kuwait National Cinemas 847.4 26 The Public Warehousing Co 3302.6 27 Mobile Telecommunications Co - ZAIN 687.8 28 Safat Energy Co 12.9 Services Sector 1068.4 29 Livestock Transport & Trading Co 185.0 30 Danah Aalsafat Foodstuff Company 75.4 31 Kuwait Food Co 2069.3 Food Sector 729.3 32 Sharjah Cement Co 347.9 33 Gulf Cement Co 304.0 34 Umm Al-Qaiwain Cement Industries 551.8 Non Kuwaiti Companies 221.6 General Index 397.9

178.2 288.9 1554.6 209.6 122.4 670.8 167.9 188.1 878.8 3244.4 603.6 13.2 1013.3 182.5 74.9 2382.6 828.0 316.6 306.4 573.9 219.0 386.6

0.6 0.0 (3.6) (0.6) 2.2 (2.2) 2.1 (0.2) (3.6) 1.8 13.9 (2.3) 5.4 1.4 0.7 (13.1) (11.9) 9.9 (0.8) (3.9) 1.2 2.9

191.7 238.5 1433.4 195.8 109.0 618.1 149.9 172.4 778.4 2406.1 541.1 11.1 822.1 178.3 89.0 2561.9 887.2 358.3 302.4 551.8 222.6 363.0

(6.5) 21.1 4.5 6.4 14.8 6.1 14.4 8.9 8.9 37.3 27.1 16.2 30.0 3.8 (15.3) (19.2) (17.8) (2.9) 0.5 0.0 (0.4) 9.6

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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‘KIA asks to edit reports on losses by Kuwaiti investments in Yemen’ Al-Awadi talks about important factors tied to cut in budget deficit By Rabab Al-Jawhari Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: While Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has vehemently denied the alleged dwindling of its reserves and asserted that its investment strategy has not changed, sources said the authority has instructed certain agencies to edit reports on losses incurred by Kuwaiti

investments in public and private tourism and real estate properties in Yemen. Sources disclosed the KIA has communicated with the relevant authorities in Yemen in order to protect the Kuwaiti investment there and to prevent losses in the future.

Meanwhile, a number of Kuwaiti businessmen asked the concerned authorities to restore their real estate properties in Yemen after lifting the ban on using these properties due to the unstable political situation there. Sources said the Kuwaiti investments in Yemen include Sana’a Sheraton with $15 million, Kuwait Yemen Bank for Trading and Investment, Al-Hoda for Agricultural Investment, Haifa’a Amusement Park and asphalt factory for the Kuwaiti Qatari Company for Investment and Industry. Sources added many Kuwaiti and Yemeni companies have complained to Yemen Chamber of Commerce and Industry that they incurred losses because of the political situation in Yemen. Sources confirmed a delegation of Kuwaiti businessmen will visit Yemen next week to find solutions to some economic problems. It is worth mentioning that the KIA is considered the biggest fund in the world and it lost KD312 million in the financial year which ended in March 2016. The KIA said the loss is only 0.2 percent of its total assets. Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Accounting at the Ministry of Finance Abdulghaffar Al-Awadi talked about the important factors that led to reduction of KUNA photo the budget deficit to KD5.9 billion during Minister Al-Fares during his visit to the Sabah Al-Salem University City project. fiscal 2016/2017, reports Al-Rai daily. He pointed out the price of oil was proEducation minister visits Sabah Al-Salem University City project jected at $35 per barrel but the price increased to $44, thereby, reducing the deficit. Minister of Education and Higher the President of Kuwait Univerments for various projects and This is in addition to cutting expenditures Education Dr Mohammed Alsity Prof. Hussain Al-Ansari and the expected timeframe for the by about KD1.2 billion, Finance Ministry’s Fares Wednesday visited Sabah Director of Kuwait University’s project delivery. insistence to reject the request of some ofAl-Salem University City Project Construction Program Dr QutaiIn addition, Dr Al-Fares afficials for money transfers which do not afalong with Head of Parliament’s ba Abdulrazzaq Razouki. firmed that the visit aims to follow fect services, rationalization of financial reEducational Affairs Committee Dr Razouki gave a visual presup this important national project MP Dr Mohamed Al-Huwaila. entation of the project and elaboand to get acquainted with the wards, and reducing expenditures on capital He toured the project site with rated on the rate of achievelatest developments. reconstructive projects by 80 percent. He disclosed the budget of the Public Accounting Sector was reduced by KD122 million after regulating financing for affiliated bodies. He added the income of the Customs Department reached KD328 million, KD135 million for Ministry of Health and KD120 KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Deputy needs as stated in Law No. 8/2010 acquisition. million for the Ministry of Interior. Director General for Human Reconcerning the rights of this categoRegarding the online services He said the Ministry of Electricsources and Financial Affairs at ry, reports Aljarida daily. currently available for people with ity and Water was among the institutions Public Authority for Disabled AfHe said the rest of the budget will special needs, Al-Ansari explained with a huge cut in expenditures for fisfairs Anwar Al-Ansari revealed that be distributed as follows — KD 3.8 that they can benefit from the 27 cal 2016/2017, indicating its expenditures the total budget of the authority is million will be allocated to the first services currently available through for reconstructive projects went down by KD 125.84 million from which KD chapter of salaries and wages, KD the website. These include request KD246 million. He disclosed the expendi120.3 million will be allocated to 1 million for goods and services, for allowances for drivers and tures of the Health Ministry was reduced by the fifth chapter of the expenses and KD 196,000 for transport, equiphousemaids, allowances for disaKD157 million, while the Ministry of Comtransfer payments to spend on finanment and machinery, construction bled people above 18 years of age merce and Industry reduced its expenses for cial benefits of people with special projects, maintenance and general and renewal of disability certificate. food subsidies by KD 159 million.

PADA’s total budget is KD 125.84 m: Al-Ansari

KD 120.3m to be allocated to 5th chapter of expenses

KUNA photo

Minister Al-Harbi during his visit to a local hospital.

New healthcare plan in works: minister Patients will be granted immediate and urgent access to medical supplies through a new healthcare strategy, said Kuwait’s Minister of Health on Wednesday. Dr Jamal Al-Harbi made the remarks after an impromptu visit to a local hospital, where he listened to grievances of patients over how exhaustive the process of obtaining medical aid can be.

The minister highlighted the need to go back to the drawing board, saying a new healthcare plan will be unveiled after his scheduled meeting with officials from across the health spectrum. He pointed out that change was on the horizon, where all hospitals and medical centers would be fully equipped and ready to administer aid properly and efficiently. (KUNA)

‘Need to form govt panel’

Parliament eyes new law in bid to ‘regulate’ collection of donations KUWAIT CITY, July 27: The Parliament is planning to expedite the passing of a new bill to regulate the collection of donations, reports Al-Shahed daily quoting parliamentary sources. They insisted that the government, represented by Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, should cooperate with the Parliament in this regard by presenting a bill and working on finding consensus with the parliamentary proposals in that aspect. The sources explained that the Parliament’s insistence to come up with a new law for regulating the collection of donations is due to the current security situation in the region as well as reports

revealing about people who are collecting donations illegally and sending these donations to unknown destinations. There is also the fear that the money collected as donations are falling in the hands of terrorists and terrorist organizations. They pointed out some legal violations and breaches in this regard by certain previous and current MPs who collected donation through social media without the permission of the concerned authorities. The sources stressed the need to form a governmental panel for following up the collection of donations and submitting detailed periodic reports concerning the movement of donations.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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One-of-a-kind in GCC

‘Kuwaiti House’ design finalized KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Director of Technical Supervision Department at Ministry of Electricity and Water Eng Iqbal Al-Tayyar has affirmed the completion of the first phase related to the design of the Kuwaiti House, which will be constructed next to Souk Sharq, reports Aljarida daily. In a press statement, she explained that the Kuwaiti House will be unique and one-of-a-kind in the GCC countries. It will focus on rationalization of electricity and water usage. In other words, it will be a museum related to rationalization of electricity and water usage through which citizens and residents will be able to learn about the latest technologies for electricity and water conservation in the world as well as how to save energy by recycling using different insulators. It will be made available for students of schools and colleges in order for them to conduct studies and research on rationalization. Eng Al-Tayyar indicated about ongoing meetings with the Kuwait Municipality, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Ministry of Electricity and Water for finalizing the project so that it becomes a unique reality on the land of Kuwait.

Online game ‘Blue Whale’ cyber nightmare: experts Social, family solidarity key to battling threat KUWAIT CITY, July 27, (KUNA): In recent years, cyberspace has become the venue for several viral games and challenges, which promoted humanitarian causes and deeds; however, this world is not always rainbows and sunshine. Blurring the fine line between fact and fiction, the nightmarish online game ‘Blue Whale’ made headlines worldwide due to the suicide of several teenagers after completing a set of 50 outrageous dares and challenges. The notorious reputation of the game had spread like wildfire across the globe, leading several countries to issue warnings against this menace, which led to the death of some 130 individuals in 201516. On the subject, a number of security specialists and academics told KUNA that it was important for families and Kuwaiti society to spread awareness on the matter before the youngsters fall into this dangerous trap. Brainwashing as well as spreading hatred and negative thoughts are the biggest components of this dreaded online game, cyber security and electronic crimes advisors Raed Al-Roumi gave his general impression on the Blue Whale. Vulnerability Al-Roumi, who is also a retired Interior Ministry Colonel, added that this game took into consideration the vulnerability of the teenage psyche, making crazy acts such as self-harm, as well as ridiculous and dangerous challenges seem fun and entertaining. One of the dares include the use of razors to draw a whale directly on the skin, which gave the game its namesake, said Al-Roumi who indicated that after the Blue Whale reaches the end, it would ask the players to end their lives. If a child decided to pullout and end his or her participation, the game starts to issue threats against family and loved ones, which forces the players to carry on with this madness, he pointed out. The good news that the person behind the game, a 21-year-old Russian and former psychology student Philipp Budeikin, was arrested but the danger still remains because the game is out there and it is still a threat, said Al-Roumi who called on parents to follow up on their children and make sure that they do not become victims. On his part, Professor at the Department of Psychology in Kuwait University (KU) Dr Khider Baroon said that the daring factor of the Blue Whale was one of the major attractions for teenagers, who become very obsessed with the game. Similar to what happens in video games, the Blue Whale has a set of challenges that encourages play-

Photos by Samer Shiker

Photos from the event

‘Artists from Syria’ inaugurated The Ninth Annual Arts Exhibition titled “Artists from Syria” was inaugurated inside Bushahri Arts Hall recently to showcase art works of several top class Syrian artists, including the legendary Nathir Nab’ah and Yusuf Al-Qamshli. The works of Nab’ah depict the world of meditation, as well as

women who are not seen in homes, markets and streets, as he paints such women from his dream in the world of imagination and aspirations. Another major artist Al-Qamshli used his art of portraiture to express strong initiatives reflecting the influence of Latin American artists.

KUNA photos

Blue Whale ... a cyber nightmare

Raed Al-Roumi

Dr Khider Baroon

Dr Mohammad Al-Haddad

Need to address education crisis: Al-Rada’an

‘Some graduates have no official documents’ KUWAIT CITY July 27: It was discovered from meetings held by the committee responsible for investigating non-scholarship professors in Kuwait University concerning the issue related to fake certificates that many of them had graduated without taking study leaves, reports Al-Qabas daily. According to informed sources, the committee will submit its final reports to Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohammad Al-Fares before the end of summer academic semester. They indicated that the number of non-scholarships professors in the university is 140-150. The sources said the meetings of the committee revealed the existence of cases related to professors who obtained their university degrees while they were working in

their positions and without taking any study leaves. In addition, some of the graduates do not have any official documents which indicate that they studied in the countries from where they had graduated. Some professors do not even files in those universities. They added the committee disclosed about some professors who were appointed in some technical departments but the minutes of the meetings held by the recruitment committee are missing. Meanwhile, psychology professor at the Faculty of Basic Education in the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) Dalal Al-Rada’an has stressed the need to address the education crisis before it is too late, reports AlShahed daily. Speaking to the daily, Al-Rada’an

said serious steps must be taken to develop the educational sector considering Kuwait is one of the countries with high expenditures on education yet the sector continues to deteriorate. She pointed out the Ministry of Education spends more on each student in public schools – more than double of the amount spent on each student in private schools, but the output does not match the expenditure. She added the country is suffering due to a remarkable decline in the number of Kuwaiti teachers with scientific specializations, attributing this to the absence of a clear vision on meeting the requirements of the labor market. She explained this led to the accumulation of graduates of certain courses, while there is a shortage of teachers specialized in fields that the country needs.

ers to “go down the rabbit hole” in return for fake milestones and accomplishments, said Dr Baroon. Society has a huge responsibility in protecting children from the Blue Whale, said the academic, stressing that parents should not push their kids away, leaving them with feelings of isolation and hopelessness. Promoting family values and getting closer to the young ones via different platforms is the most im-

portant weapon against this devilish online game, which offers only “damnation,” affirmed Baroon. On the same wavelength, fellow KU academic and Professor of Social Studies and Anthropology Dr Mohammad Al-Haddad said that the Blue Whale was successful in blending fiction with reality, indicating that the game was a classic case of how easy teenagers could become brainwashed.

Through such games, a person could manipulate players into doing almost anything and with the advent of life-imitating video games and online applications, the line between reality and fiction ceases to exist, said Dr Al-Haddad. The idea of beating the Blue Whale is not farfetched, affirmed Dr Al-Haddad, adding that social and family solidarity will stop the game from claiming more victims.

Real estate gridlock accents future fears KUWAIT CITY, July 27, (KUNA): Housing prices in Kuwait have been on a downward spiral due to various factors, including the decline in oil prices and growing fears over further political instability, reports by government bodies showed. Recent official data provided by the local real estate industry shows a lull in transactions in that sector, with an 18-percent drop in value in May of this year, as compared to last year. Kuwait’s real estate industry, particularly, the housing sector, has been hit hard by plummeting oil prices and regional unrest, Secretary General of the Real Estate Union Qais Al-Ghanim told

KUNA. The real estate mogul pointed out that political and economic upheaval has fueled concerns of homebuyers, which explains their reluctance to purchase properties. Meanwhile, the consensus among analysts is that the real estate industry has yet to recover from the 2008 economic crash, as property owners like Nasser Al-Aidan are still feeling the ill effects. He pointed out that the drop in prices could be a silver lining for homebuyers, but proprietors have no choice but to wait for a much coveted price recovery.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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DIWANIYA A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION Confusion thrives in Mideast crisis

‘West not eager for peace’

Participants in the symposium express their views.

Forum discusses ways to rationalize power usage Under the patronage of Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Fawaz Khalid AlHamad Al-Sabah, Ahmadi Governorate organized a symposium on rationalization of electricity usage in coordination with Ministry of Electricity and Water. The symposium was held in the diwaniya of Mohammad Ali Hassan Al-Kandari in the presence of Undersecretary of Ministry of Electricity and Water Mohammad

Bushahri, Assistant Undersecretary for Water Affairs at Ministry of Electricity and Water Khalifa AlFraij, representative of the Director of State Relations Department at Ahmadi Governorate Hamed Al-Ibrahim, Director of the Technical Office Ibrahim Al-Foudri and Head of the Technical Committee for Rationalization at State Institutions Ali Al-Eidi. Ways to rationalize electric-

ity usage were discussed during the symposium. The participants stressed the importance of rationalization, and praised the cooperation between Ahmadi Governorate and Ministry of Electricity and Water in this regard. Bushahri affirmed the need for rationalization of electricity consumption in order to save the resources of the state and maintain the environment.

‘Top-level reshuffle seen soon in Justice Ministry’ MEW to sack expats in 30 years service KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Minister of Justice and State Minister for the National Assembly Affairs Dr Faleh Al-Azeb indicated that a reshuffle process can be expected soon in Ministry of Justice

Other Voices

which will include a number of directors, supervisors and heads of departments in various sectors of the ministry, reports Al-Rai daily. He stressed that the reshuffle process will start after the vacant supervisory positions are filled and necessary legal procedures are taken.

Blown out of proportion minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and did not remain in office for long because some influential international ornterpol recently issued a Red Corner ganizations had objected to his appointNotice for the arrest of the Indian ment at the time, held a meeting with preacher Zakir Naik who is accused Naik when the latter came to Kuwait. of money laundering, attaining illicit During the meeting, Naik revealed gains through self-run religious satelthat 100,000 people embrace Islam lite channels and other terrorism-related every year due to his preaching, about charges. one million people attend his speeches, Naik, 52, is a well-known preacher his followers on Facebook is about 17 and a physician; but he, like many million, and the number “civil” preachers, may have of viewers of his religious discovered that work in adsatellite channel is 250 milvocacy of religion is more lion. blessed and profitable in At the end of the meetthis world and in the Hereing, Naik appeared disconafter. tented for not receiving Naik has a wide reputaSaudi citizenship. I do not tion, especially among the know why a preacher, who poorer Indian communities has led hundreds of thouin Africa and the West. He sands of people to embrace is known to have a good Islam annually and has a memory and has studied channel viewed by 250 milmany religious texts – IsAl-Sarraf lion people, needs a Saudi lamic, Christian, Judeo, nationality. Hindu, Buddhist – and in Such kind of preachers clearly show many languages. how tyrants are created among us by Thousands attend every time Naik exaggerating qualities in their persongives his speeches, but videos, audio alities, such that they believe that they recordings and CDs of his speeches are are as being told about them. more popular and common, especially What is the need for the owner of a since they are mostly in English. channel, which is viewed by 250 milIn August 2016, when India accused lion people a day (which means revhim of inciting terrorism and spreading enues worth millions of dollars from sectarianism through his channels and advertisements) to seek the nationality sermons, he fled from the country and of a Gulf country that might grant him has not returned to it yet. land or a loan? While Naik was living outside InI do not know why the former Kudia, he visited the Gulf region. He even waiti minister did not offer the preacher came to Kuwait some time ago, and a Kuwaiti nationality and why he ridireligious party declared that their intenculed the decision to not grant Naik tion to hold huge event in his honor at Saudi nationality? What does this forJaber Stadium. However, with the intermer minister have to do with a matter of vention of many including myself, his sovereignty of another country? lecture was cancelled. Instead, Naik and his fans held meetings. ❑ ❑ ❑ A Salafi member, who was a former [email protected]

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf

I

Dr Al-Azeb affirmed that he will not overstep the three aspects that form the basis for promotion to supervisory positions — seniority in the department, seniority in the sector and seniority in the ministry, assuring employees that those with the qualifications and seniority will be promoted to the supervisory positions. The minister said a team from his office will follow up the execution of the directives in different sectors of the ministry especially the meetings that end with official minutes. He revealed that he intends to appoint liaison officers at each sector in order to follow up the meetings and prepare weekly reports which would include problems and the reasons for any delay in following the instructions. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electricity and Water announced its plan to terminate the services of expatriate employees who served for 30 years and more, stressing that all nationalities are covered in this decision without any exception, reports Al-Nahar daily quoting a reliable source. He affirmed that the ministry will conduct a reshuffle process among all directors and heads of departments in the coming phase, clarifying that assistant undersecretaries will not be included this time. The source revealed that integration of any sectors of the ministry will not occur in the current phase, and it will be dealt with later after the completion of the organizational structure in order to transform some sectors of the ministry into authorities under governmental administration and privatize some other sectors. ❑ ❑ ❑ Undersecretary of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Saad Al-Kharaz affirmed his keenness to serve Kuwait, expressing appreciation for the decision taken by the Cabinet and Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, and State Minister for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh to appoint him in the new position as a successor to the resigned undersecretary Dr Matar Al-Mutairi, reports Al-Rai daily. Speaking to the daily, Al-Kharaz commended the tremendous efforts exerted by the former undersecretary Dr Al-Mutairi during his tenure.

“IN VIEW of the accelerating political changes currently taking place in the Middle East region particularly in the wake of the US-Islamic Summit and the statement made by the American President Donald Trump who said Iran represents a real threat to the entire region, some sources have started claiming that this part of the world will witness the appearance of a new axis whereby Israel is likely to emerge as the most prominent axis through such a prospective development”, columnist, Professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department and Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs at Ministry of Information Dr Hayla Hamad Al-Mukaimi wrote for Annahar daily. “However, the real confusion here lies in the absence of necessary peace accord between the Arabs and Israel. One may indicate that the problem is not with the Arab side represented by the Palestinians as the latter had previously been involved in peaceful negotiations with Israel but had harvested nothing on the ground. “The Israeli authorities recently closed down the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque amid sheer silence from the Arabs. This means the confusion currently facing the peace process in the Middle East region is actually on the side of Israel because it seems Israelis are currently keen on remaining in a constant state of hostility with the Arab countries. This is aimed to keep the entire world under the impression that Israel is the sole democratic state in the Middle East region and that it is surrounded by foes particularly those following “extremist Islam”. In this way, the Hebrew state receives US and Western sympathy and ensures the flow of financial assistance from the West into the state. “The peace talks had never caused any type of tension for the Arabs. In reality, the Israeli tension used to increase when nearing any chance for conclusion of any peace accord with the Arabs. “Such Israeli tension has aggravated recently in the wake of talks revolving around the possibility of persuading Israel to join a new regional axis. It reached the extent that some Israeli writers had started accusing the Al-Mukaimi United States of America and the West at large of having no desire to boost the peace process in the Middle East region. They alleged that it is the West that prefers to keep the current situation in this part of the world as it is without any changes. “As per the Israeli vision in this regard, the West does not want to see peace prevail in the Middle East region. In an article penned by a professor of Political Studies at the Israeli Bar Iyan University Dr Hilaiel Fresh and published on the website of Bissaw Centre for Strategic Studies, he accused the West of not appreciating any prospective Arab-Israeli peace process. “However, Fresh’s convictions in this aspect had only been based on the exchanged visits between some Western officials and their Arab counterparts before and after the peace talks held previously between the Arabs and the Israelis. “For example, during the years between 1991 and 2004, almost 15 meetings were held between the senior Jordanian officials and the American presidents at that time. However, these meetings dwindled to just three following the conclusion of a peace accord between Israel and Jordan in 2004. “Taking Tunisia as another example, the last official visit made by an American president was in 1959, while the former Tunisian president Zain Al-Abidine Ben Ali had held only two meetings with his American counterpart. “In the meantime, the number of meetings between the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his US counterpart were almost equal to the number of meetings held between the British prime minister and the American president. “Considering the above, Fresh believes that the West lacks enthusiasm for the conclusion of any peace accord between Arabs and Israel. “Fresh’s allegation in this regard falls within that of his Israeli government with the aim of always keeping Tel Aviv under full Western patronage. “Significant questions to be asked here are – Are the political meetings more important for the Palestinians than the liberation of their homeland from the Israelis? Does the West represent a new obstacle in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for the Israelis? Does the West have any link to the closure of the holy AlAqsa Mosque or is it West that is currently employing efforts to build real bridges of confidence between the two parties employing the Palestinians and the Israelis?” Also: “Many decades have passed but the Palestinian cause is still like a bleeding Arab-Islamic wound that seems incurable”, columnist Abdurrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily. “Besides the Zionist’s persistent arrogance in the past decades and its relentless attempts to kill and displace the Palestinian people, some great powers used to show extreme bias to the Zionist party in a bid to ensure the victory of the latter in all of its battles and struggles. Such a bias had actually aggravated the arrogance of the Zionists, leading the latter to commit unjust practices and brutality against the Palestinians. “As usual, the State of Kuwait yesterday emphasized its stance in support of the Palestinian right, calling on the international community to halt the escalating arrogance of the Zionists and its attempt to Judaize the Jerusalem City. Kuwait also called for a final lasting solution to the Palestinian cause. “Apart from the above, the National Assembly Speaker of Kuwait Marzouq Al-Ghanim led a parliamentary delegation to the Moroccan capital city of Al-Rabat for participating in the Arab Parliamentary Union (APU) special meeting with the aim of discussing the current situation in Jerusalem and its repercussions. “Of course, the attitude of Kuwait towards supporting its Palestinian brothers had not been changed in the past decades. It was and still is based on defending the Palestinian rights in terms of ensuring secure life and self-reliance. This was always evident from Kuwait’s unique and historical attitudes throughout the history of the Palestinian cause. Its attitude has remained unchanged on executive, legislative and popular levels. “The Kuwaiti leadership, government, legislative authority and people from time to time used to send clear messages to their Palestinian brothers, indicating that Kuwait will continue to support the Palestinian cause until the liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories, the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem City as its capital.”

❑ ❑ ❑ “The future of Al-Aqsa Mosque remains uncertain due to the activities of the criminal Zionist regime,” columnist Dr Essam Abdullatif Al-Fleij wrote for AlAnba daily. “Killing is the favorite hobby of the Israeli entity that delights in hurting others, ignoring peace charters as always. This time around, they’ve blocked an entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque and locked the place without justification. “As per international agreements, Al-Aqsa Mosque has remained under the supervision of Jordanian authorities as independent administration since 1967— just like the Two Holy Mosques, and Israel has no business there. “Without a doubt, the Israeli entity has an agenda to steal historical documents and monuments by keeping the mosque vacant. Secondly, they’re trying to check the reaction of the Islamic world through their action—and not necessarily the response of Palestinians, considering the Islamic world used to challenge any act of aggression against the mosque by Israel. Sadly, conditions have changed and the Islamic world has grown too cold. “Some argue that Palestinian leaders such as Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan stole funds belonging to the Palestinian people and betrayed the cause. Many are also saying the leaders of Fatah Movement supported the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, so they deserve no help, while others argue that Hamas objected to Kuwait seeking help from a foreign power to liberate her, although they did not support Saddam’s invasion. “We should not forget that Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to Muslims around the world. The mosque is not the property of Palestinians and its protection shouldn’t be their sole responsibility. We need to dismiss the negative thoughts and blow the whistle on those promoting such ideas them among us.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “Once upon a time, a king wanted to expand the area of his rule from Hungary to Germany. He insisted that the people of that area and other areas of Europe should embrace Christianity. This ignited the flames of a sectarian war in Europe in 1618 which lasted for 30 years and witnessed high-level of destruction. Europe then lived in an era of religious and ethical conflicts due to the flames ignited by a foolish sectarian regime,” Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily. “After millions of people lost their lives in stupid wars in which there were no clear winners, the affected nations decided to refrain from imposing religious faith on other nations. They thus took a big step towards establishing a flourishing future whereby they put in place laws that incriminate the use of language of hatred and intolerance. Through this, Europe was blessed with peace and security. “Closer to our borders, we have the Iranian regime adopting a similar policy of the mediaeval regimes in Europe. It has been sparking the flames of sectarianism and hatred since the 1979 Revolution. Those who read between the lines of the Iranian policy will find that it is far from the concept of peaceful coexistence and that it has taken an aggressive stance against its neighbors. “After the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, Iran planted its agents abroad in foreign missions, embassies and commercial offices; even the airlines, banks, and religious institutions were no exception. It also embarked on recruiting local cells to carry out terror agendas in favor of Iran. It also created a special taskforce called “Unit 400” that hindered the interests of other nations.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “The 17 goals mentioned in the international action plan for sustainable development until year 2030 affirm the significance of integrating human rights with the strategies and programs for implementing international sustainable development. Major part of the third goal is concerning the health sector,” Dr Hind Al-Shoumar wrote for Al-Anba daily. “The aspiration that brought about the goal is to strengthen ties between the health sector and human rights, and to review the standards of human rights in the health policies. This is the appropriate time to review laws relating to rights of patients and to work towards enacting a separate law for protecting the rights of patients. “I read an important statement on the website of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) which was given by Dr Waleed Khalid Al-Falah in December 2014 when he was an assistant undersecretary and the head of the team that drafted the rights of patients. “He explained that Ministry of Health had completed drafting the bill of the rights of patients, and the Fatwa and Legislation Department reviewed it before referring it to the Council of Ministers with its interpretations. “I hope the bill will be passed soon to protect patients and educate them about their legal rights so that Kuwait will be in line with advanced countries in that aspect.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “After the defeat of DAESH in Mosul, the group will soon be defeated in Al-Raqqa also. These are military defeats but the remnants of the group will still exist. They will communicate among themselves, spread the ideology, gather the members and continue their activities in the same way as al-Qaeda”, Ahmad Ghaith wrote for Al-Qabas daily. “The approaches for wiping out the two groups require concerted cultural and developmental efforts as well as national unity. “The most important issue now is this - will Iraq be stable again after defeating DAESH militarily? Will the three segments that fought DAESH — Iraqi Army, international allies that provided air and ground forces, and militiamen who were previously accused of committing violations in their manner of dealing with Sunnis, agree? “Therefore, the stance taken by Iraqi government to reconstruct and return displaced people requires national reconciliation and understanding. This may prove to be difficult to achieve at this point in time due to foreign interference. “However, DAESH will be defeated in Syria after some time but the situation will be more complicated. This is because US is fighting in Al-Raqqa through the Kurdish Party and some members of the Liberation Army. The US President has already announced his intention to convert the Syrian Al-Tabaqa Airport into a US military base.”

–– Compiled by Zaki Taleb

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

LOCAL

7

‘Let govt, Parliament work smoothly’

Naturalization tops busy agenda in next Assembly session By Abubakar A. Ibrahim

60 days grace period given

Arab Times Staff

The Arabian red fox is a subspecies of the red fox and it is native to the Arabian Peninsula. Nasser Al-Fouderi — (KUNA)

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: The Parliament intends to finalize a number of pending issues and important bills in the next legislative round; including the establishment of new universities, pension and end-of-service benefits especially the Military Pension Draft Law that the government returned to the legislature,” says MP Ouda Al-Ruwaie. He hopes the Human Resources Committee will work towards completion of the strategic alternative to the salary scale as the State spent a considerable amount for this purpose but nothing has been finalized till date. He revealed one of the important issues is the naturalization bill which clearly stipulates the number of persons who will be naturalized annually, indicating he expected the government to issue an emergency decree on the number of people who will be granted citizenship every year but such step has not been taken until now. He also stressed the need to prioritize the proposed amendment of the Handicapped Law in the next legislative round. He said the performance of the Parliament in the last round was normal and expected. He pointed out that at the beginning of every legislative round, it is common to witness differences over priorities

‘Only 135 did not enroll in military service’ KUWAIT CITY, July 27, (KUNA): Some 135 failed to register in the military national service out of 2,704, said head of National Service at the Ministry of Defense Major General Ibrahim Al-Amiri. He told KUNA that the number is small compared with the actual number of those who registered on the website, which reached 1,407. He explained that those who did not complete the registration process could not be considered as violators as they did not reach the deadline given to them. The law includes a grace period not exceeding 60 days from and requests among MPs, yet such clashes signal the start of relations between lawmakers while setting their priorities. On the performance of the government, he asserted, “the government should work as a team, but it did not happen due to lack of cooperation between ministers.” He claimed some ministers do not know how to manage their portfolios and

issuing the new law, after which anyone who fails to register would be considered an “evader” of service, and will face legal actions, he pointed out. The military official said the National Service took into consideration health and social conditions, reasons for travel and other matters that might hinder registration, confirming that the Commission received all inquiries regarding the National Service Act. Number of recruits who will reach legal age by the end of this year is estimated at 7,500, while number of those who will reach the legal age until next May is esare not good in dealing with other members of the government team, as manifested in the contradicting statements issued by ministers. He added all ministers who failed in their duties are subject to interpellation, asserting a new government formation is a must considering the poor performance of some incumbent ministers. Furthermore, MP Muhammad Al-

timated at 13,000. On May 10, 2017, General Staff of the Kuwaiti Army began implementing the National Military Service Law on male Kuwaitis who have reached the age of 18 years. The number of young men born on May 10, 1999 and beyond is expected to reach 13,217 by the end of 2017. It invited young Kuwaiti men to register in the Service through the website (www.kns.gov.kw) within 60 days, to fill in all the data, complete the registration procedures and submit official documents required to open the profile. Dalal said the naturalization issue is the first priority of the legislature, especially since the political leadership played a vital role in reinstating the citizenship of those who deserve it. He hopes that no government party will harm relations between the legislative and executive authorities, stressing such parties do not work in the interest of the country and its people.

Teachers seeking rights sue MoE in international courts Riyadh executes Saudi for killing Kuwaiti citizen By Rana Salem Al-Seyassah Staff KFSD photo

Lt Gen Khalid Al-Mekrad with the fire-fighters and officals

Mekrad honours fire-fighters Director General of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) Lieutenant General Khalid Al-Mekrad Wednesday received in his office the Deputy Director General for Firefighting Affairs Major General Jamal Al-Bulayhes, who was accompanied by Director of Firefighting Affairs Department in Capital Governorate Brigadier Mohammed AlShatti.

Their visit was aimed to present Lance Corporal Abdulwahab Malik Jafar who participated in dealing with the recent fire incident at some garages in Sharq area. Lieutenant General Al-Mekrad praised Lance Corporal Abdulwahab Malik Jafar for his efforts in extinguishing the huge fire and saving lives and properties.

‘No more traffic violation’

‘Disabled parking’ to court KUWAIT CITY, July 27: The violation of parking in places allocated for disabled people has been transformed from just a traffic violation to a misdemeanor, reports Al-Rai daily. Therefore, such cases will be handled by the General Investigations Department, which will in turn refer the cases to the Public Prosecution. According to informed sources, the process agreed upon is that traffic men will issue a traffic citation on vehicles that park in such spots. A block will be placed on the transactions of the concerned citizens or expatriates,

preventing them from completing their transactions at Ministry of Interior including renewal of passport or drivers’ license, car insurance, renewal of residencies of domestic workers by Kuwaitis, and renewal of residencies for expatriates. Citizens and residents should check with the General Investigations Department and receive a report stating that interrogations on the misdemeanor have been completed and referred to the judiciary. It will then take a week or two for the removal of the block.

News in Brief Ready for diploma?: Deputy Director

Drive recklessly?: Police are looking

General for Human Resources Development at Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) Major General Eng Khalid AlTarkait conducted an inspection tour of the Industrial Institute affiliated to Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) to explore preparedness in conducting aptitude tests for applicants for the diploma program in Firefighting Al-Tarkait Engineering and to understanding the students’ performance level psychologically and academically. Meanwhile, Director General of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate Lieutenant General Khalid Rakan Al-Mekrad received Vice Board Chairman of Rosenbauer Fire Engines Company Kurt Wandler and his accompanying delegation based on protocol to strengthen bilateral relations between the two sides. ❑ ❑ ❑

for an unidentified individual who posted a SnapChat video in which he was seen burning a traffic violation ticket and urging young men to drive recklessly, reports Al-Anba daily. Meanwhile, detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department succeeded in identifying and arresting a nonKuwaiti woman who appeared naked in a SnapChat video that she posed on her personal account, reports Al-Rai daily. The woman is currently undergoing interrogations. ❑ ❑ ❑

4 caught drunk: Three Kuwaitis with a girl were arrested by Hawalli securitymen in South Surra under the influence of alcohol. They were referred to concerned authorities for necessary action, says Al-Seyassah. Meanwhile, a sergeant major arrested a Kuwaiti citizen in his 20s who intercepted a diplomatic convoy headed for the Embassy of Palestine along the Sixth Ring Road. The citizen is said to have assaulted the officer after declining to show his identification documents. He was referred to Sulaibiya police station. ❑ ❑ ❑

Burning money!: The Cybercrimes Department of the Ministry of the Interior is trying to identify an unknown person who has posted a video clip on YouTube smoking a cigarette rolled out of a KD 10 banknote, reports Al-Anba daily. The man is boasting he is filthy rich when he is seen lighting the ‘cigarette’. However, a security source said it is too early to ascertain the authenticity of the clip. The source says also the currency used by the person may be a fake. ❑ ❑ ❑

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Corroborating the news item published on July 14 by Al-Seyassah daily titled ‘Thousands of teachers resort to local and international courts to obtain rights’, several expatriate teachers— including those whose contracts have ended, others still on their jobs, and those filing for resignation have taken the first step to sue the Ministry of Education collectively in The Hague and Geneva. Sources said the first batch of complaints was filed by 104 expatriate teachers from different nationalities, and the Human Rights Organization in Geneva has received them. They explained the teachers have taken the step based on what they call human rights abuses resulting from racial discrimination. The teachers lamented their rights — as stated in the items of the contracts signed with the ministry, were not fulfilled. Sources stressed that additional complaints and lawsuits are on the way. They noted the lawsuits will be presented batches; each batch constituting about 100 cases. They maintained the teachers will never renounce their rights in terms of reduced housing allowance, retroactive enforcement of the housing regulation for female teachers, not forgetting financial and moral damages suffered in the midst of their Kuwaiti counterparts through discrimination. Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education in the Ministry of Education Fatima Al-Kandari disclosed that school principals completing 30 years in service are excluded from impending reshuffling. She explained the ministry is contemplating on reshuffling school managers having completed 10 years in the same school to ensure diversity and development. However, there’s no intention to reshuffle heads of departments at various educational zones in order to maintain stability — especially after filling vacancies for supervisory jobs.

Agencies add: Saudi executed: The Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia on Thursday executed Abdul Aziz Masoud Bin Radad Al-Masoudi for killing Ayman Bin Nasser Bi Ibrahim, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

KUNA photo

MoD officials exchange mementos during the meeting.

Top-notch clinics picked for overseas medicare The Ministry of Defense is eager on choosing the most reputable hospitals for treating Kuwaiti patients who need special treatment abroad, the official in charge of treatment abroad Brigadier Emad Aman underlined. In a statement to KUNA on the sidelines of his visit to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, accompanied by Kuwait Ambassador in Abu Dhabi Salah Al-Buaijan, Aman expressed admiration of the clinic’s world-class services and its highly-qualified staff and sophis-

ticated technologies. Aman disclosed that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has given clear instructions to make sure that Kuwaiti patients are receiving that best medical services at home and abroad. He pointed out that the goal of his visit to the clinic is to get a first-hand experience about the services offered to the Kuwaiti patients through touring the hospital and meeting both patients

and doctors. He voiced jubilation over Dr Ahmad Al-Duaij, a Kuwaiti national, joining of Cleveland Clinic staff. Aman also noted that he has coordinated with a number of senior doctors at the American Hospital in Dubai to visit Kuwait and carry out a number of surgeries there. For her part, patients affairs official at the Cleveland Clinic Wadha Al-Nuaimi told KUNA that 184 Kuwaiti patients have received treatment at the clinic in 2016 and 100 this year. (KUNA)

It has been reported that the accused lured Ibrahim, a Kuwaiti-Saudi, into his house where he stabbed the latter in the stomach with a knife and then tied a wire around his neck resulting in his death. He also burned the corpse of the victim, stole his ATM card and withdrew money from the account. The accused was referred to the court which sentenced him to death, in addition to a royal decree on his execution. ❑ ❑ ❑ Liquor factory busted: Two Asians violating residency law were apprehended by Officers from the Farwaniya Security Command for running a liquor factory in Jleeb Shuyoukh. They seized 40 barrels of the local brew and related equipment, says Al-Seyassah. Security Chief of Farwaniya Ma-

jor General Saleh Al-Enezi received a tip-off about the activities of the suspects and formed a team of detectives to verify the information. Guarded by search and arrest warrant from the Public Prosecution, the officers raided the flat used in manufacturing liquor and arrested the two suspects. They also seized a quantity of materials and tools for brewing the contraband. They were referred to concerned authorities. Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti citizen high on liquor was taken into custody by Farwaniya Traffic Men. A bottle of imported alcohol was confiscated from him. Apparently, the officers noticed the erratic manner in which the citizen’s car was moving and stopped him for checking. It was then they discovered he was highly intoxicated. ❑ ❑ ❑

Drugs with mechanic: An Asian expatriate working as car mechanic was arrested in Shuwaikh Industrial Area by officers from Capital Security Directorate in possession of illicit drugs, says Al-Seyassah. A security source said officers on a round of the Capital spotted the Asian inside an abandoned vehicle and approached him for checking. He told the officers he’s a mechanic and they went ahead to conduct a search on him. They recovered illicit drugs and referred him to concerned authorities for necessary action. Meanwhile, security operatives apprehended a Kuwaiti in Jahra area for playing loud music and disturbing public peace. He was also found in possession of narcotic pills and referred to concerned authorities.

Man acquitted in drugs case

Drugs galore: Personnel from the Special Tasks Department affiliated to the Public Security Sector of the Ministry of Interior, have arrested several people at various places for possessing and consuming drugs, reports Al-Shahed daily. A security source said two men were arrested – one of them wanted in connection with a financial fraud – in possession of sachets of heroin and drug consuming tools. Two Egyptians were also arrested for consuming hashish and a young woman and two Kuwaitis for smoking cigarettes filled with hashish. A young Kuwaiti youth was seized in Al-Shaab for possessing drugs and unlicensed revolvers.

Promiscuous mother loses custody of children By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff KUWAIT CITY, July 27: The First Instance Court (Family Court Circuit) dismissed the lawsuit filed by a Kuwaiti woman against her husband and his mother, requesting the court to grant her custody of her children. The woman said her husband did not shoulder the financial expenses of the family, and since their children are living with her, she requested the court to grant her the right to keep them under

her guardianship. Attorney Abdulmuhssen Al-Qattan, the paternal grandmother’s lawyer, pointed out the mother is not capable of having custody of the children especially since she admitted to having indecent relationships with more than one man. He added that due to the keenness of his client to raise her grandchildren properly, she requested for custody. He affirmed the right of the mother to see her children is guaranteed provided it is done in the presence of the grandmother. ❑ ❑ ❑

Man acquitted: The Misdemeanor Court acquitted an individual who was accused of drug possession and peddling. The defense counsel Lawyer Salem Sha’aban countered the allegation against his client, affirming that his client had denied the accusations from the beginning. He insisted that the prosecution has not been able to prove the allegations against his client with concrete evidence, stressing that there was situation that warranted the arrest of his client when the officer did so.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

LOCAL/GULF

8

6th annual OPV conference of ME

Kuwait to host Mideast navies and coast guards in Oct KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Maritime leaders from across the Middle East and beyond will gather at the Offshore Patrol Vessels Middle East conference from 9-11 October in Kuwait to discuss the future of maritime security in the region, reports EIN Presswire. The situation unfolding within the GCC highlights the significance of regional cooperation and its influence on maritime rule and security. The first NATO centre in the region was opened in Kuwait earlier this year to help foster that cooperation and OPV Middle East conference aims to help with its mission. With the support of the Kuwait Na-

val Force and the Kuwait Ministry of Defence, this event will provide a forum for regional navies to deliberate the emerging trends within the region’s maritime security, discuss the key advancements within the OPV market, as well as share upcoming requirements to advance their maritime capabilities. The first conference day on 9 October will see an opening keynote speech from Major General Khaled A. Abdullah, Commander and Chief, Kuwait Naval Force. The 3-day event will also feature a dinner and a post-conference focus day on International Law of the Sea and Coastal and Maritime Surveillance, to

help maritime authorities with a better understanding of the rules of engagement in a maritime context and the keys to enhance effective coastal and maritime surveillance capabilities. Conference Director, Khalila Baldwin from IQPC Middle East, said, “I am pleased to have the support of the Kuwait Ministry of Defence and the Kuwait Naval Force. The OPV Middle East series continues to grow upon past successes across the region and it is our intention for this to be the best edition yet. Kuwait has established itself as the heart of regional cooperation in the GCC, and with the recent opening of NATO’s first regional cen-

tre in the country, there couldn’t be a more fitting time to host the conference in Kuwait.” Speakers confirmed to take part in the event include: ■ Major General Khaled A. Abdullah, Commander and Chief, Kuwait Naval Force ■ Vice Admiral (R) Ahmad Yusuf Al Mulla, Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister, Kuwait Ministry of Defence ■ Commander Mubarak Ali AlSabah, Flotilla Commander, Kuwait Coast Guard ■ Commodore Stephen Dainton, UK Maritime Component Commander, Deputy Commander, Combined

Maritime Forces 1/2 ■ Dario Leccese, Captain, Italian Navy ■ Captain Mustafa Kanafani, Former Arab League Representative, International Maritime Organization ■ Rear Admiral (R) Dr. Ali Alshuaibi, Saudi Arabia Coast Guard ■ Rear Admiral (UH) Abderraouf Atallah, Chief of Staff, Tunisian Navy ■ Vice Admiral Ahmed Khaled Hassan Saeed, Commander in Chief, Egyptian Navy ■ Majdi Ahmad Al-Dafiri, Ambassador, Embassy of Kuwait, Tehran, Iran Alongside the main conference,

there will be an exhibition of leading companies in the maritime security fields including Raytheon Company, Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding, Fincantieri, Navantia, RAMSYS gmbh, Babcock, Cochin Shipyard, Alsalam, MTG Marinetechnik GmbH, DNV GL, Saab Middle East, L3 Technologies, Lurssen, Kership and AR Albisher & Z Alkazemi Company. OPV Middle East will be held from 9-11 October at the Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa, Kuwait City, Kuwait. For more information, please visit the event website at: http://bit. ly/2h2kARY

Kuwait’s Speaker condemns Israeli violations on Al-Aqsa Kuwaiti FM attends Arab League meeting RABAT, July 27, (Agencies): National Assembly Speaker Marzouq AlGhanim said on Thursday that Kuwait would not surrender to “defeatist proposals” regarding the rights of Palestinians, and urged Islamic nations to come to the aid of Palestinians through diplomatic means.

KUNA photo

National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim made comments during the urgent Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Challenging Saudis

Qatar ‘hires’ company funded by Trump aide DUBAI, July 27, (AP): Qatar has hired a Washington influence firm founded by President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and another specialized in digging up dirt on US politicians, signaling it wants to challenge Saudi Arabia’s massive lobbying efforts in America’s capital amid a diplomatic dispute among Arab nations. The Gulf rift already has seen slogan-plastered taxicabs in London, television attack ads in the US and competing messages flooding the internet and state-linked media on both sides since the crisis began June 5. Hiring a firm associated with former Trump aide Corey Lewandowski shows Qatar wants access to a White House with close ties to Saudi Arabia. But matching Saudi Arabia, which scored a diplomatic coup by hosting Trump’s first overseas trip, could be a tough battle for Qatar even if it does boast the world’s highest per-capita income due to its natural gas deposits. “The Qataris are belatedly working up to the scale of the challenge they face,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University who lives in Seattle. “This whole crisis, now that it’s kind of settled down into a prolonged confrontation or standoff, it’s become almost a struggle to win the hearts and minds in DC” Qatar, in the midst of building stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, isn’t afraid to spend its money. Since the crisis began, Qatar paid $2.5 million to the law firm of former US Attorney General John Ashcroft to audit its efforts at stopping terrorism funding, among the allegations levied by the Saudi-led nations. According to documents newly filed to the US Justice Department, Qatar has hired Avenue Strategies Global for $150,000 a month to “provide research, government re-

lations and strategic consulting services.” The contract also says that activity “may include communications with members of Congress and Congressional staff, executive branch officials, the media and other individuals.” Lewandowski founded Avenue Strategies just after the November election that put Trump in the White House. Lewandowski resigned from the f irm in May, saying he was troubled by a firm-related project he hadn’t sanctioned. Others tied to Avenue Strategies had started a firm of their own, pitching Eastern European clients with promises of access to Trump and high-ranking White House officials. The firm, which includes a former chief of staff to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Qatar also signed a three-month, $1.1 million renewable contract with the opposition research firm Information Management Services, according to a Justice Department filing . The firm, run by Jeff Klueter, a former researcher for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, did not respond to requests for comment. It advertises itself as doing so-called “oppo,” which includes digging into political opponents’ past and comments for incriminating or simply embarrassing material. Qatar did not respond to a request for comment about the lobbying contracts. But it may serve as recognition that while Qatar has had success in speaking with the State Department and the Pentagon, it needs to make inroads to the Trump White House, Ulrichsen said. Despite hosting a major US military base, Qatar has been a target of Trump over its alleged funding of extremists, something Doha denies. Saudi Arabia enjoys close relations to Trump, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Dubai bans website, magazine over ‘false news’ allegations DUBAI, July 27, (AFP): Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have banned a leading business website and magazine for one month for allegedly publishing “false news” on failed real estate projects in Dubai. Arabian Business has withdrawn the report, entitled “51 Dubai projects under liquidation process,” and posted an apology stating “the information published related to projects dating from 2010 and as such are now outdated”. Dubai’s media regulation office released a statement confirming the Arabian Business website had been “blocked and the distribution of its print edition halted for one month” starting from Wednesday night. “The magazine committed violation of the rules and regulations of Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA) by publishing false news that was based on inaccurate information,” the statement said. The DCAA is a government agency that oversees media in the city. The office

is “mandated to promote Dubai as one of the world’s most attractive cities for creative businesses,” according to its website. Representatives of Arabian Business were not reachable for comment Thursday. On Friday the government’s Dubai Media Office had denied there was any truth to the report, which it noted had been “copied by Qatari media”. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in May banned Qatari news giant Al-Jazeera, arguing that the channel and website promote hate speech and extremism. The UAE is part of a Saudi-led bloc that suspended diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar last month over allegations Doha had ties to Iran and supported Islamist extremism. Qatar denies the accusations. Arabian Business is published by Dubai-based ITP Media Group, a Middle East publisher which also produces Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire in the region.

Kuwait’s chief lawmaker made the comments at urgent Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union talks on Israel’s recent failed attempts to place metal detectors and surveillance cameras at the gates of AlAqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel removed the inspection measures after Palestinian worshippers in the hundreds declined to enter the holy site in protest of the move. Al-Ghanim urged Arab lawmakers and politicians to bring up the topic at upcoming international meetings, calling Israel’s actions a “bold and shocking assault” on one of Islam’s holiest of sites. Meanwhile, he expressed regret at what he deemed were attempts, amongst certain Arab and Muslim countries, to encourage a sense of resignation to the issue of Palestine. “Here I ask the languid and the detractors: Do we give up on all other forms of support for the Palestinian people, merely because we are unable to come to their aid with weapons?,” he said. Israel believes that the “unprecedented situation,” which is preoccupying the Islamic region, gives it the right to “encroach upon the Holy AlAqsa (Mosque) and do as it pleases.” These actions have united Muslims, whose pride has been hurt, around the world, he said. Kuwait, led by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, as part of the Arab and Islamic regions, and as a productive nation in the free world, “will not bow down, will not surrender and will not be rendered restless,” he underlined. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah met on Thursday with the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulkader Messahel. The meeting came on the sidelines of the Arab League emergency meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers to discuss Israeli violations on Al-Aqsa Mosque against Muslims and measures that should be taken to face the Israeli escalation to the problem.

KUNA photo

The Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abdul-Gheit during the meeting with Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ambassador Laura Thompson.

Arab League chief meets IOM envoy The Arab League stressed Wednesday the importance of setting a high priority for the issue of Arab migrants and refugees as part of the international work agenda, and in light of exceptional developments due to crises and armed struggles in recent years. In a statement, the League said that such remarks were made during a meeting between Arab League Secretary-General Ahmad Abul-Gheit and visiting Deputy Director-General of the International

Organization for Migration (IOM) Ambassador Laura Thompson, a part from her participation in the Arab regional consultation meeting on migration hosted in the Arab League. Abul-Gheit also mentioned that such armed conflicts, particularly in the Arab region, resulted in the overflow of huge number of Arab refugees from various countries, mainly from Syria, Yemen and Libya. Arab League chief underlined

the significance of making the correspondent international mechanism, including IOM, to ensure that host countries of migrants abide by their commitments, follow procedures, and help Arab refugees or migrants. The statement also highlighted discussion during the meeting on finding ways to improve cooperation between Arab League Secretariat and IOM, and to better enhance the conditions of Arab migrants. (KUNA)

Health, safety and security to be discussed

ASSE-Kuwait chapter to organise confab KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Under the Patronage of H.E. Issam Abdulmohsen AlMarzooq, Minister of Oil, Minister of Electricity & Water, State of Kuwait. American Society of Safety Engineers Kuwait Chapter is pleased to announce the prestigious HSSE Conference, it’s a two-day Professional Development Conference (PDC) with a Theme “Cultural Transformation Through HSSE Innovations” scheduled to be conducted from 28th to Nov 29th 2017, at Millennium Hotel & Convention Center – Kuwait. The conference is supported by KPC, KNPC, KOC, KIPIC & Equate and endorsed by major endorsing agencies like BCSP, IOSH, CCPS, IADC, NEBOSH. The conference will bring together practitioners and exhibits concerned with Occupational Health, Safety, Security, Environment &

Loss Prevention and enables interactions & discussions on the related topics. The Chairman of ASSE Kuwait Chapter Engr, Fadel Al Ali and Conference Director, PDC 2017 Mohammad Riaz stated that the conference is designed to inspire innovation, discovery, creativity and growth of budding Kuwait Engineers in the field of Health, Safety, Security and Environment. Conference is packed with HSSE presentation of technical papers, e-posters, symposiums and panel discussions. Pre and post conference trainings & workshops on various basic and advanced HSSE & Loss Prevention topics. Ensuring people-focus, forwardthinking, change-oriented and highest quality; which will make the conference a “never-to-miss” event. Exhibition by progressive or-

ganizations are also organized along with the conference. Organizations across the world will present their products and services related to HSSE and Loss Preventions, which will attract the conference participants and foster business relations. The conference will offer companies and organizations which are interested in getting maximum branding and exposure through the exhibition. Networking with fellow professionals and interfacing with industry is the attraction of PDC-2017, in which over 500 conference delegates/ exhibition visitors are expected. The networking and interfacing aims to catalyze and coordinate cooperation among the HSSE & Loss Prevention professional for the sustainable betterment of mankind.

Wind Direction .................................... .NW Wind Speed..............................20-50 km/h

Wave height.......................................2-6 ft Max Temp..............................................1C Min Temp.............................................35C Wind Direction .....................................NW Wind Speed..............................20-50 km/h Monday, July 31 Expected weather.........................Very hot and rising dust Sea state........................Moderate to rough Wave height.......................................3-6 ft Max Temp............................................50C Min Temp.............................................37C Wind Direction .....................................NW Wind Speed..............................20-50 km/h

Kuwait Today

Meeting The meeting was attended by Kuwait’s Assistant Foreign Minister for the minister’s office Ambassador Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Egypt, Mohammad Saleh Al-Thuwaikh and Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs Ambassador Aziz Al-Daihani, in addition to a number of senior officials at the Foreign Ministry. Meanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressed relief as protesters entered Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time after Israel removed metal detectors and surveillance cameras, which were the cause of the grievances. A statement by the OIC said there was “pride and admiration for our people in Jerusalem, who have subjected the Israeli government to comply, through stability, steadiness and solidarity, under the leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.” The OIC stressed that the two-state solution and establishing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine would be the only way to achieve peace and stability in the area. Moreover, the OIC affirmed its support for Jerusalemites’ solidarity in facing the Israeli attempts to amend the nature of Jerusalem by altering the facts on the ground and changing the status quo, the statement added. OIC Secretary-General Dr Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen lauded Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud’s successful efforts on this matter, who contributed to the reopening the holy Mosque after discussions with a number of world leaders. Saudi Arabia has succeeded in mobilizing the international community to pressure Israel to renounce all illegal measures it has imposed on the Holy City, Al-Othaimeen added.

Prayer Timings Fajr ................................................ 03:35 Sunrise ........................................... 05:05 Zohr ................................................ 11:54 Asr ................................................... 15:30 Maghrib ......................................... 18:43 Isha ................................................ 20:10

Weather Expected weather for the next 24 hours: By Night: Relatively hot with light to moderate northwesterly wind, with speed of 15-35 km/h. By Day: Very hot with moderate to fresh northwesterly wind, with speed of 20-50 km/h causing rising dust and some high clouds will appear.. Station Max Min Exp Rec Kuwait City 48 36 Kuwait Airport 49 32 Abdaly 48 31 Bubyan 48 26 Jahra 49 33 Failaka Island 46 32 Salmiyah 44 36 Ahmadi 46 35 Nuwaisib 45 31 Wafra 49 33 Salmy 47 31

4 days forecast - Weather Friday, July 28 Expected weather..........................Very hot and relatively humid over coastal area Max Temp........................................... 47C Min Temp............................................ 33C Wind Direction....................................N-SE Wind Speed..............................12-40 km/h Saturday, July 29 Expected weather..........................Very hot and relatively humid specially over coastal areas Max Temp........................................... 49C Min Temp............................................ 30C Wind Direction...............................VRB-SE Wind Speed..............................10-32 km/h Sunday, July 30 Expected weather.........................Very hot and rising dust Max Temp........................................... 51C Min Temp............................................ 35C Wind Direction .................................... .NW Wind Speed..............................20-50 km/h Monday, July 31 Expected weather..........................Very hot and rising dust Max Temp........................................... 50C Min Temp............................................ 37C

Marine Forecast Station

Max Min Exp Rec

South Dolphin Umm Mudayrah Beacon M28 Beacon N6 Qaruh Island Umm Al-Maradim Sea Island Buo Salmiyah

43 43 45 38 43 44

35 33 33 34 33 36

Sea Surf 33 -

Today’s Waves Ht Dirn 6ft SE 6ft SE 6ft SE 6ft SE 6ft SE 6ft SE 6ft SE

4 days forecast - Marine Friday, July 28 Expected weather.........................Very hot and relatively humid over coastal areas Sea state.......................Slight to moderate, rough at times Wave height.......................................2-6 ft Max Temp............................................47C Min Temp.............................................33C Wind Direction ...................................N-SE Wind Speed..............................12-40 km/h Saturday, July 29 Expected weather.........................Very hot and relatively humid specially over coastal areas Sea state.......................Slight to moderate Wave height.......................................1-4 ft Max Temp.......................................... 49C Min Temp.............................................30C Wind Direction...............................VRB-SE Wind Speed..............................10-32 km/h Sunday, July 30 Expected weather..........................Very hot and rising dust Sea state.......................Slight to moderate, rough at times

Tide times at Shuwaikh Port 1st high tide:......................................14:02 2nd high tide: ....................................03:33 1st low tide:.......................................08:34 2nd low tide: .....................................21:15 Sunrise: ............................................05:05 Sunset: .............................................18:44

Recorded yesterday at Kuwait Airport Max temp ............................................49C Min temp .............................................37C Max Rh ...............................................26% Min Rh ................................................08% Max Wind,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,N 57 km/h Total Rainfall in 24 hrs.....................00 mm

Recorded yesterday at South Dolphin Min/Max/ Air Temp ........................ 35/43C Min/Max Rel Hum .......................... 17/52% Wind Direction/Wind Speed.......N /54 km/h Prev Wave Dir/Max Wave Ht ......... .NE/3 ft Min/Max Sea Surface Temp .......... ......-/-C Sea Current.................................Upwelling — Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Department

deaths Bader Abdul Husein Salman Al Ashwak, 69 years old, buried on Thursday. Condolences: (Men) Rumaithiya, Block 12, Street 126, House 24, Tel: 99505307 (Women) Ardiya, Block 3, Street 8, House 28 Tel: 99458660; Husein Nasser Mansour Al Anbaie, 39 years old, buried on Thursday. Condolences: (Men) Faiha, Block 1, Street 10, House 2, Diwan Al Anbaie, Tel: 99044151 (Women) Andalous, Block 12, Street 16, House 47 Tel: 24800321; Fathel Abdullah Fathel Al Fathel, 48 years old, buried on Thursday. Condolences: (Men) Sadeeq, Block 6, Street 607, House 414, Tel: 55540588 – 90091474 (Women) Shamiya, Block 8, Street 84. House 13, Tel: 24810107; Fawaz Bader Abdullah Al Amaar, 38 years old, to be buried on Friday at 09:00 am. Condolences: (Men) Edailiya, Block 3, Lualuah Street, House 8, Tel: 94163330 (Women) Shamiya, Block 5, Street 59, House 9, Tel: 99510082.

JUly 27, 2017

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

INTERNATIONAL Kuwait condemns Continued from Page 1 feelings worldwide. The source urged the international community to assume responsibility and press Israel to be committed to the international conventions and accords, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, and immediately bring to a halt the violations “that will only lead to more violence and threats to security, stability and peace in the region.” Meanwhile, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Thursday urged the international community to bear its responsibility in putting a stop to Israeli “criminal” practices in Jerusalem. Speaking at Arab League ministerial talks discussing Israel’s recent installation of metal detectors and surveillance cameras at Al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates in Jerusalem, he expressed Kuwait’s utter condemnation of these actions. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled described the measures as “repressive” and “arbitrary,” calling for a firm stance on the measures from the international community. The Israeli violations in Jerusalem are in violation of Security Council resolutions 476, 478 and 2334, he said, and are an infringement on the Fourth Geneva Convention, he said. Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti foreign minister expressed gratitude for the role of several Arab countries who, after talks with world leaders, were successful in persuading Israel to remove the measures. “The Palestinian people deserve all our support in resisting them (the Israeli government) in order to preserve the identity of Jerusalem and to seek a solution to their just cause,” he said. He also reiterated Kuwait’s “firm and principled stance” in support of the Palestinians until they obtain their full legitimate rights and find just and comprehensive peace that leads to the establishment of an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international legitimate resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

See Also Page 8

Qatar hires Continued from Page 1 James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University who lives in Seattle. “This whole crisis, now that it’s kind of settled down into a prolonged confrontation or standoff, it’s become almost a struggle to win the hearts and minds in DC.” The Gulf rift already has seen slogan-plastered taxicabs in London, television attack ads in the United States and competing messages flooding the internet and state-linked media on both sides since the crisis began on June 5. Qatar, in the midst of building stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, isn’t afraid to spend its money. Since the crisis began, Qatar paid $2.5 million to the law firm of former US Attorney General John Ashcroft to audit its efforts at stopping terrorism funding — one of the allegations levied by the Saudi-led quartet of nations. According to documents newly filed to the US Justice Department, Qatar has hired Avenue Strategies Global for $150,000 a month to “provide research, government relations and strategic consulting services.” The contract also says that activity “may include communications with members of Congress and Congressional staff, executive branch officials, the media and other individuals.” Lewandowski founded Avenue Strategies just after the November election that put Trump in the White House. Lewandowski resigned from the firm only months later, saying he was troubled by a firm-related project he hadn’t sanctioned. Others tied to Avenue Strategies had started a firm of their own, pitching Eastern European clients with promises of access to Trump and high-ranking White House officials. The firm, which includes a former chief of staff to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Qatar also signed a three-month, $1.1 million renewable contract with the opposition research firm Information Management Services, according to a Justice Department filing . The firm, run by Jeff Klueter, a former researcher for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, did not respond to requests for comment. It advertises itself as doing so-called “oppo,” which includes digging into political opponents’ past and comments for incriminating or simply embarrassing material. Qatar did not respond to a request for comment about the lobbying contracts. But it may serve as recognition that while Qatar has had success in speaking with the State Department and the Pentagon, it needs to make inroads to the Trump White House, Ulrichsen said. Despite hosting a major US military base, Qatar has been a target of Trump over its alleged funding of extremists, something Doha denies. Saudi Arabia enjoys close relations to Trump, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner. In Washington, Saudi Arabia spends millions of dollars on lobbying, including a most-recent push to oppose a law allowing Sept 11 victims’ families to sue the ultraconservative Muslim nation in US courts . Its lobbying firms have been putting out memos on Qatar. Meanwhile, an organization called the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee launched an online campaign called the Qatar Insider highlighting material critical of Doha. The committee also paid $138,000 to air a 30-second anti-Qatar attack ad on a local Washington television station during “Meet the Press” and the British Open, according to filings to the Federal Communications Commission. “Our aim is to show the American people that Qatar has been employing

9

Coalition airstrikes kill several senior Islamic State ‘leaders’ US-trained Iraqi unit carried out Mosul executions: HRW WASHINGTON, July 27, (Agencies): Coalition airstrikes recently killed several senior propagandists and facilitators of the so-called Islamic State, according to a statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM). “The removal of these key ISIS leaders disrupts ISIS’s propaganda production, distribution, and the ability to fund ISIS’ terrorist activities,” it said. Abu Sulayman Al Iraqi, a senior IS propaganda official, was killed near Mosul in early July. He provided strategic guidance and oversight for IS propaganda that recruited members around the world. Bassam Al Jayfus, handled IS funds and was killed in Mayadin, Syria in July. His death caused a “disruption” to IS’ money laundering network used to pay foreign fighters for terror plots, CENTCOM said. Rayaan Meshaal was killed by a strike also near Mayadin, he served as the founder as Amaq, IS’ official propaganda media outlet. The statement listed five others killed who were all noted to have worked in IS’ media and propaganda arms.

Degrades “The deaths of these terrorists eliminates senior leaders and facilitators with extensive experience and training, and degrades ISIS’s ability to plan and conduct attacks on civilian targets in Iraq and Syria, as well throughout the region and in the West,” CENTCOM affirmed. Meanwhile, an Iraqi army division trained by American forces summarily executed prisoners in west Mosul, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, calling for US assistance to the unit to be suspended. The latest report of executions comes after the release of videos allegedly shot in the Mosul area that appeared to show Iraqi forces executing one detainee and brutally beating a foreign policy that harms its neighbors and contributes to regional instability,” said Reem Daffa, the executive director of the committee, known by the acronym SAPRAC. But while Daffa said SAPRAC does no lobbying, it has registered as a lobbying firm with Congress and tweeted a Qatar attack ad at Trump. It also has not filed paperwork with the Justice Department despite the committee being listed as entirely owned by a Saudi national. The Foreign Agents Registration Act, first put in place over concerns about Nazi propagandists operating in the US ahead of World War II, requires those working on behalf of other countries or their citizens to file regular reports to the Justice Department. There are no similar rules in Britain, though the crisis recently could be seen on the streets of London. Pro-Qatar ads appeared on the city’s famous black taxis, bearing the message: “Lift the Blockade Against the People of Qatar.” Al-Jazeera Arabic even did a story about them. But whether any of it will sway policy makers remains unclear. “The prevailing view is that there are no perfect allies,” recently wrote Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. “So whatever money the Gulf countries are spending in Washington, they should know it is not very well spent.” In other news, the United Arab Emirates’ central bank has asked all banks and financial institutions to stop dealing with 18 more individuals and entities with alleged links to Qatar, the state news agency WAM reported on Thursday. The move makes it the first financial watchdog in the Gulf to act on the new blacklist, with regulators in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt likely to follow. The four Arab countries announced on July 25 that they were blacklisting nine groups based in Yemen and Libya and nine people from several Arab countries, saying all were directly or indirectly linked to Qatar, which the Saudi-led bloc accuses of financing terrorism. Doha denies the claims. In a circular, the UAE watchdog asked banks and financial institutions to “start immediate search for and freezing of all bank accounts, investments, and deposits that may be held by any individual or entity” included on the July 25 list. The latest move suggests the twomonth spat between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours is no closer to a resolution despite mediation by the United States and Kuwait. UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on his Twitter account that “we have to go on without Qatar”. Qatar said on Wednesday that the new blacklist was “a disappointing surprise” and that it was doing all it could to fight extremism. The four Arab states cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar — a major global gas supplier and host to the biggest US military base in the Middle East — on June 5, accusing it of financing militant groups in Syria and allying with Iran, their regional foe. WAM reported on Wednesday evening that the move was part of the four countries’ efforts to fight terrorism

Inspection push Continued from Page 1 Trump was eager to declare Tehran in violation, even though the International Atomic Energy Agency that monitors compliance says its infractions are minor. At the urging of top Cabinet members, Trump begrudgingly agreed at the last minute to avoid a showdown for another three months — but only with assurances the US would increase pressure on Iran to test whether the deal is truly capable of addressing its nuclear ambitions and other troublesome activities. Trump faces another certification deadline in three months, and it’s far from clear that either new inspections or any “fixes” to address whether his concerns will be in place by then. Trump told The Wall Street Journal this week he expects to say Iran isn’t complying, setting a high bar for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other aides to persuade him otherwise. “If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago,” Trump said. To that end, the administration is seeking to force Iran to let in IAEA inspectors to military sites where the US intelligence community believes the Islamic Republic may be cheating on the deal, several officials said. Access to Iran’s military sites was one of the most contentious issues in the 2015 deal, in which Tehran agreed to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

Iran tests rocket

Iraqi boys attend a class at a school in west Mosul on July 27. (AFP)

others. Iraq declared victory in Mosul on July 11, but abuses by security forces and the anger they stoke could pose a potentially major threat to long-term stability in an area that was only just recaptured from the Islamic State group. “An Iraqi army division trained by the United States government allegedly executed several dozen prisoners in Mosul’s Old City,” HRW said in a statement, referring to an area on its western side. “Two international observers detailed the summary killings of four people by the Iraqi army’s 16th Division in mid-July 2017, and saw evidence that the unit had executed many more people, including a boy,” the watchdog said. The international US-led coalition against IS has provided training, advice and other assistance to various Iraqi units.

“The US government should make sure it is no longer providing assistance to the Iraqi unit responsible for this spate of executions,” Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director, said in the statement. Earlier in July, HRW found a series of videos posted online that appeared to show other abuses by Iraqi forces in the Mosul area. In one clip, men in Iraqi army uniforms beat a bearded detainee, drag him to the edge of a cliff, throw him off and shoot him and another body at the bottom. Three other videos show men in army and police uniforms beating detainees. Earlier in the Mosul operation, an Iraqi journalist embedded with the Rapid Response Division reported that members of the special forces unit carried out torture, rapes and killings.

The journalist, who has since left Iraq, documented some of the abuses on film. IS overran Mosul and swathes of other territory in the summer of 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost. Widespread anger among Iraqi Sunni Arabs — over issues including abuses by security forces — helped aid the jihadist resurgence which culminated in the 2014 offensive. Abuses by security forces now are likewise a boon to IS, which is thought likely to increasingly revert to bombings and hit-and-run attacks as its cross-border statehood project continues to fall apart. In Mosul, the missing are everywhere, their families hunting through the ruined Iraqi city for traces of lost husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters.

by continually updating their lists of groups and individuals designated as terrorist. Last month, the UAE central bank ordered local banks to stop dealing with 59 individuals and 12 entities with alleged links to Qatar and to freeze their assets. It also told them to apply enhanced due diligence for any accounts they hold with six Qatari banks.

Charlie Gard

Kuwait funds

‘Magsaysay’ Continued from Page 1 the foundation said. Gethsie Shanmugam, 82, a teacher and psychological counselor from Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil community, won for braving bombings and threats of arrests in conflict zones to counsel war widows, orphans and children traumatized by three decades of brutal civil war in her country, the foundation said. Abdon Nababan from Indonesia’s Sumatra Island was cited for leading an effort to return state-controlled forest land to indigenous communities and give them a political voice and identity. Singaporean businessman Tony Tay, who was abandoned by his father as a child and brought by his homeless mother to an orphanage, won the award for organizing volunteers starting in 1983 to cook and distribute thousands of free meal packs every day to feed the elderly, migrant workers and low-income families in his affluent nation.

Almost half Continued from Page 1 But he said there are IS counterattacks, militant sleeper cells and tunnels in the area. “It was not easy, we have casualties and martyrs,” he said, adding that the fighting was ongoing. In the eastern front, where SDF forces breached IS defenses on the edge of the old city about a month ago, fighters have now reached the old citadel, an SDF commander in charge of one sector in the front told the AP. “As we move forward we find a tunnel every 100 meters,” Jihad Khabat said. He said the enemy, “besieged and in distress,” hides in deep and long tunnels under the city, from where they can hit Syrian fighters in daily counterattacks. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying a deal with the Syrian government allowing Russia to keep its air base in Syria for almost half a century, official documents show. The original deal, signed in Damascus in January, sets out the terms under which Russia can use its Hmeymim air base in Latakia Province which it has used to carry out air strikes against forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad. Putin approved the agreement on Wednesday, after the two chambers of the Russian parliament backed it earlier this month, according to the government’s official information portal.

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

Earlier this week Charlie’s parents gave up their legal fight, saying the baby’s condition had deteriorated so far that the window of opportunity to help him had closed. They then sought to take their son home to die, but Great Ormond Street Hospital said Charlie’s complex needs made that impractical. At an emotional hearing on Wednesday, the judge said Charlie would, inevitably, end his days in a hospice. Yates left the hearing in tears, as the hospital and Charlie’s parents continued to disagree on how long he should be kept on life support once he was taken to the hospice. The case attracted international attention after US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis expressed support for Charlie’s parents. USbased religious and anti-abortion activists flew to London to support the family’s battle.

Meanwhile, Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi on Thursday commended the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s supportive role of the Yemeni army in seizing the strategic Khalid Ibn AlWaleed military camp. Hadi referred to the sacrifices of the coalition for the Yemeni people “across all sites and fronts” in the “battle for defending a common identity and destiny,” according to the official Yemeni news agency. “The victories achieved by the Yemeni army on the country’s western coast, supported by the Arab coalition forces, will not stop until the liberation of all areas the controlled by the coupists,” he said. Restoring Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed camp is the beginning of the defeat of the coupists, and the liberation of all Yemeni governorates, the agency quoted Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr as saying. The Saudi-led Arab coalition supporting the legitimacy of Yemen said on Thursday that Group Capt Turki bin Saleh Al-Malki would be its official spokesman in the place of Maj Gen Ahmad Aseeri. In a statement, the Coalition said it would maintain its “communication policy based on transparency and will provide essential information regarding military operations aimed at supporting the legitimacy of Yemen,” the Saudi state news agency reported. Al-Malki, who has already assumed his responsibilities, will deliver press briefings as usual and will respond to all forms of local, regional and global media, added the statement. Warring sides in Yemen’s civil war promised visiting UN agency chiefs to clear obstacles to aid delivery in a nation where cholera is spreading rapidly and hundreds of thousands of children are severely malnourished, the head of the UN child welfare agency said Thursday. The growing suffering of Yemen’s civilians, including millions of children, is the result of fighting that erupted in September 2014 and is driven by regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US has backed a Saudi-led coalition with intelligence, satellite imagery and billions of dollars in weapons sales. The way to end to end the entirely man-made disaster is clear, said Anthony Lake, the executive director of UNICEF. “Stop the war,” he said, addressing those involved in the civil war, both inside and outside Yemen. Lake said ordinary people around the world should feel “immense pity, even agony, for all of these children and others who are suffering, and they should feel anger, anger that this, our generation, is scarred by the irresponsibility of governments and others to allow these things to be happening.” In Yemen, he stood by the bedside of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, accompanied by mothers who had struggled to get them to the hospital. “What stays with you is their eyes,” he said of the children. “Their eyes are looking up at their mothers with this look of trust, and we won’t know for how many that trust will be fulfilled and they live, and (how many) others will die.”

Honey-pot hackers Continued from Page 1 said. Her social media biographies appeared to lift details from a New York photographer’s LinkedIn profile. Dell SecureWorks said it had high confidence Mia Ash was created and operated by the Iranian hacking group known as Cobalt Gypsy. Iranian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On an October morning in 2012, the system administrator of a tiny Vermont defense contractor arrived at work to find the business’ computers had been hacked and a sophisticated software program stolen. Prosecutors later concluded the thieves were a group of Iranians who sold the software to organizations within the Iranian government. The hack, revealed in an indictment unsealed last week, shows that mercenary hackers who sell stolen data to friendly governments are a growing threat to defense contractors, experts say. “They are essentially nonsanctioned espionage groups,” said Brian Wallace, the lead security data scientist for the Irvine, California-based company computer security company Cylance Inc “The government doesn’t create them, they don’t own them. They operate and get almost of their income from the government.” The South Burlington company, Arrow Tech Associates, makes software used to monitor projectiles in flight. Arrow Tech President Charles Hillman said the firm was able to track the hackers’ every keystroke, which helped the FBI trace the intrusion to three Iranians. “We were very impressed with what they got done in just a few hours,” he added. Iranian officials in Washington referred an emailed question on the issue from The Associated Press to “the pertinent department.” There was no further reply.

In other news, Iran on Thursday “successfully” tested a satellite-launch rocket, days after warning Washington of a response to new US sanctions over the Islamic republic’s ballistic missile programme, state television said. It said the launch vehicle, named Simorgh after a bird in Iranian mythology, was capable of propelling a satellite weighing 250 kilograms (550 pounds) to an altitude of 500 kms (300 miles) above earth. The launch marked the official inauguration of Iran’s Imam Khomeini space centre, named after the late founder of the Islamic republic, built for sending satellites into space, the television said, without giving its location. Western states suspect Iran of developing the technology capable of launching long-range ballistic missiles with conventional or nuclear payloads, a charge denied by Tehran which insists its space programme has purely peaceful aims. Iran’s four other launches of domestically produced satellites since 2009 have all sparked condemnation in the West. President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran would respond in kind to any breach by the United States of a 2015 nuclear deal after the House of Representatives passed a new sanctions bill.

Newswatch Continued from Page 1 DUBAI: At least five people have been killed in eastern Saudi Arabia in two days, activists and a family member said on Thursday, as security forces begin an operation to flush out suspected Shi’ite militants from the town of Awamiya in Qatif province. Saudi interior ministry spokesmen could not immediately be reached by telephone for comment on the reports by community and political activists on social media about the violence in Awamiya. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ WASHINGTON:

The White House on Thursday announced the departure of a contentious top Middle East advisor, Derek Harvey, from Donald Trump’s National Security Council staff. “The administration is working with Colonel Harvey to identify positions in which his background and expertise can be best utilized,” the White House said in a statement announcing the departure. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

PRAGUE: A Czech woman stabbed in an Egyptian holiday resort earlier this month has died, the Czech Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The woman was among the victims of an Egyptian man who fatally stabbed two Germans and wounded four other tourists at the Hurghada resort on the Red Sea on July 14. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ WASHINGTON: US officials are discussing whether to withhold a portion of US assistance to Egypt to protest Egyptian passage of a law that imposes restrictions on non-governmental organizations, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. Officials have not reached an agreement on whether to proceed with a recommendation to President Donald Trump and his senior leadership, but there is a feeling that some action is necessary in reaction to the move by Egypt, the official told Reuters. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

CAIRO: Egypt has created a “national council” to combat the rise of Islamist “terrorism” which has targeted its security forces and Coptic Christian minority, in a presidential decree issued on Wednesday. The decree, published in Egypt’s official gazette, sets up a “national council to combat terrorism and extremism” by adopting a “global national strategy”. (AFP)

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World News Roundup

A section of the old Kosciuszko Bridge is approached the Brooklyn Bridge as it is transported by barge on the East River in New York on July 26. The new bridge, which spans Brooklyn and Queens, opened to traffic in April. The second span will be finished in 2020. (AP)

Military

HealthCare

Trump’s action hit

GOP eyes narrow bill to advance goal

Pentagon flat-footed on ‘transsexual ban’

Senate poised for showdown

WASHINGTON, July 27, (Agencies): President Donald Trump abruptly declared a ban on transgender troops serving anywhere in the US military, catching the Pentagon flat-footed and unable to explain what it called Trump’s “guidance.” His proclamation, on Twitter rather than any formal announcement, drew bipartisan denunciations and threw currently serving transgender soldiers into limbo. “Please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military,” the commander in chief tweetTrump ed Wednesday. Trump wrote that he had consulted with “my generals and military experts,” but he did not mention Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the retired Marine general who less than one month ago told the military service chiefs to spend another six months weighing the costs and benefits of allowing transgender individuals to enlist. At the time, Mattis said this “does not presuppose the outcome of the review,” but Trump’s tweets appeared to have done just that. The Pentagon has refused to release any data on the number of transgender people currently serving. A Rand Corp. study has estimated the number at between 1,320 and 6,630 out of 1.3 million active-duty troops. Criticism for Trump’s action was immediate and strong from both political parties. His action is “harmful, misguided and weakens, not strengthens our military,” said Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and Vietnam War hero, said Trump was simply wrong. “Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving,” he said. “There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train and deploy to leave the military -- regardless of their gender identity.” Not everyone at the Capitol agreed. Rep. Duncan Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said, “The president’s decision was the absolute right decision. ... It’s about time that a decision is made to restore the warrior culture and allow the US military to get back to business.”

Concerned Transgender people already in uniform were concerned about what comes next. “Everybody is hurt, everybody is scared,” said Rudy Akbarian, 26, who is in the military but did not want to identify his branch. Akbarian, who said his chain of command was supportive as he transitioned from female to male, said his time to re-enlist is coming up and he might stay to ensure there is a strong voice for transgender troops like himself. “I’m going to remain hopeful,” he said. “America is really progressive and definitely smart, and there are a lot of transgender members serving in critical roles.” Shane Ortega, a 30-year-old retired staff sergeant in Los Angeles, said he’s concerned more for civilians than transgender troops. Ortega, who transitioned to male while serving in the Army and served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said, “When Donald Trump attacks what America calls its heroes or its warrior class, it means it’s only a matter of time before he starts attacking and disassembling the American public, and that’s what I have the most fear of.”

US Sen John McCain (R-AZ) (left), who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) head for the Senate Floor for a vote at the US Capitol on July 26 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Durbin

Schumer

Discovery Student-loan forgiveness halted: The US Education Department has not approved any applications for studentloan forgiveness in cases of possible fraud since President Donald Trump took office, according to records sent to an Illinois senator. Democratic Sen Richard Durbin released those records Wednesday and blasted the department for its inaction and for a June decision to delay and rewrite Obama-era rules that would have made it easier for students to get loans forgiven if they were deceived by their schools. “This response shows that while the Department of Education has illegally delayed the new borrower defense rule, it has also stopped processing federal student loan relief under current regulations for tens of thousands of defrauded borrowers,” Durbin said in a statement. “The department can’t ignore these borrowers any longer.” Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Durbin and four other Democratic senators sent a series of questions to the department on May 17 amid concerns that the pipeline to student-loan forgiveness had stalled under the Trump administration. Also signing the letter were Sen Patty Murray of Washington, Sen Chuck Schumer of New York, Sen Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Sen Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Under President Barack Obama, the department approved more than 28,000 claims for loan forgiveness from former students of Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit colleges that closed in 2015 amid accusations that it falsified job-placement data and altered student grades. Those claims topped $558 million. But in the letter responding to Durbin’s questions, Acting Under Secretary James Manning wrote that “no borrower defense applications have been approved between Jan 20, 2017, and today.”

WASHINGTON, July 27, (Agencies): US Senate Republicans begin their final push on Thursday to unravel Obamacare, seeking to wrap up their seven-year offensive against former Democratic president Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law that extended insurance coverage to millions. Republicans leaders hope a pareddown “skinny” bill that repeals several key Obamacare provisions can gain enough support to pass after several attempts at broader legislation failed to win approval earlier this week. The skinny bill’s details will be released at some point on Thursday, before the Senate embarks on a marathon voting session that could extend into Friday morning. The legislation is expected to eliminate mandates requiring individuals and employers to obtain or provide health insurance, and abolish a tax on medical device manufacturers. The effort comes after a chaotic twomonth push by Senate Republicans to pass their version of legislation that made it out of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in May. Members of the party, including President Donald Trump, campaigned on a pledge to repeal and replace what they say is a failing law that allows the government to intrude in people’s healthcare decisions. Republicans were optimistic about the skinny bill’s chances of receiving at least 50 votes in the Senate where they hold a 52-48 majority. Senator John Cornyn, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, said the bill, once The records also revealed that the department has continued to receive new applications from borrowers who say they were victims of fraud. In total, the department said it received nearly 15,000 applications between Jan. 20 and July 5, mostly from Corinthian borrowers and from former students of ITT Technical Institute, a chain that closed last year. The number of new applications is likely

approved, would go to a special negotiating committee of lawmakers from both chambers that would reconcile the House and Senate versions into a single piece of legislation. Republican leaders had tapped a group to craft legislation largely behind closed doors, exposing rifts within the party. While conservatives said the group’s proposals did not go far enough, moderates said they could not support measures estimated to deprive tens of millions of health insurance. The Senate voted 55-45 on Wednesday against a simple repeal of Obamacare, which would have provided a two-year delay so Congress could work out a replacement. Seven Republicans opposed the bill. On Tuesday, senators rejected the repeal-and-replace plan Republicans had been working on since May.

Votes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can lose only two Republican votes to pass healthcare legislation. Even then, he would have to call on Vice President Mike Pence to cast a tie-breaking vote as head of the Senate. Democrats are united in opposition. A bipartisan group of 10 governors urged senators in a letter on Wednesday to start over and use a drafting process that includes governors from both parties. Governors of Nevada, Ohio, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Colorado were among those who signed the letter, all of whose states have Republican senators. The Congressional Budget Office, a to swell even further, experts say, amid a campaign by many state attorneys general to notify students who might be eligible for loan relief. Overall, the department said there are more than 65,000 pending claims for relief. Although most come from Corinthian and ITT students, others are from people who attended schools that are still in operation, including DeVry University and the

nonpartisan research agency, estimated on Wednesday that a combination of provisions that might go into the skinny bill would lead to 16 million people losing their health coverage by 2026. It had earlier estimated that the two other bills rejected by the Senate this week would have led to 22 million to 32 million people losing their health insurance by 2026. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republican leaders for crafting a “yet-to-be-disclosed final bill” in secret. “We don’t know if skinny repeal is going to be their final bill, but if it is, the CBO says it would cause costs to go up, and millions to lose insurance,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. The “skinny bill” is an admittedly lowest-common-denominator approach, and it may not even have the votes to pass, either. But as Republicans search for how to keep their years-long effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare” alive, they’re coming to believe that the “skinny bill” may be the only option left. “It still keeps it in play,” said Sen Steve Daines of Montana. “It’s threading a needle at the moment, trying to get 51 in the United States Senate.” The strategy emerged after Republicans barely succeeded earlier this week in opening debate on health legislation in the narrowly divided Senate, winning the procedural vote to do so thanks only to Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie. University of Phoenix. Many advocacy groups and some Democrats in Congress have urged the department to clear the backlog, saying the delay has left thousands of borrowers strapped with debt that’s eligible to be erased under existing federal rules. In June, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said that “promises made to students under the current rule will be promises kept” and added that her office was working to discharge more than 16,000 loans that were previously approved to be erased under Obama. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Trump ‘donates’ to education:

Former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, who claims to have fatally shot Obama bin Laden, talks about joining the service for a girl at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif on July 26. (AP)

President Donald Trump is donating three months of his salary to the Department of Education. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump chose to give the department $100,000. His first quarter salary donation went to the Department of Interior. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says the donation is being used to pay for a science, technology, engineering and mathematics camp sponsored by the department. As a candidate, Trump had promised not to take a salary. By law he must be paid, so he is donating the money. Taxpayers can write off such donations, potentially lowering their income taxes. DeVos says she is grateful for the donation. The Trump administration proposed a 13 percent cut to the Education Department’s budget. (AP)

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Cyber ‘Prevent brazen attacks’

Stamos calls for culture change among hackers LAS VEGAS, July 27, (Agencies): Against a backdrop of cyberattacks that amount to full-fledged sabotage, Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos brought a sobering message to the hackers and security experts assembled at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. In effect, he said, it’s time to grow up. Too many security researchers, he suggested, are focused on “really sexy, difficult problems” that don’t address the common vulnerabilities that allow malware attacks to wreak havoc. And too many securityminded hackers seem intent on demonstrating newly discovered hacks, such as making an ATM spit out cash or taking remote control of an internet-controlled car, rather than shoring up more mundane defenses. While part of that reflects the healthy intellectual curiosity of hackers, it’s also driven by marketing and economic incentives, Stamos said. “I appreciate the showmanship, but we need a little more thoughtfulness, a little less showmanship in our field,” he told reporters after his speech. Global attacks, serious damage

Since May, the world has been rocked by two major international cyberattacks — Stamos the ransomware WannaCry and a likely state-sponsored attack called NotPetya that spread out of Ukraine. Those and other recent digital assaults have paralyzed hospitals, disrupted commerce, caused blackouts and interfered with national elections. Stamos himself was formerly the chief security officer at Yahoo, which last year disclosed breaches of more than a billion user accounts that dated back to 2013 and 2014.

Matured Black Hat, now in its 20th year, has matured since what Stamos, a longtime attendee of the computer security conference, described as its “edgy and transgressive” early days. It has grown more professional and corporate over time. Stamos called for a culture change among hackers and more emphasis on defense — and basic digital hygiene — over the thrilling hunt for undiscovered vulnerabilities. And he called for diversifying an industry that skews white and male, and generally showing more empathy for the people whom security professionals are tasked to protect. “It’s unfair for us to say that users should be better,” said Stamos, challenging his profession to find better ways to help people solve the most common vulnerabilities, such as reuse of passwords , email phishing attempts , and not updating devices to patch bugs. Building a wall, metaphorically

Stamos announced that Facebook is investing $1 million to encourage defensive security research through an upcoming contest. He also revealed the company will contribute $500,000 to a Harvard University-based bipartisan election-security project. That effort will be co-led by former presidential campaign officials for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney. Facebook and its rival Google will help create an information-sharing and analysis hub that Stamos said could help local officials and campaigns prevent attacks. Stamos isn’t the only one calling for a broader focus on defensive techniques. “We should celebrate defense,” said conference attendee Amit Yoran, CEO of Columbia, Marylandbased security firm Tenable, and a former cybersecurity official during the administration of President George W. Bush. “We focus on the threat of the day, the attack of the day, instead of focusing on the foundational issues.” But some attendees — Stamos among them — also point out that the bug-squashing hacker ethos still plays an important foundational role in helping to understand what needs to be fixed. “Every single hacker is going to start by attacking and trying to hack things,” said Jaime Blasco, a chief scientist at San Mateo, California-based Alienvault, who has been trying to compromise systems since he was a 12-year-old growing up in Spain. “I don’t think it’s bad. If you want to be a good defender, you have to understand hackers, and you have to have been one of them to know what you’re dealing with.” ❑





Facebook Inc will provide initial funding of $500,000 for a nonprofit organization that aims to help protect political parties, voting systems and information providers from hackers and propaganda attacks, the world’s largest social network said on Wednesday. The initiative, dubbed Defending Digital Democracy, is led by the former campaign chairs for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney, and will initially be based at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, which announced the project last week. Facebook said it hoped additional participants would turn it into a freestanding information-sharing center controlled by its members. Facebook, with two billion monthly users, bills itself as a vehicle for political debate and education, but was also used as a major platform to spread fake news and propaganda during the US election campaign in 2016. Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos announced the company’s backing at the opening of the Black Hat information security conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The event, named after the term for malicious hackers, is aimed mainly at corporate and government security professionals. Stamos declined to say how much money the Facebook would spend. “Right now we are the founding sponsor, but we are in discussions with other tech organizations,” Stamos said in an interview before the speech. “The goal for our money specifically is to help build a standalone ISAO (Information Sharing and Analysis Organization) that pulls in all the different groups that have some kind of vulnerability.” The project will be managed by Eric Rosenbach, a former US Assistant Secretary of Defense who is codirector of the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. “Most campaigns don’t have the tools right now to defend themselves from cyber attacks,” Clinton campaign chair Robby Mook said in an email. “Our initiative aims to fill that void and to help both Democratic and Republican campaigns defend themselves with greater information-sharing and security tools.” “This is a forward-looking and bipartisan effort to tackle a real problem,” said 2012 Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades in an email.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (right), meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (left), at the State Department July 26, in Washington, DC. Inset: (left to right) Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shake hands during a brief media availability before their meeting at the State Department, July 26, in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Tillerson denies suggestions he will resign US Secretary of State on Wednesday Rex Tillerson denied suggestions that he plans to resign because of disagreement with the White House. “I’m not going anywhere,” Tillerson told reporters said as received Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed

bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Tillerson described his relationship with President Donald Trump as “good” and he would remain in his job “as long as the president lets me.” Tillerson’s job status has been the subject of much speculation this week

in Washington following a report from CNN. CNN said that among Tillerson’s growing differences with the White House were fresh debate over Iran policy and the process of naming White House personnel, as well as

Trump’s chaotic and confusing foreign policy approach. The network quoted anonymous sources as saying Tillerson told people close to him that he would leave his job by the end of the year. (AFP)

Sanctions Russia risks decades of low growth under US sanctions

Trump could seek ‘tougher deal’ US President Donald Trump walks down the West Wing Colonnade to speak to the American Legion Boys Nation and the American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, July 26. (AFP)

Michelle

Brownback

America Trump to nominate Brownback: US President Donald Trump intends to nominate Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback as ambassador at large for international religious freedom, the White House said on Wednesday. Brownback, who previously served in both the US House of Representatives and Senate, would assume the position created in the State Department by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, of which he was one of the key sponsors. In 2015, Brownback issued an executive order protecting the religious freedom of clergy and organizations that opposed same-sex marriage as Kansas began to comply with the landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. “We ... recognize that religious liberty is at the heart of who we are as Kansans and Americans, and should be protected,” Brownback, governor since 2011, said at the time of the order. He was re-elected in 2014 and is not eligible to serve a third consecutive term. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ Scalise leaves hospital: Steve Scalise, the US congressman shot last month by a gunman angry about President Donald Trump, has been released from the hospital and will undergo extended rehabilitation, the hospital announced Wednesday. “Yesterday, he was discharged from MedStar Washington Hospital Center and is now beginning a period of intensive inpatient rehabilitation,” the hospital said in a statement. The 51-year-old lawmaker from Louisiana “has made excellent progress in his recovery from a life-threatening gunshot wound six weeks ago,” the hospital added. “He is in good spirits and is looking forward to his return to work once he completes rehabilitation.” Scalise, a rising conservative star in Congress, is the number three Republican in the House of Representatives and holds the position of majority whip, who rallies the party’s votes in the chamber. He was shot in the left hip by a highvelocity rifle wielded by a gunmen who stormed a congressional charity baseball game practice on June 14. A lobbyist, a congressional aide and a US Capitol Police officer who exchanged fire with the gunman were also shot. They have been released from the hospital and

WASHINGTON, July 27, (RTRS): US President Donald Trump could veto pending legislation that would slap new sanctions on Russia in order to push for a tougher deal than the one winding through Congress, a top White House aide said on Thursday. “He may sign the sanctions exactly the way they are or he may veto the sanctions and negotiate an even tougher deal against the Russians,” White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci told CNN. His comments came after US lawmakers on Wednesday reached an agreement that paves the way for the US Senate to pass a bill as soon as this week to impose new sanctions on Russia and bar Trump from easing sanctions on Moscow without congressional approval. Russia has warned it could retaliate against Washington, while the European Union said the US move might affect its energy security and prompt it to act, too. The US House of Representatives has already approved the sanctions. If the bill passes the Senate as expected, it would be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto.

Measure If Trump vetos it, however, the measure is expected to garner enough bipartisan support to override it. Scaramucci, who was appointed on Friday, cast the president’s consideration of a possible veto in light of his core supporters in an interview on CNN’s “New Day” program. “He is a counterintuitive, counterpunching personality,” citing the president’s recent “fan base” at a recent rally. “The American people get it. The American people like what he is doing. The establishment does not like what he is doing. He’s going to disrupt the establishment.” Meanwhile, Russia risks being saddled with US sanctions for decades, curbing economic growth and preventing it from regaining its status as a leading economic power, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin said in an interview. are expected to recover. The attack stunned Washington, in part because of its political nature. The round that struck Scalise fragmented into hundreds of pieces and tore apart bones, internal organs and blood

EU must retaliate if hurt by US sanctions on Russia: biz group BERLIN, July 27, (RTRS): Europe must be prepared to respond in kind if the United States’ proposed new sanctions against Russia end up hurting its companies, an influential German industry association said on Thursday. US lawmakers reached an agreement on Wednesday paving the way for the US Senate to pass a bill as early as this week to impose the new sanctions on Russia and bar President Donald Trump from easing them without Congress’ approval. The European Union fears the new US restrictions could be an obstacle to its companies doing business with Russia and threaten the bloc’s energy supply lines, but the 28-country bloc is divided over how to respond. The head of the German Committee on East European Economic Relations said potential damage to European energy sector companies with business interests in Russia could justify counter-sanctions. “It’s the last thing we want, but we must keep the option open,” Michael Harms told a news conference in Berlin. “The sanctions they want against pipeline projects seem designed to boost US energy exports to Europe, create US jobs and strengthen US foreign policy.” Unlike the United States, whose

growing production of shale gas has slashed its reliance on energy imports, much of Central Europe depends on imports of Russian gas through a vast latticework of pipelines. “Imposing sanctions that hit a third party, namely Europe, and at the same time promoting the American economy with the slogan ‘buy American gas’ — that’s pretty striking,” said Kurt Bock, chief executive of Germans chemicals giant BASF, which drills for gas in Russia. The EU has imposed its own sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis, and Germany has taken a particularly tough stance towards Moscow. Last week Reuters reported that Germany was urging Brussels to add four more Russian nationals and companies to its blacklist over Siemens gas turbines delivered to Ukraine’s Crimea region, annexed by Moscow in 2014. German economy minister Brigitte Zyries complained on Thursday that Washington had abandoned the “common line” it has maintained with Europe over Russia. But despite the EU sanctions and Europe’s criticism of Moscow on other fronts as well as Ukraine — including allegations that Russian spies are meddling in Western elections — Russia remains a crucial business partner for Germany.

Alexei Kudrin told Reuters that the current proposed tightening of sanctions in Washington should not have any serious impact. But he called for a major structural reform programme after the 2018 presidential election. He said that was the only way for Russia to return to growth of more than 2 percent a year. Putin has not yet said

whether he will run for re-election next year, but is widely expected to do so and to win what would be a fourth term as president. Putin has tasked Kudrin, who has known Putin since they worked together in the St Petersburg Mayor’s Office in the 1990s, with devising a strategy to lift Russian economic growth after 2018.

vessels. Scalise faced “an imminent risk of death,” according to doctors. He spent weeks in and out of intensive care, undergoing multiple surgeries. News of his release brought a flood of

messages from Congress. “Awesome news. Can’t wait to have you back to work,” House Speaker Paul Ryan posted on Twitter. “Pleased to hear my friend @ SteveScalise has been discharged from the hospital & wish him well as he continues his recovery,” said Steny Hoyer, the number two House Democrat. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Michelle talks emotional scars:

In this July 26, photo provided by the US Coast Guard, boats float beside a capsized vessel off the coast of Wareham, Mass. Authorities said 12 people, most of them children, were rescued and hospitalized after the boat overturned Wednesday. (AP)

Michelle Obama says breaking the glass ceiling in becoming the first black first lady left a few lasting emotional scars. Obama spoke at an event for the Women’s Foundation of Colorado in Denver on Wednesday night. The Denver Post reports Obama (http://dpo. st/2uYFY04) said she was hurt “knowing that after eight years of working really hard for this country, there are still people who won’t see me for what I am because of my skin color.” The Post says she referenced people calling her an ape and talking about her body. Obama says she wants the world to know women endure “small tiny cuts” every day “and we’re still getting up.” She reiterated she wouldn’t seek public office but she and former President Barack Obama would remain in public service. (AP)

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World News Roundup Britain Warship to S. China Sea eyed

UK eyes bigger role in Asia after ‘Brexit’ SYDNEY, July 27, (Agencies): Britain plans to play a bigger role in Asia after Brexit, including deploying aircraft carriers to the region, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Thursday. Johnson backed the campaign to quit the EU and said the decision had given his country the opportunity to “think afresh” about its international role, while maintaining close ties with its European partners. “One of the purposes of my trip is to get over the message that we are now going to be more committed to the Asia-Pacific region and more committed to Australia,” he told The Australian newspaper in a Sydney interview. “People want the involvement of a country that sticks up for a rules-based international system, that is prepared to deploy its military in the area, as we are.” After attending annual talks in Sydney between the British and Australian foreign and defence ministers, Johnson added that one way his nation would be “stepping up” in the region would be through supporting freedom of navigation. “You will have seen last year how we sent a squadron of typhoons to Korea and JaJohnson pan,” he told reporters later Thursday. “One of the first things we will do with the two new colossal aircraft carriers that we have just built is send them on a freedom of navigation operation to this area.” The comments came as British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon made a pitch to build Australia’s next fleet of warships, with Spain and Italy also in the running for the lucrative deal to construct nine frigates. Australia earlier this year detailed a massive Aus$89 billion (US$70.4 billion) shipbuilding strategy in the nation’s largest peacetime naval investment.

Funeral attendees, who were requested to bring a rose, arrive for the funeral of Manchester Arena bomb victim SaffieRose Roussos at Manchester Cathedral in Manchester, northwest England. (Inset): Mother, Lisa (left), and brother Alexander look on prior to the funeral service. (AFP)

Increase The big increase in defence spending follows Beijing’s assertion of its regional power status through a military build-up in the contested South China Sea. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich waters despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. “What people need is certainty and stability. We believe that legal certainty in the South China Sea is hugely important,” Johnson added to The Australian. “We don’t want to see the militarisation of that area. We believe that for world trade to prosper there must be a fairness about the way sea lanes are going to operate.” Another key issue discussed during the meeting was a free-trade agreement with Australia post-Brexit, with Johnson stressing that Britain’s greater regional military involvement went hand-in-hand with an economic pact. “The increase in our defence budgets that Michael Fallon has alluded to do allow for the UK to step up in this region,” Johnson told reporters. “The change in our circumstances in our relationship with the European Union also allow us now to do a big free trade deal with Australia. The two things go together. “We believe that it is the guaranteeing of the rulesbased international system, the preservation of the security and stability of this region, that allow for economic growth.” Meanwhile, Johnson also said on Thursday that he supports a proposed free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Australia, as his country looks to strengthen its relationships with allies ahead of its departure from the European Union. Johnson and his Australian counterpart, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, announced the two nations would boost trade, intelligence-sharing and military ties following an annual meeting in Sydney that included the defense ministers of both countries. “As we go through the process of leaving the arrangements of the European Union, we are going to widen our horizons and work even more closely,” Johnson told reporters. “We have today reaffirmed our shared goal of concluding a free trade agreement as soon as possible after we leave the EU.” Johnson, who had advocated for Britain’s EU departure, said any deal would include an “open and generous” visa regime for Australians looking to travel to the UK

Control “What we will be able to do once we take back control of our immigration arrangements is to have a system that is fair,” he said. “We want to welcome talented Australians.” The ministers were short on specifics over what impact a trade deal would have, though Johnson did have an answer for a British journalist who asked whether it would result in cheaper Australian wine for Britons. “Never mind Australian wine, which is, of course, delicious,” Johnson said. “There are tariffs on Scotch whisky in this country which seem to me to amount to a cruel deprivation of the Australian people of Scotch whisky at the price they could have it. I merely throw it out there. Whereas I don’t think we have any tariffs at all on, for instance, Bundaberg Rum.” Thursday’s ministerial meeting also focused on counterterrorism efforts and the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. Both British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon and Australian Defense Minister Maris Payne urged China to use its influence over North Korea to help de-escalate the crisis. “China has to engage,” Fallon said. “With international influence comes responsibility. It is now for Beijing to use the influence it has over the North Korean regime to get it to abandon its program.” In a lighter moment, the famously jovial Johnson made a point to thank Bishop — an avid runner — for giving him a gift intended to help his own jogging regimen. “Somebody brought you news I had been out jogging over the last couple of mornings in your wonderful Botanic Gardens in Sydney and you were kind enough just now to give me a very beautiful pair of compression tights — as worn by Hugh Jackman, I’m given to understand,” Johnson said. “So thank you, Julie.” In an appearance later at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney think tank, Johnson was asked for his thoughts on US President Donald Trump, whom Johnson once dubbed “clearly out of his mind.” The foreign secretary replied that Trump was actually “extremely gracious” when the two met. “He said, rather mystifyingly, how often he was mistaken for me ... which I thought was a low blow,” Johnson said, prompting laughter from the crowd.

Funeral held for youngest victim of Manchester attack

Andrew, (right), father of Saffie-Rose Roussos, receives comfort from a member of the clergy prior to her funeral service at Manchester Cathedral in Manchester, northwest England on July 26. (AFP)

Mourners carrying roses paid their last respects on Wednesday to eight-yearold Saffie Rose Roussos, the youngest of the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bomb attack. Her mother Lisa Roussos, who was badly injured in the attack, attended the funeral with her arm still in a cast at Manchester Cathedral in northwest

England. Saffie’s father Andrew was one of the bearers of the wicker casket, which was adorned with roses. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and city police chief Ian Hopkins were also among the mourners in what was the final funeral from the tragedy. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi, a

British Muslim of Libyan origin, blew himself up outside one of the arena exits after a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande, who is popular with teens and pre-teens. Seven of the victims were under 18 years old. Although the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, police believe Abedi acted largely alone. (AFP)

Brexit Possible delays to Brexit talks: negotiator

UK weighs EU immigration impact Butt

Ouseley

Britain ‘UK girl charged over attack plot’: A 17-year-old girl who allegedly married an Islamic State group fighter via Skype appeared in a London court Wednesday over plans to carry out a terror attack in Britain. The teenager wed the jihadist over the messaging service in September 2016, the court heard. She had already been arrested on a terrorism charge in August after authorities thwarted her plan to join the IS member in Syria, but was released on bail. Between December and April, the duo allegedly conspired to carry out a terror attack in Britain and the girl planned to receive hand grenades and a firearm. She is accused of receiving instructions on how to use the weapons as well as asking another person for help in carrying out the planned attack. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was taken into custody on April 12 when she was formally charged with the earlier terrorism offence. The charges over the UK attack plot followed. Appearing in court on Wednesday, she spoke only to confirm her age and name before a further court date was set for Aug 11. The girl is not the first young Londoner to allegedly be involved with IS. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON, July 27, (Agencies): Britain on Thursday began a study of the “costs and benefits” of EU immigration that will only be completed by September 2018 — just a few months before it is planning to leave the bloc. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the study would consider the regional distribution of EU migration, which industries are most reliant on it and the role of temporary and seasonal workers in the economy. “We will ensure we continue to attract those who benefit us economically, socially and culturally. “But, at the same time, our new immigration system will continue to give us control of the volume of people coming here,” she wrote in the Financial Times. Rudd supported the campaign for Britain to stay in the European Union and, while she now supports Brexit, her position is seen as more moderate than other cabinet members who want a clean break from the EU. She said on Thursday that she wanted to reassure businesses and EU nationals “that we will ensure there is no ‘cliff edge’ once we leave the bloc”. Josh Hardie, deputy head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), welcomed the study as a “sensible first step” but opposition parties questioned 2015 interior ministry document which outlined new guidance for British universities and colleges to counter extremism on campuses. It cited Butt as a person who expressed views contrary to British values.

why it had not been carried out before. “The NHS (National Health Service), businesses and universities that depend on European citizens need answers now, not in another 14 months’ time,” said Ed Davey, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. The government has outlined proposals for the status of some 3.2 million EU nationals already living in Britain but has not said what new immigration rules it wants once it is out of the bloc.

Rates High rates of immigration from other parts of the EU — around 250,000 people a year — were one of the key drivers behind the victorious campaign for leaving the union in last year’s referendum. EU immigration has fallen by around a quarter since the vote, leaving some sectors such as the health service struggling to fill vacancies. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has indicated that a divorce deal should be in place by October 2018 to allow time for ratification before the scheduled departure date of March 2019. Media reports have highlighted divisions in the government, with some moderates indicating that free moveButt had also argued that collection and dissemination of his personal data by a government counter-terrorism unit was unlawful and amounted to surveillance. He plans to seek the right to appeal against

‘Counter-terror’ challenge rejected: A British judge rejected on Wednesday a case brought against the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, according to lawyers for the claimant, a Muslim activist. Salman Butt, 31, had claimed the government’s “Prevent” programme breached his right to free speech as it imposed a duty on universities to stop radicalisation by restricting some speakers from addressing students. Rejecting Butt’s case, Judge Duncan Ouseley ruled that universities could disregard the advice in certain cases and that the right to free speech was not restricted, the lawyers said. The “Prevent” programme is aimed at halting the spread of radical ideology, attempting to address such issues as the dissemination of material online and through public speakers. It has come under heavy fire in recent years, with critics saying it stigmatises individuals and breeds distrust within communities, potentially even pushing more people towards extremism. The interior ministry was not immediately available for comment on the court case. Butt, who is not accused of supporting militant groups or violence, told Reuters last year that he felt the definition of an extremist was narrowing and that the government’s approach was having a destructive impact on society. The case revolved around a September

ment of people could continue during a transition period of up to four years even after Brexit. Meanwhile, talks between Britain an the European Union on their future relationship are now less likely to start in October, the EU’s top negotiator has said, because of lack of progress on Brexit divorce issues so far, EU officials said. The EU’s top Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday briefed ambassadors from the 27 countries that will remain in the EU after Britain leaves in March 2019 on the outcome of the July round of the monthly divorce talks with London last week. “He said the likelihood of starting the future relationship talks in October appeared to be decreasing,” one EU official involved in the Brexit talks said. Barnier had earlier hoped that sufficient progress on the key divorce issues — a financial settlement, citizens rights and a solution for a non-physical border between Northern Ireland and Ireland — could be made by October. This would allow EU leaders to give their consent to starting talks with London on the main aspects of the relationship after Brexit — a discussion Britain is keen to start as soon as possible to provide more clarity to businesses. Ouseley’s decision to reject this argument. A separate defamation case against the ministry related to Butt’s inclusion in the press release is ongoing. In a statement released via his lawyers, Butt said that although disappointed with the ruling, he was pleased previously “secretive and opaque” processes had been held up to scrutiny. “This is the first step in a long process of holding our government to account for arbitrary restrictions on the rights of any citizen,” he said. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Anti-semitic incidents hit record:

This file photo taken on July 13, 2015 shows Britain’s Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge refueling a helicopter as he begins his new job with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) at Cambridge Airport. Britain’s Prince William on July 27, retired from the air ambulance service after two years, during which he said he witnessed ‘appalling tragedies’, to turn his attention to royal duties. The Duke of Cambridge, second in line to the British throne, finished his brief career as an air ambulance pilot in the east of England with a night shift. The move comes as his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, take a step back from royal duties and leave the younger generation to take their place. (AFP)

Anti-Semitic hate incidents in Britain rose by 30 percent to a record high of 767 in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, a Jewish community group said on Thursday. The Community Security Trust said 80 of the incidents involved physical attacks but the highest number was verbal abuse at visibly Jewish people in public places. “Anti-Semitism is having an increasing impact on the lives of British Jews and the hatred and anger that lies behind it is spreading,” David Delew, head of the Community Security Trust (CST), said in a statement. The trust said 51 of the incidents were linked to damage or desecration of Jewish property. Most of the incidents were concentrated in London and Manchester, the country’s two biggest Jewish communities. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said in a statement that the rise in incidents could be due to better reporting but added that “one such incident is one too many”. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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Britain Illegal funds targeted

Crackdown hits three hundred UK charities LONDON, July 27, (RTRS): More than 300 UKbased charities have had their bank accounts closed in the last two years after being caught up in a global crackdown on illegal money flows, forcing the government to explore how to allow them easier access to the financial system. Thousands more charities have had operations disrupted by delayed payments causing financial losses and risks to employees, Britain’s Charity Finance Group, that helps to organise charity financing, told Reuters. Major charities Oxfam and Save the Children say they were amongst those hit. The government is setting up a panel of charity executives, bankers and officials to meet in the coming months to “drive new policy thinking” to allow legitimate charities to operate unhindered, an official told Reuters. The decision to assemble the working group comes ahead of a review by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) next March of Britain’s efforts to tackle money-laundering and Boyes-Watson financing of militant groups. At the FATF meeting, Britain could face criticism of its failure to tackle the problem of charities losing access to the banking system, charity sector analysts said. The FATF has recorded over 100 cases worldwide of alleged abuse of charities for terrorist finance. In one example in the city of Birmingham in 2011, three people were convicted of impersonating Muslim Aid charity workers to fund a bomb attack.

Aerial view of the flooded city of Rhueden taken on July 26. Heavy rain in Germany has led to flooding in some areas, with people in one northern city piling sand bags in front of their homes to protect themselves against a swollen river. (AP)

France Personas created to conduct surveillance

‘Russia tried to spy on Macron’

Sanctions But legitimate charities say they have been cut off from the financial system because banks have been alarmed by billion-dollar fines meted out for breaching sanctions, anti-terror financing and anti-money laundering rules. Charity officials say the clamp-down on charities by banks is causing government-backed aid efforts to fail, humanitarian workers to be put at risk and potential recipients to suffer. “Save the Children believes a more aligned approach between governments, regulators, and NGOs will help to reduce financial crime, whilst ensuring critical and life-saving humanitarian work continues,” the group said in a statement for this article. HSBC and Co-Operative Bank closed the most charity bank accounts in the last two years, according to a Reuters survey of more than 30 case studies. Both banks, along with other big institutions, said they were taking action to better understand the needs and internal governance of charity clients. In the last two years, HSBC hired some 35 staff to work in a team dedicated to the charity sector, according to a source familiar with the hirings. The specialists aim to ensure charities comply with global financial rules. A problem that hit mainly smaller Muslim-related charities after Sept 11, 2001 attacks in America accelerated in the last few years to involve thousands of charities. “Delayed and declined payments have become a regular recurrence in the sector with charities experiencing disruption to their objectives on a daily or weekly basis,” a director at UK-based umbrella group Muslim Charities Forum, Monowara Gani, told Reuters. Many British charities affected were reluctant to speak on the record about their experiences because they were worried that other banks might cut them off, or that donations could dry up if their banking problems were publicised. One small human rights charity funded by Britain’s Foreign Office, which did not want to be identified, closed down this year after being unable to open a bank account, two sources familiar with the situation said. This illustrated the problem posed to British international aid policy by the banks’ fear of being punished for breaching regulations, said the sources who declined to be named.

Funds Around 20 per cent or nearly $1 billion a year of the government’s bilateral assistance funds distributed by the Department for International Development are channelled through charities, according to government data. “We continue to engage with humanitarian organisations to understand and discuss what impact the wider security context may be having on their operations overseas in conflict-affected states,” said the government official, who confirmed a panel had been set up to engage with the issue. “The humanitarian sector is struggling with a policy vacuum, leaving commercial organisations such as banks to set the risk rules for delivery of publiclyfunded aid,” said Mike Parkinson, policy adviser for Oxfam UK, which has encountered delays in opening bank accounts overseas. Some banks are responding to the problem, but others are reluctant to serve a sector deemed to have a “medium-high” risk of terrorist financing in a 2015 British government report. “We feel like banks used to be competing for charity business, but now they are pushing us away,” said Tim Boyes-Watson, executive director of Britishbased Mango which specialises in helping charities manage their finances. Boyes-Watson said Mango is working on creating a certification system that would aim to make approved charities easier for banks to work with, but that implementing and regulating such a scheme could prove costly. In addition to hiring a team dedicated to the charity sector, HSBC in April sent a guide called “Keeping your Charity Safe” to 11,000 charity and nonprofit customers. “We will continue to work with the UK government and industry bodies to support the not-forprofit sector,” a spokeswoman for the bank said in an email. Co-Operative Bank has closed accounts for dozens of organisations in the last few years including branches of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign.

Pyotr Levashov, the Russian hacker arrested on April 7 in Barcelona, speaks during a hearing to consider his extradition to the United States, at the National Court in Madrid, on July 26. Levashov’s arrest was the latest in a series of American-initiated operations over the past year to seize alleged Russian cybercriminals outside their homeland, which has no extradition agreement with the United States. (AP)

Lau

Dekker

Europe ‘Finance new Islamic school’: The Dutch government on Wednesday ordered, by the country’s highest court, to approve funding for a new Islamic school in Amsterdam which it had sought to ban. Funding for the school was refused in 2014 by Deputy Education Minister Sander Dekker, after a member of the school’s board voiced support for the socalled Islamic State jihadist group. But the Council of State on Wednesday found there “is no valid reason for refusing the funding” after hearing the school had distanced itself from the man’s remarks as well as any kind of extremism. The man in question had also been dismissed from the board, the court said in its ruling. Dekker was ordered by the court to reverse his decision and find finances by Tuesday, Aug 1, ahead of the start of the next school year. The issue of Islam and its influence on Dutch society has long fuelled debate here, with outspoken far-right MP Geert Wilders having made a ban on the Koran and mosques a central plank of this year’s parliamentary elections. His Freedom Party is now the second largest political group in parliament after winning 20 seats in the March polls. The school, which would become only be the second Islamic high school in the country, is expected to welcome some 200 students this year. Dutch media reported it would have to be housed initially in temporary accommodation. Dekker said he was frustrated by the decision, and still had concerns about “the quality of the education” that would be offered. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

SAN FRANCISCO, July 27, (RTRS): Russian intelligence agents attempted to spy on President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign earlier this year by creating phony Facebook personas, according to a US congressman and two other people briefed on the effort. About two dozen Facebook accounts were created to conduct surveillance on Macron campaign officials and others close to the centrist former financier as he sought to defeat far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen and other opponents in the two-round election, the sources said. Macron won in a landslide in May. Facebook said in April it had taken action against fake accounts that were spreading misinformation about the French election. But the effort to infiltrate the social networks of Macron officials has not previously been reported. Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the French election by hacking and leaking emails and documents. US intelligence agencies told Reuters in May that hackers with connections to the Russian government were involved, but they did not have conclusive evidence that the Kremlin ordered the hacking. Facebook confirmed to Reuters that it had detected spying accounts in France and deactivated them. It credited a combination of improved automated detection and stepped-up human efforts to find sophisticated attacks. Company officials briefed congressional committee members and staff, among others, about their findings. People involved in the conversations also said the number of Facebook accounts suspended in France for promoting propaganda or spam — much of it related to the election — had climbed to 70,000, a big jump from the 30,000 account closures the company disclosed in April. Facebook did not dispute the figure. The spying campaign included Russian agents posing as friends of friends of Macron associates and trying to glean personal information The German Salafist convert, who had previously sparked outrage by forming a “sharia police” vigilante group, was convicted for helping to recruit for Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA) or Army of Emigrants and Supporters. JMA, which includes Chechens, Uzbeks and Tajiks, first emerged in Syria in 2012, is deemed a terrorist organisation by

from them, according to the US congressman and two others briefed on the matter. Facebook employees noticed the efforts during the first round of the presidential election and traced them to tools used in the past by Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit, said the people, who spoke on condition they not be named because they were discussing sensitive government and private intelligence. Facebook told American officials that it did not believe the spies burrowed deep enough to get the targets to download malicious software or give away their login information, which they believe may have been the goal of the operation. The same GRU unit, dubbed Fancy Bear or APT 28 in the cybersecurity industry, has been blamed for hacking the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 US presidential election and many other political targets. The GRU did not respond to a request for comment.

Campaign Email accounts belonging to Macron campaign officials were hacked and their contents dumped online in the final days of the runoff between Macron and Le Pen. French law enforcement and intelligence officials have not publicly accused anyone of the campaign attacks. Mounir Mahjoubi, who was digital director of Macron’s political movement, En Marche, and is now a junior minister for digital issues in his government, told Reuters in May that some security experts blamed the GRU specifically, though they had no proof. Mahjoubi and En Marche declined to comment. There are few publicly known examples of sophisticated social media spying efforts. In 2015, Britain’s domestic security service, MI5, warned that hostile powers were using LinkedIn to connect with and try to recruit government workers. The social media and networking companies themselves rarely comment on such operations when disGermany. In September 2015, the militants pledged allegiance to the Al-Nusra Front, a rival group of the Islamic State organisation. Prosecutors said Lau was the main contact for JMA in the western city of Duesseldorf. The 36-year-old had also travelled to Syria in September 2013 and had

Deport extremist — German court: Germany’s highest court has ruled that authorities are entitled to deport an Algerian man suspected of posing a risk of a terrorist attack. In several recent cases, German authorities have used measures passed after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States to order the deportation of foreign nationals deemed to be dangerous, even where there is no proof they committed a serious offense. The Federal Constitutional Court said Thursday it has thrown out a complaint by the man, whom it didn’t identify, against a decision in March by the state government in Bremen to deport him to Algeria. He first entered Germany in 2003. A lower court already rejected an appeal on condition that Algeria provide assurances the man won’t face treatment that violates his human rights. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

German court jails preacher: One of Germany’s most notorious Islamist preachers, Sven Lau, was sentenced Wednesday to five and a half years in jail for backing a terrorist group.

Evacuated people found refuge on the beach and look at a fire burning the forest in Bormes-les-Mimosas, at sunrise on July 26. Over 10,000 people, including thousands of holidaymakers, were evacuated from campsites and homes in southern France as firefighters battled the latest in a string of huge blazes along the Mediterranean coast. (AFP)

covered. Facebook, facing mounting pressure from governments around the world to control “fake news’ and propaganda on the service, took a step toward openness with a report in April on what it termed “information operations.” The bulk of that document discussed so-called influence operations, which included “amplifier” accounts that spread links to slanted or false news stories in order to influence public opinion.

Also: PARIS: Emmanuel Macron’s popularity dropped in July to the lowest rating for a French president two months into his term, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday, in a sign that controversy over spending cuts and tax reform are taking a toll. Forty-two percent of those surveyed by Ipsos pollsters have a positive view of Macron’s action as president and as many have a negative view. Positive ratings were down 3 points from last month and negative ones up 15 points, with more people than in June having an opinion. Even Socialist Francois Hollande, who turned into France’s most unpopular president in modern history early in his mandate, still benefited from 55 percent positive rating two months into his term, Ipsos said in a note. Macron, who swept to power in May on promises of non-partisan rule and an end to traditional Leftversus-Right politics, has had a tough month, marked by a public row over military spending cuts with top armed forces chief General Pierre de Villiers that led to de Villiers’ resignation. Other controversies linked to his tax and spending plans have also emerged. Macron’s popularity rating remains higher than that of most French politicians, with only Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot ahead of him in Ipsos’ poll. The poll was carried out on July 21-22 among 1,022 people. purchased night vision equipment for the jihadist group, prosecutors said. Lau, a former firefighter, had denied the accusations when he was arrested in December 2015. He argued that his trip to Syria was for humanitarian reasons, despite photos showing him carrying a kalashnikov aboard a tank. Lau has been a controversial figure in Germany, where he sparked outrage with “sharia police” street patrols in the western city of Wuppertal in 2014, telling people to stop drinking, gambling and listening to music. However, a German court in November ruled the vigilante group did not break the law. The city’s district court ruled that the seven accused members of the group did not breach a ban on political uniforms when they approached people while wearing orange vests bearing the words “Sharia Police”. Judges said there could only be a violation of the law — originally aimed against street movements such as the early Nazi party — if the uniforms were “suggestively militant or intimidating”. Separately, Germany’s anti-terror prosecutors announced Wednesday the arrest of three suspected Islamists in the northeastern city of Guestrow. The trio are suspected of having prepared “an act of violence that threatens the security of the state”, said federal prosecutors in a statement, without giving details. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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World News Roundup Lebanon ‘Close to defeat Nusra Front’

Hezbollah ‘reaches’ ceasefire on border BEIRUT, July 27, (Agencies): Fighting between Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and a former al-Qaeda affiliate on the Syria-Lebanon border halted Thursday after a ceasefire was reached, Lebanese media and Hezbollah outlets reported. The ceasefire comes a week after the powerful Shiite militant group launched an offensive against the jihadists in the mountainous Jurud Arsal border region. Hezbollah’s “War Media” outlet said “a ceasefire that began at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) is in effect on all the front in Jurud Arsal.” Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the ceasefire was part of a deal brokered by the country’s general security agency chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim. Under the deal, remaining fighters from the former alQaeda affiliate once known as Al-Nusra Front will withdraw from the region. Al-Nusra Front was previously al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, before renouncing that status last year and rebranding itself Fateh al-Sham Front. “The Al-Nusra fighters and their families will go to Idlib,” a province in northwestern Syria Nasrallah largely under the control of the jihadists, NNA said. It said Ibrahim was expected to release a statement on the deal later on Thursday.

Serious In a speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said “serious” negotiations were underway to secure the withdrawal of Al-Nusra militants. “There are two paths: the battlefield and the negotiations. Both are open,” he said. He had said his fighters were on the cusp of “a great military victory”, and had surrounded remaining AlNusra fighters in a small pocket of territory. Security in Jurud Arsal has been a concern for many years. The barren and mountainous border area has served as a hideout for militants, who in 2014 clashed with Lebanese security forces in the area. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees live in the town of Arsal, adjacent to the border region, while an unknown number are also thought to have been sheltering in the surrounding mountains. Lebanon’s army has not officially declared its participation in the operation, but has shelled “terrorists” in the area. It has also been involved in operations to transport civilians out of the battle zone and into the town of Arsal. In his speech on Wednesday, Nasrallah said his fighters were willing to hand over the territory they have secured to Lebanese troops. But the group’s fighters told journalists in Jurud Arsal on Wednesday that the next phase of the battle to secure the region was still ahead. They said Islamic State group fighters still hold parts of Jurud Arsal and the area around two border towns, but anticipated an easy victory. “It won’t be a difficult task. Its fighters are only a few hundred and spread out in this vast territory,” one commander said confidently. The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday that the group was close to defeating Nusra Front militants in the battle along the Syrian-Lebanese border. “We are in the face of a very big military victory,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech. The militants have “effectively lost” most of the land they held in the barren, mountainous border region of Jroud Arsal, he added. As soon as the fighting ends, the Shi’ite Iranianbacked Hezbollah would be ready to hand over territory it has captured if the Lebanese army requests it, he said. Hezbollah has made rapid advances since it launched an offensive with the Syrian army on Friday to drive Sunni militants from their last foothold along the frontier. In the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Arsal, the operation has focused on the ex-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s Syria branch until last year when it severed ties and rebranded. The next phase is expected to target a nearby enclave in the hands of Islamic State militants. The Lebanese army, a big recipient of US and British military support, has not taken part in the offensive and has set up defensive positions around Arsal, which Nasrallah described as essential.

Withdrawal Negotiations began on Tuesday between Lebanese officials and the Nusra Front over the withdrawal of remaining militants to insurgent-held territory in Syria, he also said. “There is seriousness, better than at any previous time,” Nasrallah said. But he added that militant demands remained unreasonable and that the Lebanese state, the Syrian government, and Hezbollah must each agree to the terms. Hezbollah has played a major role in fighting militants in the border region during the six-year Syrian war, along with critical military support it has provided to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. On the Syrian side of the border, Hezbollah fought “shoulder to shoulder” with the Syrian army around the town of Fleita in recent days and cleared the area of insurgents, Nasrallah said. Security sources say some two dozen Hezbollah fighters have been killed overall, and nearly 150 militants. Early in the offensive, Saraya Ahl al-Sham — the FSA rebel faction that had a small presence in the area — pulled its fighters from the front lines, Nasrallah said. The rebels took charge of protecting nearby refugee camps. “We facilitated this,” he said. “We are ready to work with the Lebanese state and the Syrian government on the withdrawal” of the rebel faction to Syria. Since the onset of the Syrian conflict, nearly 1.5 million refugees have poured into Lebanon — around a quarter of its population — where most languish in severe poverty. Several thousand refugees live in makeshift camps east of Arsal. The Lebanese army has been helping with the passage of refugees fleeing the recent clashes at the border, with United Nations supervision, according to a security source. The International Rescue Committee said around 390 people, mostly Syrian women and children, escaped to Arsal so far, many of them visibly shaken. Nasrallah said fighters were proceeding cautiously because of the proximity of the refugee camps. The border offensive had been in the works for months and Hezbollah asked the Syrian army to help after deciding to launch the battle, he said.

Palestinians celebrate outside the Lion’s Gate entrance to Al Aqsa mosque on July, 27 by giving away sweets to the people, after more Israeli barriers were removed from the holy site. The Israeli government removed newly introduced barriers from the holy

site, sparking Palestinian joy. Muslims have refused to enter the site and have prayed in the streets outside for more than a week after Israel installed new security measures at the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. (AFP)

Mideast Israel removes all security devices

Palestinians return to holy sites

Turkish opposition Cumhuriyet daily’s editor-in-chief Can Dundar (left), and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul arriving at the Istanbul courthouse for their trial. Seventeen defendants from Cumhuriyet daily were detained from October last year and a dozen of them have now spent more than eight months in jail. They have been held under a state of emergency imposed after the July 15, 2016 failed coup aimed at ousting Erdogan that the authorities blame on US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. (AFP)

Gentilon

Macron

Mideast Italy aims to deploy ships: Italy intends to deploy several ships in Libyan waters by the end of August to fight human trafficking and stem a flood of immigrants, a government source said on Thursday. A mission plan should be brought to the Cabinet for approval on Friday, and the necessary parliamentary vote to endorse it may be held next week, the source said. “The exact number of ships and sailors is still being worked out,” said the source. If parliament approves, the mission might begin “by the end of August”, he said, explaining that the navy can be ready to put it in place “in a matter of hours”. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni met with military chiefs and ministers on Thursday to discuss “security, immigration and the Libyan situation”, according to a statement. He had said on Wednesday Libya’s U.N.-backed government in Tripoli had invited Italian warships into its territorial waters. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

JERUSALEM, July 27, (Agencies): Palestinians were set to return to pray at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site on Thursday after Israeli authorities removed controversial new security measures, potentially ending a nearly two-week crisis that sparked deadly unrest. Muslim authorities announced a boycott of the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, was to end on Thursday afternoon after Israel removed remaining new security measures. The compound includes the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the goldentopped Dome of the Rock. Palestinians had boycotted it since the security measures were installed following a July 14 attack nearby that killed two policemen. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas joined calls for worshippers to return to the site. “The prayers will happen, God willing, inside the Al-Aqsa mosque,” Abbas told a press conference. Abbas announced a freeze on contacts with Israel last week over the dispute, including security coordination, and said on Thursday a meeting would be held on whether to lift it. Midday prayers were again held outside the compound, with officials saying preparations had to be made for worshippers to return to it for afternoon prayers at around 4:30 pm (1330 GMT). Before the midday prayer, there were celebrations with hundreds of people clapping and singing. It became quiet later as the prayer time approached, with worshippers spreading out prayer mats on the ground. A tense standoff had been underway between Israel and Muslim worshippers at the holy site for nearly two weeks despite the removal of metal detectors on Tuesday. Newly installed railings and scaffolding where cameras were previously mounted were also removed early on Thursday. Police said on Thursday morning

first time in a decade. Mohammed Dahlan was Abbas’s ally inside the Fatah party until they fell out, with Dahlan expelled in 2011. He now lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates and has been moving closer to

that all new security measures had now been removed. Muslims had refused to enter the compound and prayed in the streets outside after Israel installed the new security measures. Palestinians viewed the move as Israel asserting further control. Israeli authorities said the metal detectors were needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the compound and emerged from it to attack the officers. Deadly unrest erupted in the days after the new measures were introduced, with clashes breaking out around the compound and in the occupied West Bank, leaving five Palestinians dead. A Palestinian also broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last week and stabbed four Israelis, killing three of them. There had been concerns that Friday’s main weekly Muslim prayers — which typically draw thousands to AlAqsa — would lead to serious clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces if a resolution was not found.

Cowds In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, crowds of Palestinians gathered at the entrance of the site to celebrate the removal of the remaining security installations, with whistling and constant horns from cars. Young men set off firecrackers as Israeli forces watched closely. Firas Abasi said he felt like crying over the “victory”. “For 12 days no one has slept, no one has done anything except the AlAqsa mosque,” he said. Following intensive international diplomacy and warnings of the potential for wider unrest, Israel removed the metal detectors early on Tuesday. Cameras installed after the attack on the police were also removed. But Israeli officials said previously they were to be replaced with “advanced technologies” — widely believed to be smart cameras with facial recognition technology. The remaining installations and sus-

Gaza’s rulers Hamas in recent months, with rumours he could join a government in the Palestinian enclave. Abbas, the internationally recognised leader based in the West Bank, has sought to isolate both Dahlan and Islamist move-

France eyes asylum centers: France will set up processing centres in Libya for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday. “The idea is to create hotspots to avoid people taking crazy risks when they are not all eligible for asylum. We’ll go to them,” Macron said during a visit to a refugee shelter in central France, adding the plan would be put in place “this summer”, with or without other EU countries. But officials in the French presidency cast doubt on whether the centres could be established that quickly, saying the security conditions were “not yet in place”. Lawless Libya is the main launchpad for African migrants trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean in rickety boats operated by smugglers that frequently sink. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Abbas joins Hamas: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s exiled rival took part in a public meeting with Hamas members of parliament Thursday for the

Mourners carry the coffin of a fighter from Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement, who was killed in conflict against militant groups in the mountainous area around the Lebanese town of Arsal on the eastern border with war-ravaged Syria, during his funeral in Beirut on July 26. (AFP)

picions over what new measures Israel was planning had led Palestinian and Muslim leaders to continue to urge a boycott of the site, and worshippers had heeded their call. It was not immediately clear if Israel would stick to reported plans to install a smart camera system in Jerusalem’s Old City. Cameras are already widespread inside its walls. Jordan is the custodian of Muslim holy sites at the compound, and King Abdullah II had called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove the security measures. Information Minister Mohammad al-Momani on Thursday welcomed their removal, calling it an “essential step towards calm.” The holy compound lies in east Jerusalem, seized by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. The third-holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, it is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has served as a rallying cry for Palestinians. In 2000, a visit to the compound by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon helped ignite the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Meanwhile, Muslim leaders told the faithful to return to pray inside a major Jerusalem holy site on Thursday after Israel removed security devices it installed outside entrances to the shrine following a deadly Palestinian attack at the compound. Thousands of Palestinians had been praying in the streets outside the shrine to protest the security measures since the crisis began. “After extensive discussion and after achieving this victory in this round we call on our people in Jerusalem and inside (Israel) and anyone who can access the Al-Aqsa Mosque to enter ... en masse,” the Islamic leaders declared in a statement. The head of the Supreme Islamic Committee, Ikrema Sabri, said the first prayers would be held there Thursday afternoon.

ment Hamas. (AFP) ❑ ❑



Activists attacked: Human Rights Watch says that activists in western Libya have been physically attacked and threatened by armed groups, some affiliated with UN-backed government based in the country’s capital, Tripoli. The statement by the New York-based watchdog on Thursday says that Libyan “authorities seem unable to rein in the attackers, enabling them to operate with impunity.” It says many activists have fled the country after threats or attacks by armed groups and militias. HRW also urged the Tripoli-based government to hold armed groups, especially those aligned with it, accountable if they threaten, harass, or assault activists. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Turkish PM meets Germans: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim met with German business executives on Thursday to reassure them following a bitter row between Ankara and Berlin that threatened to drag them into a terror funding crackdown. Yildirim held the breakfast meeting in Ankara with the executives, telling them they were valued in Turkey. “It is very important for us that you are not hurt at all by recent developments, that you are not part of this tension,” Yildirim said during the meeting, according to Anadolu news agency. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

15

North Korea ‘Do more on N. Korea threat’

Two to plead not guilty in Nam’s assassination KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 27, (Agencies): Two women accused of poisoning the estranged half brother of North Korea’s ruler in a bizarre airport assassination are expected to plead not guilty when they appear in a Malaysian court on Friday, their lawyers said. Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong are accused of smearing Kim Jong Nam’s face with the banned VX nerve agent at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 13. The women, who face a possible death penalty if convicted, say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera TV show. They are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Korea’s spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong UN to kill a brother he reportedly never met. Four North Korean suspects fled the country, police say. The women’s lawyers say their clients are expected to plead not guilty at the High Court on Friday. Here’s a look at the significance of Kim’s death and the two suspects: WHY WAS KIM JONG Nam NAM ASSASSINATED? North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. While Kim Jong Nam was not thought to be seeking influence, his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since its founding could have made him appear to be a danger. Kim Jong Nam had also spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of the nuclear-armed nation. North Korea has refused to publicly accept that the dead man was leader Kim Jong UN’s half brother and has suggested the victim died of a heart attack. It has accused Malaysia of working with South Korea and other “hostile forces” in blaming the North. Kim Jong Nam died en route to a hospital after falling ill at a budget terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport while waiting for a flight to Macau. He told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray that Malaysian officials later identified as VX nerve agent. INDONESIAN SUSPECT Siti Aisyah, 25, was recruited in early January by a North Korean man known as James to star in prank videos, according to her lawyer, Gooi Soon Seong. The two met at a pub in downtown Kuala Lumpur and over the course of several days, James had Siti rub oil or pepper sauce on a victim’s face from the forehead downward, which he would film on his phone, the lawyer said. They practiced at malls, hotels and airports. Gooi said Aisyah was paid $100$200 for each prank and hoped the income would allow her to stop working as a social escort.

Suspects In late January, Aisyah flew to Cambodia where James introduced her to Hong Song Hac, one of four North Korean suspects who left Malaysia on the day of the killing, the lawyer said. Hong had introduced himself as Chang, a Chinese who produces video prank shows for the Chinese market, the lawyer said. Gooi said Hong asked Aisyah to do several more pranks at the Kuala Lumpur airport a few days before Kim was attacked. He said that Hong identified Kim to Aisyah at the airport and allegedly put the poison on her hand. James, identified by police as Ri Ji U, was among seven North Korean suspects wanted by Malaysian police. Four fled the country on Feb. 13 and the other three, including James, hid inside their country’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur to avoid questioning, they said. VIETNAMESE SUSPECT Doan Thi Huong, 29, was caught on airport surveillance video wearing a white jumper emblazoned with the letters “LOL” — an acronym for “laughing out loud.” Security video apparently showed her lunging at Kim Jong Nam from behind in the crowded terminal. Little is known about Huong. Raised in a rice farm in northern Vietnam, her family said they had hardly heard from her since she left home a decade ago, aged just 18. She made postings on a Facebook page under the name Ruby Ruby, according to her niece, Dinh Thi Quyen. Photos on the page show Huong wearing a white shirt that appears to say “LOL.” Others show her posing in Kuala Lumpur a few days before the attack and in January in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her last post was on the morning of Feb 11, two days before the attack, from an area near the airport. ❑ ❑ ❑ Britain and Australia urged China on Thursday to do more to persuade North Korea to drop its nuclear and missile programmes. Earlier this month North Korea, which has warned Australia could be the target of a strike, said it had conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts say could reach Alaska. The United States and other countries have indicated frustration that China, North Korea’s sole major ally, has not done more to rein in the regime of Kim Jung Un. China maintains it does not hold the key to a resolution. “With international influence comes responsibility. It is now for Beijing to use the influence it has over the North Korean regime to get it to abandon its programme,” British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told reporters in Sydney. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes and the Security Council has ratcheted up measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and two long-range missile launches. Fallon said North Korea continues to receive help in developing its missile and nuclear ambitions as he called on enforcement of the sanctions. North Korea’s missile and nuclear programme was a central element of the fourth annual meeting of Australia and British ministers. “We are seeing a level of uncertainty that we have not witnessed in a very long time,” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in Sydney. “It is more important than ever before for like-

Displaced children from Marawi gesture the ‘X’ signal to symbolise danger during a presentation on the dangers of bombs and unexploded ordnance by a Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) volunteer at an evacuation centre in Balo-i, Lanao del norte province on the southern island of Mindanao on July 26,

as they prepare the children and their families for their eventual return to their homes. Ongoing fighting in Marawi has left 460 militants, 109 soldiers and police, and 45 civilians dead, according to latest government figures, while nearly 400,000 residents of Marawi and nearby areas have fled. (AFP)

Philippines New Zealander shot dead

Avoid southern Philippines: West

A motorist maneuvers through a flooded street after heavy rains brought about by tropical storm ‘Nesat’ flooded some parts of metropolitan Manila on July 27 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kms per hour (53 miles) in northeastern Philippines and is not expected to hit land but will enhance the southwest monsoon which will bring heavy rains over the western section of the main Luzon island. Classes have been suspended in different parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces Thursday. (AP)

Swift

MANILA, July 27, (Agencies): Western governments are warning their citizens against travelling to nearly all of the southern third of the Philippines, citing the rising threats of terror attacks and kidnappings by Islamist militants. Fresh alerts from Britain, Canada and Australia were released this week after President Rodrigo Duterte extended military rule across the southern region of Mindanao until the end of the year to combat the militants. The Canadian advisory on Monday warned against visiting any part of Mindanao except for Davao, the biggest city in the south. “There is a serious risk of terrorist attacks and kidnappings in this region,” the Canadian government said. It also cautioned that people should only visit Davao, where the bombing of a crowded night market last year claimed 15 lives, if it was essential. Mindanao comprises roughly a third of the Philippine territory and is home to 20 million people. The region has endured decades of conflict, with Muslim separatists and communists waging deadly rebellions, and a small group of Islamic militants known as the Abu Sayyaf running a lucrative kidnap-for-ransom operation from there. Western governments have long

advised against travelling to parts of Mindanao, but the fresh alerts are more extensive as they warn against visiting almost the whole region. The new advisories reflect growing concerns that the Islamic State group’s influence is rising in Mindanao. Gunmen who have pledged allegiance to IS occupied Marawi, the main Muslim city in the southern Philippines, in May and security forces have been unable to dislodge them despite fierce battles that have claimed more than 600 lives. Duterte initially imposed martial law across Mindanao immediately after the fighting erupted in Marawi.

Warned The British government advisory, released on Tuesday, warned terrorists were “very likely” to carry out attacks anywhere in the Philippines, including the capital of Manila. It said the most acute threat was in the south, and warned against travelling through nearly all of Mindanao. The British advisory said the threat of kidnappings and terrorism also loomed over the central city of Dumaguete and nearby Siquijor island, both tourist areas. The Australian government warning largely echoed those issued by Britain and Canada. In a July 18 advisory that warned

against travelling to Mindanao, the US embassy in Manila said it had “credible information” that terrorists also planned to conduct kidnappings on the tourist islands of Palawan, Cebu and Bohol in 2017. Meanwhile, police have arrested the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting of a New Zealander on a central Philippine island, officials said Thursday. Another suspect is being sought. One of two men on a motorcycle shot dead Simon Rawlinson, 63, in Biliran island’s capital town of Naval on Wednesday, said Senior Police Officer Jimmy de Lima. The perpetrators took Rawlinson’s bag containing money, a laptop and the victim’s documents, he added. Rawlinson, a long-time resident of nearby Maripipi island, was in Naval for a trip to the market when attacked. De Lima said a witness led police to the suspected gunman, a local farmer. Found in the suspect’s house were a pistol, bullets and clothes he was seen wearing on CCTV footage during the shooting. The motorcycle driver is still at large. After taking the bag, the gunman approached Rawlinson who was sprawled on the sidewalk and fired a third shot, hitting him in the head, de Lima said, raising doubt about robbery as a motive for the attack.

Inada

Asia US admiral ready for N-strike: The US Pacific Fleet commander said Thursday he would launch a nuclear strike against China next week if President Donald Trump ordered it, and warned against the military ever shifting its allegiance from its commander in chief. Adm. Scott Swift was responding to a hypothetical question at an Australian National University security conference following a major joint US- Australian military exercise off the Australian coast. The drills were monitored by a Chinese intelligence-gathering ship off northeast Australia. Asked by an academic in the audience whether he would make a nuclear attack on China next week if Trump ordered it, Swift replied: “The answer would be: Yes.” “Every member of the US military has sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as commander and chief appointed over us,” Swift said. He added: “This is core to the American democracy and any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, then we really have a significant problem.” Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Charlie Brown later said Swift’s answer reaffirmed the principle of civilian control over the military. “The admiral was not addressing the premise of the question, he was addressing the principle of civilian authority of the military,” Brown said. “The premise of the question was ridiculous.” (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Inada expected to quit: Japan’s embattled Defence Minister Tomomi Inada will resign on Friday over the suspected

cover-up of information related to a U.N. peacekeeping mission and a former defence minister is already lined up to take her place, media said. A spokeswoman at Inada’s office on Thursday declined to comment on whether she would resign, which was first reported by broadcaster NHK. Inada had launched an investigation into media reports that defence officials had tried to hide logs showing worsening security in South Sudan, where Japanese troops were taking part in a U.N.-led peacekeeping operation. Inada will resign after Friday’s publication of the results of the investigation to take responsibility for the affair, according to NHK. Inada, a protege of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, had denied reports of involvement in the cover-up but had

been expected to be replaced in a cabinet reshuffle likely early next month because of the scandal, and a series of missteps that critics say contributed to a plunge in support for Abe. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ Japan DP chief steps down: The head of Japan’s reeling main opposition party announced her resignation on Thursday, less than a year after becoming the first woman to lead the group. Renho, a former model and TV anchor, took the reins of the Democratic Party (DP) last September in a landslide party election victory. But her brief spell was dogged by controversy throughout and she was unable to capitalise on scandal-hit Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s falling popularity. In particular Renho -- who goes by one name -- has been unable to shake off citizenship questions arising from her mixed

This photo taken on July 25, 2017 shows people relaxing in a former bomb shelter to escape the hot weather in Wuhu, China’s eastern Anhui province. Parts of China have seen record temperatures in recent weeks, in what has been a torrid summer so far for much of the country. (AFP)

Taiwanese-Japanese parentage. It emerged just ahead of her election as party leader that she had never officially given up her Taiwan citizenship, even though Japan does not allow adults to hold dual nationality. The Japan-born Renho apologised at the time, but issues surrounding her former Taiwan status deriving from her father’s origins on the island, a former Japanese colony, refused to go away. Last week, she tried to put the matter to rest by showing official documents proving she now only has Japanese citizenship, but reportedly remained under fire within the party for mishandling the issue. (AFP) “I made the decision to resign,” she said at a press conference Thursday, without offering specific reasons, though she said the citizenship controversy was not a factor in stepping down. Her centre-left party -- formerly known as the Democratic Party of Japan -swept to power in 2009, ousting the long dominant conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). But it was booted from office in late 2012 by the resurgent LDP following a series of mis-steps and policy flip-flops, along with criticism over its handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Though still the largest opposition force, it has seen its position in parliament wane further, and was recently stung by a poor performance in local elections for the Tokyo assembly. It has also been unable to take advantage of growing disapproval of Abe’s ruling LDP, which has been hit by a series of scandals. Renho first came to national prominence in the 1980s as a model and later TV newscaster, reporting from the earthquake-devastated city of Kobe in 1995. The one-time journalist earned the nickname “Hissatsu” (shoot-to-kill) for her style of grilling bureaucrats over public waste, in a country where the media are often criticised for pulling their punches. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

16

World News Roundup India Modi boosts power grip

China, India locked in high-stakes border row BEIJING, July 27, (AFP): A border stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops on a remote Himalayan plateau has heightened long-standing tensions while ensnaring a tiny kingdom, Bhutan, between the two nuclear-armed powers. The row has festered for more than a month as India and China refuse to back down in the distant but strategically key territory, reflecting the historic mistrust between the Asian giants. The area is disputed between China and Bhutan but India’s decision to jump into the fray reflects its concerns about Beijing’s growing military might and ambitions in the region, analysts say. The border trouble began in mid-June when Chinese soldiers started to extend a road through the Doklam territory — known as “Donglang” in Chinese. India, a close ally of Bhutan, then deployed troops to stop the construction project, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. China, which warned this week that it would step up its deployment, insists that India must withdraw its troops before any proper negotiation Modi takes place. India says said both sides should withdraw their forces. “The solution to this issue is simple, which is that the Indian troops back out honestly,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this week. While the deadlock may be broached during Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit to Beijing on Thursday, there are no signs that either side is ready to back down. “It’s easier to shake a mountain than to shake the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian boasted at a press conference Monday. Sarath Chand, India’s vice army chief, said on Tuesday: “China is expanding its influence across the Himalayas into our neighbourhood despite being an economy five times the size (of India), with such a large standing army ... it is bound to be a threat for us in the years ahead.”

This file photo taken on July 10, 2008 shows a Chinese soldier (left), next to an Indian soldier at the Nathu La border crossing between India and China in India’s northeastern Sikkim state. A border standoff between Chinese and Indian troops on a remote Himalayan plateau has heightened long-standing tensions while ensnaring a tiny kingdom, Bhutan, between the two nuclear-armed powers. The row has festered for more than a month by the end of July 2017 as India and China refuse to back down in the distant but strategically key territory, reflecting the historic mistrust between the Asian giants. (AFP)

History Bid to record accounts of witnesses to deadliest migration

Mistrust Mistrust is hundreds of years old and the pair fought a brief war in 1962 in India’s border state of Arunachal Pradesh. “India views China’s road-building as a threat because (the Chinese) have gone against the status quo of behaviour in a disputed territory,” Shen Dingli, vice dean of Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, told AFP. The road was being built close to the “Chicken’s Neck,” a narrow, essential strip of land connecting India’s northeastern provinces with the rest of the country. But Beijing maintains that “Doklam has been part of China since ancient times,” countering that Indian troops triggered the standoff by crossing a boundary established in an 1890 agreement with Britain. Zhao Xiaozhuo, a senior Chinese colonel and an analyst at a PLA think tank, said it was “ridiculous” for India to view the road construction as a threat. “India views infrastructure in the border areas as only for military use with little consideration for their valuable role in economic development,” Zhao wrote in the state-run China Daily. Bhutan has taken a backseat as India and China scuffle. Jayadeva Ranade, head of the Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, said China is trying to establish a “pro-Beijing lobby” inside Bhutan. “But Bhutan has limitations on what it can do directly. It has protested to China, issued notes, but more than that, what can they really do but sit and watch?” Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping nor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi can back down without facing a “nationalist backlash” back home, said Huang Jing, a Sino-Indian relations expert at the National University of Singapore. Xi in particular must exude strength as he consolidates power before a crucial Communist Party congress later this year. ❑ ❑ ❑ Modi, Kumar allies; form govt in Bihar: A former arch-rival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi aligned with the Hindu nationalist leader on Thursday to form a new government in Bihar, one of the country’s most populous states. The outspoken Nitish Kumar took the oath as Bihar’s chief minister just hours after standing down in protest at corruption allegations against his last coalition partner. The link up between Kumar’s Janata Dal United party and the prime minister’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) further tightens Modi’s grip on power ahead of national elections in 2019. Kumar had been considered a potential challenger to Modi for India’s top job. The BJP, which this month easily won the presidential election for the first time, now rules 17 of India’s 29 states either directly or in alliance with regional parties. Bihar, with a population of 100 million people but impoverished and frequently scandal-tainted, has seen a titanic power struggle in recent years. In 2013 then-chief minister Kumar pulled his party out of a 17-year-old alliance with the BJP over Modi’s appointment as party leader. He had called Modi a “fascist” and “Hitler” over his alleged anti-Muslim and hardline Hindu politics. After stepping down in 2014 as chief minister after a poor showing in elections, Kumar forged a “grand alliance” with another ex-rival and former chief minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, to thwart Modi’s right-wing Hindu party in the following year’s state polls. The alliance, which also involved the main opposition Congress party, was seen as a possible prototype for a national bid to stop Modi’s getting reelection. Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav became a deputy chief minister under the deal, but is now under investigation by federal investigators over an illegal land deal. He has denied the charges. His father was jailed and has been banned from elected office since 2013 over a separate million dollar fodder scam. After several calls for Tejashwi Yadav to stand down, Kumar resigned late Wednesday saying it was “impossible” to carry on. Kumar will face a floor test on Friday to prove his new majority. “I promise that I will stay committed to the people of Bihar,” Kumar told reporters after taking oath in state capital Patna.

Race to preserve ‘Partition’ memories

This file photo taken on July 5, 2017 shows Sushwant Kaur, 78, showing a photograph of her late father Sulkhan Singh in Amritsar. On both sides of the border that divided the subcontinent 70 years ago during partition, historians are racing to record the accounts of the last living witnesses to one of the largest, deadliest human migrations of all time. In August 1947 the British Raj was dismantled, creating a newly independent India — though with chunks of its western and eastern regions hurriedly amputated to create Pakistan. (AFP)

Ghani

Janjua

Subcontinent Diplomatic staff recovered: Afghan security forces on Wednesday recovered two Pakistani diplomatic officials who were kidnapped in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangahar, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. The two Pakistani officials, based in a consulate office in the eastern city of Jalalabad, were abducted on June 16 as they travelled by road back to their homeland. Details of their recovery were not immediately available, nor was information of who had taken the diplomatic officials. Afghan government forces are fighting both the main Taleban insurgents and fighters loyal to Islamic State for control of territory in Nangarhar. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani personally called the Pakistani charge d’affaires in Kabul to give the news of the operation. The diplomatic officials were transferred to the Pakistani embassy on Wednesday and were expected to be flown back to Pakistan as soon as possible, the ministry statement said. Afghan officials were not immediately available to comment. Islamabad has claimed that Kabul is not doing enough to tackle Pakistani Taleban militants who have been driven out of Pakistan, but who still carry out attacks across the border. Pakistan’s statement said Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in a phone call to the Afghan side conveyed Pakistan’s gratitude to the Afghan government. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ 4 held in Pak revenge rape: Pakistan police on Thursday arrested four more men involved in the rape of a teenage girl as punishment for a rape committed by her brother. The latest arrests, which include the man who allegedly committed the ‘revenge rape’,

KARACHI, July 27, (AFP): Sitting in her Karachi home, Jamshed Jahan Ara looks straight into the camera as she explains in a trembling voice how her family fled India during Partition in 1947. Just six years old when she boarded an overcrowded train bound for the newlycreated Muslim state of Pakistan, Ara recalls watching armed Sikhs approach — then hearing her father tell her brother to kill the women of the family if the convoy was attacked. “One is my wife, another is my sister and one is my daughter,” she recalls him saying. “So, dear, be a man. I can’t shoot them. You must kill all three and we will fight (the Sikhs) till the last before we surrender.’ “I asked, ‘Why would Neeam kill me. I have done nothing wrong,’” the 76-year-old tells the camera, emotion flooding her face as she remembered her father’s reply: “A bullet is better (than being captured)”. On both sides of the border that divided the subcontinent 70 years ago, historians are racing to record the accounts of the last living witnesses to one of the largest, deadliest human migrations of all time. In August 1947 the British Raj was dismantled, creating a newly independent India — though with chunks of its western and eastern regions hurriedly amputated to create Pakistan. Partition etched a deep fissure in the region and threw millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs on the road to their new homeland. Six thousand kilometres of new borders were drawn in just five weeks. Fifteen million people uprooted. Entire villages massacred. Tens of thousands of women kidnapped and raped. Possibly as many as two million lives lost. But behind those statistics are the stories of the men and women who lived brings the told number detained to 18, a police source confirmed. A jirga (village council) in a suburb of the central city of Multan had ordered the rape of the 16-year-old girl as a punishment after her brother sexually assaulted a 12 year-old. The 12-year-old’s brother — now in custody — approached the village council to complain about the attack, naming his

through that historic moment, the legacy of which still defines relations in South Asia. In Pakistan’s southern metropolis of Karachi, students and volunteers are transcribing fragments of oral history collected across the country by the Citizen Archives of Pakistan. “History for the longest amount of time has been limited to the people who were the rulers or the winners but history has a larger scope. It has individuals who get affected. It has cultures that get affected,” said Aliya Tayyabi, director of the archives. Sukhwant Kaur, 78, had always struggled to find the words to explain her family’s terrifying escape to the Indian side of the border. Sitting in her home in Amritsar in north India, the grandmother can still recall with startling clarity the horrors she witnessed as a child of eight.

Drown A mother asking her son to drown her in a river. A small pond with corpses floating in it that was the only place to find water. A woman cutting the umbilical cord of her newborn child with the only thing she could find — a stick of sugar cane. “I feel much lighter inside having dared to explain all this,” said Kaur. It is stories like Kaur’s that, for several years now, organisations on both sides of the border including the Citizen Archives of Pakistan, the Amritsar Partition Museum and the 1947 Partition Archive have been hurrying to record and digitise. “That generation is leaving us,” said Mallika Ahluwalia, director of the newly created Partition Museum. “There’s this real sense of urgency.” The projects are also seeking to transform that volatile period into more than just a chapter in a school textbook. cousin as the culprit. In response, the council ordered the brother to rape the sister of the accused in return — an order which was carried out, according to police. “Both the parties had filed cases of rape against each other at the local police station after the incident that happened last week,” local police official Allah Baksh told AFP

An Indian man escorts a woman who was air-lifted from a flooded farm after she arrived at an airport in Deesa, Gujarat, India on July 26. At least 29 people have died in the state of Gujarat amid torrential rains. This week’s deaths have taken the toll in the state to 83 since the start of the monsoon season which runs from June through September. (AP)

In Punjab, which saw some of the worst violence of 1947, the Partition Museum enlisted the help of a dozen high school students from Amritsar. Few families living around Amritsar, just 30 kms (19 miles) from Pakistan, escaped Partition untouched. The teenagers were told to find three stories from the period from amongst their relatives. “While interviewing them, images were forming in front of my eyes. It was a painful experience, I almost felt the pain that they were going through at that time,” said 16-year-old student Aniket Bhatia. Fellow student Rahat Sandhu burst into tears as she heard the story of a survivor whose baby sister was abandoned on the side of the road because no one could carry her. “He cried, and I cried too,” said Sandhu. “The kind of energy they put into their words, the kind of bond we shared for that time, for 15 minutes, is inexplicable.” But within the tales of desperate decisions and senseless brutality emerge stories of love and hope. “So many people who made it across, made it across because of the kindness of a friend, of a neighbour, of somebody who worked with them and in many cases even a stranger,” said Ahluwalia of the Partition Museum. Survivors’ accounts also offer objectivity from those who suffered most, says Aleena Mashhood of the Oral History Project — an increasingly valuable perspective as time goes on. “They say something like, that wasn’t us Muslims who suffered, it was also the Hindus who suffered,” she said. “Your bias breaks.” In Amritsar’s Partition Museum, where the wounds that still define the region are preserved, the last room is perhaps aptly named “The gallery of Hope”. Wednesday. (AFP) ❑ ❑



Indian floods nears 120: The bodies of 25 people, including 17 members of a single family, were pulled from the mud Wednesday as the death toll from major flooding in India climbed towards 120, an official said. Authorities found the bodies in two villages in hard-hit Banaskantha district, Gujarat, as floodwaters receded, said assistant superintendent of police Aksharaj Makwana. “In all 25 bodies were fished out from two villages on the bank of Banas river,” he told AFP. Local police said earlier 17 of the dead found in Kharia village were from one family. A senior Gujarati government official, Pankaj Kumar, said 2655 stranded villagers had been rescued from Banaskantha district, with at least 260 airlifted to safey by India’s Air Force. Gujarat’s state emergency authority said Wednesday at least 12 other bodies were found overnight as rescue crews sifted through communities devastated by heavy monsoon flooding. The official death toll from the floods in India’s westernmost state stands at 119, with more than 36,000 people evacuated to safe areas as helicopters and boats try to reach those still stranded. Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveyed the devastation across Gujarat from the skies Tuesday, urging people across his home state to remain resilient. Apart from Gujarat, the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have been hard-hit by monsoon flooding, while pockets of the eastern states of Odisha and Bihar have also been affected. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

17

Focus Senegal’s ‘talibes’

Crackdown fails to improve beggars

An anti-government activist throws a Motolov cocktail at riot police during a 48-hour general strike called by the opposition, in Caracas on July 26. Venezuelans began blocking off deserted streets Wednesday as the opposition launched a 48-hour general strike aimed at thwarting embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s controversial plans to rewrite the country’s constitution. (AFP)

DAKAR, July 27, (AFP): Dawn has barely broken as three of Senegal’s estimated 50,000 child beggars dart through the capital’s streets, hoping for a bag of sugar or a few coins to hand over to their teachers. Senegal’s “talibes” — children as young as four sent to Islamic boarding schools by their parents, then forced to earn their keep by begging — are out in force every day in Dakar, despite a government crackdown on the practice. Child specialists say a spike in numbers at dedicated reception centres left them struggling to house so many children as they sifted through individual cases, but business as usual has resumed in the months since. Mouhamed Lo, a medical assistant at the Yakaaru Guneye centre (“Kids’ Hope” in the local Wolof language), spots the trio wandering the suburb of Guediawaye with begging bowls in hand, and approaches.

Rhythm

Lat/Am Argentina sentences 4 ex-judges for crimes

Maduro lashes out at ‘insolent’ US sanctions CARACAS, July 27, (Agencies): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro branded US sanctions leveled at his regime on Wednesday as “insolent,” as pressure piled up on him abroad and at home over his controversial plan to elect a new body to rewrite the constitution. The US measures came as Venezuela’s opposition began a two-day nationwide strike aimed at ousting the president through early elections. The deadliness of four months of violent anti-Maduro protests was further confirmed with the death by gunfire of a 30-year-old man in a demonstration in the west of the country. Prosecutors said a 16-year-old boy also was killed in Wednesday’s disturbances in Caracas. The deaths raised to 105 the number of people killed since April 1 in clashes with security forces. In Washington, the US Treasury unveiled a list of 13 current and former officials, including the interior minister, senior military brass, the president of the electoral council, and the finance chief of state oil company

PDVSA, whose US assets would be frozen. The opposition and US moves are to force Maduro to give up his plan to have a 545-member “Constituent Assembly” elected on Sunday. Critics say the body is a step towards a dictatorship, by bypassing or dissolving the opposition-held National Assembly. Maduro called the US punishment “illegal, insolent and unprecedented.” “Who do these imperialists in the United States think they are? The government of the world?” he said in a speech. But in his country, where there are widespread shortages of basic goods and soaring inflation, protesters are showing their discontent with Maduro’s leadership. Organizers claimed 92-percent support for the walkout. “No more dictatorship!” read signs on road barricades in eastern Caracas. Maduro accuses the US of fomenting the unrest against him and his government, with the help of the conservative opposition. The Venezuelan military has declared its

loyalty to him.

Also: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Four former federal judges in Argentina were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the country’s last dictatorship in a ruling human rights groups are calling historic for punishing the regime’s civilian accomplices. The court in Mendoza province ruled that ex-judges Rolando Carrizo, Guillermo Petra Recabarren, Luis Miret and Otilio Romano participated in kidnappings, torture and murders. The men were tried for their failure to investigate petitions of habeas corpus filed by relatives of dissidents who disappeared during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. During the trial, which began in 2014, prosecutors asked to change the charges against the four from being accomplices to primary participants in crimes, arguing their inaction on the petitions preceded the disappearance of more than 20 dissidents.

“They have been here since 6:00 am, just after the first prayer of the day,” he said, describing the rhythm of life for many young boys in this majority-Muslim west African nation. “The state does nothing for these children. I have been doing this job 15 years and nothing has changed,” Lo added. Three times a week, Lo joins forces with a social worker to scout out these small groups of boys and warn them of the dangers of begging in a city of few pavements and notoriously terrible drivers. Their task is immense: 30,000 of these children beg in Dakar alone, and abuses are common. Human Rights Watch has documented two deaths from abuse at the hands of teachers, five sexual abuse cases and 28 cases of beating and imprisonment in Senegal, all recorded since the crackdown began last year. Studying in an Islamic boarding school, or “daara”, is a respected decision, especially among rural families. A son is sent away at a young age to learn from a “marabout”, or teacher of the Holy Quran. In reality most learn little of the Holy Quran and less of anything else that might give them a head start in life, instead spending long hours begging with the threat of a beating if they fail to bring back enough food or money.

Africa Germany probes Mali crash: German experts are investigating the cause of the crash of a German military helicopter taking part in UN peacekeeping activities in northern Mali, killing the two crew. Germany has suspended routine flights with similar helicopters. The German Tiger helicopter crashed Wednesday south of Tabankort in the Gao region. The military’s deputy chief of staff, Vice Admiral Joachim Ruehle, said Wednesday night that the aircraft’s crew didn’t Ruehle send a distress call. Ruehle said the cause of the crash remains open but there is no indication of foul play. A German team was headed to Gao Thursday to search for the flight data recorder. Ruehle said routine Tiger flights are suspended until further notice and the aircraft will only fly in cases where “life and limb absolutely demand deployment.” (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Boko Haram ‘ambushes’, kills 10: Boko Haram extremists ambushed an oil exploration convoy in northern Nigeria, killing at least 10 people and abducting several others who were later rescued, officials said Wednesday. They said insurgents also had been killed, but gave no numbers. The ambush came several weeks after the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation’s management announced it was resuming oil exploration around Lake Chad following assurances by Nigeria’s military that security had improved in the area, which was once under Boko Haram’s control. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Al-Shebab associate held: The US military says a mission in Somalia has detained a suspected associate of the al-Shabab extremist group who once lived in the United States. A US Africa Command spokeswoman said Wednesday that Abdirizak Tahlil is accused of “facilitating the use of improvised explosive devices in Somalia” and is detained by Somalia’s government. The Trump administration recently approved stepped-up military efforts against al-Shebab, which is Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Congo rebel leader surrenders: The founder and leader of a Congo rebel group who is wanted for crimes against humanity surrendered Wednesday in the country’s North Kivu province, the United Nations mission in Congo said. Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, the founder of Nduma defense of Congo, has been wanted since 2011 under a national warrant for crimes against humanity, including for mass rapes. He surrendered Wednesday to UN forces in Mutongo in Congo’s east with full knowledge he will stand trial for alleged crimes, the mission said. He has since been transferred to Goma, the capital of the province. (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

18

World News Roundup

This file photo taken on Aug 12, 2013 is a long-exposure photograph showing the Milky Way in the clear night sky near Yangon. Matter from galaxies far, far away could make up as much as half the Milky Way and everything in it — including ourselves, astronomers said on July 27, 2017. New supercomputer simulations showed it was likely that much of the matter in the Milky Way came from galaxies up to a million light years away, they wrote in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. (AP)

Climate

Climate

Farmer suicides, protests

Raft of future disasters needs strong defences

Crowdfunding revives ponds in south India

Caribbean life at serious risk

NAGAPATTINAM, India, July 27, (RTRS): The worst drought in more than a century in southern India has led to protests, farmer suicides, and clashes at the water taps as reservoirs and lakes dry up in the searing heat. It has also led to an unusual crowdfunding campaign that helped restore a village pond in one of the worst affected areas, with a similar effort planned for a second pond. The effort, led by The Better India website, raised more than 1.1 million rupees ($17,000) on crowdfunding site Milaap. The Thiruvaimur-Thamarai pond in Nagapattinam, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, was cleaned and de-silted earlier this year with half those funds, in preparation for approaching rains. A second pond in the same area will be cleaned shortly. “We had crowdfunded other social impact projects before, including destitute women and underprivileged children,” said Aishwarya Guha, head of impact projects at The Better India. “When we saw the farmer protests, we wanted to do something to help. After some discussion, we decided restoring ponds would have the most long-term impact, and that we Modi should do this with community involvement through crowdfunding,” she said. Farmers from Tamil Nadu had travelled to Delhi earlier this year to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief after the rains failed, leaving many of them in debt. They displayed the skulls of fellow farmers believed to have committed suicide, and placed live rats in their mouths to draw the nation’s attention to their plight. The Better India’s crowdfunding effort hit its goal of 1 million rupees in 40 days, drawing contributions ranging from 100 rupees ($1.50) to 700,000 rupees ($10,900) from a philanthropy, Guha said. Crowdfunding is growing in popularity in India as a means to finance medical emergencies, help underpriviliged people and assist during disasters. Environmental causes — from planting trees to cleaning beaches — is a relatively new focus area. The restoration of the pond in Nagapattinam was done by conservation group Environmentalist Foundation of India, which has cleaned lakes and ponds across the country.

Traditional “We used to have a very good system of using ponds and tanks for farming, for livestock, and daily needs. There was a lot of traditional knowledge and discipline around the use of water,” said Arun Krishnamurthy, EFI’s founder. “But much of that is lost now, as people began to dig borewells and disregard traditional crop patterns, and because of encroachments and dumping of trash,” he said. Restoration of a water body entails removing garbage in and around the lake or pond. The lake bed is then dredged, with the captured silt used to heighten and strengthen the bunds around its edges to increase storage capacity and prevent overflow. The water is tested for levels of contaminants and pollutants before, during and after the process. A small wetland is created in a corner to help filter out incoming waste. The community is encouraged to plant native plant species around the pond to prevent erosion and limit evaporation losses.

Joe Uziel, of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), who is the director of an excavation project where evidence of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians has recently been unearthed, holds the head of a ceramic figure at the site of the City of David archeological park near Jerusalem’s Old City on July 26. The structures dating to more than 2,600 years ago have been unearthed after having been covered over by collapsed layers of stone revealing many findings such as charred wood, grape seeds, pottery, fish scales and bones, and unique, rare artifacts including dozens of storage jars which served to store both grain and liquids. (AFP)

Discovery Japanese awarded ‘Asia’s Nobel’: A Japanese historian who helped save Cambodia’s renowned Angkor Wat temple complex was among the winners of this year’s Magsaysay Awards, widely regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel prize, organisers said Thursday. Yoshiaki Ishizawa, 79, was honoured for decades of work in helping preserve the historic landmark after the 12th-century temple complex barely survived years of war and civil strife, the award foundation said. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Sunscreen potential in plants: Scientists in Chile have discovered molecules in two species of Antarctic flowers that protect the plants from solar radiation and could potentially be used in products such as sunscreen for humans and protection for vulnerable crops. Researchers at the University of Santiago investigating the properties of Antarctic plants grown under controlled conditions found that Colobanthus quitensis (pearlwort) and Deschampsia antarctica (hair grass) could tolerate high levels of ultraviolet radiation. According to the British Antarctic Survey, these are the only two flowering plants found in the icy polar region, growing around its more temperate edges. But climate change and melting ice are increasing their range, the Chilean researchers said. The scientists have identified a group of molecules in the flowers, particularly Colobanthus, that acts as a solar filter and prevents radiation damage, said project leader Gustavo Zuniga. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Astronauts gear up for space: Wearing helmets weighing 100 kilos, spinning in a centrifuge and exercising while weightless: Russian cosmonauts and astronauts from abroad have to undergo a gruelling training process before blasting off into space. Helped by an instructor at the famed Star City outside Moscow, cosmonaut Sergei Ryazansky slowly puts on his helmet as he hangs from the ceiling suspended by a

BOGOTA, July 27, (RTRS): As if hurricanes were not menacing enough, small Caribbean islands risk losing their entire way of life unless they urgently strengthen defences against a raft of future disasters, according to a climate change official. “You don’t even need to have a hurricane to get extensive damage … a tropical storm or depression, it comes and sits over a particular island or territory and it deposits rain,” said Ulric Trotz, deputy director at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC). “For us small island nations, basically everything comes to a stop. As a region, we are very exposed to climate risk … and our projections show that this will be exacerbated,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Trotz — whose organisation coordinates the entire region’s response to climate change — said that along with the annual hurricane season, the Caribbean now faces extreme weather each year, from flooding to landslides. Fishing and farming communities living in coastal areas and the tourism industry — vital for Caribbean economies — often bear the brunt of damage and loss of income. Caribbean nations can now face as much rainfall as they would normally get over a period of months in the space of a few days, with drainage systems unable to cope, Trotz said. “A lot of the damage now comes from extreme precipitation. So that translates into floods, landslides, loss of life, loss of livelihoods,” said Trotz, a science advisor. “We have some serious concerns about the viability of Caribbean life as we know it.” One key way to make coastal areas more resilient to storm surges and rising sea levels, linked to global warming, is to protect marine, coral and mangrove ecosystems, Trotz said. Reefs act like breakwaters reducing wave strength, while salt-tolerant mangroves can buffer against hurricane winds and storm surges and cut wave height. “As far as the human body is concerned, the healthier the body is, the more resilient it will be in terms of dealing with some of the threats, diseases,” Trotz said. “So the same principle applies here,

thick metal cord and practises opening a lock while wearing a thick spacesuit. The 42-year-old cosmonaut is no novice. He has already spent five months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013 and 2014 and will return for another mission on July 28, teamed up with US astronaut Randy Bresnik and Italian Paolo Nespoli. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Project aims to boost use of e-vehicles

Australia to build superhighway MELBOURNE, July 27, (RTRS): Australia is building a superhighway offering free charging stations in a bid to boost use of electric vehicles, the northeastern state of Queensland said on Thursday, most of its route fringed by the Great Barrier Reef tourist attraction. The move comes as governments around the world regulate to cut emissions by boosting the use of electric vehicles. Britain this week said it would ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040, following France. The mayors of Paris, Madrid, Mexico City and Athens have said they plan to ban diesel vehicles from city centres by 2025. Australia’s new superhighway, an 1,800-km (1,118-mile) stretch of mostly coastal road alongside the Great Barrier Reef, will be supplied by renewable energy, State Minister Steven Miles said in a statement. “This project is ambitious, but we want as many people as possible on board the electric vehicle revolution, as part of our transition to a low-emissions future,” he added. Eighteen towns and cities will make up the first phase of the super-

highway, which will become operational in the next six months, making it possible to drive an electric vehicle from the state’s southern border to the far north, he added. The road runs from Coolangatta on the border of neighbouring New South Wales to the city of Cairns, in Australia’s far north. Brisbane-based charging station maker Tritium will supply most of the project’s charging stations, a spokeswoman for the state government said, with Schneider Electric supplying the rest. Tritium’s commercial director, Paul Sernia, confirmed the company had supplied its products. The government’s early support for the project is a signal to the market that Queensland is serious about electric vehicles, said Behyad Jafari, chief executive of Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council. The step “provides certainty to unlock investment to grow our economy and create new, high skilled jobs,” he added. Australia’s uptake of electric vehicles lags other nations, but is set to increase to around 12,000 by 2020 and about 1 million by 2030, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said in May.

that the healthier our ecosystems, the healthier our reefs, wetlands and mangroves are, the more they will be able to resist some of the impacts of climate change,” he said. Across the Caribbean, scores of projects are underway to restore battered coral reefs, establish artificial reefs, replant damaged mangroves and place millions of acres of marine areas under protected areas by 2020. Some Caribbean nations also face water shortages exacerbated by longer droughts linked to climate change, Trotz said. In several islands of the Grenadines, a pilot seawater desalination project using solar power is underway. In Guyana, to better cope with drought and changing rainy seasons, rice farmers are using water harvesting and drip irrigation systems, and are re-

ceiving short-term weather forecasts allowing them to better decide when to plant crops. But more defensive action is hampered by a lack of funds. Despite the United Nations Green Climate Fund, set up in 2010 to help poor countries tackle climate change, red tape means many small island nations are unable to access funding. “The bottom line is that we don’t have the resources,” Trotz said. “It’s not that we don’t have any idea about how we need to build resilience.” It can take from nine months to up to eight years to get funds from donors, Trotz said. “The longer you delay, a lot of the assumptions you have made in the first instance are no longer valid … we have to find some way of shortening that whole process.”

Hawaii telescope to get permit:

Ishizawa

Zuniga

A construction permit should be granted for a giant telescope planned for a Hawaii mountain summit that some consider sacred, a hearings officer recommended Wednesday. Retired judge Riki May Amano had been weighing facts in the case since June, after hearing oftentimes emotional testimony that spanned 44 days. (AP)

Spielberg opens up about life, filmmaking in HBO doc

Film

In ‘Brigsby Bear’, childlike wonder never grows old LOS ANGELES, July 27, (AP): Comedian Kyle Mooney excels at playing sheepish, oddball man children on “Saturday Night Live.” They’re not obnoxious, inappropriate bros which made his buddy Andy Samberg famous. Rather, Mooney embodies sensitivity, adding empathy to men instinctively patronized as sad sacks. Mooney successfully returns to the well in “Brigsby Bear.” He stars as James, a sheltered young adult living with his overly protective parents Ted (Mark Hamill) and April (Jane Adams). James hasn’t grown up, still reading by flashlight or sneaking out of his room after his bedtime. However after a traumatic night, James quickly learns Ted and April kidnapped him as a child. He remembers nothing and doesn’t particularly care his faux-parents abducted him. All that matters for James is the fictional children’s program Brigsby Bear. The setup works. Mooney and co-writer Kevin Costello poke fun at cheesy children’s programs like “Barney & Friends” or “Teletubbies” that drill moral lessons into simplistic everyday conundrums. “Brigsby Bear” the movie is certainly no everyday conundrum. First time screenwriters Costello and Mooney offer a new perspective on the captivity film. Namely, they take what could be a three-minute “SNL” parody, remove the condescending tone and add sympathy. James never knew he’d been kidnapped as a baby, so of course he has little reason to despise his captors. They raised him as a healthy, loved child. It’s the

sensational, aggressive American culture that scares him. Both director Dave McCary and Mooney are members of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor and work at “SNL.” “Brigsby Bear” is McCary’s first feature-length directorial debut, and he takes smart risks. McCary interweaves stop-animation drawings into the live-action film which adds to the theme of legitimacy in childhood interests. While minimal, it works. It’s the other Good Neighbor involvements that don’t. Comedian Nick Rutherford is little more than just a plot point as Excited Man, an overzealous fan. The fourth and final member Beck Bennett plays Deputy Bander, a cop investigating James’ abduction. Bennett is having a career high playing the shirtless Vladimir Putin on “SNL,” but none of his comedic chops are displayed in the film. He serves only as a contrast to his partner, the loveable Detective Vogel (Greg Kinnear) who bonds with James. The castings feel more like Mooney pleasing his friends with film roles rather than marrying dynamic actors to developed characters. Fortunately, the rest of the cast excels. Fans coming for the comedians will likely recognize Hamill as the guy from “Star Wars.” A heartbreaking scene between the newly jailed Ted and James cements Hamill as a legendary actor outside of an iconic franchise which often fails to indulge his emotional range. Ted is not a vicious kidnapper; he’s a man who just wanted to be a father and illicitly succeeded. It’s the same desire of James’ birth

parents played by Michaela Watkins and Matt Walsh who transcend at wrangling their trauma alongside James’ apathy. Watkins proves once again a short tenure on “SNL” isn’t career destruction. The film offers no true surprises, following many kidnapping clichés. And yet it’s highly-aware by intentionally finding humor and happiness in a dark tale. “Brigsby Bear” offers a glimpse on what makes Mooney and his man-child persona work. There’s strength in embracing awkward, childlike wonder.

Also: BEVERLY HILLS, Calif: Steven Spielberg isn’t afraid to talk about his flops. “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” is his least favorite film in that franchise, says documentarian Susan Lacy, who spent more than 30 hours interviewing the filmmaker for “Spielberg,” premiering Oct 7 on HBO. Spielberg also acknowledges some mistakes in “1941,” Lacy said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association’s summer meeting. She said she only expected to have four interviews with the traditionally private filmmaker, but that they ended up meeting 17 times. “I can only guess that turning 70 is a turning point for many people,” said Lacy, who created and produced the “American Masters” series on PBS for decades. Spielberg turned 70 in December.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

Features

Variety

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Anthony Mackie in a scene from Detroit. (AP)

Film Bigelow hopes her film starts dialogue on race

LOS ANGELES: A recent press conference for the upcoming Japanese film “Fireworks” confirmed that finishing touches are still being put on the animated feature ahead of its Aug 18 release. The film’s full name, “Fireworks: Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom?,” refers to the story of schoolkids watching fireworks who are debating whether they look different depending on where they’re viewed from. Meanwhile, a girl named Nazuna is about to move to a different school due to her mother’s remarriage. A boy falls in love with Nazuna, and the two teenagers decide to run away. “Fireworks” is based the live action TV series which was directed and written by Shunji Iwai in 1993. Iwai won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for the series. Produced by Genki Kawamura, who also shepherded global hit animated film “Your Name,” voice actors include Suzu Hirose, Masaki Suda, Mamoru Miyano, and Takako Matsu. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: “Crazy Rich Asians” actor Henry Golding will co-star opposite Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in Lionsgate’s thriller “A Simple Favor.” Paul Feig is directing the film, with shooting starting on Aug 14 in Toronto. Kendrick will play a mommy blogger trying to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of her best friend, portrayed by Lively. Golding has been cast as Lively’s character’s husband. Feig and Jessie Henderson are producing through their Feigco production company. Jessica Sharzer wrote the script based on Darcey Bell’s book of the same name. Fox 2000 was originally developing the project after buying the movie rights to “A Simple Favor” in a preemptive deal. The story is in the vein of Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel “Gone Girl” and Paula Hawkins’ 2015 debut “The Girl on the Train” — two best-selling thrillers in which a female protagonist disappears from a seemingly perfect relationship, part of the “domestic noir” genre. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ LOS ANGELES: Ike Barinholtz is recovering after he broke his neck

‘Detroit’ explores a horrific history By Lindsey Bahr here is no nice or pretty way to tell a story about T the systemic oppression and mistreatment of black people in the United States. It’s fitting then that Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit ,” an account of the murders of three unarmed black men that took place in the Algiers Motel in late July 1967, is neither — it is an all-out assault on your senses and soul. It’s hard to overstate just how visceral and harrowing an experience it is. “Detroit” is a well-made and evocative film that is also numbingly brutal with little to no reprieve. And while it might be the only true way to tell this story, it’s also one that is not going to be for everyone. The stomach-churning horror begins immediately and does not let up for 2 hours and 23 minutes. To set the stage for the Algiers Motel, Bigelow begins by speeding through the history of black people in United States with animated acrylics and pounding music — emancipation, the great migration, white flight and the racist zoning practices that led to the overcrowding of black residents in urban pockets. Tensions have already reached a tipping point, and then in the summer of 1967, Detroit police bust an after-hours club in what would become the inciting incident for the riots. Three days after the riots begin, a local singing group called The Dramatics are about to go on stage at a big, crowded theater hoping to get their big break, but are interrupted and sent home due to the events outside. The men exit the theater in their sparkly suits into what looks like a war zone. As they run through the streets they assure every cop who isn’t already beating someone with a night stick that they’re just on their way home. Bigelow shows all of this with handheld, ground level docudrama realism. There is no orienting yourself to the bigger picture, only what is right in front of you. The charismatic lead singer Larry (Algee Smith) and his buddy Fred (Jacob Latimore) decide to peel off and get an $11 room at the Algiers and wait out the night. There they meet two white party girls, a veteran, Greene (a terrific Anthony Mackie), and a provocateur, Carl (Jason Mitchell), who plays around with a starter pistol that eventually catches the attention of the police in the area. The officers, who we’ve already learned are

while filming the upcoming movie “The Pact.” While shooting a falling stunt from a high platform on set five weeks ago, Barinholtz fractured cervical vertebrae in his neck on impact. Per doctor’s orders, he has to keep his neck stabilized until the fractures heal. Conveniently for Barinholtz, the brace has been incorporated into

Lively

rotten, storm the motel on the hunt for the sniper they presume is there. The local police, led by a maniacal, hotheaded racist, Krauss (played by the English actor Will Poulter), kills Carl immediately and then continue to terrorize the guests relentlessly with inhuman torture tactics in what seems like an endless sequence of horror upon horror until two more end up dead and they call it a night. Bigelow collaborated again with screenwriter Mark Boal on “Detroit,” which is perfectly evocative of this specific time and place, but lacking the perspective and illumination that one might hope a 50-year-old event would warrant. Perhaps they wanted to leave conclusions and interpreting to the audience, and as the film notes at the end, no one knows for certain what happened in the Algiers Motel and some of the scenes were pieced together and imagined by the filmmakers.

Achieved There is some nuance — in the National Guard officer who is horrified by the situation and the local security officer (John Boyega) who only wanted to ease tensions — but not nearly as much as Bigelow and Boal have previously achieved in “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Hurt Locker.” Also very little insight is given to the victims’ lives outside of this event. Maybe that’s not the point, though. Maybe anger is all you’re supposed to feel when you step outside the theater. Maybe not feeling satisfied with “Detroit” is the point. This was America, you think. This is still America. And the movies can’t offer a resolution that history hasn’t. “Detroit,” an Annapurna Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “strong violence and pervasive language.” Running time: 143 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Also: LOS ANGELES: Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow brought her powerful interpretation of Detroit’s racially charged 1967 riots home to the city in the world premiere of “Detroit,” saying she hoped the film would

Kendrick

his storyline as ex-con and nurse Morgan Tookers on the next season of “The Mindy Project.” The look should easily fit in with the essence of his eccentric oddball character. “After the accident, I talked to Mindy and we agreed that the only option was writing it into the show,” he told People. “Luckily, on ‘The Mindy Project,’ I play a character

encourage a wider dialogue nationwide. “Detroit” recreates the summer civil unrest by African-Americans in the city 50 years ago, and the little-known police interrogation and shootings of three young black men at the Algiers Motel. The movie, out in major US cities on Friday, has a rare 100 percent-positive review score on aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes with many movie critics calling it timely but painful to watch. Bigelow, in Detroit for Tuesday’s premiere, noted that although the events took place a half century ago, unarmed black men were still being shot by police in the United States. “These events keep happening. I mean look at how timely and topically it is with Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Laquan McDonald, Freddie Gray,” Bigelow told reporters on the red carpet. Brown, Martin, McDonald and Gray were killed in separate incidents between 2012 and 2015, sparking protests and debate over perceived racial bias among US police. Martin was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. “I think (the film is) an opportunity to encourage or invite a dialogue about bridging a divide this country desperately needs, in my humble opinion,” Bigelow added. Bigelow, 65, was the first woman to win an Oscar for directing with her 2008 Iraq war movie “The Hurt Locker.” She also directed “Zero Dark Thirty,” the 2012 thriller about the US military mission to hunt down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In “Detroit,” actor Will Poulter plays a white, racist police officer who was subsequently tried and acquitted of all charges in the shootings. “I think like a lot of other white people, sometimes the topic of race is often uncomfortable or difficult. I’m hoping that a film like this will encourage people to talk about this topic when we’re invited into the conversation,” Poulter said. (Agencies) Adam Graham, film critic for the Detroit News, wrote that the movie is “an intense, gritty, explosive recreation of a grim moment in one of our city’s worst chapters.”

who could break his neck falling out of his bunk bed and it’s completely believable.” (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: After winning the Silver Bear in Berlin, Aki Kaurismaki’s “The Other Side of Hope” will open the 23rd edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “The Other Side of Hope” will

screen at the National Theatre and the Raiffeisen Open Air Cinema in Sarajevo on Aug 11. “The Other Side of Hope” marks the Finnish master’s first feature in six years. The Sarajevo Film Festival described the film as a “thematic twin” to Kaurismaki’s 2011 feature “Le Havre,” which had opened the 17th edition of the festival. (RTRS)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

NEWS/FEATURES

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People & Places Celebs Bateman gets H’wood star

Jolie ‘opens up’ on split from Brad Pitt NEW YORK, July 27, (Agencies): Angelina Jolie has opened up about her split from Brad Pitt, confessing to having “the hardest time” and claiming to have spent months as a homemaker, doing dishes and cleaning up dog poop. Jolie, 42, filed for divorce last September, citing irreconcilable differences. She accused her Oscar-winning ex of hitting their teenage son on a flight from France to Los Angeles, sparking tabloid gossip and an FBI probe. The 53-year-old was cleared by the FBI and social workers and wants joint legal and physical custody of Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and twins Vivienne and Knox, nine, while Jolie is demanding sole guardianship. Jolie told Vanity Fair that “things got bad” in the summer of 2016. “It’s just been the hardest time, and we’re just kind of coming up for air,” she told the magazine, shortly after moving into a $25 million, six-bedroom, 10-bathroom home with her children in Los Angeles neighborhood Los Feliz. She sought to portray herself as focused on homemaking in Jolie the aftermath of the split despite a legendarily itinerant life which has seen her buy homes and travel with her children all over the world. “I’m just wanting to make the proper breakfast and keep the house. That’s my passion. At the request of my kids, I’m taking cooking classes,” she said. “I’ve been trying for nine months to be really good at just being a homemaker and picking up dog poop and cleaning dishes and reading bedtime stories. And I’m getting better at all three,” she told the magazine. Having joked to her youngest son Knox about pretending to be normal, Jolie recounted with pride that he replied: “’Who wants to be normal? We’re not normal. Let’s never be normal.’” She also said she had been determined to shield the children. “I do not want my children to be worried about me. I think it’s very important to cry in the shower and not in front of them.” Pitt admitted in his first post-split interview in May that heavy drinking contributed to the breakdown of his marriage, and said he was now a teetotaler. He and Jolie had been a couple since 2004, and got married in 2014.

Jason Bateman touches his star at a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 26, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Film Fogel looks into drugs in sport

Icarus goes inside Russia Oly scandal

Aggressive Jolie underwent a double mastectomy and removal of her ovaries in 2013 to prevent an aggressive form of cancer that killed her mother, grandmother and aunt. The actress won an Oscar in 2000 for portraying a young woman with psychiatric problems in “Girl, Interrupted”. Her most recent project was to direct “First They Killed My Father” about the Cambodian genocide, a Netflix original. Angelina Jolie says she developed high blood pressure and Bell’s palsy last year. The actress-director tells Vanity Fair that she credits acupuncture for her full recovery from the paralysis, which was caused by nerve damage and led one side of her face to droop. Jolie has been open about her health challenges in the past. She wrote in the New York Times about her 2013 decision to have a preventative double mastectomy after learning that she carries the gene that made it extremely likely that she would get breast cancer. She had her ovaries removed two years later. She says they care for each other and for their family and are “both working toward the same goal.” Jolie says that when she was growing up, she often worried about her mother, and she doesn’t want her children to worry about her. “I think it’s very important to cry in the shower and not in front of them,” she said. “They need to know that everything’s going to be all right even when you’re not sure it is.” Jolie says her closest friend has been Loung Ung, whose 2000 memoir “First They Killed My Father” is the basis for Jolie’s latest film. The women met in 2002 when Jolie was on her first mission for the United Nations’ refugee outreach. Jolie’s adaptation of Ung’s memoir about the Khmer Rouge genocide that claimed her parents and siblings will premiere on Netflix later this year. ❑ ❑ ❑ Emmy-nominated actor Jason Bateman was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, 30 years after breaking into the movies in “Teen Wolf Too.” “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston, who appeared in five films with Bateman, and Will Arnett, his cast mate on television’s “Arrested Development,” gave speeches paying tribute to his staying power. “I just simply feel very, very grateful and fortunate to have had a chance to hold my job in a business that’s not known for its longevity,” said the 48-yearold actor. He added that he felt lucky “being able to work with enough good people to not only learn an enormous amount, but to find in them some friends that have changed the way I see the world.” Bateman received Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Michael Bluth in “Arrested Development” in 2005, when it aired on Fox, and 2013, when it was streamed on Netflix. The actor can currently be seen in Netflix’s “Ozark” as a financial planner who relocates from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks and has to pay off a Mexican drug lord. The father-of-two made his television debut at the age of 12 with a recurring role on the NBC period family drama “Little House on the Prairie.” He appeared in the NBC comedies “Silver Spoons” and “It’s Your Move” in the early to mid-1980s before transforming into a teen idol through his role on another of the network’s sit-coms, “The Hogan Family.” Bateman starred with Aniston in “Horrible Bosses (2011) and its 2014 sequel as well as 2010 romantic comedy “The Switch.” They also appeared together in “The Break-Up” (2006) and, ten years later, “Office Christmas Party.” “Having longevity in this business is not easy, especially starting out as a child actor,” said Aniston, 48, who brought out pictures of Bateman as a young star. “Usually that’s a story that doesn’t always end well. When I actually met Jason it was kind of looking like it could go either way.” But Aniston went on to describe him as a “fantastic partner in crime,” “the most generous straight man” and a “dear friend.”

Actors Claire Danes (left), and Kyle Mooney pose with Brigsby Bear at a special screening of ‘Brigsby Bear’ at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema on July 26 in New York. (AP)

Variety LOS ANGELES: Dylan O’Brien says that sticking with his lead role in the action movie “American Assassin” helped him recover from a traumatic accident during filming of a “Maze Runner” sequel in March 2016. O’Brien told The Associated Press on Monday that being back on a set was a necessary step in his recovery. He said at times after the accident he felt like he wasn’t going to be able to return to filming, but he didn’t want to let acting go. “It really helped a lot, actually. It sort of became in a way that step that I needed in recovery to know I could do it again, I could still be on a set and things could be done in the right way, too, and things could be done safely in the way that they’re supposed to be done,” O’Brien said. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ LITTLE ROCK, Ark: “Young” Anna Lee Amsden, immortalized in The Band’s song “The Weight,” is kicking off an effort to restore Levon Helm’s childhood home and extend a musical heritage the drummer from Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, developed over 60 years. The Levon Helm Legacy Project says it needs about $150,000 to preserve the green-sided sharecropper’s house, erect a bust of the performer nearby and introduce young people to the blues, folk and rock ‘n’ roll traditions. “One of the last things he said before he died was ‘Just keep it going,’” Amsden said in an interview Wednesday. Helm died from throat cancer in 2012 at age 71 after spending his final years at Woodstock, New York — far from the cotton fields that surrounded his old home a few miles from the Mississippi River. Characters from his youth populated his songs. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ LOS ANGELES: A jury on Wednesday found that Michael Jackson’s estate owes Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties and production fees from “Billie Jean,” “Thriller” and more of the superstar’s biggest hits. The award from a Los Angeles Superior Court jury fell short of the $30 million the legendary producer sought in the lawsuit filed nearly four years ago, but well above the approximately $392,000 the Jackson estate contended Jones was owed. The jury of 10 women and two men had been deliberating since Monday. “This lawsuit was never about Michael, it was about protecting the integrity of the work we all did in the recording studio and the legacy of what we created,” Jones

LOS ANGELES, July 27, (AFP): When documentary filmmaker Bryan Fogel began looking into drugs in sport, he envisaged pulling off a bold stunt to show how easy it was to cheat anti-doping tests. Little did he know he would end up making a geopolitical thriller about Russian doping involving dirty urine, a troubling death and the biggest scandal in sporting history. Due for release on Netflix next Friday, Fogel’s “Icarus” shows how Russia corrupted the 2012 Olympics in London and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, told through the eyes of the man who masterminded the fraud before defecting and turning FBI informant. It started out as a simple plan to recreate disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong’s blood doping regime and document exactly how easy it was to sail through the tests that ought to have caught the American. “The theory was, if this guy has been able to do this, what has changed in the last four years since his confession and, more importantly, what does this mean for all sport?” Fogel told AFP. He aimed to illustrate flaws in the system by using roughly the same blood-doping regime as Armstrong and getting an expert to coach him through evading detection during his post-race urine tests. He ended up being introduced to Russian doctor Grigory Rodchenkov, who oversaw all drug testing for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Moscow’s World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) lab and, astonishingly, was only too happy to help. Fogel spent six months being coached by the charismatic, maverick Rodchenkov into taking a variety of substances including human growth hormone EPO, as the pair talked over Skype and met in Los Angeles and Moscow. Then, on Nov 9, 2015, WADA accused Rodchenkov in a 335-page report after an 11-month investigation of being the mastermind behind Russia’s massive, state-run doping efforts. The international furor forced President Vladimir Putin into making emphatic denials of state involvement on national television and promising “personalized and absolute” punishment for any individuals found culpable.

Plotting Over the next five days Rodchenkov was forced to resign, had his lab shut down and had agents from the Federal Security Service (FSB) — formerly the KGB — moved into his home. Contacts told him the intelligence services were plotting his “suicide.”

Berlin ambivalence over refugees hit big screens with ‘Club Europa’ BERLIN, July 27, (AFP): The biggest grossing German movie last year was a fizzy feel-good summer comedy about the country’s refugee influx, “Welcome to the Hartmanns”. Just a year on, German screens are darkening with “Club Europa”, a sobering take on the challenges and dilemmas in the newcomers’ integration that mirrors a growing national sense of ambivalence. The new movie by 32-year-old Franziska Hoenisch, to be broadcast on public television ZDF on Thursday, tells the story of a group of young Berlin flatmates who decide to take in a refugee from Cameroon named Samuel. The Berliners show the newcomer the capital’s famous techno scene and demonstrate how to use a potato peeler while explaining to Samuel that he has arrived in “potato country”. But the light tone of the movie soon grows ominous as Samuel’s asylum request is rejected by the authorities. The young adults must now decide if they would keep hosting him even though his residence status is now in limbo. “We didn’t want to just make a movie about people who succeed, which comforts the viewer and gives the impression that all is well,” Hoenisch told AFP. The filmmaker said she delib-

erately centred the movie around young adults in the hopes of shaking them out of their comfort bubble to take responsibilities for their action. “The people of my generation talk a lot, we want to be politically correct and involved, but deep down, we don’t do much,” said the young director. “We don’t channel our energy towards changing things for the better, but more to build our personal happiness,” she said. “It’s not enough to just assuage our bad conscience by helping a little.” The director had already begun working with the charity group Refugees Welcome — which matches people willing to open up their homes to potential refugee flatmates — in the autumn of 2014. But a year later, the story became Germany’s biggest preoccupation as the country saw a record influx of asylum seekers, reaching 1.1 million over 2015 and 2016. The arrival of tens of thousands of asylum seekers cheered by volunteers handing out food, water and teddy bears at German rail stations became the defining image then. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who looks set to win a fourth term in September elections, was able to tap into a wellspring of empathy for the asylum seekers, particularly those fleeing war-ravaged Syria.

Fearing for his life, Rodchenkov escaped to the United States after Fogel bought him a plane ticket. The scientist arrived at Fogel’s home in Los Angeles with a hard drive containing documents proving that statesponsored doping had been going on for decades, not just in track and field but across a spectrum of Russian sports. His evidence outlined how Rodchenkov had developed cutting-edge chemistry and, in Sochi, overseen an FSB operation to swap out contaminated urine for clean samples. Rodchenkov tells Fogel on camera that 30 of Russia’s 73 medals in Beijing 2008 were aided by doping, as well as at least half of the 81 medals won in London 2012. In February last year, Rodchenkov’s close friend, former anti-doping agency chief Nikita Kamaev, died suddenly

of what Russian authorities called a “massive heart attack,” as he was planning a book with Sunday Times journalist David Walsh on doping in sport. Rodchenkov says his friend — the only other non-government official in the world who knew about the doping scandal — had never suffered heart problems. “It was incredibly frightening. You realize that this changes all of Olympic history, this is a spectacular scandal. They cheated their $50 billion Olympics and won 32 medals, and defrauded the world,” Fogel said. In May 2016 Fogel presented a spreadsheet to a meeting of leading global anti-doping officials naming every single athlete on Russia’s programme and what they were taking in London — and revealed he had the same for the 2008 Beijing Games.

wrote in a statement. “Although this (judgment) is not the full amount that I was seeking, I am very grateful that the jury decided in our favor in this matter. I view it not only as a victory for myself personally, but for artists’ rights overall.” (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON: A lawyer for Madonna says the star and her twin daughters Stella and Estere have accepted damages from the publisher of the Mail Online website over an article that

O’Brien

Helm

was a “serious invasion of privacy.” Madonna sued Associated Newspapers over a January story giving details of her adoption of the 4-year-old twins from Malawi. Her lawyer, Jenny Afia, told a judge in London that the story, published while the adoption was underway, could have “threatened the integrity and/or outcome of the adoption process which would have had potentially life-changing implications for the girls.” (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

NEWS/FEATURES

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Music

Obit ‘Rocky’s’ voice

‘Everything’ darkly happy

June Foray dead at 99

Sherman stays true to Holmes tradition By Pablo Gorondi herman Holmes, “The Sherman Holmes ProS“The ject: The Richmond Sessions” (M.C. Records) Richmond Sessions” is the debut album by Sherman Holmes, but the 77-year-old singer and bassist is no neophyte. The Holmes Brothers were one of the all-time great American bands, alternating between gospel, R&B, soul and blues while reimagining tunes from Tom Waits, The O’Jays, and even Cheap Trick and Bob Marley as radically and triumphantly as Joe Cocker’s version of “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Drummer Popsy Dixon and guitarist Wendell Holmes passed away in 2015 and Sherman Holmes, who backed legends like John Lee Hooker before the trio formed in 1979, returns to his family and band’s Virginia roots for “The Richmond Sessions.” Stirring harmonies were a Holmes Brothers trademark and the Ingramettes, also from the state for lovers, lay a granite foundation for Holmes on a pair of fellow Virginian Ralph Holmes Stanley’s bluegrass classics — “I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages” and “White Dove” — as well as Ben Harper’s “Homeless Child,” also covered by The Holmes Bros. in 2001. Other great tracks include a dobro-in-the-swamp take on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Green River,” Vince Gill’s “Liza Jane”, and “…Walk With Me.” Erstwhile Holmes Bros. producer Joan Osborne is Sherman’s cheating partner on “The Dark End of the Street” and Sherman stays on theme with Ann Peebles’ “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home,” as if Virginia is really for adulterers. “The Richmond Sessions” is Sherman’s Southernstyle, stirring Irish wake for departed brother Wendell and bandmate Popsy. Think of them fondly as you clap your hands and stomp your feet. ❑ ❑ ❑ Arcade Fire, “Everything Now” (Columbia Records) Arcade Fire are darkly happy-go-lucky on “Everything Now,” applying Euro disco and new wave to somber themes on their fifth album like consumerism, flummoxed youth and suicide prevention. Working with co-producers Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk) and Steve Mackey (Pulp), Arcade Fire may have picked up a case of Stockholm syndrome, with abounding sonic similarities with those bands. The title cut is one of the Montreal band’s most successful singles, it’s Abba-esque, Pulp-ish rhythms sparkling behind Win Butler’s narrative about information overload matched with a swelling emotional vacuum. “Signs of Life” is about “cool kids stuck in the past” looking in the night for what they’ll never find there, only the mortal coil. “Creature Comfort” is back in Pulp music territory as Butler exhorts those thinking about ending it all to come off the ledge. “Infinite Content” furiously claims “we’re infinitely content” and reprises itself in a Wilco-like Americana style, both detached and involved. Your choice. “Electric Blue,” sung in a crystalline falsetto by Regine Chassagne, laments a love that dissipated as quickly as the summer heat. “Put Your Money on Me” has a pulsating synth bass line like Jean Michel Jarre and forms a neat pair of (relatively) straight songs about troubled-but-hopeful relationships with “We Don’t Deserve Love.” U2 and Bob Dylan producer Daniel Lanois adds pedal steel to both tracks. A laid back version of the title song ends the album, similar to a snippet at the start. It creates a seamless loop should you choose now to listen to everything again. Every Arcade Fire album has been nominated for a Grammy Award — “The Suburbs” won album of the year in 2011 — and “Everything Now” should continue the streak. ❑ ❑ ❑ Lana Del Rey, “Lust for Life” (Interscope) Lana Del Rey stays in character on “Lust for Life,” her fourth and lengthy album, expanding her takes on personal obsessions inside her fishbowl with observations about living in America. A youthful lady of perpetual sadness, Del Rey still sounds like a torch singer but this time she also reflects on the flames in the world around her. The 16-song album opens with the magnificent “Love,” capturing the natural ecstasy of “to be young and in love.” On the title track, the Weeknd helps her spell out exactly what it’s about. The cinematic “13 Beaches” addresses the challenges of intimacy during life in the spotlight, while the second half of the record begins with three tunes — “Coachella — Woodstock In My Mind,” “God Bless America — And the Beautiful Women In It” and “When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing” — which leave the fishbowl behind. Stevie Nicks is a version of Del Rey further up the road on “Beautiful People Beautiful Problems,” while Sean Ono Lennon has never sounded more like his father than on “Tomorrow Never Came,” which also tips its hat to George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Elton John. Surprisingly, Radiohead aren’t credited on closer “Get Free,” which draws very much from “Creep” while expressing Del Rey’s “modern manifesto” — “Finally, I’m crossing the threshold/From the ordinary world/To the reveal of my heart.” There’s plenty to absorb and few missteps on “Lust for Life,” a long, meticulous trip with rewards at every stop. ❑ ❑ ❑ Mappe Of, “A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone” (Paper Bag Records) A Canadian artist who spent time busking in Australia and playing heavy metal with his friends has taken his work in an ethereal new direction. The result is an art-rock delicacy, “A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone.” It’s an airy mix of haunting, oldgrowth melodies and meandering soundscapes that bears a kinship to the music of Bon Iver but manages to find its own way home. The artist, Tom Meikle, builds the work of Mappe Of on a folk foundation but leans on technology to take listeners on a dreamy sound-ride. On “Cavern’s Dark” and “Nimbin,” for example, delicate melodies rise and fall, mingling Meikle’s pleasantly-ranging vocals with finger-picked acoustic guitar and swelling accompaniment. (AP)

This cover image released by Columbia Records shows ‘Everything Now’, a release by Arcade Fire. (AP)

Music Sheeran, Alt-J compete for Mercury Prize

Rocking to their own beat

Paul McCartney performs on the One on One Tour at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre on July 26, in Tinley Park, Illinois. (AP)

Variety LOS ANGELES: Police say Justin Bieber has accidentally struck a photographer with his pickup truck in Beverly Hills. The Los Angeles Times reports that police Sgt. Matthew Stout said the 57-year-old photographer was hospitalized Wednesday night with injuries that were not life-threatening. The newspaper said Bieber “fully cooperated” with officers at the scene. Video posted on social media shows Bieber getting into his truck with a crowd of photographers around him. As he pulls away, one of them steps toward the truck and is hit. Another clip shows Bieber kneeling beside the injured man asking him what he needs. Bieber had announced earlier this week he was canceling the last several weeks of his Purpose world tour “due to unforeseen circumstances.” (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron met singer Rihanna at the Elysee Palace Wednesday after the pop star appealed to him on Twitter for France to contribute to her education fund for developing countries. Rihanna first was welcomed by First Lady Brigitte Macron on the steps of the presidential palace in Paris before she went inside to speak with the couple now living there for more than an hour. “I’ve just had the most incredible meeting with the president and the first lady”, Rihanna told reporters in the Elysee’s courtyard. “They were incredibly welcoming to us.” The popular singer, who was named the 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year, said the talks “focused on the topic of education from a global aspect.” She didn’t reveal whether Macron had made a pledge to her fund, but said she was “so inspired and impressed” with his leadership. The 29-year-old is also an ambassador for Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen, two humanitarian funds with which her foundation has partnered on a multi-year initiative to support education, notably in conflict and crisis areas. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ LOS ANGELES: Kid Rock, an outspoken supporter of Republican President Donald Trump, said on Thursday that he will decide over the next few weeks on whether to run for the US Senate and in the meantime will work on the “critical cause” of registering voters. The singer-songwriter said in a statement that he plans to create a non-profit organization to promote voter registration so he can raise money for the cause and get people registered to vote at his shows as he explores his possible candidacy in 2018. “The one thing I’ve seen over and over is that although people are unhappy with the government, too few are even registered to vote or do anything about it,” he said. Rock said he will discuss his political plans at a press conference in about six weeks.

NEW YORK, July 27, (Agencies): The rock trio Haim remembers filming their first music video for just $200 before they were signed to a record label. The clip for the song “Forever,” released in 2013, features Alana, Danielle and Este Haim riding bikes, playing the guitar in their parents’ living room and dancing in a hair salon (while imitating moves by Destiny’s Child), infused with videos from their early childhood. It is carefree, but meticulous, with the Haim sisters at the creative forefront. Fast forward four years with the release of their sophomore album, and the trio is still in charge, and executing their own vision. They write their music while also playing the drums, electric guitar, bass guitar and percussion; they buy and style their clothes; and they design their own music video treatments and album packaging. “We’ve just never known it any other way. We don’t do anything unless we are 100 percent invested. Everything you see just comes straight from us, every idea,” Danielle, 28, said in a recent interview.

Jump “I think the reason why it has been that way from the jump is (because) no one really can come for us because we are so opinionated,” said Alana, the youngest sister at 25. “I think I know what I don’t want to do more than what I do want to do.” Danielle said she was signed a teenager to a group along with Este, 31, but is happy they parted ways. “We didn’t write our own songs ... we were so young, like babies, like 13, so after that we quit the band and for the next eight years we just grinded it out in Los Angeles playing every venue for zero people,” she recalled. “We worked from the bottom ... (and) we’re not going to compromise because that just would be horrible.” Since the release of their 2013 debut, the critical darling “Days Are Gone,” Haim has spent most of their time on tour — headlining their own shows and also opening up for close friend Taylor Swift. They also earned a Grammy nomination in 2015 for best new artist. They said they’ve always known what kind of artists they want to be. “We’re kind of a wolf pack. I don’t know if you can tell,” Este said, laughing. Danielle credits The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, who she toured with, for helping the band take charge of their careers: “He was so detail “I was beyond overwhelmed with the response I received from community leaders, D.C. pundits, and blue-collar folks that are just simply tired of the extreme left and right bullshit,” he said. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Bieber

Rihanna

oriented, and I think we just learned from that.” And though they’re signed to JayZ’s Roc Nation management, they say the rap icon lets them do their own thing. “It’s just great to be a part of company that’s so supportive of whatever you need. (They’re like), ‘Let me know. Let us know. We support you.’ To be a part of that, especially with someone like (Jay-Z), it’s just so amazing,” Danielle said. The girls co-wrote each song on “Something to Tell You,” which debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart this month. Grammywinning producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who worked on Haim’s debut and also produced for Vampire Weekend, Usher and Charli XCX, returns on the album, along with helpers like former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij, Dev Hynes (Solange, FKA twigs), Twin Shadow and Matt Sweeney. Danielle said returning from the road and heading straight to the studio made them feel like “road warriors.” “And we felt kind of on fire as a band,” Este added. “We felt really locked in as band,” Danielle chimed in. The studio felt like a playground, Alana said, as the girls wrote and recorded songs that captured “a lot of ups, a lot of downs, kind of like a crazy roller-coaster going through the last four years of our lives.”

Also: LONDON:

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was nominated Thursday for the prestigious Mercury Prize for his third album “Divide”, going up against breakthrough grime star Stormzy and former winners Alt-J and The xx. “What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make,” the jury said in a statement announcing the 12 shortlisted albums. “They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions”. Sheeran is in the running for his record-breaking third album “Divide,” which topped the album charts in several countries including his native Britain, Australia and the United States. It also smashed Spotify records, drawing nearly 57 million listens on its first day of release. The previous record was held by The Weeknd’s “Starboy”, which drew 29 million streams on its release date.

TORONTO: Rolling Stone magazine has put liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the cover of its latest issue and asks: “Why Can’t He Be Our President?” Perhaps recognizing that only Americanborn US citizens can become president, the magazine takes a different tack on its website. There, its headline for the article posted Wednesday is: “Justin Trudeau: Is the Canadian Prime Minister the Free World’s Best Hope?” Trudeau is pictured with his shirt sleeves rolled up and perched on the edge of a desk. In the profile, writer Stephen Rodrick outlines stark contrasts between Trudeau’s liberal views on health care, marijuana legalization and environmental policies and those voiced by US President Donald Trump. (AP)

LOS ANGELES, July 27, (RTRS): June Foray, the voice of “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show’s” Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his nemesis Natasha Fatale of Boris and Natasha fame in the early 1960s and a key figure in the animation industry, died Thursday. She was 99. Her close friend Dave Nimitz, confirmed her death on Facebook, writing “With a heavy heart again I want to let you all know that we lost our little June today at 99 years old.” Foray was also the voice behind Looney Tunes’ Witch Hazel, Nell from “Dudley DoRight,” Granny in the “Tweety and Sylvester” cartoons and Cindy Lou Who in Chuck Jones’ “How the Grinch Stole ChristForay mas,” among hundreds of others. The first lady of voice acting, one of the original members of animation organization ASIFA-Hollywood and founder of the annual Annie Awards, was also instrumental in the creation of the Oscars’ animated feature category. “We are all saddened by the news of June’s passing,” said ASIFAHollywood executive director Frank Gladstone, who noted that she would have celebrated her 100th birthday in September. “Although it didn’t come as a shock, it has really taken us back a bit.”

Instrumental Gladstone noted her instrumental role in starting the Annie Awards. “It was part of her legacy and a testament to her enduring love for animation and the animation industry.” Said ASIFA president Jerry Beck: “On behalf of ASIFA-Hollywood, of which June was a founder, we are mourning the passing of animation’s best friend. She has touched so many lives: with her voice that of so many classic cartoon character, her efforts to create ASIFA, to maintain the Academy’s Oscar for Best Animated Short and her leadership in crafting the category of Best Animated Feature. She was one of a kind. A trailblazer, a great talent and a truly wonderful person. We will never forget her.” Recently elected Academy board member and animation veteran Tom Sito said of Foray: “She was a mainstay of the animation community in Hollywood and the queen of voice talent.” Foray continued to work late in life, reprising her role as Rocky in director Gary Trousdale’s short “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” released by DreamWorks Animation in 2014. In a 2013 interview with Variety, Foray said: “I’m still going. It keeps you thinking young. My body is old, but I think the same as I did when I was 20 years old.”

Benevolent Foray is credited with coming up with the idea for the Annie Awards, which started out as a dinner honoring the year’s best in animation in 1972, and she presided over what has become a gala event in the animation industry every year since. The Annies created a juried award named for Foray in 1995 that honors individuals who have made significant or benevolent contributions to the art and industry of animation, and she was its first recipient. Foray told Variety that she had been working in the animation business for about 20 years before the group that would eventually become ASIFAHollywood casually came to be. “We never did anything. Sometimes we’d have lunch together and call each other on the phone,” she said. Foray was a founding member of what was then called ASIFA West Coast in the early 1960s with fellow animation professionals Les Goldman, Bill Littlejohn, Ward Kimball, John Wilson, Carl Bell and Herbert Kasower. In the early 1970s Foray pitched the idea for an awards show. “I was thinking that there were the Grammys, the Tonys, the Oscars, but nobody recognizes animation,” Foray said. So she suggested the board host a dinner, and though other board members said no one would show up to such an event, they rented space in the Sportsmen’s Lodge in the San Fernando Valley to honor animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer. “And 400 people showed up,” boasted Foray. A longtime cheerleader for the animation industry, Foray lobbied for many years to have animated films recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. “I was on the board of governors for 26 years and I tried for 20 years” to convince the Academy to have a category for animated features, she told Variety. Finally the Academy created the category in 2001, and DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek” won the first Oscar for animated feature. Afterward, Foray said, “Jeffrey Katzenberg called me to thank me because he was aware of what I had done.”

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Clever and cost-effective farming

With urban grit, London warehouse farms fish, greens LONDON, July 27, (RTRS): Inside a warehouse in industrial southeast London, farmed tilapia swim in blue tubs filled with pristine water, ready to be sold to trendy restaurants across the capital. In an adjacent room, under pink LED lights and controlled temperatures, shoots of salad leaves and herbs grow on recycled carpet fibre fertilised with the fish waste. In this cavernous, windowless space more suited to a nightclub than a farm, the greens are stacked on metal shelves stretching to the ceiling. It’s a far cry from traditional British farms that sprawl across acres of land. But for Kate Hofman, who co-founded GrowUp Urban Farms in 2013, producing food in this 6,000 square feet building in Beckton was not only clever and cost-effective, it was also a sustainable way to feed people in the city. “Sometimes people have an idealised idea of how their food is being produced. In their head, they

think that farmer Joe tends to his field with his hoe and grows his heads of lettuce,” the 32-year-old told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We’re trying to show that you can have an industrialised food system ... but you can do it in a way that’s sustainable,” said Hofman, who launched Britain’s first commercial aquaponic farm — a system that uses fish waste to fertilise crops, which in turn filtrate the water used to farm the fish. Rich and poor countries alike are tasked with creating sustainable and inclusive cities by 2030 under global development goals agreed in 2015 — and sorting out how cities are fed is a crucial part of that challenge, experts say. As two thirds of the global population are forecast to live in cities by 2050, compared with about half now, urban planners and policymakers are increasingly looking to agriculture in towns and cities as a solution to provide nutritious food.

Meeting exotic flavor demand

New Japan Kit Kat factory opens GENEVA, July 27, (AFP): Wasabi and Okinawan sweet potato may not be everyone’s preferred type of Kit Kat but booming demand for exotic flavours in Japan has prompted bar-maker Nestle to open a new factory. The Switzerland-based food giant announced Wednesday that it will on Aug 1 open its first new Japanese Kit Kat production site in 26 years, located in the western city of Himeji. The move was made to “respond to (the) popularity of Made in Japan” Kit Kat bars, Nestle said in a statement. In Japan, where Kit Kat was in-

troduced in 1973, the bar is not a typical four-fingered chocolate treat. Aside from Wasabi, a notoriously hot condiment served with sushi and sashimi, Nestle currently offers around 30 Kit Kat flavours in Japan — raging from green tea to ginger, to Yokohama cheese cake and Kobe pudding. Nestle said the bars made at the new Himeji site will be sold at boutique shops — a popular destination Kit Kat aficionados with unorthodox tastes — and online. But these speciality flavours are often far more expensive than the standard version.

Land used for farming in cities and the areas around them equals the size

of the European Union, a recent study said, while others estimate some 800

million urban farmers provide up to 20 percent of the world’s food. Unlike imported produce, food from city farms and gardens travels less, reducing production costs, waste and fuel use. “Because (urban farms) are in proximity to an urban population, they can see for themselves where their food is coming from. This has a benefit in terms of education and reconnecting food with the consumer,” said Makiko Taguchi, an urban agricultural expert at UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Having your food come from sources close by is also crucial if supply is disrupted by civil unrest or extreme weather in the rural areas that still supply most of the world’s food. Hofman said Britain’s huge appetite for salad leaves and herbs, and the fact that most of it is imported, were key reasons why she decided to grow such plants in her warehouse. “It makes sense to grow crops like these close to people so you can get it

to consumers more quickly — they’re fresher, they last longer in the fridge, they’re less likely to go to waste,” said Hofman, who sells 200,000 bags of salad each year to local food retailers and restaurants. Hofman also sells 4 tonnes (4000 kg) of fish each year and believes the ethical farming of fish provides a sustainable source of protein, especially at a time when nearly 800 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat, according to FAO. Though Hofman doesn’t think urban farming could ever replace existing food production systems, she hopes to pioneer ways to scale up the output of urban farms. “It’s terrifying. There’s so much unknown in the model that we’re trying to do. There are so many challenges that we’re trying to overcome,” Hofman said. “But it offers a really exciting opportunity for people to engage with the idea of farming as something that can be sustainable and high-tech.”

Travel click Alcoholics Anonymous: If you know someone who can’t stop drinking and would like to help them please check us out and we promise to try to help at www.aaarabia.org There are no fees. This is a genuine public service. ❑ ❑ ❑ Drinking problem?: Friends of Bill W. are available to help. Totally confidential. Email: rohsecretary@ gmail.com ❑ ❑ ❑ Narcotics Anonymous: NA can help with addiction problems. Totally confidential: 94087800 English/Arabic. ❑ ❑ ❑

Cancer online support group: If you are Cancer patient or family member fighting with this deadly disease, come join our online support group. Best way of dealing with this disease is providing support and share our experience with each other. There are lot of things which even doctors can’t tell so be member of this website and start sharing your experiences which may help others. October is recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The primary purpose is to promote self examination and screening mammography as the most effective way to save lives by detecting breast cancer at early stage. For more information visit: http:// fightingwithcancer.webs.com/

Latest Indian Embassy notice: Indian

In this July 25, 2017 photo, the North Fork of Prosser Creek flows through the Lower Carpenter Valley near Truckee, California. (AP)

Untouched piece of California’s Sierra Nevada

‘Secret garden’ filled with rare species opens TRUCKEE, Calif, July 27, (AP): Pink and yellow wildflowers burst from a lush bed of grass hidden from public view for more than a century. Towering trees and snow-capped mountains encircle the wild meadow, beckoning visitors to a largely untouched piece of California’s Sierra Nevada. Conservation groups bought the land in Lower Carpenter Valley north of Lake Tahoe and are opening it for tours. It contains rare carnivorous plants and threatened birds and serves as a migration corridor for other species. Bird songs and the gurgle of a serpentine creek provide the soundtrack in the meadow less than 8 miles from noisy Interstate 80. The ground suddenly turns spongy underfoot as visitors step onto a deep bog that has formed along parts of the valley floor. “It literally is a secret garden,” said Kathy Englar, the Truckee Donner Land Trust’s development director. The Lake Tahoe region regularly draws tens of thousands of people to ski, hike and camp, but the piece of land along a creek near Truckee has been kept behind locked gates along a winding dirt road. The trust and the Nature Conservancy, with other partners, bought more than 2 square miles (5 square kms) from the longtime owners for $10.3 million. The partnership bought 600 acres in mid-July, but that area is so sensitive it will initially be open only for guided visits. It includes about two-thirds of the vast meadow. It acquired about half the property last year, 637 acres known as Crabtree Canyon, that is now open to hiking and mountain biking. The partners have a contract to buy a final 80-acre parcel. The sensitive 600-acre site includes “these incredibly verdant habitat areas with fens, they call them, these seeps and springs,” said Elliott Wright, senior associate director of philanthropy

Firms churn out special glasses

Cities cashing in on total solar eclipse crowds BARTLETT, Tennessee, July 27, (AP): Millions of eyes will be fixed on the sky when a total solar eclipse crosses the US in August, and it’s likely many of them will be safely behind the special glasses churned out by a Tennessee company. American Paper Optics ramped up production for this year’s eclipse and expects to make 50 million paper and plastic eclipse glasses. John Jerit, the company’s CEO and president, said they began preparing about two years ago. During his almost 27 years making safety glasses, he’s only seen one total solar eclipse, in France in 1999, but will be going to Nashville for this one. “It’s a life experience,” Jerit said during an interview at his company’s office in the Memphis suburb of Bartlett. “When that two minutes is over, or however long you’ve got, the question that you really want to hear is, ‘When is the next one?’” His company is one of many businesses — hotels, campgrounds and stores — taking advantage of the total solar eclipse — when the moon passes between Earth and the sun. The moon’s shadow will fall in a diagonal for the Nature Conservancy. The delicate wetlands are home to rare native sundew, small carnivorous plants that attract insects to sticky residue on their leaves. The North Fork of Prosser Creek is fed by snow and lined by willows and once was home to native Lahontan cutthroat trout, a threatened species

ribbon across the US, from Oregon to South Carolina. The rest of the US will experience a partial eclipse, along with Canada, Central America and a bit of South America. Cities and towns along the path of totality — where there will be about 2- minutes of darkness — are

gearing up for the crowds. St Joseph, Missouri, population 76,000, is in a prime location and officials are bracing for tens of thousands of eclipse watchers to descend on the city, said Beth Conway, spokeswoman for the St Joseph Convention & Visitors Bureau. The city’s restaurants, gas stations and stores are preparing for the onslaught — the city’s largest arts and music festival with the nickname “Total Eclipse of the Arts” is scheduled on the weekend leading up to the eclipse on Monday, Aug 21. “This is essentially our Super Bowl,” Conway said. “If we see anywhere near the amount of people that they’re telling us, it will probably be the biggest event in our history.” The city has gotten into the act as well, selling eclipse glasses, posters and blue and yellow T-shirts decorated with a drawing of the city’s skyline and an iconic railroad bridge, and with the slogan “Right in the Middle of it All.” Conway said a benefactor donated 100,000 safety glasses designed for the city and proceeds are going to local museums and charities.

Sales have been “amazing, phenomenal,” she said. “It’s just blown our minds.” At the Tennessee factory, a constant whirring sound fills the factory as large sheets of paper are fed into machines. One cuts out the eyeholes in the pre-printed frames, another inserts the protective film lenses. Then the glasses are punched out of the sheets and packaged. About 50,000 glasses can roll off the assembly line per hour, Jerit said. Paper glasses cost about 20 to 25 cents to make, and they are sold to distributors for about 45 cents, but prices vary depending on order size. They’re sold retail for about $2. The plastic versions are about $15. Staring at the sun during an eclipse — or anytime — can cause eye damage. The only safe way is to protect your eyes with special filters in glasses or other devices. NASA lists four companies, including American Paper Optics, whose glasses meet international standards. “It’s eye protection for enjoyment,” said Jerit, whose main business is making 3-D glasses.

that could be reintroduced if no natural population has remains. The willows provide habitat for 40 of the 270 known nesting pairs of willow flycatchers, a small insect-eating bird once was common in the Sierra Nevada, Wright said. Seasonal caretakers protect the valley’s fragile environment and wildlife,

while dogs, horses and motorized vehicles are banned. The partners expect to allow daily public access by foot or mountain bike in 2019 after building a parking area, restroom, trails and viewpoints “that will allow visitors to experience the meadow without tromping through it,” Englar said. The valley was initially settled by

dairyman William Carpenter and his wife, Julia. It was purchased in the mid-20th century by a group of fishermen, including newspaper publisher James McClatchy, who used it as a private retreat. Until now, said Englar, “this was just kind of an area that was undiscovered.”

A display holds solar eclipse glasses in the American Paper Optics factory in Bartlett, Tennessee on June 21, 2017. (AP)

nationals are issued Emergency Certificates (EC) to facilitate their oneway travel to India due to urgency or deportation, under the circumstances of loss of passport or non-retrieval of passport from their sponsors in Kuwait. Since it is illegal to hold two travel documents in India at the same time, the concerned passport has to be cancelled before an Emergency Certificate (EC) is issued to an Indian national. At times, Indian nationals who are either detained or due for deportation may not have their passports with them. They apply for travel documents (Emergency Certificate) either directly or through Kuwait Police. In such cases, ECs are issued to them after cancelling their passports. However, in certain cases, they recover their passports later and travel on those passports which already stand cancelled in data available with immigration authorities in India. These passports are immediately seized by Immigration authorities in India. This results in much harassment and inconvenience to these Indian travelers, whose passports are seized. They are also liable to pay penalties as per the law. Indian Embassy advises all Indian nationals that if an EC is issued to anyone of them, that implies that his/ her passport has been cancelled and that he/she should travel only on the EC issued to him/her. ❑ ❑ ❑

Chess coaching, round robin: Registrations are open for chess coaching and the summer round robin Challenger Series. Send your name Civil ID no., mobile number, age, rating to [email protected] with CCR in the e-mail subject. No entry fee. ❑ ❑ ❑

Invitation to Grand Mosque: The Visits Department is pleased to invite you to visit the Grand Mosque, which is one of Kuwait’s most treasured religious and cultural landmarks to discover the beauty of Islamic arts and architecture. Free guided tours are available all year round on official working days between (9-11 am) and (5-7 pm), within a special tour program designed to cater to the needs of different age groups. The program is as follows: Reception; Auditorium show; (according to age group); Touring the Mosque; Q & A; Art workshops; (according to age group – between 5 and 18 years old); Snack break; Distribution of the Grand Mosque publications and souvenirs; End of tour. According to these age groups: Age group: 5 to 9 years old: Morning: 60 visitors max; Evening: 20; 10 to 15 years: Morning: 100 visitors max; Evening: 45; 16 and above: Morning: 140 visitors max, Evening: 105: Tour language: Arabic- EnglishFrench; Arabic (English upon prior Continued on Page 23

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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click Latest Continued from Page 22 request); Arabic- English- French; Arabic (English upon prior request); Arabic- EnglishFrench: Arabic (English upon prior request) Rules and Regulations: ■ Please arrive in time for your visit. ■ All visitors are kindly required to abide by the mosque’s dress code. Male visitors should wear long pants. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are not allowed. Female visitors: should wear head cover and long loose clothing (available at the mosque). ■ Foods and drinks are not allowed inside the prayer halls. ■ For school visits, teachers are responsible for their students and are required to cooperate with the staff members of the Grand Mosque. ■ Photography is allowed inside the Grand Mosque (please note that disrespectful poses are strictly prohibited). If you would like to book a tour, please contact us: Tel: 22980813/ 22980815/ 22980812 Email: [email protected] Fax: 22473708

Aug 15 India’s Independence Day celebration: A flag hoisting ceremony will be held at Indian Embassy premises in Diplomatic Enclave on Arabian Gulf Street on Tuesday, Aug 15, 2017 at 0800 hours to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of India’s Independence Day. After the unfurling of the tri-colour National Flag, Ambassador’s message and cultural programme will follow. Light refreshments (Chhole Bhature, Gulab Jamun, tea, juice, water, etc) will be served to all. All Indian nationals in Kuwait are most cordially invited to attend the celebrations. (Please arrive by 0730 hours).

Aug 18 TKIPK blood donation camp: “Thaai Mann Kalai Ilakkiya Peravai-Kuwait” (TKIPK) a socio-cultural Indian Tamil Association functioning in Kuwait has organized a Mega Blood Donation camp on Aug 18, Friday from 01:00 pm to 4 pm, in the Central Blood Bank, Jabriya, Kuwait. This Philanthropic program has been orchestrated to mark the celebration of 55th birthday of our beloved leader cum social activist Thol Thirumavalavan hailing from the Indian state of Tamilnadu. Free blood donors and volunteers are requested generously to contribute their valuable, precious drops of blood in various groups. All of them are warmly welcome for this noble blood donation camp which would help to save a number of lives in need. The Idea of the camp was conceived and approved in a resolution of the recently held executive committee meeting of the TKIPK, followed by obtaining permission booking with the authorities of the central blood bank. Thanks and cheers!! Venue: The Central Blood Bank, Block 4, near 4th Ring Road Bridge and Tunis Street Hawally, Ibrahim Naser Al Hajri Street, near Mubarak Al Kabir Hospital, Jabriya

A flyer of the event. Date of Camp: Aug 18, Friday from Afternoon 01:00 pm to 04:00 pm Announcement bySankathamizh Vel, Secretary, Literature wing, TKIPK.

General Share your story with Amricani: Do you or any of your family members, acquaintances or friends happen to have a story with the American Missionary hospital in Kuwait (Mustashfa Lemraicani) during the years from 1914-1967, the official period of offering medical services in Kuwait? Please share with us your story or your memory during those old days by writing the event and sending it to the following email address: [email protected] Notes: 1. Please send your story only to the above mentioned email. Story shared in Instagram, Facebook or Twitter will not be considered. 2. Please write your story or memory and sign it with your full name, and your contact number. 3. It will be great if you send us your personal photos or those of the place related to the story (optional). Your story will be part of a new book to be

A flyer of the event.

published by DAI. I am confident that your contributions will be an essential part of the history of Amricani. Share with us! ❑ ❑ ❑

er for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825.

KIFF anti-drugs campaign: As part of the

Leadership Excellence Course: The

Fraternity fest, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum (KIFF) is conducting Anti-Drugs Campaign among Indians living in Kuwait. According to the available statistics of Indian Embassy, 60% of the convicted Indians in Kuwaiti Jails are arrested on drug-related cases. The recent cases of death and captives of Indian drug abusers is a threatening news. To defend and to campaign against such social crisis by protecting individuals as well as the society has become obligatory. In this current situation, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum is conducting campaign by distributing handouts, conducting counseling, seminars etc. to educate the Indians living in Kuwait informed President Saifudheen Nalakath in a press release. For more details contact: 55062071 or email at [email protected]. ❑ ❑ ❑

NYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breathing, meditation and reiki classes by a well-experienced female yoga teach-







the American Women’s League (AWL), please call 99039723 or 94067999 or email: [email protected]. All American women and wives of Americans are welcomed. ❑ ❑ ❑

Ugandans register with UIK: Are you

Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of leadership for all mankind. The LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next. The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Understand the purpose of our lives and learn to live that purpose with confidence 3. Understand the importance of connecting to Allah and learn how to do it 4. Understand how to leverage your strengths and overcome weaknesses 5. Understand how to articulate your life goal and create a road map to achieve it. For more information please visit www. leckuwait.com or call 99514995 / 66363310. ❑ ❑ ❑

a Ugandan living and working in Kuwait? Would you like to get in touch with other Ugandans in Kuwait both socially and professionally? Then please get in touch with us. We would like to invite you to register with the Ugandans in Kuwait (UIK) association, an informal organization of Ugandans living and working in Kuwait. The purpose of this exercise is to get together as Ugandans and to consider taking the first steps to establishing a more formal organisation. This association is voluntary. It is designed to create a forum for Ugandans in Kuwait to foster a sense of community, to communicate more effectively with each other and to encourage Ugandans out here to work together. We are also planning a celebration to mark 50 years of Ugandan’s Independence this year. If you have any questions regarding this association or if you are interested in registering, then please send us an email

AWL registration: If you would like to join

Continued on Page 24

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Whitehead, Roy among Man Booker contenders

Morrison, Didion among those in PEN online archive NEW YORK, July 27, (AP): Toni Morrison moderating a discussion about writing in the Soviet Union. Joan Didion defending Salman Rushdie against an Iranian death decree. Pablo Neruda explaining the role of the Latin America author. PEN America, the literary and human rights organization, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it had assembled more than 1,500 hours of audio and visual material for a digital archive featuring many of the world’s leading writers and public thinkers of the past half-century. The website, https://archive.pen. org/, is the culmination of a 5-1/2 year project drawing upon materials stored at Princeton University. “Over nearly 100 years, PEN America has convened America’s leading literary and intellectual lights in debates and dialogues that have framed the most pressing social, cultural and political issues of the time,” Suzanne Nossel, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. “With the release of the PEN America Digital Archive, these essential

voices have been brought back to life, brimming with personality, passion, opinion and sometimes bombast. Hearing directly from these greats will offer information and inspiration to writers, scholars and free-expression advocates for generations to come.” The archive covers subjects ranging from the hostage crisis in Iran to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to such ongoing issues as racism, censorship and the author’s place in society. They also document the evolution of literary culture from a more formal time, when many writers were born without a television in their home, to the rise of the internet. During a 1966 panel, the Scottish politician and intellectual Douglas Young sounded like an old schoolmaster as he moderated a discussion about writers “in the electronic age,” or what he called life under “electronic circuitry.” “The modern mass media make the general physiognomy of a writer known to the public,” he said. “They may be surprised that, in most respects, we are quite ordinary guys.”

PEN’s mission of support for besieged writers and of building a literary community was especially urgent in February 1989, when Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie’s death for the alleged blasphemy of the novel “The Satanic Verses.” A week after the decree, or “fatwa,” PEN staged a reading in New York of Rushdie’s work that was attended by Doctorow, Don DeLillo and many others. “Today we are all Salman Rushdie,” announced one reader, author Robert Stone. One of PEN’s most star-studded — and controversial — assemblies, the 1986 International Congress, is documented extensively. Norman Mailer was the chief organizer and he enraged many attendees when he invited President Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state, George P. Schulz, as a keynote speaker. Mailer was also criticized for including few women besides Susan Sontag on panel discussions and replied that “there are not that many women, like Susan Sontag, who are intellectuals first, poets and novelists second.”

But the 1986 gathering also illustrated PEN’s history of attracting the cultural elite and addressing the intersection of literature and politics. An opening-day press conference with Schulz included a call from PEN for the abolishment of the Cold War era McCarrenWalter act, which had prevented those suspected of communist sympathies from entering the United States. (The act was repealed in 1990.) Morrison, Rushdie, Sontag and Derek Walcott were among those addressing a forum on “Alienation and the State.” At the press conference with Schulz, PEN International President Per Wastberg promised the next few days would offer “dinners, parties, gossip, gossipy chats, glitter,” along with discussions about censorship and imprisoned writers. “I see no real dichotomy,” he said, “in that by fighting for the freedom of those friends and colleagues prevented from speaking their mind, we express our wish to see them seated around our tables, by candlelight, in deep conversation, or joking at the absurdity of life.

PEN, after all, is about meeting other writers, across any kind of frontier.”

Also: LONDON: Paul Auster, Colson Whitehead and past winner Arundhati Roy are among contenders for this year’s Man Booker Prize for fiction. Auster’s intimate epic “4 3 2 1” and Whitehead’s fantasy-tinged historical saga “The Underground Railroad” are among four works by US authors on the list, alongside Emily Fridlund’s coming-of-age story “History of Wolves” and George Saunders’ magical, mournful “Lincoln in the Bardo.” Roy, who won the prize in 1997 for “The God of Small Things,” is in the running again with her long-awaited second novel, “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.” Previous finalists on the 2017 list include Britain’s Zadie Smith, for “Swing Time;” Ireland’s Sebastian Barry, for “Days Without End;” and Pakistan’s Mohsin Hamid, for “Exit West.”

Books click General Continued from Page 23 at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you soon. ❑ ❑ ❑

Free drum music classes: Free professional drum music classes are available at Salmiya for all age groups from beginners to advanced by a well experienced drum teacher. For more details: 94974295. ❑ ❑ ❑

Indian Embassy SPDC notice: Attention

This cover image released by Minotaur shows ‘Paradise Valley’ a novel by C. J. Box. (AP)

This cover image released by Viking shows ‘Amanda Wakes Up’ a novel by Alisyn Camerota. (AP)

Clinton calling new book ‘What Happened’

Box’s ‘Paradise Valley’ taut, suspenseful By Oline H. Cogdill aradise Valley: a Novel’ (Minotaur), by ‘P“Paradise CJ Box Valley” reaches the same level of frightening realism that made CJ Box’s “The Highway” so terrifying. A sequel to that novel, “Paradise Valley,” makes an excellent conclusion to Box’s gripping The Highway Quartet novels that have evolved into a hunt for a serial killer who works as a long-haul trucker. The realistic fright factor soars because Box uses the FBI’s Highway Serial Killer Task Force as a base for “Paradise Valley” and “The Highway.” In “Paradise Valley,” Cassie Dewell, chief investigator in the Bakken County, North Dakota, sheriff’s department, is obsessed with finding killer Ronald Pergram, an independent trucker who preys on truck stop prostitutes. When a sting operation to entrap Pergram goes horribly wrong, Cassie is forced to resign. But Cassie holds firm to her mission of arresting Pergram, who is nicknamed The Lizard King. The disappearance of three people where Pergram has been seen leads Cassie to believe that Pergram has kidnapped them. One of those missing is Kyle Westergaard, a troubled child for whom Cassie feels responsible. Working on her own, Cassie follows her instincts to track down Pergram. Box keeps “Paradise Valley” taut, with twists that are as suspenseful as they are believable. Terrifying scenes at a truck stop, at a remote cabin and on a hilltop are not easily forgotten. The intuitive Cassie continues to display her acumen, and we hope Box will find new stories for her and for Kyle, who suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. Although Box never allows sympathy nor empathy for Pergram, Box does show a glimmer of humanity that remains in this killer. Box, best known for his long-running series about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, has become one of the best purveyors of stories about the new American West. He vividly recounts how this part of North Dakota has gone from a boomtown to a near bust with unfinished subdivisions littering the landscape. As “Paradise Valley” moves to Montana, Box shows that the best travel writing delves into a region’s environs. Box, winner of the Edgar Award, again proves his superior storytelling skills in “Paradise Valley.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “Amanda Wakes Up” (Viking), by Alisyn Camerota

‘City of Notions’

Boston gets first anthology of poetry BOSTON, July 27, (AP): Boston’s about to bust a rhyme. Dozens of prominent poets, including a former US poet laureate, will commandeer the courtyard of the Boston Public Library on Thursday to read aloud from the city’s first anthology of poetry. Organizers have dubbed the collection “City of Notions,” a reference to a nickname that Boston earned in the early 19th century for being a font of innovation and ideas. Boston poet laureate Danielle Legros Georges, who edited the collection, sees it as “a meeting place, a poetic ‘city square’ for a wide variety of voices.” Among the nearly 60 contributors is Robert Pinsky, a former US poet laureate who now teaches English and creative writing at Boston University. The poems in “City of Notions” range from sonnets to haiku and free verse. All touch on aspects of life in Boston, including the Boston Marathon — a beloved rite of spring — and the city’s much-reviled public transit system. Pinsky’s poem, “The Day Dreamers,” begins: “All day all over the city every person Wanders a different city, sealed intact And haunted as the abandoned subway stations

Under the city. Where is my alley doorway?” Award-winning playwright and poet Nick Flynn contributed “Marathon,” a poignant poem he wrote in response to the 2013 marathon bombing that killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 others. In part, it reads: “It’s too soon to say we were lucky It’s too soon to say anything, Until the cloud is pulled back from the sky, Until the ringing is pulled back from the bells.” Georges said she sought out poems that depict Boston in a completely unvarnished light, “including those that address head-on such issues as race, social tensions, and cultural and class differences and positions.” Those included “Boston Year,” a stark composition by poet and essayist Elizabeth Alexander, who is black. It begins: “My first week in Cambridge a car full of white boys tried to run me off the road, and spit through the window, open to ask directions.” Mayor Marty Walsh said the poems give voice to a wide range of Bostonians “as they share their truths, their hurts, their hopes and their dreams.”

If anyone has the talent to write an innovative narrative about the realities of working at a popular cable-news station, it’s Alisyn Camerota. As a correspondent and anchor for multiple major news outlets throughout her career, Camerota’s experience enables the reader to enjoy an eye-opening behindthe-scenes look at broadcast journalism in her debut novel, “Amanda Wakes Up.” Amanda Gallo’s dream is to be a hardhitting journalist at a legitimate cable news station. When media mogul Benji Diggs notices her spunk and gumption, he invites Amanda to leave her local station to join him for a coveted morning co-anchor slot at FAIR News. In a matter of weeks, Amanda has the salary, the wardrobe and the respect she’s always wanted. What Amanda didn’t expect was a reality check on her willingness to substitute integrity for ratings. With an election year coming up, Amanda swells with pride that FAIR News is

the only morning show that tackles issues from both sides. Unfortunately, the producers have a different viewpoint. Former Hollywood wild-card presidential candidate Victor Fluke is a right-wing joke. He’s also ratings gold. Amanda understands her boss’ affinity for the obnoxious man, but shouldn’t the left-wing candidate also be allowed to have her voice heard on FAIR? And why is her co-anchor, the annoying yet incredibly handsome Rob Lahr, incapable of challenging any of the guests from Fluke’s political party? Amanda decides to take matters into her own hands. As her personal life and career begin to unravel around her, Amanda faces the biggest story of her life. Will she do what she knows is right in her heart? Or what is easy in order to expand her career? “Amanda Wakes Up” is an energetic and

sometimes surprising look at the life of an ambitious news anchor. Readers’ loyalties will swing back and forth as different characters’ perspectives are introduced into the story line. At its core, the novel offers a lot of comedy, a touch of romance and a healthy dose of what it means to weigh ambition against truth.

Also: NEW YORK: Hillary Clinton is calling her new book “What Happened” and promising unprecedented candor as she remembers her stunning defeat last year to Donald Trump. “In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net,” Clinton writes in the introduction, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. “Now I’m letting my guard down.” Simon & Schuster told The Associated Press on Thursday that Clinton’s book will be a highly personal work that also is a “cautionary tale” about Russian interference in last year’s election and its threat to democracy. In public remarks since last fall, the Democrat has cited Russia as a factor in her defeat to her Republican opponent, along with a letter sent by then-FBI Director James Comey less than two weeks before the election. ❑ ❑ ❑ NEW YORK: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has a book deal. Henry Holt and Co. told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Abrams’ “Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change” is scheduled for next spring. According to Holt, her book will combine her life story with “real-world, how-to advice” for women and minorities “who must grapple with the implications of race, class, gender and otherness.” Abrams, a Democrat, is hoping to become the country’s first black woman governor. She is calling her book “Lean In’ for the rest of us.” “This is a book about how potent and compelling being the minority can be and how it can transform your destiny when properly harnessed,” she said in a statement. ❑ ❑ ❑ NEW YORK: George RR Martin says the next “Song of Ice and Fire” book has a real chance of coming out in 2018. But don’t count on it yet. In a weekend posting on his website, Martin wrote that he’s working hard on “The Winds of Winter,” the long-awaited sixth volume in the series adapted into the HBO hit “Game of Thrones.” He added that he has “good days and bad days” and is still months away from finishing. (AP)

of all Indian associations/Indian schools in Kuwait is once again drawn to Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) which was introduced by Government of India in the academic year 2006-2007 with the objective to make higher education in India accessible to the children of overseas Indians and promote India as a centre for higher studies. Under the scheme, 100 PIO/NRI students were awarded scholarship of up to US$ 4,000 per annum for undergraduate courses in Engineering, Technology, Humanities, Liberal Arts, Commerce, Management, Journalism, Hotel Management, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and some other courses. The scheme is open to NRIs/PIOs from over 40 countries (including Kuwait) having substantial Indian Diaspora population. The Scheme was revamped and launched in July 2016. Under the revamped Scheme, number of scholarships has been enhanced from 100 to 150 with introduction of 50 scholarships for children of Indian workers employed in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries. The Scheme is now applicable to four categories of applicants: (i) Persons of Indian Origin (ii) Non-Resident Indians (iii) Children of Indian workers working in ECR countries (including Kuwait). (iv) Children of Indian workers in ECR countries - studying in India The institutions that are covered under this Scheme are: (i) NITs, IIITs, Schools of Planning and Architecture (ii) “A” Grade institutions accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and recognised by University Grants Commission (UGC). (iii) Other institutions covered under Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme. Income criteria will be applicable to all four categories. Applicants will seek scholarships after they obtain admission in the approved list of educational institutions. Applications are required to be submitted online at SPDC portal - http://spdcindia.gov. in/login/index.php. Last date for submission of applications was extended till Oct 14, 2016. Nodal officer for SPDC is P. Bharadwaj, Deputy Secretary (OIA-II), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, Tel: 00-91-11-24197952, Email: [email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑

Experience Science for Adults: Registration is now open for Experience Science for Adults. Why should kids have all the fun?! The five week programme will be held on Saturday from 10:00 am-11:30 am at the Yarmouk Cultural Centre. Registration is limited to 16. You may register at either the Amricani Cultural Centre, Sunday to Thursday 10:00-3:00 or the Yarmouk Cultural Centre, Sunday to Thursday 10:00-6:00. For more information, please email:[email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑ TIES Center events: TIES Center announces following events – Tajweed and Recitation: Learn and practice the art of reciting the Holy Quran (tajweed). The instructor will also answer questions related to the meaning of the Arabic words and verses. Every Sunday & Tuesday @ 10 – 11:30am; every Monday @ 5-6:30pm. The TIES Center is the social and educational hub for English Speaking expats in Kuwait. For more information, please call 25231015 or e-mail [email protected] or visit www. tiescenter.net. ❑ ❑ ❑ Bridge game: Bridge tournament is being held every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 hours, played at the Graduates Club, next to Kuwait Engineering Society. Interested Bridge pairs or individual players please contact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: 24815622, 24841158, 99612287. ❑ ❑ ❑

TIES Center classes: TIES Center is conducting a series of classes about some of the Prophets and Messengers of God who strove very hard to spread monotheism and teach their respective peoples how to worship God. Their message was not only spiritual; they also taught people how to conduct their daily lives and develop the living conditions on earth. In this series, we will focus on the following prophets: Adam, Nouh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Ayoub (Job), Yousuf (Joseph), Mousa Continued on Page 25

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FB’s premium video push now slated for August

Facebook’s ads just keep creeping into new apps NEW YORK, July 27, (Agencies): Scrolling through an ad-free Instagram is now a distant memory, much like the once ad-free Facebook itself. Soon, users of its Messenger app will begin to see advertisements, too — and WhatsApp may not be too far behind. Welcome to the Facebook ad creep. The world’s biggest social media company has squeezed about as many ads onto its main platform as it can. The fancy term for this is “ad load,” and Facebook warned investors back in 2016 that it has pretty much maxed it out . Put any more ads in front of users and they might start complaining — or worse, just leave. As such, Facebook, a free service that relies almost completely on ads to make money, has to keep finding new and creative ways to let businesses hawk their stuff on its properties. One solution is to spread ads beyond Facebook itself, onto the other popular messaging and photo-sharing apps it owns. So far, it’s working. On Wednesday, Facebook posted a 71 percent increase in net income to $3.89 billion, or $1.32 per share, from $2.28 billion, or 78 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue for the three months that ended on June 30 rose 45 percent to $9.32 billion from $6.44 billion. The Menlo Park, California-based

company’s monthly active user base grew 17 percent to 2.01 billion.

Instagram Ads began arriving on Instagram, which Facebook bought in 2012 for $1 billion, in 2013. It was a slow and careful rollout, and tells us a lot about Facebook’s subsequent ad strategy. The company didn’t want to upset Instagram’s loyal fans, who were used to scrolling through beautiful landscapes, stylized breakfast shots and well-groomed kittens in their feed. An ad for headache pills would have interrupted the flow. So Instagram started off with just a few ads it considered “beautiful,” selected from hand-picked businesses. For a while, CEO Kevin Systrom reviewed every ad before it went live. Four years later, things have changed a bit, although to Instagram’s credit, not so much as to alienate significant numbers of its 700 million users (up from 100 million in 2013). There are more ads now, Systrom no longer inspects them before publication, and while many could still be called “beautiful,” users are also likely to see generic ads not specifically created for Instagram. By this point, though, people seem to have gotten used to them.

Media

Messenger Facebook has already been testing ads on its primary chat app, and earlier this month it announced it will expand this test globally. Paralleling its experience with Instagram, Facebook told developers and businesses they can start showing ads — specifically for brands that people “love” or that offer an “opportunity to discover experiences” — to Messenger’s 1.2 billion users. A tsunami it won’t be. Facebook product manager Ted Helwick wrote in a blog post that a “small percentage” of Messenger users will start seeing ads by the end of July. The company will then study that limited rollout to ensure that it’s delivering “the best experience.” Of course, even a small percentage of 1.2 billion users could be tens of millions of people. But this gives Facebook a chance to see what works and what doesn’t without mass revolt. And it highlights the importance of Facebook’s decision to spin out the Messenger app from its main Facebook app (and to start pressuring people to use it ). While Facebook billed its decision as a way to make Messenger easier to use, it also essentially doubled the available real estate for its mobile ads. In a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg

said he wants to see the company “move a little faster” when it comes to ads on Messenger, but added that he is “confident that we’re going to get this right over the long term.”

Whatsapp and more With its popularity outside the US and in developing countries, WhatsApp might be a harder nut to crack when it comes to ads. But there are signs it’s coming. It’s true that WhatsApp’s CEO Jan Koum promised users they can count on “absolutely no ads interrupting your communication” when Facebook bought the company in 2014 for $19 billion. But last August, WhatsApp updated its privacy policy to reflect that the service would be sharing user data with Facebook so that it could “offer better friend suggestions” and “show you more relevant ads” on Facebook and its other properties. That doesn’t mean that ads will appear on WhatsApp right away. But in the same post, the company also said it wants people to be able to communicate with businesses, not just people. That’s exactly how Messenger began dabbling in the advertising business.

What else can Facebook do? “One, they will raise their rates on ads,” said

Matt Britton, CEO of social media marketing company CrowdTap. “Because they can. The value is tremendous for advertisers right now, including for video ads.”

Also: LOS ANGELES: Facebook’s plan to kick-start its video platform with premium content has been delayed multiple times. Now, the social network may finally be getting ready to unveil what it has been spending its money on. A first slate of shows could premiere on the platform by mid-August, according to a Bloomberg report. Facebook has asked its partners to turn in first episodes of their shows now to get ready for that launch date, according to the report. The first launch could focus on short-form content, while longer-form premium shows that more closely resemble traditional TV fare likely is going to launch later.Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook investors during the company’s Q1 earnings call that it was looking to develop “some anchor content” for Facebook’s new video tab, which it introduced in April.

Homes

‘Apps still elusive’

Why you can’t ditch cable box By Tali Arbel

N

ot that long ago, the clunky cable box looked like it was on its way out. The federal government was pressuring cable companies to open up their near-monopoly on boxes to more competition, and industry leader Comcast promised apps that could render some boxes obsolete. That was then. Today, the vast majority of customers still need to rent a box to get full service from cable providers, and those box-replacing apps remain elusive. Here’s what happened. In 2015, tech companies and consumer advocates were pushing the Federal Communications Commission to open up the cable-box market. The goal was to let you buy a cable box the way you’d pick up a new smartphone, sparing you the expense of leasing them from cable companies for about $6 and up a month. The cable industry and Hollywood hated the FCC’s February 2016 plan to “unlock the box.” They pointed out that TV-watching apps were already available — more on that below — and laid out an industry proposal for new apps that could replace cable boxes. Amid industry pushback, the FCC’s proposed rules languished ahead of the 2016 election. Afterward, President Donald Trump’s new FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, shelved them permanently. The industry is no longer pushing its app proposal with the FCC, said Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the cable lobby group NCTA. And he noted that some cable and satellite companies have launched apps that let customers watch video without a cable box. But most cable TV customers still need a box. The industry has little motivation to get rid of rented cable boxes or to keep its promises without pressure from regulators, said John Bergmayer, senior counsel of the public advocacy group Public Knowledge, in a filing to the FCC.

Designed In 2015, Comcast launched a box-free cable service in Boston called Stream, designed for phones, tablets and computers. At the time, the company said it would roll out to all users by early 2016. Stream, however, remains limited to Boston and Chicago, although Comcast reportedly intends to relaunch it as a broader “Instant” service before the end of September. The company says net neutrality rules and regulators under the Obama administration hindered Stream’s rollout. It wants the FCC to spike these rules , which bar internet providers from favoring their own content. Comcast also said in April 2016 that it was working with Roku and Samsung to develop apps that, later that year, could replace cable boxes. And it did start testing a Roku app in January, although customers still need a cable box while the service is in “beta.” One more drawback: Using the Roku app won’t be free if customers want it to work with more than one TV. The Samsung app, meanwhile, remains under development. Comcast wouldn’t comment beyond blaming net neutrality for the delays. In 2015, Charter and Time Warner Cable started offering apps that could replace cable boxes in some markets. Nearly two years later, Charter says it’s now “testing” a cable-replacement app, Spectrum Stream. (Charter bought Time Warner Cable in 2016.) The app is available in New York City upon request; during a recent inquiry, a customer service rep pushed a more expensive traditional “triple play” TV, internet and phone package instead. The cable lobby is right to point out that there are plenty of box-free TV apps available. They’re just not really aimed at the 94 million traditional cable and satellite customers. “Cord cutters” have lots of options for internet video beyond Netflix. Onlinecable services from Dish, Sony, Hulu and YouTube let you watch live TV and record it for later. (AT&T’s DirecTV Now’s DVR hasn’t launched yet.) These services don’t fully replace traditional cable service. Major channels aren’t always available, there have been some service quality glitches, and they’ve only attracted an estimated few million subscribers.

In this July 18, 2017 photo, imaging specialist Erin McClintic works in the lab at Phototronics in Winnetka, Ill, digitizing and archiving a shoebox of customer photographs (right). (AP)

Tips to preserve personal history, memories

Is your home drowning in old photos? By Lisa A. Flam ake a survey of your home, and consider TPerhaps all the spots where you have old photos. you’ll find baby pictures in albums in the living room, vacation snaps in tattered envelopes tucked into a bookshelf, milestone moments in old frames, and older relatives’ fading photos in dusty boxes in the basement or attic. “They’re memories and treasures for us, but they take up a lot of space, and over the years they keep growing,” says Stephanie Sisco, home editor for Real Simple magazine. “When you decide you want to organize these photos, you’re doing yourself a favor, as well as the people who will inherit those from you.” You can organize your photos and preserve your personal history either digitally, in photosafe boxes or both ways. And if you discard the originals after going digital, you’ll free up storage space around the house, which is always a good thing. Getting organized can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re staring down hundreds or thousands of loose, unorganized photos. And

reliving memories through photos can take a heavy toll, especially if you’re working on the project during an already emotional time like moving, helping a parent downsize or dealing with an estate. “It’s one of the most challenging projects that people undertake in their organizational lives because, unless you’re starting from a really organized place, it’s difficult to even know where to begin,” Sisco said.

Prints Prints are the most common photographic item that people have – and have many of – in their homes. Sisco recommends spending an hour a day going through them. Organize the prints by decade, and then narrow them further by year, or by person or special event like a wedding. One of the hardest parts is throwing photos away. Sisco advises tossing photos that are blurry, unflattering or duplicates. “You don’t have to feel this obligation to keep them just because they were printed,” she said. Over time, remember that sunlight and humidity can cause photos to deteriorate. “If

Sports

click General Continued from Page 24 (Moses), and Eisa (Jesus) — may peace, mercy and blessings of Allah (to Whom all might and majesty is ascribed) be upon them all. We will not only focus on historical facts, but will also deduce some important lessons whose application in our daily interactions and chores determine our success and salvation. Join us every Thursday at 7 pm to learn about the life and times of those messengers of firm resolve. The TIES Center is the social and educational hub for English Speaking Muslims in Kuwait. For more information, please call 25231015 or e-mail [email protected] or visit www.tiescenter.net.

Chess Round Robin Challenge: Registrations are open for chess coaching and the Annual Round Robin Challenger Series. Send your name, Civil ID No., mobile number, age, rating to [email protected] with CCR in the e-mail subject. No entry fee. ❑ ❑ ❑ Kwt-Brits football supporters: A new football supporters website for British expats living and working in Kuwait has been set up by an Everton supporter, Trevor Powell. The Kuwait Brits Football Supporters Association (KBFSA) site aims to provide contact information for supporters of each others’ whereabouts and also in the future hopes to organise social events such as quizzes and even five-a-side matches on a home international teams basis. We need expats to register their support and hence we can then start to cast around for a suitable meeting venue. The site can be accessed at www.kbfsa.co.uk. ❑ ❑ ❑ Free fitness classes: Free fitness classes

they’re exposed to sunlight, each layer of color eventually fades off,” said Toni Greetis, lab manager at Phototronics, an independent camera shop in Winnetka, Illinois. “In basements, photos can be damaged by flooding, humidity, mold and mildew. In attics, heat and humidity can cause problems. “For these reasons, a digital archive is the best way to safely store photos and slides,” Greetis said. Having all images on a disk or thumb drive also makes it convenient to find and share images in person and online.

Damage “You can take it with you to Grandma’s house rather than carrying eight boxes filled with photo albums,” Greetis said. “And there’s less risk of damage to a small thumb drive than there is to photo albums or boxes of photos in your basement or attic.” She recommends getting a duplicate of the drive or disk and keeping it somewhere secure, like in a safety deposit box or fireproof safe. If you digitize photos, you can scan them into the computer yourself, pay for the service at a camera shop or go through an online comat B.FIT studio in Salmiya! Classes include Zumba, Masala Bhangra workout, aerobics, toning & much more. Contact +965-65077062 for further information. Hurry and enroll now!”

Courses Islamic and Arabic courses: Islamic and Arabic courses are being offered at the Enlightenment into Islam Center starting from 5:00-7:00 pm. Registrations can be done at the main office — Women’s Committee in Qurtoba. For more information contact: 24322684, 25362693, 97743327 and 25362681. ❑ ❑ ❑ IPC Arabic Course: IPC Rawdah Ladies Section will commence the Arabic Conversation Course. The students must have successfully completed at least 3 levels of Arabic. Placement test will be taken by those who took Arabic class outside IPC. Class is every Friday from 9-11 am. IPC Rawdah-22512257 ❑ ❑ ❑

pany like the one Sisco recommends, www. ScanMyPhotos.com. At Phototronics, which digitizes photos, slides, VCR tapes and movies recorded in earlier formats, the question of whether to keep the originals after digitizing is a common one. Greetis says it’s a personal choice. “If you keep them, you actually have the tactile object that you can look at, which has its own nostalgia,” she said. “You can pass those to other family members or just simply to have as the backup if something happens to the digital copies. The downside is it takes up space.” If you keep the original photo prints, Sisco recommends storing them in clearly marked, archival storage boxes. Greetis recommends placing those acid-free boxes inside a Rubbermaid container to keep out moisture. Store them somewhere dry, dark and cool, like a closet. Despite the hundreds of photos in basements and attics, albums and boxes, Greetis knows one thing for certain. “Very few people look at actual photographs these days,” she said. “Everything’s digital.” (AP)

IPC Islamic Courses: ‘Say: O my Lord, let me grow in knowledge’. IPC is offering Islamic courses in English (for ladies only). Muslims and non-Muslims are welcome. 1. Tilawa Surah Ar-Rad and Surah Ibrahim — Sundays at 5:30-7:00 pm; 2. Principles of Tafsir (part 2) - Sundays at 7:00-8:30 pm; 3. Tajweed 3 - Tuesday, at 5:30-7:00 pm; 4. Jesus in Surah Mariam (part 2) - Tuesdays at 7:00-8:30 pm. Instructor: Sr Zeinab Hassan Ashry Place: IPC - Women Section Al-Rawdah, Area 3, Street 30, House 12, opp 4th Ring Road. Email: [email protected], Telephone: 22512257. ❑ ❑ ❑

Islamic classes in French: The Enlightenment into Islam is offering Islamic Classes in French for ladies. Timings 4:30 to 7 pm. Every Wednesday. Please register at the office (Women’s Section), 2nd floor. For more information please contact us. Telephone 25362684, 99789954, 99507076, 97743327. Fax 25342573 (attention — Enlightenment into Islam)

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ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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Award-winning airline continues to demonstrate strong growth

Qatar Airways boosts Colombo service to 4 daily flights DOHA, Qatar, July 27: Qatar Airways has announced it will introduce a fourth daily non-stop service from Doha to Colombo from 1 August, 2017. In addition two of the four daily flights will be serviced by the B777-300ER aircraft to accommodate the increased travel demand to and from Sri Lanka. The increased frequency and aircraft upgauge will boost overall capacity to and from Colombo by 3,136 seats weekly, a 20 per cent increase from current weekly capacity. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are delighted to be able to cater to the buoyant leisure and business travel demand by increasing our frequency and capacity to Colombo, the gateway to Sri Lanka and one of the most vibrant cities in South Asia. Besides our acclaimed inflight service, our passengers can now also enjoy our modern B777 aircraft when they travel with us on our non-stop service to Doha and

Qatar Airways plane

onward to destinations in Europe, Americas and the Middle East. The additional frequency will provide passengers with even greater flexibility and convenience when planning

their next trip with Qatar Airways.” Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism Development the Hon John Amaratunga said: “Tourism is expected to be one of Sri Lanka’s

major growth engines as we seek to further strengthen our economy. Sri Lanka, Asia’s leading destination for 2017, has a wealth of places waiting for travellers to discover. With the support of major carriers like Qatar Airways which has invested additional capacity, we are confident that Sri Lanka can achieve the target of 2.5 million tourists this year.” The Qatar Airways Boeing 777300ER features 24 Business Class seats and 388 seats in Economy Class. Besides a spacious environment throughout the entire aircraft, passengers across both cabins can enjoy up to 3,000 entertainment options throughout their journey with Qatar Airways extensive Oryx One collections. Business Class passengers can relax in their comfortable, fully-flat beds with 78 inches of seat pitch. The on-demand à la carte menu service, luxurious Bric’s amenity kits coupled with Qatar Airways cabin crew’s renowned Arabian hospitality

DOH-CMB Daily Flights Flight number QR 664; QR 654 QR 668 QR 662 – new

Scheduled time of departure 02:10 08:00 18:00 18:50

Scheduled time of Arrival 09:55 15:45 01:45+1 02:55+1

CMB-DOH Daily Flights Flight number QR 665 QR 655 QR 669 QR 663 – new

Scheduled time of departure 11:25 21:20 03:10 03:55

will ensure passengers arrive at their destination feeling refreshed and energised. Qatar Airways has received a number of accolades this year, including Airline of the Year by the prestigious 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards, which was held at the Paris Air Show. This is the fourth time that Qatar Airways has been given this global recognition as the world’s best airline. In addition to

Scheduled time of Arrival 14:00 23:59 05:45 06:45

being voted Best Airline by travellers from around the world, Qatar’s national carrier also won a raft of other major awards at the ceremony, including Best Airline in the Middle East, World’s Best Business Class and World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge. Now in its twentieth year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 200 aircraft flying to business and leisure destinations across six continents.

‘Al-Dasha’ ceremony at Kuwait Sea Sport Club

Gulf Bank platinum sponsor

Pearl Diving voyage kicks off with ‘Dasha’

Chef Johnny Di Francesco

Alshaya partners with chef Johnny Di Francesco to launch 400 Gradi KUWAIT CITY, July 27: International retail franchise operator M.H. Alshaya Co has announced a franchise partnership with award-winning Australian chef Johnny Di Francesco to bring the 400 Gradi Italian restaurant brand to the Middle East this year – its first expansion outside Australia. 400 Gradi, a Naples-inspired Italian restaurant, is the creation of chef Johnny Di Francesco, the first Australian ever trained in Naples to the Associazione Verace (AVPN) and President of AVPN Australia. It offers a wide variety of deliciously handcrafted Italian cuisine, using the finest Italian ingredients to give guests the most complete Neapolitan experience outside of Naples. In 2014, Chef Di Francesco was named the ‘world’s best pizza maker’ during the World Championships in Italy for his authentic Napoletana-style pizza, which is cooked for only 90 seconds at a temperature of 400 degrees hence the name 400 Gradi. Along with this Napoletana-style pizza, the restaurants offer an array

of freshly cooked traditional Italian dishes including its famous handmade gnocchi, succulent lamb and pistachio cutlets, traditional artisan Italian gelato and delicious desserts. Commenting on the new partnership, Chef Di Francesco said: “This is a groundbreaking milestone for the Gradi Group. Expanding to the Middle East is an exciting step forward, especially through Alshaya, who are a pioneer in franchising international brands. We are delighted with this partnership and we look forward to presenting guests with the best pizza in the world, and great Italian food, at the official debut of 400 Gradi.” Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of M.H. Alshaya Co, said: “We’re constantly looking for ways to bring authentic and diverse dining experiences to our customers in the Middle East. 400 Gradi offers a complete Neapolitan experience, and we believe that it will be an exciting addition to the regional dining scene. We look forward to a successful partnership together.”

A photo of the MU soccer training players.

VIVA concludes its MU Soccer Academy players training camp KUWAIT CITY, July 27: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and most developed telecom operator, announced the conclusion of VIVA Manchester United Soccer Academy’s players training camp 2017, in Manchester. The program included several workshops and activities educating the players on the best maneuvers, attacks, different scenarios and conditioned games. The program also focused on different technical areas, such as dribbling, short passing, turning and finishing. During the camp, the players vis-

ited Old Trafford Stadium and 5 special players have been honored: Makki Al-Gallaf, Khaled Al-Obayyan, Hasan Dashti, Hussein Dashti and Anwar AlJassar. Commenting on this occasion, Abdelrazzaq Bader Al-Essa, Corporate Communications Director at VIVA said: “We are proud of the Kuwaiti players who engaged in this training camp and demonstrated high and significant soccer skills. We shared those players this unrivalled experience during their trip and we hope they carry on in this journey to reach more success.”

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: With the traditional ‘Al-Dasha’ ceremony, Gulf Bank has announced the official kick off of the 29th Memorial Journey for Pearl Diving, which runs from 27 July -3 August 2017. Organized each year by the Committee of the Marine Heritage of the Kuwait Sea Sport Club, the journey is taking place under the Patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Sponsored by Gulf Bank for the 8th consecutive year, the journey kicked off yesterday, Thursday 27th of July at 8:30am, with a special “Al-Dasha” ceremony. Representing HH the Amir, the ceremony was attended by Dr Mohammad Abdulatif Al- Fares, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education. Ceremony was also attended by Kuwait Sea Club’s Chairman, Major General Fahad Ahmed Al Fahad, in addition to friends and family members of the participants.

Entire The dhows leave carrying captains as well as other participants heading to Al Khairan for an entire week trip. The return ceremony “Al Qoffal” is planned for the afternoon of Thursday, Aug 3, 2017. The Pearl Diving Memorial Journey is one of the initiatives that Gulf Bank sponsors it on annual basis, it forms a key part of its long-term commitment to preserving the heritage and continuing the traditions of Kuwait’s unique past. The Journey aims to remind young Kuwaiti generations of the difficulties and challenges faced by their forefathers in earning their living, along with a message urging these generations to uphold the traditions and values their ancestors developed during that time. Gulf Bank continues to maintain and strengthen its position as an integral part of the Kuwaiti society. The Bank supports and emphasizes the true Kuwaiti identity and the importance of the Kuwaiti traditions and customs, through sponsoring different social activities and events, for more details about Gulf Bank initiatives, please visit the bank’s website www.e-gulfbank.com Also, regular updates on the journey, including photos and videos will be available on the bank’s social media channels.

Captain Thamer Al-Sayyar, Sea Heritage Committee Consultant

Dr. Mohammad Abdulatif Al-Fares, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education hands the Kuwaiti flag to representative of the Committee of the Marine Heritage.

NBK internship program photo

Bank partners with LoYAC to train youth

NBK develops summer internship program KUWAIT CITY, July 27: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) in collaboration with LoYAC are offering social educative training programs for youth participating in NBK’s annual summer internship program. These programs aim at developing knowledge and responsibility towards society. This new collaboration aims at enhancing the Summer Internship Program with new challenges and is part of the ongoing partnership between NBK and LoYAC. The new training sessions will include an introduction to the civil society sector, highlighting Civic Engagement and how values influence behavior. Yaqoub Al Baqer, NBK Public Relations Officer, said: “The participation of LoYAC in this program is an added value for the students this year.

They will have the chance to experience the value of volunteering and the importance of social work.”. Al Baqer added: “NBK’s relationship with LoYAC extends for years. We are happy to have this long standing partnership with LoYAC”. The Summer Internship first two sessions started on the 2nd and 16th of July, while the following Al Baqer sessions start on 30th of July and 13th of August respectively. The Summer Internship Program stands as an extension to NBK’s

educative initiatives and is a part of its corporate social responsibility. The two-week courses in this program are specially designed for high school and college students, between 15 and 20 years old. The Program features a mixture of theoretical and practical training. It is dedicated to providing the interns with invaluable knowledge on a variety of subjects such as: the teamwork, creative thinking, means of self-expression and modern banking, in addition to helping them to have greater exposure to daily banking work procedures. The participation of LoYAC in this program extends to include activities and volunteering initiatives. Trainees will have the chance to participate in LoYAC’s park renovation project.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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By Jacqueline Bigar Happy birthday for Friday, July 28, 2017: This year you are willing to express yourself authentically. You also find that Lady Luck is riding on your shoulder. You have a gift for words, and you can be very diplomatic. If you are single, your status could change at any moment. You have many choices of whom to date. If you are attached, you and your sweetie seem to be more connected than in the past. Make sure to schedule plenty of dates for just the two of you. LIBRA is as diplomatic as you are, but is perhaps even more charming. The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult

Capricorn - (Dec 22 - Jan 19) **** You could be out of sync with what a boss wants as well as what a loved one wants. You also might not be in the mood to make any adjustments. Recognize the limits that you are

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creating. Perhaps they are OK for a little while, but not for the long run. Tonight: Out late.

Aquarius - (Jan

20 - Feb 18)

**** Reach out for more information, seek out experts, and/or brainstorm with a close friend or loved one. You have many choices, some of which you might not recognize just yet. You will get past an obstacle once you can see the big picture. Tonight: Where there is great music.

Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20) **** One-on-one relating points to success. Others tend to be responsive to your questions, although a boss, higher-up or parent could become very manipulative or controlling. Do not give in to this person’s demands. Do only what you want. Tonight: Respond to a loved one’s request.

home decor

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Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19) **** You cannot deny that in your mind you are eyeing the weekend. You respond in a cheerful, positive way to others. Plans could change, as there could be a last-minute problem at work. You might not be thrilled by what happens. Tonight: Liberation is worth the wait.

Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20) *** You might want to handle certain routine matters at the moment. Take the time to schedule an important appointment. Sometimes you don’t take enough time for yourself. Change that tendency, and it will reflect positively on the rest of your life. Tonight: Go with the flow.

Gemini - (May 21 - June 20) **** Your creativity and humor often make

indoor gardening

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you seem like a lightweight in life, but in reality you are more like a cloaked heavyweight. Don’t hesitate to let an associate know when you have had enough. Honor your needs, yet listen to what is being shared. Tonight: Time for a change.

Cancer - (June 21 - July 22) **** Honor a fast change of pace. You might wonder what to do and how to handle a domestic matter involving property. Know that the situation could transform radically. Hold off on making a conclusive and final decision for now. Tonight: Invite a friend or loved one to join you.

Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22) **** Speak your mind, but remain open to suggestions and different perspectives. The more positive you are, the better your message will be received. Understand that the pace might become so hectic that you will need to

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screen your calls. Tonight: Happily join friends.

Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22): *** Remain steadfast. Your strength and optimism make a difference in the present situation. Do not let someone undermine your decision. Know what you want and how you feel. Change might be inevitable, but it does not need to be dominant. Tonight: Treat a friend to a good time.

Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22) ***** People often do not understand why they are so drawn to you, but they are. Still, you might need to give more definition to your various relationships. Many possibilities surround you at the present moment. You connect to others with the caring you desire. Tonight: TGIF!

Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21)

beauty tips

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*** You could be in a situation where you can’t quite come to terms with what is going on around you. In a sense, you’ll feel as if you are in the middle of a power play that you cannot win. Being somewhat unavailable could help you get your point across. Tonight: Add mystery.

Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21) **** Meetings, get-togethers and your focus on a long-term goal all play a strong role in your day. So many people seek you out that you might feel overwhelmed. Understand your limits, but also test them to see if they are valid. Avoid tension at all costs. Tonight: Celebrate the weekend!







Born today: Former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929), author Beatrix Potter (1866), soccer player Ali Krieger (1984)

taste buds

bookcase cover

dendrobium lamyaiae

nail restoration

potato cheese croquettes

Making bookshelf covers not only covers up the wear and tear of the shelf, but can also add colour to the room and at the same time hide the mess behind the covers. If you are good at sewing then make this your summer project. For fabrics go for something vibrant and flowery that can add the summer look to your room. It will help brighten up the place. If you have an easy chair then use the same fabric to sew cushion for the chair and place it near the shelf. Sometimes simple touch up can convert your boring bookshelf cover into your favorite reading place.

The flowers proportions are almost gigantic compared to the small size of the plants. The thick, cylindrical pseudobulbs are no more than 5-6 cm long and, in the flowering season, completely covered with spectacular orange-and - red flowers with white lips decorated with red venation. Two or three flowers grow from the knots on the leafless pseudobulbs at the peak of the dry season. Site: Provide medium to large amounts of indirect light Temperature: Plant grows in cool to warm temperatures Water: During winter reduce/almost stop watering until new shoots appear.

You’ll need: Tea bags; Scissors; Nail glue; Orange wood stick; Nail Buffer Instructions: Cut the two tea bags to the size of the nail. Paint the nail with a thin layer of glue, and allow it to dry. Put another thin layer of glue on the nail, and then quickly lay the pre-cut tea bag over the nail and poke it in place with the orange wood stick. Paint over the bag with yet another layer of glue, and try to remove any air bubbles with the stick again. When the first layer is dry, buff gently over the nail, and repeat the whole process again with another piece of tea bag. My final step was to buff over the nail once more, and add a final thin layer of glue to the nail. After this dried completely painted your nails as usual.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp grated mozzarella cheese; 2 tbsp grated processed cheese; 3 tbsp chili-garlic sauce; 4 cups boiled and mashed potatoes; salt to taste; 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder; 1/2 cup flour; 3/4 cup bread crumbs for rolling; oil for deep-frying Method: Combine the potatoes salt and pepper. Divide this mixture into 6 equal portions and shape each portion into a small round. Press a little in the center of each round to make a depression. For the cheesy stuffing combine the cheese with chili garlic sauce. Place 1 tsp of the filling in the depression and again shape them into cylindrical croquettes. Combine the plain flour with 3/4 cup water and mix well. Dip each croquette in the flour mixture and roll in bread crumbs till it is evenly coated from all the sides. Deep-fry the croquettes till they are golden brown in colour from all sides.

Dear Abby

what’s on today

Guilt mingles with grief after boyfriend’s death

Site for checking travel ban www.kuwaitcourts.gov.kw/mojweb/NGeneral/Main.jsp

By Abigail Van Buren Dear Abby: My boyfriend died unexpectedly a few months ago, and it has been a struggle to get through my sadness. We had been through a lot in the year and a half we were dating, including some infidelities on my part. Aside from my sadness and guilt, I’m struggling with the fear that I’ll never live down my infidelities or be able to make it up to him. It is clouding the positive memories I have of him. I don’t know how to stop my thoughts from going all over the place. Please help. — Sad in Sacramento Dear sad: Much as we might wish to, none of us can change the past. I assume that you have Abigail Van Buren now learned that it’s best to remain faithful in your romantic relationships. That’s a step in the right direction. The next step is to resolve that in future relationships you won’t stray, and if you are tempted to, you will discuss with your boyfriend what you feel is missing in your relationship. As to how to disrupt the intrusive memories that keep flooding back, a technique many people use is to REMIND themselves to stay in the moment each time an unwanted memory pops up. The technique is called “mindfulness,” and it works. ❑ ❑ ❑ Dear Abby: I am wondering what the rule is for socializing at the gym. I work out twice a week with a friend, and we usually do part of our workout on the treadmill. While we walk, we will chat. We don’t talk loudly, and we never use offensive language. It’s just general chitchat about kids, work, etc. Twice, one woman (the same woman) has ordered us to stop talking because we “bother” her. She wears headphones while she watches TV, but she says she can still hear us. Abby, when I wear headphones (even on a very low volume), it tunes out almost everything. By her strong reaction, I am assuming this woman is unusually sensitive to noise, but this is a gym, not a library. We never monopolize the machines. I don’t think I have ever been called rude in any other situation, and I always try to be pleasant and accommodating, so I would appreciate your thoughts. — Cheryl in Houston Dear Cheryl: I do have a few. When people work out at a shared facility, they have to expect there will be other people there. Treadmills make noise, and sometimes it’s necessary to speak in a louder than normal voice in order to be heard. If the woman complains again, suggest she move to a treadmill farther away or increase the volume on her headphones so your conversation won’t disturb her. However, if that doesn’t satisfy her, mention that she might be happier if she worked out at a different time when the place isn’t as full. ❑ ❑ ❑ Dear Abby: Most everyone appears to be fighting over politics these days, and there’s even in-fighting within each side. Will it ever stop? — Baffled in the East Dear baffled: Perhaps. But it won’t happen until people stop shouting (literally and figuratively), decide to bring civility back and start listening respectfully to each other. ❑ ❑ ❑ Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. (Source: Universal Uclick)

emergency number 112

■ Father’s Love Int’l Ministries: Have you had a challenging week? Want to hear something different for a change? Something positive and energizing? At FLIM, you will find all this and much more ... Love, laugher, life and liberty. You will find a community of God-loving believers, who come every Friday, Saturday, Monday and Wednesday to praise and worship together. There always a word of blessing and edification for everyone who comes to the Father’s House. So, don’t be left out! Come join the family! You will be restored, received, renewed and greatly rewarded! Father’s Love Encounter Service on Friday at 11:00 am to 2:00 pm African service on Saturday at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Empowerment Services on Monday at 6:30 pm 8:30 pm Tamil Service on Wednesday at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Please call 66020972, 99874730, 51003531

FRIDAY ■ FBC tournament: Filipino Badminton Committee (FBC) is inviting all badminton enthusiast in Kuwait to join their regular badminton tournament being held every Friday from 8 am to 7 pm at Kuwait Disabled Sports Club, Bin Khaldoun Hawalli. Over 10 badminton courts are now available for badminton practices and tournament and it is open for all nationalities and from different badminton organizations. Exclusive-private court are also available on per hour rental. For more information, please contact Dr Chie Umandap – 97197268 ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Arnis/Eskrima training: EskrimadorKuwait a member of Cacoy Doce Pares World Federation now opens a new batch of training. Learn the Philippine national sports, which is Arnis/Eskrima with the authentic style and techniques. Training schedule will be every Friday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm @ Kaifan Sports Complex-Karate Gym. Text or call #50292148-Herms. ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Free IFRA coaching classes: Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) will be starting free refresher/coaching classes for existing referees, new recruits, those aspiring to be referees and even those who would like to learn about the laws of the game at IEAS – Salmiya (Don Bosco). Classes will be from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm every Friday. Those interested may call 99519439 or get in touch with any IFRA member for registration. ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Holy Quran classes: Emanway Foundation – Musk is offering classes to teach English-speaking ladies (and girls ages 5 and up) to read the Holy Quran in Arabic. The method is al-Qaedah Noorania, a traditional program which has been used for many years around the world. (Note: ‘Al-Qaedah’ simply means ‘base’; this can be likened to a basic phonics program.) No Arabic knowledge is required. Every Friday from 4:00 to 5:15 pm, beginning Oct 4. Al-Salam Area (south Surra), Block 2, Street 201, House 30. Classes are free, but seats are limited, so register now by calling 66274724. ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Tagalog Khutba for Filipinos: The Ministry of Awqaf, Islam Presentation Committee, & Kuwait Philippine Cultural Center (KPC Center) invites all Filipino Muslim & Muslima to hear Khutba (Sermon) in Tagalog every Friday at

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Embassies Chinese Embassy notice: Documents issued in Kuwait and to be used in China

Civil ID info: 1889988

SATURDAY

A flyer of the event. Marzouq Al-Badr Mosque, Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq St (at the back of Ambassador Supermarket and SM Supermarket, near Salhiya Police Station & Kuwait Airways Bldg) in Kuwait City. There will be a community started and lunch after Friday prayers at KPC Center in Farwaniya. For further information, please call KPC Center, Tel 4712574. ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ St Paul’s Church activities: English Worship Services on Fridays at 10.30 am and on Sundays at 6.30 pm at St Paul’s Church in Ahmadi. The Friday English Service has got separate sessions for Children and Youth. Chinese Worship Services on Fridays at 10.30 am at House No 16, Street 9, Block 11, Salwa. Urdu Worship services on Thursdays at 5.35 pm at St. Paul’s Church, Ahmadi and on Fridays at 5.45 pm at Diwaniya of NECK Campus, Kuwait City. Please contact Fr Harrison Chinnakumar for English mainland shall first be notarized and legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait, and then be legalised by Chinese Embassy in Kuwait. Specific requirements and information for document legalisation, please refer to the website of Chinese Embassy in Kuwait. For documents issued by member countries of the Apostille Convention*, after getting Apostilles from the competent authorities, they can be used in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR of China directly.

and Urdu Congregations and his phone numbers are 66396539 or 239859292 and email address: [email protected]. For Chinese congregation, please contact Zhu Peijin and her number is 99551783 and email address is: [email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Redeemed Christian Church: The Redeemed Christian Church of God (HOD Parish) worship in English. Celebration Service: Friday 9 am – 11 am; Divine encounter: Sunday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Digging Deep (Bible studies): Tuesday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Night vigil every last Friday of the month from 10 pm. Venue: New Mishref. For more information and direction please call 99276603, 6557-7482. Email: [email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑ *Refer to the Convention of Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents ❑ ❑ ❑

Chinese Embassy notice: Please be noted that effective starting today, the photo used in a Chinese visa application must meet the requirements (For details, please visit the website of Chinese embassy http://kw.chineseembassy.org/eng/). Application with non-compliant photos will not be processed.

■ IMA summer classes: Indian Muslim Association (IMA) Summer Islamic classes. This year IMA (Indian Muslim Association, Kuwait) with the coordination of IPC, opens the doors of its well-known 2-month long, ‘Summer Islamic Classes’ program to students in Kuwait from LKG up to 12th standard. Offering a syllabus with a wide range of Islamic subjects such as Quran reading/understanding/ memorization, Prophet’s Life and Day to day Jurisprudence. Apart from this, teachers work on Personality Development of the students and also engage them in various activities including field visits. Competitions are held on Islamic Quiz, Recitation of Quran and Elocution Date: July 1 to Aug 24; Timings: 4:00 to 6:30 pm; Venue: Indian Community School, Junior Branch; Salmiya, Kuwait. ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Scrabble sessions are back: Scrabble sessions are back for all to come, learn and play with us at Better Books, Salmiyah, Bldg 19, next to Badur Travel, opposite the Ministry of Private Education, on Friday afternoons from 2:30-5:30 pm. Inviting all kids aged 8 and above to join me and play competitively with me Rohaina. Classes are held every Saturday from 12-1.30 pm. Bknelled, Euphuize, Waqf, Zooeae are some of the lovely words and there are 200,000 more you can learn with us. But the fun part is playing this wonderful game competitively. So come and see us and call me @66634224, Rohaina Tanweer. Thank you for your attention and cooperation. ❑ ❑ ❑

Brazilian Embassy notice: A Embaixada do Brasil solicita a brasileiros/as que efetuem e/ou atualizem sua matrícula consular. (formulário na página: http:// kuaite.itamaraty.gov.br). The Embassy of Brazil requests Brazilian citizens to register or to update their consular registration (form http://kuaite. itamaraty.gov.br).

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

28

Couch slouch Stewart sets stand-up special

Discovery probes backstory of Kaczynski in ‘Unabomber’ LOS ANGELES, July 27, (RTRS): The producers of Discovery Channel’s “Manhunt: Unabomber” limited series tried to bring “radical empathy” to the portrayal of Ted Kaczynski and the terror he inflicted through a bombing campaign that lasted more than 20 years. Andrew Sodroski, writer and exec producer with Greg Yaitanes of the eight-part series that premieres Aug 1, said the mini tries to explain why the highly intelligent mathematician was motivated to send bombs to people in a twisted effort to protest what he saw as the dangers of technology in the modern world. Discovery is hoping to stir public interest in a the lesser-known aspects of a notorious modern criminal case in the same way that FX tapped a nerve last year with “The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.” The cabler aims to turn “Manhunt” into a recurring scripted franchise. “This is a guy who mails bombs to people he’s never met,” Sodroski said Wednesday during a panel on the mini at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills. “At the same time he’s a victim too. He was a little boy with a bright future ahead of him, and then something happened.” Unabomber saga that played out during the 1980s and ’90s is pretty much made for a TV adaptation. Kaczynski’s arrest in 1996 near his tiny cabin in rural Montana was spurred by the publication of his 35,000-word “manifesto” by the Washington Post. His older brother, David Kaczynski, recognized Ted’s writing style and turned him in to authorities, after much agonizing over the decision. Actor Paul Bettany, who plays Ted Kaczynski, said the wealth of material available about the Unabomber and the reclusive life he led for decades allowed him insight into the character. He made particular note of the reading material found in Kaczynski’s tiny cabin — Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Agent” and Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” “They were all novels about the outsider — the man who feels like an alien in society and commits a crime that he can’t come back from,” Bettany said. The work of the FBI team that caught Kaczynski is also a big component of the storytelling. The investigators used groundbreaking criminal profiling techniques and forensic tools to track down Kaczynski from clues left in the explosive devices and packages he sent to his victims. Most of them were targeted because they worked in the world of technology or in jobs involving the environment such as the US Forestry Service. Kaczynski pulled their names from newspaper stories. Mark Duplass plays David Kaczynski. Duplass’ long history of working with his brother, Jay Duplass, on movies and TV shows gave him the foundation for understanding the special

bond between the Kaczynski brothers. ❑ ❑ ❑ Amanda Crew doesn’t just play a venture capitalist on HBO’s “Silicon Valley”; she’s an actual investor, too. Crew, who plays Monica Hall on the series, recently invested in an all-female media company, NetworkBe, which launched its multiplatform video and social network Tuesday. “After getting a chance to play a VC on ‘Silicon Valley,’ it’s exciting to support women in business,” said Crew. “I was instantly drawn to NetworkBe’s ability to elevate lives through humor and thought-provoking, meaningful content. NetworkBe is connecting like-minded, independent women around the world and I want to be a part of this change.” NetworkBe was founded by Wendy Sweetmore, former senior executive at Mark Burnett/ MGM, to address what she perceived as an underserving of the so-called “sandwich generation” of women, aged 28-55. ❑ ❑ ❑ Jon Stewart will return to stand up comedy in a special for HBO, the former “Daily Show” host’s first such special in over 20 years, it was announced Wednesday at the TCA summer press tour. “I’m really thrilled to be able to return to stand-up on HBO,” Stewart said. “They’ve always set the standard for great stand-up specials. Plus, I can finally use up the last of the Saddam Hussein jokes left over from my first special.” Stewart’s last stand up special, “Jon Stewart: Unleavened,” aired on HBO in 1996. Additionally, this fall Stewart will host the latest “Night of Too Many Stars” all-star benefit for NEXT For Autism to be presented live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov 18. ❑ ❑ ❑ HBO has given the greenlight to a miniseries about the Chernobyl disaster to star “Mad Men” alum Jared Harris. “Chernobyl” is a five-part look at the scientists and others who sacrificed to spare the world from a broader disaster in April 1986 when a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine. Craig Mazin (“The Huntsman: Winter’s War”) penned the scripts and Johan Renck (“Breaking Bad”) is directing. The mini is set to begin lensing next year in Lithuania. Harris will play Valery Legasov, the scientist chosen by the Kremlin to investigate the accident. “From the moment Craig Mazin pitched us the story, we were convinced that this all-tootrue tale of horror and redemption needed to be told,” said Kary Antholis, president of HBO Miniseries and Cinemax Programming.

In this May 5, 2016 photo, Megyn Kelly poses for a portrait in New York. (AP)

‘She hasn’t hit a home run yet’

Viewers take wait-&-see attitude toward Kelly NEW YORK, July 27, (AP): After her brassy start at NBC News, viewers are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward Megyn Kelly in anticipation of her big test this fall. Her newsmagazine ends its eight-episode summer run this weekend, featuring Kelly’s interview with comic Ricky Gervais. That’s a light sign-off after her newsy debut in June interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kelly’s show isn’t as popular as its predecessor in the time slot, “Dateline NBC,” and established the ominous trend of losing viewers from the week before with every episode. But NBC pronounces itself pleased, and points to Kelly’s range in conducting interviews with Putin, ESPN’s Erin Andrews, “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance, TV personality Maria Menounos, conservative firebrand Alex Jones and women who work at Silicon Valley firms. Now the former Fox News Channel anchor turns her attention to the more important part of NBC’s investment: a one-hour weekday morning show that premieres on Sept 25. “Our intention was to do some really good journalism, and I think we did, to do some fun pieces, and I think we did that, and to give Megyn a chance to do some pieces and she really came through for us in great style,” said David Corvo, NBC News executive in charge

of newsmagazines. Her interview with Jones attracted the most attention, with critics wondering why NBC gave a platform to someone who questioned whether the Sandy Hook school shootings took place. The interview that aired was tougher than a promotional clip distributed early in the week had led people to believe. The debut of “Sunday Night” with Putin reached 6.2 million viewers and this past Sunday’s episode, which aired late opposite “Game of Thrones,” had 2.85 million. The show has averaged 3.71 million viewers, down 10 percent from “Dateline NBC” on Sundays last summer, the Nielsen company said. A repeat “Dateline” rerun that aired on July 2 reached more viewers than all but the first episode of “Sunday Night.” Yet television viewing is off in general. CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which airs in the same time slot as Kelly, has dropped 15 percent in viewership over the same period, Nielsen said. “I don’t think you can say it’s a failure at all,” said Brian Wieser, analyst at the Pivotal Research Group. “It’s way too early to say it’s a failure. It’s safe to say she hasn’t hit a home run yet.” Marc Berman, executive editor of the Programming Insider newsletter, said he thinks

NBC did Kelly no favors by putting her on the air during the little-watched summer months opposite the well-established “60 Minutes.” Better to air it in a time slot behind a more popular show — “America’s Got Talent,” perhaps? — or simply build anticipation so she starts at NBC with her morning show, he said. Instead, she goes into the fall with questions about her popularity, he said. Corvo said another time slot wasn’t considered, primarily because Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. has been the home of a news show for more than two decades on NBC. There’s also something to be said for giving Kelly experience and exposure in a different role than she played at Fox, before her morning show starts. “I don’t know if the audiences are the same,” Corvo said. “I think that NBC News viewers who didn’t know who she was, who sampled the program, will have a very positive view of her because I think the stories she did were really strong.” Kelly brought baggage with her to NBC. She’s caught in the middle between people who don’t like Fox and regard her with suspicion, while some Fox fans harbor bitterness for her tough questioning of Donald Trump in a presidential debate.

tv highlights Cinema Cinema programme from Thursday 27/07/2017 to Wednesday 02/08/2017

Cars 3 Sharqia 1 Muhalab 2 Fanar 1 Marina 2 Avenues 7 360° 5 360° 7 Al-Kout 3 Bairaq 1

13:00 (No Fri) 15:15 16:30 13:00 (No Fri) 17:45 12:00 (No Fri) 16:15 11:40 (No Fri) 13:55, 16:10, 18:25 13:40 (Fri, Sat) 16:45 (No Mon) 19:05 14:35 14:15, 16:30 14:45, 17:00

Bank Al Hath (Arabic Film) Sharqia 1 Fanar 5 Avenues 1 360° 7 Al-Kout 4

17:30, 20:00 11:30 (No Fri) 18:30, 21:00, 23:30 13:45, 16:15, 18:45, 21:15, 23:45 12:10 (No Fri) 17:05, 19:40, 22:15, 00:50 19:30, 22:00

Atomic Blonde Sharqia 1 Muhalab 1 Fanar 1 Marina 1 Avenues 2 Avenues 3

22:30, 00:45 19:30, 21:45, 00:05 15:30, 20:00, 22:15, 00:30 20:15, 22:30, 00:45 19:15, 00:05 13:00 (No Fri) 15:30, 17:45, 20:00, 22:15, 00:30 Avenues 4 23:15 Avenues 5 19:45, 00:45 360° 10 20:30, 01:00 360° 12 13:30, 15:45, 18:00, 20:15, 22:30, 00:45 360° 15 22:10, 00:35 Al-Kout 2 19:15, 21:45, 00:05 Bairaq 2 22:15, 00:30 Laila 22:45 Grand Hamra 1 14:00, 16:15, 19:00, 21:30 00:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 2 14:00, 17:30, 20:15, 22:30 01:00 (Thu, Fri)

Sharqia 2 Muhalab 3 Fanar 4 Marina 3 Avenues 1 Avenues 2 Avenues 4 Avenues 11 360° 1

14:15, 16:30, 18:45, 21:15, 23:30 360° 9 11:45 (No Fri) 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 21:00, 23:15 360° 13 12:30 (No Fri) 14:45, 17:00, 19:15, 21:45, 00:05 360° 15 11:50 (No Fri) 17:35, 20:00 Al-Kout 1 15:45, 18:00, 20:15, 00:45 Al-Kout 4 13:00 (No Fri) Bairaq 1 12:30 (No Fri) 19:15, 21:30, 23:45 Laila 17:45 (No Thu) Grand Hamra 5 14:30, 17:00 01:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Hamra 6 14:15, 17:15, 19:45, 22:15 00:30 (Thu, Fri) Grand Hamra GC 15:00, 17:30, 20:00, 22:30 01:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 1 14:45, 17:15, 19:30, 21:45 00:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate GC 14:30, 17:00, 19:45, 22:00 00:45 (Thu, Fri)

Baby Driver Sharqia 2 Muhalab 3 Fanar 2 Fanar 3 Fanar 5 Marina 3 Avenues 5 Avenues 9

17:15, 21:45 22:30, 00:45 00:45 20:30 16:15 22:15, 00:30 14:45 13:30 (Fri) 18:15, 20:30, 22:45, 01:00 360° 10 22:45 360° 11 13:00 (No Fri) 15:15, 17:30, 19:45, 22:00, 00:15 Al-Kout 1 22:30 Al-Kout 3 00:15 Grand Hamra 3 14:45, 17:30, 20:00, 22:15 00:45 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 8 14:15, 16:45, 19:45, 22:15 00:30 (Thu, Fri)

War For The Planet Of The Apes Sharqia 3

Dunkirk

Muhalab 2

12:45 (No Fri) 15:00, 19:30, 00:05 11:30 (No Fri) 15:45, 18:00, 20:15 12:45 (No Fri) 15:00, 17:15, 19:30, 21:45, 00:05 13:15 (No Fri) 15:30, 17:45, 20:00 11:30 (No Fri) 12:15 (No Fri) 21:45 11:50 (No Fri) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:00 12:30 (No Fri) 15:00, 17:15, 19:45, 22:00, 00:40 12:00 (No Fri)

Fanar 2 Marina 1 Marina 2 Avenues 2 Avenues 5 Avenues 6 Avenues 9 360° 3 360° 8 360° 10 360° 15 Al-Kout 3

11:30 (No Fri) 18:15, 21:00, 23:45 11:45 (No Fri) 18:45, 21:30, 00:15 11:30 (No Fri) 14:15, 17:00, 22:00 12:45 (No Fri) 18:30, 21:15, 00:05 16:30 12:00 (No Fri) 17:00, 22:00 12:20 (No Fri) 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 13:15 (No Fri) 11:40 (No Fri) 14:25, 17:10 13:15 (No Fri) 16:00, 19:00, 21:50, 00:40 14:50, 17:45 14:30 11:30 (No Fri) 18:45, 21:30

Bairaq 2 Bairaq 3

15:30 13:00 (No Fri) 23:30 Laila 20:00 (No Thu) Grand Hamra 2 14:00, 16:45, 19:30, 22:30 Grand Hamra 5 19:15, 22:00 Grand Gate 4 13:45, 16:30, 19:15, 22:00

Despicable Me 3 Sharqia 3 Muhalab 2 Muhalab 3 Fanar 2 Fanar 3 Fanar 5 Marina 2 Marina 3 Avenues 2 Avenues 3 Avenues 8 360° 2 360° 3 360° 8 Al-Kout 1 Al-Kout 2 Bairaq 2 Laila Grand Gate 7

14:15, 16:15 14:30 13:45 19:45 13:40 (Fri) 15:35 14:00 14:15 13:35 (Fri) 14:30 13:35 (Fri) 12:45 (No Fri) 16:45, 19:00 11:30 (No Fri) 13:35, 15:35 19:55 14:10 (Fri) 11:30 (No Fri) 13:45 17:15 11:30 (No Fri) 13:30, 18:15, 20:15 15:45 14:15, 16:15, 18:15, 20:15, 22:15

2:22 Grand Hamra 8 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:15 23:15 (Thu, Fri)

Spider-Man: Homecoming Muhalab 1 Marina 1 Avenues 10 360° 6 360° 10 Al-Kout 2 Bairaq 3

11:35, 16:45 (No Fri) 15:30 12:05 (No Fri) 14:45, 21:30, 00:15 12:15 (No Fri) 15:00, 17:50, 20:45, 23:45 12:05 (No Fri) 11:45 (No Fri) 14:30 15:45

Tisbah Ala Khair (Arabic Film) Muhalab 1 Fanar 1 Marina 1 Avenues 10 360° 2 Bairaq 3

14:20 13:35 (Fri) 13:30 (Fri) 18:15 17:30, 19:30 20:20, 22:45, 00:45 13:45 (Fri) 21:30

Ali And Nino (Exclusive) Grand Hamra 7 14:30, 17:45, 20:15, 22:30 01:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 3 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00 23:00 (Thu, Fri)

Goutham Nanda (Telugu Film) Muhalab 1 Plaza Ajial 4

16:15 (Fri) 15:30 (Fri) 21:30 (Fri, Mon) 15:45, 18:45, 21:45 (No Thu)

Mubarakan (Hindi Film) Fanar 3

12:30 (No Fri)

17:30 20:40, 23:40 13:45 (Fri, Sat) 20:25, 23:25 18:30 15:30 (No Fri) 18:30 (No Fri, Mon) 21:30 15:30, 18:30, 21:30

Avenues 7 360° 14 Bairaq 3 Plaza Ajial 1

The Jungle Bunch (Exclusive) Grand Hamra 4 14:15, 16:30, 18:45 Grand Gate 5 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00

Boyka: Undisputed Fanar 3 Avenues 8 Avenues 9 360° 4

22:45, 00:40 14:50, 23:00, 01:15 16:00 11:35 (No Fri) 14:00, 16:00, 18:15, 20:30, 23:00, 01:00 13:30 (Fri) 15:30, 17:30, 00:30

Al-Kout 4

London Heist Avenues 8 360° 3

21:00 21:55, 23:55

Khammis & Jumma (Horoob Ejbary) — Arabic Film 360° 2

17:40

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales 360° 5 Grand Gate 6

21:30, 00:25 14:30, 17:15, 20:00, 22:30

Tubelight (Hindi Film)

How to find us 1. 360°

Zahra’a Area, South Surra, 6th Ring Road, corner of King Faisal Highway 2. Ajial Ajial Complex, Fahaheel 3. Al Bairaq Between Jaber Al Ali East & Al Agalia West 4. Al Fanar Al Fanar Complex, Salem Al Mubarak Street, near Sultan Center, Salmiya 5. Al Kout Al-Kout Complex, at the end of the Coastal Road, Fahaheel 6. Al Muhalab Al Muhalab Complex, Behind Hawally Clinic, Hawally 7. Al Sharqiya Arabian Gulf Street, Souq Sharq, near the Amiri Hospital 8. Laila Gallery Salem Al Mubarak Street, near Sultan Center, Salmiya 9. Marina Marina Mall, Between Salem Al Mubarak Street & Arabian Gulf Street, Salmiya 10. Metro Metro Complex, Farwaniya, near Crowne Plaza Hotel & Farwaniya Garden 11. Plaza Salem Al Mubarak Street, near Sultan Center, Salmiya 12. The Avenues The Avenues Mall, Al Reggai near Al Rai, 5th Ring Road & Ghazali Road Intersection NB: Friday no show before 1:30 pm Regular show KD3:000; 3D-Digital — KD3.500; VIP show — KD6.000. ‘On Monday, price is KD1.500 except Digital movies.

Cinescape cinema movies inquiries and Fax Back hotline 1803456

13. The Scientific Center – IMAX Opp Holiday Inn, Salmiya, Gulf Road 14. Grand Al-Hamra Grand Al-Hamra, tel: 22270333, www.grand cinemas.com 15. Grand Gate Grand Gate, tel: 22056464, www.grandcinemas.com

360° 14 Ajial 2

17:25 16:15

Nibunan (Tamil Film) Ajial 2

19:00

Railroad Tigers Grand Hamra 4 21:00

Vikram Vedha (Tamil Film) Ajial 2

22:00

Sunday Holiday (Malayalam Film) Ajial 3

15:35, 18:20, 21:20

Fidaa (Telugu Film) Ajial 4

15:45, 18:45, 21:45 (No Thu)

IMAX Imax film programme at The Scientific Center

Sunday Showtime Available for Groups Flying Monsters 3D

09:30 am 10:30 am 07:30 pm A Beautiful Planet 3D 11:30 am 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 12:30 pm

Humpback Whales 3D Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D

05:30 pm 08:30 pm

Monday Showtime Available for Groups 09:30 am A Beautiful Planet 3D 10:30 am 05:30 pm, 07:30 pm Humpback Whales 3D 11:30 am 09:30 pm Flying Monsters 3D 12:30 pm, 06:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 08:30 pm

Tuesday Showtime Available for Groups Journey to Space 3D

09:30 am 10:30 am 04:30 pm Flying Monsters 3D 11:30 am 09:30 pm A Beautiful Planet 3D 12:30 pm, 02:30 pm, 05:30 pm, 08:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 01:30 pm Humpback Whales 3D 03:30 pm, 06:30 pm Secret Ocean 3D 07:30 pm

Wednesday Showtime Available for Groups Flying Monsters 3D

09:30 am 10:30 am 05:30 pm A Beautiful Planet 3D 11:30 am 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Humpback Whales 3D 12:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 07:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 08:30 pm

Thursday Showtime Available for Groups A Beautiful Planet 3D

09:30 am 10:30 am 07:30 pm Flying Monsters 3D 11:30 am 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 12:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 05:30 pm Humpback Whales 3D 08:30 pm

Friday A Beautiful Planet 3D 02:30 pm, 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 03:30 pm Humpback Whales 3D 04:30 pm Secret Ocean 3D 05:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 07:30 pm Flying Monsters 3D 08:30 pm

Saturday Showtime Available for Groups 09:30 am Flying Monsters 3D 10:30 am 05:30 pm, 07:30 pm A Beautiful Planet 3D 11:30 am 03:30 pm, 08:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 12:30 pm, 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Humpback Whales 3D 01:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 02:30 pm Secret Ocean 3D 04:30 pm

Notes: All films are in Arabic. For English, headsets are available upon request. Film schedule is subject to changes without notice. For information call 1 848 888 or visit www.tsck.org.kw

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

HEALTH

29

Study links rising US e-cigs use to rise in smokers quitting

First editing of human embryos carried out in US NEW YORK, July 27, (RTRS): Technology that allows alteration of genes in a human embryo has been used for the first time in the United States, according to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland, which carried out the research. The OHSU research is believed to have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases, according to Technology Review, which first reported the news. None of the embryos were allowed to develop for more than a few days, according to the report. Some countries have signed a convention prohibiting the practice on concerns it could be used to create socalled designer babies. Results of the peer-reviewed study are expected to be published soon in a scientific journal, according to OHSU spokesman Eric Robinson. The research, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, head of OHSU’s Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, involves a technology known as CRISPR that has opened up new frontiers in genetic medicine because of its ability to modify genes quickly and efficiently. CRISPR works as a type of molecular scissors that can selectively trim away unwanted parts of the genome, and replace it with new stretches of DNA. Scientists in China have published similar studies with mixed results. In December 2015, scientists and ethicists at an international meeting held at the National Academy of Sci-

Texas reports Zika transmission case

Could a green sponge fight cancer?

This photo released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on July 26, shows a green sponge, photographed by an ROV camera, in the waters off the coast of Alaska. (AFP)

ences (NAS) in Washington said it would be “irresponsible” to use gene editing technology in human embryos for therapeutic purposes, such as to correct genetic diseases, until safety and efficacy issues are resolved. But earlier this year, NAS and the National Academy of Medicine said scientific advances make gene editing in human reproductive cells “a realistic possibility that deserves serious consideration.” ❑ ❑ ❑ A rise in the use of electronic ciga-

rettes among American adults is linked to a significant increase in the numbers of people quitting smoking, researchers said on Wednesday. In a study published in the BMJ British medical journal, scientists from California said their findings were based on the largest representative sample of e-cigarette users to date and provided a “strong case” that e-cigarettes have helped to increase rates of smoking cessation. “These findings need to be weighed carefully in regulatory policy making and in the planning of tobacco control

WASHINGTON, July 27, (Agencies): A small green sponge discovered in dark, icy waters of the Pacific off Alaska could be the first effective weapon against pancreatic cancer, researchers said Wednesday. Pancreatic cancer, with particularly aggressive tumors, is notoriously difficult to treat. “One would never have imagined looking at this sponge that it could be miraculous,” Bob Stone, a researcher at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said in a briefing by phone. Stone discovered the sponge, dull in color, called “Latrunculia austini” in 2005 while on a seabed exploration expedition in Alaska. It lives on rocks in patches at depths of 230-720 feet (70-219m).

Lab testing has shown that several molecules in this sponge selectively destroy pancreatic cancer cells, said Mark Hamann, a University of South Carolina researcher working with Fred Valeriote of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit. “This is undoubtedly the most active molecule against pancreatic cancer that we see,” said Hamann. “Although there is still much work to be done, it marks the first key step in the discovery and process of developing a treatment,” he said. Pancreatic cancer progresses slowly, a circumstance which leaves patients in a tough position as late diagnosis means little chance for successful treatment. Patients’ chances of survival at five years for this tumor are only 14%, according to the American

Cancer Society.

cials have reported what they believe to be the state’s first case this year of local Zika virus transmission. A statement Wednesday by the Texas Department of State Health Services says the person hasn’t traveled outside his home area recently, so the virus was probably transmitted by a mosquito in the last few months. The infected person is a resident of Hidalgo County in the lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman says that if the agency confirms the case resulted from a local transmission, it would be the first this year in the US.

interventions,” the researchers, led by Shu-Hong Zhu at the University of California, said in their study. The global scientific community is divided over e-cigarettes and whether they are a useful public health tool as a nicotine replacement therapy or a potential “gateway” for young people to move on to start smoking tobacco. Many specialists, including health experts at Public Health England, think

e-cigarettes, which contain nicotine but no tobacco, are a lower-risk alternative to smoking. But the US surgeon general last year urged lawmakers to impose price and tax policies that would discourage their use. Zhu’s study used five US population surveys dating from 2001 to 2015. E-cigarette users were identified from the most recent survey in 2014/15,

and smoking quit rates were obtained from those who had reported smoking cigarettes 12 months before the survey. Rates were then compared to four earlier surveys. The results showed that e-cigarette users were more likely than non-users to make a quit attempt (65 percent versus 40 percent) and more likely to succeed in quitting smoking tobacco for at least three months.

Also: AUSTIN, Texas: Texas health offi-

Total barrels ahead as oil price rises French oil company Total said Thursday underlying profits gushed higher in the second quarter thanks to a recovery in the price of oil, with the company also benefitting from increased output. The firm’s measure of adjusted profits that excludes exceptional items climbed 14 percent from the same period last year to $2.5 billion ($2.1 billion euros). That beat the consensus fore-

cast of analysts surveyed by financial data firm Factset, who were expecting on average $2.3 billion in adjusted profits. While crude prices have slid since the beginning of the year as OPEC and Russia struggle to implement an accord to limit output, they are still considerably higher than one year ago, helping oil firms earnings comparisons on an annual basis. Total said the average price

Market Movements AUSTRALIA JAPAN EUROPE S. KOREA PHILIPPINES INDIA HONG KONG

-

All Ordinaries Nikkei Euro Stoxx 50 KRX 100 All Shares Sensex Hang Seng

Change +8.90 +29.48 +1.95 +18.85 +1.78 +0.84 +190.15

Closing pts 5,832.20 20,079.64 3,493.14 4,978.38 4,781.58 32,383.30 27,131.17

of Brent crude, the main international oil contract, was up by 9 percent in the second quarter from the same period last year. Moreover, Total was able to increase its output by 3 percent to 2.5 million barrels per day in oil equivalent thanks to new projects coming on line in Kazakhstan and Congo. It expects production to rise over 4 percent for the year as a whole. (AFP)

27-07-2016 GERMANY FRANCE

Royal Dutch Shell net profit jumps almost a third

- DAX - CAC 40

Change Closing pts -93.07 12,212.04 -3.22 5,186.95

Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday said net profit grew 31.5 percent to $1.545 billion (1.316 billion euros) in the second quarter from a year earlier, boosted by higher oil prices. “Shell’s strong results this quarter show that we are reshaping the company following the integration of BG,” chief executive Ben van Beurden said in an earnings statement in reference to the AngloDutch company’s purchase of Brit-

ish peer BG Group in 2016. “Cash generation has been resilient over four consecutive quarters, at an average oil price of just under $50 per barrel,” he said. Revenue jumped 23 percent to $72.1 billion in the reporting period, with Shell aided also by the sale of non-core assets. Profit on a current cost-of-supplies basis — which strips out changes to the value of its oil and gas inventories — more than tre-

bled to $3.6 billion. Van Beurden added that Shell would continue to focus on cost controls. The second quarter result was meanwhile skewed by performance a year earlier, when Shell was hit by low crude prices and costs linked to its takeover of BG Group. Shell is in the process of selling off assets worth £30 billion over two years up to 2018 — and has since offloaded about twothirds the amount. (AFP)

Business

KIPCO posts KD 14.1 mln net profit for H1 2017 ‘Core businesses delivering as projected’ KUWAIT CITY, July 27: KIPCO – the Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – has announced a net profit of KD 14.1 million (US$ 46.5 million), or 7.76 fils per share (US$ 2.6 cents), for the first six months of 2017, compared to KD 28 million (US$ 92.4 million), or 18.30 fils per share (US$ 6 cents), reported for the same period last year. In the second quarter (the three months ended 30 June, 2017), KIPCO made a net profit of KD 9.1 million (US$ 30 million), compared to KD 14.5 million (US$ 47.9 million), reported in the same period of 2016. KIPCO’s consolidated assets remained at the KD 10 billion (US$ 33 billion) reported at year-end 2016. Mr Tariq AbdulSalam, KIPCO’s Chief Executive Officer – Investment, said the company’s results during the first six months of the year were in line with expectations for a challenging year: “While we are still facing a number of external challenges that are affecting our performance, as project-

Final decision to be taken by Crown Prince Mohammad

Saudi Aramco advisers favour London for IPO

Tariq AbdulSalam

ed earlier this year, our core businesses continue to exceed the results expected from them during these difficult times. Our continued internal streamlining efforts and building of capacity across the Group will allow us to emerge stronger from 2017. We continue to see positive signs that transitory factors affecting some of our portfolio companies are being handled well, and these companies are moving in line with our expectations. This makes us cautiously optimistic for the coming years.”

DUBAI/LONDON, July 27, (RTRS): Saudi Aramco’s advisers have recommended London for the historic listing of the oil company, with US disclosure rules a concern for Saudi authorities, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. A final decision on the venue for what is expected to be the world’s biggest IPO and is targeted to raise $100 billion will be taken by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is overseeing Saudi Arabia’s radical economic reforms, they said. Listing five percent of Aramco is a centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to diversify beyond oil and financial considerations will not be the only factor in its decision, with Saudi authorities also taking the interests of shareholders and the company into account, the sources added. The advisers’ views on the relative merits of London and New York for the listing are being considered by Aramco and a final proposal could be presented to the government in the fourth quarter, the sources said. London’s chances of winning the multi-billion deal were improved by a Financial Conduct Authority plan to create a new listing category for companies controlled by sovereign

states. This was a clear sign that London is ready to welcome Aramco and needs its IPO to attract more sovereign-held entities and prove that London remains a good place to do business after the country leaves the European Union, one of the sources said. Changes proposed by the regulator, which declined to comment, are seen as making London more attractive to state-controlled firms such as Aramco as well as other Gulf countries, including Oman and Abu Dhabi, considering listing oil assets.

Proposal The FCA proposal will be reviewed until Oct 13 and the regulator will publish new rules towards the end of the year. Aramco is less enthusiastic about listing on a third exchange, possibly one in Asia, and may prefer to stick to a dual listing process that involves Riyadh’s Tadawul and London Stock Exchange, one of the sources said. Aramco, London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange all declined to comment, while there was no immediate comment from Saudi officials contacted by Reuters.

Bankers expect to get more clarity on Aramco’s listing plans at a conference organised by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) on Oct 24 to 26 in Riyadh, one source said. Senior Saudi Aramco executives, including its chief executive, are scheduled to meet on Aug 3 in London for a regular review of ongoing business activities, others said. A dual listing in London and Riyadh would be easier and faster to pursue, the sources said, adding that Aramco might miss its IPO window next year if it attempts to include a third stock market, which would add another layer of complexity. But even if Saudi Aramco is not listed in Asia, Chinese investors and companies will still be offered a sizeable stake in a bid to satisfy key buyers of Saudi crude, one source said. Reuters reported in April that China is creating a consortium, including state-owned oil giants and banks and its sovereign wealth fund, to act as a “cornerstone” IPO investor. As well as New York and London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Toronto are all seeking to have Saudi Aramco list on

their respective markets. But experts have long pointed to the amount of information public companies listed in the United States are required to disclose as a reason for a decline in IPOs in New York and Saudi Arabia will be cautious that it may be forced to reveal sensitive information relating to Aramco — which will still be largely government-owned after the IPO. This includes details on how the kingdom controls its energy sector and manages money from the company’s earnings. “The Saudis want to disclose as little as possible and this makes a New York listing very unattractive,” one source said. But the US Securities and Exchange Commission is also working on proposals to potentially scale back the scope and breadth of disclosure rules to get more companies to go public, its new chairman Jay Clayton said this month. And although Aramco’s banks believe a London-listing is financially the best solution, there are other factors that the Saudis will take into account and the final outcome is far from decided, one of the sources said.

First increase in over a year

‘Still hawkish’

Saudi foreign reserves rise in June: central bank

Turkey CB keeps rates unchanged

DUBAI, July 27, (RTRS): The Saudi Arabian central bank’s foreign reserves, which the government has been liquidating to cover a budget deficit caused by low oil prices, rose in June for the first time in over a year, official data showed on Thursday. The central bank’s net foreign assets climbed to $493.3 billion last month from $491.7 billion in May. On a year-on-year basis, however, they shrank 12.3 percent. They had hit a record high of $737 billion in August 2014 before starting to fall with oil prices. Analysts said it was not yet clear whether a three-year downtrend in the reserves was ending. The long slide has worried financial markets because the reserves may be needed to defend the Saudi riyal from any speculative attack. The central bank did not explain the reason for June’s rebound. But the data showed government deposits at the central bank fell last month, suggesting the reason was probably not an increase in state revenues or improvement in Riyadh’s financial health. Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said the rise in net foreign assets did not necessarily mean their downtrend had ended or that the government would no longer need to draw them down. She said pressure to liquidate the reserves had eased this year compared with last year because of government

austerity measures, and Riyadh’s decision to begin raising money with local currency Islamic bond issues this month could ease the pressure further. Nevertheless, Riyadh is still running a substantial budget deficit — officially projected at $52.8 billion this year — so it is likely to need to tap the reserves again at some point, she said. “Fluctuations in the speed of the reserve drawdown in recent months don’t seem to have been due to the fundamentals of state spending and revenue. Instead they may have more to do with factors such as the transfer of money to government investment vehicles,” Malik said. As part of economic reforms, the government has been building up the Public Investment Fund, its main sovereign fund, to help it make big-ticket acquisitions abroad and play a larger role in developing the Saudi economy. The portion of the Saudi reserves kept in foreign bank deposits fell by $1.7 billion from May to $94.6 billion in June, but foreign securities holdings climbed $2.1 billion to $337.1 billion. The vast majority of the reserves are believed to be denominated in US dollars. The central bank data also pointed to a sluggish Saudi economy. Outstanding bank loans to the private sector shrank from a year earlier for the fourth straight month in June; they fell 1.4 percent, after a 0.7 percent drop in May.

ISTANBUL, July 27, (RTRS): Turkey’s central bank left key interest rates unchanged for the second straight month on Thursday, sticking to a hawkish stance as it balances doubledigit inflation with President Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for cheaper credit. As expected, the bank kept its late liquidity window — the highest of the multiple instruments it uses to set policy — at 12.25 percent and left the benchmark repo rate at 8 percent. “The central bank will continue to use all available instruments in pursuit of the price stability objective,” the bank’s monetary policy committee said in a statement. “A tight stance in monetary policy will be maintained until the inflation outlook displays a significant improvement.” All 15 economists polled by Reuters had predicted the bank would leave the repo rate unchanged, as well as the overnight lending rate, at 9.25 percent, and the overnight borrowing rate, at 7.25 percent. Those rates were also unchanged.

Resistance

In this Dec 18, 2014 file photo, an Emirati man takes a selfie in front of a new Etihad Airways A380 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Etihad, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, said on July 27, 2017 it lost $1.87 billion in 2016. (AP)

Airline hit by ‘one-off’ impairments

Moroccan police arrest UK Bitcoin dealer wanted in US RABAT, July 27, (AFP): Moroccan police have arrested a British dealer in virtual currency Bitcoin wanted on fraud charges in the United States, a source close to the investigation told AFP on Thursday. Police said only that a 49-yearold Briton had been detained in the northern city of Tangiers on Wednesday in response to a notice issued by Interpol on July 17 and that his extradition would be considered by the Court of Cassation. But the source identified him as British businessman Renwick Haddow, a former New York resident who was charged with securities fraud in the United states on June 30 for allegedly bilking investors in what turned out to be a fake Bitcoin trading platform. He appeared before the public prosecutor in Tangiers on Wednesday before being transferred to prison in Sale, near the capital Rabat, the source said. The US Securities and Exchange Commission charged last month “the clandestine” Haddow, who is alleged to have diverted funds invested in a phony Bitcoin site as well as from flexible work-

space firm Bar Works into accounts in Mauritius and Morocco, totalling $5 million. He touted experienced senior executives as running the operations, who turned out to be phantoms, and misrepresented the details and success of both companies, the SEC alleged. “Haddow created two trendy companies and misled investors into believing that highlyqualified executives were leading them to quick profitability,” said Andrew M. Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “In reality, Haddow controlled the companies from behind the scenes and they were far from profitable.” Bitcoin Store claimed to be “an easy-to-use and secure way of holding and trading Bitcoin” and had generated several million dollars in gross sales. The SEC alleges that in fact it never had any operations nor generated the gross sales it touted. In 2015, Bitcoin Store’s bank accounts allegedly received less than $250,000 in incoming transfers, none of which appear to reflect revenue from customers, the SEC said.

Etihad Airways says it lost $1.87 bn in 2016 ABU DHABI, July 27, (AFP): Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said Thursday it posted a $1.87 billion loss last year, hit by “one-off” impairments on aircraft and investments in troubled Alitalia and airberlin. The government-owned carrier said total impairments amounted to $1.9 billion, including a $1.06 billion “charge on aircraft, reflecting lower market values and the early phase out of certain aircraft types.” “There was also an $808 million charge on certain assets and financial exposures to equity partners, mainly related to Alitalia and airberlin,” the company said. Old fuel-hedging contracts also hurt the carrier’s results, Etihad said, adding that their financial impact is expected to diminish this year.

“A culmination of factors contributed to the disappointing results for 2016,” said Mohamed al-Mazrouei, chairman of the board of Etihad Aviation group. Launched in 2003, Etihad has expanded rapidly and bought minority stakes in carriers around the world as it increased its share of global travel along with larger Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways. Etihad owns 49 percent of Alitalia, 29 percent of airberlin, 40 percent of Air Seychelles, 19.9 percent of Virgin Australia and a 24-percent stake in India’s Jet Airways. It also has a 49-percent share of Air Serbia. Alitalia went into administration in May after staff rejected job and salary cuts which management had proposed as a condition for injecting new funds

under a two-billion-euro rescue plan for the loss-making Italian carrier. Meanwhile, losses incurred by the German carrier airberlin over the past two years amounted to 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Etihad said its total revenues dropped from $9.0 billion in 2015 to $8.36 billion, while passenger numbers increased from 17.6 million to 18.5 million. “We are in an industry characterised by overcapacity, declining market sizes on key routes, and changing customer behaviour as a weak global economy affects spending appetite,” said Etihad Airways chief executive Peter Baumgartner. In 2015, Etihad had posted a 41-percent surge in its net profit, to $103 million, on the back of rising passenger numbers and cargo volumes.

The central bank’s resistance to lifting the repo rate has triggered some concern among investors about its independence in the face of criticism from Erdogan. “The statement accompanying today’s decision ... once again struck a relatively hawkish note,” William Jackson of Capital Economics said in a note to clients. “Our sense, though, is that this hawkish stance will not last for too much longer.” The meeting is the third since Turks narrowly backed constitutional changes in an April referendum granting Erdogan sweeping new powers. Erdogan, who calls himself an “enemy” of interest rates, wants to make it cheaper to borrow money, to spur construction and boost growth. After reaching an 8-1/2-year high in April, inflation has eased for the past two months. But at 10.9 percent, it remains more than double the government’s stated 5 percent target. “It would seem likely that the sharp fall in inflation that we expect over the next six months will open the door to monetary easing,” Capital Economics’ Jackson said. “We think this is most likely to happen right towards the end of the year.” The lira gained to 3.5245 after the announcement from 3.5285 immediately before the decision. The meeting marked the first time that Omer Duman, elected to the bank’s board in April, participated in a committee meeting.

UAE’s ADNOC starts picking banks for planned loan DUBAI, July 27, (RTRS): Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has picked an initial group of banks to arrange a planned syndicated loan of up to $5 billion, banking sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, and JPMorgan have a lead role in the deal, said the sources. The four banks declined to com-

ment, while ADNOC was not immediately available to comment. Other banks have been approached by the company and are discussing their potential participation in the transaction. Banks have been asked to join the deal and provide sums ranging between $500 million and $750 million, two bankers said. The jumbo loan transaction, expected to have multiple tranches with maturities of up to five years, is one of

a number of fundraisings that the United Arab Emirates oil giant is considering to finance its expansion. The state-owned company, which manages almost all of the proven oil reserves in the UAE, is also discussing with banks the possibility of issuing a bond of up to $3 billion, bankers told Reuters this week. It would be ADNOC’s first public debt transaction.

ADNOC, along with other government-owned oil companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, is turning to the debt markets as low international oil prices have put pressure on government finances in the region. The Abu Dhabi oil major is also working on an initial public offer of shares in ADNOC Distribution, its fuel retail unit, which could raise up to $2 billion, sources told Reuters last week.

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Samsung poised to unseat Intel as king of microchips Intel’s more than two decade-long reign as the king of the silicon-based semiconductor is poised to end Thursday when South Korea’s Samsung Electronics elbows the US manufacturer aside to become the leading maker of computer chips. Samsung reported record-high quarterly profit and sales Thursday. Analysts say it likely nudged aside Intel in the April-June quarter as the leading maker of semiconductors, the computer chips that are as much a staple of the 21st century wired world as crude oil was for the 20th century.

Samsung said its semiconductor business recorded 8 trillion ($7.2 billion) in operating income on revenue of 17.6 trillion won ($15.8 billion) during the April-June period. Intel, which reports its quarterly earnings later Thursday, is expected to report $14.4 billion in quarterly revenue. On an annual basis, Samsung’s semiconductor division is widely expected to overtake Intel’s sales this year, analysts at brokerages and market research firms say. Mobile devices and data are the keys to understanding Samsung’s ascent as the

This file photo shows a woman walking past the logo of Samsung at the company’s showroom in Seoul. Samsung Electronics on July 27, reported an 88.9 percent jump in its second quarter net profit, boosted by demand for its memory chips and a rise in smartphone sales as the firm seeks to move on from last year’s recall debacle. (AFP)

new industry leader, even as its de facto chief is jailed, battling corruption charges, and it recovers from a fiasco over Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that had to be axed last year because they were prone to catch fire. Manufacturers are packing more and more memory storage capacity into ever smaller mobile gadgets, as increased use of mobile applications, connected devices and cloud computing services drive up demand and consequently prices for memory chips, an area dominated by Samsung. (AP)

Quarles would likely push to relax regulations on community banks

Trump’s Fed choice could prove to be key friend for banks WASHINGTON, July 27, (AP):US President Donald Trump’s choice of a key player in his drive to scale back financial rules would likely push to relax regulations on community banks, ease restrictions on some speculative trading and soften annual tests of big banks’ health. Still, Randal Quarles, Trump’s nominee to be the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for bank supervision, would have to collaborate with other Fed officials — notably Chair Janet Yellen — who favor tight regulation to prevent another financial crisis like the one that erupted in 2008. A Senate committee will hold a confirmation hearing Thursday for Quarles. He is expected to eventually win the panel’s approval, after which the nomination will go to the full Senate, with confirmation all but assured. The nominee, who now co-heads an investment firm, was a senior Treasury official under both Bush presidencies. Trump’s selection of Quarles marks one of his first efforts to reshape the powerful central bank, which he had criticized during his campaign for its low-interest rate policies, which he said were helping Democrats. Trump has two other vacancies to fill on the Fed’s seven-member board of governors — and likely more to come next year, when the terms of both Yellen and Vice-Chair Stanley Fischer expire. Both were appointed by president Barack Obama. How closely Quarles would push Trump’s deregulatory agenda at the Fed remains unclear. The president’s style of seeming to expect loyalty from the people he’s named to key federal positions runs counter to the Fed’s tra-

the

dition. The central bank has long asserted independence from the White House. The Fed governors cloistered in the central bank’s marble headquarters in Washington set interest-rate policy and help supervise Wall Street mega-banks and other huge financial institutions. The Fed’s regulators are, for example, empowered to fine banks for failing to prevent money laundering through their accounts. They also subject the biggest US banks to annual “stress tests” of their ability to withstand a severe recession. And the Fed writes scores of rules governing banks. They include requirements for how much capital big banks must build as cushions against losses. Since 2010, most of the rules have come from the Dodd-Frank oversight law, which was enacted after the 2008 crisis. The law is intended to restrain major banks — which received taxpayer bailouts after the crisis — from engaging in the kind of reckless actions that ended up costing millions of Americans their jobs and homes. That’s where Quarles comes in. He would be the Fed’s first official chief of bank supervision. The Republicans have long condemned Dodd-Frank, arguing that it’s shackled banks, stifled lending and dampened economic growth. The Treasury Department last month urged far-reaching changes to soften Dodd-Frank’s rules. As a Wall Street lawyer, Quarles worked on mergers of big firms — including one that created JPMorgan Chase. In a column in the Wall Street Journal last year, he warned against “arbitrarily taking an ax to big banks and irreparably damaging the economy.”

bottomline

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported an 88.9 percent jump in its second quarter net profit, boosted by demand for its memory chips and a rise in smartphone sales as the firm seeks to move on from last year’s recall debacle. Net profit for the April to June period rose to 11.05 trillion won (US$9.92 billion) from 5.85 trillion won a year ago, the South Korean tech giant said in a statement. Operating profit was up 72.9 percent from the previous year to 14.07 trillion won, while the firm’s overall sales increased 19.7 percent to 61 trillion won. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑ SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Wednesday reported a surge in profits in the past quarter, fueled by strong growth in money-making ads to its more than two billion users. Net profit in the second quarter leapt 71 percent from a year ago to $3.9 billion while revenue climbed 45 percent to $9.3 billion. In after-hours trade, Facebook shares rose some 3.4 percent to $171.35 on the stronger-than-expected results. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter Inc (TWTR) on Thursday reported a loss of $116.5 million in its second quarter. On a per-share basis, the San Francisco-based company said it had a loss of 16 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 8 cents per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. Beginning with the April-June quarter, Twitter changed the way it calculated adjusted earnings. Under the old method, it would have been 12 cents per share. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 5 cents per share. The short messaging service posted revenue of $573.9 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $536.8 million. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ ATLANTA: Online retailing in the US propelled higher second-quarter profit at UPS above Wall Street expectations. As the peak December shipping season approaches, UPS is standing by its forecast for full-year earnings. Shares fell 54 cents to $111.75 shortly before the opening bell Thursday. Second-quarter net income rose to $1.38 billion, or $1.58 per share. That beat the consensus forecast of $1.46 per share from analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue rose nearly 8 percent to $15.75 billion, topping the analysts’ forecast of $15.48 billion. In the key US domestic packagedelivery business, revenue climbed 8 percent, helped by a slight increase in revenue per package.(AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK: Comcast Corp on Thursday reported quarterly results that topped analysts’ estimates on higher revenue in its filmed entertainment and theme parks businesses, even as the No. 1 US cable operator lost more video subscribers. Comcast’s shares rose 2 percent to

$40.16 in early trading. Comcast and other pay television operators are facing pressure as younger viewers drop bigger cable bundles for cheaper streaming options such as Netflix Inc and the growing number of online “skinny bundles” of channels. Comcast and cable operator Charter Communications Inc are in talks with Sprint Corp about a partnership to boost the two US cable companies’ wireless offerings, sources had told Reuters in June. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts dismissed speculation on Thursday that Comcast needed to buy or merge with another company. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Verizon slightly edged out Wall Street forecasts on the top line for the second quarter of 2017. While sales in its wireless segment continued to shrink year-overyear, it grew mobile subscribers in Q2 after a decline in the first three months of the year. Total operating revenue in the second quarter was $30.5 billion, flat with the year-earlier period and topping Wall Street consensus estimates of $29.9 billion. On a comparable basis (excluding divestitures and acquisitions), Verizon said consolidated revenue declined 2.0%. The company posted adjusted earnings of 96 cents per share, in line with expectations. “Verizon reignited its growth engine in the quarter, both adding and retaining wireless customers while scaling our media business and continuing to invest in our superior networks,” CEO Lowell McAdam said in announcing the results. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

DALLAS: Shares of Southwest Airlines fell Thursday after the company offered a weak forecast for a key revenue figure in the third quarter. Southwest said so-called unit revenue, the amount it gets for every seat flown one mile, was 1.5 percent higher in the second quarter than a year earlier. For the current, July-throughSeptember quarter — including much of the busy summer-travel season — Southwest expects the same figure to rise just 1 percent. Analysts had been more bullish about the third quarter. J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Baker called the Southwest forecast uninspiring and a sign that expectations for third-quarter profit might need to be reduced. Southwest shares fell $2.07, or 3.5 percent, to $57.45 in morning trading.(AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK: The New York Times Co. said Thursday gains in paid digital subscriptions and stronger online advertising revenues helped the newspaper swing to profit in the second quarter. The prestigious daily, which has been gaining subscribers even as it is branded as “failing” by President Donald Trump, reported a profit of $15.6 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $211,000 a year earlier. The report showed the Times appearing to make progress in its strategy of emphasizing digital as print readership declines. Overall revenue rose 14 percent to $250 million, fueled by gains in subscriptions. (AFP)

US durable goods and trade data boost second qtr growth estimate Retail, wholesale inventories increase 0.6 pct WASHINGTON, July 27, (RTRS): Shipments of key US-made capital goods increased in June for a fifth straight month, suggesting that business spending on equipment helped to boost economic growth in the second quarter. Signs that the economy gathered speed in the last quarter were also bolstered by other data on Thursday showing a sharp narrowing in the goods trade deficit in June and increases in both retail and wholesale inventories.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker (left), Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and Sen Ron Johnson R-Wisconsin, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington on July 26. (AP)

Company to build plant in Wisconsin

Trump hails $10b investment from Foxconn WASHINGTON, July 27, (AFP): President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a $10 billion US investment by Apple supplier Foxconn to build a plant in Wisconsin. The businessman-turned-president made the announcement side by side with the Taiwanese tech giant’s CEO Terry Gou, as he tried to show his “America First” economic rhetoric is making a difference. Trump said the plant – which will make LCD panels – will create at least 3,000 jobs in the midwestern state, and was quick to stress he played a role in making the deal happen. “If I didn’t get elected, he would not be spending $10 billion,” Trump said, thanking Gou for his “faith and confidence in the future of the American economy.” Foxconn said the plant could eventually bring more than 13,000 new jobs to Wisconsin, with Gou adding it was the first in a series of facilities the company would build in several US states. “Wisconsin offers a talented, hardworking workforce, and a long track record in advanced manufacturing, all of which presents an extraordinary opportunity,” the Taiwanese tycoon said in a statement. Manufacturing in the US would allow the company to better serve its customers, which included “iconic” American technology companies, Gou added. Trump allies said Gou had spotted an abandoned factory and suggested it be used, and Trump personally met Gou in April to push the deal forward. Trump has made returning manufacturing jobs to America’s heartland a key plank of his domestic policy. The investment is a double win for Trump, burnishing his reputation as a job creator and putting those jobs in a key battleground state, which he won in 2016 by a single percentage point. It is also a victory for top Congressional Republican Paul Ryan, as the

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos becomes world’s richest person: Forbes NEW YORK, July 27, (AFP): Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Thursday became the world’s richest person, as a jump in the share price of the US tech giant enabled him to overtake Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Forbes magazine estimated. The magazine said its realtime tracking of personal fortunes showed Bezos with a net worth of $90.5 billion, ahead of the $90 billion for Gates. Bezos owns around 17 percent of the equity of Amazon, which has been expanding from its original mission as an online retailer to a diversified tech firm in cloud computing, online video, computing hardware and artificial intelligence. The company also recently announced plans to acquire US grocer Whole Foods, which

massive investment in his home state is tangible evidence that difficult relations with Trump do not preclude results. “One thing we know about this president is how committed he is to reviving American manufacturing and bringing jobs home, this right here shows actual results, getting it done,” Ryan said at the White House event. The factory will be built in his Congressional district, which has an unemployment rate approaching 10 percent, much higher than the statewide 3.2 percent. The White House would not say what tax incentives were offered to entice the company, but local media reported a package of around $3 billion in tax breaks.

could help Amazon expand in that sector. Amazon shares were up 1.7 percent at $1,070.72 and have risen some 24 percent over the past four months, adding some $17 billion to the net worth of the 53-year-old Bezos. According to Forbes, Gates has been the richest person in the magazine’s annual rankings in March for the past four years and 18 of the past 22 years. Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim overtook Gates from 2010 to 2013. Among the billionaires gaining ground is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has an estimated worth of some $72.9 billion. While most of Bezos’s wealth is in Amazon, he also owns the private space firm Blue Origin and the Washington Post newspaper.

Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai, has been mulling moving to the US since at least the beginning of this year, hoping to have better control over distribution networks. The firm is the world’s largest contract electronics maker and is bestknown for assembling products for international brands such as Apple and Sony. It employs around a million workers at its factories across China and has operations in more than 10 countries. In the US, it has a plant in Virginia for packaging and engineering which employs over 400 people. It has also announced a $40 million investment in a facility in Pennsylvania to build precision tools and develop a robotics program.

Tesla aims for mainstream ride with ‘Model 3’ SAN FRANCISCO, July 27, (AFP): Customers will finally get behind the wheels of Model 3 cars on Friday as Tesla tries to veer from its high-end image with a more affordable electric car. Tesla founder and boss Elon Musk planned to mark the occasion with a ceremony at the company’s plant in the city of Fremont near San Francisco. An initial batch of 30 Model 3 cars was expected to go mainly to Tesla employees. Production of the electric car aimed at the broader market -- with a price of $35,000 -- will ramp up quickly, Musk said, with 100 in August and 1,500 or more in September. Tesla aims to produce 5,000 units of the Model 3 a week this year, and

10,000 units a week in 2018. The mid-range model is a crucial piece of Musk’s ambitions to transform Tesla into a large-scale vehicle manufacturer. It will allow the firm, started in 2003, to produce about 500,000 vehicles in 2018 and a million by 2020. California-based Tesla currently sells only two luxury models of its electric vehicles: the “Model S” sedan and the “Model X” SUV whose base price starts at around $80,000. It produced only 84,000 cars in 2016. The Model 3 sparked such strong demand that customers placing orders now are told they can expect delivery sometime in mid-2018. The rush of pre-orders allowed Tesla to recently become the biggest US car

company in terms of market capitalization, despite the fact that General Motors (GM) and Ford produce millions of cars per year and Tesla has yet to make a profit. Musk, who also runs cosmic transport firm SpaceX and tunnel drilling enterprise The Boring Company, wrote in Tesla’s early years that the strategy was to enter the car market at the highend, then push prices down and volume up with subsequent models. Combined sales of Model S and Model X vehicles in the first half of this year were estimated to tally from 47,000 to 50,000. By comparison, Germany-based Volkswagen and Toyota in Japan Toyota each sell more than 10 million cars per year.

The bullish reports came on the eve of the government’s advance secondquarter gross domestic product estimate on Friday, prompting economists to raise their forecasts to as high as a 3.5 percent annualized rate. The economy grew at a 1.4 percent pace in the first quarter. “The economy still has legs in this long expansion from the end of the recession. The only risk we see is that the economy is running out of workers to do the heavy lifting and make us grow,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York. The Commerce Department said shipments of non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft increased 0.2 percent after rising 0.4 percent in May. Core capital goods shipments are used to calculate equipment spending in the government’s gross domestic product measurement. But core capital goods orders, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, slipped 0.1 percent last month, suggesting equipment spending could moderate in the months ahead. June’s drop was the first since December and followed a 0.7 percent jump in May, which was the biggest gain since January.

Rose Prices for US Treasuries were trading lower, while the dollar rose against a basket of currencies. US stocks rose to new record highs, also cheered by better-than-expected profits from Facebook and Verizon. The increase in equipment spending has mostly been driven by the energy sector, where oil and gas drilling has increased significantly after declining in the aftermath of the collapse in crude oil prices. Momentum is, however, slowing as drilling activity cools. The energy sector recovery is supporting manufacturing by offsetting some of the drag from declining motor vehicle production. Manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of the US economy. In other data on Thursday, the Commerce Department said the goods trade deficit fell 3.7 percent to $63.9 billion in June amid a rise in exports. Goods exports increased $1.8 billion to $128.6 billion last month. Imports of goods fell $0.7 billion to $192.4 billion. Separately, both retail and wholesale inventories increased 0.6 percent in June. A smaller goods trade deficit and increased stock accumulation are a boost to GDP growth. However, rising inventories could weigh on economic growth in the coming quarters. “Stockpiling is not always good news for the economy. If the accumulation of inventories is in anticipation of a quickening demand environment, that is generally positive,” said Tim Quinlan, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. “If it is a result of product simply not moving because demand is drying up, that clearly is not a good signal.” While another report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 244,000 for the week ended July 22, layoffs remain low and are consistent with a tightening labor market. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a robust labor market for 125 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The labor market is near full employment, with the jobless rate at 4.4 percent. Claims are volatile around this time of the year as automakers shut assembly plants for annual retooling. Some manufacturers like General Motors are extending their summer shutdowns to manage excess inventory from falling sales.

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VIVA makes dreams a reality VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and most developed telecom operator, who makes things “possible” for their customers by transforming experiences, launched an all new draw campaign that allows its prepaid customers to win valuable daily and monthly cash prizes during August 2017. With a grand total of $ 150,000 to give away, VIVA gives its customers a wonderful opportunity to win amazing cash prizes of $ 1,500 daily and $ 30,000 monthly, throughout the campaign. Customers are automatically entered into the draw once they buy a

A flyer of VIVA’s new campaign.

Officials demonstrating the service.

ADCB issues $320m bond

new “allo” line or recharge their current line through Direct Debit, VIVA website, VIVA’s Kiosks. VIVA App or by calling 102. Customers earn 10 chances for each KD 1 they spend, increasing their chances to win the more they spend. To find out more about VIVA’s new campaign, visit one of VIVA’s 72 branches, or VIVA’s official website at www.viva. com.kw , or access round the clock assistance from team of specialists available on the VIVA’s customer care line 102.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), the emirate’s second largest bank by assets, raised $320 million through the sale of a five-year Formosa bond, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Several Gulf banks have made forays into the Formosa market in the past year or so, including ADCB. Formosa bonds are sold in Taiwan by foreign issuers and denominated in currencies other than the Taiwanese dollar. The sale, which was settled on Wednesday, was placed with institutional investors, the sources said, with one adding that a Taiwanese bank arranged the deal, declining to name it. (RTRS)

KFH and Mastercard officials in a group photo.

First bank in MEA to introduce mobile wallet based on MDES platform

KFH, Mastercard launch ‘Mobile Wallet Payment Service’ KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the world’s leading Islamic financial institution and Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, have announced the launch of a ‘Mobile Wallet Payment Service’ for the bank’s Mastercard credit and prepaid cardholders. Group Chief Retail and Private Banking Officer at KFH, Waleed Mandani said that KFH is the first bank in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region to launch a mobile wallet based on the MDES platform. He added, during his speech at a press conference held to unveil the service, that the innovative ‘KFH Wallet’ service is powered by the Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES), a revolutionary platform that helps transform any connected device into a commerce device to conveniently make and receive payments. By replacing card numbers with a digital token unique to the mobile device, MDES creates EMV-like security for every transaction, giving cardholders

Mandani speaking at the press conference.

peace of mind wherever they tap for payments. Mandani indicated that the new service will enable KFH customers to pay for their purchases by simply tapping their smart phones at Point of Sale (POS) terminals equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Customers holding KFH Mastercard credit or prepaid cards can easily add their card details on the KFH Wallet mobile application and activate their cards through a secured authentication process. After loading their cards on the app, customers can safely use the service to make payments at all NFC-enabled POS terminals in Kuwait and abroad. “As part of its commitment to continuously enhancing the customer experience, KFH remains dedicated to utilizing technology in a way that optimally meets their evolving needs, especially as they become more and more digitally savvy. KFH will continue to update and improve its technological service offerings in an effort to become the best and

most technologically-advanced bank in the region, using the highest and most advanced tools and developments in both banking and innovation,” he continued. “The service is similar to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay and other mobile payment services that are currently being introduced by banks around the globe. The transactions, in addition to being EMV-compliant, will have an additional layer of security that requires users to enter a PIN or a fingerprint ID before completing the transaction,” he concluded. “The ‘KFH Wallet Service’ is based on our advanced tokenization service, which is used by leading banks worldwide for their mobile payment solutions through the Mastercard Digital Enablement Service. The service lets KFH customers replace their wallets with their smartphones, allowing them to make fast and secure in-app payments everywhere they see the ‘contactless’ symbol, whether at home or abroad,” said Pankaj Kathuria, Area Business Head, Northern Gulf, Mastercard.

Photos from the press conference to launch the ‘Mobile Wallet Payment Service’.

Kuwait real estate market report Kuwait International Bank

Total sales rise 5% to KD 695 mln in Q2 uwait real estate market sales K have witnessed an increase of 3.5% during Q2/2017 compared to sales from the previous quarter. Total sales (contracts and power of attorneys) amounted to KD 695 million compared to KD 672 million during Q2/2016, which marked a 5% increase from the corresponding period of last year. The total count of deals recorded in the market reached 1533 which is a 10% increase compared to Q1/2017, and 20% increase compared to Q2/2016. Meanwhile, the average deal value decreased 6% compared to the previous quarter, reaching KD 454 thousand per deal, which was a 13% decrease compared to Q2/2016.

First Half total sales close to last year levels During the first six months of 2017, total sales reached KD 1.37 billion (contracts and power of attorneys), compared to KD 1.41 billion recorded for the same period in 2016, as the total sales index declined by around 3%; this indicator, however, fails to showcase the complete profile of the market. The count of deals recorded during the first half of 2017 increased 16%, reaching 2,921 deals compared to 2,510 deals during the first half of 2016. During this period, the market witnessed a 17% decline in the average value of deal compared to the corresponding period of last year, indicating a possible improvement in market activity driven by a relative decline in prices.

Kuwait Market Sectoral Performance The real estate market was still able to record an increase in total sales. Although there was a decline in sales in the residential and investment sectors, the increase in sales of both the com-

mercial and crafts sectors contributed to the increase in the overall sales in the market. Meanwhile, total sales for the residential sector reached around KD 368 million, which marked 4% decline compared to Q1/2017, however the total sales realized 29% increase compared to Q2/2016. Total count of deals in the residential sector reached 1,157, which is an increase of 12% compared to Q1/2017, and a 45% increase compared to Q2/2016; marking the highest sales level recorded for the residential sector since Q1/2015. On the other hand, average deal value in the residential sector declined to reach KD 318 thousand per deal. In the same way, sales in the investment sector dropped 6% q/q, and 20% y/y, realizing only KD 184 million. However, total count of deals recorded

for this sector remained close to the previous quarter, reaching a total 318 deals. Additionally, the average deal value decreased 6% compared to the previous quarter, reaching KD 580 thousand per deal. In the meantime, total sales in the commercial sector increased 12% compared to the previous quarter, reaching KD 86 million. On the other hand, the crafts sector recorded unprecedented total sales of KD 54 million, as the sector witnessed a large number of deals through real estate auctions carried out during the first half of 2017. Moreover, only two deals were made in the warehouse sector with a value of KD 2.8 million, while no deals were recorded in any other sectors in the market.

Geographical Performance Hawalli Governorate acquired almost 26% of total sales in the real es-

tate market during this period, ranking first in terms of total sales with KD 181 million. Meanwhile, Mubarak Al Kabeer Governorate ranked first in terms of total count of deals with 26% of all recorded deals in the market.

Variant Changes in Average Prices The average price per square meter for residential properties increased slightly by 1%, reaching an average price of KD 621 per square meter (in all areas across Kuwait). Meanwhile, the average price in the investment sector decreased by around 5%, reaching an average price of KD 1,610 per square meter. The commercial sector recorded an inconsiderable count of deals during the quarter, which did not enable for a representative calculation of an

average price to properly reflect price changes in the market.

Conclusion Kuwait real estate market did not witness any substantial changes during the first half of 2017, as recorded sales levels nearly matched those of the first half of the previous year. However, the market witnessed a remarkable increase in the count of deals, indicating a probable onset of an improvement in

market activity driven by the decline in prices. It is also important not to overlook the unusually high activity of real estate auctions during the first half of this year, which has positively affected sales and the count of deals. Kuwaiti real estate market is not expected to witness a significant change in its activity over the next few months, unless we witness a significant change in oil prices or in other economic factors affecting the market activity.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

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Hong Kong firm beats Brexit blues with record City skycraper deal A Hong Kong firm struck a record deal for a London skyscraper on Thursday amid a rise in foreign investment in property since the Brexit vote, but a slump in domestic demand hit the profits of real estate agent Foxtons. Condiment-maker Lee Kum Kee, a family business that is best known for its oyster sauce, is buying up the building nicknamed the “Walkie Talkie” for £1.3 billion (1.5 billion euros, $1.7 billion), the highest price ever for an office building in Britain. The iconic 34-storey skyscraper in London’s insurance district, with three-tiered sky garden

and restaurant on top, hit the headlines just after being built when it was blamed for damaging a car by reflecting the sun’s rays. “This is the UK’s largest ever office deal,” Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial property giant which advised on the deal, said in a statement. “Since the vote to leave the EU, capital targeting London from the Asia-Pacific region has increased to record levels,” said James Beckham, head of London capital markets at the property company. “This is partly due to currency fluctuations

This file photo shows a man reacts to a shaft of intense sunlight reflected from the glass windows of the new ‘Walkie Talkie’ tower in central London on Aug 30, 2013. (AFP)

but is more indicated of longer-term confidence in London and investment strategies which are not derailed by short-term political uncertainty,” he said. The deal comes months after Chinese property magnate Cheung Chung Kiu bought another London landmark — the “Cheesegrater” building — for £1.15 billion. The previous highest price for a single piece of British commercial property was the HSBC tower in Canary Wharf which was bought by the Qatar Investment Authority in December 2014 for £1.175 billion. (AFP)

China powerful but undermined by doubts on rules-based system

Europe seeks to set global trade rules after Trump steps back BRUSSELS, July 27, (RTRS): If Donald Trump’s ditching of a US — led trade alliance with Pacific Rim nations wasn’t a gift to the European Union, then it must be the next best thing. The president’s decision on his first day in office effectively pulled the United States out of the race to frame global trade rules. With Washington preoccupied by an attempt to renegotiate its existing NAFTA treaty with Canada and Mexico, the EU has an opportunity to become the top setter of common business standards in a series of new deals. Still the world’s biggest trading bloc, the EU is recovering its self — confidence after a long economic crisis and Britain’s vote to leave the union. Now it has much of Asia and Latin America in its sights for trade treaties, while a far — reaching pact with Canada will already enter force in September. Japan turned to the Brussels this month to seal a deal on creating the world’s biggest open economic area, after being dumped by Trump’s scrapping of the 12 — nation Trans — Pacific Partnership (TPP) free — trade accord in January. EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom — who until Trump’s election had been struggling to persuade Tokyo to agree tough trade — offs — acknowledges the change of fortunes. “I do not regard President Trump as a gift maybe, but it is true that many countries have started to look around more broadly,” she told Reuters. “Other countries feel that they need to look out for new friends and other allies, so yes, it has increased interest in cooperation with Europe and with

others.” Import tariffs are already low between developed economies, so negotiations now focus more on agreeing common standards. The aim is to make it easier and cheaper for firms to do business in differing markets, avoiding the need to tailor — make products to meet varying local rules, be they for cars or cheese. While China is seeking greater influence, the battle has largely been between US and EU standards as a template for deals governing how goods and services are bought and sold. Beijing may yet rival Europe provided it embraces a rules — based global trade order in the years to come, economists say. But in the meantime, the EU is pushing to conclude deals this year not only with Japan, but also Mexico and the Mercosur group led by Brazil and Argentina, while pressing ahead with Australia, New Zealand and Asian countries including Malaysia — also left high and dry by the TPP collapse — and Indonesia. Europe is still struggling with low economic growth and high unemployment, and the EU’s share of global trade in goods and services has fallen to 16.8 percent in 2016 from 18.8 percent a decade earlier, according to EU data. Unless the EU can reverse the trend, it risks losing its top spot when Britain — the world’s fifth biggest economy — departs in 2019. The US share of global trade was 15.0 percent last year and China’s was 13.4 percent. So Brussels is pinning its hopes on a boost from new treaties, even though these take time to negotiate and win

Britain paves the way for post-Brexit trade deals LONDON, July 27, (AFP): Britain is busily laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade with a flurry of international diplomacy — but can only tentatively explore options until it officially departs the European Union. Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has stepped up talks in recent months with the United States, Japan and Commonwealth countries, seeking to carve out ambitious accords for the post-Brexit era. US President Donald Trump this week touted the prospects of a “very big” trade pact with Britain, raising eyebrows in Brussels — where Brexit talks have barely got off the ground after starting last month. His surprise words came as British trade minister Liam Fox met his US counterpart Robert Lighthizer for toplevel talks, before heading to Mexico.

The United States is Britain’s largest national export market — bigger than France and Germany combined — and the number one destination for British investment. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson was meanwhile on a globe-trotting tour of the southern hemisphere, stopping off last week in Australia and New Zealand, having already drummed up business in Japan. Johnson, a leading campaigner for Britain to quit the European Union prior to the June 2016 shock Brexit referendum, declared New Zealand could expect to be one of the first nations to ink a trade deal with London. Jim Rollo, law professor at the University of Sussex, said the government was eager to show progress in trade talks because of domestic party politics. “They need, for internal Conserva-

tive Party management reasons, to signal that Brexit is happening despite the lack of progress so far in Brussels,” Rollo told AFP. “The UK cannot legally sign new trade agreements until it leaves the EU and thus the EU common commercial policy.” EU rules prohibit Britain from negotiating new trade deals until it has left the bloc — which is scheduled for March 2019. The European Commission wants to resolve crucial issues, including citizens’ rights and Britain’s exit bill, so that a future trade deal can be hammered out starting in October with the bloc’s remaining 27 nations. “There will be no substantive progress on trade agreements until we leave and perhaps even later depending on target countries’ own intentions to sign an agreement with the EU 27

— an economy more than five times bigger than the UK,” Rollo said. He stressed that Australia and New Zealand both wanted to ink deals with the European Union first — before entering an agreement with Britain. Crawford Falconer, formerly New Zealand’s trade ambassador, was recently appointed as Britain’s new chief trade negotiation adviser. Britain is keen to maintain its global place as a major commercial power in the world economy. International trade to and from Britain is worth an estimated £700 billion ($912 billion, 783 billion euros) — and around half of that is with the EU. The debate about post-Brexit trade has taken a less than entirely serious turn in recent days, with a focus on whether Britain will import chlorinewashed chickens from the United States as part of any deal.

legislative approval — especially in a bloc which will still have at least 27 member states after Brexit. If all goes well, the EU’s existing and planned pacts will link markets of more than two billion people producing nearly half of global economic output. This excludes stalled negotiations with the United States and India. The United States’ existing trade treaties encompass a third of world output and fewer than 700 million people, with no new deals near completion — although Trump says he wants to clinch one with Britain when it leaves the EU. In trade talks, the biggest economies largely get their way in setting

common standards, so a string of new agreements could make EU rules the benchmark for everything from selling farm products to running tenders for public works contracts. That would benefit EU firms, which already comply with the bloc’s rules, while those from other countries would have to adjust to new sets of regulations. Even Japan has agreed to align its standards for cars and parts produced by its motor industry with those used by the EU. Brussels has also secured better access for its companies to public tenders in Japan right down to a local level, such as for railway equipment, hos-

pitals or electricity distribution. That means, for instance, a French or Spanish firm could sell high — speed “bullet trains” to the country that pioneered the idea. While Japan is the world’s number three economy, its share of global trade is 4.9 percent, less than a third of the EU’s. The deal also gives the EU the upper hand in its promotion of “geographical indications” to guarantee, for example, what is labelled as feta cheese comes only from Greece and as champagne only from France. This contrasts to the US approach where producers anywhere can seek a trademark for what they sell.

It still needs to be formally signed and ratified but the EU has scored a notable success, according to Hosuk Lee — Makiyama, director of the Brussels — based think — tank ECIPE. “If you consider the concessions the Japanese have made on cars and on public procurement, it’s quite remarkable,” he said. Trump said this month that the United States had made “some of worst trade deals in world history”, arguing they have been bad for American workers. Still, the Pacific Rim TPP deal would have bound the 12 signatory nations to rules set along US lines, most likely favouring American businesses.

Economic euphoria propels Merkel towards fourth term German two-year bond yields at six-week low BERLIN, July 27, (RTRS): German consumer morale hit a 16-year high, data showed on Thursday, the latest piece of positive economic news to boost prospects for Chancellor Angela Merkel as she prepares to seek re-election in September elections.

LONDON: German short-dated government bond yields hit a six-week low on Thursday as investors detected a softening in the Federal Reserve’s inflation view that could keep interest rates lower for longer. The U.S. central bank left rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it expected to start winding down its massive holdings of bonds “relatively soon”. It noted that both overall inflation and a measure of underlying price gains had declined - trends which have worried some policymakers - but said it expected the economy to continue strengthening. Investors seized on the comments as a sign that the Fed is unlikely to rush into another rate rise too soon, snapping up bonds and stocks and pushing the dollar down. A Reuters poll showed most primary dealers still see the Fed’s next rate rise in December. But rate futures price in less than a 50 percent chance of a hike by then, compared to a little more than 50 percent before the Fed’s meeting.

PARIS: European planemaker Airbus said Thursday that net profits fell 17 percent to 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in the first half of the year due to problems with the engines for the new version of its top-selling A320 jet. “The commercial aircraft environment remains healthy while the robust order backlog continues to support our production ramp-up plans. However, we are facing challenges due to ongoing engine issues,” Chief Executive Tom Enders said in a statement. The company said its expects to “deliver more than 700 commercial aircraft which depends on engine manufacturers meeting commitments”. (AFP)







biggest lender Deutsche Bank said Thursday it had lifted profits in the second quarter, as it labours to return to healthy growth after years of business and legal woes. Deutsche reported net profits attributable to shareholders of 447 million euros ($547.4 million) between April and June, up from just 18 million in the second quarter last year. The bank was able to more than double its operating or underlying profit to 822 million euros, although revenues fell 10 percent compared with the same period in 2016 to 6.6 billion euros. Revenues fell across Deutsche’s corporate and investment banking, private and commercial banking, and asset management divisions. (AFP)

With Germany going to the polls on Sept. 24, the economic picture augurs well for Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term in office, burnishing the conservative’s 13-point poll lead over her Social Democrat rivals.

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FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Germany’s

Market research group GfK’s consumer sentiment indicator rose 0.2 percentage points to 10.8, its highest level since October 2001. It echoed similarly positive business morale trends.

“The German economy is now firing on all cylinders,” Rolf Buerkl, a researcher for Nuremberg-based GfK, said in a statement, with consumers expecting further improvements over the remainder of the year. Germany’s manufacturing economy is also in rude health, anticipating a surge in already robust exports. With unemployment hitting new lows each month, Merkel’s Social Democrat challenger Martin Schulz has struggled to gain traction with a message focussing on the ills of inequality. He is refocussing his campaign on the risk of a rekindled refugee crisis. Schulz, who heads to Italy for a meeting with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and to visot a Sicilian refugee camp visit on Thursday, has warned that Germany is heading for a repeat of the 2015 flood of almost a million Syrian war refugees arriving in Germany, the toughest moment in Merkel’s 12-year premiership.

the

❑ The construction site (foreground), for the West Kowloon terminus of the high-speed rail link connecting Hong Kong to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is seen in Hong Kong on July 27. Controversy over a

new cross-border rail link which will see mainland laws enforced in a Hong Kong train station escalated on July 27 after the justice chief likened China to the city’s ‘landlord’. (AFP)

Workers worried about shift to electric

Germany frets about economic car crash BERLIN/STUTTGART, Germany, July 27, (RTRS): Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche beamed as he posed for cameras in a Mercedes-Benz electric car after meeting politicians to discuss the future of the auto industry in Stuttgart, birthplace of the combustion engine. What the pictures do not reveal is that the Mercedes EQ car was a prototype that had to be dragged into the city square by four employees before the shoot. Daimler’s EQ brand will only hit the road at the end of the decade. It’s a sign of how Germany has been slow to embrace electric vehicles and associated technology as it clings to the combustion engine that has driven its post-war prosperity. “China dominates the production of solar cells. Tesla is ahead in electric cars and Germany has lost the first round of digitalisation to Google, Apple and the like,” said Winfried Kretschmann, who is premier of the region where Daimler is based and hosted the meeting with Zetsche and other car bosses. “Whether Germany has a future as an industrial economy will depend on whether we can manage the ecological and digital transformation of our economy,” Kretschmann said. Despite booming car exports and high employment in the industry, there is a sense of unease: “Is the car finished?” asked the weekly Die Zeit. “Fear in car

country,” said Stern magazine. Those fears have been mounting since the Volkswagen emissions scandal broke in 2015. But the angst extends beyond cars to the broader economy, even though exports are booming and unemployment low. Politicians fear Germany is failing to invest enough in new technology and infrastructure. Chancellor Angela Merkel has made preparing Germany for the digital age big part of her campaign for national elections on Sept 24, pledging to boost research and development spending.

Firmly “I firmly believe that digitisation does not mean we will have fewer jobs per se,” Merkel said last month. “If, however, jobs that are lost are not replaced by new jobs created by the management of large amounts of data ... then we will have problems,” she added. Merkel is aware of the risks to Germany’s auto industry, noting that only one maker of horse-drawn carriages — US firm Studebaker — survived the invention of the modern car by German engineer Karl Benz 131 years ago. “We must manage the move of today’s auto industry to the car of the 21st century better than the switch from horse power to the car,” she said in a speech in January. Merkel’s main rival for the chancellery, Social Democrat (SPD) Martin

Schulz, wants to compel the state to raise spending on infrastructure and education. In the SPD election programme, the party says building up battery cell production in Germany is of “central strategic importance” to help the country remain the leading car maker. In May, Merkel said Germany should do more to invest in battery research as she laid the foundation stone for a new Daimler battery factory in the town of Kamenz that will rely on imported cells. Germany has fallen behind in developing the cells that are at the heart of electric vehicles, with most imported from Asia, and has also been slow to build charging stations, abandoning a target to have 1 million electric cars on the roads by 2020. The country needs to spend between 50 to 80 billion euros on electric cars infrastructure, Rolf Bulander, a board member at auto supplier Bosch, told Reuters. At Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz plant in Untertuerkheim outside Stuttgart, workers are still worried. In July, they refused to work overtime to push their demand for a commitment from Daimler to make components for electric cars at the factory. “Our future here is closely tied up with the future of the powertrain. That is why it is important to pave the way for the future today,” said Wolfgang Nieke, head of the works council at the factory.





LONDON: Lloyds Banking Group on Thursday revealed an 11-percent fall in first-half net profits, in its first results since the bailed-out lender returned fully to the private sector. LBG said profit after tax dropped to £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion, 1.8 billion euros) in the first six months of 2017 compared with the equivalent period one year earlier. The bank was forced to set aside yet more substantial amounts of money to compensate customers mis-sold a controversial insurance product, it said in an earnings statement. The bank said a further £700 million would be needed to compensate for payment protection insurance, bringing the total to more than £18 billion — far in excess of other British banks caught up in the long-running scandal. (AFP)







FRANKFURT, Germany: Volkswagen’s profit more than doubled in the second quarter as the German carmaker benefited from a growing European economy and moved past one-time costs for its diesel emissions scandal in the US. After-tax profit rose to 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) from 1.2 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Last year’s result was burdened by 2.2 billion euros in costs from the diesel scandal. No such one-time charges were reported for this year’s quarter. Despite the rise, the profit was short of the 3.3 billion euros foreseen by market analysts as compiled by financial information provider FactSet. Sales for the group and all its brands, which include Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley and Lamborghini, rose 4.7 percent to 59.7 billion euros. (AP)







HELSINKI: Nokia continued to be hit by a decline in its core networks sector in the second quarter with almost flat sales, and cautioned Thursday that a weaken-

ing in networks would be greater than previously expected. The Finland-based networks company, however, managed to trim net loss in the period to 423 million euros ($493 million) from 667 million euros a year earlier. Sales in the quarter grew 1 percent from 2016 to 5.6 billion euros. Networks sales fell 5 percent to 4.9 billion euros with an 8 percent decline in the broadband sector. (AP)







PARIS: France’s economy minister has announced the nationalization of the country’s emblematic shipyard to ensure an Italian company does not take it over. However, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that the decision is temporary, and negotiations with the Italian state-owned group Fincantieri will continue. The unexpected decision to nationalize the Saint Nazaire shipyard is the first major foray into the industrial sector for President Emmanuel Macron, and runs counter to the free-market image of the French chief of state. The Italians have rejected a proposal that would have given each side 50 percent, with operational control being held by Fincantieri. Paris wants to keep talking and the minister said the nationalization is aimed at buying time. He said he will go to Rome on Tuesday to negotiate. (AP)







BRUSSELS: The European Commission has conditionally approved the sale by DuPont of part of its crop protection business to FMC Corp and DuPont’s acquisition of FMC’s health and nutrition business. The deals cleared Thursday help DuPont meet Commission requirements for DuPont’s pending $62 billion merger with Dow Chemical. The merger was announced in December 2015 and was initially expected to close in the first half of 2016. But it was delayed several times while US and foreign regulators reviewed it. (AP)







LONDON: Shares in Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca plunged as much as 17 percent Thursday after a new lung cancer treatment proved less successful than the company had hoped. Second-quarter revenue declined 10 percent to $5.05 billion as sales of the cholesterol drug Crestor fell 40 percent. Sales of the anti-depressant Seroquel XR dropped 58 percent. Net income totaled $477 million compared with a loss of $3 million in the same quarter last year as AstraZeneca reined in costs and increased sales of cancer drugs. (AP)







LONDON: European pay-TV giant Sky, on course for a takeover by 21st Century Fox despite British hurdles, announced Thursday slim profits on the soaring cost of screening English Premier League football. Net profit rose 4.4 percent to £695 million ($914 million, 780 million euros) during its financial year to the end of June, compared with 2015/16, Sky said in an earnings statement. Sky said its day-to-day operating profit was down £97 million after absorbing £629 million of costs to screen live matches featuring the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. “Total costs grew by five percent, significantly impacted by the one-time step up in the new three year Premier League contract,” Sky said. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

BUSINESS

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Maruti records 4.4% rise India’s top-selling car maker Maruti Suzuki India Thursday missed its quarterly earnings estimate owing to a jump in expenses caused by a new nationwide tax rolled out earlier this month. Net profit for the three months to June 30 rose to 15.56 billion rupee ($242.66 million), up from 14.91 billion rupees in the same period a year ago, the company said. “During the quarter there was a one-off impact of compensation given to dealers for the tax loss incurred on vehicles in the stock at the time of transitioning to the (Goods and Services Tax),” the company said in its statement. (AFP)

Name: Kuwait Sharia Compatible Indices

Providers: Al Madar Finance & Investment Co.

Description: Index of Sharia compatible companies traded on the KSE

Website: www.almadar-fi.com

Index name Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Composite Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Kuwait Only Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Active Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Banking Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Investment Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Insurance Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Real Estate Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Industrial Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Services Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Food Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Islamic Sector Kuwait Sharia Compatible Index - Non Kuwaiti Sector Kuwait Stock Exchange Index - Price S&P 500 DJ Islamic Index.

Bloomberg ticker AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC AMIC KWSEIDX SPX DJIM

Today’s value as of July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 July 26, 2017 July 26, 2017

Today’s closing value 179.57 172.40 89.10 277.82 52.33 19.83 50.85 141.54 237.82 307.41 139.46 465.22 6,805.31 2,477.83 3,355.48

Prev closing value 179.59 172.33 89.11 277.18 52.59 19.87 51.24 143.14 236.06 307.34 139.01 468.78 6,845.76 2,477.13 3,349.09

% change -0.01% 0.04% -0.01% 0.23% -0.49% -0.19% -0.76% -1.12% 0.74% 0.02% 0.33% -0.76% -0.59% 0.03% 0.19%

1-week change 1.26% 1.32% 2.87% 4.57% 2.19% -5.93% 2.63% 0.56% 0.94% -12.86% 3.62% 0.32% 0.36% 0.16% 0.09%

3-month change 3.20% 3.99% -6.08% 6.69% -7.26% -9.44% 0.79% -3.99% 12.00% -14.67% 5.91% -8.51% -0.71% 3.73% 5.40%

YTD change 7.61% 7.89% 12.26% 4.39% 11.39% 25.79% 4.32% 16.78% 20.47% -19.13% 8.10% 4.93% 18.39% 10.68% 15.45%

12-month change 20.79% 19.37% 27.29% 18.32% 6.65% 17.33% 12.08% 21.47% 36.51% -15.35% 24.87% 64.40% 24.60% 14.23% 13.73%

24-month change 0.34% -1.01% -5.65% -11.61% -15.82% -30.40% -6.63% 4.09% 22.17% -26.33% -3.33% 54.46% 8.72% 19.15% 15.59%

Yang says country won’t fall into middle income trap

China willing to sacrifice growth to manage systemic risks: official BEIJING, July 27, (RTRS): A senior Chinese economic official on Thursday indicated that policymakers would be willing to sacrifice some short-term economic growth in order to deal with systemic risks. Beijing is trying to contain rising debt and defuse property bubbles amid fears such risks could derail the world’s second-largest economy if not handled well, but policymakers will be treading warily ahead of a key party meeting later this year. “(China can’t let smaller risks) eventually lead to large systemic risks that would cause serious harm to China’s economy,” Yang Weimin, vice minister of Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, told reporters. “We would rather sacrifice in some other areas, but also deal with the relationship between stable growth and risk prevention”, Yang said. But Yang also said China could achieve both goals of maintaining steady growth while containing debt levels.

S. Korea growth slows in Q2 Exports dip 3% SEOUL, July 27, (AFP): South Korea’s economic growth slowed in the past quarter, the central bank said Thursday, as a diplomatic row with top trading partner China over a US missile shield hit exports.

Debt

The figures come as South Korea struggles to shake off an extended economic slowdown, a key factor in the election of left-leaning new President Moon Jae-In in May, who has promised a massive fiscal stimulus package.

China’s total private and public debt has exceeded 250 percent of GDP, up from 150 percent before the global financial crisis, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Chinese regulators have already launched a crackdown on riskier types of financing, but the drive has pushed up short-term borrowing costs. The government’s efforts to lower debt levels in the economy will be a long-term process and the key is to push state-owned firms to deleverage, Yang said. “We cannot allow the leverage ratio to continue to rise in order to safeguard economic growth,” he said. China’s economy grew a fasterthan-expected 6.9 percent in the second quarter, matching the first quarter’s pace, supported by solid exports, industrial production and consumption. But analysts expect growth to slow in the second half as the property sector cools and borrowing costs for firms climb. Chinese leaders have pledged to keep the economy steady as they prepare for a five-yearly transition later this year. Government officials have said steady growth in the first half could help hit the full-year target of around 6.5 percent and achieve even better results. Yang also said that China’s economic outlook is bright and the country will not fall into the middle-income trap. China will fine-tune monetary policy to offset the impact of changes in market interest rates, said Wang Zhijun, another party official.

But second-quarter sales in the country’s key automobile industry were hammered by a wave of Chinese boycotts, seen as economic retaliation to Seoul’s agreement to a new US missile defence system, stalling any recovery. Gross domestic product in Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew by 0.6 percent in April to June from the previous quarter, when it expanded by 1.1 percent, the central Bank of Korea said. The GDP expanded 2.7 percent from a year ago, also slowing from the 2.9 percent annual growth recorded in the first quarter. Exports — which account for about two fifth of the nation’s economy — shrank three percent from the previous quarter, the biggest quarterly drop in almost three years. “Exports of cars declined in particular as their overseas sales fell, hurting sales of auto component makers as well,” Chung Kyu-Il, director at the Bank of Korea, told reporters. Major South Korean exporters including Hyundai — the country’s top carmaker — have been hit by a wave of consumer boycotts in China and what they saw as economic retaliation by Beijing. Diplomatic tension rose after Seoul deployed a powerful US anti-missile system to guard against threats by North Korea despite opposition by China that sees it as a threat to its own defence capability. Beijing since then slapped a series of measures against South Korean firms and banned Chinese group tours to Seoul. Hyundai on Wednesday reported a 48-percent drop in its second-quarter profit amid plunging sales in China.

Staff collect merchandise for customers’ orders from shelves at the newly-opened Amazon Prime Now facility in Singapore July 27. Amazon introduced express delivery in Singapore in its first direct effort to win over Southeast Asian digital natives and new internet users. The American e-commerce company announced Thursday it will begin operating a 100,000 square foot (9,290 square meter) distribution facility in the wealthy island nation. (AP)

Co launches express delivery service in Singapore

Amazon pushes into Southeast Asia SINGAPORE, July 27, (AFP): Amazon launched its express delivery service in Singapore on Thursday, the US online retail giant’s first foray into Southeast Asia and a move that puts it in direct competition with China’s Alibaba. Prime Now allows online shoppers in the affluent city-state of five million people to order a wide range of goods from baby products to food and electronic items. It marks Amazon’s entry into a region of more than 600 million people, where many countries have a growing middle class, and which is seen as the next ecommerce battleground. “Amazon’s entry augurs well for shoppers in the region who will benefit from more choice, price competition and better delivery services,” said Prem

Shamdasani, an associate professor for marketing at the National University of Singapore Business School. Alibaba already has a headstart in the region with an 83-percent stake in Southeast Asia-focused online retailer Lazada.

Raised The Chinese firm, founded by China’s richest man Jack Ma, raised its stake in Lazada last month with a further $1 billion investment. The Prime Now application was made available for download in Singapore on Google’s Play store and Apple’s iTunes. By just entering their postal zip code after opening the app on their devices, online shoppers can start placing their orders.

The service promises delivery of items within two hours. Business consultancy Frost & Sullivan projects online retail sales in Southeast Asia to more than quadruple to $71 billion by 2021 from $16 billion in 2016. The e-commerce sector made up 4.1 percent of the total retail market for the region last year but this share is set to rise to 11.5 percent by 2021, the consultancy said. But Shamdasani warned that it could be difficult market. Southeast Asia includes relatively wealthy countries such as Singapore, but also developing nations with poor infrastructure where it is harder to do business. “While e-commerce is set to grow the market in Southeast Asia is relatively small and fragmented with narrow margins,” he said.

the

bottomline

TOKYO:

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co says that despite strong overall sales its quarterly profit dipped in the last quarter, squeezed by rising costs and slowing growth in China. The company said Thursday that its April-June net profit was 134.9 billion yen ($1.2 billion), down 1 percent from 136.4 billion yen the same period the year before. Quarterly sales climbed 4 percent to 2.76 trillion yen ($24.8 billion). Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car, March subcompact and Infiniti luxury models, stuck to its full year forecast through March 2018, for 535 billion yen ($4.8 billion) profit on 11.8 trillion yen ($106 billion) sales. Yokohama-based Nissan sold 1.35 million vehicles in the quarter, up 5 percent on year. Vehicle sales rose in Japan, the US, China and Europe, it said. (AP)







TOKYO: Japanese camera and copier maker Canon lifted its full-year profit outlook on Thursday, expecting steady growth in sales of printers and medical devices. The Tokyo-based company revised upward its net profit outlook to 220 billion yen ($1.98 billion) for the fiscal year through December, up from its earlier estimate of 180 billion yen. It also forecast sales to hit 4.05 trillion yen, up from 4.02 trillion yen projected earlier. Net profit, meanwhile, soared 52.6 percent to 124.3 billion yen. (AFP) ❑





HONG KONG: China’s Huawei Technology said Thursday first-half revenues at its telecoms equipment and smartphone businesses expanded at a slower pace than the year before. The company, which is one of the world’s biggest telecoms gear makers, reported that sales grew 15 percent to 283.1 billion yuan ($42 billion) in the first six months of the year. That’s down from 40 percent growth a year ago. (AP)







SINGAPORE: Shares in troubled commodities trader Noble Group plunged at much as 49 percent Thursday after it warned of a quarterly loss of up to $1.8 billion and announced further asset sales as the firm struggles for survival. The company released a restructuring blueprint after the market close on Wednesday in which it warned investors of the massive net loss for the second quarter, with further costcutting seen to slash its headcount to 400 from 900 currently. (AFP)

investment funds Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV) ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV) ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Bank of Kuwait

Global Investment House

Money Market Funds

Watani KD Money Market Fund II NBK Capital Weekly July 11, 2017 KD 1.028 1.027 June 20, 2017 Watani USD Money Market Fund NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly July 11, 2017 USD 10.227 10.220 June 20, 2017 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly July 11, 2017 KD 1.026 1.020 June 20, 2017 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly July 11, 2017 USD 10.084 10.081 June 20, 2017 NBK Kuwait Equity Fund Watani Investment Co. Weekly July 6, 2017 KD 0.629 0.626 June 15, 2017 Gulf Equity Investment Fund Watani Investment Co. Weekly July 6, 2017 USD 11.225 10.970 June 15, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Index Funds Equity Funds

Gulf Bank

Kuwait Finance & Investment Co (KFIC)

Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund Kwt. Fin. & Inv. Co. & Gulf Fin. House Monthly June 15, 2017 USD 6.945 6.973 April 30, 2017 Coast Fund Coast Investment & Dev. Co. Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.645 0.648 May 5, 2017 Sanaya Dow Jones Kuwait Index Fund Industrial & Financial Investment Co. Weekly Jan 26, 2017 KD 0.561 0.561 Dec 30, 2016 Markaz Capital Preservation Program 1 Monthly Feb 28, 2017 KD 0.912 0.917 Dec 31, 2016 Markaz Capital Preservation Program 2 Monthly Feb 28, 2017 KD 0.942 0.945 Dec 31, 2016 Markaz Gulf Real Estate Fund Bi-annual June 30, 2017 KD 1.396 1.413 May 31, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KAMCO

Al Ahli Bank Al Ahli Gulf Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.909 0.871 May 31, 2017 Al Ahli Kuwaiti Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.806 0.806 May 31, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Burgan Bank Burgan Equity Fund Burgan Bank Monthly June 29, 2017 KD 1.759 1.758 May 28, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Bank Boubyan KD Money Market Fund Boubyan Bank Weekly June 25, 2017 KD 1.065 1.064 June 20, 2017 Boubyan KD Money Market Fund II Boubyan Bank Weekly June 25, 2017 KD 1.011 1.010 June 20, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Capital Investment Co.

GCC Large Cap Index Fund Global Weekly July 20, 2017 KD 1.181 1.147 July 6, 2017 Al-Mamoun Fund A Global Weekly July 20, 2017 KD 0.666 0.644 July 6, 2017 Al-Mamoun Fund B Global Weekly July 20, 2017 KD 0.666 0.644 July 6, 2017 GCC Large Cap Fund Global Bi-weekly July 18, 2017 USD 149.940 147.330 July 4, 2017 Global Saudi Equity Fund Global Bi-weekly July 18, 2017 SAR 22.170 220.980 July 4, 2017 Sectoral Funds EPADI Fund Global Weekly July 18, 2017 USD 95.400 105.060 July 4, 2017 Islamic Funds Global GCC Islamic Fund Global Weekly July 18, 2017 USD 100.920 99.500 July 4, 2017 Al-Durra Islamic Fund Global Monthly July 20, 2017 KD 1.236 1.180 July 6, 2017 ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Al Wasm Fund KFIC Weekly June 7, 2017 KD 0.402 0.420 March 16, 2017 Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund KFIC Monthly June 30, 2017 USD 7.026 6.940 March 31, 2017 ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— KAMCO Investment Fund KAMCO Monthly April 30, 2017 KD 1.066 1.065 Jan 31, 2017 KAMCO GCC Opportunities Fund KAMCO Monthly July 31, 2016 USD 115.890 114.380 Feb 29, 2016 KAMCO MENA Plus Fixed Income Fund KAMCO March 31, 2017 USD 11.840 12.551 Jan 31, 2017 KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund KAMCO June 30, 2017 USD 10.180 10.220 April 30, 2017 Kuwait Education Fund KAMCO Quartely Sept 30, 2016 KD 1.457 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Wafra International Investment Co. Wafra Equity Fund Wafra Co. Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.890 0.884 May 31, 2017 Wafra Bond Fund Wafra Co. Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 1.047 1.042 May 31, 2017 Masaref Investment Fund ISKAN Weekly June 30, 2017 KD 0.853 0.819 May 31, 2017 Fajir Islamic Fund Wafra Co. Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.669 0.663 May 31, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Shuaa Capital Co. Emirates Gateway Fund Shuaa Capital Weekly Feb 7, 2017 AED 15.110 15.070 Jan 31, 2017 The Arab Gateway Fund Shuaa Capital Weekly Feb 7, 2017 USD 28.160 29.040 Jan 31, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan USD Liquidity Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co June 25, 2017 USD 10.231 10.223 June 20, 2017 Boubyan Multi-Asset Holding Fund Boubyan Bank June 30, 2017 USD 10.730 10.530 April 30, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Aman Investment

Kuwait Investment Co.

Tharwa Investment Co.

Local Fund

Al Raed Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly July 17, 2017 KD 1.022 1.010 July 13, 2017 Kuwait Investment Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly June 29, 2017 KD 0.705 0.702 May 31, 2017 Al Hilal Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly July 24, 2017 KD 0.714 0.714 July 12, 2017 Al Atheer Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly June 30, 2017 KD 1.046 1.083 May 31, 2017 International Global Bond Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly July 19, 2017 USD 25.530 25.320 July 12, 2017 Diversified Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly July 19, 2017 USD 20.120 19.820 July 12, 2017 European Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly May 31, 2017 Euro 21.780 21.530 April 28, 2017 Pacific Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly July 19, 2017 USD 31.970 31.340 July 12, 2017 North American Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Tw. Monthly May 31, 2017 USD 18.340 18.370 April 28, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Investment Co. (NIC) Al-Wataniya Fund NIC Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.600 0.599 May 31, 2017 Al-Darij Fund NIC Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.359 0.351 May 31, 2017 Mawarid Fund NIC Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.501 0.495 May 31, 2017 Zajil Fund NIC Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.764 0.748 May 31, 2017 Al Mada Investment Fund NIC Weekly June 30, 2017 USD 0.791 0.759 May 31, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) Mumtaz Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 13, 2017 KD 4.054 3.969 July 6, 2017 MIDAF Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 13, 2017 KD 3.095 3.032 July 6, 2017 Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 13, 2017 KD 1.585 1.547 July 6, 2017 Markaz Arabian Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Nov 10, 2016 KD 2.990 2.920 Nov 3, 2016 FORSA Financial Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.949 0.942 May 30, 2017 Real Estate Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 1.396 1.413 May 30, 2017 Markaz Fixed Income Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly July 13, 2017 USD 11.540 11.510 July 6, 2017 Mawazeen International Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly March 26, 2017 USD 9.050 9.140 March 19, 2017 Markaz MENA Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 13, 2017 USD 10.880 10.890 June 29, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait & Middle East Financial & Inv. Co. Al Rou’yah Fund KMEFIC Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 1.365 1.371 April 30, 2017 Gulf Gate Fund KMEFIC Monthly Oct 31, 2016 KD 0.944 0.918 Sept 30, 2016 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Aman Islamic Fund Al Aman Investment Weekly June 30, 2017 KD 0.330 0.328 May 30, 2017 ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Tharwa Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly June 30, 2017 KD 1.454 1.391 June 8, 2017 Tharwa Arab Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Bi-weekly July 31, 2016 USD 1.977 2.251 June 30, 2016 Tharwa World Fund Tharwa Investment Co Monthly March 31, 2016 USD 1.024 0.986 March 15, 2016 Tharwa Islamic Fund Tharwa Investment Co Monthly June 30, 2017 KD 0.594 0.586 June 8, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bank Al-Bilad Al Seef Fund Bank Al-Bilad Daily July 16, 2017 KD 0.423 0.413 July 9, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Commercial International Bank CIB Money Market Fund (Osoul) CI Asset Management Weekly July 24, 2017 EGP 296.950 296.420 July 19, 2017 CIB II Equity (Isthethmar) CI Asset Management Weekly July 20, 2017 EGP 145.270 145.080 July 19, 2017 CIB and Faisal Islamic Al Aman CI Asset Management Weekly July 20, 2017 EGP 79.680 79.850 July 19, 2017 Hemaya CI Asset Management Weekly July 2, 2017 EGP 178.910 176.390 June 1, 2017 Thabat CI Asset Management Weekly July 24, 2017 EGP 176.610 176.300 July 19, 2017 Takamol CI Asset Management Weekly July 24, 2017 EGP 140.610 140.210 July 19, 2017 Misr El Mostakbel CI Asset Management Weekly July 24, 2017 EGP 25.020 25.400 July 16, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Noor Financial Investment Co. Noor Islamic Fund Noor Financial Investment Co Monthly Feb 29, 2016 KD 0.613 0.645 Dec 31, 2015 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Zumorroda Investment Co. Zumorroda GCC Fund Al Zumorroda Investment Co Monthly Jan 31, 2016 KD 0.481 0.543 Dec 31, 2015 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KFH Capital Investment Co. Muthanna Islamic Index Fund (MUDX) KFH Capital Investment Company Daily Feb 28, 2017 KD 0.357 0.354 Jan 31, 2017 Muthanna GCC Islamic Banks Fund KFH Capital Investment Company Daily Feb 28, 2017 KD 0.683 0.673 Jan 31, 2017 Baitak GCC Fund KFH Capital Investment Company Weekly Feb 28, 2017 KD 0.916 0.957 Jan 31, 2017 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

CapCorp Investment Co. CapCorp Local Fund

CapCorp Investment Company

Weekly

June 30, 2017

KD

0.914

0.926

March 30, 2017

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

BUSINESS

35

Libya output helps lift Repsol’s profits Spanish oil giant Repsol posted Thursday a jump in quarterly net profit, lifted by lower restructuring costs, recovering oil prices and the resumption of production in Libya. The company said its net profit in the April-June period stood at 367 million euros ($428 million), a 79 percent increase over the same year-ago period, but below the 434 million predicted by analysts polled by financial data firm

Factset. Production decreased to 677,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day during the quarter, down from 697,000 a year ago due to asset sales in Indonesia and Trinidad and Tobago as well as the decommissioning of a field in Norway, Repsol said in a statement. Profits at Repsol’s upstream business, which includes extraction and production, rose to 115 million euros from 46 million euros

in the second quarter of 2016. The company said the rise was “mainly due to higher oil and gas prices, along with a more favourable production mix following the resumption of production in Libya and higher production in Brazil.” Libya has sought to boost crude exports after fighting among rival militias hobbled oil production following the overthrow in 2011 of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. (AFP)

Kuwait snaps ‘winning’ spree, ends week in red Humansoft Holding sinks 100 fils; NBK gains By John Mathews Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Thursday to wind up the week on a dull note. The bourse dipped 40.45 pts in choppy trade to 6,805.31 points erasing most of the week’s gains as profit taking kicked in. The blue chips however closed narrowly mixed. The KSX 15 index edged 1.47 pts higher to 954.42 points taking the month’s gains to 44 points while weighted index eased 0.26 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank after hitting a multimonth high on Wednesday. 100.55 million shares changed hands — down 32.19 pct from the day before. The sectors closed mostly in red territory. Technology outpaced the rest with 2.60 pct gain whereas oil and gas slumped 6.24 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 43.14 pct and real estate trailed with 27.7 percent contribution. Among the day’s notable losers, KIPCO slipped 5 fils to 370 fils and Mabanee Co was down 9 fils at 795 fils erasing most of last session gains. Humansoft Holding extended Wednesday’s losses with a 100 fils tumble to KD 4.250. Zain rose 2 fils to 457 fils on back of 4.5 million shares and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) inched 1 fil into red. Agility climbed 4 fils to 851 fils whereas Ooredoo was not traded during the session. National Bank of Kuwait gained 4 fils with a volume of 1.6 million shares and Burgan Bank closed flat. The bank has posted a profit of KD 21.07 million in the second quarter, a 24.6 pct jump from same period last year. The market opened on a tame note and swung lower in early trade. The main index drifted narrowly thereafter in choppy trade and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,777.25 pts in the final minutes. It however clawed back to recoup some of the losses at close. Top gainer of the day, Hayat Communication Co climbed 5.95 pct to 89 fils while Eyas For Higher and Technical Education climbed 4.8 percent to stand next. NAPESCO dived 12.6 pct, the steepest de-

cliner of the day and Al Mal Investment topped the volume with 11.7 million shares. Mirroring the day’s downswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 32 stocks advanced whereas 70 closed lower. Of the 126 counters active on Thursday, 24 closed flat. 3290 deals worth KD 13.77 million were transacted — an 18.24 pct drop in value from the day before. National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 140 fils and Gulf Cable inched 1 fil lower. Kuwait Cement Co dipped 10 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement was down 18 fils at 950 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co stood pat at 207 fils. NICBM dipped 15 fils to 160 fils while Metal and Recycling Co gave up 9 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co added 3 fils whereas Al Qurain Petrochemical Co slipped 3 fils to 348 fils. Dropped Jazeera Airways dropped 5 fils to 500 fils and ALAFCO rose 7 fils to 350 fils. The company’s Q3 earnings surged 49 pct to KD 5.78 million from same period last year. During the nine-month period ended 30 June 2017, the profits soared 66.7% to KD 16.57 million. UPAC slid 15 fils to 700 fils extending Wednesday’s steep losses and OSOS climbed 5 fils to 141 fils. Automated Systems Co clipped 1 fil and Kuwait Cable Vision erased 0.2 fil. Mezzan Holding jumped 20 fils to 910 fils and Al Rai Media Group took in 1 fil. AWJ Holding trimmed 2.5 fils to settle at 78.1 fils and Educational Holding Group gained 8 fils. In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House dialed up 1 fil on back of 2.6 million shares and Gulf Bank was up 3 fils at 246 fils. Commercial Bank paused at 350 fils and Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. Al Mutahed and Boubyan Bank dialed up 2 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank tripped 1 fil to 243 fils. Warba Bank stood pat at 269 fils. KAMCO rose 3 fils to 75 fils whereas Coast Investment Co and Arzan were flat at 44 fils and 38 fils respectively. KMEFIC gave up 0.8 fil and Securities House Co ticked 0.2 fil down. Bayan Investment Co fell 0.3 fils and National Investments Co stalled at 113 fils. The company has posted a 78.4 pct jump in profits to KD 1.17 million during the second quarter from same period last year. During the first six months, the

earnings swelled by 192.1% to KD 5.17 million. Osoul Investment Co took in 1.9 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co gained 12 fils to close at 300 fils. Sokouk Investment Co inched 0.1 fil up and Aayan Investment nudged 0.5 fil into green. Gulf Investment House trimmed 0.9 fil. Noor Financial Investment Co eased 0.4 fil and Unicap gave up 0.5 fil. Ektittab Holding clipped 1.5 fils and Al Imtiaz was down 2 fils at 167 fils. Warba Insurance Co dipped 10.4 fils to 78.5 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co tripped 0.2 fil to 60.1 fils and National Real Estate Co held ground at 126 fils. Salhiya Real Estate Co shed 12 fils and Mazaya Holding gave up 1 fil. The market was largely upbeat during the week. The main index closed higher in four of the five sessions and added 24 points week-on-week. It has rallied 44 points from start of the month and is trading 18.39 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region. In the bourse related news, Imtiaz Investment Group’s second quarter profits soared by a whopping 1,041 pct to KD 19.97 million from same period in 2016. During the first six months, profits surged 626.3% to KD 32.32 million. National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million. Aqar Real Estate Investment’s second quarter profits surged 27 pct to KD 350,410 mln from same period last year helped by increase of rent revenues. The revenues rose 23.4 percent to KD 687,320 in the first half while operating revenues climbed 21.6 percent to KD 987,070. S&P Global Ratings has affirmed “A-/A-2” long- and shortterm counterparty credit ratings on Gulf Bank. The rating agency also revised its outlook on the bank to “positive” from “stable”. National Real Estate’s (NREC) ordinary general meeting has approved raising its capital to KD 150 million, by issuing 1.5 billion shares at a nominal value of 100 fils each. The company’s current capital stands at KD 98.97 million. Educational Holding Group has posted a 13 pct drop in profits in the quarter ended May 31, 2017. The profits totaled KD 1.14 million as against KD 1.31 million in the same period last year.

Mideast Stocks Etisalat earnings lift Abu Dhabi

Gulf equity markets close mixed DUBAI, July 27, (RTRS): A slide in shares of Egypt’s Juhayna Food Industries after it reported secondquarter earnings pulled down Egypt’s stock market on Thursday, while Gulf bourses were mixed. Egypt’s blue-chip index dropped 1.4 percent as Juhayna sank 4.2 percent after saying consolidated net profit attributable to shareholders fell to 27.2 million Egyptian pounds ($1.5 million) from 29.8 million pounds a year earlier. A couple of other blue chips also retreated significantly: Commercial International Bank lost 1.9 percent and Global Telecom slipped 3.0 percent. Another food maker, Edita Food Industries, tumbled 4.3 percent after posting a quarterly loss of 1.7 million pounds compared to a profit of 41.6 million pounds a year ago. In the Gulf, markets again failed to follow global equities’ uptrend, underlining how shaky oil prices, sluggish economies and an uninspiring corporate profit outlook are deterring investors in the region. In Saudi Arabia, the index fell 0.4 percent in a broad-based decline; losers outnumbered gainers by 114 to 59. National Medical tumbled 6.4 percent after its quarterly profit shrank to 9.5 million riyals ($2.5 million) from 59.3 million riyals. Chemanol climbed as much as 2.0 percent after reporting second-quarter net profit jumped to 2.6 million riyals

from almost zero a year earlier, but it closed only 0.2 percent higher. Dubai’s index edged down 0.1 percent with Dubai Financial Market, the most heavily traded stock, closing flat after an early surge. Abu Dhabi’s index rose 1.0 percent as telecommunications firm Etisalat gained 2.2 percent. It posted a 14.7 percent drop in second-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders as impairments rose, its full financial report showed on Thursday. However, on Wednesday it issued a statement saying its net profit rose 6 percent, without giving any breakdown of the earnings. The United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, created this year by a merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank, rose 1.0 percent after reporting a quarterly net profit of 2.56 billion dirhams ($697.5 million). On a pro-forma basis, the profit was down from 2.68 billion dirhams a year earlier, primarily due to slower business momentum. It was in line with a projection of 2.57 billion dirhams by EFG Hermes. Qatar’s index fell 0.2 percent as Qatar First Bank dropped 2.3 percent to 7.60 riyals, though it came well off an intra-day low of 7.21 riyals. The bank reported a first-half net loss of 76.7 million riyals ($21.1 million) versus a profit of 16.8 million riyals a year ago. In the first quarter of

this year, it made a net loss of 9.6 million riyals. Telecommunications operator Ooredoo closed flat after reporting a 12 percent drop in second-quarter net profit to 513 million riyals; SICO Bahrain had forecast 642.81 million riyals and EFG Hermes, 529.3 million riyals.

Saudi Arabia ■ The index fell 0.4 percent to 7,175 points.

Dubai ■ The index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,606 points.

Abu Dhabi ■ The index rose 1.0 percent to 4,568 points.

Qatar ■ The index fell 0.2 percent to 9,563 points.

Egypt ■ The index dropped 1.3 percent to 13,625 points.

Kuwait ■ The index slipped 0.6 percent to 6,805 points.

Bahrain ■ The index fell 0.2 percent to 1,335 points.

Oman ■ The index gained 0.4 percent to 5,048 points.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

BUSINESS

36

Libor financial benchmark nears end British regulators suggest that the end is near for Libor, the financial benchmark that was at the heart of a global marketrigging scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority is urging banks to find an alternate to the London Interbank Offered Rate after 2021 as a dearth of financial transactions puts its relevance into question. The rate has been steeped in scandal, but FCA chief Andrew Bailey said Thursday it’s the sustainability of the rate that is in question “not because we suspect further wrongdoing or have any evidence

the

of such.” Libor is the rate banks use to borrow from each other and is used to price services like mortgages, bonds and consumer loans globally. In 2012, it emerged that employees at several global banks had colluded to manipulate the rate to their own advantage. Investigations in the US, Britain and elsewhere led to fines as well as the resignation of Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, among others. The Bank of England (BoE) has suggested it be replaced with another index average. (AP)

bottomline

PARIS: The French-Dutch airline Air France-KLM announced Thursday it was taking a 31 percent state in Britain’s Virgin Atlantic for 220 million pounds ($287 million, 246 million euros). “The operation is expected to take place in 2018 after approval by the appropriate regulatory authorities,” Air France-KLM said in a statement. The airline will become Virgin Atlantic’s second biggest shareholder after the US carrier Delta Airlines, which holds 49 percent. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

CINCINNATI: Procter & Gamble Co on Thursday reported fiscal fourthquarter profit of $2.22 billion. On a per-share basis, the Cincinnati-based company said it had profit of 82 cents. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs, were 85 cents per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 78 cents per share. The world’s largest consumer products maker posted revenue of $16.08 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $16 billion. P&G shares have climbed 6 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased 11 percent. The stock has risen nearly 5 percent in the last 12 months. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

AUSTIN, Texas: Amazon is set to have a fixer-upper on its hands, with Whole Foods reporting that a key sales figure declined again. The grocery chain said Wednesday that sales fell 1.9 percent at established locations for the three months that ended July 2. That marks the eighth straight quarter the figure has dropped as Whole Foods sees more competition from traditional grocers, big box retailers and others offering more organic choices. Facing pressure from investors to improve, Whole Foods agreed to be acquired by Amazon in a $13.7 billion deal announced last month. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON: British miner Anglo American has set aside $101 million (87 million euros) to cover potential damages for former South African staff who contracted the fatal lung disease silicosis at work, it said Thursday. The news came after Johannesburg’s High Court ruled in May to allow former and current mine workers, employed by South Africa’s main gold mining firms since 1965, to proceed with a class action against those companies. That court decision cleared the way for up to half-a-million miners to sue for damages resulting from silicosis — a deadly respiratory condition developed from breathing in fine silica dust found in places such as mines. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON: British American Tobacco, fresh from its takeover of US peer Reynolds, reported on Thursday sliding first-half net profits, but sales jumped on the back of the Brexit-hit pound. Profit after tax slid 15 percent to £2.3 billion ($3.0 billion, 2.6 billion euros) in the six months to June 30 from a year earlier, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes said in a

Eurozone lending growth falls back in June: ECB

results statement. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer lowered its full-year forecast for 2017 Thursday, as revenues shrank at its agrichemical and over-the-counter medicines arms. The firm based in Leverkusen, western Germany reported a net profit of 1.22 billion euros ($1.43 billion) in the second quarter, an 11.3-percent fall compared with the same period in 2016 and short of analysts’ predictions. Revenues grew 3.0 percent between April and June compared with 2016’s figure, reaching 12.19 billion euros. And operating, or underlying profits increased 0.6 percent to 2.15 billion. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

PARIS: Global steel giant ArcelorMittal said Thursday that second quarter net profits climbed nearly 19 percent to $1.3 billion (1.1 billion euros) thanks to improving market conditions. Sales rose by 17 percent from the same quarter last year, and were up by seven percent from the first quarter. The company said “current market conditions are improved compared to twelve months ago” and that its analysis of the market “suggests that steel shipments in 2H 2017 will be higher than would normally be suggested by seasonality alone.” It said interest costs were expected to be lower than it had previously estimated, allowing it to increase investment in working capital while continuing to pare down debt. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

PARIS: A strong increase in international passenger numbers, especially from the US, bolstered the first-half performance of Eurostar, the rail operator linking London to the European mainland, it said Thursday. Eurostar, which is majority-owned by France’s national railways SNCF, said sales rose 11 percent in the six months to June, as business travel also picked up. “After a muted 2016, the first half of 2017 has been marked by a resurgence in overseas travellers,” Eurostar said in a statement. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Lending to businesses and households by eurozone banks rose in June, but at a slower rate, monthly figures from the European Central Bank showed Thursday. Loans to the private sector grew 2.5 percent last month, adjusting for some strictly financial operations, the central bank said in a statement. That was a slight fall from the pace of 2.7 percent in May, which the ECB revised up from the 2.6 percent reported last month. Borrowing by households held steady in June, growing at 2.6 percent – the same level as the previous month. But growth

MADRID: Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica posted Thursday an 18.4 percent increase in net profit in the second quarter and lifted its revenue target for 2017. The heavily indebted company said its net profit in the April-June period was 821 million euros ($957 million), up from 693 million euros a year earlier but below the figure of 835 million euros predicted by analysts polled by financial data company Factset. (AFP)

mean households and businesses spend, invest and hire more, the bank calculates, driving economic growth and pushing inflation towards its target of just below 2.0 percent. The ECB increased its growth forecasts for the coming years in June, but sees no corresponding rise in inflation materialising soon. At its most recent monetary policy meeting this month, ECB president Mario Draghi held off making any change to the easymoney policy, telling observers to expect an update later this year on whether he will put an end to mass bond-buying. (AFP)

Global mkts extend record run; dollar ‘steadies’ after Fed fail Oil barely higher after recent rally NEW YORK, July 27, (Agencies): Stocks on world markets rose to record highs on upbeat corporate earnings Thursday, while US Treasury yields and the dollar climbed, as investors assessed the Federal Reserve’s recent statement that it is closer to paring its balance sheet. MSCI’s 47-country All World share index was at a record peak, while US stocks hit all-time highs as well. Asian stocks had jumped to their highest in almost a decade. The US central bank said on Wednesday it expected to start winding down its massive holdings of bonds “relatively soon,” despite striking a cautious tone on low inflation. The US dollar rallied against the euro and yen after solid US economic data, bouncing back from lows hit after the Fed statement. The euro on Thursday fell 0.5 percent against the dollar, slipping back below $1.17. The dollar rose 0.3 percent against the yen to 111.50 yen. The dollar sank on Wednesday after the Fed’s policy statement suggested the Fed was in no hurry to raise interest rates again. Oil prices edged higher after hitting eight-week highs Wednesday in the wake of a surprising slump in US inventories that encouraged hopes that a global crude glut would recede. Brent crude futures were up 23 cents at $51.20 a barrel, while US crude was up 5 cents to $48.80.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German insurer Allianz expressed confidence in reaching the top end of its forecast for the full year, as preliminary results for the second quarter showed strong growth. Net profits at the Munich-based group soared 83.4 percent from April to June 2016 to reach 2.0 billion euros ($2.35 billion), the firm said in a statement late Wednesday. Operating, or underlying profit climbed 23 percent to reach 2.9 billion euros, on the back of revenues up 2.0 percent to almost 30 billion euros. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

in lending to non-financial businesses slowed, sliding to 2.1 percent last month from the 2.5 percent recorded in May. The ECB watches lending to households and non-financial firms in the 19-nation eurozone as an indicator of the effectiveness of its policies, designed to boost growth and inflation with easy credit. Governors have offered cheap loans to banks, set interest rates at record lows and bought tens of billions of euros of bonds each month in a bid to pump cash through the financial system and into the real economy. Making credit more accessible should

US Wall Street trimmed gains in early afternoon trading on Thursday as tech stocks, including heavyweights Apple and Google parent Alphabet , edged lower. The three major indexes hit record highs earlier in the day, powered by a barrage of strong quarterly earnings, led by Facebook and Verizon. Facebook jumped as much as 5.96 percent to a record high after the social network’s results topped Wall Street estimates. Verizon surged 7.27 percent to a three-month high after the company reported quarterly subscriber additions that topped estimates. The stock put the S&P telecommunications index on track to post its biggest oneday percentage gain in more than eight years. Still, the S&P technology sector remains the best performing sector as investors look for growth in an otherwise low-growth environment. The

index was down 0.88 percent. Online giant Amazon is due to report results after the bell, along with Intel. Earnings of S&P 500 companies are now expected to have climbed 10.7 percent in the second quarter, up from an 8 percent rise estimated at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. With equity markets at record levels, investors have been counting on strong earnings to justify the relatively expensive stock valuations. At 12:55 pm ET (1655 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 40.46 points, or 0.19 percent, at 21,751.47, the S&P 500 was down 1.46 points, or 0.05 percent, at 2,476.37. The Nasdaq Composite was down 14.01 points, or 0.22 percent, at 6,408.74. Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with the telecommunication index’s 4.50 percent rise leading the advancers. However, losses in Amgen, Johnson and Johnson and Celgene led to a 0.32 percent drop in the healthcare sector. Industrials were driven lower by a 3.95 percent fall in United Parcel Service, despite the package service company posting a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Twitter fell as much as 14.07 percent, putting it on track for it’s biggest one-day fall since October, after the company’s quarterly results showed it failed to add users on a monthly basis in the second quarter, compared with the first quarter. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,466 to 1,323. On the Nasdaq, 1,742 issues fell and 1,038 advanced.

Europe The biggest one-day drop in AstraZeneca shares following a drug study failure dominated stock trading in Europe on Thursday, outweighing a handful of well-received earnings results and sending indexes lower. The British drugmaker fell 15.7 percent to its lowest level in almost five months after a closely watched advanced lung cancer trial failed, in what Morgan Stanley said was a “major setback” for the group. Regional healthcare stocks fell 1.2 percent to their lowest in more than four months. Solid results from big firms including Swiss drugmaker Roche, beer maker AB InBev and Diageo were not enough to pull broad indexes up. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.1 percent higher and euro zone bluechips edged down 0.2 percent, while Germany’s DAX dropped 0.8 percent as results from BASF and Deutsche Bank underwhelmed. Swiss stocks hit the day’s high af-

ter the Swiss franc fell to its weakest against the euro since the currency cap was lifted in January 2015. Diageo, up 6.4 percent, provided the biggest boost to the STOXX after the maker of Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka raised its profitability target and announced a share buyback programme. Roche gained 1.2 percent after it raised its 2017 outlook while AB InBev, up 5.5 percent, reported an increase in second-quarter earnings. Thursday saw the heaviest day of European earnings in the current season, and by the end of the week about half the market-cap of the STOXX 600 will have reported earnings. As of the previous day’s close, a quarter of the companies on the MSCI Europe had issued results with nearly half of them beating profit expectations and 8 percent matching them. Results point to aggregate second-quarter earnings growth of 11 percent. Deutsche Bank led banking stocks lower, falling 6.5 percent in its weakest day in five months after the bank lowered its 2017 revenue forecast due to a difficult second quarter. Heavyweights BASF and Bayer dropped after lower than expected earnings, and a profit forecast cut, respectively, making the chemicals sector the worst-performing across Europe. Elsewhere, French firms Elior Group and Imerys were among the worst performers on the STOXX 600 after AstraZeneca, following their respective results. Nestle’s results also disappointed. Its shares fell 0.9 percent after the world’s largest food group trimmed its 2017 sales outlook, adding fuel to shareholder demands on CEO Mark Schneider to speed up a turnaround. Despite a sharp drop in Siemens Gamesa shares, down 17.3 percent after missing expectations for its second-quarter earnings, Spain’s IBEX held onto gains as Telefonica rose after hiking its revenue target.

Asia Major Asian markets gained Thursday but the dollar struggled after the previous day’s losses when the Federal Reserve’s tepid inflation outlook fuelled speculation it will hold off further US rate hikes this year. Regional traders tracked fresh Wall Street records on optimism about corporate earnings as a host of big names disclosed results Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney all rose while Seoul was boosted by Samsung Electronics forecast-beating, record-breaking profits that were fuelled by sales of its new Galaxy S8 smartphone and memory chips. On equity markets Tokyo closed

0.2 percent higher, Hong Kong was up 0.7 percent, its 13th rise in 14 trading days. Seoul ended the day 0.4 percent up, Shanghai added 0.1 percent and Sydney rose 0.2 percent. Samsung — the world’s largest maker of mobile phones — said operating profit soared a forecast-beating 72.9 percent from the previous year to 14.07 trillion won ($12.6 billion). That puts in on course to beat Apple, which consensus forecasts say will report a $10.6 billion profit next week. However, the firm finished 0.1 percent off in Seoul. Bloomberg News contributed to this report Tokyo — Nikkei 225: Up 0.2 percent at 20,079.64 (close) Hong Kong — Hang Seng: Up 0.7 percent at 27,131.17 (close) Shanghai — Composite: Up 0.1 percent at 3,249.78 (close) Dollar/yen: Up at 111.30 yen from 111.18 yen

Oil Oil prices traded close to eightweek highs on Thursday, boosted by a steeper-than-expected slide in US crude inventories last week. Brent crude futures dipped by 2 cents to $50.95 a barrel at 1346 GMT, after rising about 1.5 percent in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 1 cent at $48.74 a barrel. Both contracts traded lower earlier in the session on a stronger dollar, but recovered most of the lost ground. A stronger US currency makes dollardenominated crude more expensive for investors holding other currencies. On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration reported a 7.2 million barrel drop in US inventories in the week to July 21, much more than the 2.6 million barrels forecast.

Gold Gold touched its highest price in six weeks on Thursday, lifted by short-covering and a weak dollar as investors bet that US interest rates could be kept low for longer. The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but appeared less confident than it had about inflation picking up. The resulting fall in the greenback is a boon for dollar-denominated gold since it makes the metal less expensive for investors paying in other currencies. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,261.74 an ounce at 1420 GMT after peaking at $1,264.90, its highest since June 15. US gold futures for August delivery advanced 1 percent to $1,261.40 an ounce.

exchange rates – July 27 US dollar Buy Sell Sell Muzaini Sell Dollarco Commercial Bank Buy Sell Buy Gulf Bank Sell Buy NBK Sell Buy Burgan Bank Sell Buy ABK Sell Buy KFH Sell Sell KBE

Cash .299350 .303770 .302650 .304400 .301000 .305550 .302450 .304550 — — — — .299250 .305350 .300990 .306520 —

Buy Sell Sell Muzaini Sell Dollarco Commercial Bank Buy Sell Buy Gulf Bank Sell Buy NBK Sell Buy Burgan Bank Sell Buy ABK Sell Buy KFH Sell Sell KBE

Cash .041735 .043735 — — — — .004554 .004613 — — — — — — — — —

BEC

Draft .301100 .303450 .303850 .304400 .301700 .305300 .302450 .304550 .303250 .305600 .301700 .305800 .301750 .303850 .301700 .304800 .304300

Transfer .301100 .303450 .303850 .304400 .301700 .305300 .302450 .304550 .303250 .305600 .301700 .305800 .301750 .303850 .301700 .304800 .304300

Danish krone BEC

Draft .417347 .467347 — — .045511 .046053 .004554 .004613 .045070 .045910 .447841 .472469 .045090 .047290 .045227 .046253 —

Transfer .417347 .467347 — — .045511 .046053 .004554 .004613 .045070 .045910 .447841 .472469 .045090 .047290 .045227 .046253 —

Cyprus pound BEC Muzaini Dollarco Gulf Bank ABK KFH KBE

Buy Sell Sell Sell Buy Sell Buy Sell Buy Sell Sell

Cash Draft Transfer — — — — — — — — — .695000 .168730 .168730 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

travellers cheques BEC Commercial Bank Gulf Bank Al-Ahli Bank

Sterling pound Cash .388741 .398741 — .391610 .391000 .400000 .038938 .039726 — — — — .388580 .398940 .371121 .407120 —

Draft .387801 .397401 .396520 .391610 .390988 .395654 .038938 .039726 .390500 .401380 .379577 .400426 .392080 .396650 .376522 .398739 .380900

Transfer .387801 .397401 .396520 .391610 .390988 .395654 .038938 .039726 .390500 .401380 .379577 .400426 .392080 .396650 .376522 .398739 .380900

Euro Cash .344374 .353374 — .342150 .342000 .351000 .034179 .034878 — — — — .347430 .356950 .323775 .357341 —

Indian rupee Cash .004275 .004963 — .004760 .000400 .006500 — .000480 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .046612 .047372 .004730 .004737 — .004759 — .000480 .004690 .004731 .046091 .048907 .045090 .047290 .004632 .004790 .004694 Draft .011636 .012635 .001222 — — — — — .001196 .000123 .001550

US dollar .3034500 .3053000 .3045500 .3038500

Japanese yen Transfer .344161 .351261 .348360 .342150 .342746 .346836 .034179 .034878 .333780 .343620 .331617 .349851 .350560 .354900 .329064 .347716 .332100

Pakistani rupee

Transfer .046612 .047372 .004730 .004737 — .004759 — .000480 .004690 .004731 .046091 .048907 .045090 .047290 .004632 .004790 .004694

Cash .002714 .003004 — .003050 — — — .000294 — — — — — — — — —

Yemeni riyal Cash .000989 .001069 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .344161 .351261 .348360 .342150 .342746 .346836 .034179 .034878 .333780 .343620 .331617 .349851 .350560 .354900 .329064 .347716 .332100

Draft .028670 .028990 .002898 .002916 — .002921 — .000294 — .002950 .028267 .030008 — .004668 .002858 .002931 .004694

Transfer .028670 .028990 .002898 .002916 — .002921 — .000294 — .002950 .028267 .030008 — .004668 .002858 .002931 .004694

Thai baht

Transfer .011636 .012635 .001222 — — — — — .001196 .000123 .001550

Cash .008585 .009135 — .009000 — — — — — — —

Sterling .3974011 .3956540 .3972600 .3966500

Draft .008507 .008922 .008991 .009820 — — – — .008762 .009122 —

Transfer .008507 .008922 .008991 .009820 — — — – .008762 .009122 —

Euro .3512616 .3468360 .3487800 .3549000

Cash .002679 .002850 — .002745 — — .000274 .000278 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .026790 .028590 .002763 .002745 .002748 .002774 .000274 .000278 .002708 .002788 .002693 .002841 .027446 .027784 .002681 .002835 —

Transfer .026790 .028590 .002763 .002745 .002748 .002774 .000274 .000278 .002708 .002788 .002693 .002841 .027446 .027784 .002681 .002835 —

Sri Lanka rupee Cash .001608 .002188 — .002270 .002000 .003500 — .000202 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .019479 .019890 .001986 .002014 — .002003 — .000202 .001940 .002020 .019415 .020540 — .002119 .001970 .002011 .001984

Transfer .019479 .019890 .001986 .002014 — .002003 — .000202 .001940 .002020 .019415 .020540 — .002119 .001970 .002011 .001984

Swiss franc Cash .307100 .318100 — .313810 .311000 .320000 .031080 .031717 — — — — — — — — —

Transfer .308099 .315099 .315780 .313810 .311974 .315692 .031080 .031717 .306020 .315870 .306276 .323139 .312100 .316410 .305671 .321881 —

Bangladesh taka Cash .003385 .003959 — .004000 — — — .000382 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .037303 .037743 .003763 .003819 — .003794 — .000382 — — .036660 .038947 — — .003691 .003824 .003778

Transfer .037303 .037743 .003763 .003819 — .003794 — .000382 — — .036660 .038947 — — .003691 .003824 .003778

Korean won

South African rand Cash Draft Transfer .017675 — — .026175 — — — — — — — — — — — .002415 .002415 .002415 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Draft .308099 .315099 .315780 .313810 .311974 .315692 .031080 .031717 .306020 .315870 .306276 .323139 .312100 .316410 .305671 .321881 —

Cash .000261 .000276 — — — — — — — — —

local gold BEC Muzaini Exchange

Draft — — — — — — — — — — —

Transfer — — — — — — — — — — —

Gold 999 kg — 12,062.730

Canadian dollar Cash .223388 .232388 — .226990 .227000 .234000 .022772 .023236 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .221387 .231387 .230900 .226990 .228336 .231057 .022772 .023236 .218030 .045910 .224697 .237036 .228690 .231330 .224041 .233338 —

Transfer .221387 .231387 .230900 .226990 .228336 .231057 .022772 .023236 .218030 .045910 .224697 .237036 .228690 .231330 .224041 .233338 —

Philippine peso Cash .006030 .006330 — .006350 .005000 .007900 — .000623 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .056860 .061530 .006146 .006158 — .006195 — .000623 .005930 .006110 .059870 .063517 — .006648 .006001 .006251 .006060

Transfer .056860 .061530 .006146 .006158 — .006195 — .000623 .005930 .006110 .059870 .063517 .006648 .006001 .006251 .006060

Swedish krona Cash .030710 .031810 — — — — .003478 .003518 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .004991 .007191 .002169 .002425 — — — — — — —

Gold 999 10 tola — 1,426.660

Transfer .004991 .007191 .002169 .002425 — — — — — — —

Transfer .307117 .357117 — — .034729 .035143 .003478 .003518 .034390 .034980 .341938 .360703 .034490 .035840 .034572 .035267 —

Australian dollar Cash .221302 .233302 — — .227000 .236000 .022824 .023124 — — — — — — — — —

Syrian pound Cash .001290 .001510 — .000750 — — — — — — —

Draft .307117 .357117 — — .034729 .035143 .003478 .003518 .034390 .034980 .341938 .360703 .034490 .035840 .034572 .035267 —

Draft .219301 .232301 — — .227527 .230238 .022824 .023124 .222040 .230730 .225160 .237591 .228470 .231670 .221648 .236245 —

Transfer .219301 .232301 — — .227527 .230238 .022824 .023124 .222040 .230730 .225160 .237591 .228470 .231670 .221648 .236245 —

Iranian Riyal Cash .000084 .000085 — — — — — — — — —

Gold ounce — 385.640

Draft — — — — — — — — — — —

Transfer — — — — — — — — — — —

Gold gm 22k — 11.070

Saudi riyal Cash .080047 .081347 — .081227 .079000 .083000 .008058 .008168 — — — — .079290 .082010 .080146 .081914 —

Draft .805467 .811867 .081147 .081227 .080577 .081537 .008058 .008168 .080720 .081430 .079149 .083686 .080000 .081530 .080373 .081422

Transfer .805467 .811867 .081147 .081227 .080577 .081537 .008058 .008168 .080720 .081430 .079149 .083686 .080000 .081530 .080373 .081422

Hong Kong dollar Cash .037117 .039867 — — — — .003860 .003938 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .036434 .039534 .038994 — .038736 .039198 .003860 .003938 — — — — .038760 .039210 — — —

Transfer .036434 .039534 .038994 — .038736 .039198 .003860 .003938 — — — — .038760 .039210 — — —

Lebanese pound Cash .000156 .000258 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .001863 .002063 .002026 — — — — — .000197 .000206 —

Gold gm 21k — 10.570

Transfer .001863 .002063 .002026 — — — — — .000197 .000206 —

UAE dirham Cash .081411 .083111 — .082931 .082203 .083029 .008223 .008325 — — — — .082203 .083029 .081840 .083646 —

Draft .813661 .828821 .082850 .082931 .082271 .083252 .008223 .008325 .082440 .083120 .809162 .853504 .081950 .083320 .082074 .083142 .082810

Transfer .813661 .828821 .082850 .082931 .082271 .083252 .008223 .008325 .082440 .083120 .809162 .853504 .081950 .083320 .082074 .083142 .082810

Singapore dollar Cash .214630 .224630 — — — — .021885 .022133 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .215629 .221629 .221080 — .218486 .221089 .021885 .022133 .217140 .219840 .215322 .227191 .219040 .221570 .216846 .222348 —

Transfer .215629 .221629 .221080 — .218486 .221089 .021885 .022133 .217140 .219840 .215322 .227191 .219040 .221570 .216846 .222348 —

Malaysian ringgit Cash .067137 .073137 — .069800 — — — — — — —

Gold gm 18k — 9.060

Draft .661723 .731723 .068879 .069775 — — — — .070132 .072246 —

Transfer .661723 .731723 .068879 .069775 — — — — .070132 .072246 —

100 gm 999 — —

Bahraini dinar Cash .799606 .808106 — .808820 .800883 .808932 .079875 .081019 — — — — — — .794041 .816698 —

Draft .799106 .807606 .808020 .808820 .802135 .811693 .079875 .081019 .080297 .080993 .786925 .832026 .795990 .811090 .799603 .808886 .806500

Transfer .799106 .807606 .808020 .808820 .802135 .811693 .079875 .081019 .080297 .080993 .786925 .832026 .795990 .811090 .799603 .808886 .806500

Jordanian dinar Cash .423764 .432764 — .433500 .420000 .436000 — .043282 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .423349 .430849 .428910 .431140 — .431688 — .043282 .042546 .043286 .418061 .442094 .426230 .433470 .424364 .430295 —

Transfer .423349 .430849 .428910 .431140 — .431688 — .043282 .042546 .043286 .418061 .442094 .426230 .433470 .424364 .430295 —

Indonesian rupiah Cash .000018 .000024 — — — .000020 — — — — —

Draft .000176 .000246 — — — .000020 — — — — .002395

10 gm 999 — 127.450

Transfer .000176 .000246 — — — .000020 — — — — .002395

Omani riyal Cash .783839 .780519 — — .785133 .793024 .078492 .079573 — — — — — — .766260 .793146 —

Draft .778339 .789339 .790281 — .785594 .794955 .078492 .079573 .786500 .793090 .771094 .815244 .782410 .795280 .783517 .792387 —

Transfer .778339 .789339 .790281 — .785594 .794955 .078492 .079573 .786500 .793090 .771094 .815244 .782410 .795280 .783517 .792387 —

Egyptian pound Cash .013995 .019903 .019700 .020000 .012000 .020000 — .001714 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .016303 .017142 .016737 .017031 — .017419 — .001714 .016610 .017780 .015754 .017985 — .018190 .001654 .016834 .016990

Transfer .016303 .017142 .016737 .017031 — .017419 — .001714 .016610 .017780 .015754 .017985 — .018190 .001654 .016834 .016990

New Zealand dollar Cash .213285 .222785 — — .021752 .022204 — — — — —

Draft .211284 .222284 — — .021752 .022204 .218390 .222010 — — —

Transfer .211284 .222284 — — .021752 .022204 .218390 .222010 — — —

All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

LEISURE

37

Greek depicted on the cover of “The Wind in the Willows”

C 2012 The New York Times, distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

Scratch pad

odds ’n’ ends BURSA, Turkey:

Blood tests, eye checkups and ultrasound exams are on the cards for nine animals, five big cats among them, that have been trucked into Turkey in a rescue from their damaged zoo in Aleppo in strife-torn Syria. Three lions, two tigers, two bears and two hyenas survived more than six years of intense clashes at the abandoned Aalim al-Sahar (Magic World) Zoo to arrive at a rehabilitation centre in Turkey’s western province of Bursa. The project was a joint effort between the Turkish environment ministry and international animal charity Four Paws. “To go to the border to see how difficult it is, to make some tests, to bring one cage out — it is impossible,” said Amir Khalil, who led the charity’s efforts. “So to bring wild animals, it was a long, long way.” Efforts to find new homes for the animals will kick off after they complete rehabilitation, to help recover from their ordeal. “We will check the blood, we will do ultrasound and we will do an eye exam, and then we will have a real idea of what is the situation and status,” said wildlife veterinarian Frank Goeritz. “And then we can continue our mission to bring them to a final destination.” (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Bees collect pollen from a sunflower on July 25, near Bergheim, western Germany. (AFP)

Challenger

Conceptis Sudoku

contract bridge

The grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3 box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive

By Steve Becker

DIRECTIONS: Fill each square with a number, one through nine. ■ Horizontal squares should add to totals on right. ■ Vertical squares should add to totals on bottom. ■ Diagonal squares through center should add to total in upper and lower right.

Yesterday’s solution

THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION.

Answer to yesterday’s puzzle

Today’s Challenge Time 5 Minutes 37 Seconds Your Working Time __ Minutes __ Seconds

ATHENS, Greece:

Word by Word

Soft

NEW YORK: Certified meditation teacher Kristin Westbrook offered guided meditation sessions inside of her converted RV truck on Wednesday in midtown Manhattan and encouraged frazzled passersby to join her for a 10-minute mental break. Leaned up against her vehicle, which was parked around New York’s Bryant Park and alongside several food trucks, Westbrook, 50, said she opened “Calm City,” a mobile meditation studio, in May to alleviate people’s stress as it helped her with her own. In town from Massachusetts, Susan, 55, saw the parked truck while walking back to her hotel in Times Square and stopped in for a 10-minute session costing $10. “It’s a total reset,” Susan, who did not wish to provide her last name, said. “Any sort of high-level stress, it just would bring it right down, remind you to breathe, remind you to come inside, remind you to just ground your feet and just drop in. It’s perfect.” The Calm City mobile studio, which seats up to nine people at a time, hosted about four customers total on a recent Wednesday, according to Westbrook. She hopes to partner with companies around the city for corporate events and eventually expand her business by operating more trucks. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Raqeeq

A soft answer turneth away wrath. Al jawab al raqeeq yosket al ghadab.

Numbers thousand six hundred 7618 Seven eighteen Sabat alaf wa seto maah wa thamani ashar

Sunday:

A two-day strike by Greek Culture Ministry employees protesting staff shortages will shut the Acropolis and other ancient sites and museums in Athens this weekend at the height of the tourist season. But the strike will not affect the Acropolis Museum outside the ancient citadel, museum officials said. The ministry workers’ union said Wednesday it wants the government to honor a pledge to hire some 230 archaeologists and guards, replacing employees who have retired in recent years. Yet under the terms of Greece’s international bailouts, only a fraction of the civil servants who retire can be replaced by new hires. The union said the strike will apply to archaeological sites and state-run museums in Athens and the surrounding province of Attica. (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

SPORTS

38

Sale Ks 11, Red Sox blank Mariners Martinez homers twice as Diamondbacks rout Braves 10-3 SEATTLE, July 27, (AP): Chris Sale pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, 20-year-old Rafael Devers became the youngest Boston player to hit a home run since Tony Conigliaro in 1965 and the Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 4-0 on Wednesday to stop a four-game losing streak.

Cormier’s bitter rivalry with Jones ‘picks’ at UFC 214 BURBANK, California, July 27, (AP): Daniel Cormier recognizes the cosmic paradox at the bottom of his bitter rivalry with Jon Jones. If anybody in the world could relate to the exact pressures and pitfalls faced by Jones over the past several years as a wildly successful mixed martial artist, Cormier would be that man. If any fighter could teach Jones about the perseverance and steadiness necessary to forge a successful career with something besides spectacular athletic talent, it would be the man standing across from Jones in the UFC 214 cage on Saturday night. “If we weren’t what we are today, there are a lot of things that I could give to him, to help him be a better version of himself,” Cormier said with a rueful laugh. Instead, Cormier and Jones are locked in one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history, one featuring streetclothes scuffles, epic trash-talking and a pointed animosity that can only grow out of familiarity.

Sale (13-4) struck out 11, reaching double digits for the 14th time this season. A day after his big league debut, Devers homered in the third off Andrew Moore (1-3) for his first major league hit. Sandy Leon hit a two-run homer off Moore in the fourth. Yankees 9, Reds 5 In New York, Luis Severino (7-4) struck out nine over seven innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs and three hits as New York completed a two-game sweep. Didi Gregorius hit his fourth homer in three games and Todd Frazier hit his first homer for the Yankees, who have won consecMartinez utive series after going 0-8-2 in series after sweeping Baltimore from June 9-11. The Yankees have won eight of 12 following a 7-19 slide. Cincinnati has lost three straight and is 2-11 since the All-Star break. Homer Bailey (2-5) lost his third start in a row, giving up seven runs — five earned — and 10 hits in six-plus innings. Rays 5, Orioles 1 In St Petersburg, Florida, Evan Longoria and Steven Souza Jr homered, and Alex Cobb (9-6) gave up one run and four hits in seven innings. Longoria’s two-run homer off Ubaldo Jimenez (4-7) put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1 in the sixth, and Souza hit his 21st homer this season in the seventh against Darren O’Day. Diamondbacks 10, Braves 3 In Phoenix, J.D. Martinez homered twice and Ketel Marte hit an insidethe-park, two-run homer. Martinez has homered three times in three days, his first home runs since he was acquired from Detroit. Patrick Corbin (8-9) gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings. Aaron Blair (0-1) allowed five runs, five hits and five walks in three innings. Giants 2, Pirates 1 In San Francisco, Brandon Belt hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh against Tony Watson (5-3) on a routine fly that left fielder Starling Marte had trouble seeing because sun and wind. Jeff Samardzija (5-11) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, and Sam Dyson worked the ninth for his

Cosmic paradox

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox delivers in the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on July 26, in Seattle, Washington. (AFP)

sixth save. Cubs 8, White Sox 3 In Chicago, Jake Arrieta (10-7) gave up two runs and three hits in 6-2/3 innings and the World Series champions moved a season-high six games over .500 at 53-47. Chicago leads the NL Central by a half-game over Milwaukee after trailing the Brewers by 5-1/2 games just two weeks ago. Anthony Rizzo had three hits and four RBIs, helping the Cubs improve to 10-2 since the All-Star break. Addison Russell hit a solo homer in the ninth. Nationals 8, Brewers 5 In Washington, Bryce Harper extended his hitting streak to a careerhigh 18 games, then was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Chris Segal after striking out in the eighth inning with runners at the corners. Washington said it will put star right-hander Stephen Strasburg on the disabled list Thursday with a nerve impingement that is causing pain in his right forearm. The move will be retroactive to Monday, and Nationals manager Dusty Baker said Strasburg will miss one turn. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Lind had two-run doubles in a seven-run eighth inning. Milwaukee’s Domingo Santana hit a first-inning home run that landed on the concourse beyond

San Diego Padres center fielder Manuel Margot makes the catch for the out on New York Mets’ Michael Conforto during the fifth inning of a baseball game on July 26, in San Diego. (AP)

the left-field stands, a drive that would have traveled 476 feet unimpeded, according to MLB’s Statcast. Blue Jays 3, Athletics 2 In Toronto, Justin Smoak hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth off Santiago Casilla (2-5) and Kendrys Morales homered on the next pitch. Toronto has hit consecutive homers six times this year, the last three occasions involving Smoak and Morales. Joe Biagini (3-8) pitched two-thirds of an inning. Phillies 9, Astros 0 In Philadelphia, Aaron Nola (8-6) struck out a career-high 10 over six

BASEBALL innings, allowing four hits. He is 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA over his last seven starts. Cameron Rupp hit two home runs and had four RBIs. Maikel Franco homered and doubled and Tommy Joseph had two doubles for the Phillies, who had 14 hits while setting season highs with five doubles and nine extrabase hits. Mike Fiers (7-5) allowed three runs and five hits in four innings. Royals 16, Tigers 2 In Detriot, Eric Hosmer matched his career high with five hits, including his first major league grand slam, and had six RBIs and four runs. Hosmer entered with 117 homers but had not hit one with the bases loaded until he connected off Warwick Saupold in a nine-run seventh inning. Bruce Rondon was ejected with one out in the ninth after hitting Mike Moustakas on the back with a pitch, which caused both benches to empty. Utilityman Andrew Romine entered in his third big league pitching appearance. Ian Kennedy (4-6) improved to 3-0 in his last six starts, allowing one run and three hits in six innings. Anibal Sanchez (2-1) gave up four runs and nine hits in 3-2/3 innings. Indians 10, Angels 4 In Cleveland, Rookie Bradley Zimmer homered and drove in the goahead run with a seventh-inning double as Cleveland won its sixth in a row, matching a season high. Zimmer hit a leadoff homer and broke a 2-all tie with a two-out double against Ricky Nolasco (4-12). Bryan

Shaw (4-4) was the winner. Marlins 22, Rangers 10 In Arlington, Texas, Dee Gordon homered on the first pitch thrown by Yu Darvish (6-9) and Miami set a franchise scoring record, topping a 20-1 win over Atlanta on July 1, 2003. Christian Yelich hit a solo homer in the first for the Marlins, and Marcell Ozuna’s three-run triple in the fourth made it 9-2 to chase Darvish (6-9). J.T. Realmuto and Giancarlo Stanton later went deep, with Stanton hitting a 468foot drive for his major league-leading 33rd homer. Adrian Beltre homered and had two doubles, giving the Rangers third baseman 2,996 hits. He was ejected in the eighth in a dispute with plate umpire Gerry Davis over where Beltre stood while on deck to hit. Jose Urena (9-4) allowed five runs, four hits and four walks in five-plus innings. Cardinals 10, Rockies 5 In St Louis, Paul DeJong hit his eighth home run in July, a two-run drive in the first off Jeff Hoffman (63). Randal Grichuk had a career-high four hits and Harrison Bader had three hits in his second major league game. Carlos Martinez (7-8) struck out eight and gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings for his first win since June 16. St Louis has won four of five while Colorado has lost four of six. The Rockies announced after the game that they have acquired right-hander Pat Neshek from Philadelphia for minor league pitchers J.D. Hammer, Alejandro Requena and infielder Jose Gomez. Padres 6, Mets 3 In San Diego, Luis Torrens had three RBIs, Manuel Margot homered and Jhoulys Chacin (10-7) gave up two runs and four hits in 5-1/3 innings. Brad Hand got three outs for his fourth save, extending his scoreless string to 17-1/3 innings. Steven Matz (2-4) gave up six runs and nine hits in three innings and is 0-3 in his last five starts. Dodgers 6, Twins 5 In Los Angeles, Justin Turner hit a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth off All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler (2-2) as Los Angeles rallied from a 5-0 fourth-inning deficit to win their fifth straight and improve the major leagues’ best record to 71-31.

More than 2-1/2 years after Jones beat Cormier to defend the light heavyweight title, Cormier is the champion heading into their rematch at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Cormier (19-1) realizes he needs a victory over his self-sabotaging archrival to validate his own title reign — and any empathetic thoughts about Jones (22-1) have been drowned out by years of anger and frustration with an enemy who could have been a friend. “I’ve allowed myself to let go of that thought: ‘Why am I so disappointed in him?’” Cormier said during a recent lunch break from his other job as an MMA analyst for Fox. “Why was I so upset when he was throwing everything away? It shouldn’t matter to me. When I was finally able to let that go, it freed me.” The most anticipated MMA matchup of the summer is the headline bout on a stacked card, but Cormier is unable to take much satisfaction in this lucrative pinnacle of his career. The decisive loss to Jones in January 2015 remains the only blemish on Cormier’s record, and he has reigned atop the 205-pound division for two years since Jones’ title was stripped a few months afterward. Jones’ misdeeds are almost too long to list at this point, even when limited just to the trouble since 2014. He had a positive test for cocaine use around the time of their first bout, followed by an embarrassing hit-and-run accident in which a pregnant woman’s arm was broken, followed by another failed drug test revealed shortly before their scheduled rematch at UFC 200 and blamed on an erectile dysfunction medication. Cormier has lampooned and criticized Jones with each mistake, but only because he sees Jones making the mistakes that he has avoided. While Jones lives his madcap life, Cormier is a former Olympic wrestler with a late-blooming MMA career and a stable family existence in the Bay Area. “I can almost sympathize with Jon more today than I did before,” Cormier said. “Because I see all the traps, the excess — from girls to new friends. There’s just so much available to you that you don’t really want to be involved with. But I got it as a 36-year-old man. He was a 23-yearold kid, and then it just became a part of who he was. You’ve got to avoid those traps. I live in what’s important. My family, my training, my jobs.”

In this Jan 3, 2015, file photo, Daniel Cormier (bottom), takes down Jon Jones during their light heavyweight title mixed martial arts bout at UFC 182 in Las Vegas. (AP)

NFL Roundup

Flacco injured Panthers’ Newton returns to practice SPARTANBURG, South Carolina, July 27, (AP): Cam Newton was back doing what he does at practice — dancing, playing up to the crowd and, most importantly, throwing passes. Newton showed no ill effects from offseason shoulder surgery as the Panthers opened t r a i n ing camp Wednesday night at Wofford College. Newton, who underwent surgery to repair a partially Newton torn rotator cuff in his right throwing shoulder in March, fired several passes in the 10 to 20-yard range in his first practice with teammates since the end of last season. ❑ ❑ ❑ Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback Joe Flacco is expected to miss between three and six weeks of action due to a disc issue in his back, the NFL said on its website on Wednesday. The 32-year-old, who is set to enter his 10th season, played in all 16 games in eight of his nine seasons, only missing time in 2015 with a knee injury. ❑ ❑ ❑ A year after missing all of the preseason on his way to an injury-shortened regular season, J.J. Watt made his return to training camp for the Houston Texans on Wednesday. Practice never felt quite so good for the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. ❑ ❑ ❑ Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones’s jet ski jaunt on a Georgia lake this week came with a price — a $150,000 diamond earring. The All-Pro receiver, part of the Falcons team that suffered a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots in February, realized he’d lost the bauble when he emerged from Lake Lanier.

MLB Scoreboard WASHINGTON, July 27, (Agencies): Results from the MLB games on Wednesday. LA Dodgers 6 Minnesota 5 San Diego 6 NY Mets 3 St Louis 10 Colorado 5 Chicago Cubs 8 Chic Sox 3 Miami 22 Texas 10 Kansas City 16 Detroit 2 Cleveland 10 LA Angels 4 Toronto 3 Oakland 2 Philadelphia 9 Houston 0 Washington 8 Milwaukee 5 San Francisco 2 Pittsburgh 1 Arizona 10 Atlanta 3 Boston 4 Seattle 0 NY Yankees 9 Cincinnati 5 Tampa Bay 5 Baltimore 1 MLB Linescores American League Baltimore 000 100 0001 6 0 Tampa Bay 000 002 12x5 8 0 Jimenez, O’Day (7), Britton (8) and C. Joseph; Cobb, Hunter (8), Boxberger (9) and Ramos. W_Cobb 9-6. L_Jimenez 4-7. HRs_Baltimore, Schoop. Tampa Bay, Souza Jr, Longoria. Boston 011 200 0004 9 0 Seattle 000 000 0000 5 0 Sale, Boyer (8), Kimbrel (9) and Leon; A.Moore, Rzepczynski (7), Pagan (8), Cishek (9) and Ruiz. W_Sale 13-4. L_A. Moore 1-3. Sv_Kimbrel (25). HRs_Boston, Leon, Devers. Oakland 000 020 0002 3 0 Toronto 000 000 0033 5 0 Blackburn, Treinen (8), Casilla (9) and Maxwell; Estrada, Dermody (6), Leone (6), Loup (8), Biagini (9) and Montero. W_ Biagini 3-8. L_Casilla 2-5. HRs_Oakland, Semien. Toronto, Smoak, Morales. Los Angeles 010 000 1024 12 0 Cleveland 100 100 17x10 17 0 Nolasco, Middleton (7), Bedrosian (8), Pounders (8) and Maldonado; Carrasco,

B.Shaw (7), A.Miller (8), Otero (9) and Gomes. W_B.Shaw 4-4. L_Nolasco 4-12. HRs_Los Angeles, Valbuena. Cleveland, Zimmer. Kansas City 013 000 90316 22 1 Detroit 000 010 1002 7 0 Kennedy, Alexander (7), Buchter (8), Maurer (9) and Butera; A.Sanchez, C.Bell (4), Saupold (7), Stumpf (7), Rondon (9), Romine (9) and J.McCann. W_Kennedy 4-6. L_A.Sanchez 2-1. HRs_Kansas City, Hosmer. Interleague Cincinnati 000 000 2305 4 2 New York 001 012 50x9 12 1 Bailey, Cingrani (7), Wojciechowski (7), R.Iglesias (8) and Barnhart; L.Severino, Cessa (8), Robertson (9) and G.Sanchez. W_L.Severino 7-4. L_Bailey 2-5. HRs_ Cincinnati, Duvall. New York, Gregorius, Frazier. Houston 000 000 0000 9 0 Philadelphia 000 324 00x9 14 1 Fiers, Feliz (5), Sipp (7), Gregerson (8) and B.McCann; Nola, L.Garcia (7), Benoit (8), Neris (9) and Rupp. W_Nola 8-6. L_ Fiers 7-5. HRs_Philadelphia, Franco, Rupp 2. Chicago 000 141 0118 10 1 Chicago 000 010 1103 5 2 Arrieta, Montgomery (7) and Caratini; Shields, Holmberg (5), Infante (5), Goldberg (7), Minaya (8) and Narvaez. W_Arrieta 10-7. L_Shields 2-3. HRs_ Chicago, Russell. Chicago, Hanson, Moncada. Miami 200 900 25422 22 0 Texas 100 103 03210 10 0 Urena, J.Garcia (6), Wittgren (7), Steckenrider (8), Ellington (9) and Realmuto; Darvish, Jeffress (4), BibensDirkx (7), Grilli (8), Leclerc (8), Nicholas (9) and Lucroy. W_Urena 9-4. L_Darvish 6-9. HRs_Miami, Yelich, Gordon, Stanton, Realmuto. Texas, Beltre.

Minnesota 003 200 0005 7 1 Los Angeles 000 110 2116 11 2 E.Santana, Belisle (7), Rogers (7), Kintzler (8) and Castro; Stewart, Stripling (4), Morrow (7), Baez (8), Jansen (9) and Grandal. W_Jansen 5-0. L_Kintzler 2-2. HRs_Los Angeles, Puig, Pederson. National League Pittsburgh 010 000 0001 5 0 San Francisco100 000 10x2 7 0 T.Williams, Watson (7), Nicasio (8) and Cervelli; Samardzija, Strickland (8), Dyson (9) and Posey. W_Samardzija 5-11. L_ Watson 5-3. Sv_Dyson (6). Atlanta 100 100 0103 11 0 Arizona 104 200 12x10 12 0 Blair, L.Jackson (4), Morris (5), Krol (7) and Flowers; Corbin, Barrett (7), J.De La Rosa (8), R.De La Rosa (9) and Mathis. W_Corbin 8-9. L_Blair 0-1. HRs_Arizona, Marte, Martinez 2. Milwaukee 200 000 0035 9 0 Washington 000 000 17x8 10 1 Nelson, J.Barnes (8), Hader (8), Hughes (8) and Pina; G.Gonzalez, Madson (8), Doolittle (9) and Wieters, P.Severino. W_ Madson 3-4. L_J.Barnes 3-2. HRs_ Milwaukee, Brinson, Santana. Washington, Murphy. Colorado 202 010 0005 9 1 St Louis 200 502 10x10 15 0 Hoffman, Lyles (5), Chatwood (7), Ottavino (8) and Hanigan; C.Martinez, Brebbia (7), Cecil (8), Oh (9) and Molina, Kelly. W_C.Martinez 7-8. L_Hoffman 6-3. HRs_Colorado, Arenado. St Louis, DeJong. New York 010 001 0103 5 0 San Diego 204 000 00x6 10 0 Matz, Goeddel (4), Pill (5), Robles (7) and R.Rivera; Chacin, Baumann (6), Stammen (6), Yates (8), Hand (9) and Torrens. W_Chacin 10-7. L_Matz 2-4. Sv_ Hand (4). HRs_New York, Flores. San Diego, Margot.

MLB Leaders American League BATTING: Altuve, Houston, .365; Segura, Seattle, .326; Gamel, Seattle, .324; Correa, Houston, .320; Ramirez, Cleveland, .319; Hosmer, Kansas City, .319; Pedroia, Boston, .310; Judge, New York, .310; Springer, Houston, .310; Castro, New York, .307. RUNS: Springer, Houston, 82; Judge, New York, 80; Altuve, Houston, 72; Betts, Boston, 70; Ramirez, Cleveland, 67; Correa, Houston, 64; Gardner, New York, 64; Dickerson, Tampa Bay, 63; Sano, Minnesota, 63; 2 tied at 62. RBI: Cruz, Seattle, 75; Judge, New York, 73; Schoop, Baltimore, 72; KDavis, Oakland, 69; Sano, Minnesota, 68; Correa, Houston, 67; Smoak, Toronto, 67; Cano, Seattle, 66; Moustakas, Kansas City, 66; Springer, Houston, 66. HITS: Altuve, Houston, 141; Hosmer, Kansas City, 122; Ramirez, Cleveland, 120; Dickerson, Tampa Bay, 117; Abreu, Chicago, 114; Andrus, Texas, 114; Springer, Houston, 114; Schoop, Baltimore, 113; Betts, Boston, 112; Simmons, Los Angeles, 112. DOUBLES: Altuve, Houston, 32; Betts, Boston, 31; Ramirez, Cleveland, 31; Lindor, Cleveland, 29; Lowrie, Oakland, 28; Upton, Detroit, 28; Abreu, Chicago, 27; Dickerson, Tampa Bay, 27; Gurriel, Houston, 27; 3 tied at 26. TRIPLES: Castellanos, Detroit, 7; Sanchez, Chicago, 6; Ramirez, Cleveland, 5; Bogaerts, Boston, 4; Merrifield, Kansas City, 4; 15 tied at 3. HOME RUNS: Judge, New York, 32; Moustakas, Kansas City, 29; KDavis, Oakland, 28; Smoak, Toronto, 28; Springer, Houston, 27; Morrison, Tampa Bay, 26; Gallo, Texas, 25; Sano, Minnesota, 23; Napoli, Texas, 22; Schoop, Baltimore, 22. STOLEN BASES: Maybin, Los Angeles, 25; Dyson, Seattle, 22; Altuve, Houston, 21;

Andrus, Texas, 20; RDavis, Oakland, 19; DeShields, Texas, 19; Betts, Boston, 17; Buxton, Minnesota, 16; Cain, Kansas City, 16; Merrifield, Kansas City, 16. PITCHING: Sale, Boston, 13-4; Vargas, Kansas City, 12-4; Santana, Minnesota, 11-7; Carrasco, Cleveland, 10-4; Fulmer, Detroit, 10-8; Paxton, Seattle, 10-3; Pomeranz, Boston, 10-4; 7 tied at 9. ERA: Sale, Boston, 2.37; Kluber, Cleveland, 2.74; Stroman, Toronto, 2.98; Severino, New York, 3.03; Vargas, Kansas City, 3.08; Santana, Minnesota, 3.26; Fulmer, Detroit, 3.35; Cobb, Tampa Bay, 3.46; Duffy, Kansas City, 3.56; Carrasco, Cleveland, 3.58. STRIKEOUTS: Sale, Boston, 211; Archer, Tampa Bay, 167; Kluber, Cleveland, 149; Darvish, Texas, 148; Severino, New York, 145; Carrasco, Cleveland, 135; Estrada, Toronto, 122; Porcello, Boston, 121; Verlander, Detroit, 120; Tanaka, New York, 118. National League BATTING: JTurner, Los Angeles, .364; Murphy, Washington, .340; Harper, Washington, .334; Posey, San Francisco, .328; Blackmon, Colorado, .326; Taylor, Los Angeles, .321; Cozart, Cincinnati, .317; Zimmerman, Washington, .316; Peralta, Arizona, .316; Ozuna, Miami, .315. RUNS: Blackmon, Colorado, 89; Harper, Washington, 83; Goldschmidt, Arizona, 80; Stanton, Miami, 72; Arenado, Colorado, 69; Inciarte, Atlanta, 68; Murphy, Washington, 66; Votto, Cincinnati, 66; Bryant, Chicago, 65; Yelich, Miami, 65. RBI: Arenado, Colorado, 89; Lamb, Arizona, 80; Ozuna, Miami, 77; Goldschmidt, Arizona, 75; Harper, Washington, 75; Murphy, Washington, 73; Shaw, Milwaukee, 73; Reynolds, Colorado, 70; Stanton, Miami, 70; 3 tied at 69. HITS: Blackmon, Colorado, 136; Inciarte, Atlanta, 126; Arenado, Colorado, 125; Murphy, Washington, 123; Ozuna,

Miami, 121; LeMahieu, Colorado, 119; Gordon, Miami, 116; Harper, Washington, 116; Goldschmidt, Arizona, 112; Yelich, Miami, 108. DOUBLES: Murphy, Washington, 33; Arenado, Colorado, 32; Herrera, Philadelphia, 32; Duvall, Cincinnati, 28; Drury, Arizona, 25; Harper, Washington, 25; Phillips, Atlanta, 25; Shaw, Milwaukee, 25; 5 tied at 24. TRIPLES: Blackmon, Colorado, 13; Cozart, Cincinnati, 7; Hamilton, Cincinnati, 7; Reyes, New York, 6; Arenado, Colorado, 5; Pollock, Arizona, 5; 14 tied at 4. HOME RUNS: Stanton, Miami, 33; Bellinger, Los Angeles, 28; Votto, Cincinnati, 26; Bruce, New York, 25; Harper, Washington, 25; Blackmon, Colorado, 24; Thames, Milwaukee, 24; 5 tied at 23. STOLEN BASES: Hamilton, Cincinnati, 43; Gordon, Miami, 36; TTurner, Washington, 35; Villar, Milwaukee, 20; Nunez, Boston, 18; Broxton, Milwaukee, 17; Goldschmidt, Arizona, 15; Peraza, Cincinnati, 15; Pollock, Arizona, 14; 3 tied at 13. PITCHING: Kershaw, Los Angeles, 15-2; Davies, Milwaukee, 12-4; Greinke, Arizona, 12-4; deGrom, New York, 12-3; Scherzer, Washington, 11-5; Wainwright, St Louis, 11-5; Wood, Los Angeles, 11-1; 6 tied at 10. ERA: Kershaw, Los Angeles, 2.04; Scherzer, Washington, 2.26; Gonzalez, Washington, 2.81; Greinke, Arizona, 2.92; Ray, Arizona, 3.15; Nola, Philadelphia, 3.17; Leake, St Louis, 3.20; Lynn, St Louis, 3.21; Strasburg, Washington, 3.26; deGrom, New York, 3.30. STRIKEOUTS: Scherzer, Washington, 192; Kershaw, Los Angeles, 168; deGrom, New York, 152; Ray, Arizona, 149; Samardzija, San Francisco, 146; Martinez, St Louis, 144; Nelson, Milwaukee, 142; Strasburg, Washington, 141; Greinke, Arizona, 140; Gonzalez, Washington, 127.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

SPORTS

39

Promises to deliver ‘homes for all’ have not been met

Five years after London Oly, Games’ legacy is off-track for locals LONDON, July 27, (RTRS): Five years ago, Sharon O’Callaghan-Evans watched with pride as her son took the stage in the opening ceremony of London’s Olympics, waving a flag to welcome the athletes to the East End neighbourhood where four generations of her family had lived. A month later she followed suit, dancing with a group of women who, like her, suffer from impaired vision, in the opening show of the Paralympic Games. Little did mother and son know then, they would soon be living in apartments built for the games’ sporting stars — or that an Olympic legacy of massive inflation in local rents would later force them out of their home city altogether. The medical researcher, working on treatments for diabetes and heart disease, was among a set of locals including nurses and teachers, chosen after the games for reducedcost housing schemes to help “key workers” afford London’s lofty rents. O’CallaghanJohnson Evans said the two-bed apartment in the athletes’ village, amid the landscaped hills of the Olympic Park, was a dream — but one that would be short-lived, as the mushrooming costs of the so-called affordable homes became apparent. After a year, she was forced to give up her flat after her rents were hiked by nearly a quarter — from £15,000 ($19,500) a year to more than £18,500 ($24,000). “It wasn’t what they told us it would be — it was a lie,” said O’Callaghan-Evans, 53, who now lives more than a 100 miles from London, near the town of Yeovil in rural Somerset. She said the stress of hiked rents contributed to the worsening of her heart condition for which she was repeatedly hospitalised in early 2015 as she attempted to fight eviction, and which has now left her legally blind. O’Callaghan-Evans is one of many who joined post-Olympics “affordable” housing schemes who have faced rising rents and insecure housing contracts, with little support from the publicly funded developers who were their landlords, she said. Speaking in a cafe across the road from her old home in the athletes’ village, now renamed East Village, O’Callaghan-Evans told the Thomson Reuters Foundation: “I have been absolutely impoverished by a process that was supposed to help me.” The legacy London’s Olympic organisers justified the games’ £9 billion ($11.7 billion) price tag with promises to deliver not only a sporting extravaganza but an ‘Olympic legacy’ of prosperity for the poor East London boroughs where the games were held. But five years on from the opening ceremony, promises to deliver “homes for all” and narrow the gulf in living standards between the host area and the rest of London have not been met, said residents, academics and some local leaders. The six host boroughs have seen a spike in homelessness and numbers in emergency temporary accommodation, with both measures up more than 60 percent since the year before the games, according to the UK Department for Communities. While local leaders have blamed national government policies to limit housing benefit payments, the host boroughs have also fallen further behind the rest of London in key measures, according to their own research. Their most recent report for 2015-16 showed widening gaps in average wages and overcrowding, as families and renters attempt to fit more people into scarce homes. Stephen Timms, opposition member of parliament for East Ham said genuinely affordable housebuilding had fallen offtrack, with “nothing like enough” built so far. “We require very significant investment in affordable housing to manage the increase in population without these problems — homelessness, the worst of them, but also inadequate homes that are much too small, cramped, overcrowded,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Stratford, the host neighbourhood, has transformed from a post-industrial landscape to hive of sports venues, mega-malls, and luxury tower blocks, but locals are left asking if they will be able to afford to remain and enjoy the new opportunities. Genuinely ‘affordable’ homes? When the athletes’ village was sold off in 2011 around half, or nearly 1,500 apartments, was sold to QDD, a joint venture between Qatari Diar, a property arm of Qa-

tar’s sovereign wealth fund, and British property developer Delancey, to be sold or rented on the private market. The remaining apartments were sold to Triathlon Homes, a joint venture between a developer and two non-profit housing providers, to become the “affordable” housing quota, funded by nearly 50 million pounds from the government’s Homes and Communities Agency. In a book evaluating the games’ legacy set to be published next month, Paul Watt, lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London, argues the games highlighted failures by former city mayor Boris Johnson to provide for low income Londoners. From 2010, Johnson embraced a new definition of “affordable” which included anything up to 80 percent of market rates, allowing limitless increases as the market rate soared, Watt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. As luxury apartment blocks have risen up and the area has achieved its aim of becoming a in-demand neighbourhood, homes intended for low-earners have become out of reach, said Watt. Today, “affordable” homes, including two-bed flats in O’Callaghan-Evans’ old building advertised for about £1,500 ($1,900) per month, exclude Londoners on average salaries, never mind low wages, he said. Watt writes that many Londoners now see the term affordable housing as “increasingly Orwellian” — making a promise that blatantly contradicts reality — and that this is especially true in the East Village. The solution, they say, is social housing — low-cost homes where rents are linked to local incomes rather than market rate, which have traditionally provided a safety net for Londoners. But on this measure, the games’ legacy is stagnant. The government-owned London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), the organisation launched to manage the regeneration of the Olympic Park and surrounding area, acknowledged that it has not yet built enough homes on the park to replace the almost 800 social housing units demolished to clear the site for the games.

OLYMPICS However other flats are being built in the surrounding areas, said LLDC director of strategy Ben Fletcher told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We are five years into a long journey,” said Fletcher. “It’s not always what everyone wants to hear but some of this will take 10, 15, 20 years to come to full fruition. But we’re very, very proud of what we’ve achieved.” New mayor, new priorities Watt said the failure to build genuinely affordable homes reflects a conflict at the heart of the LLDC’s mandate. The corporation is charged with recouping as much of the games’ cost as possible through land sales on the Olympic Park — but also briefed to pursue public good through legacy commitments such as low-cost housing. Its previous chairman, David Edmonds, resigned in November 2016, four months after telling reporters that the corporation had not found a way to achieve both these goals. London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, elected last year to succeed Johnson, is due to appoint a new chairman who he says will pursue new priorities including redefining affordable rent targets by linking them to wages. In May, Khan launched his London Living Rent scheme, set in each borough at a third of average household incomes, which would see the rent for a two-bed flat drop below £1,000 a month in the Olympic host boroughs. Mental map O’Callaghan-Evans said the games organisers’ failure to anticipate the ruinous effects of leaps in rents have cost her dearly and have exiled her from the city where her grandfather laid railway tracks. “I lost my community, my family, my extended family. My whole history is in that geography,” she said. Suffering from failing sight and unwilling to commit to a year-long lease she knew she couldn’t afford, O’Callaghan-Evans was issued with an eviction notice in early 2015. Joining her sister in a far-flung Somerset village, she left behind her mental map of London, that allowed her — despite weakening eyesight - to catch familiar buses and trains and navigate the city with no need for help. “When you lose your sight ... you use your sense of place — all your memories, all your history — it’s mapped in your head, it’s ingrained in your being,” she said. “And one day you’re secure and you get one letter, and it’s taken from you — it’s all gone.”

Pablik 2 Bros ‘win’ PBLK seventh Season 5’8” Division Champ’ship Genesis outlast Boodai as Fil-Aseak, Amco triumph By Kathrina Perea Special to the Arab Times

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Pablik 2 Bros are the PBLK 7th Season 5’8” Division champs after defeating Tropang Mangaf, 8074, in their final matchup help at Hawally Disabled Sports Club on Friday. Allen Adorador put on a stellar performance for Pablik, leading the team under pressure scoring 22 points. Adorador’s zeal to bring home the trophy drew great performances from his teammates — Palong scored 17 points, De Guzman added 15, and Benson chipped in with 11 points. Dela Cruz also contributed with 9 points while Kenneth, Cape, and R. Dela Cruz combined for 6.

BASKETBALL Salameda carried Tropang Mangaf on his back scoring 17 points. Three other Mangaf players scored in double figures: Tao-on (13 points), Reviera (11 points), and Alinsungay (10 points). Jebunan and De Rosas also made it to the scoreboard with 7 points and 6 points, respectively. West and De Vera added 4 points apiece, while Madrona made 2 points. The first two quarters were a battle, with either team determined to get ahead of the other to bag the championship. However, the second quarter saw Adorador exploding for 12 of his 22 points to help Pablik close the first half up by 5 points. Tropang Mangaf put up a fight in the third quarter outscoring Pablik, 26-18, on the strength of their reserves and starting players combined. Seven Tropang Mangaf players made it to the scoreboard in this quarter which gave them the upper hand heading into the fourth quarter, 58-55. With Tropang Mangaf threatening to take over the game, Pablik 2 Bros gave the rivals a taste of their own medicine also showing strength in numbers. Seven Pablik players made big shots in this quarter — including a big 3 from Don Dela Cruz in the waning minutes — which altered the course of the game. With Pab-

5’8” Division Mythical Five Donisio Bradecena, Jeffrey Salamida, Dondon Dela Cruz, Nash Tamo, Gary De Guzman.

5’8” Division Champion Pablik 2 Bros

lik being seconds from victory, Mangaf players resorted to giving up fouls in an attempt to stop the clock, but Pablik made good on their free throws to stretch the lead and went on to record a convincing championship win at 80-74. Allen Adorador was named the Finals MVP, while Salameda was given the Season’s MVP award. Coach Richmond Roldan also took

5’8” Division 1st Runner Up Tropang Mangaf

home the Best Coach Award, while “Ate Linda” was honored as the Best Manager. Division B leaders Furuya and Cabalen were also awarded the 2nd and 3rd runner up trophies. Five players from were also honored as the Division’s Mythical Five: Donisio Bradecena, Jeffrey Salameda, Dondon dela Cruz, Nash Tamo, and Gary de Guzman. In other games, the 5’8” Non-

Leaguers Division saw Genesis outlast Boodai in a close game, 59-58. Meanwhile, in the Inter-company Division, two teams nabbed a win each: Fil-Aseak (vs Papazaj, 72-69) and Amco (vs Heisco, 65-63), to wrap up Friday’s games. The PBLK 7th Season continues every Friday at the Hawally Disabled Sports Club. For more information, please contact Alan Compuesto at 96681557.

Cavendish eyes Tokyo 2020 gold

Los Angeles ‘stupid’ not to host ’28 Oly Games: mayor

5’8” Division 2nd Runner Up Furuya

LOS ANGELES, July 27, (Agencies): Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti says the US city “would be stupid” not to agree to stage the 2028 Olympics, leaving Paris poised to secure the 2024 Games. Garcetti’s comments all but confirmed the French capital as the successors to Tokyo in 2020, with LA waiting a further four years for their turn. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed this month to award the 2024 and the 2028 Games at the same time at a vote in Lima in September, effectively ensuring that the two candidates each will host a Games. Garcetti told BuzzFeed on Wednesday: “Even though the Olympics will be smart to pick us for 2024, because LA has almost rebooted the brand, 2024 is not probably most likely to happen”.

OLYMPICS

5’8” Division Cabalen

5’8” Division Season’s MVP Jeffrey Salamida

5’8” Division Finals MVP Allen Adorador

He said the IOC are making the later date “financially so attractive, we’d be stupid not to take 2028”. LA is planning to announce their final intentions next week, Garcetti told the US-based online news site. “If we are going to go for 2028 or 2024, Paris will get the other,” he declared. “The bid is all but done, we have won.” The double award at the IOC session in Peru is conditional on a prior agreement between the two cities and the IOC. If no agreement is reached, then the session will vote on 2024 only. Throughout the bidding process Paris has insisted that it is a candidate to host the 2024 Olympics only, while Los Angeles has indicated that it could be open to hosting the Games in 2028. Both cities have staged the Games twice before, with Paris the hosts in 1900 and 1924, and LA in 1932 and 1984. Meanwhile, Britain’s Mark Cavendish hopes to extend his career for a “few more years” as he targets Eddy Merckx’s Tour de France stage wins record and the madison gold medal at

the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 32-year-old Team Dimension Data rider was forced out of the Tour with a shoulder injury after being elbowed by world champion Peter Sagan in the fourth stage earlier this month. Cavendish, who still needs four stage wins to draw level with 34 of Merckx, said the crash motivated him to come back stronger next year. “The stage I crashed in, I’m still pretty confident I would have won it,” Cavendish told the Times. “I believe I’m the best and I believe I will be for a fair few more years. It’s given me the confidence to keep going.” “People would argue that I only win sprint days so (Merckx’s) Cavendish mountain days mean more ... but a number is a number and it gives me a target ... and that’s a target I can realistically think about.”

Also: TORONTO: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid said he’s disappointed the NHL won’t be sending players to the Winter Olympics in South Korea. “It would have been a special group, and you’re just hopeful to be a part of it,” McDavid told reporters at a charity event Wednesday. “It’s disappointing, but that’s the way it is. You want to be able to represent your country on the highest stage, and the Olympics is obviously the highest stage possible.” McDavid’s comments came a day after Hockey Canada announced it was looking for non-NHL talent for Canada’s roster in Pyeongchang. Sean Burke, the team’s GM, said Tuesday the bulk of Canada’s team will come from players based in Europe. The NHL’s reasons not to participate in the upcoming Games include disagreements over costs as well as problems accommodating the Games during its regular season.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

SPORTS

40

Cozmo and K2E2 prevail over separate rivals

Fiery NLB Corp grab lead with win against IBL Team 1 By Miguel Carlos Special to the Arab Times

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Sustaining the momentum of their steady rise in the team standings, the fiery pump specialists of NLB Corporation succeeded in grabbing the lead of the ongoing 2017 Season 11 FTBK Tenpin Bowling Team Tournament through a superb win over IBL Team 1 in their scheduled 12th week match up. Cozmo Salmiya and defending champion K2E2 Thunders on the other hand inched closer into contention for a place in the next round after prevailing over their respective rivals. Also emerging victorious last week in this sporting event held every Friday at the Cozmo Bowling Center in Salmiya and organized by the Filipino Tenpin Bowlers Kuwait (FTBK) were Strikers X, Dyn Aviation and Siete Pares 1. And with a full elimination round to go, the battle for the 6 champi-

BOWLING onship berths remains to be a wide open race among the 13 participating teams. Going into the match positioned in second and third place respectively, IBL Team 1 and NLB Corporation were both aiming to take control of the leader board supremacy. In the opening game of the 4-game series encounter, NLB bowled like a house on fire burning the stunned IBL Team 1 keglers to the ground with a 928-698 rout. Despite the heavy beating they absorbed, IBL Team 1 initiated a remarkable recovery from their game one debacle and matched the tenacity of the pump masters in booking a

NLB Corporation Pin Busters

close 831-796 win in game two. With the two protagonist still bowling on even terms, IBL Team 1 managed to further close the gap by snatching the third game 825-788 courtesy of the combine efforts of Uly Menezes, Aji Varghese, Lloyd Fernandes, Ali Arqoub and Valentine Gonsalves. Still way ahead 2512-2354 after three games, the NLB Corporation crew of Cris Bulacja, Ric Marimla, Rudy Zablan, Nelson de Leon and Philip Marimla caught fire once more in the final game of the match and put away IBL Team 1 with another superb 928-699 victory. After its 3465-3053 total pin falls victory, NLB Corporation are now the new tournament leaders. Meanwhile, the entertainment magnates of Cozmo Salmiya were able to make good progress in their bid to move into serious contention as they banked on their victories in games one and two in narrowly beating Rock N Bowl 3226-2140.

COZMO Salmiya

K2E2 Thunders

Knowing that it is high time to make their assault on the current leaders, Cozmo bannered by Arnold Mendoza, Bert Pantanilla, Cris Batucan, Paul Arcayan and Bader Malallah picked up an early 863-744 win

in the opening game and then built a sizeable advantage by snatching the next game 782-731. With Cozmo up by 17 marks 16451475, Rock N Bowl broke into the win column through an 849-788 deci-

sion in game three and even grabbed another 816-768 in the final game courtesy of Liza Catapia, Rod LLait, Norie Sairat and Romy Fermil. However, this two victories by Rock N Bowl failed to prevent Cozmo Salmiya from winning the match. K2E2 another team who badly needs a victory succeeded in doing so by coming back from a game one setback in stopping the DMDA Bowleros 3220-3041. After the DMDA quartet of Chit Mariano, Jane nance, Tito Tamayo and Sonny Mariano handed the K2E2 an 846-687 thumping in the first game of the match, the Thunders quickly retaliated with a 908-783 victory of their own in the next game. In game three, K2E2 grabbed the upper hand from the Bowleros via a 785709 victory before closing out the match with another 815-705 success in game four. Top bowlers for K2E2 in this outing were Butch Alinea, Kim Alinea, Jess Farne, Edwin Latoja, Lee Mills

and Joan Latoja. In the other matches of the week, Strikers X remained well placed in the standings after grounding tournament pace setter IBL Team 2 pin busters 3136-3023. In garnering the victory, Strikers X spearheaded by Jheng Liwayway, John Caldwell, Norman Conde and Vicky Navarro eked out 824-776, 817-759 and 762686 wins in games one, three and four. IBL Team 2 who remained on top of the list took an 802-708 win in game two courtesy of Rudolph Castellino, Nadine Dias, Allen Morais and Nikshita Shetty. In the remaining pairings of the week, Dyn Aviation edged out D’ Islanders 3057-3029 and Siete Pares 1 subdued Siete Pares 2 3075-2990. World Class who bowled all alone this week accumulated a total score of 3178 pin falls. For the Individual and Team High scores the current record holders are as follows: Individual High Game Men Class O/A-Ronnel Valencia 285, Men Class B-Ali Arqoub 254, Ladies- Jheng Liwayway 224; High Average Men Class O/A- JR Sabado 193, Men Class B-Ali Arqoub 181, Ladies-Jheng Liwayway 173; Team High Game-Cozmo Salmiya 868 and Team High Series-NLB Corporation 3340. The team standings after twelve weeks are as follows (read as rank, team name and total score); 1. NLB Corporation-37309, 2. IBL Team 2-37190, 3. IBL Team 1-37056, 4. Strikers X-36999, 5. Rock N Bowl36777, 6. Siete Pares 2-36563, 7. D’ Islanders-36485, 8. DMDA Bowleros-36466, 9. Cozmo Salmiya-36438, 10. Siete Pares 1-36414, 11. Dyn Aviation-36336, 12. K2E2 Thunders-36336, 13. World Class -36041.

Guillermo and Gonzales top Level B

El Assaad, Imperialde top Cup By Gwenn Peralta Special to the Arab Times

KUWAIT CITY, July 27: Anniversary Cup 2017 has finalized pairs to compete in the finals as the players finished the Elimination Round. They also organized another set of One Day Tourney Winners that took home valuable prizes. Headed by Chairman Noel Candolesas and tournament directors Nato Calanog and Richard Amoto, the Filipino Badminton Club in Kuwait (FILBACK) officers and members are keen on achieving their goals to promote fun and healthy lifestyle, a place for recreation, and to learn sportsmanship and unity and friendship.

Level A

Basaksehir’s Emmanuel Adebayor (left), and Club’s Brandon Mechele fight for the ball during the first leg of the third qualifying round football match for the UEFA Champions League competition between Belgian team Club Brugge KSV and Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir FK on July 26, in Brugge. (AFP)

Ajax hold Nice as Celtic falter against Rosenborg Astana keep hopes alive NICE, France, July 27, (RTRS): Ajax stayed on course to reach a Champions League playoff after earning a 1-1 draw at Nice in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie while Celtic were held to a goalless stalemate at home by Rosenborg on Wednesday. Dynamo Kiev were 3-1 home winners against Young Boys Berne and Kazakh champions Astana beat visiting Legia Warsaw by the same score to keep alive their own hopes of reaching the lucrative group stage for the second time in three seasons. Italy striker Mario Balotelli fired Nice ahead with a close-range finish after a darting run by Balotelli midfielder Jean Michael Serri in the 32nd minute. But Ajax, last season’s secondtier Europa League runners-up, levelled after poor defending allowed midfielder Donny van de Beek to sweep the ball home from 10 metres. Celtic’s hopes were left hanging in the balance after a tepid display against the Norwegian champions,

Union beat 9-man Crew 3-0 CHESTER, Pennsylvania, July 27, (AP): CJ Sapong scored his 10th goal of the season and contributed to two others as the Philadelphia Union beat nineman Columbus Crew 3-0 on Wednesday night. Philadelphia opened the scoring in the 20th minute. After two failed clearances, Sapong’s bicycle kick found an open Ilsinho near the penalty spot for a one-touch finish.

who should have taken away more into the return leg as Yann-Erik de Lanlay squandered a gilt-edged chance on the hour. The forward blazed his shot from 10 metres over the bar with only goalkeeper Craig Gordon to beat but Celtic could not take advantage in the closing stages. Istanbul Basaksehir, making their first Champions League appearance, almost staged the shock of the night after fighting back from a two-goal deficit in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Club Bruges. The home side looked in cruise control after scoring twice in the opening 16 minutes but were stunned as Marcio Mossoro netted a brace and Eljero Elia added another to turn the match on its head. Stefano Denswil spared Bruges’s blushes but they still face a difficult

Sapong made it 2-0 in the 66th after heading it into the post and sliding in the rebound. In the 81st, Marcus Epps scored his first MLS goal by knocking in Sapong’s header. Jonathan Mensah was given a straight red card for knocking down Sapong in the 35th minute, and Lalas Abubakar received his second yellow card in the 76th.

task in the return leg. Patrick Twumasi struck in the 90th minute to delight Astana fans after Armando Sadiku had pulled one back for Legia, who trailed 2-0 at halftime. There was also late drama and two stoppage-time goals in Kiev, where Dynamo’s Denis Garmash had the final say after Christian Fassnacht scored what looked like a vital away goal for Young Boys. Andriy Yarmolenko and Dieumerci Mbokani had given Dynamo a 2-0 first-half lead in the Olimpiyskyi stadium, the venue of next year’s Champions League final. Croatian champions Rijeka, seeking their maiden group stage appearance, held on for a 1-1 draw at Salzburg after the home side’s Korean forward Hee-Chan Hwang cancelled out a glancing header by Mario Gavranovic.

Men’s Open winners

Ranking 1st in Level A Group B, Sameh El Assaad had 9 wins and 298 points, followed by Gino Gaytano with 7 wins and 289 points and in 3rd was Mohammed Rafiq with 7 wins and 281 points. For Level A Group A, Gigi Imperialde ranked first with 6 wins and 258 points, followed by Muthu Kumar with 5 wins and 252 points and in 3rd was Erick Ventorina with 5 wins and 229 points. In the Elimination Round, Sameh

BADMINTON paired up with Noel and smashed Rafiq and Rommel C. 14-15, 15-8, 15-7, together with Gino they flattened Rommel T. and Noel 15-6, 15-12. Sameh and Rafiq paired and outclassed Rommel C. and Pranav 9-15, 15-11, 15-7 and when Sameh and Jozef teamed up, they slammed Gino and Pranav 15-11, 15-12. Gino paired up with Rommel C. and overcame Sameh and Rommel T. 12-15, 15-9, 15-13 and when Gino and Rommel T. paired up, they defeated Jozef and Noel 8-15, 15-7, 15-12. On the other hand, Gigi paired with Marvin and tamed Muthu and Ainur 15-14, 8-15, 15-11 and slammed Ainur and Henry 15-13, 15-14. Muthu paired with Gigi and prevailed against Henry and Ainur 11-15, 15-12, 15-13 and together with Marvin they beat Henry and Gigi 14-15, 15-6, 15-4.

Level C Open winners

Level B In Level B Higher Category, Chato Guillermo emerged on top with 7 wins and 267 points, followed by Kenneth Laxamana with 6 wins and 270 points and in 3rd was Addy Diaz with 6 wins and 268 points. In the Lower Category, Gene Gonzales took the 1st place with 8 wins and 292 points, 2nd was Donz Murillo with 7 wins and 291 points followed by Sangeeth Sugathan with 6 wins and 289 points. During the game, Chato paired with Ambar and outlasted Addy and Sid 15-12, 5-15, 15-13 and when paired with Addy they thumped Mohd Casa and Sid 15-7, 9-15, 15-12. Kenneth, on the other hand, teamed up with Joel and clobbered Chato and Aleks 15-5, 15-7. He and Addy thrashed Joel and Mustafa 15-13, 15-6, while with Mustafa as teammate, they hammered Aleks and Joel 15-7, 15-5. Gene paired with Albert and outclassed Aries and Romeo L. 15-12, 15-10, together with Brent they overcame Randel and Faiz 15-12, 8-15, 15-10. Gene and Donz also paired up and smashed Aries and July 15-10, 15-6. When Donz and Aries paired up, they pummeled

(Left to right): Players in action.

Randel and July 15-10, 15-11.

Level C In Level C Higher Category, Anne Reyes grabbed the first place with 8 wins and 288 points, Amor Llenas came in 2nd with 7 wins and 284 points, followed by Sarah Pilapil with 7 wins and 275 points. In the Lower Category, Ricky Tanghal took the upper hand with 8 wins and 275 points, followed by Cecile Silvestre with 6 wins and 284 points, and ranking 3rd was Jhun Planco with 6 wins and 254 points. During the elimination, Anne paired up with Chito and tamed Miller and Dhang 15-10, 10-15, 15-13, together with Hussain they slammed Reem and Dhang 15-14, 15-9. Anne and Miller paired up and overcame Dhang and Hussain 11-15, 15-14, 15-10. Amor and Joy paired up and defeated Reem and Anne 15-9, 1514. When Amor and Reem paired up, they won against Joy and Dhang 1512, 15-10.

On the other hand, Ricky paired up with Leonor and tamed Analou and Marvin 15-10, 15-9, together with Cecile they clobbered Jhun and Gemma 15-8, 15-4, and with Marvin as teammate, they pummeled Jhun and Analou 15-7, 15-8. Meanwhile, Cecile and Gemma defeated Mj and Krista 15-14, 15-14 and with Krista as partner they hammered Mj and Gemma 15-11, 15-10. Announcement: For all badminton enthusiasts and lovers who want to join the upcoming tournaments, just visit and follow FILBACK’s official FACEBOOK page: https://www.facebook.com/ filback.photos. To participate in the events, just send a message through the page or contact any officers or members of FILBACK. Stay tuned for more exciting events and tournament in the coming months. For those interested in the One Day Tournament, you are all invited to join every afternoon and visit the Facebook page for updates and details.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

SPORTS

41

Eder at the double

France, Austria ‘seal’ Inter ease past Bayern spots in Euro quarters SINGAPORE, July 27, (RTRS): Inter Milan striker Martins Eder scored two first-half headers as the Italian side continued to impress on their pre-season tour of Asia with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Singapore National Stadium on Thursday. Inter have started well under new coach Luciano Spalletti, beating Lyon 1-0 in Nanjing, China on Monday, and their well-organised unit were able to both contain a formidable Bayern forward line and punch holes in the German side’s defence. The Italians would have been delighted with their first-half performance as Spalletti’s defence closed down almost every Bayern threat with the 2-0 scoreline also reflecting just how dangerous they were on the counter-attack. After a lively opening, Bayern manufactured the first good opportunity when winger Franck Ribery cut in from the left and unleashed a ferocious rising shot that Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic did well to tip over. The action switched ends as Inter opened the scoring a minute later when

Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller (left), fights for the ball with Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic during their International Champions Cup football match in Singapore on July 27. (AFP)

SOCCER

Austria team celebrate in front of supporters as they defeat 3-0 Iceland during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 football tournament match between Iceland and Austria at Sparta Stadium in Rotterdam city on July 26. (AFP)

French hold off Swiss pressure ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, July 27, (AFP): A late Camille Abily free-kick sent 10-woman France through to the Euro quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, alongside newcomers Austria who routed Iceland 3-0 on Wednesday.

SOCCER with an easy cross. Burger nodded in Zadrazil’s flicked header eight minutes later, and Enzinger volleyed home on 90 minutes to round off the scoring. France started on a high, with Claire Lavogez’s blast saved by a diving Thalmann. But things got complicated as Perisset left the pitch in tears, with France struggling against the solid Swiss defence. Thalmann kept out Abily’s low shot, while Swiss skipper Lara Dickenmann saw an effort repelled by Sarah Bouhaddi. After the equaliser, France held off Switzerland’s pressure, with Crnogorcevic firing wide and Bachmann shooting straight at Bouhaddi. “Believe me, it’s a great satisfaction,” said French coach Olivier Echouafni. “We believed in it right to the end and our equaliser, considering we had ten against eleven for so long, was thoroughly deserved.” “It was quite a night and it was quite unexpected. We didn’t panic, though. At half-time, I knew we’d get a chance with a free-kick, and so it was.” Swiss coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said the first half had gone as planned. “We showed a lot of running, willingness, determination and tactically we were great.” “It was a real pity — we fought so hard, and then we concede such a goal. We were so, so close to beating France. I can just hope my team learn from this.” Austria never left any doubt about who was going to dominate the game in Rotterdam, with Nicole Billa testing Gunnarsdottir three times in the first half. In a rare Iceland chance, Fanndis Fridriksdottir narrowly missed the goal on 26 minutes. The Austrians kept Gunnarsdottir busy until the end, as the Iceland keeper had to handle second-half attempts by Laura Feiersinger, Zadrazil and Sarah Puntigam. “Today we were very quiet and controlled the game in most phases,” said Austrian coach Dominik Thalhammer. “It’s a fantastic day for Austrian women’s football and Austrian football as a whole.”

Real Madrid Gareth Bale (left), controls the ball away from Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany during their International Champions Cup (ICC) football match on July 26 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (AFP)

City rout Real as Juve hand PSG 2nd straight loss

Neymar scores, Barca pip Man U

In Breda, Switzerland took the lead on 19 minutes when Eve Perisset was sent off for bringing down Ramona Bachmann and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic slammed in a header from the ensuing free-kick. In the 76th minute, Abily’s free-kick somehow slipped through the fingers of Swiss goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann, following Crnogorcevic’s foul on Eugenie Le Sommer. In Rotterdam, Austria cruised to an easy win against Iceland to seal top spot in Group C with first-half goals by Sarah Zadrazil and Nina Burger, and a late strike by substitute Stefanie Enzinger. Zadrazil fired home on 36 minutes, capitalising on a howler by keeper Gudbjorg Gunnarsdottir who failed to deal

Antonio Candreva found space on the right and sent over a teasing cross that was guided home by Eder, who stooped ahead of Felix Gotze to head past Sven Ulreich. Bayern continued to press high up the pitch and after Kingsley Coman and James Rodriguez both went close with headers, Inter doubled their advantage on 30 minutes when Eder finished off another stylish attack. Croatian winger Ivan Perisic, reportedly a Manchester United target, was the architect of a fine goal when he raced on to a through ball down the left flank and floated over a pinpoint cross for an unmarked Eder to nod home. Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti would have been further dismayed by the sight of Ribery being carried off immediately after the second goal, the Frenchman appearing to receive a heavy knock to his right foot in a challenge. “We are still in training but this was a great performance against a strong Bayern side,” Brazil-born Eder said in a pitchside interview.

France’s defender Wendie Renard (right), challenges Switzerland’s defender Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 football match between Switzerland and France at the Rat Verlegh Stadium in Breda on July 26. (AFP)

Conte questions Spurs ambition LONDON, July 27, (RTRS): Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has questioned the ambition of Premier League title rivals Tottenham Hotspur after a summer of inactivity in the transfer market for the north London club. Tottenham were champions Chelsea’s closest pursuers last season, finishing seven points behind, but have failed to strengthen with chairman Daniel Levy saying the transfer spending in the Premier League is “unsustainable”. Tottenham’s only transfer ac-

SOCCER

WASHINGTON, July 27, (AFP): Neymar, serene amid a frenzy of transfer speculation, scored the first-half goal that gave Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Wednesday in an International Champions Cup friendly. The Brazilian striker, reportedly pondering a 222-million euro ($256.8 million) move to Paris Saint-Germain, showed why the French club would be willing to pay a world-record price to get him. He delivered his third goal in two matches in the exhibition tournament as Barcelona handed the English Premiership club their first defeat of the preseason. After a bright start Manchester United struggled to contain Barcelona’s star duo of Neymar and Lionel Messi. Neymar broke through in the 31st, stripping the ball from Antonio Valencia in the penalty area, turning and finding the net. The goal proved enough to give a second straight victory to new Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. Valverde made sweeping changes to the team that beat Juventus 2-1. Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Nelson Semedo, Sergio Busquets and 19-yearold midfielder Carles Arena were included in the lineup headed by Messi and Neymar. There were eight changes to the Manchester United team that defeated Real Madrid on penalties on Sunday, with captain Michael Carrick, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard the only players to retain their starting spots. It was Manchester United who threatened first, when Rashford’s cross found Romelu Lukaku in the area, but the Belgian couldn’t find the net. Barcelona inexorably took control, and United goalkeeper David de Gea was given plenty of work by Neymar, Messi and Suarez.

Messi came close in the 12th minute, his low effort sliding wide. But from there Barcelona dominated. De Gea denied Neymar from close range in the 28th, but had no answer for the Brazilian three minutes later. Valencia had got control of a pass from Messi, but Neymar was there to regain the ball, turning in close quarters and firing past de Gea to the delight of the Barcelona fans among the 82,000-strong crowd at FedExField – home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins. Three minutes before the break de Gea parried Suarez’s scissor-kick to keep it 1-0 to Barcelona at halftime. Both coaches rang the changes at halftime, with Valverde replacing 10 players – only leaving Cillessen in goal. Anthony Martial, Andreas Pereira and Pogba all threatened, but Manchester United were unable to find an Neymar equalizer. The match was the last of Manchester United’s US tour – which included wins over Real Madrid, Manchester City and Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy. Barcelona, meanwhile will take on Spanish rivals Real Madrid in a preseason “Clasico” in Miami on Saturday – apparently still uncertain just how long they will have Neymar to rely on. City 4, Real 1 In Los Angeles, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has spent big to bolster their defence this summer, but showed they will be a force to reckon with at the other end this season in a 4-1 friendly win over Real Madrid on Wednesday.

A second-half blitz in front of 93,000 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum saw City secure their first pre-season victory in style. Real were unable to contain Guardiola’s side once they got their noses in front early in the second half. The £28.5 million (32 million euros, $37 million) spent by City on Nicolas Otamendi two years ago now almost seems like small change after City have splashed out around £50 million each on Kyle Walker, John Stones and Benjamin Mendy over the last 12 months. But after Otamendi pounced from a couple of yards out to smash the ball into the net, the entire complexion of the International Champions Cup encounter changed. Until that point, Real had been the more dangerous side in an end-to-end encounter, with Isco, in particular, causing City’s back five problems with his range of passing. Substitute Raheem Sterling calmly tucked away a lovely through-ball from the impressive Kevin De Bruyne just moments after firing a shot inches wide. The advantage was then extended to three after Stones scuffed a shot into the far corner from a De Bruyne corner. City were twice denied a third by the woodwork, with Francisco Casilla producing a stunning finger-tip save to push De Bruyne’s free-kick onto the post and then Leroy Sane smashing the ball against the near post within seconds of entering the field. But the icing on the cake arrived for Guardiola’s side in the final 10 minutes, when 17-year-old Spaniard Brahim Diaz cut inside off the right and curled a beauty into the top corner from the edge of the area. Real grabbed a late consolation when Oscar Rodriguez produced a stunning effort from 30 yards which soared into the top corner.

tivity has selling England right back Kyle Walker to Manchester City for a reported 45 million pounds ($59 million). “If (Spurs) don’t win the title, it’s not a tragedy,” Conte was quoted as saying by the BBC. “If they don’t arrive in the Champions League, it’s not a tragedy. If they go out in the first round of the Champions League, it’s not a tragedy. If they go out after the first game that they play in the Europa League, it’s not a tragedy.” Conte said for Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and possibly Liverpool, those kind of failures were tragedies. “Every team has to understand what their ambitions are,” the Italian said. “If their ambitions are to fight for the title or win the Champions League, you must buy expensive players. Otherwise you continue to stay in your level. It’s simple. “We are now in the quarter-finals. Of course we want more and anything can happen in one game.” Iceland coach Freyr Alexandersson said he was disappointed with his players who “played very badly.”

Manchester United’s defender Axel Tuanzebe and Barcelona’s defender Lucas Digne vie for the ball during their International Champions Cup (ICC) football match on July 26 at the FedExField, in Landover, Maryland. (AFP)

Juve 3, PSG 2 In Miami, Claudio Marchisio’s second-half double was enough for Juventus to see off Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 on Wednesday and send the French champions home from the United States on the back of two consecutive defeats. The Italian international scored the goal of the game, a fiercely struck effort in the 62nd to restore Juve’s lead after PSG’s equaliser on 53 minutes. Although Unai Emery’s team battled

SOCCER hard, as the clock ticked down Moise Kean was brought down in the box allowing Marchisio to win it from the penalty spot. It was a tough call on PSG defender Layvin Kurzawa, who appeared to become entangled with Kean, but Juventus were not complaining about a decision which capped a decent night’s work for the Italian giants. Any of the 44,444 who came to the Hard Rock Stadium would have been acutely aware that Miami is preparing itself for the arrivals of European titans Barcelona and Real Madrid on Saturday in what’s being billed as the glittering showpiece of this summer’s International Champions Cup friendly tournament. Yet while La Liga’s finest wait in the wings, this was a chance for two other stellar clubs to whet the appetite of the voraciously soccer mad inhabitants of South Florida. It was PSG’s last match in the United States before leaving to meet Monaco in Morocco on Saturday, prior to returning home to fine tune preparations for the start of the domestic season. Emery’s side have endured a difficult time Stateside, both on and off the pitch. The results - a penalty win over Roma following a 1-1 draw before being roundly beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in Orlando last Saturday - have been compounded by a very public – and so far unresolved – attempt to prise the Brazilian forward Neymar from Barcelona. Emery, who admitted PSG are still working on transfer targets but refused to be drawn on specific names, said: “We are looking at how the players are performing rather than the results and I have been pleased.” Nevertheless, the PSG manager’s mood wouldn’t have been lifted by a chastening first 45 minutes. Their tormentor in chief was the excellent Argentina international midfielder Paulo Dybala, 23, who went close to opening the scoring on 28 minutes when his free-kick was tipped over by Areola just three minutes after compatriot Angel Di Maria forced Italian veteran Gianluigi Buffon into an excellent save. Juan Cuadrado, the Colombian former Chelsea winger, was also in the mood to shine and went close soon after but it was left to Dybala and another Argentinian to open the scoring. Gonzalo Higuain , who scored 24 goals in his first season in Turin following his record breaking 90 million euros move from Napoli last summer, sent the ball inside to Dybala who instantly returned it straight into the path of the 29 year-old – who advanced on goal before calmly beating Alphonse Areola in the 45th minute.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

SPORTS

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Poms 171-4 at stumps against Proteas in 3rd Test

Philander at the double as Cook defies South Africa LONDON, July 27, (AFP): Vernon Philander again proved a thorn in England’s side as Alastair Cook held firm against South Africa in the third Test at The Oval on Thursday. England were 171 for four at stumps, having won the toss, with 31 of the scheduled 90 overs lost to bad weather on the opening day of the 100th Test at The Oval. Pace bowling all-rounder Philander had superb figures of two wickets for 17 runs in 12 overs, including five maidens, despite a stomach bug. That followed his man-of-the-match display with both bat and ball in South Africa’s crushing 340-run victory in the second Test at Trent Bridge last week — a result that left the four-match series level at 1-1. But former England captain Cook was 82 not out at Thursday’s close. Already England’s leading Test runscorer, the left-handed opener spent more than four-and-a-half hours at the crease to be in sight of his 31st century at this level. Ben Stokes was unbeaten on 21. England had been heavily criticised by several former captains for an inabil-

ity to bat time and wear down the Proteas at Trent Bridge, where they were twice bowled out cheaply and folded for just 133 in their second innings. Although the overcast conditions and green-tinged pitch promised to assist pace bowlers, England captain Joe Root opted to bat first after winning the toss, just as South Africa captain Faf du Plessis had done in a similar situation in Nottingham. Root clearly hoped England could come through some early adverse circumstances and may also have wanted to show confidence in his under-fire batsmen. But it was not long before England lost their first wicket. Keaton Jennings, battling to retain his place, was repeatedly beaten outside off stump by Philander and it was no surprise when the South Africa-born opener eventually edged the seamer low to Dean Elgar at third slip for a nine-ball nought. Tom Westley, one of three England debutants, joined Essex teammate and mentor Cook with the hosts 12 for one. The 28-year-old right-hander, selected after a finger injury ruled out the

England vs South Africa Scoreboard LONDON, July 27, (AFP): Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the third Test between England and South Africa at The Oval on Thursday: ENGLAND 1st Innings A. Cook not out ............................. 82 K. Jennings c Elgar b Philander ..... 0 T. Westley c du Plessis b Morris .. 25 J. Root c de Kock b Philander ...... 29 D. Malan b Rabada ......................... 1 B. Stokes not out .......................... 21

South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada bowls on the first day of the third Test match between England and South Africa at The Oval cricket ground in London on July 27. (AP)

struggling Gary Ballance, got off the mark with a composed legside four off fast bowler Morne Morkel. Westley, who earlier this season scored a hundred against South Africa

for the second-string England Lions, then cover-drove and on-drove left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj for two well struck boundaries in an over. Cook had made 28 when South Africa quick Chris Morris appealed for lbw, but a review of umpire Joel Wilson’s not out decision showed the batsman had got an edge. England were 62 for one at lunch, with Cook 34 not out. Westley, however, had added just one to his interval score when, four balls

Extras (b7, lb3, w3) ....................... 13 Total (4 wkts, 59 overs, 272 mins) 171 To bat: J Bairstow, M Ali, T RolandJones, S Broad, J Anderson Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Jennings), 2-64 (Westley), 3-113 (Root), 4-120 (Malan) Bowling: Morkel 16-4-48-0; Philander 12-5-17-2 (1w); Rabada 13-4-32-1; Maharaj 7-1-16-0; Morris 11-1-48-1 (2w) South Africa: Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock

after the break, he nicked a Morris delivery that curved away to du Plessis at second slip. It was the end of a promising innings of 25 and a second-wicket stand of 52 with Cook. Star batsman Root then made 29 before he edged an excellent Philander ball that moved away off the seam and was brilliantly caught onehanded by wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock, diving across first slip. Kagiso Rabada, returning after being banned from the second Test for swear-

(wkt), Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Chris Morris, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel Toss: England Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Joel Wilson (WIS) TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

ing at Stokes in the series opener at Lord’s, then got in on the act. The fast bowler produced a superb inswinging yorker that knocked Dawid Malan, another of England’s debutants, off his feet before crashing into middle stump. Middlesex left-hander Malan, born in London but brought up in South Africa, was out for one and England were 120 for four, with the Proteas hoping Rabada’s joyful celebrations did not contain any obscene words on this occasion.

Players’ union to study proposal

India leave Sri Lanka reeling Cricket Australia proposes ‘arbitration’ to pay dispute

Tourists lead hosts by 446 runs GALLE, Sri Lanka, July 27, (AFP): India’s bowlers tore through the Sri Lankan top order to put the visitors firmly on top on the second day of the first Test in Galle on Thursday. Paceman Mohammed Shami picked two wickets in the same over and Umesh Yadav got rid of opener Dimuth Karunaratne after India posted a commanding 600 all out in their first innings. Shami Former captain Angelo Mathews was batting on 54 with Dilruwan Perera on six when stumps were drawn for the day, with Sri Lanka still trailing by 446 runs with five wickets in hand. Opener Upul Tharanga struck a defiant 64 off 93 balls but was run out thanks to quick fielding by Abhinav Mukund.

CRICKET Mukund also took a fine diving catch to send back Niroshan Dickwella (eight) and reduce the hosts to a shaky 143-5. Yadav gave his side an early breakthrough after the Indian lower-order batsmen scored at a quick pace despite losing wickets at regular intervals. Yadav had Karunaratne trapped leg before and although the batsman went for a review, the decision was upheld after replays showed the ball pitching on the middle stump. Shami then dismissed debutant Danushka Gunathilaka for 16 and Ajantha Mendis for a duck in the space of four balls. Mathews, who quit as captain after Sri Lanka’s recent one-day series defeat to Zimbabwe at home, tried to steady the innings and had faced 91 deliveries so far. Earlier, paceman Nuwan Pradeep clinched his maiden five-wicket Test haul, putting the brakes on India’s free scoring. Pradeep (6-132) dismissed Chetesh-

Sri Lankan batsman Angelo Mathews (right), plays a shot as Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha looks on during the second day of the first Test match between Sri Lanka and India at Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on July 27. (AFP)

Ireland wants Bracewell replacement by November LONDON, July 27, (AFP): Ireland chiefs say they hope to hire a successor to departing head coach John Bracewell by November. Bracewell is set to leave at the end of his two-year contract in December, only six months after Ireland were granted full-member Test status alongside Afghanistan. The New Zealander took over from Phil Simmons after the 2015 World Cup and, despite a mixed

record over the past year, the International Cricket Council rewarded Ireland with Test status in June. Ireland tour the United Arab Emirates in November and performance director Richard Holdsworth intends to find Bracewell’s replacement by then to give the new man time to assess his squad. “We will be conducting a global search in an effort to make certain we get the right candidate for the

head coach role,” Holdsworth said on Thursday. “We hope to have the successful applicant in place for the tour to the UAE in late November, so they can take over the reins from John at the conclusion of the ICC InterContinental Cup game against Scotland. “We’re looking for a coach with a broad spectrum of skills and ambitious plans as to how they will build further success for Irish cricket.”

war Pujara for 153, triggering a batting collapse which saw the tourists lose four wickets in a lively first session after resuming the day at 399-3. Pujara hit 13 fours in his 265-ball knock to match his previous Test best of 153 against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2013. Hardik Pandya struck a half-century on debut as India’s last two wickets added a quickfire 83 runs in 71 balls to lift the side from 517 for 8. Shami hit Rangana Herath for three sixes while Pandya lofted Pradeep for as many sixes in an attacking batting

display by India’s lower order batsmen. Ajinkya Rahane (57) looked solid but was sent back to the pavilion after Karunaratne dived for a low catch on his right off fast bowler Lahiru Kumara. Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha struck back with a sixth-wicket stand of 59, but India’s counter-attack unravelled as Sri Lanka dismissed the duo in the space of six balls. Ashwin (47) fell short of a welldeserved half-century while Saha (16) became the first victim of skipper Herath (1-159).

Things got worse for Sri Lanka, with doctors confirming that allrounder Asela Gunaratne was out for the remainder of the Test series with injury. Gunaratne suffered multiple fractures on his left thumb while trying to take a catch off Shikhar Dhawan on the first day of the match Wednesday. “Medical experts have indicated Gunaratne will be out of action for a minimum of 6-8 weeks, and will be returned to full mobility under a strictly managed rehabilitation regime over the period,” it said in a statement.

MELBOURNE, July 27, (RTRS): Cricket Australia has proposed taking their pay dispute with the nation’s elite players to arbitration if there is no resolution by early next week, chief executive James Sutherland said on Thursday. Australia’s top players have effectively been unemployed since the previous five-year pay deal expired on June 30, forcing the cancellation of the ‘A’ tour of South Africa as the acrimonious negotiations continued. Sutherland said the impasse threatened next month’s tour of Bangladesh, the one-day series in India that follows and even the home Ashes series at the end of the year and it was “time to get the show back on the road”. “We see the increasing need for urgency to get this matter resolved,” he told reporters in Melbourne. “We’re proposing in the short-term that both parties get together with really strong intent to get this deal sorted by early next week. In the event that it’s not resolved, we’re proposing any residual matters be sent to arbitration. “We’re prepared to accept whatever decision comes. In cricketing parlance, we will accept the umpire’s decision and move on.” Sutherland, who suggested the union had been guilty of delaying tactics, said if the dispute went to arbitration, players could immediately be contracted on a short-term basis to allow them to tour Bangladesh.

The test squad for that tour, which has not yet been announced, is scheduled to gather in Darwin for a training camp in the second week of August. The scathing response of the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) later on Thursday illustrated that Sutherland’s comments had done little to ameliorate the acrimony of the ninemonth dispute. “Cricket Australia has lost the players and most of the game’s stakeholders in the (dispute),” the union said in a statement. “And now, after pushing the players into unemployment, an extended period of a lack of financial transparency, after three months of rejecting mediation and only after the recent arrival of the CA CEO into talks, CA discovers the need for urgency.” Australia vice-captain David Warner blamed the board for the impasse. “This Baggy (Green) means the world to me. Myself and all the other cricketers female and male want to get out there and play,” the left-handed opener said on his Instagram account. “We offered $30m of our money to grassroots as a peace plan. It was ignored. We asked for mediation twice before and it was rejected. Now CA says there is a crisis. “The players are unemployed and some are hurting financially but continue to train. Administrators all still being paid. How is it our fault no deal is done.”

Sri Lanka vs India Scoreboard GALLE, Sri Lanka, July 27, (AFP): Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Galle on Thursday: INDIA 1st innings (overnight 399-3) S. Dhawan c Mathews b Pradeep ..........................190 A. Mukund c Dickwella b Pradeep ............................12 C. Pujara c Dickwella b Pradeep ............................153 V. Kohli c Dickwella b Pradeep...................................3 A. Rahane c Karunaratne b Kumara ........................57 R. Ashwin c Dickwella b Pradeep .............................47 W. Saha c Perera b Herath ......................................16 H. Pandya c sub (de Silva) b Kumara ......................50 R. Jadeja b Pradeep .................................................15 M. Shami c Tharanga b Kumara...............................30 U. Yadav not out .......................................................11 Extras (w6, nb3, lb5, b2)...........................................16 Total (all out; 133.1 overs) 600 Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Mukund), 2-280 (Dhawan), 3-286 (Kohli), 4-423 (Pujara), 5-432 (Rahane), 6-491 (Saha), 7-495 (Ashwin), 8-517 (Jadeja), 9-579 (Shami), 10-600 (Pandya) Bowling: Pradeep 31-2-132-6, Kumara 25.1-3-1313, Perera 30-1-130-0, Herath 40-6-159-1, Gunathilaka

7-0-41-0 SRI LANKA 1st innings D. Karunaratne lbw b Yadav.......................................2 U. Tharanga run out .................................................64 D. Gunathilaka c Dhawan b Shami...........................16 A. Mendis c Dhawan b Shami ....................................0 A. Mathews not out ...................................................54 N. Dickwella c Mukund b Ashwin................................8 D. Perera not out ........................................................6 Extras (w1, lb3) 4 Total (for 5 wkts, 44 overs) 154 Still to bat: Gunaratne, Perera, Herath, Pradeep, Kumara Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Karunaratne), 2-68 (Gunathilaka), 3-68 (Mendis), 4-125 (Tharanga), 5-143 (Dickwella) Bowling: Shami 9-2-30-2, Yadav 8-1-50-1, Ashwin 18-2-49-1, Jadeja 9-1-22-0 Toss: India Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Bruce Oxenford (AUS) TV umpire: Rod Tucker (Aus) Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 28-29, 2017

SPORTS

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Dressel, Kalisz emerge as new stars, Ledecky leads US to title

Spain’s gold medal winner Mireia Belmonte swims in the women’s 200-meter butterfly final during the swimming competitions of the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on July 27. (AP)

Belmonte adds fly world crown to Oly gold BUDAPEST, Hungary, July 27, (Agencies): Caeleb Dressel put the United States back on top in swimming’s glamour event. Chase Kalisz proved to be a worthy successor to Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Call it a changing of the guard for the American men. The 20-year-old Dressel emerged as his country’s newest sprinting star with a victory in the 100-meter freestyle, holding off longtime US stalwart Nathan Adrian at the world championships Thursday. Dressel got off to a blistering start and won in a relative rout in the downand-back race, touching in 47.17 seconds. Adrian surged from behind over the final strokes to claim the silver in 47.87, edging France’s Mehdy Metella — the fastest qualifier from the semifinals and swimming between the two Americans — by just two-hundredths of a second. Dressel climbed up on a lane rope and pounded the water with both fists. Adrian glided quickly from two lanes over to embrace the new world champion. “I’m very excited about that,” Dressel said. “But more importantly, Americans went 1-2. I think that’s more exciting than any time that could be shown on that board.” It was the biggest US triumph in the 100 free since Adrian won gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

SWIMMING Kalisz, meanwhile, extended American rule of the 200-meter individual medley, rallying to claim his first major international championship. The Americans have won the event at eight straight world championships, not to mention at the last four Olympics — with Phelps or Lochte winning every time. “The US has always been dominant in IMs, and that’s been one of our proudest traditions,” Kalisz said. “Michael and Ryan have been the centerpiece of that for almost 15 years now.” But Kalisz is still miffed about a silver medal in the 400 IM at Rio, a setback that ended America’s dominance of that event. “It took a toll on me for a few months,” he said. “The second I turned it around into motivation was kind of when I started making leaps forward. I think of that moment every single day. I never forget it. It’s probably my biggest motivator.” The American reign of the 200 IM began with Phelps’ coming-out at the 2003 worlds in Barcelona. Lochte had won the last two world titles. Neither is in Budapest, of course. Phelps retired for the second time after the Rio Games, while Lochte missed out on a chance to qualify for the US team because of a suspension for his embarrassing antics at last summer’s Olympics. Kalisz made sure the Americans didn’t miss a beat, finally breaking through on a big stage. In addition to that disappointing silver from the Olympics, he also had a bronze and a silver in the 400 IM at the two previous worlds.

Ex-number one Jankovic melts away in China BEIJING, July 27, (Agencies): Former world number one Jelena Jankovic wilted in fierce heat in southeastern China, bowing out in the second round of the Jiangxi Open on Thursday in three gruelling sets. The Serb sixth seed raced into a 6-2 first-set lead against home hope and qualifier Lu Jingjing before temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius (102F) on the Nanchang hard courts began to take their toll. An ailing Jankovic, 32, called for a medical timeout in the second set as the match started to drift away from her. Lu romped the set 6-1 to level the match and kept her cool to win the decider 6-2 and earn a place in the last eight. In the quarter-finals Lu will face Nao Hibino after the Japanese progressed when third seed Kristyna Pliskova, twin sister of world number one Karolina, retired with a hand injury. The WTA tournament is wide open following the exit on Wednesday of top seed Zhang Shuai of China.

Now, finally, he’s claimed gold. It was a huge surprise. Kalisz was only fifth after the opening butterfly lap but stormed back to win in 1 minute, 55.56 seconds. Japan’s Kosuke Hagino claimed the silver, with the bronze going to China’s Wang Shun. “If you had told me that this would be my first world title, I would have definitely laughed at you,” Kalisz said. “Four months ago, I was over three seconds slower. I know that I was going to be able to go faster than that time, but to get to the level where I am right now ... like I said, I probably would have laughed.” Katie Ledecky led the USA to the

in five seasons. He lost to Nick Kyrgios in the final last year. Isner set up a quarterfinal match at Atlantic Station against Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over sixth-seeded Donald Young. The American has 11 career titles, all at the ATP World Tour 250 level. ❑ ❑ ❑ Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova says her John Isner returns a backhand to Vasek Pospisil of Canada during the BB&T Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station on July 26, in Atlanta, Georgia. (AFP)

Second-seeded John Isner beat Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday night in the 6-foot-10 former University of Georgia star’s opening match in the BB&T Atlanta Open. Coming off a victory Sunday in the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island, Isner is seeking his fourth Atlanta title

women’s 4x200m freestyle title at the world championships on Thursday with a powerful anchor leg to win her fourth gold medal in Budapest. Ledecky touched the wall at seven minutes, 43.39 seconds while Li Bingjie, who took silver for China, finished at 1.57 secs back and Adriane Titmus earned bronze for Australia at 5.12. Victory marked a great night for the United States after Chase Kalisz earlier won the men’s 200m individual medley gold. Then Caeleb Dressel and Nathan Adrian came first and second respectively in the men’s 100m freestyle final. Ledecky swung the relay for the

TENNIS 15-month doping ban has only fueled her passion for tennis. The former world number one from Russia, preparing to play at Stanford next week in her first WTA tournament in the United States since her suspension ended, wrote on the Players’ Tribune website of the rollercoaster of emotions she has experienced since returning in April from her suspension for the use of meldonium.

USA quartet when she dived in for the final leg. She was on Li’s shoulder for the first 50 metres, but made her move at the first turn and ended up finishing a full length ahead of the Chinese. Having been beaten into joint second by Federica Pellegrini in Wednesday’s 200m freestyle -- Ledecky’s first defeat in 13 finals at world championships -- the 20-year-old freestyle queen bounced back in style. Ledecky has now won five medals at these championships after gold in the 400m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, the 4x100m, plus that 200m silver. Another gold beckons for her on

USA’s Caeleb Remel Dressel celebrates after winning the men’s 100m freestyle final during the swimming competition at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest on July 27. (AFP)

Saturday night when she defends her 800m freestyle crown as the reigning world and Olympic champion. Spain’s Mireia Belmonte won the women’s 200m butterfly to add to her Olympic gold medal. Belmonte touched the wall in two minutes, 05.26 seconds with Germany’s Franziska Hentke taking silver at 0.13 back and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu earning bronze at 0.63. Having won world silver at home in Barcelona four years ago, Belmonte has gone one better a year after being crowned Olympic champion in Rio. “This is one of the best moments of my life,” said the Spaniard. “This golden medal was the last which was missing from my collection. “Rio is the best moment in my life, but this is an important moment. The key to win this final was the first 100 metres.” This was Belmonte’s second medal of these championships after she took silver in the 1500m freestyle on Tuesday -- finishing 19 seconds behind gold-medallist and long-distance queen Katie Ledecky of the USA. Hentke, 28, the European champion in 2016, was stunned by her silver, the first major medal of her career. “I don’t know what to say, I am absolutely speechless and I am so happy,” said Hentke, who claimed Germany’s first swimming medal in Budapest. “When I saw the line-up for the final I was sure that only Mireia Belmonte, Katinka Hosszu and me can take a medal, but I still can’t believe it that I got the silver.” Brazil’s Etiene Medeiros won the women’s 50m backstroke in a desperately tight final which she won on the wall. Medeiros clocked 27.14 seconds, a new Americas record just 0.08 away from the world record set in 2009, while China’s Fu Yuanhui took silver at 0.01 back. Bulgaria’s Aliaksandra Herasimenia earned bronze at just 0.09 behind as all eight swimmers in the final finished within half a second of Medeiros. Having won silver at the Kazan world championships two years ago, the 26-year-old Medeiros went one better in Budapest having also come within 0.12 of the world record on Wednesday. In the semi-finals, Fu had also been just 0.01 seconds behind Medeiros. “I’m so happy. Two years ago I was second, but now I’m the champion, so this is so important in my life,” said Medeiros. “I want to thank to my coach - this year has been so different for me. “Now I’m so relaxed. “Last night was so hard for me, because I was thinking about the final. “I wasn’t confident of winning after last night’s semi-finals and the Chinese was very strong today. “I was a bit nervous, but I took time to relax and just be happy and it worked out.” Having been so narrowly beaten, Fu is edging her way towards her first major title. “It was a very tight finish, but in backstroke, this is absolutely normal,” said Fu. “I’m not completely satisfied with my result, but, of course, I’m happy about my silver medal. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t swim my personal best, so I have a little feeling of wanting more.”

Soccer Roundup Gomes signs deal

Villar ‘resigns’ from 2 bodies LAUSANNE, July 27, (Agencies): Deposed Spanish football boss Angel Maria Villar, in custody on corruption charges, has resigned as vice-president of both FIFA and UEFA, the two governing bodies announced on Thursday. The 67-year-old’s near threedecade tenure as head of the Spanish federation ended this week when he was suspended following his arrest on July 18. A t U E F A , European football’s governing association Villar said his resignation tendered “with immediate effect” on Wednesday had been accepted by the organisation’s president Aleksander Ceferin. Ceferin “thanked him for his many years of service to European football”. Villar, who denies all charges against him, was detained with his son as part of a fraud probe launched last year. ❑ ❑ ❑ Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has signed a new two-year contract which will keep him at the club until June 2019, the Premier League side announced on Thursday. The 36-year-old, joined Watford from Tottenham Hotspur in 2014 and has featured in every league game over the past two campaigns, winning the club’s Players’ Player award for two consecutive seasons. Watford will face Championship side Aston Villa in a preseason friendly on Saturday. ❑ ❑ ❑ Chelsea centre back Tomas Kalas has signed a new fouryear contract with the Premier League club and will spend next season on loan at Championship side Fulham, both clubs said on Thursday. The 24-year-old Czech Republic international also spent last season on loan at Fulham, making 36 league appearances in England’s second tier and helping the club reach the playoff semifinals, where they lost to Reading. Kalas joined Chelsea from his hometown club Sigma Olomouc in 2010, and spent the next two seasons on loan at Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem. ❑ ❑ ❑ Argentina and Uruguay are going ahead with plans to make a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup despite expected competition from China and others. The South American neighbors are counting on sentimental support with Uruguay hosting the first World Cup in 1930. Argentine sports secretary Carlos Mac Allister said in a Wednesday interview that the presidents of both countries and leaders of the two national soccer federations had agreed to move ahead. Politicians will face questions about potentially spending billions on soccer stadiums. South American neighbor Brazil hosted the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics and was roundly criticized for building “white elephant” sports venues and ignoring run-down schools and hospitals. ❑ ❑ ❑ Global players’ union FIFPro wants to play a role in ensuring the rights of footballers in China are protected after the country’s FA told clubs to sort out their finances or risk being denied the opportunity to compete in 2018. Thirteen clubs in China’s top flight, as well as four from the second division and one from the third tier, were named in a letter sent by the CFA claiming all 18 had debts outstanding that could see them denied entry into next year’s competitions. The move was sparked by a letter from the Asian Football Confederation stating clubs had until Aug 31 to clear all outstanding payments or face exclusion from next year’s Asian Champions League. Chinese clubs have spent huge sums on transfer fees and wages to entice some of the biggest names in the game to the Chinese Super League as the country aims to turn itself into a leading power in the sport. ❑ ❑ ❑ Amid persistent reports that Alexis Sanchez wants to leave Arsenal, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger says the Chile forward will return to training on Sunday. Sanchez missed Arsenal’s pre-season tour to Australia and China while he rested after playing for his country at the Confederations Cup. The former Barcelona star’s absence couldn’t quell speculation he could be on the way out of the Emirates Stadium after refusing to accept Arsenal’s offer of a new contract.

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Last-gasp US win 6th Gold Cup

The USA team celebrates winning the final football game of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup against Jamaica at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on July 26. The USA won 2-1 over Jamaica. (AFP)

Morris sinks Jamaica SANTA CLARA, United States, July 27, (AFP): Jordan Morris’s late strike lifted the United States to a 2-1 victory over Jamaica on Wednesday in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. The United States captured their sixth Gold Cup crown – one shy of Mexico’s record seven victories in the regional championship for North and Central America and the Caribbean. Morris sealed it in dramatic fashion with a goal in the 89th minute. A misdirected Jamaican clearance was knocked down by US super-sub Clint Dempsey near the penalty spot and Morris blazed a right-footed shot past Jamaican keeper Dwayne Miller and inside the right post. Jozy Altidore’s superb free kick had put the United States ahead in the 45th minute, but Jamaica’s Je-Vaughn Watson equalized in the 50th as the underdog Jamaicans pushed the US hard. Jamaica were playing in their second straight Gold Cup final, after falling to Mexico in 2015. That year they ousted the United States in the semi-finals, while this year they sent the Mexicans packing. Although they have joined the US and Mexico as the only teams to reach backto-back finals, they are now just the sec-

ond team to lose consecutive title matches. Since the inception of the Gold Cup, Mexico and the US have won all but one edition, with Canada triumphing in 2000. Jamaica lost their talismanic goalkeeper, Andre Blake, to a hand injury early in the contest. Miller was in goal as halftime approached, when US captain Michael Bradley was fouled in mid-field and Altidore curled the ensuing free kick over the wall and into the top corner of the net. Miller soared to get his fingertips to the ball but couldn’t keep it out of the net. Jamaica pulled level when Watson bulled his way past Morris on a Kemar Lawrence’s corner kick to volley a short

shot past US goalkeeper Tim Howard. Morris admitted that he was stung when the man he was marking scored – and relieved he could make up for it with the game-winner. “Credit to Jamaica – they made it very tough for us,” Morris said. “I was nervous – it was my guy that scored on the (Jamaican) goal. So I was trying to make up for that any way I could. “Obviously, I take responsibility for it, but luckily I could put it in the back of the net.” For Jamaica, however, Morris’s goal was “like a dagger in the heart,” Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore said. “But again, this is football,” he said. “If you look in the semi-final against Mexico, the same thing happened in that game (when Jamaica scored an 88thminute winner).” The first real chance for either team had come in the 19th minute, and the play proved costly for Jamaica. Altidore fired a 25-yard blast and

ing over from Jurgen Klinsmann after the German was sacked in the wake of a 4-0 loss to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying last year. The US were less than convincing in group play with a young, inexperienced squad, but Arena called in veteran stars

for the knockout rounds, adding Altidore, Dempsey, Michael Bradley and goalkeeper Tim Howard. “This means everything,” said the 38-year-old Howard, who hadn’t allowed a goal in the tournament until Wednesday. “As you get older and get to finals, there’s

so much pressure to win because I don’t know how many more finals I’ll come back to.” Arena said the tournament showed the US were heading in the right direction, with World Cup qualifying set to resume on Sept 1.

SOCCER

USA’s Clint Dempsey (right), and Jamaica’s Ladale Richie vie for the ball during the final football game of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on July 26. (AFP)

Blake rose to make the save. Trying to score from the rebound, the United States’ Kellyn Acosta crashed into Blake, whose right hand was injured badly enough to take the Jamaican captain out of the game. He had led Jamaica to three shut-out victories in the tournament, including a 1-0 triumph over defending champions Mexico in the semis. The United States are now unbeaten in 14 matches since Bruce Arena returned for a second spell as coach, tak-

Neymar cleared of ‘tax’ evasion SAO PAULO, July 27, (RTRS): Barcelona striker Neymar has been cleared of any criminal charges in a long-running tax evasion case in Brazil, a Brazilian court said on Wednesday. A judge in Sao Paulo said there was a “lack of just cause” in the case that alleged he underpaid income tax between 2011 and 2014. Neymar’s father and agent said Wednesday’s decision was a major victory. “It is with great happiness that we received the news of the shelving of the Public Ministry’s case of tax evasion,” Neymar Snr said in a statement sent to Reuters. “The process is officially closed (and) that proves the legality of all our acts.” Neymar could still, however, have to pay substantial sums to Brazil’s tax office. Brazil’s federal tax office charged Neymar in 2015 with evading 63 million reais ($19.94 million) in taxes due on income earned from the Santos and Barcelona soccer clubs and sponsors between 2011 and 2014. Neymar appealed last year and a court ruling in his favour in March halved the penalty of 200 million reais in fines, back-taxes and interest that Brazil’s tax office had slapped on the player.

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